Anime Review No. 98 (Maria Holic)

Maria Holic (Winter 2009) and Maria Holic Alive (Spring 2011)

Studio-Shaft

Directors-Akiyuki Shinbou (with Yukihiro Miyamoto and Tomokazu Tokoro)

Writers: Masahiro Yokotani and Miku Ooshima

Well, here we are, something that I am sure most people would not expect me to cover. I was not entirely sure that I would get around to covering this show, but circumstances brought it back to my attention and so here it is. This is Maria Holic.

Maria Holic the anime is based off a manga series written by Minari Endo between 2006 and 2014. It is about Kanako Miyamae, a new transfer student to a private all-girls school. She is secretly a closeted lesbian hoping to find her first true love and a bit of a misandrist, well more in that respect due to her condition where she breaks out in hives when men touch her. She gains a new roommate in Mariya Shidou a nice and gentle ojou-sama but turns out to be a male sadist who is forced to crossdress due to the wishes of his dead grandmother who was also a former headmistress of the school. Thus Kanako is blackmailed into keeping Mariya’s secret. In the process she ends up in a series of unfortunate but comical misadventures at school.

What I like about Maria Holic is how twisted the whole thing is. The whole breadth of creative decisions for this story are made in the opposite way that they would normally trend. Be it Kanako who is basically a girl with a male pervert mindset, Mariya the sadist disguised as the nice and kind ojou-sama and her maid Matsurika who turns out to be a deadpan snarker. The rest of the supporting cast are like that and all fit a basic stereotype (tomboy, megane babe, genki girl, etc) and then taking them to a rather unexpected places.

This is quite fitting as Maria Holic is a rather black comedy at its core. The humor is prevalently dark and its funny mainly due to that. Granted there are some laugh out loud hard moments, but most of the time the comedy is met with a nice dry chuckle from yours truly..There is the semblance of a story/plot but Maria Holic relies a lot on gags and sketch comedy segments. What story is there is an interesting parody. This is very related to my previous review, OtoBoku. Whereas that was a gentle soothing parody, Maria Holic is a bitterly tinged parody and a satire of not only yuri but school slice of life and otokonoko sub-genres as well. Of course, at times it openly embraces the conventions it is joking about. The second season is more of the same, except it seems to double down on everything from the first season and it is even more strange and ridiculous.

Maria Holic S2 clip

The animation production certainly helps this out in spades. If you can’t tell from the first episode alone, this is a pure Studio Shaft/Shinbou directed show. All his trademarks are here and in spades, and it is oddly fitting for such a surreal and dark satire show. This includes the various off-point references, use of text in scene, head tilt, art shift (this show has 3 main art styles). The 2 non-consecutive seasons came out during what I consider the peak of Studio Shaft/Shinbou productions (same era as the Zetsubou Sensei, Hidamari and Arakawa series). There are the seeds of other Shaft productions lashed in the people involved in the production of this series: Yukihiro Miyamoto, future co-director for Madoka and ED for Season 1 done by the future production designer for Madoka and the OP was done by the guy who helmed the Bakemonogatari series. The main thing to take away is that it suits the story and characters, supplementing it as opposed to recent Studio Shaft productions where those same tricks are employed only the story and characters aren’t as engaging-cough cough Monogatari, Sasami-san, Meh-kaku cough cough, but moving on.
S1 OP S2 OP2
S1 ED             S2 ED

Now, onto the english dub, which is a treat especially for those of us waiting for it. The series had its 2 seasons released by Sentai Filmworks (S1 in 2010, S2 in 2012) but sub-only bare-bones releases. But then in late 2013, they announced that they were doing dub re-releases of some of the shows they had done sub-only treatment earlier. I was a bit concerned but then the dub cast came out and I did a sigh of relief. I bought both seasons with the dub in early 2014 and it was worth it. Thankfully Christopher Ayres helms the dub and as usual he doesn’t disappoint. He assembles a great cast with some of his regulars sure but he topped it out with 2 great if not perfect casting choices: Jessica Calvello and Monica Rial. I feel that Jessica Calvello’s career doing more dubs again has its origin point with this dub. She is in true comedic form asa Kanako and I have to say this is her funniest performance since Excel Saga and I can’t imagine anyone else in that role now. Of course she is complemented by Monica Rial who plays Mariya and its the surprise in the dub, always fantastic. The rest of the cast is very spot-on if littered with Ayres’ regulars (Carli Mosier, Brittney Karbowski, Meg McDonald, Shannon Emerick, etc). Another honorable mention has to go to George Manley who does the narration (old ADV fans might know him as the narrator for the ADV redub of Gatchaman a decade prior). The dub script, written by Clint Bickham (who plays a minor role in S2), is nicely done adding in some stuff to punch the already comedic material. Overall a great dub that is highly recommended by yours truly.

Overall, Maria Holic is an interesting high concept comedy show that excels in being fun and entertaining. Granted the flavor of comedy might not suit everyone’s taste but that’s ok. I like it quite a lot and its certainly up there on my list of funniest anime I have ever seen.

So that closes out March 2015 aka Guilty Pleasures Month 2.0. Will I do another series of review like this? Hmm maybe next year, but it will be under a different title for sure. April 2015 marks the release of my 99th and 100th reviews. I am keeping the subject of those 2 reviews a secret but in due time you will all find out. Review No. 99 due out on April 12th.

Til next time dear readers…..

Anime Review No. 94 (Love, Chuunibyo and Other Delusions)

“The Power of Imagination”

Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions (2012 TV Series)

Director: Tatsuya Ishihara

Writer: Jukki Hanada

Studio: Kyoto Animation

So, here’s a show that I have waited about a year to talk about and almost didn’t. This is a show that I find to be something truly special. This is based on a recommendation of my esteemed colleague Ramo Zemog, who covered the series last year, and I must say thank you good sir. It is certainly a worthwhile recommendation. The show in question, if you couldn’t tell, is Love Chuunibyo and Other Delusions.

Love, Chuunibyo and Other Delusions, based on the light novels by Torako, is quite an interesting story. The core of the story revolves around the notion of Chuunibyo also known as 8th grader syndrome, a disease of the adolescent mind. Linked to delusions of grandeur, it involves individuals with very active imaginations to the point where the line between fantasy and reality are blurred. Center of focus is on Yuta Togashi, a young man who is a former chuunibyo ‘patient’ who is entering high school. He tries to get a new lease on his social life in high school but is haunted by his own embarrassing antics of his youthful past as the Dark Flame Master. One night he meets a mysterious girl with an eyepatch. Rikka Takanashi is a current chuunibyo patient who holds power via the Eye of the Wicked Lord Shingan. As it turns out, she lives in the apartment above his family’s with her older sister Toka. The show takes some wonderfully funny and dramatic turns throughout the 12 episode run as they find new friends and learn quite a lot from each other, as well engage in fantastical fights from another dimension.

What I love about this show is how well it handles characters. This features a wide range of characters, all more or less integral to the overall story. Be it the comical straight man Yuta, the kooky double act of Rikka and her middle school twin-tailed shorty minion Dekomori, Nibutani the popular girl or the adorable sleepyhead senpai Kumin Tsuyuri. Granted the focus is on the development of the relationship between Yuta and Rikka, but the show does explore the other character dynamics of the main group of characters in a nice, fun and refreshing way. And yet like most of the cast, we aren’t meant to feel sorry for them, but more as a point of relation. I do relate a lot of Yuta, as I did some quite silly things in my youth.  My favorite character in the show is Kumin Tsuyuri, the sleepyhead senpai. She is so kind and nice it is almost like she is a pure innocent hnng. My second favorite is Nibutani, the popular girl who has some secrets of her own and that’s mainly due to having known girls like that in high school.

Another aspect this show nails is the combination of serious drama and light-hearted school comedy. I love the variety of humor and slapstick present in the show, from the deadpan to LOL jokes its all here in abundance. The physical slapstick comedy is also quite enjoyable as some compilation videos on Youtube can attest to. Yuta’s various reaction faces are a treat to behold.

But then around the halfway point, as the story takes a quite serious and dramatic turn.I kind of did expect it, but it makes the show more interesting when it changes up the formula a bit. Not to spoil too much, let’s just say that the fun daydreaming is the result of some truly heartbreaking stuff. Seriously, the loose 2 parter near around the halfway mark is some of the most heartbreaking and emotional family drama I have seen in anime in a while. This leads to complications and sulking surely, but it ends with the sublime episode 12 which in my mind offers a very summation of the show while allowing for a continuation to occur. The core message I feel for this show is this: Live for yourself, and do the best you can in life now what difficulties and hardships befall and that is perfectly fine to dream a bit every now and then. There exists a strong theme of love and acceptance permeate the show which flowers in the finale, but how well you will have to check it out yourself. As an extra note, the OVA Special is probably the best Christmas special I have seen in an anime since Read or Die TV.

In terms animation production, this show rocks. Kyoto Animation (or KyoAni) is a top notch Japanese animation studio and it shows up in this entire production, so fluid and full of life and energy. KyoAni is one of the few recent  studios that hit a gold mine early (with Haruhi and Lucky Star among others) and thus has oodles and oodles of money to spend on their productions and it certainly shows.in Chuunibyo in yards and spades. The fantasy fight scenes are amazing and a sight to behold. The show is beautifully shot overall with nary a bad or sloppy shot/frame anywhere.

For music, both OP and ED songs are nice and worth a listen to. The soundtrack music by Nijine is also a highlight as well, complementing the action be it serious dramatic or the light-hearted funny, making for some nice well-done orchestral music.I’m a sucker for that and wish more anime would do with that more often.

Chuunibyo S1 OP       Chuunibyo S1 ED

Now onto the English Dub and I have to say it is  easily one of the best I’ve listened to in recent memory. No really, this dub alone shows just how far Sentai Filmworks has come since Clannad over 4 years ago in terms of dubbing. First off, great narration work by David Wald to bookend the show, nice touch there. This english boasts a near perfect cast. Leraldo Anzaldua as Yuta does a great job in the leading guy role nailing the youthful tone and energy of the character. Meg McDonald as Rikka, now this has been a bit interesting, She goes for a slightly different take on the character but it works, where she goes slightly deep for chuuni mode but then high-pitched cutesy voice when not. It is certainly a bit more theatrical and over dramatic than cutesy moe but it fits the character. I do like Meg McDonald and I feel that she’s a voice actress whose career is really taking off and I wish her the best of luck and very encouraging to see people of my generation (like her and Caitlynn French) getting into anime voice acting. Keep up the good work you two and others!

Maggie Flecknoe as Nibutani is really good and fitting for the character, always nice to hear her in dubs. Brittney Karbowski as Sanae Dekomori: Yeah, this was a role Brittney was destined to play and wasn’t surprised at all she landed this part as it is right up her alley (her performance reminding me of some of her earlier dub work like Himeko in Pani Poni or Ayu in Kanon 2006). The rest of cast is well done in terms of vocal performance, including Greg Ayres, Carli Mosier, Genevieve Simmons, Monica Rial, etc. Chuunibyo is the the latest dub done by recent ADR Director Emily Neves. She is a voice actress who has been working in Houston dubs since Clannad. She picked up some training in directing from Christopher Ayres while working on the Problem Children dub, which I have previously reviewed and then announced last summer that she got the full time ADR Director position-reason for that I will talk about in an upcoming review. Emily Neves has gone onto direct dubs for shows like Watamote, Rozen Maiden 2013, Dog and Scissors and Maid-Sama!. She clearly is an actor’s director and seems to go for getting the best performance out of the actors. Neves is able to handle the comedic aspects of the show as well as nail the emotional scenes, particularly in the latter half. The dub script done by Lainee Hooks, script writer for Watamote, Prisma Illya and Sunday without God dubs, is a nice and well-done mix of transliteral and adaptative without going too far in either direction as most dubs from Sentai have done in the past. In fact with 2014 and this year so far, Sentai is actually employing script writers (most of them employed voice actors like Josh Grelle, Clint Bickham, George Manley, Nancy Novotny) for their dubs instead of just having their directors handle that. A step in the right direction for them in my book.

The funny thing is that this show was destined for a standard release. When Sentai Filmworks planned to release Chuunibyo Season 1, they planned for a May 2014 release sub-only, no dub on both separate DVD and Blu Ray sets. However the KyoAni fanboys threw such a fit over the show not getting a dub (when other KyoAni shows Sentai picked up got dubs), that Sentai Filmworks changed their minds on that. Still releasing the sub-only DVD set for May, they announced plans to release the first season on a Limited Edition DVD/Blu Ray box set. Now I preordered the day it was available back in late August 2014, for the expected December release date. But then it got pushed forward to February 2015 due to some issues Sentai had with the licensor but I find that the wait was worth it. Here;s the video they put out about the box set, which can be brought fairly easily on RightStuf.  I can’t wait to get Season 2 (Heart Throb) when that comes out.

Chuunibyo Box set video

Chuunibyo is a great show overall, with a wonderful tale of youth trying to find their place in the world. It is a great production throughout and has a truly great English dub. I wholeheartedly recommend this show and encourage others to check it out.

Next time is Strawberry Panic. Til next time dear readers.

Anime Review No. 92 (Martian Successor Nadesico)

'You Get to Burning!'
Martian Successor Nadesico (1996-97)

Director: Tatsuo Sato

Writers: Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Miho Sakaki, Naruhisa Arakawa, Satoru Akahori, Shou Aikawa, Takeshi Shudo

Studio: Xebec

So, the new year is abound us. The holidays were nice on me, got to see my family along with grandparents for the first time in a few years and it was all nice and calm. Now then onto the first review of 2015, a look at a show that I have been meaning to get to, and that is…. the space opera Martian Successor Nadesico, an adaptation of a manga series by Kia Asamiya, who was also the creator behind Silent Mobius. .

Nadesico is the story of Akito Tenkawa, a young man who while yearning to be a cook, is instead roped into joining the new crew of a new starship the Nadesico. There he is joined by a crew of veritable oddballs, be it sexy helmswoman Minato, the stoic child genius Ruri, the fanboy pilot Gai and the young captain Yukari who might be someone from his blurry past. Together, they journey to Mars to discover some rather unsettling things from humanity’s past, possibly relating to invaders from Jupiters and their Chulips and also to have some hijinks of the slice-of-life and romantic varieties.

One of the things about I like about the show is how transitional, but then again that is part of the times. The Mid-90s sci-fi anime scene was dominated by one giant show: Evangelion which to this day still has an influence stretching to the present day. Nadesico, in many ways, was the next big game-changer for sci-fi anime. Though more for the space opera subgenre whereas Evangelion was a grand turning point in giant robot genres. Of course this show is mostly forgotten, but in many ways I find that Nadesico works a lot better then Evangelion.

Now why’s that? Well, for one thing Nadesico has a better and more likeable cast of characters. Granted, some of them are based on archetypes of the genre (young male pilot, the captain, the helm crew, the child prodigy, etc) but they have enough quirks and eccentricities that ultimately make them charming. And each of the them gets their episodes to focus on them individually and how they worked together as an ensemble. While Akito is a main character of sorts, pretty much all the other major characters get their own character arcs that are for the most part very satisfying. I see Akito as an improved version of Shinji from Eva, in more ways then one. He at least has some sort of spine.

For another thing, the story is much more interesting and yet takes risks to explore new areas in its home genre. It takes place in a future much like Star Trek, where humanity has combined their efforts to explore the stars. Only not so optimistic, with the world controlled by the all-powerful military and corporations that seek nothing more to fuel the engine of war even at the expense of life and peace. At yet our intrepid crew, when a big story twist comes in halfway through the series,  seek out the truth and hope against hope that someday peace and reconciliation. Like Evangelion, though they do some psychological introspection but thankfully it is kept to mostly one episode with a few other scatterings as the series progresses. No, what the show is really about is learning to overcome differences and make it better for the next generation. There is a vehement anti-military, anti-war streak in the ‘shades of grey’ morality and there’s a good reason for that, being head writer Shou Aikawa who would go onto do Neo Ranga and FullMetal Alchemist ‘03 and those share that similar moral trend. But it doesn’t come across as preachy, and that’s by giving the other side fair and equal treatment, something which not many anime accomplish successfully. The sci-fi elements, be it the Nadesico spaceship, the concept of space travel via the means of the Chulips and the effect of time dilation are very well-thought out. And then the movie happened, and well if you want my thoughts on it, see my review on that back in January 2013.

Of course, the story is without its visual presentation. However, like Silent Mobius which I talked about back in October, this show runs into the fact the show came at a rather awkward time.The production does show signs of digital techniques and CG intruding into a mostly solid and well-done hand-drawn cel animation. Fortunately, it isn’t so obvious here as it is in Silent Mobius. In fact, recently RightStuf released the series and movie remastered. I however have the old ADV 3-2 disc sets from back in the day. In part because I feel its best to see it as it was, even it is imperfect. The show director is Tatsuo Sato, who after this show, would go on to have a career mainly helming solid and entertaining or interesting sci-fi series (Stellvia, Lagrange, Bodacious Space Pirates). Also the opening song, You Get to Burning, is freaking awesome and is one of my favorite opening songs of all time. The rest of the music is done by Takayuki Hattori (Slayers and Gundam Origin OVA among others) and it’s amazing and really powerful full-on orchestral music. Its really good stuff.

Now for the english dub. It is solid if a little uneven, much like the show itself. Produced in 2000-01, its a dub of its time, that being the ADV Greenfield era. I say this as the first era of Houston english dubbing, from 1995 to roughly 2001-03 when Matt Greenfield was the main director/writer for ADV dubbing (Amanda Winn Lee and  Tristan MacAvery were also directors/writers as well, heck Steven Foster’s career goes back to this era). Of course, it is also a very transistional dub, featuring veteran 90s ADV talent like Spike Spencer, Tiffany Grant, John Swasey, Rob Mungle, Brett Weaver, Marcy Rae alongside newer talent like Kira Vincent-Davis, Jenny Strader, Jay Hickman (and Monica Rial in a small blink and you’ll miss it part). It takes a part of time to get good, but when it does it gets really great and ultimately makes the show all that more charming and fun.

It's kind of a bummer that this show has been largely forgotten and thrown aside. Despite the fact hasn't really aged all that well, its a very underrated gem from an era that is slowly fading into obscurity. Speaking of obscurity (or not).....

Til next time dear readers

Anime Review No. 83 (KO Beast)

KO Beast (OVA) aka KO Century Beast Warriors

Initial Home Video Release: 1992-93

Director: Hiroshi Negishi

Script: Satoru Akahori

Studio: Animate-Film/Project B4

Well, well, it’s been a while, folks. But I am now getting back into the groove of doing reviews on a regular basis. Also, its my 3rd year anniversary for the blog so this month will be full of special reviews. Now, as I posted before, first off the bat: KO Beast!

Our gang of heroes, everyone ^_^

In the far future or something, the earth has been split in half. By what force that is explained but it makes very little sense. Beastmen roam and have taken over and are in a war against Human technomages as the two vie for control of the planet. KO Beast follows the adventures of Wan, Bud Mint, Mei-Mar and Tuttle as they contend against the villainous V-Darn and V-Sion and their sadistic fairy Akumako, whose boss is Czar Master a mysterious but evil being who wants to, of course, take over the world. Luckily, Wan (a prototype of every shonen protagonist for the next 20+ years) and his band of warriors have some tricks beneath their sleeves. For one thing, they can transform into anthromorphic versions of themselves, being human-animal hybrids. Wan turns into a tiger upon sneezing, Bud turns into a chicken when he gets goosebumps, Mei-Mar and Tuttle turn into a mermaid and turtle respectively. They have Yuni, daughter of Dr. Password who holds a secret power that might be the key to an united future. Lastly, they got these I-Jinn statues which can turn into giant mecha that can combine…..so like nearly every Sentai in that respect. I am going this far because I feel that this is a show meant to see to be believed.

I like the mecha designs (done by Rei Nakahara who would go on to work for  Blue Seed and Angel Links ), very old school

KO Beast OP

Now, this is a very silly and ridiculous show, to be frank.I mean, the OP pretty much tells you that right off the bat. Especially when I first saw this, I was like ‘what the fudge is this?’ but then as I continued I warmed up to its insanity. That is probably because KO Beast is just so optimistic and full of fun and very earnest. It is a lovely combination of adventure, shonen action, fantasy/sci-fi ever encapsulated in 7 episodes. The 7 episode OVA is split into two different stories: Episodes 1-3 being a shonen style quest adventure while Episodes 4-7 transitioning from that to being a rescue mission story. There is promise of further adventures but thankfully this OVA is relatively self-contained, something not many of KO Beasts’ contemporaries did.

Our heroes have the right things in mind lolz

There is not a serious bone in this show’s body and it is certainly proud of and/or well aware of this fact. Even when it does get serious, it manages to do that and crack a grin in the midst. It had me laughing all the way through, which is most likely the result of the writer and director for this OVA. Hiroshi Negishi and Satoru Akahori, two guys big in the anime scene of the ‘90s, make their debut more or less here. The CV for these two (Negishi would go onto do Burn Up W, much of 90s Tenchi Muyo and Saber Marionette J while Akahori would write for such shows as Nadesico, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Maze the Megaburst Space, Sakura Wars, etc) is quite a sight to behold, even Negishi was responsible for that trainwreck known as Amazing Nurse Nanako, but yeah we all can’t be perfect.

The OVA has some nice backdrops

Hmmm.,.....nah that couldn't be!

Of course, the writing and direction are complemented by an impressive art style and animation, even for the time. Sometimes it does get a bit cartoony and rubbery but hey it fits the tone and attitude of the show. Of course, consider when this first came out, its the early 1990s, as anime was coming out of the gritty, ultra-violent/sexed up OVAs of the 80s/early 90s. Sailor Moon was just out in 1992 on TV for instance and anime that came out in 1992 read like efforts to distance themselves from those kind of material. Anime studios began moving towards a broader eclecticism (at least in terms of the kind of shows/genres/stories they produced adaptations ). Essentially KO Beast came out at a time when more shows geared to genres like fantasy, sci-fi, slice of life, drama, etc which continues to this day. Not to say shows of those genres existed prior, but they were at the fringes of the anime fandom at the time when the only known shows from that era were space operas like Macross and Gundam or ultra-violent schlock like well, anything infamous from that era take your pick. Not to say that KO Beast was a pioneering series for the japanese animation field, but it stands as part of a vanguard of early to mid 90s anime.

Only in this anime does Lisa Ortiz voice a sadistic devil-Navi for the dub lolz 

The English dub, produced back in 2003, is a steady effort from NY Headline Studios, one of the better studio groups from that area. While certainly not their best effort (Kare Kano) but it is not that far off from that in terms of quality. It is somewhat notable for starring early career Liam O’Brien and Sam Riegel as well as NY dub mainstays like Angora Deb, Rachael Lillis, Lisa Ortiz, Jessica Calvello and J David Brimmer. Granted it gets a bit repetitive in terms of the additional/bit parts but otherwise a fine dub overall. Note this is one of a few shows that has both an American and British dubs. But, The British dub was only for the first 3 episodes and seems lost to history though a friend of mine has seen some of it and called it ‘legendary’. The best bonus for the US release is the english dub outtakes which are hands down the funniest I’ve heard. Granted, its mostly the actors flubbing their lines or inserting unneeded references into the scenes as one would expect from bloopers, but one can definitely tell that this was a riot to record, for sure.

So yeah I like this show, its got a special place in my heart when it comes to 90s OVAs, right along with Magic Users Club and El Hazard. It got some good stuff going for it and any sort of shortcoming are forgiven because it is just so darn funny and entertaining.

KO Beast is available by Right Stuf, though only as 3 DVD singles that are out of print but can be found easily on Amazon or eBay.

But you know, things can't all be fun and games all the time.....

Til next time, dear readers.....

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. 79 (Battle Athletes OVA)

“Winning at Friendship means Winning at Life”

Battle Athletes OVA (1997-98)

Studio-AIC, Director-Kazuhiro Ozawa, Writer-Hideyuki Kurata*

*-original concept derived by Hiroaki Hayashi (creator of Tenchi Muyo and El Hazard)

You know, sports can be quite fun and enjoyable. While I mostly walk or play fitness games on the Wii, back in the day I did do cross country during high school and tried out for track and field (in shot put) before becoming an equipment manager. I do also follow some sports as well (mainly college football and basketball) and find them entertaining.

Thus, sports do figure into anime but regrettably don’t sell well if at all. Efforts to do so stateside (Princess Nine, Ayane’s High Kick, Shootfighter Tekken and the 90s Ping Pong anime CPM released) have been fondly remembered or largely gone by the wayside. Of course, in that pile lies Battle Athletes, a OVA series from the late 90s that I find to be easily one of the better entries in the genre.

Of course, some background: In the far future (of 2015) a world war occurred but ended with the arrival of a global disaster. This united humanity, sort of the same way that Star Trek portrays the future. Flash-forward to AD 3045 and humanity colonized the whole of the solar system, but they engage in war with an alien race and it is very high tech warfare. It is a futile effort thus turned to tests of athletic prowess instead. The University Satellite Program, which would make the ISS look like Skylab, is founded and created. In AD 3996, the contest for the Cosmic Beauty is made in inspiration from that history but for female athletes only. Going forward to the present time of the story, which is 4999 AD.

Well Battle Athletes tells the story of one Akari Kanzaki and her journey to being the next Cosmic Beauty. She’s your standard main heroine: nice, kind, a bit naive but strong-willed candidate. Her mother Tomoe Midou won the contest years ago, so she strives to just not win, but also set a new record in process. In other words, Battle Athletes boils down to the classic underdog story that many sport stories use, like Rocky, Rudy, etc. That being said, Akari’s story is more interesting as the journey not the destination. Yeah, we as the audience know that she will end up winning in the end, but how she goes about it is more interesting.

In terms of conflict (besides the sports events which I will get to), Akari has more self-doubt and reluctance on her part then much of an external force. She is basically living beneath the shadow of her mom’s past success, which does put her in a bit of slump. Luckily she doesn’t mope around too much and seeks to improve. Of course, it isn’t just her doubt that plagues her.

If the series does have an antagonist, its Mylandah, but only through indirect sabotage. She is an A-grade psychotic given into her own highly misplaced regard for herself. She has her eyes on being able to beat the previous champion, Lahrri, herself to the point of pure obsession. Later, it is revealed that might be more than that, but I won’t spoil it here.

Fortunately, Akari is not alone. She got support from a few friends, be it the jungle girl Tanya, the quiet demure girl Anna Respighi, or Grant Oldman who I have to say is quite awesome. I mean, the dude surfboards in the upper atmosphere in one scene (trust me it makes more sense in context). Of course, Akari’s greatest pillar of support comes from well, one of my favorite characters in anime ever, Kris Christopher.

At first, she is a capable athlete but a bit of an oddball. She is from the Moon Beginners Colony, which are akin to lunar hippies, with their communal back to nature society and non-violent/pacifist philosophy. I would argue that the OVA is just enough about Kris as it is on Akari. Like her, Kris was inspired by Tomoe Midou as a child to go for the Cosmic Beauty. She is willing to give it her all, even against Akari. But more than anything, Kris strives not for victory, but self-improvement and seek spiritual peace in the process. Well, that and she’s a heavy spiritualist but thankfully it isn’t over-emphasized and she demonstrates this with both actions and words, which I have to admire.  Also, she’s an open lesbian or at least open to options perhaps, which makes some of the Akari and Kris scenes quite sweet and touching.

Of course, the sport events have their place in this. For once, these are given some degree of practicality to them. Of course, there is stuff like lacrosse in zero G or extreme High Jump with extra running start where physics much less standard human endurance are called into question, but yeah its sci-fi so I will let it slide. That and a lot of them look like a lot of fun and work to reinforce the character development and plot.

One of the things I adore about the show is how unbounded in its optimism and enthusiasm, much like other sports storylines with underdog protagonists. It is one of many Anime examples of the individual underdog going against all odds and obstacles in the process of getting it to the top.  It also has that good 90s old school charm which appeals to me greatly. Finally it is just so damn inspirational. It was so good that like many other AIC productions in the 90s, got a TV series named Battle Athletes Victory, which is a more expanded and light-hearted retelling of the story presented in the OVA and also gets a recommendation from yours truly.

Now, onto the animation. It is classic 90s AIC work here, very similar quality to El Hazard, Tenchi Muyo and Oh My Goddess in this regard. There are spots of CG work here and there but well done for the times. It is an overall gorgeous presentation and animation. It looks just fine on the DVD; of course, this came out in late 1998-early 1999, with the first US volume released within 6 months of the last episode release in the OVA in Japan.Though it would be nice if they would do a re-release in the future, especially the TV series since the only way to get it is through singles only at variable prices. I mean, come on, Princess Nine got a recent re-release, why can't this series?

The music is done by Takayuki Hattori who also did the Nadesico and Slayers OST among others. The OP song is  second best AIC OP besides the EL Hazard OVA 1 OP that I have listened to. It is phenomenally great, mainly being sweeping and grand orchestral music, though a lot of it sounds like battle theme music.

Lastly, the english dub. Now, this is late 90s LA dub done by the wonderful group at Animaze, the same group that brought us the dubs for Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, El Hazard etc. The dub does have a handful of well-known voice actors (Steve Blum, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Julie Maddalena, Bridget Hoffman, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Wendee Lee, etc) in there, and they are doing quite a good job here. This would be an overall ‘great’ dub but the big BUT rests on whoever they got to voice Akari, Bambi Darro. She is doing her best, but its just not consistent as the rest of the cast_ Voice slippage, slight overacting in scenes, screeching, etc. Granted, that does improve a bit by the end so not too bad, just not as good in comparison.

Overall, Battle Athletes is a very good 90s OVA series showcasing a future with young women playing really cool sport events and watching Akari Kanzaki against all odds reach to the top.

Now, for my next review.....well who's ready for some tankery?

Til next time, dear readers.....
(It should be up around May 3-4)