Callandor

Here’s the first real post on anime, the other topic of this blog. And it’s time for some short reviews of anime from the Spring / Summer 2008 seasons, combined since I’ve been lax and summer is already starting.

Allison & Lillia

Allison & Lillia is an adventure series, set in a time roughly equivalent to the 1930s. Fighter planes play an important role, so this series gives off Last Exile vibes — only the thing that makes the planes fly is lift, not antigravity devices. The character designs are kind of bland, but so were Dennou Coil’s and that turned out rather well. It seems to be going in four episode arcs; I was highly surprised when a Major Plot Point was resolved in episode 4, but the next mini-arc answered the pacing question. I do like the music, too; I remember thinking I wanted the OST in episode 1.

Unfortunately, after the first arc the quality started dropping. Both in art (the term if you’re “in the know” is QUALITY — look at her face!) and in plot. There are just so many contrived scenes, like a watch blocking a knife and an airplane flying by knocking a man over a railing to his death, and things that are just silly, like someone putting on headgear (which include nice earmuffs) because he’s going to fire an anti-tank rifle, and then having a whispered conversation with another character.

On the other hand, Allison’s pretty cute (I like her voice), and while there’s some of Allison trying to get into Wil’s pants, it’s not really embarassing; she’s forceful about it and she will succeed. Guess who Lillia is?

Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

More Geass. More DEMs. More school life. More fanservice. More ridiculousness. And until episode 9 or so I was still loving it, and then I haven’t cared to continue.

Nijuu Mensou no Musume

Aka Chiko, Heiress of the Phantom Thief and Daughter of Twenty Faces. This one is a thief anime with a female lead. Chiko is the kind of lead I like: inquisitive, self-sufficient, smart, and (after spending a few years training under the Phantom Thief) kicks ass. The heists are well-planned and interesting, though some require a lot of suspension of disbelief, and I wish they’d explain more of the tricks.

The art and animation are good; it’s presented in HD which is always a plus. I like how, 8 episodes in, we’ve already spanned three years, and I can’t be sure from the cover art, but I think she’ll eventually age to her late teens, which is great since I’m not a fan of lolitas.

Ikkitousen: Great Guardians

Third season of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms-inspired ecchi(perverted) fightan(fighting) animu(anime). Now with nipples since it’s airing on satellite. Amazingly, still hasn’t just given up and turned into a full-fledged hentai. Still a terrible plot, still not watching.

Soul Eater

A 52-episode shounen unfortunately lumped in with One Piece, Bleach, and the like. Only by definition this one can’t have endless filler episodes.

In Soul Eater, Technicians at Shibusen are training with their Weapons (who can morph between human and weapon form) to collect 99 “evil human” souls and one witch soul in order to turn the Weapon into a Death Scythe for the school’s owner, the Grim Reaper, to use.

The whole show gives off Nightmare Before Christmas vibes. The art can be hit and miss, but the animation is pretty nice. Tsubaki (left) is love, but Black Star (right) is the annoying “loudly at the center of attention” type. Maka’s voice actress is playing her first role, and some find it annoying, but I don’t mind it. Actually, the three main pairs¹ the show follows have quite varied characters, so everyone should find a few they like and one or two they don’t.

I like the character interaction and growth, which can be pretty touching. I hope there’s some sort of overall plot that appears though, rather than keeping the standard MOTW.

Chocolate Underground, Candy Boy

Five or 15-minute ONAs. CU is about a future where the Good For You party has outlawed chocolate. The heros are school kids, and I didn’t care to watch more than three episodes. CB is actually an ad for Korean artist Meilin’s music, but it’s also a nice little yuri & school life tale. Except for the obsessive freshman….

Batman: Gotham Knight

Six short episodes animated by different Japanese anime studios, and released straight to DVD in the US by Warner Brothers. I didn’t get as much out of it as some because I don’t really know much Batman, but standalone it was pretty good. And any Batman fan looking for something to whet their appetite until The Dark Knight will love this.

Mnemosyne

Still watching Mnemosyne, but I’m not sure why. Don’t really like the blessedly short but more-than-zero torture scenes, but on the other hand it is a mature anime in other aspects as well. It’s awesome that the first episode was set in 1990 and the latest was in 2055, and the time skips and technology changes are well done, but on the other hand what the hell @ the plot. It’s only six (45-minute) episodes, and there’s only one left, so I’ll finish it.

Real Drive

Real Drive is a futuristic Shirow Masamune / Production I.G work, and it’s, well, intersting. There’s a Metal (cyberspace) that needs diving into. There are also HEALTHY characters — no really, when was the last time you saw overweight main characters in anime? There’s too much of the main guy’s butt for me, really. But the art and animation are good as always for I.G.

Kara no Kyoukai

Hell yes. KnK is a series of seven movies, but think of it as a 7-episode OVA, because it’s told out of order. The production values are in the stratosphere, and the music is done by the amazing Yuki Kajiura (who is one of the three anime composers names I know). If you’re a TYPE-MOON fan, what are you waiting for? If not, two things. One, Shiki Ryougi possesses the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception,” which, when she turns them on, allow her to see “lines” on things that she can cut as easily as butter, bifurcating whatever she can knife. This isn’t explained, but she uses them in movie 1. Two, you should probably wait til all the movies are out to watch it.

Tower of Druaga

Fantasy and RPG-inspired anime based on a 16-bit game .. wait what? The first episode (watch it officially on Youtube) is a brilliant parody of RPG cliches, the rest alternate between serious and comedy, but this is a Gonzo show and they don’t really break form here (the norm is a high initial budget, middling middle budget, and a trainwreck ending). Kaaya is pure love, but one character does not a show make.

On a scale of 1 to GONZOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!, Druaga rates about a “LOL, Gonzo”. And there’s a second season coming, so I’m not continuing past where I stopped yet. Although, all the episodes are officially subbed and on Youtube/Crunchyroll, so there’s not much of a barrier to watching it.

Blade of the Immortal, Ryoko’s Case File

For the summer, I’m going to try these two. The first is a samurai anime made by Bee Train, so expecations are low, but hey, I haven’t experienced the inevitable Bee Train letdown personally, so I’ll try it. The second looks like a seinen (made for older audiences) detective show.

I was going to try Ultraviolet, but /a/ told me that it was no better than the godawful movie, so I won’t. I was also going to try World Destruction because Production I.G. is doing it, but I won’t for now because I didn’t care for the trailer and there’s a cutesy animal sidekick.

¹ Okay, one pair is a triplet.