Prede's Anime Reviews

Moved to Wordpress and other announcements

2010-12-01T18:18:00.004-05:00

MOVED TO ---> WORDPRESS

Hello readers! Well I've been writing reviews for a few years now, and writing for my blog since September of 2009! Can you believe it's been over a year already? (my other blog is even older). Anyway although blogger has been fine to me (most of the time...) I felt it was time to really make this blog sparkle. And I think the only way to do that is to move too Wordpress. Right now I've moved all the reviews, and fixed everything so it looks great. You can be sure I'll be adding some more bells and whistles very soon! But for now at least all the reviews are there. Since christmas break is just around the corner, I should have ample time to both work on this blog and write reviews elsewhere. Also I've decided that in addition to writing reviews here I'll do a few special posts about anime every once in awhile. For example I'll write up a top ten directors list, or write about my favorite mangakas. You get the picture...

So be sure to keep your eyes on my blog, and keep them glued to Fanboy Reviews too, as I have more then a few reviews coming up there. And hey yah never know, maybe I'll be popping up somewhere else too! And don't forget I'm also on twitter (way, way too much). Later!

- Mike ( Prede )

Black Jack - OVA Series

2010-11-13T20:46:00.034-05:00

It is my belief that Osamu Dezaki is one of anime's most incredible directors. He is the master, a legend in his own time. All his works have his unique and intense style stamped right on it that you can't possibly miss. His works stand out, like the works of Satoshi Kon, Hideaki Anno, or Mamoru Oshii. And yet sadly he is much less known in the west then those men. You take notice when Dezaki is in the director's chair. He makes sure that you do! He has directed such anime as The Rose of Versailles, Tomorrow's Joe, Space Adventure Cobra, and Go lgo 13: The Professional . And the Black Jack OVA's are yet another example of Dezaki showing off his stuff. Black Jack is based off of a long-running medical drama manga by none-other-then Osamu Tezuka. And since Dezaki is Tezuka's protegee, who better then him too adapt the series for a whole new generation, while keeping intact what made the manga so great in the first place? In the early 1990's, work on this OVA series began by TezukaProductions, with a very large budget, and ambitions. Of course in 2004, Macoto Tezka, Osamu Tezuka's son, (possibly the only other person truly capable of updating this series) directed the 62 episode TV series, with mixed results. For today I'll be reviewing the OVA series (released on VHS and DVD by CPM). But if you want to check out the TV series (which is entirely different in tone, style, and feeling as these) it's streaming on crunchyroll.

This series about Dr. Black Jack, one of the best doctors on the planet, who has an all around amazing knowledge of general medicine, surgery, and treatments of diseases and alignments . If there's something wrong with you, odds are Black Jack can fix it. However Black Jack, for his own reasons, is an unlicensed doctor. He practices medicine outside the legal realms. And due to that fact, he charges large amounts of money to help people. There are those out there who think this is immoral, to charge all that money for medical help. And they have a problem with him being uncertified, and running from the law. Since what he's doing is not exactly legal, there are those out there who would like to see him arrested, and many try over the years. He is a very misunderstood man, and for good reason since he's sort of an outlaw he's not the most social person alive. But there are many out there who do think he's doing the world a favor, by practicing outside the legal realms he can do many great things legit doctors cannot. They respect his immense amount of knowledge and incredible amount of skill as a surgeon. There's one more thing worth noting about Black Jack, and that is he has a scar on his face ever since he was a little boy. This scar is not explained in the OVA, but he got it from a life-saving medical operation he received as a child. That surgery made him wish to pursue a career in medicine in the first place. The doctor who saved his life made a real impression on him. Black Jack can at times seem cold and uncaring, and doesn't speak too much. But when does it's often inspiring. Black Jack, unlike say Golgo 13, does have a real personality. Black Jack has his own set of moral codes that he follows. He's not just a greedy bastard, oh no far from it. And although he seems cold on the outside, he does care for his patients. He's a very likable and admirable guy, who prefers actions over words. He is mysterious, powerful, extremely cool, and incredibly skilled, and yet somehow very human. He's not perfect, but he's better then any doctor I know. I think we can all relate to Black Jack, an outsider with a heart of gold, and a unique outlook on life. What he does with all the money is not revealed in the OVA series, but in manga we learn he gives it to charity. I think this is an important fact to know. He seems to like to take a lot of money away from the wealthy and give it to charities. So he's far from the greedy capitalistic pig you might expect, when you first hear how much money he wants to help people. But Black Jack isn't the only interesting character of the series.

Black Jack is often assisted in his many medical operations by Pinoko, a (seemingly) young girl who is infatuated with the good doctor. I don't feel the need to explain her backstory (because it will only confuse you more if your unfamiliar with the franchise). The series does a decent job at hinting what the deal is with her, so I'll leave it at that. Just know she's not really 5 years old, she's more like an older teenager. And while she truly, romantically, loves the doc, he seems to care about her more like a daughter then anything else. Anyway she's an interesting character, who brings some much needed liveliness to the show. I just know that she will annoy some people, but she's not a useless side character. She truly helps the doctor, in a way very few people can. And he trusts her more then anyone else in the entire world. Her relationship to Black Jack is always interesting. It's great to watch her crush on the doctor, and get jealous when another lady comes into the picture. She's not in every episode, but when she does show up I find she is a great contrast and foil to the cold (on the surface) and subdued Black Jack. As she wears her emotions on her sleeve and is hyperactive.

Each if the ten episodes of the OVA series can standalone. There is no real overarching story to this series, and that's perfectly fine here. As each of the ten episodes are unique and interesting enough on their own. I do think that the first episode was a rather poor choose to open the series to, and the last episode a bad episode to end it on, but that's just me. These episodes are good episodes, just bad ways to begin and end a show. I liked almost all the episodes, but I have a few favorites. One of them is episode 3. This episode details the story of Maria and her father, the leader of a fictional South American country. A country resembling the United States invaded his country and arrested him on false charges, for political reasons. He escapes capture, and ends up in the hands of his loyal followers in a bordering country. But we learn out he is dieing of terminal cancer. His followers want him to die in his homeland, as a hero, but the President of "We're so totally not the United States....totally" wants him dead. Black Jack is brought in to help make sure the man's life is extended long enough to die in his homeland. Black Jack must perform an operation out in the middle of the wilderness, aided only by the moonlight I may add. In this episode we learn just how amazing of a doctor Black Jack is, as if we already didn't know. It tosses around some great ideas about war, although it doesn’t deal with them too heavily. No this episode would much rather occupy it’s self with the character drama, and that’s quite all right. This is a very powerful and moving episode, especially the great ending which I won't ruin. And Dezaki's dramatic flair only makes it better. An episode that does deal with war more in detail is the 7th Episode. In this episode Black Jack is hired to perform heart surgery on a little girl in a middle eastern country. Her grandfather, a mob boss now living in New York City, pays him a great deal of money to go to the country and save her life. No sooner does Black Jack get off the plane does a Civl War brake out. Caught up in the violence he tries to find the little girl, but she and her mother have left the city for the countryside, in hopes to avoid the conflict. They end up in a refugee camp, and this is where their story, Black Jack's story and a female volunteer doctor's story all collide. The doctor assists Black Jack, who performs the delicate operation on the little girl's heart, in the worst conditions imaginable. Not only are they understaffed, undersupplied, and without funds, but a sandstorm is brewing right outside the tent. Once he is done with the surgery, and a helicopter arrives to evacuate the young girl and her mother, the rest of the refugee camp comes pleading to Black Jack for help. He's the only real surgeon around, and possibly the only one there who can save them and their children. I won't spoil what happens of course but it's very inspiring. The ending of this episode is incredibly powerful, and moving. Not only does this episode show us what war really is like, but it has a lot of interesting medical morality tossed in there. Not to mention the great twist at the end when they are all back in New York City. If you see only of of these episodes, let it be this one. For it is the most powerful, profound, and interesting of them all. It's emotional, but not in a depressing way. This is my favorite episode, perfect in every way. There are tons of other amazing, gripping, and intense episodes that I won't get into. Episodes like the one that deals heavily with euthanasia, that stars the Black Jack universe's equivalent of Dr. Kevorkian (episode #4). This doctor, Dr. Kiriko, a full supporter of euthanasia butts heads with Dr. Black Jack who is a strong believer of trying to save the patient no matter what, and never giving up hope. And then you have episodes like the 8th one, that have a great mystery and supernatural underpinnings. This episode involves a supernatural tree. And then of course you have the unforgettable episode where they guy has a very strange tumor on his stomach. There's only one weak episode of these ten, and it's not really worth getting into. Most of the episodes are top notch stuff, and have really high replay value.

This series is a gripping medical drama that in my opinion, fans of American medical dramas (House, ER, M*A*S*H ) would just eat up. But it also has qualities that will make your average anime fan enjoy it as well. Also the series is very character driven, so even if your not very interesting in finding the cure of a disease, or Black Jack perform a surgery, the characters will engage you. I find that each episode is more about the characters and the situations they find themselves in, then the actual operations themselves (although they are all shown in the gory glory). What I find interesting about this series is many of the medical problems really exist, while others are realistic but fictional, and others still are straight out of the fantasy and supernatural realms. You’re never quite sure what your going to get until the episode slowly reveals this to you. It’s a refreshing, mature and sophisticated series. Dezaki’s directional style makes each episode very dramatic, and some do become a little over the top, but it never becomes silly. Then again the original manga was known to be a little over the top at times as well, with stories involving Black Jack actually operating on himself (as if we didn’t think he was epic enough already), but this almost-over-the-top tone, gives the series a charm all of it’s own. For the most part however this is a very grounded series, despite the supernatural elements. And the art style reflects this.

As far as art and animation go, this was a big budget OVA back in 1993, so they really gave it their all. Dezaki gives it a very cinematic style, and he uses tons of great camera angles throughout the episodes. The artwork is dark, gritty, and highly detailed. In fact the character designs and overall style of the show is very neo-noir and look pretty realistic, when compared to the very cartoony style of the original manga (and later anime adaptations). And I believe this was the right move, as it really helps adapt the manga for an entirely new generation without losing all the charms of the original. The color palette is dark, but not at all gloomy. Tezuka Productions manages to have a great use of lighting and shadow to make everything seem dark, but still very visible. Character designs are highly detailed, realistic, and impressive looking (The exception here is Pinoko who seems much more cartoony then the other characters. A throwback to the manga perhaps?). A lot of work went into designing each and every one of these characters, so you won’t find a generic looking person in this anime. The animation is fluid and very smooth. Character movements, action scenes, and the operations look amazing, and still hold up well today. If there is a weak point of the animation, it is that the cars seem to be animated a little poorly at times; they feel a little jumpy and don’t move very naturally. But this is just nitpicking at this point, because other then that for an anime from 1993, this is some really great animation (and how many series get car animation down pat anyway?). I challenge anyone to find something that still looks this good from that time period. Dezaki’s style of “dramatic triple takes” and “freeze frames” really add to the show, although after awhile they do become a tad annoying. Dezaki may have gone a little overboard with them in this series, but his directing style still shrines though. The music is good, although nothing really standouts too much. The opening and ending themes are great to listen to, and really fit with the tone of the show, they all feel very dramatic. The English Dub on the other hand really stands out. To put it simply Kirk Thornton is Black Jack. No one else should ever play that character. Every line is said with such sheer intelligence and brute force behind them that you just are left in awe of this man’s performance. Julie Kliewer plays Pinoko, and she may be a bit grating to some, but I personally think she's great. She really captures Pinoko's youth, energy, and odd quirks, along with being able to display her agelessness, as an 18 year old, in a young body (OK sort of...not really...kinda). Besides those two, most of the other people in this series are episodic characters. So there are tons and tons of voice actors in the show, and for such an old dub they do wonders. Since this series is very worldly (I'd compare it to Master Keaton), many of the characters have accents. And while a few sound a bit too stereotypical (some of the characters from South America for example), most are realistic and add a flavor to the show. These episodic characters are usually well cast, and very well acted. The series has a great set of actors for the background characters. Still there are a few actors who aren't amazing. It's not that they are horrible or anything, but they could be better. But since the dub is carried on the back of Kirk Thornton, this matters not. And again most smaller roles are of good to great quality. This is one of CPM's better dubs, and oddly enough was done in L.A., by Magnitude 8 Post/ ZRO Limit Productions, with the help of Tezuka Productions. It helps give it a flavor all to its own. And again comparable only to the dub on Master Keaton (The Ocean Group, Vancouver). Both have their respective amazingly powerful and perfect lead actor (Ted Cole - Keaton, Kirk Thornton- Black Jack) and have a great actress play the recurring little girl (Keaton's Daughter - Kelly Sheridan, Pinoko - Julie Kliewer) and sometimes good, sometimes not so good, actors for the many background and episodic characters.

Central Park Media's release (DVDs) have their general art gallery extras, but also some thing very special. Great commentaries by the master himself, Osamu Dezaki. Dezuki details in depth what he did on this series, certain techniques he uses, the meaning of certain things, and he even goes over specific scenes. These are very informative commentaries. Some of the more interesting things to learn here include: how Dezaki got involved in the project in the first place, some general information of Desuki’s past at Mushi Production, what Dezuki feels is the reason for Pinoko in the original manga and the OVAs, how he makes the action scenes more powerful, and how he picked what to adapt from the original manga. This is the type of commentary we rarely get anymore, but I just love!! If you want to own this great show you can still buy CPM's DVDs on rightstuf.com (Buy volumes 1,2 and 3, and collection 2, and you will have the entire series. This is how I own it). You can also buy it through iTunes, if you'd rather do that. And at a $1.99 an episode that's a great way to test out this series. The movie which Manga Entertainment released and I have not seen (which goes along with this series) can be bought on amazon, and at Robert's Anime Corner Store . The manga is easy to find at most places as well, since it's being re-released by Vertical Inc at the moment. And I already said Cruncyroll has the new TV series streaming. Black Jack is a legendary series in Japan. It's up there with Astro Boy and it's easy to see why. It's a shame it's not as well known here in the West, but do check it out. Perhaps you too will love the series.

*some parts of this review are taken from an older review I wrote over a year ago

Prede's Rating

4.5/5 Stars

Golgo 13: The Professional

2010-08-08T22:44:00.033-04:00

As I mentioned before, in my review of Judge, there are certain anime series out there that walk the line between highbrow films and lowbrow trash. And Golgo 13: The Professional is another prime example. Sure there's gratuitous sex scenes, explicit violence, and just tons of trashy scenes, but the way it's all put together really shows some great style and sophistication. It is only when one glances at the director, that this starts to make sense. Golgo 13 was directed by none other then Osamu Dezaki. And he brings his personal style to this film, which really adds to the overall production. Dezaki often uses triple takes, dramatic pauses, and other innovative techniques in the movie. And while in the 10 episode OVA series of Black Jack this became a little annoying after awhile (although still very cool), in a feature film that clocks in at just under an hour and a half this works out perfectly. It never has the time to become tiresome or boring.

Well I guess I should get on to what the film is about. Golgo 13: The Professional is the first anime adoption of the long running manga series of the same name by Takao Saito (kind of...). It's a popular Seinen manga, well known in Japan that's been running for over 40 years now. The manga is entirely episodic, with no overarching storyline, and very few returning characters besides Golgo himself. Golgo (also known as Duke Togo ) is an assassin-for-hire, one of the best in the world, and the stories in the manga often depict him either killing someone for a client with his patented and personalized M16 sniper rifle, or staying one step ahead of someone who's trying to kill him. The movie combines both aspects of this into one. Golgo is hired to kill the son of a wealthy oil tycoon, and accomplishes this job with ease. But the oil tycoon, Leonard Dawson, devastated by watching his son die in front of him, vowes to get revenge. He will kill Duke Togo, the man who murdered his son, if it's the last thing he does. He hires thugs, goons, and other assassins to kill Duke. He even manages to use his power and influence to weasel the U.S. Army, the FBI, and the CIA into helping him kill Duke Togo. The most interesting person trying to kill Duke is the mutant named Snake. And it's no fun at all to describe him to you. As he is without a doubt the best part of the entire movie. So you're just going to have to watch this film and see why he is such a great (and truly insane) character. His fight with Duke in the elevator is one of my all time favorite fight scenes, PERIOD. It's just something everyone should see! For those paying attention, and not just watching for the excellent fight scenes (and/or the sex scenes) there is a great twist in the end, which helps explain a lot about Leonard Dawson's motives. The movie is a testosterone trip. In essence all this movie does is alternate between huge manly man duking it out with Golgo and Golgo screwing all the hot chicks (and he even keeps that same smug expression on his face while screwing them!). But it's not done in a way were the plot is completely horrible, and I respect that. I hate it when terrible writing works its way into these types of films. All of this fighting is completely over-the-top of course, but that's a good thing here. And although the story is decent, and the fight scenes amazing, it's the characters that make the film. We may learn very little about Golgo, but he still manages to be an interesting character. He's incredibly skilled with all types of weapons, and can kill people faster then you can say their name. He's completely unemotional, has no qualms about killing ANYONE, and is just down right cool. Not to mention just his character existing raises questions about why anyone would ever want to be an assassin in the first place. What type of life can you live when your job is killing people for cold hard cash? Leonard Dawson's need for revenge helps make the character even more fascinating then he otherwise would have been. He has almost unlimited resources, and an incredible amount of power, yet his failure to kill Duke time and time again only makes his will stronger. I have to have at least an ounce of respect for someone so determined. There is a great scene later in the movie that shows just how far he is willing to go to get his revenge, but I won't spoil this. And although it paints the character in terrible light, it makes him all the more interesting. Some of the other assassins like Gold and Silver are also quite intriguing. But as I said before, Snake is amazing! Watch the movie for Snake, and Snake alone and you will not be disappointed. He is easily one of my all time favorite villains. And the leaders of the CIA, FBI and US Army are also quite nuts, and interesting to watch. I like to watch the little bickering between each of them. As for the women, they are all immensely beautiful, and pretty cool people. I wouldn't call them all "likeable" but they are at the very least a little sympathetic.

TMS Entertainment, famouse for the Lupin III and Case Closed/Detective Conan series, animated Golgo 13: The Professional. The artwork in this movie is unique. Nothing else out there looks quite like this. It's cinematic, and yet looks like it's straight out of the pages of some gritty underground western comic book at the same time. The character designs are all very well done. Each person looks completely different from one another, and you can tell a lot of work went into each and every character. Again the style of character designs makes the movie seem cinematic, yet gritty and decrepit. And the characters look like they could easily have come from the original manga (well the better character designs from the manga at least. The Golgo 13 manga is known for having some poor art now and again depending on who is drawing it at the time). The girls are all smoking hot, the men real manly men, and Snake...is Snake. The backgrounds are incredibly detailed for such an old film, and everything looks wonderful together. It's just all very nice too look at. Sure everything is dirty, old, and dark, but it's done in a way that it looks great when it all comes together. It really helps build an atmosphere. Then you have all the different camera angles used, that really help the film ground the audience. We understand how we should feel during each scene. Dezaki is a master at making anything look dramatic, and this film was the perfect chance for him to showcase his talents. Just the way Dezaki and his team animate certain scenes, like an explosion, or a car chase, really can manage to get the audience excited. This is a well made action movie, from top to bottom. The animation is stunning for such an old film. The budget on this must have been through the roof. And let's not forget the CGI. Golgo 13: The Professional was one of the first anime movies to use 3-D CGI (Computer Generated Images). And although it's only used for one scene, it has to be mentioned. This film came out in 1983, and for that time period I can't believe that this was even possible. I can't even imagine how much money this one scene must have cost. It's comparable to (early) PlayStation 1 or Nintendo 64 graphics. Which is not to say it's very good. While years ahead of it's time, it looks very cheesy, and it's hard to believe that it ever looked very good. In fact I don't think this ever looked all that nice to whoever was watching the movie. As the CGI and traditional animation don't mix at all, and it looks like two completely different shows, just cutting back and forth between each other. But despite it looking cheesy, despite it not mixing at all, I think like it (and I'm not the only one who does). It gives the film it's own charm I guess.

The music here was done by Toshiyuki Omori. The opening theme is used throughout the movie (in different forms) and it's a very catchy theme. The song is called "Pray for You" and it's incredibly exciting. Words cannot express how much I enjoy this song. I just love it, and can listen to it over and over. Whenever you hear it, your heart beats faster, your eyes widen a bit, and it even stresses you out a little. To me, reacting to music is a sign that it's a good song. It's a very addictive tune, and it syncs perfectly with each scene it's used in. The English Dub was directed by the late, great Carl Macek, and it's quite well done for it's time. No one will ever claim the actors here are guilty of underacting, that's for sure. But this is an intense, high octane movie, and an intense, dramatic dub is the only type that would really fit it. Sure it shows it's age a bit, but I really enjoyed it. Gregory Snegoff handled the lead, Golgo 13 like a pro, as he should. Because Golgo is not a very complex character to grasp (although he is entirely awesome!). It would be really hard to mess up Golgo. But he also plays Snake. And he's just perfect as Snake. Snake is creepy, disturbing, strange, and evil, and each word out of Snegoff's mouth is just dripping with all of this. Michael McConnohie fit perfectly as Leonard Dawson, the oil tycoon. He seems like he's truly desperate, like he really is out there seeking revenge. It doesn't seem like McConnohie is acting, more like he just really sounds like that, which is fine with me. Leonard Dawson's son is played by a young Tony Oliver, and he did an admirable job for the short time his character lived. Some of the smaller roles are not perfect, but it's not fair to nit-pick such an old dub. And even these roles are not at all bad, just not as amazing as the main characters. On the large this is a very good dub for it's time, although it may bother some who hate overacting. But again this little bit of overacting is entirely fitting. In fact I wouldn't have it any other way.

All in all Golgo 13: The Professional is an intense movie. It's non stop action, with crazy characters, and some great directing. The plot isn't terrible (which is always nice in an action movie), and it even has a nice little twist at the end. The dub is a solid Macek-Streamline dub, with a little overacting, but you gotta love it anyway. This is one of the many anime movies Streamline Pictures helped to make famous in the early 1990's. They first put it out in movie theaters for a limited time, and then released it on VHS (dub-only). After their license expired, Urban Vision license-rescued the title, and re-released it on DVD (in 2000) which has both languages on it. The DVD has an art gallery, trailers for some of Urban vision's other stuff, and an interview with Mata Yamamato, a producer for the film. The interview while short, is very interesting. I just love it when a company puts an extra like this on the DVDs. It shows they care about the release, at least a little bit. In this interview Yamamato (in fluent english) goes over in detail how work on the manga gets done, since in addition to working on the movie as producer, he was one of the writers for the manga. He then compares the film to a "regular moviegoers movie" and explains how it's not exactly for Otaku. He says when they made it, that was the direction they choose to go in, and the art style helps to emphasize this. The interview ends with him commenting on how the CGI has aged quite a bit, but it was really top of the line stuff when it was made. He then notes that the film it's self is sort of ageless, and he's happy that people are still fans of it so long after it came out. It's nice when companies release older titles like this on DVD, as I hate to see classics go out of print, or worse never make it to DVD at all. The only real problem I can find with this release is the DVD cover leaves more to be desired. It's not horrible, and I'm sure Urban Vision didn't have much artwork available for such an old title, but I think it could have had a better cover then this. Since Sentai is releasing the new Golgo 13 TV series, this is the perfect time to (re)watch the classic film. I highly recommend it.

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5 Stars

DVD Look: Judge

2010-05-20T23:16:00.036-04:00

Judge is a short, interesting little OVA from 1991 that really surprised me. There have been very few reviews of this OVA ,which CPM silently put out on DVD in 1998 and then again in 2000, but the ones I've read made me not think too highly of it at all. And you'd have to look far and wide to even find someone who's seen it. But I really enjoyed it. And I think there are others out there who would like this as well. Now it probably won't be your new favorite anime or anything, but it's a great way to kill 45 minutes.

Anyway, mine as well get to what it's about. Hoichiro Ohma is your standard Japanese salaryman, working for a bunch of corporate executive scum, and lives life quietly enough with his girlfriend, Nanase. However unknown to everyone else, underneath his quiet persona he is the "Judge Of Darkness". He is somewhat of a supernatural vigilante. The "Judge of Darkness" seems to be a set of powers and a title passed down along the generations, to people who want to crack down on criminals who escape judgement in the human world. The "Judge of Darkness" also seems to aim to get revenge for the dead, who he feels have been wronged (i.e. people who have been killed and their murderer has escaped or avoided justice in the human realm for whatever reasons). The Judge also uses a supernatural book, which reveals to certain people who could be guilty of crimes and avoiding justice. And Ohma has no qualms about taking justice into his own hand, and outright attacking the guilty people and killing them. Which leads to some of the great ol' ultraviolence. We then learn that one of Ohma's bosses who was recently sent to South America on business, ended up being killed by some guerrilla warfare. Ohma goes to the funeral with his co-workers, and other boss Kawamata, and thinks nothing of it. But later that day while using his book, and he discovers that Kawamata is probably the one responsible for the other boss's death. So Ohma as the Judge attempts to get revenge, but to his surprise ends up being thwarted by a Defense Lawyer. This lawyer also seems to have some supernatural powers. This sets us up for a battle between the two, that will last to the end of the film. And of course they do go to "court" as it were.

Now this film is entirely serious, and asks you to take it seriously as well. Which is going to be a problem for some, because when you really think about it the entire premise is just incredibly silly. And at times it can be cheesy and really corny. But this OVA is an example of what you can do with a silly premise. It doesn't have to turn into pure crap. This anime manages to be a great horror/thriller, that is in the same style as the American TV series Tales from the Crypt or the anime Petshop of Horrors . And the OVA it's self is often times quite smart. I was not at all expecting any intelligence in this anime, and to see some really surprised me. For one the dialogue is very well written, most of the time. It avoids lazy exposition, that's very tempting, and often happens in anime with short running times. This instead relies on great conversations between characters that never feel forced. They never stupidity talk about things they should automatically know, just to clue us in on something. They say enough that we can figure out what is going on, but it doesn't seem unnatural. Of coruse this leads to a few things never being truly explained, but that's for the better. That being said, there are some lines that are just plain laughable like for example "The Penal Code of Darkness". Ohhh spooky! Not! Feel free to roll your eyes at that one. But you have to take the good with the bad I suppose. I really enjoyed the cat and mouse game between the defense lawyer and the judge (who acts more like a prosecutor really. When they go to trial there are 10 "Supreme Court Judges" who rule over the case instead). While this thrilling psychological (and physical) fight between the two doesn't last long, it is very exciting. Another part of the OVA I enjoyed was the very realistic relationship between Ohma, and his girlfriend Nanase. I found they had a great relationship, and the romance between the two is cute. Of course no OVA from the early 90's would be complete without a sex scene, but it didn't seem too explicit, nor was it uncalled for. And I laughed at the parrot they had that would repeat their moaning and sex chatter aloud the next day.

There is some actual depth in here as well. While not exactly Kino's Journey or Haibane Renmei here, this anime has some profound things to say. While more often then not these ideas are thrown aside for some good supernatural fights, it does attempt to make some statements. There is a real attempt at philosophizing here, ideas of why we should or shouldn't defend criminals in court are tossed around (I admit lightly). And there is also some metathinking about mankinds need or desire to judge it's self. Which I found entirely interesting (Which may be because I'm a double major in Jurisprudence and Political Science and wish to go to Law School...but I'm sure someone else out there will like this too). There are some real good quotes here by the defense lawyer, "Who are we to decide what is right and what is wrong. What arrogance is this that allows us to pass judgement on another". and "Only God can be the judge of man's behavior". The show is quick to point out the flaws and dangers that go along with being a bit too eager to take justice into our own hands. But along with this comes the humanly need and desire to punish the truly guilty who avoid the law. I felt drawn in here, at one hand rooting for the Judge to rid us of criminals, but eager to make sure only the guilty get punished. I am reminded of Light's desire as Kira to rid the world of criminals in Death Note. And the OVA is incredibly smart here, keeping who is responsible for the death of Ohma's boss a mystery up until the end of the OVA. Is Kawamata the horrible excuse of a human being we think he is or not? Was he willing to have his best friend killed for his career? Or was it really just some bad luck and his friend really was just killed by the guerrillas? And when the dead guy himself takes the stand at this trial, he may surprise you with what he has to say. Now someone will surely go watch this now and then say to themselves I'm thinking way too much into this. And that may be true. But I believe that you'll get out of this, what you put into it. And I feel there is definitely at least an attempt at some philosophy here, although it's often thrown aside for other things. Now if this works or not, that is going to be entirely subjective.

The production values here are about average for 1991. The art is a little too simple for it's own good, but still has a cinematic and gritty style to it that I liked. The character designs are good, with realistic characters that all look distinct (even the minor characters). The guys look like real salarymen, and the women look attractive yet realistic. Kawamata is the odd man out here though. He is bug eyed, and kind of goofy looking, at yet somehow fitting. The monster and demon designs are actually incredibly well done. I was afraid we would have another Psychic Wars on our hands here (by which I mean poorly designed, and laughably bad looking monsters and demons). But thankfully it seems this anime had a decent budget, and it was spent on creating some really creepy and disturbing looking demons, monsters, and spirits. The backgrounds look alright, but they aren't detailed enough in my opinion. And the animation is about average for an OVA of this time, neither impressing nor disappointing. The music too, does not really standout, but does it's job well enough. The dub is another old Manga Video UK dub, which CPM and Manga UK split the cost of. It was dubbed in London, England by a British and Canadian cast, putting on American accents. And it was directed by one of my favorite ADR Directors, Michael Bakewell (see my reviews on A Wind Named Amnesia and Cyber City). In short the dub does not disappoint. While it shows it's age a little bit, I do suggest watching it. There's very few if any awkward lines here, and the acting is quite good overall. I also found it was incredibly well cast. Ian Tyler for example fits Ohma perfectly. He has a mousey voice, that's not really annoying, and sounds exactly like what I'd imagine this salaryman would sound like. My only problem here, is Tyler often talks way too fast, trying to get all the dialogue in. With a little re-working of the script, maybe this could have been avoided. But he's still really good. Sadly when he's talking as the Judge, he does this odd thing with his voice to try and disguise it, and it sounds really corny. This reminded me of the new Batman movies with Christian Bale doing that stupid thing with his voice when he's Batman. In both cases it's a vigilante trying to disguise their voice, and in both cases it just does not work. Luckily the Judge doesn't talk too much. Nanase is played by Barbara Barnes, who I just loved in this role. She's a very good actress, and really impressed me here. And I loved her voice! However she does have a high pitched voice, that will probably bother some people. I found it fitting, but then again I loved Elisa Wain in Patlabor and Maze, who's high pitched voice is akin to nails on a blackboard for most people. So my opinion on this kind of thing is very "out there" if you will. Peter Whitman plays Kawamata and he completely nailed it! He's perfect here! At times he sounds cowardly, at other times up to no good, and other times very businesslike. His voice sounds just like any professional businessman would sound, and he does a great job overall. Another thing I'd like to point out here is all the extras and small roles are very good. They all sound very natural, and this makes the anime feel like a live action movie.

Sure ok I'll admit it's kind of (ok very) silly, and yes sometimes things happen really fast for almost no reason once or twice. And yes it feels like something a bored Japanese Salaryman would dream up while making photocopies or something ("I wish I could be a Judge of humanity!! Punish criminals that get away , all while still working this job on the side! And bang the hot girl at the office too!" ). But sue me, I liked it a lot. It had a great cat and mouse aspect to it (that lasted way to short), and I liked the rather interesting statements it made. In the past while talking about anime I've casually mentioned that a show "walks the line between high and low brow". And what I mean by that is that the show is clearly not some elegant, sophisticated work of art. But on the other hand it's not a dumb, offensive piece of trash either. It does have things to say, and it's very smart at times. But along with the great insight, comes trashy (yet fun) ultraviolent scenes and some silly scenes. And as far as shows that walk this line between high and low brow go, Judge is the poster boy. At times incredibly silly, sometimes dumb, and features some fun ultrviolence, but at other times insightful and very smart. It's thrilling, has some great revenge scenes, and good ideas behind it. It's an odd OVA, no denying that. But one I recommend.

Prede's Raiting
4/5 Stars

Welcome to the NHK Review

2010-04-02T04:22:00.007-04:00

Welcome to the NHK

Welcome to the review...

Welcome to the NHK is an anime TV Series that’s 24 episodes long and aired in Japan in 2006. The anime follows a college drop out-turn hikikomori, Tatsuhiro Sato as he lives his life, deals with depression and how he attempts to once again become a functioning person in society. A hikikomori is a practically a person living as a recluse, shut up in their home, who chooses to separate themselves from society. They are afraid to leave their houses, stay clear of social situations, and often spend long periods of the day sleeping. This is becoming somewhat of a problem in Japan (among other places) with many 20-something year olds, where it is possible for the parents of the person to fully support them. Sato spends his days watching TV, sleeping, and just wasting his life away. He’s even too afraid to step out of his apartment and go next door to complain to his neighbor who has been playing the same annoying anime theme, over and over again, for more then a month now. Sato also is a huge conspiracy nut, something he seems to have picked up from one of his friends from High School, Hitomi (who is seen in flashbacks and becomes an important character). He seems to blame “the NHK” (a Japanese TV cooperation) for all of his problems, including being a hikikomori.

One day out of the blue he meets a mysterious girl named Misaki, who claims to be able to cure him. This starts a chain of events that eventually leads to him getting help from her, taking “lessons” at the park outside his apartment building late at night, one of the few places he feels safe going to. The huge mystery of who Misaki really is, why she is doing this, and what exactly are her feeling toward Sato are a major theme of the anime. And they are slowly teased out throughout the show, but most of the answers are given toward the end. This mystery is very interesting, and makes the viewer care about the show. And the big reveal toward the end works perfectly, and answers everything we need to know. The last few episodes are incredibly dramatic. However the final episode does not end the show well at all. Some romance was hinted at early on, yet after the midpoint this seems to disappear, with hope that it will return to the surface by the end. Yet at the end, it doesn’t come back. Which is a huge letdown. But even besides that point, the ending is a just a bit of a disappointment. After the huge emotional roller coaster, especially of the last few episodes, this just feels like a cop out. It is just not a very satisfying ending. . If the series has one major flaw, it is the very poor ending, in comparison to the rest of the show, which is very well written.

This is a drama/slice of life anime, and although there is some dark humor mixed in there, it’s best to look at it as a drama. It can even become quite depressing; so don’t go into this looking for a fun time. But they use enough comedy relief (and at the perfect time) to prevent it from becoming unbearable. Still it is largely a realistic drama (minus Sato’s surreal hallucinations), and it’s very down to earth. Don’t be surprised if you shed a tear or two while watching it, it can be quite emotional at times. It’s a psychological anime, showing us how hikikomoris live, what they struggle with, and finally a possible way out. But it also deals heavily with Otaku Culture. Sato’s neighbor, turns out to be an old friend of his, Kaoru Yamazaki . Yamazaki is a huge Otaku, and eventually the two end up on a quest to developing a great hentai game, which runs along side Misaki’s attempts to cure Sato. Yamazaki also succeeds in turning Sato into a huge anime nerd, and NHK does not shy away from showing the more risqué and controversial parts of anime fandom. Which I admire in a show. This is a very honest series, and I for one would like to see more anime like this. This is a more mature anime, and so with that comes it’s tendency to get a little perverted on us. There is some fan service, but it’s usually limited to Sato’s imagination. But with this type of content also comes mature storytelling. This is the kind of anime that will hit anyone in their late teens or 20’s perfectly. It seems like a story told especially for them.

Welcome to the NHK has a more realistic art style then many anime series, and yet it still manages to look quite nice most of the time. The color palette is very lively; yet reflect the real world quite well. The character designs are very distinct and look great. I really like the style they are done in here. Characters look realistic, yet attractive. The backgrounds are very well detailed, and everything looks very nice. Sadly a few episodes do seem to look very odd, and there seems to be some small problems here or there, but on the large this is an attractive looking show. The animation is about average, but since there’s not much action, there’s not that much to animate. What action and movement there is all right, but nothing too impressive. Some of Sato’s dreams and hallucinations are very well done, however. The music on the other hand is very well put together. The background music drips with emotion, and the opening theme is very likeable. The background music commonly uses harmonicas and pianos and it sounds very unique. The first ending theme matches the sheer overwhelming craziness and surreal aspect of Sato’s hallucinations, while the second ending theme is more calming and fits the tone of the show better. On the large the soundtrack is a real winner.

The dub, produced by ADV’s studio Amusement Park Media, is without a doubt one of the best English Dubs ever produced. It is perfectly cast, with Chris Patton playing the lead incredibly well. Greg Ayres is very funny as Yamazki, and I cannot imagine anyone else every playing him. Stephanie Wittels plays Misaki, and she has a very genuine and fresh feeling to her voice, and her acting is very impressive. She’s also the perfect person to play Misaki. She has just enough mystery in her voice, and just enough youthfulness that everything comes together perfectly. Perhaps this is why she’s one of my new favorite voice actors. She has made a real impression on me, and I really hope to hear more from her in the future. Luci Christian has played a large number of roles over the years, but I think this is perhaps her best. She sounds a little different here, as Hitomi, then she usually does, but she does an amazing job. Monica Rial plays an important role later on in the series, and she too sounds very different then she normally does, but she also gives a great performance here. Even the many smaller roles impress, with everyone one from one-liners to minor characters do an incredible job. You can tell Amusement Park Media pored a lot of work into this dub and it shows.

The anime brings attention to an important social problem in Japan, the Hikikomori phenomenon, and it also becomes a psychological study. Focusing in on not just Sato, but also Yamazaki (the anime nerd) and Hitomi (the suicidal conspiracy nut). It also deals with Misaki later on. It is quite interesting to note that the characters who reject reality and live in their own little worlds (whatever that may be) only become depressed when faced with reality. Perhaps reality is not what it’s cracked up to be after all? Maybe we’d all be a little bit happier if we didn’t focus on reality as much as we do. The anime also deals with how life is ultimately meaningless, which is quite depressing. On the large this is one of the better dramas out there, despite the weak ending. It’s well written, has great music and it has some nice artwork. It’s an original concept, and although it seems a little contradictory to be dealing with and criticizing anime/anime culture, hentai games, otakus, and hikikomori actually in an anime, I think it fits. This would not work as well in live action; it needs to be an anime. If your looking for something unique, mature, and a little crazy, you can't go wrong with Welcome to the NHK. OK so it's not a masterpeice or anything, but this is worth seeing for sure. The bad ending is easy to overlook.

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5 Stars

Ergo Proxy Review

2010-03-07T19:54:00.004-05:00

Ergo Proxy

I Think, Therefore I am Confused

Ergo Proxy is a sci-fi/drama anime TV series that aired on Japanese TV in late 2006. Geneon recently released it on DVD in North America, for our viewing pleasure. Created by the studio Manglobe, famous for the hit anime show "Samurai Champloo", this series was directed by Shukō Murase, the director of "Witch Hunter Robin". And that’s not the only component Ergo Proxy shares with its brethren. The style, tone, and atmosphere are all reminiscent of Witch Hunter Robin, which is, to say the least, a good thing. As a dark, gloomy, and gritty anime, this 23 episode series written by Dai Satō follows an inspector from the Civilian Intelligence Office in the city of Romdo. Our leading woman, R-el Mayer, starts off investigating a string of murders under the suspicion that they were committed by androids. During her investigation, Mayer is attacked by a monster. The anime follows her attempting to figure out just what a Proxy is, the mysteries of Romdo, and the secrets of planet they live on. The plot is very deep, delving into philosophy and psychology quite often. The attention to detail, character designs and background are all of high quality. This is nothing short of breathtaking artwork, it makes us feel like pausing the DVD just to admire how beautiful, yet horrendously dark each scene is.

Just about the coolest looking anime character out there, Mayer is the epitome of gothic style, rocking crazy blue eyeliner and dark clothes, she is destined to go up there with many other famous anime character icons. Yet this anime isn’t just about Mayer, it’s also about an immigrant named Vincent Law, and his journey with an android named Pino who discovers the truths of his past, and “open his eyes” to the world. Vincent is an immigrant who was accused of a crime he states he had nothing to do with, and was being chased down by the government of Ramdo, and also by a Proxy. He decides he has no choice but to leave the city, to discover the truth about his past, and the secrets of the Proxies that keep finding him. His journey ends up criss-crossing with Mayer a few times before they finally end up traveling together looking for the truth. And did we mention that Pino is just about the cutest thing ever drawn?

The plot is very complex, and occasionally goes a bit John Nash on us. Obviously this anime is about the many mysteries of their world, and not everything is going to be understood by the first few episodes, but the way this starts off may be a little too overwhelming for viewers, and might incite some confusion. Still by the middle of the anime, it all starts to make sense, as we put the pieces of the puzzle together. The plot is very slow paced at times, almost dragging the viewer by the ending, yet never crossing the line into boring. Radiohead's work also makes an appearance in the show, adding an extra layer of depth to the anime's complexity.

Ergo Proxy is a refreshing mature anime that does not pander to the kiddies, nor fill itself with so much gore, blood, and sex that it pretends to be mature. So chalk up another win for Dai Satō.

3/4 Stars

- Written by Mike (Prede)
-Edited by Elke

- Originally posted on April 4th, 2009
*Official Planetzot Review*

DVD Look: Animation Runner Kuromi

2010-02-22T02:59:00.003-05:00

Today's anime is none-other then the hilarious Animation Runner Kuromi. This is straight out of the mind of Akitaro Daichi, so you just know it's going to own. Daichi is a director I've come to respect over the years. He's show his ability to do off the wall comedies like this, with a lot of heart and care towards it's characters, great comedy-dramas like Fruits Basket and Jubei Chan The Ninja Girl, and even dark (and some-what disturbing) dramas like Now and Then, Here and There (one of my all time favorite series). To be able to direct anime series that are such polar opposites, is a true sign of Daichi's great talent.

Animation Runner Kuromi is a 2001 OVA, about Mikiko Oguro (nicknamed "Kuromi"), who gets a job at a small animation studio in Japan, only to end up having the job of Production Desk Manager thrown on to her. While interviewing her for a job, the previous manager got sick and had to leave, and gave her the job out of desperation! It's pretty amusing to see a job like this falling onto someone as inexperienced as Kuromi. The studio has fallen drastically behind schedule (as usual) for the next episode of Time Journeys, and Kuromi must inspire the artists to work hard enough and fast enough to meet the deadline. The rest of the anime follows her around trying to do her job the best she can, and learning a little about anime studios, and the artists who work at this studio. In essence this is an anime, about making anime, and it's incredibly fun to watch! There are many downright funny scenes in this anime, and they all are fast paced. The characters are very interesting, and very well developed for such a short OVA. A testament to Diachi's skill no doubt. Of course Kuromi is the star of the show, and she's a very cool person. She's very active, sometimes talking incredibly fast, and running around like a chicken without a head. But she has many calmer moments, like when she's at home just thinking about her job, or worrying about finishing the episode in time (something Daichi admits to doing often as well). Her ambition comes from watching an anime while she was in high school Luis Monde III (a reference to Lupin III no doubt). She's a very understandable character and very likable. Many of the other characters she interacts are the key animators for the studio. They all have their own little quirks, habits, and interests and together make a very interesting and diverse group of people. And it's very interesting to learn (from Akitaro Daichi's commentary on the DVD) that most of these characters are based on a few people (combined together to make one person).

The animation in this is pretty good. There are some really fast paced scenes, and they are handled very well. This is an OVA and the animation really shows it. Although this isn't exactly mesmerizing, it's very good artwork. The music is all right too, with a cool ending theme that I enjoyed. There is also a certain background music song that keeps popping up, that's really catchy! I love listening to that! But as far as the rest of it goes, it's pretty standard background music. However the dub is nothing but standard! This is a really good dub. Lisa Ortiz manages to do an excellent job at capturing every essence that is Kuromi. And she's incredibly funny at times! Rachael Lillis and Eric Stuart play two of the key animators and do a wonderful job. They both impressed me a lot with this anime. The other actors are spot on in their roles as well. This is a dub to show to those sub-only guys!

The special features on this disk are amazing. Central Park Media really outdid themselves with this one. The interview with Akitaro Daichi is very informative, and interesting. We get to learn some of the ideas behind this OVA, and some interesting tidbits of facts. There is also an interview of Lisa Ortiz, which was a great extra as well, at least for any dub fan. And as if the interview with Daichi wasn't enough, CPM even got him to give a commentary of this show for the DVD. In the commentary he goes into detail about many of the scenes, and how anime is really created in the real world. There is also a "Director's Diary" which is a bunch of pictures and recordings of this OVA being created and the people behind it. Which is a fun watch. And there is also an interview with an "animation runner" (or someone who has a similar job to Kuromi's only in American Animation) that's pretty interesting to watch as well. This gives you some insight as to how realistic this anime is, and the differences between how anime is created and American Cartoons. There's also an alternate angle with the storyboard that I didn't check out, but is worth a watch if it's anything like the one on the Now and Then, Here and There DVD's. There's a bunch of other stuff here too, and as many trailers as possible. The menus are also pretty cool, just another bonus for this DVD. The only problem I can find with this release is it's rated 16 and up! That's insane, I'm not really sure what they were thinking. There's nothing objectionable at all in this anime! (Well one character smokes, but really I think even a 13 and up rating would be overdoing it for this one. I find it funny that Maze got a 13 and up rating with all the sex jokes and fanservice, but this is 16 and up and it’s all very clean). But this isn't really a big problem.

The humor in this anime is fast paced, and really had me laughing out loud multiple times. Yet it's not all about the comedy, because by the end of this anime you will look back and go "Wow did I just learn something about how they create anime in a small studio?" . So overall a fun plot, great characters, and an amazing dub. There's no reason not to buy this DVD right now. I highly suggest it to anyone looking for a good time.

For some more info about this great show, or some previews of the extras and trailers go to the official Central Park Media website (sorry the link is dead now) for this show.

The Weathering Continent

2010-02-03T10:33:00.020-05:00

Some anime rely very heavily on creating an interesting atmosphere and mood, to tell their story. One could easily rattle off a list of series that do this well, and just as easily come up with more then a few that fall on their face attempting this. The Weathering Continent is the weird one out here. As it doesn't seem like it's trying very hard to create a mood or atmosphere, but it certainly has one, and it does add to the film. It's more like, atmosphere and mood come naturally to this little movie. At times spooky, at other times exciting, and other times just relaxing, this film has a great atmosphere. And it's a better film due to this. The Weathering Continent is quite an interesting movie, and it's what I'll be reviewing today if you hadn't already figured that out.

The Weathering Continent is an almost forgotten film from 1992, that was directed by Koichi Mashimo (known for directing Noir, Madlax, El Cazador de la Bruja, and Dominion Tank Police) and animated by Production I.G. . Media Blasters thankfully brought this stateside, and released it on DVD with a dub in 2003. I'm not really sure why such an odd and unknown title was even bothered with by them, but I'm thankful to have it. Then again this is Media Blasters, king of the odd stuff. This is an adventure/fantasy movie, with three interesting lead characters that pull a lot of the weight of the film. It starts out with our three travelers heading to some distant place across the desert. We never learn where they are going, but oh well. The opening crawl however, has revealed to us that this placed was not always a desert, it was once a rich, prospering, and fruitful continent. Yet over time it has slowly withered away, damaged by droughts and other natural disasters. The continent is hinted at being the lost continent of Atlantis, and the film takes place during it last years while it's in dire straights.

One of the travelers is a woman pretending to be a boy (although I think her friends know she's a girl, she tries to hide it from those she meets), Lakushi who seems caring and brash yet mysterious. Another traveler is a young preist named Tieh, and our last traveler is Bois the intelligent swordsman of the group. These three come across a destroyed encampment, and find one person left alive, although severely injured. It becomes clear their camp was attacked by bandits, and everyone was killed by them save this one survivor. The injured survivor pleads for some water, and Lakushi gives out the last of their water. Then the person dies, after saying how thankful they were. The question now becomes will Lakushi's move doom the trio to dieing of thirst in the desert? Because they are days away from the nearest source of water. Was it a worth it to give the survivor water, even though it looked like it would be a waste since the person would die anyway? Should they have made this person comfortable in their last moments alive, or save the water for themselves? The three travelers don't contemplate this much, since what's done is done, and instead continue on their journey. They eventually come across Azec Sistra, the legendary City of the Dead (tomb of the citizens a once very powerful and rich city). All those who died from the city were mummified and laid to rest within this city of the dead. Tieh believes there may be water inside, and so they figure it's best to enter this city and search for water, then to continue on to the next water source and possibly die on the way. The rest of the film deals takes place in this tomb city, and of course eventually the bandits who destroyed the camp searching for something come into the picture as well. And maybe, just maybe the ghosts of the people laid to rest in Azec Sistra will make an appearance here.

This movie is quite simple. It doesn't have a very complex or intricate plot. So those who dislike simplistic storytelling need not apply here. But for the rest of us, it's still a very enjoyable and interesting little story. Sometimes simple stories are very engaging. And again it handles the mood and atmosphere very naturally. The movie is a little slow paced, but I found it to be intriguing, never boring. It drew me to it like a moth to a flame, and I really can't tell you why. Much like Mashimo's El Cazador and Noir I was just instantly attracted to this. It drew me in and held me tightly, and I can't really pinpoint exactly how or why. The paceing and mood are definitely part of it though, that I'm sure of. The characters also helped to make this a very interesting watch. For such a short film, they are all very well fleshed out. Sure there's a lot of mystery left here to these people, but it's surprising that by the end we feel like we know these people quite well. I feel that it's actually better that we don't know everything about these characters though, the mystery helps keep us interested. In contrast the main villain, the head of the bandits who shows up later on, is quite generic. He's just "random generic bad guy leader #5", replace him with whoever you want really. He's not fleshed out at all. The film does a poor job of developing him. By the end we still know very little of his motives, and he feels like he's just there to cause conflict for the main characters. This is a small flaw however, and it's easily overlooked. It's also worth noting that the ending of the film has a bit of a twist to it, that you may see coming (I did). But I thought it ended the movie quite well. There is also a theme here that keeps coming up that has to do with hiding your gender, and although it's unclear what exactly they are trying to say, it's a very interesting theme that works well within the film.

There are some other small problems here and there with this anime. For example some things aren't quite explained fully, and other things seemed to only be hinted at, like this is just a small part of a much grander and longer story. For example we really don't know where these characters are heading to, nor do we get enough insight on any of their pasts (certain things are only hinted at). Other things leave you feeling a little confused, especially in regard to the issues of gender in the film. For example why do some people seem to think Tieh is a woman? What's the deal with Lakushi exactly? There are more gender issues left unclarified as well, but they are spoilers. These are small issues that do take away from the film. There's a reason for this however, this film was based on a light novel series by Sei Takekawa, so there's obviously much more to this story then what we get to see. But they do an admirable job adapting such a long novel series, into one movie that clocks in at less than 60 minutes in length. Perhaps with more time the confusion could have been be cleared up. But still they manage to tell a complete story, that's quite compelling, with great characters, and an endearing mood, without leaving any of us who have not read the novels out in the cold, in a very short time frame. And what more can you want from a little film? For this small fact alone I think this is sort of impressive. Sure it's not perfect, but it's very well done overall.

The Weathering Continent, being a movie from 1992 has some impressive artwork and animation. The animation is quite good for 1992, constantly showing the effects of the desert wind on the characters for example. Everything flows natural for the most part. The short fight scenes are also quite impressive for the year this was released. While nothing mind-blowing, this is quite well done. The artwork looks very unique and very attractive. The color palette is very earthly. It is subdued, yet not really faded. The color palette has a lot of light oranges and browns while they are still in the desert. Despite being a desert, you don't get the feeling the characters are dealing with sweltering heat. Because instead of traveling during midday or afternoon, these characters are traveling while it's cooling down, the evening and nighttime. So a lot of the shots show the sun going down, and everything looks bright orange and warm, yet not incredibly hot. It is very impressive that something so simple can deliver so much meaning. The color palette helps you feel what they feel, warm, but not dieing of heat. Later once the sunsets brown and blue seem to take over as the major color. Everything then seems to get a really vibrant blue tint to it, which looks very nice. You then get a real feeling of things have cooled off a bit. I find this fascinating. Once they enter the city of the dead, the color scheme changes to having lots of blacks, dark yellows, and dark browns, although there is some orange here and there. This change in color scheme really helps change the atmosphere around (very naturally and effortlessly), and helps make us feel like we are there with the characters. The sharp contrast between inside the city and outside is very appealing. These are small little things you sometimes miss out on with digitial paint. All in all the artwork is very beautiful, lush, and alluring. The character designs are another strong point, as not only is the style in which they are drawn attractive yet original looking, but all the characters look very distinct. Lakushi especially looks very pretty. The costumes are another strong point here, with the bandits wearing odd yet interesting clothing. And although the clothing style of the three main characters may be very standard "sword and sorcery" fantasy clothing, it looks quite good. None of the characters are cluttered, but they are drawn with a good amount of detail. Backgrounds are a little simple, not very detailed, but still very nice to look at.

The music is laid back and simple, but effective. While it doesn't exactly standout, it's still a good soundtrack, although often times silence is used rather then background themes. The dub on the other hand really does standout. It's an interesting New York City dub. Media Blasters gave this to NYAV Post to produce the dub, and I feel that was really the right way to go with this. NYAV did an impressive job, not only with the casting of the main characters, but even all the minor characters and one liners do a great job. There's not an awkward line throughout the entire film. Dan Green gives another incredible performance here, as he plays the head bandit, Gaten Rakumu. He uses a voice that sounds different then his usual one, but it really fits for the character. Dan Green almost always acts incredibly well, and yet again he lives up to the high standard I hold him to. But what would a dub be without the main cast? Jamie McGonnigal plays Tieh, the priest, and he makes the character feel very fragile, yet not weak. He doesn't seem like a physically powerful person, and he's not. But his sorcery is however powerful, and this is reflected upon with McGonnigal's performance here. It's subtle, but it's there. His acting is good, and he fits his character very well. He is my least favorite of the dub, but he's not bad by any stretch. Bois the tough swordman is played by Marc Diraison who fits incredibly well. This was perfect casting. Bois is a very strong guy, but there's much more to him then that. And Diraison understands this, instead of playing him up like a stupid yet tought guy, he handles it very naturally and it works. Sure he sounds strong, but also smart, which he is. His acting is great here too. But the star of the dub is without a doubt Veronica Taylor, who gives out another mesmerizing performance. She plays Lakushi, and dshe does an amazing job. She not only perfectly fits her character to a T, but her acting is perfect. You really feel for her, and understand what she's struggleing with and who she is. And a lot of that is due to Veronica Taylor. The dub was directed by Michael Sinterniklaas, who I'm really starting to respect as an ADR director. He really knows how to get out the subtle, but natural emotions needed for some anime. Piano and Domain of Murder are also very nuanced and subtle dubs, and they needed to be. In fact the common denominator of most of his dubs seems to be subtlety and sounding very natural. The Weathering Continent is no exception. It's a very natural sounding. The one dub he directed that is an exception of course is the indredbly funny and over the top Ninja Nonsense. Which I think is one of the funniest shows and dubs out there, period. Sinterniklaas also stared in the recently released Sky Crawlers, which was another r dub that relied on subtlety, oddly enough (I'm not sure if he directed it or not, since Sony never released the English Staff credits). Long story short, the dub on this is worth listening to.

All in all this is a very simple film, yet very atmosphere and engaging . It's almost completely unknown, and that's a real shame since it's worth watching at least once. The production values are impressive , and the dub is great. The characters are likeable and interesting, although the main villain is a bit generic. The first time I heard about this film was by watching Grumpy Jii-san's Youtube video review of the film. His review got me interesting in the movie and I was planning on buying it online one day. But I put it off, and never got around to it. A few months later I was in Media Blaster's store, Rare Flix, and the workers there suggested this film to me, since I told them how much I liked A Wind Named Amnesia. Since they seemed to think I'd like it, and Jii-san's review got me interested as well, I bought it. And I'm very glad that i did. Personally I don't really see the connection with A Wind Named Amnesia, but that doesn't bother me because I still enjoyed this very much. If you're itching to watch something a little different, a little off the beaten path and forgotten, I suggest this little film. It might not blow your mind, but it will leave you more then satisfied.

Prede's Raiting
4/5 Stars

DVD Look: Demon City Shinjuku

2010-01-28T15:32:00.018-05:00

I have a sneaking suspicion that Yoshiaki Kawajiri really likes John Carpenter movies. Because Demon City Shinjuku could be summed up as an OVA that mixes both Escape from New York and Escape From L.A. (despite being made after this OVA) together, has a little bit of Halloween thrown in there, and some has supernatural elements added for good measure. Good thing I'm a Carpenter fan then, right? In Cyber City Kawajiri lifted the basic premise of criminals having to do complicated missions for the state, with the chance of being pardoned (and with the risk of being blown up if they failed), just like Escape from New York. Here Kawajiri instead takes the idea of having to rescue the President, deep within a city that has long been abandoned by decent people, and now overrun by crazy things, and turns that into an anime, with mixed results.

Demon City Shinjuku is and OVA from 1988, animated by Madhouse studios, and directed by none-other then Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Madhouse and Kawajiri have worked on countless other ultraviolent movies and OVAs over the years, and Urban Vision, CPM, and Manga Entertainment have released many of them here in the US, since he once had a huge following here. This movie-length OVA is very similar to his other works, perhaps too similar for it's own good. Anyway the OVA is about how the evil psychic Rebi Ra, deep within what's left of Shinjuku, Tokyo is attempting to complete a portal to hell. He is also a powerful swordsman, and seems to have sold his soul for all his powers. Once the portal to Hell is opened, demons will take over the entire planet. He must do this, because it is another price he has to pay for gaining all this power. The entire world seems to have become one single government, and it's hinted that the former countries have now become states or provinces, and that includes Japan. The World President is making a trip to Japan, when he ends up being captured by Rebi Ra in an attempt to destabilize the world, and send the world into chaos, and also prevent any counter measures against him. However he does not only kidnap the president, but his aid and spiritual adviser, Master Rai. Master Rai is well aware of who has kidnapped them and left them for dead, it is revealed that Rebi Ra is former student of his. Another student of his headed out to stop Rebi Ra many years earlier but failed and died in the process. Now all of mankind's hope rests with that man's son, a kid named Kyoya. Because only Kyoya and Master Rai have this hidden ability that could defeat Rebi Ra, and Rai must remain near the President's side or he will die and the world may fall into another dark age!

Kyoya gets contacted by Master Rai's spirit, and told he has to fight to save the earth. Kyoya explains that while it's true he learned some skills from his father, he only learned the basics before his father passed away. Master Rai pleads with him to try and save the president and defeat Rebi Ra anyway, because he doesn't, no one will. Kyoya's still not very eager to run off on some quest to save the world, and so he leaves his house and goes out for a walk. This is where he runs into the Presiden't daughter, Sayaka Rama, who tries to convince him to go with her to the city and save her father. He still refuses, and so she decides to try her luck on her own. When she gets there however she is attacked by some criminals hanging around the outskirts of the town, and Kyoya comes out of the shadows and saves her at the last second. Seems he can't let some innocent girl waltz right into the city of hell on her own. The rest of the OVA follows these two on their quest through the city, where they will meet some Escape from New York- esque allies and enemies, and finally save the day.

The main problem with this anime is it's very by-the-book, standard and unoriginal. It's even very predictable at times. It's not a bad story, but it feels like we've seen it before. Now you have to forgive it a little bit, as the OVA probably predates many other shows we've seen that have this kind of plot, but still it's nothing groundbreaking either. That's not to say that this is a bad movie by any stretch, because it's not. It's just the plot is not as strong as it should have been. The best part of the story is the initial premise of people from the outside trying to rescue to President deep within the city, and going through hell to do it. And you know what, I credit Carpenter more for that, then Kawajiri. Still it plays out decently, and many of the Escape from New York characters show up, like your token double crosser and insider who helps the main characters out a bit. And these characters are all quite interesting, although they don't get enough screen time sadly. The main character, Kyoya is actually not that interesting of a person. He's sort of boring and 2 dimensional. He's not a bad character, but probably better fit for a side character, as he's not interesting enough to carry the weight of an entire OVA. His struggle with becoming stronger, and awakening his potential is well done however. Sayaka, the President's daughter is instead a very interesting character, perhaps she should have been the lead. She's not too tough ina fight, but she's a strong willed person, eager to help if she can, and shows that she's scared, but willing to press on despite that. She feels helpless at times, but tries to do whatever she can. She's a very strong character. Her romance with Kyoya towards the end seemed forced, There was no development there, and felt like the only reason they kiss is because she's a girl, and he's a dude. The two have very little chemistry and really don't seem to be hitting it off, so why do they seem to become a couple? Because the movie needs a little romance I guess. Another interesting character is Chibi, a midget (I think?) who helps the two, and gives them pointers and hints about the city. He saves them while they're fighting a monster, and guides them to where they want to go. He's not eager to get invovled with a fight, but he won't leave anyone to die either. He's an intriguing character who probably should have been a more important character. Master Rai is another compelling who doesn't get nearly enough time to develop, but he's very likeable. The themes the movie deals with are nothing special, and sort of generic. While no one would ever go into this film looking for something very deep, it reall doesn't help that the themes of innocents, love, and inner strenght are very generic and tossed around very lightly. Perhaps if they were more explored the OVA would be a bit better.

The fights in Demon City Shinjuku are less frequent then I had imagined. But when they do come up they are very well choreographed, and very fun to watch. The main character has to fight a few demons and monsters as the show goes on, and many others get involved as well. The tone may be a little dark, but it is not at all depressing. While not a light or funny show, it's not overbearing either. Another problem with the show however is its tendency to use expository dialogue. By that I mean characters backstories, the history of the city, and even the plot are revealed through way too much dialogue. Instead of showing us what happened, the characters oddly explain things, and some of these explanations go on way too long. While I would have no problem with one or two of these, four or five in one movie is a bit much. At times when they could have used a flashback or something, they go for the easy way out and have the characters explain things. This, mixed with some sloppy writing at times really hurts the overall show. The final fight scene is also very anticlimactic. I hate to keep criticizing this OVA, as it is a fun watch and I did enjoy it. But I can't leave out these these things either. I guess what I'm saying is despite these problems it's still a good anime.

Production values for this OVA are all over the place. The animation is sometimes as choppy as a bad Yogi Bear episode, while other times everything on screen flows incredibly well. Most of the fight scenes are impressive for 1988 (very fluid motion), but other parts can either look ugly, or pretty depending on the scene. The artwork is a great style, with a very nice color palette. The color palette is dark, but not gloomy, and looks quite nice at times. The character designs are pretty original looking, and very attractive, especially the President's daughter who looks very pretty. However the opening scene, and some scenes deep within the city look very odd, with a dated looking color palette that's very different from the rest of the movie. Everything will have a blue or red tint, and it looks very ugly. This was obviously done to either emphasis how this scene is in the past, or emphasis how close the gateway to hell, is getting to earth, but they just don't work very well at all. The make the OVA look more dated then it otherwise would, since this is a pre-Akira anime after all. But other then that the visuals are quite impressive, and those scenes are quite short. The music is very electronic and unimpressive. While the soundtrack is not exactly bad, it's very generic and mostly forgettable.

The dub on this is pretty good for it's era. While I've heard better from this time, it's not at all bad. This is another one of the older Manga Video UK dubs, directed by Michael Bakewell and with mostly a British and Canadian cast. And most of the actors fit their roles very well. There is a tendency to use accents in this dub, and on the large this works quite well and gives the show a worldly sound. The President and his daughter have British accents, which is very fitting in my opinion as they seem to be Europeans, so this is a great way to emphasis that. Chibi (pronounced "Chippy" by the cast, although I'm not sure why? Perhaps that's a British thing?) has a Mexican accent which sounds a little stereotypical, but it does seem realistic and works for the character. Another character has a Spanish (Spain) accent, and this also comes off very well. Master Rai is played by George Little, and he gives the character a very authentic Indian accent, which fits since not only is his character from India, but very spiritual and he needs an accent to demonstrate this. The rest of the cast, including Brad Lavelle, who plays Kyoya, put on American accents and they seem real. The dub is mostly well acted, with all of the main cast doing a good job for the most part. Sadly it seems every major actor has an awkward line somewhere in this dub, but it's not that bad.

Brad Lavelle fits the lead very well, and has a great chemistry with George Little, specifically in the begining of the OVA. Sayaka, the President's Daughter is played by Teresa Gallagher, who gives the best performance of the dub. She has a very distinct voice, and her different sounding voice fits the character well. She puts on a British accents that some may find a little different then the norm, but she's a native Brit so you can be sure this is authentic, and personally I thought it sounded great. Chibi is played by Alan Sherman, who really fleshes out the character, with his Mexican accent, and adult way of talking. The Japanese dub made him seem more like a child, which I'm pretty sure he's not one. He plays off the two main characters very well. One problem with this however is some of Chibi's lines seem left out. Two or three times in the dub you will see his mouth move, but nothing come out. Switch the Japanese track for a second and you clearly hear dialogue (and it's tranlsated in the subtitles). I wonder what happened here? Some overlook or mistake perhaps? It's nothing major, but it's just very jarring to hear a character answer him when he doesn't say anything in the dub, or him answer someone with silence. Rebi Ra is played by Bob Sessions, and he is the weakest actor of the dub by far. Some of his lines in the opening scene are outright terrible, and really bring down the quality of the dub. By the ending of the anime he's much better, but still not good enough as he should be. While the casting of him as the character works because he fits Rebi Ra, the person casting should have thought about weather or not he could act, because from this my answer is "not really...". It's a good thing he doesn't have many lines. Some of the smaller roles are sort of bad, although no one sounds outright like an amateur. Other smaller roles sound really good, like the children who appear for a small scene, or the old short lady who wants money from the two leads. The script is the real problem of this dub though. At times it's very clumpy, cluttered and rough. At you can really hear the actors tripping over their lines. It's not that the actors are bad, most of them are at least decent, but you can tell the script needed some work. Cursing is frequently used in the dub as well. While I'm never against some good cursing in an anime, and in this OVA the content really does call for it, I must question the times and placement of the curses. Many times a curse just feels oddly placed here or there, and other times it feels like they could have used a curse word but didn't. The dub is sort of odd, and very different sounding. But I find it has more positives then negatives, and I like a lot of things about it. I just wish the script was a little better, then it would be more then enough. As it is it's quite all right, but Bakewell has done better.

Central Park Media has released this many times on VHS and later DVD. I have the 2004 DVD release, which was inlcuded with the Kawajiri Brick Pack which actually is quite nice to look at. The DVD includes an insert, which is a nice little postcard thing, although I like the ones inlcuded in the Birdy the Mighty and A Wind Named Amnesia DVDs a little more. But it's still very cool. I think I like the 2005 release cover artwork a little better then my DVD, but both are nice. The DVD menu however is very ugly, and looks quite cheap. I've made better DVD menus messing around with Media Center on my computer. Besides looking ugly it's also quite slow to load. This is quite a shame becuase it is my opinion that CPM has some of the best DVD menus out there, looking through my collection they have some of my favorites. The extras included are just "meet the cast" type extras. These are there to remind you who these characters are, by showing a small clip from the OVA focusing on them. Cool little extra, but no real content.

So far this is the weakest Kawajiri anime I've seen. But weak Kawajiri, is still pretty good in my book. This is worth seeing a few times, but there are better titles in the genre. I was thinking about my star ratings last night, and felt they were kind of pointless, since I kept giving things 4/4 stars. So now I've thought hard about this, and will be re-doing all the ratings on all my reviews, only this time out of 5 stars. 5 stars not only gives me more room to work with, but allows 5 stars for true masterpieces, and everything else that's really great, but not yet a masterpiece would be 4.5 stars, etc . I think I like 5 stars much more then 4. That being said I'd rate this about a 2.5 out of 5. It's worth watching, don't get me wrong. And if you can find it cheap go out and buy it. But it has a lot of problems. I really wanted to like this more then I did.

Prede's Raiting
2.5 /5 Stars

Dragon Half

2010-01-11T00:07:00.005-05:00

Dragon Half is a little OVA from the early 1990's, that does a lot more then I ever thought it could. It's not the deepest most profound anime, and it's not the most exciting thing to watch either. But it's got some wild and crazy characters, and it's laugh out loud funny. Sure it's a little stupid, and a bit shallow. But it's a cute show, and hey I LOVE the dub. It's one of my favorite comedies, although I love a lot of anime comedies. Still this is one of the better ones that I've seen.

Plot/Story - 7/10

This little OVA series takes place in your standard "sword and sorcery" fantasy realm, and although it's not original, it gives the series a bit of an edge. It's a great setting for a comedy in my opinion. Also it does have a bit of a twist, like for example some non-coventional stuff will apear from time to time. Anyway this anime is about Mink and her friends trying to get tickets to this concert. Yes they have concerts ther ein this fantaysy world, and the guy Mink wants to see is some famouse idol, who sings all around the land, and fihghts bad guys, and does everything else. He's quite the hot shot, and "big thing" going at this time. Mink's a huge fan. The King of this land has it out for her, however, and wants nothing more then for Mink to be dead! He wants to marry her mother, and will do whatever it takes. For some reason he thinks if he does away with Mink, it will make this much easier on him. Her mother is a dragon by the way, and she's still married to her father, a knight who slays dragons. Yeah a match made in heaven...or hell :P. Anyway the King and his men try to capture/kill Mink, Mink doesn't seem to notice much and wants to go to the convert, her friends join her, hijinks ensue. It's a very simple story, but one that works. Later Mink ends up in this huge tournament/fight against some of her enemies, and that's where you will really start laughing your but off! The story is interesting, and never boring, thats for sure. Crazy things keep happening, at yet the story still moves along. And the ending is also quite fun. The show is very light hearted, goofy, and stupid at times, yet never too dumb. It may not be a smart show, but the way it does everything makes you feel dumber then the show is. This is a plus in my book. Also when everything is over, you get to see Mink with her top off. Not sure if this is good or bad, but you do. As Matt Greenfield so blunty puts it (in his commentary track) "And there's the fanservice. The reword for watching it to the end ;) ". Boobies and humor. Yes this show has it all folks.

Usually when/if I review a comedy I'll try and describe the type of humor (slapstick, dialogue based, character based, parody, satire, puns, nonsensical, etc), but trying to pin down the type of humor in "Dragon Half", is like trying to pin down a tiger. It won't be easy, it's crazy, and you will probally fail trying. So I'll just say that "Dragon Half" is incredbly fast paced, and very very funny. To try and get you to understand what type of humor this is perhaps this will help. Greg Ayres once called it "Excel Saga...before we had Excel Saga". So yeah...think about that one. I think that works quite nicely. This show outright paradies many different fantasy tropes in anime. It makes fun of a lot of things, and it also makes fun of its self. It doesn't "reference" any shows in perticular (that I noticed), but it makes fun of common fantasy themes. It's also completly random, and makes no sense. Yeah there's a story, and it ends. But nothing you will watch will make any sense at all. This show is incredbly surreal. Laugh as things that make no sense happen in weird ways! I know I did! Much of the humor is slapstick, but not in an anoying way. There is some great wordplay once in awhile (and I must compliment ADV Films for the great script), and off the wall stuff happening constantly, and the dub really makes everything 10 times funnyer. You can tell ADV had fun dubbing this one. Anyway yeah the type of humor in this changes with the mood, although it tends to stay clearly on the "stupid" side of the humor equation. So yeah no real witty remarks, or intelligent satire. Just plain, dumb, (but FUNNY) jokes. And it's not even high brow stuff. It's not offensive, but this isn't "Jokes with Einstein" either. Oh and although all the characters are stupid, even they laugh at Damaramu for being an idiot. He's one of the "bad guys" out to get Mink for the King. And you should too, because he's pretty stupid, yet funny. He keeps saying his own name when he talks, not because it makes him sound tough. But because if he didn't he'd forget his own name. Yeah dumb as a herde of snails, running right into a pile of salt.

Art/Animation - 6/10

This is an OVA, and so I judged it as one. Despite being an OVA, it seemed to have gotten a rather poor budget. It has aged quite a bit by today's standards. Comedy seems to never get the big budgets, but boy did they save on this one. It's not bad or anything, but the animation is rather average. It does it's job, with all the crazy and random things happening, but it is nothing to write home about either. The art is nice looking, although rather plane and undetailed, even for 93. It has some cute character designs that I really liked. And the color palette is very nice, incredbly bright, full of life, and cheery. A little TOO colorful at times, but I liked it. The backgrounds are rather average and plane looking.

Also I must bring up the fact that the characters are constantly changing from super deformed (aka Chibi form) to regular anime form throughout the show. They do a good job at this, although they didn't blow me away either. It was a great choice however, and I admire the effert. It works with the crazy pace of the show, and the just so bizarre and outlandish nature of it all.

Sound (Music & Dub) - 9

Music

The background themes, when played are quite good. Light hearted, poppy, and very cute. But where this series shines is in it's AMAZING ending theme. "Watashi no Tamagoyaki" is a crazy pop song verson/remix of a famouse Beethoven song. Yeah they don't mess around here. On top of that you have the meaningless, nonsenical lyrics such as " Pappara funi-Funi Papparu hoe-hoe" song with such effert, feeling, and enthusiasm that you can't help but love it. It's so in your face, it's so cute, it's so fluffy, yet it all sounds very nice. This si the type of song you will get stuck in your head, and never be able to sleep. Yet you won't care because the song is so catchy.

Dub

Dragon Half was dubbed in 2002 by ADV Films, in their Houston studio (Amusement Park Media, although its been known as a lot of things over the years. They keep changing the damn name I have no idea what they called this studio back in 2002). This is an anime ADV released sub-only(on VHS) YEARS before hand, and was known in some circles as "un-dubable" because of how fast paced it was, and how much is going on. According to the commentary track, this was dubbed around Christmas, so they could have the largest talent pool possible (many actors who moved away come back for the Holidays). Also they seemed to have wanted Jessica Calvello to play the lead, and by this time she had already moved to New York City. Greenfeild (the ADR Director) said they could have dubbed this whenever, but he waited until it could have a great dub, as best as they could do. And I must say I am truly glad they waited to dub this. As this is one of the funniest dubs out there. First the casting of Jessica Calvello as Mink...dead on! I love her in this role. She's perfect in every way. Not that Mink is a very difficult charcter to "get", but I really can't picture anyone else playing her. Also Amanda Winn Lee as Vina, the main bad girl and the King's Daughter, was another brilliant casting. She is truly funny in this. Like I fell off my stea with some of the stuff she says. Hilary Haag as Pia, one of Mink's friend, was another great choice. She fits these "little, tiny and silly" characters quite well.

As far as the performances go, Not sure what I can say really. This isn't some deep, dark, dramatic anime or something, it's a lowbrow comedy, off the wall anime, with lots and lots of crazy dialogue. But as far as comedies go, I dare you to find a better acted one out there. This show's dub is just great, truly top grade! I just love how insane everyone is. The main cast, the small roles, the one line guys, everyone does a great, no wonderful job. And as I already said, Jessica Calvello is amazing in this. You can tell she had a lot of fun with it. No one out there could do what she did with this one here. Also shout out to Tiffany Grant, who plays a small, but important character from the second episode. She gives Dug Fin, this small magical critter, such a cute, yet mean spirited voice, that you just gata love it. Everything she says will have you rollying on the floor laughing. Aaron Krohn as the idol Mink wants to see, Dick Saucer, is so OVER THE TOP, you will smile. You will just totally get this guy, every bit of him. He did a great job as Kaji in Eva, and you can tell this was no fluke. He's a real fit for these types of characters in my opinion. In fact you can tell a lot of thought went into the casting of this show. And Greenfield's mark is all over this one. I expect the best from him, and I got nothing less then that. One of the best ADR directors in the biz.

Enjoyment - 9/10

This is very subjective, as if this humor style doesn't work with you, you probally won't like this show very much. But I can't help but to love it. I laughed, I laughed,I kept laughing, I laughed some more. It's really a fun, enjoyable, and cute little OVA. I'm glad it didn't overstay it's welcome, as two episodes is more then enough. Anymore and the jokes would get stale, it wouldn't be able to keep up with it's fast paced nature, and the characters could get anoying. But as this is it's perfect. In fact all of the characters are likeable and cool, even the truly stupid ones. That takes some good writing, because sadly many times the truly DUMB characters get anoying fast. Not so here. Now the show is kind of hallow, shallow, and devoid of anything more then joke after joke really. But I feel the crazy characters get me though that. They're not really deep, or very well developed, but their likeable, and you enjoy watching them.

Extras: Full of Win

Commentaries can sometimes be the most boring thing ever, or the best extra feature on the DVD. Luckily for us, the latter is true for this one. Matt Greenfeild the ADR director, and one of the head honchos at then-ADV Films (now Section 23) is main voice you will be hearing. And he actually talks in debth about the this very shallow show, and explaisn the dubbing process. His wife, and voice actor Tiffany Grant (who has an important role in this) joins him. And he tried to talk matter-of-factly about the show, but he really can't because it's so funny. Ok maybe because I'm a nerd, and fan of Greenfeild, or perhaps because this commentary track is truly funny, either way I found I really enjoyed this.One of the better commentaries out there by far. Not only is it interesting and informative, but it's also very funny. It's like if your up for more laughs after watching the show, put this on to kill another hour. Now it's not as good as his commentary on "Puni Puni Poemy" but it's still very good. (In the commentary for "Puni Puni Poemy" he tries to talk about the show, but CAN'T because the entire cast is there with him, and everyone is constantly saying something laugh out loud funny. This constant struggle between Greenfeild trying to talk in debth about another very shallow show, and everyone just goofing on the show is really an undrescrible listen. It's one of my favorites! Very enjoyable. In fact funny/more interesting then the show its self, at least for that OVA). So in short, give the commentary a listen if your a dub fan. It's one of the better ones out there.

Final Vertic: 8/10

This is a very shallow, and stupid show. But it's also very very funny. It's humor is hard to pin down, and you never know what it's ganna do next. The fantasy setting is a plus, and the characters while, 2 dimensional, are very likeable (even the bad guys and stupid dudes). The dub is one of the best for a comedy, and you will be on the floor with this one. The show may be a little too crazy and fast paced for some, but it's weird nature is something I couldn't help but love. Also Beethoven ending theme for the win! And boobies. First they try and hide them, but then they show all. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but there's boobies.
Yeah...watch this crazy show. It's well worth the price of the DVD.

DVD Look: Nightwalker

2009-12-16T21:47:00.013-05:00

I've always been a huge fan of Gothic Horror. Dark, creepy, and bloody shows have been things that have always interested me. I also love a good vampire story. Now add to that the fact that I enjoy a good mystery or crime drama, and the reason I decided to review this next show should be a no brainer. As the back cover proudly exclaims this "combines urban crime drama and horror motifs". Ah, it's like a show made specifically for my tastes. But I also think this is the type of show that could have a much wider appeal. I ran into this title at my local Blockbuster probally about a year ago now. It was so out of place among the more popular titles avaible for rent there, that I just had to check it out. They only had the second volume, which covers the second half of the 12 episode series, but I didn't mind. This series was easy to get into midway through. I was instantly hooked because episode 7, the first one I saw, is such a strong episode. Since then I've of course bought both volumes, and watched the show a few times through.

The anime series is based off of a PC game by the same name, created by TomBoy. The anime series was produced by AIC, and ran on TV from July to September in 1998. Shido is a vampire, and a private detective living in Japan. He's devoted himself to saving humans, not killing them or turning them to vampires, as the other vampires do. He rocks cool pink hair, and an interesting style of clothing, and hunts "nightbreeds". Nightbreeds are the name for lesser demons in the series, who need to feed on, or control human beings in order to survive. One of Shido's "powers" as a vampire, is he is able to turn his blood into a weapon that can kill or harm nightbreeds. Yayoi is a member of a secret organization designed to investigate cases involving nightbreeds, hunt them down, and destroy them and she often works with Shido to do this. Since he is a vampire, he is very powerful, and can use his many skills to accomplish their goals, and solve the many cases. And Riho Yamazaki is the high school girl who just so happens to work part time as a secretary at Shido's detective agency. At first Riho is blissfully unaware of the dark secrets that are hiding just beneath the surface at this particular detective agency. You see in their world, humans are unaware that vampires and demons exist for the most part. And the reason she ended up working for Shido has to do with him investigating her parents mysterious deaths. Riho starts to develop a bit of crush on Shido, and wishes to help him with his many cases. And although Shido does not want her to get involved in the nightbreed cases, she eventually does many times, and predictably enough she does learns the dark secrets of Shido in due time. And circumstances develop in which a powerful enemy fatally wounds Riho and she must be turned into a vampire, or left to die (I won't spoil how this happens). Of course she chooses the former. The rest of the series follows those three attempting to solve the many crimes involving nightbreeds within the city. Now there's a crap load of demons here for them to find, so we're ganna have to just assume their city has a gateway to hell in it or something, but whatever. I'll buy it. During each case these three (and of course their gremlin little mascot, Guni) must figure out who exactly is the nightbreed (nightbreeds can take control of human beings), or where the nightbreed is, or even if a nightbreed truly is the cause of the problems in the first place (nightbreeds are also sometimes just called "breeds" for short by the way). And this is where the mystery element comes in, as we don't know who or what is the nightbreed, and are guessing along with our friends here. Sure some episodes are not set up like this, and are instead pretty straight forward, in that there is a nightbreed, they know where it is, and must fight or chase after it. And these episodes are very good as well. There is also an overall story that develops involving Cain, the vampire who turned Shido into a vampire in the first place, and is the only one who knows Shido's true past. And Cain becomes the main "bad guy" of the series so to speak. He doesn't care about human beings, and kills many people to satisfy his thirst. Shido and Riho on the other hand drink blood donated by Yayoi, so no one has to die for their survival. And also the series deals with Riho struggling to come to terms with the recent loss of her humanity, her new thirst for blood and dislike for the sun, and the fact that she will outlive all of her friends, classmates at school, and everyone else she knows.

Ok I'll admit there's a lot going on in this series. It even manages to touch on Shido and Riho's relationship (being more then friends, and maybe lovers?) a bit. It's difficult to explain all the different aspects of the show very well. But the series handles each part with expertise, and it's not nearly as complex as it sounds. Each and every episode is different enough as to not get repetitive, and main plot does move along at a great pace. The idea of Shido having to deal with his past with Cain (as his homosexual lover I may add), and also trying to cope with not knowing who he was before he was bitten is quite interesting. And this takes a toll on him, and you can notice this. It's also another stroke of genius to have the only person who has any idea who he was before he became a vampire be Cain himself. The transition of Riho from human to vampire, and her dealing with this is handled very well. It's not angsty or anything, because her one wish is to live forever with Shido, and it seems she can now do that, but it's not exactly "yeah I'm a vampire!! I'm so happy!!" either, and this middle of the road feeling makes a lot of sense. On the one hand she didn't really want to die, and she does want to live with Shido for all time. At yet she doesn't really want to be a vampire, and she misses being able to do many human things. This struggle with her loss of humanity and being a vampire is handled very well and is never forgetten about. She is of course aided by Shido, who tries to help her and guide her when he can. This of course parallels Shido's former relationship with Cain, only he felt humans were nothing but cattle to be used for vampires, while Shido thinks vampires should help humans. Cain made Shido a vampire, and was his mentor, and now Shido has made Riho a vampire, and became her mentor. This is a very interesting way for AIC to handle the series, and I really liked this aspect of the show. And character development for all the major characters, even the little mascot goblin guy, is really well done. They flesh out each and every one of the major characters, and somehow find the time to reveal each of their back stories, and show who Cain really is, all while hunting down nightbreeds or solving cases involving nightbreeds. Kinda amazing they fit all that in there. And many of the mysteries have great twists you won't see coming. (***small spoiler*** ) Hell they manage to reveal the entire back story of one character, and part of another WITHOUT you even noticing this until the very end the episode!! That was a great twist! (***end spoilers***) Even some of the minor characters who manage to stick around a little get some development, which I really liked. However the series probably did try and do a little too much. As some of the "nightbreeds of the week" have very little screen time, so they do seem a little generic. Few of them are really fleshed out. But this is a small problem. A bigger problem is that by the end of the series, the main plot is not really tied up. The series doesn't end with a cliffhanger or anything, but it feels like there's more to tell. It's not bad, but not very satisfying if you want real the main plot to actually come to an end. However I am not bothered much by this, mostly because the last episode is incredibly dramatic, suspenseful, and just very powerful. I know a few people will be bothered by what they do here, but I really loved the way the last episode was handled. Sure they never get to finishing up the main plot, but I'll be alright with that if that means we get an amazing episode like this. And it is a good episode to end the show on. Oh and I probably should mention the first four episode are very odd. Anime News Network notes that the series started as a 4 episode OVA, and then continued as a TV series were the OVA left off. I'm also willing to bet there was a big change in staff between these episodes as well. As the overall tone, style, and content of the show changes significantly (and for the better I may add). While, sadly, the TV series toned down the blood, gore, and violence, the writing really moved up a few notches. The first 4 episodes were very uneven in terms of writing. One would be all right, the next would be kinda bad, and then another episode pretty good. And then we also have the completely uncalled for nudity in one of the episodes. Look I'm not against nudity or anything, but in a series like this, and the way it's done, well it kind felt unneeded and stupid. Also I really liked the change in character design between the first 4 episodes and the rest. Perhaps it's because I started the series at episode 7, so that is what I was used to, but I really like the different character designs much more.

As far as production values go, this is about average for 1998. The animation is pretty good. The artwork is detailed, although very reminiscent of early 90's or even 80's anime. I'm pretty sure this was intentional, as it really goes with the music style which I'll get to in a bit. I really like the style though, and the second character designs are really nice looking. The original character designs manage to make Riho really ugly looking, and I don't like Yayoi's hair at all. But when it was an OVA it seemed to have the budget to really pay attention to what all the minor characters looked like, and so all of the earlier minor characters look a bit better. So it evens its self out I guess, although I'd rather my main characters look good and not worry much about the minor cast. As for the music, it's exceptional. They went with a great jazz inspired background theme, and it really works. If you closed your eyes you'd think you were watching some old crime drama from the 1970's or 1980's, and it's very fitting. The opening theme is distinctive, and the ending theme is very good too. But I really love the background themes! Some themes don't sound like that however, and instead sound like they are straight out of a 80's horror flick. So with the 80's inspired music, I think it's fitting why the art style looks a little 80's inspired. And it's not bad artwork either.

The dub for this was produced at Bang Zoom, in late 1999 and early 2000. And it is a pretty good dub. While not amazing, and it does show it's age a bit, I really found myself enjoying it. The star of the dub is easily Richard Cansino, who plays Shido quite well. He gives that character a distinct feeling, and really understands where he is going with the dub. I should probably also mention that at times Shido narrates the story, filling us in on a few things here and there. And Cansino's narration gives the anime a film noir feeling that's definitely called for and adds to the overall atmosphere. Yayoi is played by Jane Alan. At times Alan does not seem like she's giving it her all; it's a little disappointing. She just didn't seem enthusiastic enough at certain times, and at others like she wasn't sure what she should be doing or how she should be saying it. Luckily for most of the anime she's not like this, and does a wonderful job. She fit her character very well. I probably shouldn't be so harsh on her. Riho is played by Dorothy Elias-Fahn who does a really good job. She gives her character just enough spunk, youthfulness, and playfulness to fit Riho. And she knows when to tone down the happy-go-lucky side of herself when needed. Also I MUST apploud her for her work in the final episode (don't worry no spoilers). As I already alluded to it's quite a dramatic episode, and I thought she handled it perfectly. She did a truly great job. Now why couldn't she be this good in Vampire Princess Miyu?? Cain is played by Lex Lang, and he's not bad. But I really thought he could have been better. Sandy Fox plays Guni, and I'm assuming they pitched her voice up a bit here. I thought the way they made her sound fit Guni well, and that she was quite good as well. I liked how the main cast here was filled with lesser known actors, and on the whole I liked how different this dub sounded then many other LA dubs of the time. Many of the episidic characters are voiced by better known actors however, like Michelle Ruff, Mona Marshall, and Wendee Lee. And they of course do a good. job. But again many of the other minor characters are played by lesser-known actors, and they too go a good job. So in short, this is a dub worth checking out. Although it's not really too impressive or anything. It is however a rare LA dub from CPM, since they usually stuck to New York City, so I do find that interesting.

This anime is very well done. It has a great fleshed out main cast, an interesting story, and decent dub. The production values are good, and it's an interesting mix of genres. If you plan on buying this on DVD, watch out for the dub-only release Central Park Media released (if you don't want that version that is). I own the 2 volume release from 2004, and it has both an English and Japanese track, along with one extra. The extra feature is a comparison of the storyboard to the finished product and it's on both DVDs. This was a nice little extra, that they really didn't need to add on. However I do wish there was something more, like a behind the scenes look at the dub, or a commentary or something. But hey I'll take whatever extra they throw at me. The small problems with the show, make me subtract an entire star from my rating, but I still highly recommend this title. It's an under watched gem that could really catch on in my opinion. Vampire fans rejoice, this one doesn't suck!

Prede's Raiting
4/5 Stars

DVD Look: Domain of Murder

2009-12-15T21:16:00.002-05:00

For my next review, I've decided to review a little known OVA, Hello Hedgehog: Domain of Murder . I found out about this anime by reading Justin Sevakis's "Buried Treasure" review of it. He made it seem interesting, and I always like a good mystery, so I went ahead and bought it. It was really cheap too. Sevakis's review of it raised the price of the DVD a couple of dollars, but I still got it for $5.00 with shipping. You can now find it on Amazon for under $2.00, and Robert's Anime Corner has a ton of them for sale, and I'm sure you can find it elsewhere. I'm very glad I bought this, as for only 5 bucks it was well worth it. Overall I quite enjoyed it. It was a refreshing mature detective drama, something I'd expect to watch as a movie or live action series, not an anime. The OVA is based off of the best selling seinen manga series, "Hello Hedgehog" by Kenshi Hirogane . Kenshi Hirogane is also behind another mature, and rather unknown series Human Crossing.

Domain of Murder is an OVA from 1992, by studio Deen that clocks in around 52 minutes long. The story starts with Detective Goro (nicknamed "Hedgehog" due to his hair) being asked to find some women's long lost husband. The man ran away from home years ago, and she thought he was dead. However recently she discovered a wanted poster with his face on it. This women wants Goro to find her husband, so she can talk to him once more, before he gets arrested. It's a rather odd request, but Goro accepts it. Of course he has no idea where to start, and doesn't think he can find the man. If the entire police force can't find it, why could he right? Well Goro heads to the other side of Japan, and finds out the man is wanted for murder. He discovers some clues here and there, and meets two people who end up helping him. One is the bartender of the place the murder happened at, and the other is a police officer, and old friend of the missing husband. Overall the story plays out well, and the mystery is great. However there are some problems with the plot that need to be addressed. I wouldn't go as far as calling them plot holes, but there are some real problems with the story. Many things that unfold are very unlikely, which is normally a little forgivable in an anime, but I'll hold them to it for this, since they are trying to be very realistic. One example is toward the end of the anime, the police make mistake after mistake. Not to spoil anyone, but pay attention to the decisions the police make when they are at the amusement park. If the police acted this way in real life, they would get fired. Because of their bad choices they put many people's lives in danger. If they only acted, everyone could have came out of this alive, but instead they would rather risk the lives of a couple people. The part in the story where the husband kills the man in the bar needed to be explained more as well. As this is, it doesn't make complete sense yet. More time should have been spent in that flashback to make us understand exactly what happened. And the car crash scene seems very illogical. It just doesn't make sense how that scene plays out. So besides a few problems with the plot, it is actually a pretty good OVA.

As far as the animation goes, I enjoyed it. I found it above average for 1992. The backgrounds are detailed and do a decent job of showing us Japan circa 1992. It didn't blow me away, but I did like it a lot. The character designs are great as well. They go for a more "normal" look, so no big eyes or exaggerated expressions. It works though as all the characters look like real people and seem very original. They are highly detailed and look great overall. OK so it may not be the best looking thing ever made, but you can tell the budget for this was pretty high. The music is alright, but nothing stood out for me. I'm not sure why CPM went back and dubbed this for the DVD, years after they released it sub-only, but I'm glad they did ! The dub is top of the line. All the characters are spot on. Michael Sinterniklaas directed this, and also played the lead character, Goro, and he does a great job. He makes Goro feel like a real person, like Goro exists out there somewhere. All the other characters are well cast, and do a great job overall. Caroline Hellman is alright as the Bar Tender, but there are some awkward lines here and there from her. She is funny when she is drunk though, so that is a plus. Dan Green plays two roles in this, and does a great job as always. Addie Blaustein plays one of the detectives at Goro's agency and she does a good job as well. Overall it's a great dub, but it sort of feels wasted on such an unknown title.

Being such an old and niche title, I wasn't expecting much with the the special features on this one. There really is nothing worth mentioning on the DVD. Overall the anime is pretty interesting. There are some problems with the plot, but I have to agree with Sevakis, that they are forgivable seeing how rare to see an anime like this make it to the US. The animation and dub are very good, but the music is not the best ever. It's a good detective drama, well worth the couple bucks for the DVD and I suggest it to anyone interested in mysteries. You can't go wrong with the price it's going for anyway.

Prede's Review

3.5/5 Stars

DVD Look: Cyber City

2009-12-14T02:43:00.034-05:00

Yoshiaki Kawajiri has directed a number of titles, but I think perhaps this is my favorite so far. Kawajiri is famous for directing Ninja Scroll, the Highlander anime, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and a number of other titles over the years. Once upon a time he had quite the fan following the US, but now he is barely mentioned. Perhaps someone will talk about Ninja Scroll and mention his name in passing but that's about it. Anyway Kawajiri is (was?) known for ultraviolent, dark, and edgy series. And this is not a diversion from such titles. Kawajiri tends to focus in on the action, and likes to deal with very flawed characters sometimes. Again he sticks to his roots here.

Cyber City, also known as Cyber City Oedo 808 is a action/science fiction OVA series with 3 episodes. The animation was done by Madhouse Studios in 1990, it was written by Akinori Endo , and Central Park Media released it stateside on VHS and later DVD. Manga Entertainment released the VHS in the UK. Anyway it is about a couple of criminals who are given a chance to get out of prison, . Of course it's not a get out of jail free card, it's never that easy is it? They must work for it, and work hard they shall. They must perform a number of missions for the government, and for each mission they accomplish a few years are taken off their insanely long sentences (one of the characters has a whopping 375 years left to serve at the start of the series). You see these aren't any old convicts, they are terrible terrible human beings, who committed more crimes then they can remember. Murder, theft, Assault, Jaywalking it's all there...wait. The city government needs more police, so hey why not take the worst scum, and make them work for good for a change right? And hey since they are criminals themselves perhaps they can deal with cracking down on crime just from experience. And maybe they will have an advantage to dealing with criminals since they'll know all their tricks and can use them against them. These specific guys are chosen because of how tough they are, and how good they are at what they do. So yeah your dealing with MANLY men here (ok well not really with Benten...but he's a true enigma). The story takes place in year 2808, where there are super skyscrapers, space elevators, and more sci-fi gadgets to play around with then your local Radio Shack has. These convicts must join up with the "cyber police" the police force of this futuristic city, and fight criminals, track down bad guys, or do whatever else they are ordered to do. And to make sure these criminals don't just run off the first chance they get, they are all forced to wear a collars around theire necks, that could blow up at one push of a button. If this setup sounds familiar to you, that's probably because it's basically lifted straight out of John Carpenter's Escape from New York. But hey it's a great concept, so sometimes you just gata screw originality.

And although the series focuses on action, it's not afraid to get a little psychological at times. I'm not going to lie to you and claim this is as deep as "Neon Genesis Evangelion" or anything, but there is some real substance here, and that does surprise me a bit. Yes this somehow manages to be a character study. A rather interesting one too I may add. The three main convicts are; Sengoku Syunsuk, arguably the main character and the token smart ass who's good with a gun, Gabimaru "Gogul" Rikiya the big tough looking hacker, who's best weapon is his own mind, and finally Benten Yanagawa, a rather eccentric character I still can't put my finger on. As the series progresses it becomes apparent one episode will be devoted to each character, and I rather liked this format. A major point of the series is dealing with who these criminals are and how they interact with others. And although we never learn too much, it does give us great insight into who these people are, why they are criminals, and why they are so screwed up. This is perhaps Cyber City's deepest aspects. Although this does get brushed aside many times for more focus on the great action scenes, you have to respect the attempt. And the action scenes were some great stuff too I may add. But of course, on the large this is a shallow, yet fun action series. I did enjoy the fact that some deeper issues are at least dealt with a little bit. The action scenes are very crazy, exciting, and very well done. They are very violent, bloody and well choreographed. The action scenes have a style to them only Kawajiri can really pull off, and they are very fun! Oh and of course they are extremely over the top, but you figured that out that by now didn't you? Another strong point of the series is the interactions between the three main characters, and between their boss Hasagawa. Many a time Hasagawa will order them to do something, the characters will say that it is clearly impossible, and Hasagawa just won't give a damn. He demands it to be done, and so he sets their collars to blow up in only an hour's time! "Get to it boys!" He'll say. He's never interested in what these guys have to say, and they always try and get back at him with little smart remarks when they can. The way the three main convicts play off each other is also interesting. The characters bickering and bantering never manages to get old. Benten is usually the butt of Sengoku's jokes, and the way Benten re-acts is usually very funny. A great example of this is when Benten must slowly try and get down a hallway that's rigged with a top of the line security system. He has to slowly make his way down the hallway, and avoid tripping any of the sensor lasers and activating the system. He also has to avoid being killed by the lasers because when they kill whoever they hit. Sengoku is told to try and find away around the system, and when he does, he is told to go ahead and try and complete the mission without Benten. When he manages to do everything on his own and come out, he sees Benten and yells "That's as close as you GOT? Well nevermind..." Cleary he's screwing with Benton here. The way this all happened made me fall off my seat. It was really hilarious. Gogul is usally the more reasonable one of the three, and tells one of them not to run off and do something because it may get them killed, so of course the ignore him and go do it anyway! Hah these three sure understand the basics of teamwork don't they? It's a miracle they don't all die. The many missions these characters go on for the city are never as straight forward as Snake Plissken's quest to retrieve the President in Escape from New York. Each mission is very unique, and pushed to their absolute limits. For example the first episodes mission requires Sengoku to save 50,000 people held hostage in a super-skyscraper. Yeah they don't screw around. Not 500, not 5,000, but 50,000 people are at risk here. And that's really how big the building is too. This is the strongest episode in the series, although each episode has it's own little charm. And all the missions are very over the top in style. Again this is probably intentional, and they're never really campy. The series is very dark, gloomy, and a little depressing at times. But this is countered with a great sense of humor, that relies on dark comedy, and never failed to get me to laugh.

As for the artwork in this series, it's VERY well detailed for a 1990 production. This was perhaps top of the line animation and artwork of this era. So there's very little to complain about. This is probably as good as it gets for early 90's anime, so do enjoy. The art style is done in a gloomy, depressing style. But it may be a little too gloomy at times. The color palette is filled with dark blues, something Kawajiri seems to really like and this adds to the sci-fi feeling the show has going for it. Backgrounds are very well detailed and show off the futuristic skylines very well. I really liked the style of the character designs here. They are very flashy, futuristic, and yet still look like real human beings. The 4 main characters each look VERY distinct. You would never confuse these guys for any other anime characters out there, and instantly know what show they are from when you see them. All the minor characters are well done too, and a lot of thought went into each and every one. The characters are never cluttered, but still drawn in great detail. Some of the female characters do look a bit boring when compared to your regular hot anime chick, but they do have realistic bodies and faces, so you really can't complain. The the animation is fluid, never choppy, and always moving. As I said high quality production here. The fight scenes really show off what Madhouse can do, and they look amazing.

As for the music, this has a very futuristic-rock type of music thing going on. And I really liked the distinct style of music used. From the hard rock opener, to the more techno inspired background themes everything seems to work quite well. While not something you'll really want to listen to outside of the show, it is some really good music. Each theme helps to complement each scene and I liked how different the music in this sounded then in most anime. While not a favorite soundtrack of mine or anything, it's still very good. I should probably also mention that for the UK release Manga UK produced their own original soundtrack. While I have not watched the show with this soundtrack on (sadly it's not included in the CPM DVDs, they only have the original soundtrack), I have heard clips of it. And it is also a great soundtrack. I really liked the different tone they gave the music as well, although I do think that the original Japanese soundtrack is a little better. Still this has a very nice 80's pop/techno style that's fitting for this type of show, although it does kind of age the show more then the original soundtrack. As far as the dub goes, well it's incredbly good. This was dubbed in the mid 90's so for that time period, to get this good of a dub is really something else. It blows my mind that this dub came out so long ago, because it could hold up well against dubs coming out today. Sure it's not perfect, there are some problems of course. But the style and way in which it was done feels very much like a post 2000 dub. Ok so it may not be the best dub you ever heard, but for this time period I dare you to find something better. This was really an all around good dub.Michael Bakewell directed this for Manga UK, so it's really no surprise when you think about it. He also directed the dubs on A Wind Named Amnesia ( a past review), and Dominion Tank Police which were both also quite good. The dub for this is filled with so much profanity that it makes the dub on Black Lagoon seem tame. The F-word is used in between as many words as possible, and somehow this all works. I mean they are all criminals after all. I don't want to listen to them talk like preschoolers or preists. And all the other curse words you love are there, and probably a few you've never even heard of. And this just works perfectly. It's very similar to the dub on Gantz, for example and I must say it does help give this show the edge it needs. I don't know if I'd enjoy this show this much if not for the epic dub. The amount of cursing, and the funny way they all curse really helps make this dub a winner in my eyes.

Bruce Martin plays Sengoku, who curses the most out out of the three. And many times it's laugh out loud funny the things he says. This is intentional humor, and you gatta love it. Bruce Martin has some great one liners. The way he says certain lines like, "Now then young man, it's far to late for a little man like you to be out on his own. It's way past your bead time Mother F*cker!" always manage to crack me up. Ok so maybe I have the sense of humor of a 13 year old, but really this never gets old for me. Also keep your ears open for his answer to why he can't take some girl out for dinner at the end of the first episode. That's the funniest line in the entire show. And Martin pulls this off perfectly. Bruce Martin has just enough gruff in his voice to make his character sound right, and just enough youthfulness that comes out that really gives his character some flavor. He always knows what feeling to put behind his lines, and doesn't have a bad line in the entire series. He's at top of his game. Sean Barrett, who I'll always remember as Lieutenant Britain from Dominion Tank Police, plays Gogul and he is also quite good. Sure one or two lines are a little awkward, but really he's almost always great. He plays these older, bigger, and more in charge type characters well in my opinion, so he fits right in here. He has a little older sounding voice, that's very gruffy (like he's been smoking and drinking too much), and it really fits the character. His acting is very good most of the time as well. Daniel Flynn plays Benten, and really does a perfect job at this. Benten is just a little eccentric, very sarcastic, and always thinking about something deeply. Flynn could have easily not thought much about this however, and just given the guy a crazy, weird voice. But no, he's very genuine here and sounds like a real person you'd meet on the street. He's very good with the dry wit and sarcasm, and has a freshness in his voice that you can't miss. He's a very good actor and also never gives a bad line. Hasegawa is played by Bob Sherman, and he is perhaps the weakest part of this dub. A few of his lines from time to time sound awkward, and some things he says do not have the right feeling behind them at times. But again let me point out he's not terrible, he's not bad, he's not even mediocre. He's very good. It's just he's not always perfect. As I said, the dub was excellent, and nothing he does is really bad or anything like that. He's just not perfect all the time. I did like his firm voice, and some of his lines came off with a bit of style that really fit his character. Anyway, the dub is a very high quality 90's dub, that I think many would enjoy. Just note, there's more curses in this then most anime out there, so if you have a problem with that beware. However it's a mature show so it's very fitting. A few people may actually dislike the dub because of all the added cursing not in the original script. It is a little liberal, but I thought it made perfect sense and fit the series. I wouldn't want these characters to speak politely and cursing really helps to bring out the fact that yes, these are criminals and they just don't give a damn. Sure perhaps they go overboard with it a little, but they seemed to have had a lot of fun here with the dub. And I liked it a lot. Again, having the sense of humor of a 13 year old might help you enjoy this one more. (For a sample clip of the dub, click here. I think this is legal, as it's only a sample clip. Please do buy the DVDs if you like what you hear though.)

To tie this all up let me say I really enjoyed Cyber City. My only real beaf with it is the last two episodes were not as strong as the first. Action series are very hit or miss with me, and this was a big hit. The characters are very interesting, the action scenes are well done, and it's got great animation. Music was great, and the dub was amazing for it's time. However it does feel kinda shallow, even though it deals heavily with its characters. And although its a very fun show, I'm not sure I can give it the full 5 stars just because of that. Still its a solid action/sci-fi series that shouldn't be forgetten. So don't think that 4.5 stars means it has some big problems, because it really doesn't. This is a favorite action series of mine, although I admit it isn't perfect. Oh and don't let CPM's ugly DVD cases scare you away from this one. Sadly there were not many pictures avaible for such an old show, so they had to use what they had on hand, and it doesn't look good at all. The covers to their box set and DVDs are not CPM's best work. They make the show look cheesey, corny and kinda lame. Which it's not really any of those. Their worst offense is the last DVD in the set which really screams "Chesey vampires of the future and girly cops too!". Ugh...But I do forgive them, because they put a lot of work into this show. And really who else would have touched a show like this? There's only one real extra, but it's very good. It's the director's commentary by Kawajiri himself, and it's very interesting. It's nice to learn that Cyber City was originally going to be a single OVA, but it's instant popularity in Japan made sure they had to make 2 more episodes. Anyway give this old school show a shot, you may find you like it as well!

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5 Stars

DVD Look: Silent Service

2009-12-13T03:32:00.004-05:00

Silent Service is a made for TV movie, created by Sunrise that originally aired in Japan in 1996. It was originally released on DVD by CPM in late 2003. It was later re-released in 2005 and that is the version I have. I found out about this anime by reading some general reviews of it (which were mostly positive). It seemed aimed at a more mature audience, and the character designs just grabbed me. So I bought it off of Rightstuf. You can still get it there for under $8.00. Well worth the price if you ask me.

This movie is about the most advanced nuclear submarine in the world, The Sea Bat, and how it is used to call to attention the distrust of the Japanese by the American Government. I won't spoil how he does this as it's very dramatic, but to understand the main point of the movie you must first learn how the submarine came to be. The Sea Bat was made as a secret project between the Japanese and American Governments, and Kaieda was considered the most qualified person to pilot the sub (much to the disappointment of his long time friend and fellow sub captain Fukumachi). But despite Kaieda's years of loyalty to the Japanese, he betrays everyone and uses the Sub for his own crazy plot. He ignores orders and seemingly takes the most advance sub on the planet out for a joy ride, instead of finishing the test run. Kaieda then surprises everyone by declaring his sub an independent nation, named Yamato! This causes riffs in the ties between the American and Japanese governments, and sets up some of the most interesting and suspenseful submarine battles ever animated! You will look on in awe and disbelieve on every new technique Kaieda uses to outsmart and outfight the U.S. Navy (it's entire Pacific Fleat) and at times Japan's SDF Navy. The plot plays out very well and eventually Fukumachi and his little sub get involved. During this movie you will probably find yourself cheering for Kaieda, even if you don't really side with him, I know I was. He's a very charismatic character, despite his flaws. And he is 100% full of himself, in a Light from "Death Note" kind of way. He is sure what he is doing is right, and he is sure that it will make a better world. The ends justify the means to this man, and despite all his intellect he can't see that what he is doing may be wrong. His crew would follow him into the gates of Hell if that is what he commanded, and it's understandable why. The intellectual battle between Kaieda and his crew, and the multiple enemies they faces is nothing but thrilling! However at times it does feel very over the top, and could even be a little silly. But it never takes away from the enjoyment of the show. A main theme of the movie is iinternational geopolitics, and it is all very well thought out. Although not all of it is realistic (as another reviewer pointed out, The President of the United States threatens to declare war, but it is in fact Congress that must declare war), it is still very well grounded in reality. So overall the plot is very layered, very complex, and very exiting! Although it takes a few minutes to really get good, I was on the edge of the seat with this one. The twists and turns and crazy outlandish plot devices make this a great unique watch. it's a very strong show overall, with great directing, but a bit of weak writing here and there (I place the blame of the source material personally).

The character designs attracted me to this movie, and they don't disappoint. All the characters look very good. I like the style they are done in. While some designs on the minor characters may seem a little too much like other characters from the show, the main crew look very distinctive. They are drawn very realistically, and all are highly detailed. And an odd thing about this anime is whenever a character is introduced (and damn it they keep introducing new ones up to the very end) there is a little note on-screen note telling you their name and rank. It's an interesting way to introduce characters, and for an anime with this large a cast and this short a time, it's helpful in keeping the "who's who again?" straight. The backgrounds are great as well. The color palette may be a little too dull for some, but I liked it. For 1996 this is very well done overall, and it aged great. The animation is fluid and scream big budget. The background music is decent, but forgettable.

The dub for this is also another strong point. It was dubbed in New York City, although I am not sure what studio. The show acts much like a live action war movie would, and the actors seem to understand that very well. Although a few of the minor characters performances are a little iffy, everyone else does a great job. B. H. O'Neill captures Captian Kaieda's almost-stuck-up personalty perfectly. He makes the character sound very strong. Whenever he talks it's like listening to wisdom, and almost-arrogance incarnate. And he also makes you like the guy, which a real feat in and of itself. Maurizio Peppicelli does an overall good job as Fukumachi, although I think some of his lines come off with the wrong feeling behind them. Like he wasn't sure exactly what emotion he was trying to display. But he's usually quite good. The President of the United States (Nicholas J. Bennett) is played by Robert Jones, and he fits the character. In fact all the characters are cast well, and there are few if any weak points overall.

So to summarize, this movie is very original, very thrilling, fast paced, and incredibly suspenseful. And it's also so over the top at times it's a little funny. But that doesn't subtract from the fact that it's a great movie, with good production values. The plot is a little convoluted, but it's forgivable seeing how exciting this is. Well worth the price of the DVD!

Prede's Raiting
3/5 Stars

Petite Princess Yucie

2009-12-09T23:15:00.015-05:00

I'll let it be known upfront I am not a big fan of "magical girl" shows. Although I used to watch Sailor Moon when it aired on TV, I never really got into it. And although I watched some of Cardcaptors, when it aired on TV I really really hated it. So yeah was never big on the magical girl genre. I mean really a bunch of girls with magical powers, fighting bad guys with secret identities? Really? The power of love and good intentions defeating evil with ease, and lots of girly stuff abound. I think I'll pass. I am a dude after all. Besides it felt like after a few episodes everything was the same. All the episodes were practically about the girls going out, fighting the bad guy of the week, using magic, and getting a magical thing back or something. Substitute one bad guy for another and each episode was practically the same. But there were two series, I first watched years ago, that opened my eyes to the entire genre. Two series that proved to me that not all "magical girl" shows are about that stuff, and really both just blew me away. One of them is Princess Tutu ( a future review) which is still talked about a lot today. It got a lot of great reviews from critics, and fans have a lot of respect for it. But the other show I saw seems to have (sadly) fallen into obscurity, despite being created by Gainax. And honestly I like it even more then Princess Tutu. That show is none other then Petite Princess Yucie.

Petite Princess Yucie started as a video game series, aptly named Princess Maker. These video games, also by Gainax, are about creating a character, finding clothes for her, and getting her jobs and such. The goal is for you to keep working your character up the career ladder, until you reach a prestigious job, or fall from the ranks and end up in a dead end job or something. The game even includes such jobs as prostitute and crime, so I don't really think they are for children. The game is famous for having over 70 different types of endings. Quite a feat in the early 90's when they were released. However the anime is free from anything risque, adult, mature, or graphic in nature. It seems to have taken the basic themes of games, and turned it into a true magical girl anime that could be watched by anyone (and it should be watched by everyone!). This is the perfect series to watch with children, but adults will like it too. The anime was created in 2002 and directed by Masahiko Otsuka. Otsuka is a veteran of Gainax Studios, but this is his first time directing something on his own, although he has co-directed many titles before. And I must say he has his own style, and helps make this series become something very special. In some ways it's very different then a regular Gainax series, but in other ways its deeply rooted in their style. Anyway, I do hope to see more series directed by the man, because he is quite talented.

As for the story, although nothing completely groundbreaking, it is very good. The setting is a standard "sword and sorcery" fantasy realm, and I really thought that gave the series a nice touch. There are dragons, mystical creatures, fairies and who knows what else out there. The show revolves around Yucie, a 17 year old girl, who's stopped growing at age 10. Yucie wants nothing more then to age like a normal girl, so people will take her seriously. This is very understandable, I mean everyone takes one look at her and thinks she's a child, not some older teenager. And I doubt many people would believe her, if she told them her real age. But she has another reason why she wants to be normal. When she was a young girl, she was saved by a little boy but never got the chance to thank him. By now he would be grown up, but she still looks like a little kid. She wants to properly thank the boy, and feels she can only do so if she looks her age. She also seemed to have developed a bit of a crush on the boy, even though she would never admit this. And what kind of a proper relationship could he have with a girl that looks like she's 10!? Yucie ends up being thrown into this whole "Platinum Princess Candidate" thing going on at the town. Whoever can find something in the castle can become a Platinum Princess Candidate, and Yucie sees a light at the top of the castle, and she's instantly drawn to it. When she makes her way to the light, she finds the Queen of the castle there, and she celebrates the fact that Yucie will become a Platinum Princess Candidate. It is revealed that once every thousand years a group of girls are chosen to be candidates, and one of them will eventually become the Platinum Princess, will be given the Eternal Teairra, and granted one wish. Luck (or faith) was on Yucie's side it seems. Perhaps she can get her wish to become an adult at last!

Yucie must go to the castle's own Princess Academy, and learn how to become a proper princess. At this school she slowly meets her rivals, and it becomes clear that the Platinum Princess Candidates must grow their hearts if they are to become the true Platinum Princess. As the main cast is slowly revealed we noticed that they all stopped growing at age ten. The first girl introduced is the quiet and friendly Miss Cocoloo. Cocoloo is the princess from the Spirit World. Next we have Miss Glenda, the fiery and competitive princess from the Demon World. And we also have Elmina, the stoic Princess of Heaven. Yucie and her rivals must go on jobs in which they must accomplish tasks for the townsfolks, or help them with errands, or merely babysit little children. These jobs are designed to not only help their hearts grow, but to also learn what it means to be a real princess, and become a generally good person. Each of these episodes have the girls work together to accomplish a goal, and toward the end they all learn an important less. And the lessons are never after-school special lame either. The girls, despite being rivals quickly become friends. Even though they know only one of them may get their wish, and so there may be some hardships to overcome in the future. In between these jobs, the girls must also collect the "fragments" of the Eternal Tiara, which are each in one of the many worlds (Human World, Heaven, Spirit World, etc). These episodes are usually quite light hearted, cute, and very fun to watch. There is some really funny moments in the early episodes. And despite the pattern, none of this is repetive and all of these episodes tend to move the plot along quite nicely. The series continues in this pattern until another main character is introduced (don't worry I won't spoil much). In which after this character is introduced the jobs and fragment collecting finishes up, and eventually the series heads toward a very dramatic conclusion. The last arch of this anime is quite dark, sad, and has a lot of drama. And although I loved the cute opening episodes, these last few are my favorite. The series deals with some really sad things, and although it never becomes depressing you may want to have a few tissues nearby just incase. The second to last episode is very powerful, and it's ganna hit you in the heart. There is a very beautiful and heart wrenching scene at the very end of that episode that probably will make the tears start flowing. And I really loved how the show concluded, although I suspect many will not like the ending. But I think many will enjoy the fact that every single thing is explained before it ends. And just enough back story and interlinkings of plot exists to make everyone happy. And luckily for us everything is resolved and it does end. Although I'd love to see another season of this great show. Please Ganiax? Use some of that Gurren Lagann money you guys got.

The series has many strong points, one of them being the interactions between the characters. It's just great to watch these girls become friends, and bump heads with each other along the way. I really enjoyed watching Glenda and Elmina fight with each other. The two girls are clearly friends, but they won't admit it. Glenda would usually say something about another girl not being up to her level, in a joking tone, and Elmina would always manage to turn it around on her, making Glenda seem like the butt of her own joke. Some of Elmina's lines are priceless, and since she speaks in an almost emotionless manor, it makes them even better. Since they are both princesses of the demon world and heaven respectively, it makes sense why the two fight a lot. They seem to always be at odds with each other, but manage to come together when the moment calls for it. Another thing I really liked to watch was the close friendship between Yucie and Cocoloo. And hearing Glenda joke that Yucie is a "brat" and that she's a "fantastic" and "elegant" princess never gets old. And surprisingly all the main characters evolve and change. The character development was handled quite well, and even the supporting cast changes somewhat. Each of the girls have a "steward", who helps them along their ways, and all of the girls fathers make an appearance. And of course a series like this would not be complete without a Prince as a love interest (although he may or may not turn out to be a surprise)Perhaps my favorite example of this is Glenda changing, which is clearly shown with a fight scene toward the end of the series (I'll be vague in order to avoid spoilers). Since she is from the Demon World, she has magical powers, and when she fights someone later on you can't help but feel for her. You notice how she changed and became a truly better person, caring for others more then herself. This fight was really a defining point in her evolution and I just LOVE that scene. And let me say this is one of the few series out there where I like each and every character. All the characters are interesting, unique, likable, and never annoying.

Another strength of the show is the many themes it deals with. And for this type of show it is actually quite deep. The show asks us what it truly means to grow up. Because Yucie and the others have aged, at least internally. But at times they still act like children, and their youthful bodies help to keep them young. This may be a metaphor for young adults. On one hand they look like children, but on the other hand they are mature enough to be considered adults. It's like they are trapped in between phases, in between ages. Just like the girls here, they don't fit in with the adults, but on the other hand can't relate well to the children. And their youthful appearance helps to keep them young and active. The series also deals with friendship in great detail. What does it truly mean to be ones friend? And how much do you really care about these people you label as your friend? Throughout life we will have many rivals and will bump heads many a time with them. But can we still be friends with them, despite fighting over something very dear to us? Petite Princess Yucie has a lot to say about that as well. And the series also deals with father-daughter relationships. I'm sure many fathers and daughters out there will get a lot more out of this aspect then me, but I did find it very touching and sweet. OK so this series may not come up with a new philosophy on life, or delve into quantum physics or anything like that. The plot is not overly complicated or complex either. And it doesn't dissect it's characters in classic Anno style either (although he was the supervisor on this series!). But it's certainly not some shallow throw away show either. It's not at all fluff. It has a real heart, and the story can move you and make a real impact on the viewer. To me that is a sign of good storytelling.

As for the visuals, well this is Ganiax after all, so expect some impressive stuff. For a TV series the artwork is very well detailed. It's colorful, light, and beautiful at times. The backgrounds help to give this a "fantasy" feeling, by detailing the towns, hills, valleys, and castles really well. The non-human worlds are also quite distinct, and not exactly what you'd picture. But they work quite well. Gainax seems to have ignored their other more common styles (FLCL style and Nadia style), and went with a more standard magical girl style that obviously is very fitting. Character designs are all cute, with big eyes and colorful hair styles. However the series style of characters does look different enough to help it stand out among other series. It should also be noted that AIC co-produced this with Gainax, so perhaps that's one reason why this looks so different then their other stuff. The animation is always great, and I doubt anyone would ever have a problem with it. All in all the series looks really great when everything is together. Well animated, light and colorful color palette, and great character designs. It may look a little too cute and childish for some, but I like the style.

As for the music in thsi anime, I found it to be above average. The opening is cute and fluffy, and really never fails to put a smile on my face. It has become a real favorite of mine! The background themes don't really stand out on their owns, but they are very fitting and I did really like them. There's one insert song toward the end of the series that I loved (and it's song by the English Dub actors as well who do an amazing job by the way), and the second to last episode plays a slightly different version of the opening theme that works really well with the final scene there. The ending theme is fitting, and more quiet then the opening. And it's also another good song. As for the dub, I really loved it! There's nothing anyone could ever find wrong with it. ADV gave this title to their studio in Austin, Texas to dub. Austin's studio was named Monster Island, and frankly I'm kind of sad they didn't dub more titles. Because Petite Princess Yucie was quite a dub. It's a very fresh, and expertly acted dub, with a great script and perfect casting. Rachel Rivera plays the lead, Yucie, and she does a great job. She makes Yucie quite adorable at times. You just can't help but root for Yucie, and part of that is because of Rachel Rivera's great performance. Cocoloo is played by Monika Bustamante, who has a really unique voice and helps makes the character Cocoloo come to life. Really, it's hard to imagine anyone else play that character. She has Cocoloo's quiet nature down pat, and sounds just a little strange, but not at all weird. So Cocoloo. It's hard to play the balancing act here between just a little weird, yet kind and warm, and also very quiet. But Bustamante handles this like a veteran. Kelley Huston plays Glenda, and her voice really suits the character well. She captures Glenda's more passionate side with ease. She knows exactly how to get worked up about something, and can say her little catch phrases perfectly. She always manages to get a laugh out of me. But she also knows when to tone her character down, and when Glenda's sweeter side is being shown is when Hutson really can shine. Elmina is played by Leigh Anderson Fisher, who mangaes to get her almost-emotionless state of being down pat. She can make Elmina sound distant, but not cold, monotone but still caring, and even can subtely change her tone of voice just enough for when Elmina is joking around that it sounds perfect (but never too much as to give Elmina too much emotion. After all angels in this anime are almost emotionless, stoic, and always calm or firm sounding). I must also commend David Jones, who plays Glenda's father, the Demon King.I have to say this guy is really good. He should move to Houston ASAP! I want him in more dubs! The Demon King is not at all evil, although he is a demon, so he must still sound powerful. And David Jones gets this. The Demon King really cares for his daughter with all his heart, and is always bossed around by her. David Jones does a great job at making the Demon King powerful, silly, and a little over the top, all which fit his character to a T. But he never crosses the line into annoying, which was probably hard to do. This is quite the contrast from his previous role, the cold hearted and evil Gargoyle from Nadia: Secret of Blue Water. Another role in which I really enjoyed him in. The supportive and episodic characters are all very well cast, and do a very good job as well. And almost none of the cast is recognizable There are practically no long time veterans, or fan favorite voice actors here. And so it all sounds very fresh, very new, and it stands out among the hordes of generic sounding dubs which have become the norm. This is a keeper.

So is the show perfect? Well for this type of show I would say just about. There are very few if any problems I can find with this show. Not many flaws overall. Perhaps they waste too much time early on with the light hearted stuff? And maybe it's a bit too episodic in the beginning? But I find that those episodes did add to the story, and they were never repetitive. And the early episodes are vital for fleshing out and introducing the main characters. So perhaps the biggest flaw in the show is being in the magical girl genre to begin with. Not because I personally dislike the genre, but because many will dismiss it just because of that. Which is really quite a shame because the show is worth a look at. In fact I specifically recommend this show to those who say they dislike magical girl shows. They may find that in Petite Princess Yucie, they finally have a magical girl show in which they can say they enjoyed. Ok so it probally won't change your life, but the story is very good, the characters are likeable, and it's very well done. And it's a very powerful story with a real heart. And sometimes that's just enough.

This anime is not for everyone. It's very cute, sweet, and at its heart it is a magical girl show. I mean the girls do have tranformation sequences, the show is about retrieving magical shards. Many people do not want these things in their anime, so I don't know if they would enjoy this. But it's also about growing up, and learning to love your friends and family. And it is a very powerful story. But if there's just one magical girl show you must check out, let it be Petite Princess Yucie. The show could easily be enjoyed by those that are not big fans of magical girl shows, and you will enjoy the very powerful story it has tell. One with a real heart, great characters, and great production values. It's very sad at times, but instead of focusing on only that emotion the series has you laugh along with the characters, get scared with them, get exited together, and finally grow with them. You may cry along with them, but on the large it is a very uplifting story that I cannot recommend enough. Are you manly enough to watch Petite Princess Yucie?

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5Stars

School Days

2009-11-24T22:28:00.011-05:00

We are used to tragedies happening on the grand scale. Famous Shakespeare plays like Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, the accounts of Joan of Arc , and Oedipus Rex display this very well. Many times great tragedies are set in the past or fantasy worlds. But what would a tragedy that happens in our modern world be like? One that isn't on a grand scale. A tragedy grounded in reality, set in motion by everyday events, in which the worst crime that sparks it all involves cheating on others and not paying attention to people's feelings. This is what School Days attempts to show us. What we get in School Days is not sword play, epic battles, political intrigue, or anything of that sort. But we do have a sequence of events that ends up ruining the lives of all who are involved. We have love, romance, betrayal, and battles over the heart. This isn't much of a spoiler however, as only a few episodes into the series you can easily tell your heading down a dark and terrible path that cannot end happily for all. School Days is most definitely a contemporary school life tragedy if there ever was one.

School Days starts innocently enough, with Makoto Ito interesting in a girl who takes the same train to school every mourning that he does, Kotonoha Katsura. Makoto is a regular high school freshman, to shy to approach the girl he likes, and content enough just secretly admiring her. But when he hears the urban legend that if you take a picture of the girl you like, use it as the wallpaper of your cell phone, and no one notices for three weeks you will be able to go out with that person. He figures he has nothing to lose, so sneaks a picture of the girl and uses it as his wallpaper. But when a female classmate, Sekai Saionji who sits next to him, notices his phone's wallpaper, she realizes he has a crush on Kotonoha, so she plans to become their "matchmaker" and get the two together. Surpringly enough Kotonoha had also has noticed Makoto and developed a bit of a crush on him. So Sekai succeeds in getting the two lovebirds together. But later, when Makoto asks Sekai what he can do to thank her, she steals a kiss from him and says that's payment enough. It seems Sekai may have developed a bit of a crush on Makoto as well. It makes sense since the two were hanging out a lot lately. The real problem here, is perhaps Makoto also has feelings for her. The three become friends, and in due time a love triangle develops. The series involves lots of kissing, making out, and eventually lots of people having lots of sex. In fact I can't remember the last show that displayed this much sex, especially considering the age of these characters (what are they all 15?). Although none of the sex is graphically displayed, this does help give the show a bit of an edge. Top that off with themes of betrayal, revenge, loss of innocence, using others, ignoring others feelings, the meaning of friendship, and love vs lust, and you can see this isn't exactly a show for the kiddies. Actually it's quite a mature show that's much deeper then you would think. Besides brining up the issues of teenage sexuality (and everything that goes along with it), the show shows us exactly what happens when you ignore others feelings, play with people, and use people. It shows us what effects our actions have on others, and what that causes others to eventually do. And it does all this without once letting us hear the inner thoughts of any of these characters.

This series is a depiction of what would really happen if the type of romance often shown in harem anime series were to be brought to the real world. This is the real life verson of a harem, because you can sure bet if a harem were real it would not be all sunshines and rainbows, probally something more like this. In real life the girls would not be happy about their man being interested in another women. And the guy could not be shown in good light, if he's basically cheating on his girlfriend back and forth. He could not be a good person, if he's in a relationship like this. And the series is not afraid to show that. As the story goes on many other girls get involved, and many are practiclly throwing themselves at Makoto. This leaves me wondering where these girls were when I was in high school. And as contrived as it is, it does work. And you will have to be a little forgiving, as this series is attempting to dissect the harem genre. The anime is also a deconstruction piece, attempting to brake down the romance/slice of life/h-game adaptation genres. This is quite a goal, and on the large it does succeed. There are some small contrivances of course that will have to be over looked (a "rest room/lounge" for couples to mess around in during the school festival is pushing it a little), but over all it does not come off as too unrealistic and it is successful on turning the harem genre on it's head, inside out, and corrupting it to hell. This is quite a feat.

As for the characters of this anime, I can imagine there will be many out there who won't be able to stomach them. And for good reason, most of the cast is either annoying, terrible people, or a combination of the two. So why watch it? Well as Mark Thomas of Anime on DVD points out in his review of the first few episodes, the story is really good. And indeed it is. It's a really addictive show from start to finish. It's something new that you probably haven't seen before, and fans of the genre of drama will eat this up. It offers a great twist on stories we've all seen, and it's cynical nature is more then fascinating. But this series is truly for those who can appreciate realistic characters. And I for one loved the way this series handled it's characters. None of them are heroes, or unrealistic teenagers always happy go lucky, or something. Instead they are life like characters, many who may hit far to close to home to some. They are all very flawed, and have real life problems, goals, anxieties, feelings, self-doubts, and fears. And a lot of them make some really terrible mistakes. If you don't like watching people make a lot of mistakes the show might not be for you. And over the course of the show a few of the characters will do what seem like truly despicable and stupid things. However we must not judge them too harshly. For they do not have the birds eye view of events that we do. They are caught up in the moment, and unable to see what those around them are thinking and feeling. And the most important reason we should not be to tough on them, is because their mistakes are our mistakes. Sure it's easy to point out when these characters are being jerks, or selfish or stupid when your watching the show. But will you be able to tell when your doing similar things? While many will become aggravated by many of the characters, and truly learn to despise them, by the end of all this I mostly feel sorry for all of them. I'm sure the part of the intent of the series was to make you dislike some characters, and get bothered by them, and it does seem to succede. But when all is said and done, I can't help but feel sorry for everyone involved, even the characters many seem to really hate. Sure I am bothered by them, but in the end they were all truly human. They all have some redeeming qualities, and none are truly monsters. However the same goes for the other side of the equation. Very few if any of the characters are truly innocent, or entirely good people. And that's very interesting. This series is brilliant in it's abilities to evoke such emotions as hate, anger, and disgust. And it will really surprise you at times. Rather then being apathetic about these characters, we care. At least we care one way, or the other. We may not love them, but we have a feeling about them. And that is very important for me while watching a series. If I have no feeling toward any of the characters then I ask what is the point in the end?

The anime is very well written, and uses drama and suspense perfectly. The story starts off like any other light hearted romance, but by the end your left just staring at the screen, freaked out by what you have just witnessed. By the end you will be asking the same question Sekai poses in one of the last scenes, "Why?! How did this happen?". How indeed. Because looking back at the first few episodes, it's impossible to see this type of conclusion. Even with the noise about the ending, even with the signs it's taking a dark turn, one could not foresee this ending. And what an ending it is. Perfect in every way. The last few episodes are thrilling, and involve a few twists you will not see coming. And while the ending is very sad, and very screwed up on all levels, it is more then satisfying, and that's good enough for me. This series will have you hooked from the more lighthearted and more innocent beginnings, to the bone chilling conclusion. The series also has some of the best use of comedy relief I've seen in an anime in a long time. Many anime series seem to get this wrong, at least for my tastes anyway. But School Days knows when to have the class president hit a character in the head while sliding down a water slide, or have a funny "class fight" during the school festival that will have you cracking up. While largely a dark drama, the slight use of comedy relief at the right times really helps prevent the series from becoming too bleak.

On the technical side of things we have a mixed bag. On one hand the animation is not up to par with current anime TV series. While not outright terrible, it is mediocre at best. The series uses a lot of stills, pannings, and shortcuts in order to tell it's story. While not exactly distracting, it won't be winning any awards either. Some scenes do not at all flow well, and others have characters all moving at the same time in the same way, giving off a very robot like feeling. This easiest to see when a character enters a room, and all the others turn and face them. They all turn at the same time, and it's all very stiff. There are times when the animation is good, especially in the beginning and the episodes toward the ending. But seeing how this series is mostly talking, walking, making out, and having sex (lots of sex), I think they could have done much better. As far as the art goes however, I thought it was great. The character designs are what drew me to the series in the first place. they have this "rounded" feeling to them, that really makes them look a little different then your regular characters, but not too different as to take away from the main point of dissecting common anime genres. One small problem was how a few of the characters looked a little too much like each other, and in the begining it was a little hard to tell who was who. But after an episode or two I quickly got used to it. The color palette used is another strong point of the series. Lots of blues, pales, greys, and blacks are used, and it all looks quite nice. The series has this distinct look about it that I just love. The backgrounds are all good, but nothing to write home about. Although I did really enjoyed the many of the characters' rooms, the location right outside Makoto's house, and of course the "nice boat" scenery. The music however is in a word, perfect. I wouldn't change a damn thing about it. The opening theme may be a little too happy for some, but just like the opening theme to Shadow Star Narutaru , another deconstruction piece, it works to it's advantage. The multiple ending themes are all really great songs, although if I must pick a favorite it would be the endings of episodes three and eleven which use the song "Waltz", by Kanako Ito. This series also has a handful of excellent insert songs, all which add the mood perfectly. The right song is used to enhance this scene or that one, and some of them really help to add to the drama, or the suspense (towards the end of the series). Perhaps the best insert song is "To the Other Side of Sadness" by Kanako Ito, which I just can't stop listening to. It's used during one of the most important scenes in the series, and it really makes that scene. I have not heard any other series were Kaoru Okubo was in charge of the music, but I sure hope to in the future. Okubo really impressed me with the soundtrack in this, from great background themes, to amazing insert songs, and great openings and endings, nothing is off. I must have more!

There will be many out there who hate this series. And that is perfectly all right. This is not a show for everyone. They will find it's soup-opera-ish plot ridiculous and it's characters despicable, and will be bothered greatly by this show. But for those who can enjoy a good drama, one were the characters are realistic and flawed, this is the show for you. If you can deal with characters that you may dislike or even grow to hate, this is the show for you. Because the plot is so well written, and the show is so good, I think there are at least a few others out there who will really enjoy this. I normally would not review a series not licensed, since I usually only watch DVD's anyway. But once in awhile I check out a legal streaming show or two, and this was one of them. I watched the shows entire 12 episodes in two sittings, something I've never done before. I usually take weeks to watch even the shortest of series, so that speaks volumes for how much I enjoyed this series. I am not big on watching a show subtitled, but this show managed to entertain me the entire time. It impressed me so much I just had to review it. So if you think it may make such an impression on you, be sure to check it out. It's currently streaming on Crunchyroll, legally and for free. Now let's hope this great show gets licensed so I can watch it on my big screen TV with a great dub.

Prede's Raiting

5/5 Stars - Masterpiece

Death Note

2009-10-24T20:57:00.008-04:00

Today I will be reviewing another favorite anime of mine (and many others), Death Note. Don't worry I'll review some series I don't like too much soon. Anyway, this is an anime I first did not at all want to see. It did not seem like a title I would like, and I thought the fanbase for this was crazy. But one day I was bored and decided "what the hell" and figured I'd see what the hype was all about. I checked out episode 6 or 7 on Adult Swim on demand, and boy am I glad that I did. I got hooked. I thought this would be another series where I'd disagree completely with every other anime fan out there (i.e. Fullmetal Alchemist, Elfen Lied and and most Ghibli movies, anime everyone seems to love but I can't stand). Throw in my dislike for most Shonen Jump titles and you'll understand why I thought I'd hate this (although I now feel this show is vastly out of place among titles like Naruto, Bleach, and such. It's nothing like those shows). I'm just trying to say I didn't think I'd like this show at all, in fact part of me wanted to hate it. But it's so good I couldn't. You would have to be mad not to like this amazing show.

Death Note was animated by Madhouse, who almost-always seems to impress me. It originally aired in 2006 and 2007. It was directed by Tetsuro Araki, who is a director to watch out for. He is a master of storytelling and able to create a great amount of suspense with reletive ease. He knows what he is doing, and how to do it. Of course he was just taking what Tsugumi Ohba (story) and Takeshi Obata (art) had already created as a manga, and adapting it into a TV series, but he still proved himself to be a more then competent director. Toshiki Inoue wrote the screenplay for the series, and it's handled with care. Anyway Death Note is suspense/psychological thriller anime about how a smart high school senior named Light Yagami, finds a supernatural note book with the power to kill, and how he uses it to try and become the God of a new world. He plans to kill criminals all over the planet, in order to create a crime-free world in which he would rule. To kill a person Light needs to know the name and face of that person, then write it down in the death note. And that is just the first of the many complex and thought out rules of the death note. And the rules are not meaningless either, as they are put to good use and becomes important points of the plot. Light is later joined by the former owner of the death note, a shinigami named Ryuk (who just decides to watch the show, and doesn't take much action by the way. Very cool!). But as the police start to notice all these criminals dieing, they start up an investigation to get to the bottom of it. They are assisted by the brilliant and mysterious detective L to help track down this mass murder, and a battle of wits ensues. Not that I needed to tell you all that, as everyone and their mother probally knows this already. The paceing for the show is very fast, but somehow it all works. In fact it's something you learn to love. You never get lost in the details, although a lot is happening every episode. It's never too hard to keep track of who has the upperhand, or what this person is attempting to do and how. Anyway the concept in and of it's self is just brillaint. It's very original and very simple. Who says there's nothing unique and original anymore? Everything is just the same story choped up and changed around a little? Not this. There's some originality left in the world.

As if this brilliant concept wasn't good enough, the series challeneges the viewers, both mentally and morally. What I mean is the series has so much going on, you really have to pay attention and follow the logic of the show intensely and actively. And you have to think about everything going on. It also asks us some great moral questions, and may even challenge your morals a little bit. Like for example is what Light doing right? I mean the world would be a much better place without criminals, right?And as he kills these people crime rates do drop all over the planet. But on the other hand he's killing people he judges to be evil, who gives him that right? He's not able to be held responsible to the people like the government is, and how many innocent people is he killing, by sheer coincidence or accident? I mean not every single person in jail, or labled a criminal is guilty. The government and media can make mistakes too. Is L right, for trying to stop a coldhearted, manipulative mass murderer? Because he goes to some real lows, stopping at nothing to try and capture this "Kira", the name given to the person killing all these criminals. He does some terrible things along the way, like having no problem sacraficing a criminal in order to narrow down his search, or placing illegal wire taps and other surveillance in people's houses! Invasion of privacy much? There seems to be no such thing as civil liberites to this guy. The ends justify the means, as long as Kira is caught that's all that matters. Same goes to Light in a way. All of that is much more then most series can say. But that's not even the best part of Death Note.

The best part of the series is the sheer thrill and excitement one obtains from watching the show. It's intense, dramatic and incredbly suspenseful. The thrilling nature of the show is really something else. Never before have I seen a show that relies so heavily on suspense, and not just any suspense, but very good suspense. The shows main suspense depends on the amazingly brilliant game of cat and mouse that develops between Kira (aka Light), and L. It's a sign of good storytelling when you worry about this character or that one, or wonder what's going to happen next. The status quo never remians the same for long, and the person who has the advantage can never seem to hang on to it. It's very smart how all this plays out. L is trying to find out who Kira is to sentence him to death. And Light is trying to find out who L is, to write his name in the Death Note to kill him. Whoever finds out who the other person is first wins. The story contains intelligent fast paced fast paced deductions, multiple dramatic scenes , strategies, and epic mind battles that will keep any viewer hooked for the long haul (as this is a 37 episode series, much longer then I'm used to anyway). There are also some great, well thought out plot twists throughout the show, that will come as a real surprise. Many of the episodes end on great cliffhangers, that make you beg for the next episode, and the show will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Also Death Note never relies on "false suspense", that is it doesn't provoke suspense to then end up with a red haring or creates suspense unintelligently (i.e. horror movies where a cat was what scared the character at first. That brings a big let down to the veiwer. Another example is a scene where the character can't manage to get his keys to open the door correctly when he's being chased by the villian/monster. That makes us want to hit the person, and makes us just plain dislike them. Plus it's just not very realistic and it's very contrived. These scenes usually damage a work unless they are handled with great care. However, Hitchcock could handle false suspense quite well. But of course most cannot handle it as well as Hitchcock. Death Note avoids "false suspense" completely, and it's for the better.) Death Note is a master of suspense, plain and simple. I doubt any other series (live action, anime or written works) will ever match up to it's ability to deliver suspense to the viewer. It is a rollercoaster of a plot, with great ups and downs, and wild turns and twists a long the way. And the conclusion (don't worry no spoilers) is incredbly dramatic, suspensefull, and more then satisfying. It ties up all the lose ends, and brings us down from our "high" of suspense quite nice. Also it's a very sad ending, that might impact you a little emotionally. In fact I rank the conclusion of this series as one of the best in all of anime (it's #2, right behind the excellent ending to Now and Then, Here and There). It will be hard to top the ending of this show! I was literally shaking with anticipation leading up the last moments of the show. It's a perfect bookend to the series.

Now for the poduction values. They are godly! Let's start with the artwork and animation. The artwork is just perfect. Madhouse was a great choice for adapting the gothic style of the manga, and uses a great original style for everything. The color pallete is dark for this series, but not at all gloomy. In fact Madhouse seems to have used a great contrast of light and dark in this series, and made everything very easy to see, but still have a great dark look to it all (which is perfect for this as it's a very dark show). The character designs are also incredbly well done. They are very detailed and realistic looking. The older detectives looks great, the high school students look realistic, and the girls all look very good (many of them are quite pretty, yet still real looking). And I have to mention that the show has a hook in it for the gals. Many of the characters are clearly bishounen bait. The illusion of debth for the characters to move around in 3 dimensions is prevalent in this anime and very well done. As for the animation, since the show is mostly talking, walking and thinking, there's not much for them to animate. However they managed to make writing with a pen look amazingly cool and incredbly epic. That's a plus in my book. When there is an action scene, you can bet it's perfect looking. Car chases, shootouts, and dramatic deaths are all animated with great care. The music is another thing that will impress you. All the opening and ending songs are great tracks. Fun to listen to, and are very fitting. But the strengh of this series comes from it's brilliant background music. From intense themes, to more calm ones, to church like hyms (that fit with Lights idea of becoming a God) and dark tones, everything is done perfectly. The music is used to hold the suspense and drama and it's just amazing. The perfect theme is used at the perfect time, and they all sound great. It's very loud and noticeable, but this is a good thing. Death Note easily has one of the best soundtracks in all of anime. It's not exactly soemthign most would listen to out of context, but it's quite good for the show. As for the dub, it's just another perfect part of this amazing series. The dub was produced at Ocean Studios in Vancouver, Canada. Brad Swaile gives one of his best performances to date as Light Yagami. He just nails the role in every way. The way he handles his characters inner monologues is really impressive. Alessandro Juliani gives L a quirkiness about him, that just fits perfectly. Soichiro Yagami, Light's Father, is played by Chris Britton who gives him a gruffy and older sound that fits perfectly. In fact many of the older detectives have gruffy sounding voices, and many of the younger ones have a youthfullness about them that makes you understand them. A lot of thought went into the casting of this show, and every single line is acted perfectly. It's a very fresh, and expertly done dub. An example of what dubs can and should always be. It's one of the best dubs of the last few years, and a personal favorite of mine. Only slightly beaten out by another Ocean dub, Black Lagoon. This is a dub everyone and anyone would like.

So with all that praise you may ask "well is it perfect then?". Well not quite, but very close. There are many people who feel the second half of the series does not at all live up to the first. Personally I disagree with that completely. There is nothing at all wrong with the second half of the show. It's just as good as the rest of it. The series keeps up it's quality thoughout and has no filler. Just because there is a major change in the style of the show, does not make it any worse. It's just different, not bad by any means. In fact I found the show to build on it's self, in so the later episodes would have even more suspense then the earlier ones. So then what's the problem? Well many of the characters are not very well developed. Many are nothing but chess peices, being used for the plot, by the plot, and only needed to exist when the plot calls for them. (Where are they when the story is not moving forward? Who cares!) So there are a few 2 dimensional characters in the show. However the show seems to have purposely done this. It seems to have decided early on not to develop some characters, and so it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things anyway. In fact the show may be better for it in the long run. Instead of wasteing time developing character after character, this series would rather stick to the giant game of cat and mouse between Light and L, and focus on creating suspense. But many of the characters are realistic, believable and sympthatheic and that's enough for me. Their actions make sense in the context of the show, and never feel out of place. Sure some people would like more emphasis on the characters evolving over time then this show has, but the way this series handled it's characters did not bother me too much. A little bit more emphasis on a few characters would have been amazing, but I'm more then happy with what we got. I felt it had just enough character development as to not take away from the plot, so I'm not that bothered by this small "problem". Oh and there was one deus ex machina (I'll just say "the rocket" and leave it as that as to not spoil anyone) that didn't fly with me in the show. It felt like the writers wrote themselves into a corner, and did something completely unrealistic to get them out of it. It pulls you out of the show a little bit. Although in the context of the what's going on and the setting it does make some sense. That's all that really bothered me about the show. The rest is flawless.

One note more note about the director. I first saw the anime, and then went and read some important parts of the manga afterwards (currently I'm reading the manga from start to finish). The changes the director made to the anime were done with great thought behind them, and I easily prefur them to the original. The slight changes really help the series more often then not, and the ending of the anime is vastly superior to that of the manga. They both have the same ending, but the manga goes on to show what happens afterwards, which is not at all needed. It ruins the punch of the series, and is not really that interesting. The series needed to stop at the right time, and luckily the anime knew when that was. After the last scene in the anime nothing else needed to be known. Going on and explaining more stuff is pointless in my opinion, and sort of ruins everything. Other changes, like the slight difference in the chronology of certain scenes are easily for the better, and flashbacks are used in more important scenes. The use of great camera angles, like those that show us Light writing with his pen, or someone dieing dramaticlly is something you really miss out on with the manga. And the amazing use of split screens. like those showing L vs Light, or many people at the same time during different things are exceptional, and something the manga lacked. The manga would show one thing at the time, while the anime would show mutliple things happening at once (making it much more exciting). I prefer the way the anime dealt with those scenes. The great use of flashbacks in the begining of each episode, cliffhangers at the end of an episode, and other changes to when things happen, helped to add tension to the scenes. Also I find that "watching" something is much more exciting and suspenseful then reading something. So if you want to have the most excitement and thrill out of this series, I suggest you watch the anime first. Then go back and read it to see where it all began. No offense to the original mangakas of course, as the manga is amazing on it's own. It's just a different experience to watch something then to read it. These are some signs of great talent for the director, so keep an eye on him.

All in all Death Note is nearly a flawless effert. It's a smart show, that's very dark, intense, dramatic and exciting. The show is an example of how to create excellent suspense, and has one of the best endings in all of anime. The artwork and music is flawless, and the direction is very strong. The dub is a top-of the line effert by the Ocean Group, something sub-only fans would enjoy. There are some slight problems with character development, but it's easily overlooked. And one scene felt like the writers got trapped in a corner and wrote themselves out of it very unrealistically. But it is an excellent show. It's every bit of the hype. A smart show like this hasn't been popular since Neon Genesis Evangelion (a show the director admits to being a huge fan of), and I hope it's a sign of other smart shows to come. There really is nothing else out there quite like Death Note. Don't let the hype scar you off like it almost did to me. You just have to see this show.

Prede's Raiting
5/5 Stars - Masterpiece

DVD Look: They Were Eleven

2009-10-22T21:24:00.002-04:00

Today I will be reviewing a favorite mystery anime of mine. In fact the best mystery movie I've seen in a awhile, anime or otherise. Besides being a mystery, it's also set far in the future. Who new mystery and science fiction went so well together? The movie is called They Were Eleven.

This movie was originally released in movie theaters in Japan in 1986. Central Park Media released a subtitle VHS in the early 90's, and later dubbed it and re-released it on VHS in 1996. Luckily for us, they also re-released it on DVD in 2004. Anyway, the movie opens to the main character, Tadatos Lane, taking a test to get into one of the best schools (uh... wait it's a "Space Academy" this is set in the future after all) in the galaxy. He passes the computerized portion of the exam, and is now lead to the next section. The next part of the test brakes the students who passed, into groups of 10. They must all work together to pilot an older spaceship, that is not in the best condition ever. They have to fix it up, and solve any challenges along the way. And they have get the ship working, and fast because it is slowly spiraling towards the sun! If the group feels like quiting (or feels they are in danger), they can push the emergency button and wait to be rescued, but then they can't apply for the school again for another three years! But when Tadatos, now nickamed Tada , get's on the ship, his group realizes that (*gasp!*) They Are Eleven!

There are only supposed to be ten members of the group, but for some reason they have an extra guy. So all sorts of questions pop up. Like Is he a spy? Is this part of the test? Or is it just a mistake? But the most important question to ask is, does he pose a threat? So now they ask, who is number 11?Being a sci-fi show there are a number of aliens among the group, besides the humans, and they all have their own quirks and whatnot. But even the humans have something interesting going for them, for example Tada has a form of ESP and can tell if people are lying or not. He goes over ever single person, and comes to the conclusion that no one on the ship is lying. No one is number 11! But what does that mean then? Would the best academy in the galaxy make a mistake like this? Perhaps Tada's ESP isn't all it's cracked up to be? Or is it something else? As the story plays out, the characters start suspecting this person, and that person, of being number 11, and your susptions will be raised once or twice for them as well. And as the story progresses things keep getting worse and worse for the characters. It's all played out very well, and you can be sure there's quite a few twists in there to get you. Anyway I don't think I should go on, because being a mystery title like this is, it's best to go into it cold. Just be sure the premise is unique and very interesting. And most importantly the mystery is really good too. Your never quite sure what's going on, who's number 11 or if there is even one to begin with. And the conclusion to the film answers all the questions and is very sasitfying. But before you get there it is a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions.

The characters in the film are a real diverse bunch. Some people dislike others for their own reasons, and a click or two forms, but they are still forced to help each other out, and stick together. And part of the strenght of the movie is how they work together (or fight against each other) in order to fix the ship, and the many problems that keep popping up. The way the characters interect is just great. And it helps that despite the short running time they develop most of the cast quite well. It's really something else to note how well you know each of these guys by the end of the story, and how some of them have changed. While most anime TV series devolp their cast of characters very well most of the time, it's actually quite rare for a movie to do so. But this somehow finds the time to do it, even with it's large cast and short lenght. That's a real feat if you ask me.

The artwork for this anime is full of light colors, and silly looking characters. The color palatte used is quite cheery and colorful, and the character designs are quite cartoony looking, with a bit of shojo thrown in there for the hell of it. At first it will look very odd, and unapealing, but it does grow on you a little bit. And for it's time period it is actually pretty well animated too. Everything looks very good, if you can get past the cartoony style of it all. It may not appeal to newer fans used to digital paint and CGI in their anime, but the story is so good I think they could forget about the artwork for 90 minutes.

Music in They Were Eleven is actually quite good. The music is largely synthetic, in futureistic (well 80's futureistic) vein. Some of the background music gave off a big "space opera" feeling to it all. Although a few themes made it felt very much like a mystery. I liked the main theme that keeps coming up very much. Although it's not exactly a song most would listen to or anything, as it's just background music, I thought it was quite well done, and made everything feel very grand, space like, and just cool. The ending theme really impressed me as well. It had a great sound, and the singer was really good. I tend to enjoy it when a movie ends to a great song like this! The dub for this title was produced in 1996, as I said. And it is also quite good, although I can imagine it won't fly for everyone. It's a little cartoony and very lighthearted at times, but it knows when to tone that down, and does so very nicely. And after a short period of time it falls into a more drama-like sound, which honestly fits the tone of the movie much better. Curtis Jones plays the main character, Tada, and he easily gives the best performance. While none of the other actors are bad or anything, he just sounds very authentic and natural. He won me over very fast. Steve Blum plays one of the characters, and he really did not impress me with this one. He was well cast, but he just does not feel right all the time. It's not that bad, but he just felt a little off to me. Wendee Lee plays an important character, and she puts on an anoying southern accent. Now I'm all for accents, and arguably that type of accent fits the character, but the way she does it just is anoying. I would rather not hear her do that ever again, although despite the accent she acts quite well. She was very believable, just grating. Now I feel like I'm being way to critical of this dub, as it's very old. I really did like it very much, in fact it's very well cast and acted overall. But some things just came off a little bit wrong to me, and I felt like pointing them out. And like I said this may not float with other dub fans, as it's a little different then most dubs. But give it a try, you might find you like it. I bought into it all.

They Were Eleven is a really good movie. It's intellgent, unique, and riveting. I highly suggest it to all anime fans. When I first saw it really impressed me, and left a strong impression on me. I was not expecting something so well done. It has very strong writing, and all of the characters are relatable, realistic and sympathetic. It's a real oddball of a movie, a bit strange, but very enjoyable. I found out about the movie from Justin Sevakis's Buried Treasure review, and bought the DVD from Rightstuf on a whim. I got it for less then ten dollors and it was more then worth the price. This is such a good movie but it's a little sad it's never talked about. Although being so old, looking like it does, and being as odd as it is, it's really no surprise.

You can buy the DVD from Rightstuf if you like, It's well worth the price.

Prede's Raiting
4.5/5 Stars

Descendants of Darkness

2009-10-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

Descendants of Darkness

Descendants of Darkness, also known as Yami no Matsuei, is a show I've seen multiple times, yet have not finished it. Which is a real shame, because I cannot review the conclusion. However for all anime I have the belief that the journey is more important then the destination, because some of the best anime ever made, have outright terrible endings. I have to apologize for reveiwing a show in which I've only seen 11 of the 13 episodes, despite it airing on the Sci-Fi channel and on Anime Selects so many times, but I never got around to seeing the ending. But I still wish to draw attention this title, which in my opinion anyone could easily enjoy. Although it will really find a dedicated audience among Yaoi fans and horror fans. I still think it has a larger apeal then that. So without knowing how it ends, the journey is great! What a series. On to the review!

Plot: 8/10

While it's not exactly original, I really liked the story. This anime is about a group of shinigamis or Gods of Death, who deal with problems releated to the recently deceased human beings. The problems range from vampires, to mysterious murders, to issues in the main characters past. There is a overarching story, with a great main villian, but it's slowly developed, even though this is a relatively short anime. With only 13 episodes, it still takes it time with the main plot. An approach I liked, but could discourage many. If you didn't like the way "Witch Hunter Robin" handled it's plot, stay clear of this series.

Now this is a dark, gothic series, and I have a soft spot for those types of things. But I really enjoyed this show. From the first episode to the last episode I saw I can say I was never bored with it Now it's not fast paced, or action packed, but instead a character driven drama, with a very thought out plot. The writing is pretty strong though out, and the direction was decent too. Now there are some great action scenes, but this series is not based on action. Some of the scenes are very funny, and it's used to balance out the darker and more dramatic scenes very nicely.

I like the way this series handled the afterworld. It's a complex government bureaucracy, filled with lots of rules, guidlines, and red tape. An interesting take on what's to come once we are no longer of this world. To think after living a life in this world, what awaits us is some more government bureaucracrats! It's a little like the american Live Action movie "Beetlejuice" in that respect. I also liked how it shares similarities with police dramas and mysteries. Perhaps that's why I liked this show so much, two genres I love put together (Gothic Horror and Police Drama!). A lot of the show is devoted to solving the "cases" of the dead, and this leads to some longer-then-you'd expect archs, but they are all well worth the ride.

Now this is a yaoi title. The first time I saw this series, I was in denial for the entire time. As a straight male that sort of thing does not really interest me. However I was not repulsed at all thoughout the entire show. In fact I though the slight yaoi tendencies added to the show. It did not feel like it was pandering to the fangirls, but in fact just part of the show. I still feel like they slipped yaoi into this show without me noticing it half the time, and the other half of the time thinking it made the show more interesting, yet a little unsettleing. I mean what's worse then a villian who wants to kill you? How about a guy who wants to kill you, but first have sex with you? That would scare me to death!

Art/Animation: 7/10

Overall I found the art to be a disappointment. The backgrounds were nice looking but not detailed enough. The animation just didn't flow to well during scenes too. However the character designs were great! I really thought they put a lot of work into desiging each and every character. They look original and interesting looking. My only problem with the designs is one of the main characters, Hisoka Kurosaki, is supposely 16 years old, but looks much older. This was probally intentional however due to some of the more edgy scenes in the anime. The animation really improves during the short action scenes or fight scsnes, and it is during these times that everything on scene is really impressive. CGI is used from time to time, most notably in the Opening Sequence, and while dated by todays standards, looks really good. It looked even better years ago, and in my opinion gives it a nice edge to it other series of it's time didn't have. Still I think it could have been much better, given it's lenght. But it apparently did not have a huge budget. Still I can live with what we got in terms of animation.

Sound: 8/10

Music

The music in this series ranges from average to above average. While nothing too great, everything is listenable. The background music is really good at times, and fits. The opening theme song is really good in my opinion, and very original sounding. The ending theme was a disapointment though in my opinion.

English Dub

I thought the dub was pretty good, but not without it's problems. First let's adress the acting. This anime is very well acted. Dan Green and Liam O'Brien really outddid themselves with this one. They are some of my favorite voice actors, and this is why. They really pull off every line with expertise. The other actors do a great job, or at least about as much as we can expect. So if the acting is not the problem what is you say? The casting and some accent/vocal decisions made. Some of the actors seem very miscast in their roles, while easy to overlook does not help the production. However my bigest problem with the dub is the accents and vocal decisions. Soem characters speak with a faux british accent which sounds stupid most of the time, and a few of the characters sound like Mickey Mouse and Miney Mouse, or sound scary! While I can't blame them do to the designs of the characters (who do look very cartoony, as they aren't people but do act like people), I have to wonder if there was maybe another way these characters could have sounded. It's not a whipe though. I found it to be pretty good overall, but marked by bad casting decisions and vocal/accent decisions. I place the blame more on the ADR director then the actors however. Still if you enjoy dubs there is no reason not to listen to this one. It's a decent New York dub, very refreshing, but not without some problems. But if you like your subs, your probally better off sticking with them on this one.

Characters: 9/10

All the characters are interesting enough.While it does sort-of fall into the trap non-original characters for it's background cast, it's not really a bad thing in my opinion. The two main characters are likeable and a mystery to us at first. Which means we start to wonder how they got to where they are today, and eventually leads to us careing abou them. Which makes learning about their pasts much more interesting in my opinion. Mr. Tsuzuki is a cool dude, who likes his sweets! The viewer will probally associate with him, more then the angsty teen, Hisoka Kurosaki (I mean unless your an ansgty teen of course :P ). While Mr. Tsuzuki can be childish and playful at times, he is still a mature adult, and it's nice to see such a lead character. He's even a little admirable. Hisoka while angsty, is not anoying. Some may not really like him completely, but I found his history to be very interesting, and well though out. It helps explain his character, and why he is who he is. But the real star of the show is the main villian, Dr. Muraki . He is charismatic, yet creepy. Powerful yet has a weakness. Interesting, yet your scared to learn more about him! Easily the best villian in anime since Vicious in "Cowboy Bebop", and King Hamdo in "Now and Then, Here and There"! He's that good! This guy is freaken nuts, but in a way you think he's totally sane! Well worth watching this show just to see what totally disturbing and morally unsettling thing he does next.

Enjoyment: 10/10

I have to agree with the fangirls on this one! This is a very enjoyable and watchable show! While not groundbraking or remarkable, it's damn good entertainment! I really enjoyed watching this series, and hope to one day buy it on DVD ( I saw it multiple times on Anime Selects On Demand) and finish it finally. Shoujo horror (Hell Girl, Ghost Hunt, Red Garden, Vampire Princess Miyu, etc) always apeals to me for some reason(even though I'm a guy, go figure!), so this review is a little biased. Not to mention I love urban crime dramas. But still I think this show would be enjoyed by anyone, as long as they are not against seeing some slight yaoi. And as long as you don't need action scene followed by action scene, or riveting fast paced series you probally will enjoy this. If you like a good drama look no further then this well written little gem!

Pet Shop of Horrors

2009-10-10T17:15:00.001-04:00

Today I'll be reviewing Pet Shop of Horrors . I've wanted to see this 4 episode series, animated by Madhouse, for a long time now. But I only recently got to watch it, once the DVD was re-released (and you can bet I watched it as soon as I got the DVD home from the store). I heard a lot of good things about it, and luckily it lived up to them all. Pet Shop of Horrors is an OVA that was originally released in Japan in 1999, and first released in the US by Urban Vision in 2000. It is based on a manga by Matsuri Akino, and the OVA was directed by Toshio Hirata.

Pet Shop of Horrors is largley an episodic horror series, although there is one little overarching story. Each episode involves someone or a group of people aproaching Count D, the owner of a creepy petshop in China town, for a pet. But these people have heard stories that the Count's pet's are not normal, and this is anything but an average petshop in L.A. (yeh this takes place in California) . The people going to see the count seek more then just a regular pet, and they useally get what they want. But not without a warning from the mysterious and quirky Count . "Do this, and that" he says "Follow the rules...don't breach the contract" he states. And as long as the people follow his rules, they will be ok, better then ok because they get the strange wonder that they wished for. For example two greiving parents enter the petshop in search of something , and what does the Count present them with? Their dead daughter of course, only she's not dead, she there, alive and well. Only the Count keeps insisting that it's not really their daughter, but its actually a rabbit. Just a regular rabbit. Rabbit or no rabbit the parents want their daughter back. So they buy their child, and take her home. But they also sign the Count's contract, which says no one else should see the "rabbit", and they should only feed it vegetables and water no matter what, because after all rabbits don't eat people food. But when their child begs for real food, for cookies, what do you think the parents will do? It's all very reminiscent of the time when their child was in the hospital, dealing with withdrawls from some illegal drug. And just like when she was in the hospital they cave in and give her what she wants, even though they know it's not in her best interest. Just because they can't stand to watch her suffer. I won't ruin what happens, but let's just say you don't breach the Count's contract and live a happy life afterwards. Braking the contract can destroy you, and everyone around you as well. Many of the episodes play out this way, they are mostly a set of morality tales (think Tales from the Crypt or the 1989 Live Action movie Creepshow). And they are all incredbly frightening at times. There are some very creepy scenes in this anime. Some of the themes this anime deals with are very interesting. And some of the characters will really stand out. Also this series will impact you emotionally a little, which is always a plus in my book. The only real problem with this series is that (***Spoiler***) none of the characters listen to the count, and follow his directions, even when they are quite easy. This is a little hard to believe. Every single character brakes the contract with the count in one way or another. This of course leads to a rather tragic conclusion to each episode, and makes me think these people are all very stupid. Ok so I can believe a few of them won't listen to him, but all of them? Someone out there has to have a brain, shame none of them get a pet from the Count, I'd like to see how that would play out. (***End Spoiler***) Of course this brings me to my next small problem with the show, it's two damn short! Perhaps if they had made more episodes, this would have fixed the first problem of the show, because they could have taken the show in many different directions, but lack of episodes made them want to focus on what they did. Anyway this is a show that could have gone on for 12 or even 24 episodes and still stayed fresh, and it's truly a shame that it didn't. That's my only other real beaf with it. Oh and while you watch this, keep an eye out for the Star Wars and Mark Hamill refferences. Not sure why, but I found them quite amusing.

And it's also worth noting that they overarching story involves Detective Leon Orcot trying to prove Count D is up to no good, and that his petshop is directly responsible for all the unexplainable deaths and missing people. We follow Leon as he tries to prove the Count is really behind all these things, despite Leon's boss just thinking he's stressed out or worse, crazy. Leon keeps investigatingthe Count up until the last episode, and although he seems to be discovering quite a bit of evidence here and there, nothing much comes of it. It feels very open ended, like perhaps there's more about this in the manga or something? Because after everything is said and done, it doesn't really matter because the show just ends. It gave me a feeling of "ok so what was the point?". Although it is nice to have some sort of story develop over the four episodes, but I can't help from thinking that it would have been even better for it to have gone somewhere (like Leon proving for once and for all that the Count was behind everything, or the Count stoping Leon some how). But I did like how the overarching story played out. And some of the funnyest, and weirdest moments happen when Leon is talking to the Count . The way the count plays with Leon is just great. And it's during these scenes that we really see just how odd, eccentric, and quirky the Count really is. He's much less serious when he's talking to the Detective, and the way these characters intereact is just fun to watch. As the Detective Leon is truly trying to get the root of everything, and the Count really just doesn't care, and likes to mess with him, and play games with him. Watching the two interact is a strong point of the series. Although I have to mention I think Leon is very boring in comparision to the Count. But I guess it's not really fair to compare anyone to the Count, because he's quite a character, and anyone would seem boring in comparison. But I do wish Detective Leon was a bit more interesting. Even some of the minor and episodic characters are much more interesting in comparison, which to me is a bad sign. But this is a very small problem, and it's easily over looked.

As far as the artwork goes in this anime, I thought it was great. For 1999 it did seem a little simple, but overall I thought it was very well done. The backgrounds look like their watercolored but very nice. Although at times they do appear to be a litle cheap looking. I did enjoy some of the interior shots, as I felt they were very dark and creepy looking, which is a must for this show. It's not too detailed, but I did like everything. The character designs were however perfect for this show. All of them were original, in a different style, and just looked great. Extra points for the oddball design of the Count, and all the creepy monster/pet designs. The only real problem with the artwork is it feels a little flat, like the characters can't really move back and forth very well. It feels like they are stuck in a spot. There really isn't an illusion of real physical space for these characters. But this isn't a big deal or anything, it's just something Madhouse usually does quite well, and didn't seem to bother with much here.

As far as the music goes, it's fitting. It's all very spooky and atmospheric. I liked it alot, although it's nothing outstanding or anything. Some of it had a great 80's detective vibe, that felt very Jazzy, which I loved. And some of it had a horror-feeling going on, which was also quite good. As far as the dub goes, I thought it was great. Detective Leon is played by Alex Fernandez, who fits the part, but feels a little lost and confused at times. But he has a great voice, and really can act when need be. He just needed a little more guidence in my opinion. But he is useally quite good. It is a shame his performance is not as good as it could have been, but I personally blame the director. Count D is played by John Demita, who makes the character feel spooky, otherworldly, and odd. In a word, he's perfect. He really helps bring out the eccentricities when need be, and bring out the spooky side of his character, when it's time. This guy knows what he's doing, and I just wish he'd be cast in more roles. I rather liked his performance and he has a really unique voice. The other detectives that work with Leon are cast quite well, and do a good job. The minor characters are useally great, although a few are quite bad (the guy who get's a Tiger in episode 1, really all of that sounds pretty bad). But the good easily out weights the bad. It is a very fresh sounding dub too. My only other problem with it is some lines here and there feel a little awkward. But overall this is a great dub, even though it does feel like it aged quite a bit. It probally won't stand up well against today's dubs, but for my viewing it was more then adequate. Plus John Demita for the win, really. He's just nuts at times.

You can watch the entire series, legally for free on Youtube, thanks to the Anime Network. The DVD was recently re-released by Sentai Filmworks, and although it has no real extras, it's still great to own. As this is a show that was once going for over $100.00 on DVD (the old Urban Vision release) on auction sites, now you can own it for under $20. And it's really an all around great show, one every horror fan should own. Oh and props to Sentai Filmworks for practically taking the same image Urban Vision used on their DVD release, and making the cover still look 100 times better then it was.

Prede's Raiting
4/5 Stars

DVD Look: A Wind Named Amnesia

2009-09-19T02:39:00.004-04:00

This is a movie I’ve wanted to review for a very long time now. But I wanted to take my time with it and get everything down right, because I wanted to do it some justice. Anyway this movie is called A Wind Named Amnesia and it’s easily one of my all time favorites. I first saw this movie on Comcast’s Anime Selects on Demand Channel. CPM used to put tons of titles from their catalog up on Anime Selects, but I still think I was lucky to find this movie and watch it. I just randomly watched this movie, because the title seemed interesting, that’s all. I didn’t really read the little plot synopsis or anything. I was bored, and there was an anime movie, seemed like a good idea. And I’m lucky that I choice to watch this, because I am still impressed by this movie all these years later. I later bought it on DVD (the version in the “Kawajiri Brick Pack” collection).

The movie was created by Madhouse studios in 1990, and directed by Kazuo Yamazaki (not the wrestler), who is known for directing Urusei Yatsura, Please Save My Earth and Maison Ikkoku. Titles which seem nothing like this anime. But what’s really interesting about this movie is it was based off of a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi. Kikuchi is famous for writing the original Vampire Hunter D novels, along with several other novels turned anime like Demon City Shinjuku, and Wicked City. Kikuchi’s novels are pretty dark, bloody and violent, as are the anime series adapted from them, but Amnesia is the odd one out here. It is a mature movie, but it is not as violent, bloody, or graphic as any of the other titles I’ve mentioned. And it’s a very smart film, not at all an action type movie. And what’s even more surprising still is the screenplay was written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who used to have quite a fan base back in the day (in the US at least). He is well known for directing or writing titles like Ninja Scroll, Biohunter, Running Man, Cyber City Oedo 808, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (the anime movie), and most of the Kikuchi anime adoptions (Vampire Hunter D, Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku). Although he has directed titles that aren’t dark, graphic, and violent (i.e. the original Birdy the Mighty OVA’s, a future review no doubt), we all know what he is best at. And he’s damn good at directing the violent stuff too. But again Amnesia is nothing like these series, which are all horror or action type shows. The tone the film takes is just so different from all these other titles it just stands out. I’ve called this film “…philosophy ridden and feels like a traditional sci-fi story. Directed and written by people who you'd never dream of being involved in those things.” And I stand by that.

Well after all my rambling, I should at least explain the basic plot. One day, seemingly out of nowhere, a wind blows all around the earth, and this wind (you guessed it) caused everyone to forget everything. And the people did not just forget who they are, and what they did last night, but they also forget that they were people. They forget how to drive cars, talk, use technology, etc. Basically this wind set mankind back to the Stone Age. The film follows two people, Wataru and Sophia, who for their own reasons (which I won’t spoil) are normal, as they travel all around the United States looking at was has become of it. They can talk, they can think, they can use the tools of mankind. In essence they are regular people. And as they travel through the wasteland that was once the US, many different themes keep popping up. The film constantly asks us what is mankind without all this technology? Other themes the film deals with heavily are religion, society, the use of power, and the government (watch out for slight nods to Plato's Republic). All in all the things this film has to say about these topics are, while opened ended, are still very clever. In fact this is more of a “thinker’s anime” then anything else. If you want endless robot fights, don’t bother with this movie. As it’s a very slow movie, where fight scenes are sparse, the dialogue is heavy, and there are moments where seemingly nothing important happens on screen. There are however some action scenes thrown in at the perfect time, but best not to think of it as a fast paced anime. Think Oshii’s newest film The Sky Crawlers, for pacing and timing of fight scenes if you need an example. And just like The Sky Crawlers, this movie is much, much more then throw away entertainment. It is a very deep, well thought out film. With great direction and brilliant writing. The only problem with this film is a completely ludicrous and unneeded sex scene at the very end of the movie. On my first viewing of this movie (on Anime Selects VOD) this was cut out, and I am firm in my belief that it is a better film without this. But the ending is still very good, when you look past this terrible, terrible scene. I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen, as I think it was thrown in there to get some more money from the producers or something. It’s so out of place this has to have some sort of rational explanation for it’s odd placement at the end.

Anyway…the general concept is brilliant in and of it’s self. It’s so simple one would think it was already a staple in western science fiction, but I can’t find anything similar in books, movies, or TV shows (although if you know of something similar please make a comment and tell me about it). Although some titles in the sci-fi genre may touch on these ideas very lightly, nothing else really seems to be out quite like this. In fact this movie plays out like a very traditional sci-fi live action movie. And the philosophy in the film is really something else. None of it feels tacked on, or out of place. It’s well worked into the plot, although ultimately it’s so powerful and profound the plot doesn’t really matter anymore. Like Justin Sevakis points out about The Sky Crawlers, “what's happening on the surface has little to do with what the film is actually about.” And that works for this film as well. What I mean here is that what happens in the movie in regards to the characters and progression of the plot, has very little to do with the main point of it all. Although the plot isn’t terrible or anything, and one could easily enjoy the film without picking up on any of the philosophy in it, it should not be the main focus of the viewers. We must look deeper then the surface plot to really get everything out of this film. And the brilliance of the movie is that every time you watch it, you may pick up some more things you missed last time, and change your mind on what certain things mean. All in all the movie is very original, very smart, and very enjoyable to watch. And it’s not at all hard to follow or grasp. Which is a sign of great writing.

As far as animation and artwork goes, this film was some high budget stuff back in the day. Backgrounds are highly detailed, and look like beautiful watercolor paintings or oil paintings (depending on the scene). Feel free to pause the DVD to take a look at the works of art Madhouse used for the backgrounds. From the Rocky Mountains, to some valleys, and lakes, deserts, feilds, and streams all of it looks amazing. The inner city backgrounds are also great, and give it a real gritty, decaying urban feel to it all, and these backgrounds here are much more detailed, although they look less like paintings and more like regular backgrounds. Character designs are also not disappointing. They are very detailed for their time, and flow very well. The characters’ hair seems to be drawn with less detail then the rest of their bodies, but it still looks great when everything is all together. This movie is a treat for the eyes. Even almost 20 years later, everything looks great. And one little tidbit that I can’t help but throw out there. I really think this anime looks a lot like the music video for Pearl Jam’s “Do the Evolution”. Some scenes in that video even seem to be drawn to reflect certain scenes in the movie (Cavemen around the fire, skeleton in a cockpit, city in the middle of a field, girl running in field as wind blows, etc). It’s even drawn in the same style, with the same color palette. It helps that that song and music video also deals with many similar themes as the film. It’s very possible that the animators or the band were inspired by this anime, since that song came out years after this was originally released on VHS (song in 1998, VHS in 1995/1996). But it’s just such a random title I think the odds are really against that being what happened. Still it’s a great coincidence, well worth looking into.

The dub for this was produced at Manga UK, with a cast of British and Canadian born actors. Dubs from this era range in quality greatly, but this is possibly the best dub from that studio. Michael Bakewell directed the dub, and he does a wonderful job. I liked what he and Manga UK did for the dub on Dominion Tank Police as well. He seemed to have some skill and it’s a shame they weren’t used more back in the day. Since this is a film with very few people in it who can talk (most just grunt like caveman), it would need actors who could sound believable with little else to compare them to. It’s a bit different and a little difficult (in my opinion) for a film to have a very small cast of talking roles, and many other grunting roles to contrast them. And the actors are up to that challenge. This was very well cast, and overall the acting is of great quality. Adam Henderson plays Wataru, and he gives everyline a very innocent and naïve feeling to it. And do to certain events that occurred in the past and are revealed early on in the film, this is very appropriate. But I always felt he made Wataru sound a little too naïve, and a bit too spaced out. But he has a great voice quality, and he is very capable of acting. Sophia is played by Denica Fairman, who gives the character a warm, yet still very mysterious vibe, which is very necessary to make that character work. The way she says things like “Well to start with I’m called Sophia…but I don’t want to say anymore about myself. Tell me your story” (while dodging the question to why she is still normal) really help display this. Lee Tyler plays Johnny, a character from Wataru’s past whose shown in flashbacks. While I feel his overall acting quality is decent, some lines from him seem a little off. But he’s usually quite good. The other speaking characters are played by Peter Marinker and Susie Baker, who do a very good job of establishing their characters for the short amount of time they are on screen. You really feel for both of their characters, and that is, in part, an accomplishment of the actors. The other people in the film are basically caveman, who do nothing more then grunt, moan, cry, or make other caveman-like noises. And all the actors playing these characters do a good job. No eye rolling grunts in this one guys. And as far as other sound goes, the background music is all very low key, but very well done. Certain themes enhance the action sequences, or quiet moments, but the one theme that stood out to me the most usually plays with Sophia around. It’s a very simple piano piece, but it adds to the mystery of not only who she is, but of what happened to the planet. It’s just a little sad, but not at all depressing. It’s quite amazing how something so simple, can display so much, but it does.

Raphael See of THEM anime reviews called the film “ a sleeper classic”. And it truly is. He also stated “A Wind Named Amnesia is probably one of the best titles I've never heard of.” and there really is no better way of describing it. This is easily one of the best movies out there that no one ever heard of. I highly recommend this. There’s very little information about the movie out there, and there seems to be no one who saw the film either. It’s almost never talked about on anime forums too. But it should be more well known, as it’s an all around great anime. This is only for mature viewers however, who want to watch something that's much deeper then some throwaway entertainment. The movie touches on things like religion, love, society, and many other themes, and the philosophy is great. It's very much like Kino's Journey although less preachy. Many different places separated by great distances, traveler observing the land, and studying the human condition. Both are dark, slow, mature, and refined. But both are excellent.

(Sorry the review is so long, but I wanted to do this movie some justice)

Prede's Raiting

5/5 Stars - Masterpeice

Vexille

2009-09-14T01:58:00.001-04:00

Vexille

Cyborgs, Androids, and Giant Worms Oh my!

(Warning this review contains spoilers)

Vexille is an anime thriller, released in Japanese theaters in August 2007. It is entirely CGI, and was released on DVD in North America by Funimation, in February of 2008. The movie, directed and written by Fumihiko Sori, is about a woman named Vexille Serra who works for an American Police Agency called "SWORD." The story line follows her and other members of SWORD, including her fiancé, on one of their most important missions: the tedious task of infiltrating Japan and revealing to the world what they are hiding. This is difficult, however, because Japan has hidden itself behind technology that won’t allow satellite images to be taken and an “electronic wall” that won’t allow anyone near the waters of Japan (with one gate left open for trade). Cybernetics has been outlawed worldwide, so Japan opts to “go it alone”, leaving the U.N. and cutting themselves off from the world, assumedly to continue research.

The plot is exiting, and is up to par with many American Live Action Sci-Fi films. In fact Vexille ,or Vexille: 2077 Japanese Isolation as it is known in Japan, acts more like a Live Action Sci-Fi/Action summer flick than a typical futuristic anime movie. Which, of course, has some distinct advantages. After the first few minutes, one forgets that they are not watching real people, but computer generated images. The action scenes are somewhat Matrix inspired, minus the bizarre slow-mo bullet dodging. Perhaps what serves to be the most fascinating plot point is this anime's choice to have America as the “good guys” and Japan as the “bad guys”.

Many of the characters are compelling, but of course Vexille, voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard, steals center stage. The fact the lead is a strong willed female is captivating, we can practically hear the feminists cheering. Fumihiko Sori was probably inspired by strong female leads like Ripley from Alien. The CEO of the evil corporation Daiwa, Kisaragi, has a distinct “Bond villain” feel to him. His assistant is an android and is aptly terrifying. Surprisingly, behind the veil there is no super advanced Japan that we all imagined, but rather a wasteland, with nothing but the evil Daiwa Corporation Headquarters intact. There is also still a ghetto on the outskirts where the remainder of Japan’s population lives. And it’s very intriguing to learn what’s left of the population is not entirely human anymore. Daiwa has managed to turn the entire population into cyborgs and plan to do the same to the rest of the world. It is up to Vexille and a band of rebels living in the ghetto to stop Kisaragi, show the world what Japan is hiding, and bring an end to Daiwa. However time is limited, because what is left of the citizens of Japan’s humanity is slowly disappearing. The movie has an action pack ending scene-involving Giant Machine Worms straight out of Tremors and Dune .

While the plot is action packed character development is seriously lacking. Perhaps this is an ode to an American live action movie. However, seeing how that is the films biggest problem, it's not enough to ruin the movie. The music is top quality. The opening theme “Close Your Eyes” (song in English by Linda Lewis) could easily fit in with any normal American radio stations play list. The other music is mostly J-pop and techno, which fit in well with the films themes about the future and what it means to truly be human. The CGI is fantastic, and the attention to detail is marvelous. The English voice acting is very well done, and would impress many “subtitle only” anime fans.

So good action, nice CGI, good acting, good music, interesting themes about humanity, what’s not to like? Well, except for the clear lack of character personailty. Oh well. We'll let that slide

3/4 Stars

- Written by Mike (Prede)
-Edited by Elke
*Official Planetzot Review*

Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target

2009-09-14T01:38:00.000-04:00

Case Closed: The Fourteenth Target

Sommelier on a killing spree! Talk about major food poisoning.

The Fourteenth Target opens to a dramatic dream sequence where Rachel Moore (voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard), the daughter of the “great” Detective Richard Moore (also known as the Sleeping Sleuth) watches as her mother gets shot. The scene cuts to her waking up in her bed. That same night they meet up with an old family friend, Kevin Simms, who has become a famous sommelier (a fancy word for a restaurant Wine Taster, for those who aren't versed in the world of cooking). The next day after some light-hearted banter, Inspector Meguire (voiced by the gruff Mark Stoddard) gets attacked in a park while jogging, Law and Order style. A day later, while Meguire is still recovering in the hospital a plethora of other people are attacked, and it turns out they all are friends, family, or acquaintances of Richard Moore (played by the mysterious R. Bruce Elliot). The attacker seems out to “get back” at Richard. This mystery eventually leads all the characters to a Hotel owned by an acquaintance of Richard, who is targeted. They meet up with the wine taster again, and a group of others, all who turn out to be targets as well. Eventually, each of these people are killed off, but as usual Conan saves the day.

This movie is the second Case Closed movie; both were released in theaters in Japan, and on DVD in America. The movie plot is typical Conan style, in which Conan runs around and finds clue and helps the detectives figure out the crime and “whodunit" while still pretending to be a kid. Eventually he pulls a move that would make James Bond proud and knocks out Richard with his gadget. Then, Conan uses another gadget to fake Richards’s voice and successfully solves the crime similar to all the episodes of Case Closed. It turns out this wine taster got really ticked off at the fact that he is losing his sense of taste. His doctor said that stress or his recent head injury is to blame, and so he conjured up a plan to whack all the people in his life who cause him stress (and the one person who caused his injury), frame an old thief/card dealer and live happily-ever-after with his parents in a wine vineyard. And he would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling Conan. Oops, wrong movie.

Anywho, The music is very dramatic giving the movie a 1980’s detective drama feel to it and the saxophone manages to give it a little bit of a “Hardboiled” atmosphere. However, it occasionally comes off as dated and may not have been the best choice of music. While the artwork was spiced up for Conan-on-the-big screen, it still is largely undetailed and un-life like when compared to other animes who've graduated to the movie theater. Luckily, the content is not a loss. The movie uses comedy at the right times, has enough drama, and plenty of action. Most notably, the voice acting is great, especially for an Anime dub. The actors do an excellent job at capturing their characters emotions at pivotal points in the plot.

Perhaps the best part of this Conan installment is the connection each character has with a specific playing card, all thanks to Funimation. The Japanese version had the connections related with each character's name written out in Kanji. However, this would be hard to translate and understand, so Funimation made certain changes to the script to make the connection to the playing cards more understandable and interesting. For example Dr. Agasa holds the patents on 11 inventions, thus he is target number 11 and assigned the Jack of Spades. The only major beef we have with this movie is the killer’s motives. This is something that the show pulls off spectacularly but the film falls surprisingly short. The wine taster just got mad he can’t taste things anymore and suddenly that's a motive for homicide? He’s going to kill everyone who causes him stress? That's just as believable as Pam Anderson's boobs.

However, the writers redeem themselves with an action-packed ending. Overall a rather successful silver screen addition to the Conan collection. It'll be hard to trust a sommelier again!

3/4 Stars

- Written by Mike (Prede)
-Edited by Elke
*Official Planetzot Review*

Eureka Seven Review

2009-09-14T00:57:00.000-04:00

Eureka Seven

Dai Sato was the headwriter for this anime, and let me begin this review by saying he has yet to let me down. He is easily one the best screenwriters working in the anime industry today. He has written for such titles as Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell SAC , Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo , and Ergo Proxy. How's that for a resume? And with Eurkea Seven he proves yet again that he can write brilliantly. This is a man to respect. Easily one of my favorite screenwriters. Pay attention what he works on, for it is always good. It helps that the director, Tomoki Kyoda, is very talented in his own right as well.

Anyway some history on how I watched this anime. I started watching this anime on Adult Swim, from the day it first aired. It took a few episodes before I was hooked, but once they grabbed me, they never let go. So please give this series a shot. After it aired on Adult Swim I started buying all the DVD's. I missed a few episodes in the middle and the ending the first time it aired, but watched that, plus the rest of it on DVD. Although this is one of my favorite anime series of all time, I'll try very hard to be fair and as un-biased as I can be.

It clearly takes many things from Neon Genesis Evengelion,FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gundam, and RahXephon. And I noted it acually takes some things from Shadow Star Narutaru as well (like some of the darker aspects of the series, and the Coralians and anti- Coralians are possibly inspired by the dragons [creatures] in Shadow Star Narutaru, not to mention some other smaller things as well). None of this is surprising as many of the people heavily involved in Eureka Seven where involved in these series as well.

Plot/Story: 10/10

I'm not going to go deep into the synopsis of the plot, because that may lead to spoilers. I thought it was a very well written story, and the plot was just amazing. Lot's of mystery and drama!! It's very interesting to watch the military conflicts unfold. We watch what happens (and the changes to) the government that runs the planet, and how war effects everyone. The series is also very deep, dark, and can get psychological at times (like Eva). It does have it's fun and silly moments, and even an episode or two devoted to humor and jokes. This is very well thought out though, as the drama and "darker" parts are well balanced by this. Comedy is used at the right moments not to depress the veiwer to much. Plenty of action and interesting plot developments to make sure you are never bored. It is a very complex story, moreso then it seems at first. It gets dark, but never too depressing. All of this is important because this is partly a plot driven anime.

Characters:9/10

All of the characters were very strong. While it's easy to see how Renton was inspired by Shinji (NGE) and Naota (FLCL) he is still very much his own character. Same gos for Eureka (who some say is inspired by Rei from NGE). Talho and Holland are completely original. Most of the characters are well likeable. However I found the "bad guys" of course to be much more interesting, likeable, and just overall cool. The Sage Council are an amazing trio who run the country! I was insantly mesmorized by them, despite thier short amount of screen time. Dominic Sorel, a higher up in the military is very cool, likeable, and interesting. Colonel Dewey Novak is also a great character and develops a lot throughout the anime. You see him from the begining as a complete wreck, and watch him change into a very powerful leader. Every character is interesting, and helps show the viewer a little bit of the world this takes place on. They all are good characters, which is important because this anime can be very character driven at times.

Art:8/10

The art is very nice. It gets it's job done, plus some! It really amazes you at some times, but being a 50 episode series it does change up a little over the time. No real problems with it, but not incredbly high quality animation or anything like that. The backgrounds are great looking, and the character and mecha designs are very cool. Although I did find many of the character designs to be a bit too generic, but they were not at all bad or anything like that.

Sound:10/10

Music

The music was just amazing!! The best songs, from the best bands were chosen for this anime!! But not just great opening and closings either, the insert songs where very powerful! Esecially the insert song "Storywriter" by the band Supercar.

Dub

I only watched the English dub, and I can defently say this is one of Bang Zoom! 's best dubs. Sure Renton (Johnny Young Bosch) could be anoying to some people, but I think he sounded really good. I didn't even know that was him, he used such a high pitch voice. Crispin Freeman will forever be Holland for me, because his voice fit so perfectly!! Despite the tons of other roles I've heard him in, I think Holland fits him best. Peter Doyle was also spot on with Dominic. In fact every single character seemed well cast. Of course Stephanie Sheh gives the overall best performance as Eureka. She's just great at anything she does. Eureka is brought to life with her voice. As it is the real subtleties that bring out that character. And Sheh is really good at that.

Final Vertic:

A more plot driven/character driven mecha then most people are used to, but actually makes this anime more apealing. It works for people who don't necessarily like mecha anime too much. Plus the mechs fly in the sky on frigen surfboards! How's that for cool? But it's not really a mecha-driven show, althought they do serve a point, and there is some mystery to them. The characters are well likeable. The plot is very well thought out, and just amazing. It gets philosophical, psychological and deep at times, but plenty of action to keep you entertained. It has a good story to tell, and proves once again Dai Sato is the man with the golden pen. When it comes to screenwriting, he always manages to outdo himself.

Welcome to Prede's Anime Reviews!

2009-09-14T00:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome! I'm Prede from the Anime on DVD forums (as well as Anime Network Forums, Funimation forums, and My Anime List) incase you didn't know :P . My real name is Mike by the way. I've been doing reviews for Central Park Media titles for awhile now (on my other blog), but I've been convinced into starting this blog to place all my non-Central Park Media reviews at. I figure I mine as well make this as simple as can be. I'll be splitting this up into three parts. One part will consist of all the reviews I've done officially for Planetzot.com, as it can be a hassle to go there and find them all. The second part will be made up of all the reviews I've done for My Anime List. And the third part will be made up of original reviews that I will be doing for this blog. I hope to be reviewing series quite often here.

I (try to) put a lot of work into my reviews so please feel free to make a comment about any of them. Disgagree with me? Let me know! Agree with me? Please by all means let me know. Any suggestions or other comments please feel free to make them.It makes me happy to see people commenting on my reviews, and it inspires me to do more of them. So please post away! Just try to keep everything civil.