Eeeeeeehehehehehe . . . . . . Yeah, I still not keeping this thing up to date. Then again, I've had quite the first half of a year. Let's just say a lot of things have changed. For starters I'm going back to school and I haven't really been watching that much anime. I decided to completely skip the past Spring and Summer 2011 seasons as I saw very little to be interested in. I might go back and watch Tiger & Bunny or No. 6, but there's been very little to be excited about these past seasons. In fact, the few I picked from Winter haven't been complete winners either, as you will see.
I haven't slacked off on my manga, though, so let's start with that:
Hoshin Engi (23 Volumes)
Rating: 5/5
I love this series.
I actually
remember that this was the first series I ever read scanlated waaaaay
back in 2001 or 2002. I had stumbled upon it in the midst of my Anipike
wanderings (who remembers Anipike?!) and was totally in love with a
hero who used his brains instead of his brawn. Later, when I watched
the Soul Hunter anime several years later, I realized that it was based
on that manga I read back in high school. Since then, I decided to use a
bit of brains myself and got my local library to pick up the whole
series.
And what a
great series it is. Taikobo is a sen'nin, a kind of supernatural being,
who is given the Hoshin Project to help protect the world from a Demon
who has taken control of the Empire. Based on a classic Chinese novel
that takes place at the end of the Yin Dynasty (roughly 11th Century
BC), Ryu Fujisaki takes several liberties, slowly adding more and more
science fiction elements that turn it into quite the epic.
The thing
that sets Taikobo apart from his fellow Shonen Jump peers is his way of
solving problems. Instead of resorting to brawn and tapping on reserved
powers, Taikobo uses his brain, creating cunning plans to outwit his
enemies. While this is still a fighting anime series (Taikobo does
raise an army and gathers a handful of companions), his methods tend to
be so unorthodox that it instantly makes him memorable. More than once
he twists the situation to the point that he's the villain just so that
the problem can be solved without any casualties. His kind of cunning
and meta-problem-solving makes him very reminiscent of other famous
Trickster Heroes like Br'er Rabbit and Till Eulenspiegel (or Bugs Bunny,
if your not some snobby folklore literatus).
Another
element that makes this series stand out is that it never compromises
its goofiness. Even to its epic finale, it never takes itself too
seriously and is a total blast to read from beginning to end. This
series is highly recommended for everyone. Go read it!
Dragon Ball Kai (97 Episodes)
Animation: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Overall: 3/5
I know I
reviewed Dragon Ball Z already on this blog, but I figured it'd be worth
at least talking about the Kai version for a bit.
Dragon Ball
Kai covers the first two major story arcs of Dragon Ball Z and while
it's cool that they got all the voice actors to redo the dialogue and
gave it a new soundtrack, it does feel a bit like a cash cow, given that
they're simply reusing old animation and given it an HD face lift.
Unfortunately,
I don't know if their "face lift" really helped much. There were times
when I watched it that I felt the animation was worse than the
original. Never during my run of DBZ did I think some of the frames had
been colored win MS Paint by a middle schooler. I understand that they
were trying to smooth out some of the faults of the old films but some
of those shots just looked terrible. They didn't happen often, but I
think I saw almost one scene per episode that was like that.
The pacing
certainly was interesting, though, as they decided completely new points
on which to end episodes. However, having most of the filler cut down
still didn't make the series feel any shorter, and when filler was left
in, I was a bit annoyed, but I understood that some of the later scenes
wouldn't make sense if side characters suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
I admit that
I think the music was an improvement over the original Japanese
soundtrack. While all the orchestral scores were still very Toei, it
felt fresh whereas the old one was a bit dated.
As for the
series ending where it did, I'm okay with that. I never really got into
the Majin Buu/Fusion stuff, and having the story end there does give it
a better sense of closure without resorting to the ridiculous. I know
that FUNimation completely redubbed the series (I remember joking that
they could edit up the old dialogue in the same spirit as Toei, so
redubbing it is pretty cool), but I haven't watched any of it. Should I
ever get the feeling of watching more Dragon Ball, I'll have that to
look forward to. To be honest, it's been a bizarre, if minor, trend
lately to release/rehash a popular series. We've just had Fullmetal
Alchemist: Brotherhood, Rebuild of Evangelion, and now Hunter x Hunter
is being given a second shot with rumors of Rurouni Kenshin making a
comeback. At least they're all being reanimated, something that I think
could have improved Kai greatly. Oh well.
Fractale (11 Episodes)
Animation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Overal: 3/5
This wants
to be a Studio Ghibli film so bad it hurts. I imagine going up to anime
producers and saying "Castle in the Sky in eleven episodes" may be a
great way to get attention from the get-go, I think it's worth remember
that a movie is only two hours and a season's worth of anime is around
ten.
I'm
going to borrow Wikipedia's plot summary. It's not exactly something I
want to do, but they're pretty concise this time and I'm feeling a bit lazy. "The
story takes place on an island resembling a futuristic Ireland, in a
world ruled by the 'Fractale System' that ensures mankind's stability
and prosperity. One day, Clain meets a fleeing girl called Phryne, who
disappears during the night leaving a pendant. When he is able to
activate the pendant (which turns into a 'doppel,' a kind of robotic
hologram, named Nessa), Clain sets out for a journey with the
girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret
behind the Fractale System." From there Clain runs into Lost
Millennium, a rebel group dedicated to destroying the Fractale System
because it encourages people to lose touch with reality and face-to-face
conversation. However, people are so adjusted to the Fractale System
that taking it away all at once could cause all sorts of problems. To
Clain's credit, he takes neither side and only wants to help his friends
Phryne and Nessa, both of which turn out to be fundamental to the
Fractale System.
While
it certainly does try to raise some interesting questions (pros and
cons of virtual reality, etc.), and gives us some nice, sweeping
landscapes and epic airship battles, it really can't shake the notion
that it's simply padding in filler until the climax. I think that 11
episodes really was too long for the story it was trying to tell;
perhaps if they reanimated it as a compilation movie, it'd work better.
Still,
it was a pleasant change from the normal anime fare we get these days.
Nice pastoral scenes and music, especially the end theme, create a very
casual, relaxing feel even as things get turned upside-down and
serious. Given the modern trends of hardcore grit or over-the-top moe,
Fractale offers and nice third direction that aspires for Miyazaki
greatness. It's just a shame that it falls so short.
Hopefully,
I'll get back on top of this blog and post more regularly. I can't
promise anything too regular, just striving to write more than I have
been. I still have my Fall 2010 selections to finish (I'm almost done),
and Infinite Stratos and Level E from Winter 2011. I watch all of Zeta
Gundam but decided that I really didn't have much to say about it. It
was very angsty to a fault. I mean, something must be wrong when I get
excited about a character's death simply because it means that I don't
have to hear them anymore. I've put ZZ Gundam on hiatus but I plan to
get back to it shortly.
Speaking
of Gundam, I'm very excited about this upcoming Fall season of anime.
Gundam AGE looks to be like no other Gundam before it. While some are
concerned about the Mega Man/Digimon-style character designs, I have no
problem with them as long as the story can hold up. The second season
of Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Squid Girl) is a part of that season as well,
and the aforementioned Hunter x Hunter remake by Madhouse (MADHOUSE!)
starts in October. I've actually started watching the first anime
series to prepare for it as I'm caught up on the manga. However, after
watching three episodes dubbed, I've switched to subs, something I've
only done once before and that's with Naruto. It's probably just as
well, given that all the OVA's won't have dubs.
In any case, look forward to more reviews as I'm trying to get back into an anime watching rhythm!
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