Anime Review No. 91 (Wolf Children)

‘Give life my best smile’

Wolf Children (2012 movie)

Director: Mamoru Hosoda

Writers: Mamoru Hosoda and Satoko Okudera

Studio: Chizu and Madhouse

So, I close out the year on the blog with another movie from Mamoru Hosoda. I covered Summer Wars this past spring and found it to be a fun, entertaining yet very heartfelt movie. I like it quite a lot, even after watching it both on TV and owning it on DVD. Around the time that I got Summer Wars last time, I heard word that Hosoda had done another film, and that Funimation was releasing it to the States late last year. Then one day, around late September/early October, I saw the following trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SlB-SpDMKI

I knew, almost that instant, I got to have this. So I ordered it along with Girls und Panzer and got it in early November. The movie in question, is of course, Wolf Children or Wolf Children Ame and Yuki as the original Japanese title for the film.

Wolf Children tells the story of Hana, a young college student living in Tokyo who one day meets a mysterious young drifter who turns out to be a ‘Wolfman’. Over time they develop a relationship and later they get to live together and have two children Yuki (snow) and Ame (spring). It’s a bit unclear whether or not they actually married or just agree to a mutual living space, who knows. However a set of varying circumstances force her to move out to the countryside with her two children and she does the best she can to raise them in human society and helping them sort out what their path in life will be.

It is a sort of ‘A fairy tale’ as Yuki points out in the narration, given the dream-like and tranquil atmosphere, punctuated by a few tense and sad moments, one which did give me a few tears. All things aside, Wolf Children is a rather casual and soothing slice of life story and it is charmingly simple and straightforward but it does this so well that doesn’t veer into being dull and rote. The ending is a tad bittersweet but overall a very satisfactory conclusion I must say.

In terms of visual presentation, the movie looks fantastic-being a collaborative effort between Madhouse and Hosoda’s own studio Chizu. There are a few obvious CG shots here and there but that aside its look very good, a high level production to be sure. Lots of visual storytelling with stretches of time with no dialogue abound in this film, which is a breath of fresh air not done often in animated features today. The scene with the mother and children frolicking in the snow is a marvel to behold and a highlight of the film. Narration provided by an adult Yuki as if she is recalling it from the past despite the fact that in the film present the story is being told is a nice touch, lending to the fairy tale aspect of the movie’s story. What is nice is that the story is equally about the mother Hana as well as the titular Wolf Children-about Hana’s struggles and triumphs as single mother (somewhat romanticized) as well as the coming-of-age tale for Ame and Yuki and the paths they choose in life. Music by first time composer Takagi Masakatsu is phenomenal and I hope he gets brought into do more music work for other productions; I just adore full scale orchestral score music.

Now the English dub is very strong effort by Funimation as expected from them nowadays. Sentai Filmworks may be my favorite when it comes to dubbing, but Funimation is the best one in the game presently. Mike McFarland directed, Patrick Seitz written, same team that helmed the dub for Summer Wars and is just as fantastic as that movie’s dub. Colleen Clinkenbeard deserves huge kudos for her performance as Hana and honestly deserves all the kudos for her acting. Houston veteran David Matranga puts in a nice effort as unnamed ‘Wolf-Man’ during that character’s part in the story. In addition, there is some really nice and convincing voice acting for the children, a rare feat these days in dubbing, so kudos to the voice actresses/actors that play the children. In fact there is some brilliant acting from the bit parts as well, especially with the cranky Grandpa Nirasaki, voiced by veteran Funi character actor Jerry Russell-granted he is only in a few scenes but he does a great job with such a small but integral role Sadly he died before the film got its commercial release, and the film is dedicated to his memory though really fitting for a film that explores the many wonders and struggles of life.

Overall, I really like this movie and proves that Hosoda has more the same tricks he showed in Summer Wars and can tackle a film with quite a lot of emotional drama, or ‘the feels’. I hope that Hosoda continue making films of caliber of Summer Wars and this, especially considering Miyazaki and Ghibli are pretty much not doing films as much nowadays. Of course, Hosoda doesn’t have to be the next Miyazaki-he can just be himself, and at least with Summer Wars and Wolf Children proves that he can.

Ok, so that's it for the blog this year. Next year's set of reviews begin weekend after the New Year. Of course, I am doing a review for Animation Revelation for the month of December, to be posted on there around the middle of that month. Here's a preview of that:

Anime Review No. 81 (Summer Wars)

“You Gotta Work for an Answer”

Summer Wars

2009 movie

Studio-Madhouse, Director-Mamoru Hosoda, Writer-Satoko Okudera

Well, time for another movie review and this time I figured it’d be something popular. If you watched Toonami last December, they air a few movies, including Akira (which I saw fully for the first time) and Trigun: Badlands Rumble. Of course, the one that caught my attention was, well, Summer Wars.

The story is focused on our main character, Kenji Kosio, a typical nerdy high school guy who works for Oz as a part-time coder. Oz is well like a VR cyberspace hub where communications, government He gets roped in by a older female student Natsuki to come with her to a family reunion event (her grandmother’s birthday) as her pretend boyfriend. So, basically, the initial premise reeks of a plot from a family rom-com. He meets several family members, including the tenacious grandmother Sakae Jinnouchi, jealous cousin Shota, the shut-in cousin Kazuma and various others mostly fitting typical Japanese family types.

Sakae is best granny 

However, trouble comes round in the form of Wabisuke, the black sheep of the family. Natsuki is a little too friendly with her uncle, which is irksome a bit, but doesn’t detract from the movie that much. However, Kenji gets a code that he works out but that ends up causing havoc to erupt in the Oz system with him framed as the mastermind. But the actual culprit is the Love Machine, very much a rogue computer program. So, now Kenji is facing a double dilemma as he must try to clear his name along with saving Oz and avoid getting outed as a fake by Natsuki’s family.

Now, there is quite a lot to like about this movie, starting with the characters. Very standard for anime, but given enough dimension to make us care about them. Kenji and Natsuki are the typical young protagonists and a lot of the family seems like the kind of people one would find in family dramas. Though I will note a few here. Wabisuke might at first be the black sheep who shows up unexpected but he ends up playing quite a larger part in the story. But, the one character I got to admire is the grandmother Sakae. She’s a tenacious but strong-willed older lady and perhaps one of my favorite elderly characters in anime. She’s the one who brings everyone to deal with the problems faced and strive to succeed. But what happens to the grandmother (not spoiling it) is perhaps the emotional high moment for the movie. It unites the family to the common cause. I watched Summer Wars with a friend of mine one time, who had lost his dad recently and got to say he was nearly in tears at that as I was. I too have lost some relatives as well and so it does get to me on a personal level.  

And so the dominoes fall...

Now, I won’t harp on the story too much since well its basically what happened if you took the internet battle sequence from the Digimon movie, and combine into a animated family J-drama. No surprise on the similarities since the Digimon Movie and this one are directed by the same guy, Mamoru Hosoda. Except its more substantive and integral to the movie. It has also some neat commentary on how the interconnectivity of the world via web and internet is a double edged sword, in that it can bring us together quicker in times of crisis or relaxation but also can be used to inflict misery to a lot of people as the movie attests. It also touches on the importance of family in the modern era  I wish that they did more with that, but considering the time length I am glad that these ideas were brought in and used. That, and the finale is pure spectacle which while pretty to look at however its rather inexplicable at points even 'deus ex machinia'.

Excellently executed fight scenes I must say

Now then the animation, which is stellar across the board. It’s fluid, dynamic and full of life and energy. Being a movie its got naturally high production values as expected. Not as high as Ghibli film, but close enough in terms of overall quality. If the character designs might seem a bit 90s Gainax, that due to Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character design work for Nadia, Evangelion, FLCL, Gunbuster/Diebuster, etc) handled that.There is also a wide range and variety of facial expressions; in fact, the movie is worth watching just for that. Music is utterly fantastic, again very Ghibli-esque. Almost like this movie’s trying to ape Ghibli….. oh wait, heh, that’s for another time….moving on then.

DAT FACE haha >.<

Now, the original japanese language track has been best described by a colleague of mine as ‘a bunch of J-drama actors doing J-drama acting’ so I whole-heartily recommend the dub That’s not hard, since its a Funimation dub, so its top-notch effort here as usual. Mike McFarland and Patrick Seitz handled the direction and writing for the dub and they are a great team. They help to bring out strong and well-acted performances from just everybody involved. Summer Wars boast a veritable list of who-whos of Funi dub actors with a few Houston actors thrown in for the bit parts. Special mention goes to Michael Sinterniklaas as Kenji, Brina Palencia as Natsuki who are very good in the main roles. J Michael Tatum is at his best arguably with Wabisuke, pouring in his own snideness and charm into the part. But Pam Dougherty as Grandma Sakae is overall best and just about steals the entire movie well while her character is in the movie.

Overall, Summer Wars is a good ‘popcorn movie’; great for a watch with friends and a bunch of good fun. There are some flashes of brilliance with a few of the ideas it plays around with, but still a good time to be had.

Anime Review No. 76-Baccano

Baccano

Summer/Fall 2007 TV Series, 16 episodes

Studio-Brains Base, Director-Takahiro Omori, Writer: Noboru Takagi

Well, well time to put out a review on another of my Top 10 Favorites. It was FLCL in January, now for this month, its you guess it, Baccano. Its a story of love, violence, thrills and chills indeed!

Note: I am basing my review off of the US DVD Viridian Collection from late 2010 the Funimation released. The license for this show is now in Aniplex's hands so good luck getting it on BD as they charge by an arm and a leg here.

So, what's Baccano about? Well, it concerns the adventures and events surrounding a large group of various characters-some are gangsters engaged in a turf war, others are trapped on the famous train The Flying Pussyfoot with the mysterious killer The Rail Tracer, and a few observing from the sidelines while some plot concerning immortals brews about. It is a fun and wild ride to be sure, especially since Baccano is Italian for 'ruckus, quite apt for this series.

That is about all I am talking about the plot/story, because its a tad complicated and I don't wish to spoil the show for anyone. You see, Baccano relies greatly on multi threaded story lines and a large ensemble cast. Now, in the hands of a lesser production, this could easily falter into chaos. Thankfully, this is not the case. The direction is kinetic and fast-paced, not taking too many breaths in between the quick-paced action. The many story lines, though staggering at first, by the end makes sense as it reveals how intricately connected together they all are. Scenes are often played several times, but from different perspectives. In addition, the story moves almost effortlessly between past and present without causing confusion. The large ensemble cast complements the multiple story lines in that it allows most of the characters time for development.

Episode 13 is certainly a good ending point for most of the plot and character points as Episodes 14-16 are OVA episodes released after the initial TV broadcast. The remaining 3 episodes mostly tie up some of the other plot and character elements. Thankfully, its not superficial fluff and just as entertaining. Final scene ends the show as it begins-the VP and Carol talk about the appeal of storytelling and how the story never really ends. Honestly, this I quite like as it seems to me that the story may end now, but that doesn't mean its over and one should move on.

Of course, I do have some favorites in the cast. For one thing, Ladd Russo-the mad man with a plan I suppose. I absolutely love this character, as I find him to be the pure embodiment of the show: reveling in its own madness and insanity without apology or restraint. It does help that Ladd is charismatic enough for me to root, even if he is a violent bastard. Heck, he has a girlfriend that shares a relationship that is both sweet and terrifying. The guy revels in insanity, and yet seemingly aware he is mad.

Of course, he narrowly beats out the main couple of the show: Isaac and Miria, a thief duo modeled off of Bonnie and Clyde. While they serve mainly as comic relief and a respite from all the violence, they aren't too annoying. In fact, they are somewhat charming and you actually believe that they are a couple with some brilliant and heartwarming chemistry.

Granted, the story is helped by great music and animation. The Opening song is swinging and full of energy, nice and jazzy, certainly a favorite of mine right behind the ROD TV theme. The animation is fairly realistic and brutal-plenty of gory violence and grim color palette (browns, grays. Etc). Even the low budget tricks (like the repetition of scenes in episode 2 is quite clever) are impressive. Overall, its very consistent in the animation department.

The 1987 film Untouchables is cited as an influence, and especially in the NYC gang wars plot line that's certainly true. Inf fact, much like what the Gunsmith Cats staff went to Chicago, some of the Japanese staff went to New York to see the locations that show up in the series, notably Chinatown and Little Italy among others, and it certainly shows in the backgrounds and details, especially in the parts that take place in NYC.

Finally the english dub is probably the other reason to watch Baccano. In fact, you are best off watching it in english, as it is awesome. If you want proof the Funimation is the top dog when it comes to anime dub productions, look no farther then this show. Its well casted in just about every role, even the bit parts. Granted a lot of Funimation regulars appear in this dub, though you might not recognise many as they use period accents quite effectively. ADR Director Tyler Walker watched lots of gangster films in order to prep for the dub production on Baccano and he went out of his way to bring in new talent for the dub. Some standout performances include Bryan Massey as the manic Ladd Russo along with J. Michael Tatum and Caitlin Glass as the gleefully mad thief duo of Isaac and Miria. If the Ef series can be considered a definitive Sentai Filmworks dub, then Baccano is in the running for the definitive Funimation dub certainly. If you must ask, the other shows in that running include: FMA '03, Desert Punk, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt and some others I can't name off the top of my head at the moment.

Overall Baccano is a great show and I heartily recommend this to anyone asking about anime recommendations. Be sure to check this show out, if you haven't seen it. At first I felt this was too over-hyped, then after watching it, I can say that hype is well deserved.

Well next's up you ask? Well..... its certainly violent for one thing....
Surprise trailer ^_^

'Til next time, dear readers.....

Anime Review No. 71-FLCL

"Never Knows Best"
FLCL

2000-01 OVA, 6 episodes

Director-Kazuya Tsurumaki, Studios-Gainax/Production IG, Writers: Kazuya Tsurumaki and Yoji Enokido

also

2 volume manga (2000-01)-Art by Hajime Ueda; story by Gainax

So, Happy New Year readers

Well, I figure I shall start out the new year with a review of a show that's over a decade old and done by one of my favorite anime studios-that being FLCL or Fooly Cooly. Note, I will be talking about FLCL overall, no need to worry about spoilers. That said, go see this!

Now a brief summary: Naota is just your typcial young kid living in a city, dealing with puberty and the implications of that, be it his brother's ex-girlfriend, etc. He likes life to be easy and dull, yet one day Haruko, a crazy pink haired girl, runs into him with her Vespa motorcycle and from that moment onwards, Naota's life changes forever, for better or worse (more the latter then former anyway).

Suffice to say that it is all I am saying about, because this OVA has been quite overplayed for the past decade, first airing by Toonami then subsequent reruns every now and then. Yet, this show is still quite popular and well-known here in the States. Why's that?

Huh, something about this looks familiar.....

Well, the greatest strength of FLCL is that it serves as a grand pinnacle to anime comedy, at least for Studio Gainax. It is just so quick-fire in pacing that the gags fly full and above the rest, nearly blowing out of the water many of the other anime comedies I have seen. Granted, a lot of the comedy presented is rather surreal so at first glance one might not get it. I stated back on my Anime Favorites page regarding FLCL as such, and I stand by that statement. I feel that Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, which I quite like, is a mere pale shadow of this: the jokes there are more hit and miss, dependent on your tolerance for toilet humor. FLCL is one crazy, insane ride from start to finish and it never lets up at all. In fact, FLCL can be more compared to Kill la Kill, the recent 2013-14 anime put out by Studio Trigger, which is made up of former Gainax staffers. If you have seen Kill la Kill (and you should because it's awesome), then that comparison becomes quite clear.

Why the malformed face......eh?

Of course, this aspect is helped favourably by other factors. First off, there is a great director-writer team in Kazuya Tsurumaki and Yoji Enokido working on this. Now, prior to this, Tsurumaki had overseen the last third of Kare Kano anime (which I have looked at before) and Enokido had written a large part of the Utena anime and co-wrote a few episodes of Evangelion. So, in essence, we get a team getting their first project to run themselves. The result is nothing short of fantastic. The direction is vibrant and full of life, firing on all cylinders like a finely tuned machine. Of course, the animation derps and dips in place, but that seems to be delibarate. But when it is great, the animation can shine, due to this being a Gainax/Production IG collab, which both by this point had done some great work and would continue to do so for at least the next decade. Enokido provides a script which at first might be a tad confusing, but upon rewatching it clears some things up. FLCL is a series that is designed to be rewatched, in order to be fully understood. There is distinct lyrical, nah poetic aspect to the dialogue, though very postmodern, with little throwaway bits that later come into play in surprising ways. The middle of the OVA (episodes 3-4) might seem to be filler material and the ending is so ambiguous, but it manages to be entertaining enough so as to dissaude such accusations. Its no surprise that this same team would go on to make Diebuster a few years later, which is why those two Gainax shows are my favorite over some of the other entries in their catalog, though a good part of the Gainax catalogue holds a special place in my heart. Such a shame that Gainax has been in the pits for the past few years-their current stuff just doesn't match up to what they used to do, or rather they no longer suit my tastes which could be it.

A Faux-meganneko, if you will xD

The sound is equally terrific for FLCL: both the OST and language tracks. The entire OST is done by The Pillows, an alternative rock group who have been around for some time. In particular, the ending song "Ride on Shooting Star" is just awesome (FLCL ED). While serviceable in the Japanese, the English dub is quite good, with some noteworthy performances from Kari Wahlgren, Barbara Goodson, Stephanie Sheh, etc. Though, there exists a nagging problem with the dub: it is too faithful to the original Japanese. Not just in terms of the adapted script, but in how its performed vocally. This has been quite an issue with West Coast/LA dubs, in that they tend to hue more towards the original Japanese. I first actually noticed this with the dub of Lucky Star, which has predominance of 'chipmunk voices' in the dub in an effort to make the dub more like the original Japanese. Madoka also suffers a bit from this practice in the dub as well. It doesn't seem to me that anyone really notice or let them know about that. Regardless, the FLCL dub is still quite good.

Groovy  ^_^

And now for the manga adaptation, as I said before, this is an Anime vs. Manga article:

Typical start of your day....

Hajime Ueda did the artwork for the manga, having been a doujin writer prior to getting tapped for this manga adaptation. Story is credited to Gainax, though I'm willing to bet it was Ueda collaborating with Tsurumaki and Enokido in terms of the writing.

Volume 1 is nearly beat for beat the events of the first 2 episodes of OVA: Fooly Cooly and Firestarter. Some of the details are slightly altered, but the semblance of plot remains roughly the same. If you are thinking that the manga segments in the OVA are like the manga itself, then you are sadly mistaken. The art is very rough around the edges, very cartoonish one might say. Of course, it does fit the tone of the piece anyway, so any quibblings that can be made about the artwork are just that. There are a lot of more references made in the manga, such as one chapter starting off with a panel of Tak-kun and the robot making a rendition of Edvard Munch's The Scream.

Of course, the second volume is a different beast altogether. Sure, it starts off with what happens in Episode 3 and then veered off into totally unexplored territory. In many ways, this is where the manga makes less sense than the OVA, if that is even possible. The manga, in comparison to the anime OVA, ends on a more ambiguous note, but then again that's the open ended nature of the conclusion. That being said, the manga is a quick read (less then 300 pages between the two volumes), so if you have seen the OVA, then I definitely recommend checking out the manga as well. As for other work by Hajime Ueda, well, we shall take a look at that laterz.

Of course, Yoji Enokido did write a pair of novels based FLCL which has been released as well. I have yet to read those, but if given the chance I most likely will.

Actual Audience reaction after this 

At the end of the day, FLCL is a fun and twisted bundle of cartoony insanity. In many ways, it represents the pinnacle of Gainax as an animation studio, in the prime of its heyday. It is very nice that its legacy extends into the present with shows like Gurren Lagann, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt and Kill la Kill.

So, what's next on my platter? Well, its another project Yoji Enokido worked some years later....involving racing and fast action that would put the Fast and the Furious franchise to shame. 'Til next time, dear readers.

Anime Review No. 56-Evangelion Rebuild 1.11 and 2.22

Evangelion Rebuild film series (2007, 2009) from a fan's perspective

Well, coming full circle once again. Evangelion is the anime that got me initially hooked. I remember when back around 2003-04, as I was entering high school, I first came across this title. Back in the day, there was a Blockbuster video store down the way from my house. As I was strolling through the shelves once, when I saw something that caught my eye. It was two VHS tapes with the title 'Neon Genesis Evangelion. Intrigued, I rented them and watched them, and it was wonderful. Granted, it was only first four episodes, but it got me interested. I ended up collecting most of the DVDs, later owning the Platinum collection and the End of Eva movie for some time.

Evangelion, it has to be said, is one of the most talked about and analyzed pieces of Japanese animation. Put Evangelion analysis into Google and you'll see. Whether or not you like Evangelion, that is something to be recognized. It broke ground in the mecha genre when it first came out in 1995 and even today the anime landscape has been influenced tremendously by it. My opinion of Evangelion is that despite its flaws (which it does have), it is a very good anime series.
 

But then, talk of a 'Rebuild film series' surfaced around the time I went to college. At first, I was like 'huh?' and 'why?' and 'whats the point?'.. But then, at Anime Weekend event hosted by the anime club at the college I went to, they were showing Evangelion 1.11 film. It was pretty good. Two years later, I saw the second Rebuild film, which is a masterpiece as I will mention later. Recently, I obtained both films from MovieStop at a substantial bargain. Now, onto the films.

Eva 1.11 aka You are (Not) Alone

This is a decent anime film. In terms of story it is basically a showcase of the first five episodes of the TV series rolled into a movie. Or moreover, it's like a highlight reel of the series' start and doesn't really do much beyond that. It does have brilliant animation-nice blend of CGI and digital cel don't get me wrong. But that's hardly praise when most of the movie consists of scenes that beat for beat just like the original series. Of course, this will be evident to only the most astute viewers or fans of the original series.

However, there are great things about this film. For one, Hideaki Anno (director/writer for both the films and the original TV series) seems to learned a bit from the original series as some of its flaws (characters and story) has greatly improved. He has definitely written the characters (especially Shinji) to where they are more relatable. Second, the English dub. This being Funimation, one expect a very good job and they certainly pull this off. Kudos for getting Allison Keith and Spike Spencer back for the dub as Misato and Shinji probably wouldn't have been done justice with a different voice actor. And really, it just go to show how better those two in particular are in comparison to the english dub for the original series, which let's be fair, is a bit rough around the edges.

Overall, a good film. If a newbie to anime wants to know more on Eva, this is a suitable starting point.

Eva 2.22 aka You Can (Not) Advance (and spoiler alert)

The second movie, on the other hand, is far more interesting hence why I shall talk more about it than the first film. The opening sequence with Mari is bloody fantastic and really hooks one into the movie. It also let me know that this is miles above a mere remake of the original series.

This attitude continues with the intro to Asuka and Unit 02: vastly different from the series, but still awesome, using the same music from her introductory episode of the TV series. Now, as for Asuka Langely Shikinami: while toned down in bitchiness for sure, she is still cocky and confident. She also got that still lingering hidden sadness and psychological issues-though not rammed into the viewers' face. Another point is I like how Tiffany Grant returns for the dub. She does a pretty good job, in comparison to TV series dub. Asuka is a tad abrasive towards Rei and Shinji at first.

There is also the lingering mystery of Gendo. Is he doing some kind of Instrumentality project? I don't know, any scenes with him involve being cryptic and mysterious. And what's with the random one-off shots of Kaoru? Once again, I am not sure. There is some more hinting at Rei's true nature and intro to SEELE.

Another aspect of note is the oblique reflection of 'Kare Kano'. Several music bits are recycled from Kare Kano (anime series by Gainax back in 1998-99 and previously reviewed on this blog). I have been wrapping my head around for some time. The best I can come up with is that its Anno looking back obliquely at the previous series he did, before he left Gainax and pursue other projects.
 

That's not to say that it's all serious business. Comedy/light-hearted moments are plenty in this movie: Shinji and Asuka's home life with Misato, school life scenes, the visit to the 'Aquarium' where even the downtime shows character development, and the night after the team fight against the Angel: intimate moment between Asuka and Shinji.

That's not to discount the Angel Fights: very well good, kinetic without cutting too many corners. The Angels are a visual treat, more so than the first film (otherworldly CGI is the way to go). In other words, showing how with the advancement of technology the animation staff and Anno are basically amounting to saying 'Oh look at what we can do now!". The second Angel they fight in the movie (the one that falls down on top of them) shows the group dynamic very well (Rei, Shinji, Asuka).

In addition, Shinji and Kaji's relationship is allowed to develop more so then in the series, like the scene at the aquarium or the watermelon field scene. It's all very good stuff. I really like the Second Impact flashback-visually stunning and captivating and good utilization of the visual medium.

Mari's entrance into the narrative proper, well that's quite surprising-this one scene establishes her character-outgoing and a bit quirky (She likes the smell of LCL?! What?! Explain, movie). Still, it's good to see if this character pays off. We'll see.

The third act aka Rei's Dinner Plans, where the plot begins to deviate wildly from the source material, but for the better. Well, it turns out that there is an Experimental Unit 04. Events in this segment seem to be akin to the 'Calm before the Storm'.

For example, Eva Unit 02 gets grounded and Asuka is not pleased. This leads to the Elevator scene, which is improved vastly from the original 'moment of silence'. There exists actual dialogue and character interaction between Asuka and Rei as they spell out clearly what they are about. IT makes me wish that the TV series had more scenes like this, as it would have bolstered that up a bit.

There is also the Dummy Plug System, which is explained briefly so my thinking is how long 'til someone gets hurt?

What color me surprised Asuka will go in for the experimental test for Unit 03. Though, this makes more sense than in the TV series. There, Touji (Shinji's classmate) ends up the pilot as some feeble attempt for pathos and it fails. This is due to Touji being a side character, so who gives a crap? At least with Asuka it leads to me giving some concern towards what is happening. Asuka's phone call to Misato is a very great moment for Asuka's character development. I have to ask: Why didn't the series have more of this?

Experiment goes awry, as expected. Unit 03 turns into an angel and goes on a rampage. With Asuka in there, the moral dilemma Shinji has is more real and believable. He's hesitant sure, but given the time he has had with Asuka its understandable. It also really shows how much of an emotionally distant authority Gendo is, but again this has been obvious from the first film, so moving on. Finally, with Asuka in the corrupted Eva, it makes Shinji's brief post-battle rebellion much more credible.

Dummy Plug Unit 01 ripping to shreds the Angel-controlled Unit 03 is just a sight to behold. Disconcerting music playing over it, with sweet song over a scene that is still brutally violent, just makes it a terrifying beauty to be seen.

Another aspect of note: The psychoanalytic scenes are short and to the point, not redundant and overbearing like in series In addition, actions have consequences: Asuka is recovered but quaratined , Shinji is told to leave for good and Rei is the last usable pilot. Oh dear...

The Tenth Angel forms the tremendous finale to this movie. It is a very tense and harrowing situation. Mari's first sortee mostly involves to keep on whaling on the Angel with little to no effect. She activates the Beast mode which can summed up as: wow, just wow. Dayumm... Turns out, it is Mari's the one who gets Shinji to man up a bit and get involved by getting him to come back. Once Shijni see the destruction unfolding before him, he realizes that he can't run away. He goes to fight and nearly fail when Eva Unit 01 goes berserk which is another fantastic moment in this movie. It then enhances the scene further by having him save Rei from the Angel itself, now that was a very powerful moment as well.

Third Impact begins.... Ok, ending on a cliffhanger, it seems. Well, alright then. I shall eagerly what happens with the third movie, Evangelion 3.33 or Eva Q,

Still the two Eva Rebuild films are released to the USA by Funimation and I highly recommend them to any fan of the original series or newbies who want to see what all hub-bub is about.

Anime Review No. 54-Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

"Animated Debauchery"

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (2010 TV Series)

Well, here starts my three review look at Studio Gainax's works. First, I shall take a look at Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, which came out in late 2010. I saw it in anime club around early 2011, in subbed format. Last year, when I heard that it was not only getting licensed (by Funimation no less!) but also dubbed, I was all for that in a heartbeat. So, after chatting, my brother got me the complete collection for my birthday last year, and I enjoyed this show quite a lot.

Now, for those not in the know, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt concerns the adventures of Panty and Stocking, two angels sent from Heaven to defeat evil Ghosts and collect Heaven coins to get back up to the lovely pie in the sky. But, they are too concerned with other affairs: Panty likes to screw every man in sight and Stocking likes sugar to the point where I think she's on the verge of a diabetic coma. In addition, the ghosts are all based on well, toilet humor (ranging from a ghost made of shit to a ghost that makes people fatter than cows). Essentially it is a 'monster of the week' show but made more raunchy and mature than really any shows from that genre. It is definitely not for kids at all.

Well, ok, there is something more beneath the surface. Starting halfway through the show, they try to crowbar in some big baddie who wants to enact 'the end of the world' or something like that. All well and good, but I find it to be rather forced in, no matter how entertaining. This is one of the problems that Gainax has run into since 1995, and that they try to pull this trick in most of their shows. It has rarely worked (Gurren Lagann being one of the exceptions, because it was awesome). Unfortunately, here it just doesn't work as that type of situation requires gravitas and appropriate dramatics, which Panty and Stocking can't support.

Why that is, it is due to the look and feel of the show. While many have noted the aesthetic design being similar to the Powderpuff Girls, its a lot more than that. Gainax has decided to use almost every production trick of the trades when it comes to animation: chibi SD, standard Sadamoto-eque animation, South Park-style animation, models for the ghost explosions, etc. It makes for at least an interesting viewing experience, to say nothing else.

My favorite episode of the entire series is Episode 6, "Les Diabloques". This introduces us to the Demon Sisters, Scanty and Kneesock who become the main antagonists for the second half of the show. Panty and Stocking are fighting ghosts at the local school when they stumble upon a scheme by these two to produce an army of ghosts to conquer Daten City. What ensues is quite possibly the best catfight ever put in an anime. Hiroyuki Imaishi, who directed this and Dead Leaves, seems to put a lot of effort into making this fast-paced and energetic as possible.

But what is really the selling point for this show: the dub. This is probably the only case (that I've come across) where the English dub is not only as good as the original Japanese, it actually surpasses it in almost every respect. Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial are a riot as the titular angels; it had me laughing out loud. It doesn't hurt that Ms. Marchi wrote much of the dub script, as it is full of innuendos and funny one-lines. Chris Sabat as Garterbelt is also good, even if it amounts to a white guy doing a Samuel L. Jackson impersonation. The rest of the dub cast is also very good, nearly a given since this is a Funimation dub. This is also one of the anime I've seen with both language tracks and I would recommend both for your viewing experience.

In the end, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, while not particularly deep, it is still a fun and entertaining series. It takes an unique spin on 'monster of the week' shows, has an interestingly diverse production, and is very enjoyable in both Japanese and English. Well worth a look, and then another, etc.

Now, without further ado, my first ever accompanying video:

(Will add in later today or tomorrow at some point)


Next review is on Gunbuster 2, to be released April 13th

Anime Review No. 51-Spice and Wolf Season 1

"It's About the Journey, not the Destination"

Spice and Wolf, 2008 TV Series

Studio: Imagin, Director-Takeo Takahashi

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

Well, February ends with a review on another series I like: Spice and Wolf. I watched this back in college when it first came out. Around Christmas 2010, I got some money to spend and after going to FYE, bought the whole first season on DVD. Unfortunately, I have yet to get the second season mainly due to it being only available on Bluray/DVD combo. So this review will focus on the first season.

Anyway, Spice and Wolf tells the journey of Kraft Lawrence, a traveling merchant in a world not much different from Medieval Europe. One day, while at a village, he runs into Holo, a wolf goddess who can take human form. She yearns to go back home to the northern lands, as the villagers have grown tired of the old pagan ways and are moving towards the all-powerful Church. So, Holo enlists Lawrence in joining her on the journey as she needs a companion after being lonely so long.

Now, based on that premise, one would swordplay and fast adventure in a fantasy world, would you not? Not really, as the focus of this series is on ECONOMICS, ECONOMICS, ECONOMICS!! Mostly it involves characters talking about and doing economic activities, including trade deals and doing networking with other people. Thus, the main drive of the series comes from dialogue and characters' interactions, as opposed to action which when that occurs, it is sweet and succinct. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, as the attention to detail with regards to historical detail makes the world of Spice and Wolf rather believable.

This leads to the other draw that this show has for me: the characters, mainly Kraft Lawrence and Holo. Kraft Lawrence is a very complex character. Being at times confident and brave to being angry and defeated. But, the highlight character for me is Holo, who practically steals the show every scene she is in, which is most of them anyway. She's feisty, sarcastic, energetic and prideful on the surface, but there's also a lingering sad softness underneath. I like that. The supporting cast are mostly one-off characters that are a bit one-note, with a few exceptions (Nora the shepherdess for instance).

In terms of production, it is very solid across the board. Animation is very nice-looking, with some quite lovely backgrounds and consistent character designs. Music is traditional Medieval music, mostly strings and percussion. Not too different from what one would hear from a Ren. Fair. I especially like the ending song, which is a jolly energetic and all-engrish music. The english dub is done by Funimation, who do a very job with it, as usual. J Michael Tatum and Brina Palencia, as Lawrence and Holo respectively, are the knockout V.A.s for the dub. The rest of the dub is filled with Funimation regulars which upon hearing some of them you will recognize at an instant.

So, all in all, Spice and Wolf is a very good fantasy series. I highly recommend it.

Next time is well, back to Saturdays.

March 2^nd is the next review, I am keeping it a surprise. See you then!

Anime Review No. 49-Sakura Wars Ecole de Paris

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Title: Sakura Taisen-Ecole de Paris

2003 OVA, 3 episodes

Produced by Red Entertainment/SEGA

Licensed and Distributed by Funimation in USA

Genres: Adventure, Action, Mecha

So, this series of reviews on anime sequels ends on this: Sakura Taisen-Ecole de Paris. Sakura Taisen, also known as Sakura Wars, is a franchise that has been around since the mid-90s. It has a manga, a TV series, movie, and several OVAs, all based on a series of video games. Its creators are Ohji Hiroi (Virgin Fleet), Kosuke Fujishima (Ah My Goddess and You're Under Arrest) and Satoru Akahori (KO Beast, Maze OVA, Sorceror Hunters). It tells the adventures of the Imperial Floral Assault Team, a group of female mecha pilots, who protect 1920s Tokyo from evil hordes. The 26 episode TV series is actually very good, with the right balance of action, drama, character development and comedy I've seen in a mecha series. It's on my list of 10 Favorite Anime series I posted over a year ago and included its opening song in my list of Favorite Anime Opening Songs a few months ago.

Enough of that, for today I am talking about one of the spinoffs. See, the popularity of the game series prompted SEGA/Red Entertainment to go out and make a few spinoffs of this series. This one is set in Paris during the mid 1920s, and there is also another spinoff set in 1920s New York City. Anyway, this 3 episode OVA, made back in 2003, concerns the formation and initial adventures of the Flower Division in Paris. It actually serves as a prologue to the third game of the Sakura Taisen series, which makes some sense.

Episode 1: Flowers at Daybreak

January 1926 starts us off. It starts off....in French? A bit odd, but well done by the English dub cast.

A Flower Division is formed in Paris during the heights of the Roaring Twenties. I love the attention to detail to make this so. The first character we are introduced to is Erika, the readhead who is a bit of a sleepyhead (reminds me a bit of Sakura from the TV series). She acts a bit like a Catholic nun, always doing a prayer and talking about devotion and such. She comes across as being naive and not too smart but good-hearted and kind, much like Sakura in the TV series. The music is very 1920s Francophone with accordion and jazzy/serenading instrumentals.

Of course, Erika runs into Glycine Bluemer, the rich bitch, though not as bitchy as Sumire in the TV series, but certainly comes close. She is stern, aristocratic, a tad snobby and somewhat annoyed at Erika's sillier antics. Some another characters are introduced: Lobelia, a femme fatale thief whose the only one with a proper accent; Hanabi, a young woman with a dead lover and finally Coclequit, a younger girl who works at a circus as an acrobat.

So, the basic plot and premise is established with this first episode. The Flower Division is starting to come together. And, to add to this, Ohgami (the only dude in this series) is coming to Paris to help train this new group. Hurrah! Let's continue!

Episode 2: The Black Cat and the Bad Girl

Here, the focus is on Lobelia, the mysterious glasses, white-haired thief. She is a femme fatale and resident 'bad girl'. By this time, The Flower Division has 4 members: Erika, Gycline and Coclequit (little circus girl) and Ohgami. Just as in Sakura Wars TV, Ohgami is still the most bland and uninteresting character in contrast to the female characters. Thankfully his time in the OVA has been small, for now.

Meanwhile, a mysterious adversary, named Jester who looks like a female Pierrot Harlequin character. Apparently, this is the bad guy. Ok, cool, as this keeps in line with how the rest of the show. Strange occurrences happen which may or may not be linked to Jester.

Something of note:

Each of the girls have specific 'spirit powers' which are more latent here than in the TV series. There, all that meant was that they pilot the Kubos, but here they can do a bit more with their powers, like in the case of Lobelia who can literally bend fire to her will which she uses to outsmart the Flower Division's attempts to catch her.

After a rather lengthy but very good action sequence, Lobelia is finally caught and recruited into the Flower Division. This is a very good episode with plenty of action and excitement to be enjoyed. Let's see how this all ends up!

Episode 3: The City of Love

It has been three months since Ohgami has been in Paris, getting a rude awakening from Erika one morning which I chuckled at I'll admit. The episode goes through a sequence of Ohgami interacting with each of the girls one at a time.

First, Gycline is doing some sword training with Ohgami. She's extremely prideful but reliable with what "The honor of the aristocraticy" bit she keeps going on about.

Next, he's hanging out with Colcequit, who is the little circus acrobat girl. It is a very nice and soft conversational moment. There is a lingering inner sadness to her character, but sadly it isn't fully explored here.

Next, Ohgami is watching Hanabi perform on stage. Hanabi doesn't have much screen time, but the bit of time she is portrayed as a quiet and demure girl who is still moving on from her dead lover.

Finally, he is playing cards with Lobelia. She is expanded upon here, being reckless, morally ambiguous and stubborn. "Last thing I want is a peaceful Paris" very succinctly sums up her character.

Now, to cap off this part of the episode, we get a scene of the four girls in round-table conversation. This is quite entertaining, reminding me of group dynamic displayed in the TV series. I'll admit I smirked at this bit.

Now, we go from that to some government stiffs talking about remote controlled submarines. The Jester takes one and mucks around with it. It then goes about Paris starts causing some havoc.

This prompts Erika and Ohgami to go out in their Kubo units and fight. This is admittedly the best part of the OVA, where the production pulls off all the stops. This action scene which feel and looks like a video game (not surprising), with a nice blending of CGI and cel animation (even for the time it was made).

But, it all ends on a slightly unresolved note. A shame, as this is really good. Best part of this, you can watch this and not lose much aside from Ohgami but that's fine. Overall, this is very well done in terms of whole production (animation, sound, etc). Funimation does a good job with the English dub. Bummer that they couldn't spring enough money to get the second OVA of this, but whatever. As a final note, I highly recommend this.

Next Review: His and Her Circumstances (Valentine's Day Special) to be released February 16^th.

Anime Review No. 43-The Sacred Blacksmith

The Sacred Blacksmith

12 episode TV series, October-December 2009

Studio: Manglobe, Director: Masamitsu Hidaka, Writers: Masashi Suzuki and Rie Koshika

Licensed by Funimation

Well, Fantasy has gone to the Now portion, where I cover two titles I own that are more recent. This is only to prove that I do own anime titles from not just the 90s but also from more current years.

Now, onto The Sacred Blacksmith: a title I’ve owned for a few years. I got it at a Best Buy while I was living at out-of-state college. It was something I had never heard, but was intrigued by the cover art and the fact that it was the complete collection for about $25. This was back in the day when anime distribution companies (like Funimation who released this) began to sell anime in complete collection sets, as opposed to single DVDs with only 3-4 episodes per disc for a good chunk of money.

Anyway, The Sacred Blacksmith concerns the tale of Cecily Cambell, a female knight and head of a noble house within the city of Housman. She wants to be well-known like her father and grandfather, but never gets the chance. One day, during a battle when it seems things are going wrong for her, she is saved by Luke Ainsworth, a mysterious and brooding blacksmith with a strange sword (a katana as it turns out). She wants a katana for herself so as to prove she can help to protect the city, so she asks Luke to make one for her. In the process, Cecily gets dragged into an unexpected adventure, one involving mystical swords and the mystery regarding Luke and his cute elfin assistant.

First off, onto the difficult part: I want to like this show, and on the face of it, the premise (a coming of age story with a strong female lead) of this series is pretty interesting. For the first few episodes, it seems that way. But then, it veers off into another story dealing with a princess in exile. They spend 3 episodes on a separate story that really feels out of place. It feels out of place in part due to a different writer for those episodes. Even when it tries to tie itself it with the main story, it feels a bit forced. And after it’s finished up and the main story continues in episode 8 with only 4 more episodes, it smells of filler quite fairly.

Ok apart from that, the rest of this series in quite good. The setting is very much High Medieval/Early Renaissance European, in terms of architecture and clothing. This looks and feels like a period piece. There is a glimmer of a larger world, but for the most part, the story takes place within the area surrounding the city of Housman, part of democratic federation of trade cities, independent from any kingdom.

Luke, Cecily, Lucy and Aria: the main cast

 The cast of characters are very interesting. Cecily is a nice, strong, likable female lead, which is surprising given the setting. She throughout the series is the one I root for as she grows and develops. Luke, a t first, seems like a brooding angst-ridden guy who doesn’t give much of a crap about others. But, he too develops though in a different way than Cecily. Lisa, the cute elfin assistant to Luke, is a mystery left unchecked until the final episodes, which threw me for a quite a surprise.

Now, the prime concept behind this show is the demon swords, mystical weapons from a past conflict. One of them is unique in that it can take human form, and that is Aria, demon sword of the wind.  Her interactions with Cecily, akin to most sisterly relationship, elevate her to main cast status in my eyes at least. There are other demon swords, but none of them have much impact on the plot as Aria does.

Example of the good quality animation here

 The animation is also very top-notch. Manglobe, the studio responsible for Samurai Champloo prior to this, do a fantastic job here as well. It looks quite impressive, given the show is 3 years old by this point. It is consistent throughout, with little to no moments of off-model shots or anything. The opening song is also very nice, being full of energy and gets you pumped up for this show (oh yeah!).

The English dub is quite fine and serviceable. Once again, you might be better off to watch in English given the medieval setting and characters. This came out during the period when Funimation started to dominate the anime scene here in the States. As such, the dub is really good, with consistent performances from most of the cast.  Of note is Monica Rial as Lucy, she has always been a favorite of mine in dubs, both ADV and Funimation titles.  

Overall, The Sacred Blacksmith is a decent and entertaining fantasy series. It has a few issues with the tacked-on story in the middle, but other than that, it works well. It is very well done in most aspects, from animation, setting, dub, etc. I would definitely recommend this.

See y’all in 2 weeks!