Here are some of my other Anime Reviews on NetFlix.com
Ghost In the Shell
If you haven't seen the original "Ghost in the Shell" movie than you are definitely missing a huge series that every anime lover should watch. It is why I love anime so much. Beautiful, but tough android women, intelligent and thought provoking narratives, crime fighting in an alternate reality that might come to pass some day, sci-fiction that adds a human element and face, and art work and sound design that truly pleases the senses. "Ghost in the Shell" is a masterpiece and it's movies like these that have kept me interested in Genre. This is a must see.
Story:A+
Artwork: B
Character Design: A
Voice Acting: B+
Sound Design: A+
Overall: A
The artwork is getting revamped with the new release of Ghost in the Shell 2.0.
What to say about this Samurai action suspense comedy? I guess that pretty much says a lot right there. There is an annoying little kid and brother whose parents are massacred by a group of Ronin that are attempting to overthrow the Shogunate in Kyoto. While the Shoune-ai in this Anime really turns me off, i can't ignore the great blood letting and classic Samurai honor scenario that also has my attention. The little orange haired brat was seriously annoying at first, actually he still is annoying, but he is what distinguishes this series from many others. He kinda tempers the homo-eroticism of the pretty but deadly Bishounen Samurais. It's got a little Ninja magic going on, which is always entertaining to me. The English Dub is terrible, part of what made the little kid so annoying. However, I did compare it to the Japanese and they actually did a good voice match up. So the voice acting in this series was just annoying all around.
However, I'm glad that I actually purchased it because it turned out to be a really great Historic Samurai work. It had some really heart felt moments and some very intense fight scenes. There is no comparing this to Samurai X Trust and Betrayal but I would compare it to Rurouni Kenshin Tv. However, I must say that I just wasn't feeling the music in this series. It definitely needed a more historic approach. Japanese classical music definitely needed.
Story: A-
Art: B
Music: D
Character Design: C
Voice Acting: C
Overall: B
Art: B
Music: D
Character Design: C
Voice Acting: C
Overall: B
But I enjoyed this more than it's technical flaws would allow so I'm upgrading the overall enjoyment to a "B" because it was better than the average samurai anime. It had something that similar series lack that was emotion. While it didn't work in many, if not most scenes, it did work in the really important ones which gave this series a leg up.
Story:C
Art: B
Character Design: C
Music: C+
Voice Acting: C-
Overall: C
I must also disclose that is an Anime review only and I was not taking the Manga into consideration which is said to be much better. Honestly after watching the Anime I'm just not interested in going back to read this one.
Saikano isn't the longest series with it's thirteen episodes, but those episodes seem to take an eternity to finish. Each episode is slow and monotone to the point that it sets a very depressing mood seemingly intentionally. Of course this did provide the series with a very unique kill yourself feel, but it didn't seem like the highs ever went very high, it was like the climax's were more like anti-climax's. I can't dislike this anime too much though because it does stay true to this original design and by the last episode you get thorough picture of what life is like in Saikano while being in love with Chise. I don't want to give too much away because the best thing about this series was the initial shock that it was able to deliver in the first episodes. This is supposed to be a timeless love story told in a depressing New world pessimistic attitude. I think it did that well, but failed miserably in the sound design which should have set a less monotone mood. Unlike Sekai no Senki where the monotone slow feel really drew me in, this story barely kept my attention till the end.
Story:B+
Art: B
Character design: C
Music: C
Voice acting: B
Overall: B-
Music: C
Voice acting: B
Overall: B-
Story: B
Art: A++
Character Design: A
Music: A++
Voice acting: B
Overall: A-
Music: A++
Voice acting: B
Overall: A-
Gantz
There were a few questions running through my head as watched this anime and a few reviews from so many others who had criticisms like, Gantz was the most overrated anime of 2004. My answer to that statement is I definitely agree. Gantz is a big disappointment. Had a paid more than twenty dollars for the first season I would have went of the deep end. Second criticism that I've heard was that the monsters in this anime were stupid. I agree with that statement too. The monsters could and should have been frighting, instead they went comically stupid monsters like green onion eaters and some stupid looking Frankensteinish creature with giant purple chickens inside. WTF. The first episode of this series was amazing and pulled me in immediately. I was even willing to forgive the seriously lacking artistic design and poor animation quality. However as soon as the introduced us to the green onion aliens all I could think was, Really? Why? I could have forgiven the retarded monster designs, but then they proceeded to follow the what not to do when creating a suspense horror, which was add needless dialogue into situations where action is the most important aspects. (Lets talk for ten minutes while this monster is attacking us, he'll wait for us to finish blabbing our mouths off.) There were a few moments I just had to start fast forwarding, because even the dialogue was pointless and basically a bunch of suspense killing filler that in the end made this production a steaming pile. Definitely not going to watch the second season and am disappointed in myself for buying this. It's a real shame because I really like many aspects of this work, like the character design and the plot, unfortunately the problem with this Anime was in it's execution.
Story:BArt: C
Character design: F
Music:C
Voice Acting: C
Overall: D
Japanese Official Site.
Story: B
Art: A+
Character design: A
Music: A
Voice Acting:A
Overall: A
Character design: A
Music: A
Voice Acting:A
Overall: A
Story: D
Art: C
Character design: D-
Music: D
Voice Acting: C
Character design: D-
Music: D
Voice Acting: C
Overall: D
I just finished the three part series of Megazone 23 and I have to tell you there are many differences between the three movies. After watching all three it doesn't take genius to tell that they were all done by different directors. While Noboru Ishiguro oversaw the entire project he only actually directed the first movie, which was definitely the strongest in story of the three, but it lacked some obvious characteristics that the following two movies improved upon like animation and character design.
It must still be understood that all three movies come from legendary Hiroyuki Hoshiyama the script writer of such classics like Mobile Suit Gundam, Urusei Yatsura, Patlabor tv and many more. This does give the three movies a certain bond in story, and all of the movies do incorporate some of the animation from the original movie done by Noboru Ishiguro, but that's where the similarities end. The first movie's art was directed by Mitsuki Nakamura while the second and third movies are done by Kazuhiro Arai which means that they had a different artistic style and feel.
Ironically while they switched art directors for the next movie they kept Hiroaki Serizawa and Shiro Sagisu for the music but in the third movie they even change that. While there are two different art directors in these movies they all seem to do pretty good at keeping the original motor cycle Mech design called the "Garland" similar. But in almost every other aspect the two different art directors take a different approach, even with character design which really bugged me in the second movie in which Kazuhiro Arai decides to take a more natural approach to the main characters Shogo and his girlfriend Yui. At first I didn't even know I was watching Megazone 23. The second movie turned into some sort of anarchist cyber- punk biker story. It was really annoying and didn't seem to fit at all compared to the originals' story.
The third movie had superior artwork and character design compared to the first two in my opinion of course. The characters were extremely dynamic because a large part of the beginning of this story is background and setting, very much like the first movie. They both made it easier for us to care about the characters, unlike the second movie which really had no information or setting to all of Shogo's gang of punks.
Overall these movies had three completely different feels, but were tied together with the original plot. I'm thinking the second movie really was just laughable, especially with it's English Dub turned on. Some of the terminology that they used had me rolling. There were other aspects of these movies that also made it more interesting for me, which included the addition of adult material and nudity that you fail to see in other space opera's like Macross. Was the Nudity Fan Service? Well of course it was but I thought it was tasteful and not too over the top. It was similar to a rated "R" movie, which added an adult side to this story.
I must mention that I watched the newer ADV complete set version which fixed many of the other flaws from past versions that Justin Sevakis discusses in January's buried treasure article. Is Megazone 23 buried treasure or buried trash? I'd say as a whole it is remarkable in many ways and people who love space opera's like Macross and Cyber-punk stories like Dirty Pair will enjoy this old school goody.
Movie: I Art: B, Character Design C, Music: A, Story: A, Voice Acting: C+, Overall: B
Movie: II Art: C, Character Design C, Music: B, Story: C, Voice Acting: C, Overall: C
Movie: III Art: A, Character Design B, Music: B+, Story: B+, Voice Acting: B, Overall B+
Movie: II Art: C, Character Design C, Music: B, Story: C, Voice Acting: C, Overall: C
Movie: III Art: A, Character Design B, Music: B+, Story: B+, Voice Acting: B, Overall B+
Ai Yori Aoshi was a romantic comedy that started off really great but feel way short in my opinion. The over the top fan service, and even a tiny bit of loli really got annoying. This series just had me asking myself why? Did they really need all the stupid fan service? I could understand a little but this series is pulled way down with the American Japanese character Tina Foster, who is continually massaging the cosplay maid Taeko Minazuki's huge breasts. The first time she does it, it's funny but throwing it into every other episode just really becomes stupid. It's kinda like telling the same joke over and over again, after the third time it just isn't funny anymore. The terrible part is that they had a really good story to build off of between Kaoru Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba the main characters. What did they do? The left Aoi's character completely static and here emotions and feelings never waiver. Kaoru on the other hand was the most dynamic character and saves this series in many places with flash back's to his abused upbringing. However, his character never faces down his grandfather, there is never any reconciliation or justice for the banishment and persecution of his mother from the Hanabishi family.
Now I'm thinking this might be in store for the sequel Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi, but from the looks of the first episode which immediately starts off with the entire Harem story again I have my doubts. Another thing really just started getting to me in the first episode of Enishi. Cherry blossoms! Don't get me wrong I love cherry blossoms but I'm getting sick and tired of them. At some point they just loose their beauty when they always just paraded around without thought to as Why? Two years have past, yes two years and they are all still living in Aoi's parents second home near Tokyo and even after Aoi's father's accepting to Kaoru and Aoi's engagement, they still haven't told any of their friends or house mates that they are a couple. Instead the creators have decide move Enshi toward a freshman girl, Taeka's cousin Chika Minazuki, who is our key loli character. I'm not pleased at all with this series. So much potential for a meaningful drama and yet the creators decided to make just another ecchi comedy littered with the actual plot of the story that is weighed down with all of it's side plots and stories.
The art in the first series is very beautiful but the sequel really does improve on some of 3d animation. The colors are more crisp but the 2d character design stays the same. Voice acting is pretty good in English but Aoi's voice begins to become really annoying, so I'd recommend watching these series in Japanese, Tina's western accent is also really annoying in the English version.
The music in this series is really lighthearted, but at least it isn't inundated with J-pop/J-rock, not to say that is bad, but that becomes really annoying at times too. Basically I was really hoping that Enish was going to move to correct some of the flaws with the original story, but it seems that has made it's move to do the exact opposite.
Story: C
Art: B
Character Design: C
Music: B
Voice Acting: C
Overall: C+
Music: B
Voice Acting: C
Overall: C+
Art: B
Music: C
Character Design: B-
Story: C-
Voice acting: C-
Overall: C+
Music: C
Character Design: B-
Story: C-
Voice acting: C-
Overall: C+
Finished all fifty-two episodes of Kaleido Star and the first criticism is that the English voice acting almost became like nails on a chalkboard. Switched it to the Japanese voice acting a few times and it seemed that their voice acting was just as annoying and I had to read. What to do? Other than the voice acting I really liked most of the series. There was so much angst that it kept me uncomfortable which isn't always bad, in this case it added to story. However, Fifty-two episodes of listening to Sora whine and cry all the time drove me crazy, but somehow it still held my attention. A few of the episodes, particularly a scene in episode 39 or 12 of New Wings, called Cruel Amazing Festival, Sora couldn't pull it together at a circus competition and then spent the next couple of episodes wallowing in her own despair. Those episodes where just hard to watch and the Nails on the Chalk board where joined with self doubt and loathing, which made for very bad entertainment. Sora finally realized after a trip home, back to Japan, that she really belonged at Kalaido Star. I wasn't sure what to think at that moment other than I hoped that I could continue. This series consumed my life for almost a week, and at no point did I have any doubt about how it was going to end.
The surprise was that the last ten episodes, excluding the extra episode, really did a great job of concentrating on what made the first season so much more interesting than the second season: New Wings. It focused on the art of acrobatics and the circus, rather than attempting to poorly develop Sora's already static and uninteresting life. Lets see, they never developed Sora's love interest Ken from her perspective, they made her step parents stereotypically politically correct, all of her finds are supportive, and they made her IQ about 60, other than her natural acrobatic abilities in which she was a genius. However, after all these seemingly disastrous story elements, the flaws gave her a certain charm. Plus, Sara's lack of self esteem did help build better climax's when she succeeded. I'm just feeling the amount of episodes that it took to get to the ultimate conclusion was way on the excessive side. But still I can't over look the moments when Sora's spirit and hope combined with the beautiful artwork and almost brought me to tears.
The opening and ending songs to both the first and second season didn't fit the story at all. However, the music during the episodes was well done. It's really hard to rate this series because it had some really strong elements, like artistry and a very interesting style of storytelling was fun. For most of the series I was very entertained, but there were a lot of episodes that I wish I had skipped. I'd say this series would have been a lot better if they would have cut about five episodes from each season. I have to give a shout out the the Bishounen spirit of the stage "Fool" though, he really did add an entertaining element of comedy that helped this series out.
Story: B+
Art: A
Character design: B
Music: C
Voice Acting: D
Overall: B
Voice Acting: D
Overall: B
After saying all this, I couldn't help but love the emotional artistry and feeling that KyoAn pumped into this 2006 series. I'm really wondering what the 13 episode Toei Animation 2002 version looked and felt like. This versions animation was beautiful. A snow filled wonderland that really added an element to every scene. The snow flake designs and animation looked amazingly real. I really enjoy the main character Yuichi's character design too. But most of the children and the girls eyes took some getting used to. I mean they were extra big even for anime standards. Voice acting was descent in English, and Japanese. I'd say the Japanese was a little better, however Ayu's ewwwgooooos where hilarious, even if they did get a bit old after a while. Production value makes this series definitely worth watching and even buying if you think you are able to watch this series as a group of stories with the same actors. In a way it's kinda like waking up everyday and not knowing what knew might happen. I'd go into
Story:B
Art: A
Character Design: C
Music: A
Voice Acting: B
Overall: B+
Music: A
Voice Acting: B
Overall: B+
The artwork in this series was fluid, but soft and pastel, while throwing in strongly lined pictures right out of the manga to add an amazing artistic feel, to a series that is as much about the connection between art and music as it is life and love. This series captured my heart is yet another example of why I love to
watch Anime. Who would of thought that so much artistic beauty could be cultivated into one series. I have never watched a story about Classical Music before that was able to inspire and invigorate the soul so passionately as this series. I think that the combination of traditional art, classical music, animation and storytelling has created a true masterpiece. The contrasting personalities of Chiaki and Nodame kept me thirsting for more. The Japanese voice acting was also done very well and never distracted my for a second.It is a real shame that a beautiful show like this has yet to be picked up by any R1 companies. I think it is a serious mistake on their part. Or it could be that they just don't feel that this cultured of a story would be accepted here in North America. No Way!!! They're Crazy, someone better distribute this series.
Bravo!!!!
Story: A
Art: A+
Character Design: A
Music:A++
Voice acting: A
Overall: A+
Music:A++
Voice acting: A
Overall: A+
The Irony is that I'm not even sure if all the hype is incredibly well deserved. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed much of Sayaonara Zetsubō Sensei especially the first episode of the series, which was very funny. But marathoning the series turned out to be a little difficult. I don't think any of the following episodes lived up to the hilarity of the first episode. While there were many funny parts in all of it's following episodes, it just seemed that they were few and far between. "Mr. Pink Supervisor's" neurosis's became a point of annoyance towards the end, as is any gag that has been beaten to death. The most remarkable thing about this series is it's story telling. The art, while well done, was nothing special. The music, which felt appropriate, was nothing special. It was the really thoughtful and interesting perspective and subject matter that Shinbo was able to incorporate into the series that made it well worth watching. The pictures of himself all over the place became very annoying and yet added to it's interesting feel, only annoying because his face was often covering up the much needed fan service. Although I must also point out that the even the fan service became a bit over the top and started to dig away at the story line. Other than the Yuri satire, which had me cracking up every time I saw it, most of the fan service was a little forced, especially the blond girl pantie shot satire.Story: B
Art: B+
Character Design:B
Music: C
Voice Acting: B
Overall: B
Character Design:B
Music: C
Voice Acting: B
Overall: B
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea was amazing as expected. I have no idea how Miyazaki does it, but he always has enough creativity to reinvent all of his works. Ponyo reminded me of the Little Mermaid, but with a child like playful spirit, something Miyazaki always loves to recreate for his audiences. I can't wait until this comes out on the Big screen in the U.S. on August 14, 2009 so I can go see it again. I'm hoping the voice acting is done well, because the Japanese voice actors did an amazing job.
From this preview I can already see how different the English voice acting is. Not sure if I'm gonna like them. Usually Disney does a good job of voice matching, but it seems like they just decided to get as many big names as they could find. I guess it's business as usual. I Can't say if I'm going to enjoy the English Dub quite yet.
The very few flaws that some might pick out are only stylistic choices with his artistic design. Everything else was amazing including the choice to stick with his characteristically soft water colors and 2d animation. If there was any 3-d cgi sequences in this movie it was put in so expertly that I'd have to watch it again to try to find examples, because I didn't see any.
The Music was all done in orchestral format by Miyazaki's favorite composer to work with Joe Hisaishi. And I must say that his work this time around is nothing less than breath taking. He was able to capture each moment in music and fit it perfectly into this soon to be new classic.
For the story and character designs Miyazaki doesn't stray too far from his normal archetype. While most of his films always deal with a heroine, Ponyo starts off with a hero as it's focal point, Sōsuke Himawari a five year boy. The heroine of the story shows up a little later in the form of a gold fish with a face, in which Sōsuke names Ponyo. Actually if I were to compare this movie to any of his works I'd go back to his first series "Future Boy: Conan". They have a very similar feel. I'd say that "Ponyo", the movie story wise, was a cross between The Little Mermaid and Future Boy. However, whatever the cross, the execution of the character dialogue was perfect in regards to the story. There wasn't a moment in which the story did not feel polished and well thought out. Of course this has come to be expected from someone I lovingly refer to as the Maestro.
Worth every minute of the Hype!!!
Story: A
Art: A
Character Design: A
Music: A+
Voice Acting: A
Overall: A
When reviewing a CLAMP title it is impossible not to discuss some of the Manga information when discussing some of the details, particularly when one must discuss the worlds of Cardcaptor Sakura (CCS), xxxHOLiC (Holic), and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (Tsubasa). I chose that particular order because that is the order in which they were released. Even though this review will attempt to focus on the animated series xxxHOLiC as released by FUNimation in a Box set on July 28, 2009, it will also attempt to look at the series in it's entirety, by attempting to explain why certain things happen by piecing information that transcends these three CLAMP works already mentioned. I will use character analysis as my primary key in understanding the plot. It should also be said that I will be attempting to express significant insight into the story and plot without spoiling the series. My attempt is to accent the story so one might enjoy the series even fuller. Although there is something to be said about watching this without any background knowledge like I did. If you would like that experience I would suggest you stop reading now, as this review will probably spoil much of the mystery that I experienced during my initial viewing.
xxxHolic is stated as a Seinen Manga released by CLAMP and was initially published in Kodansha's Young Magazine in April of 2003. Holic's root is Holism, whose definition really does embody what xxxholic is about IMO. It is also stated that xxxholic's unique artistic style comes from Ukiyo-e wood prints. Which I'm not very familiar with so you will have to take that for what it is. Holic is currently being distributed by Del Rey Manga in Region 1. Tsubasa is a Shōnen manga and came shortly after in March of 2003. Cardcaptor Sakura preceded both these series and is a shōjo manga published by Kodansha's Nakayoshi Magazine in 1996. It is my belief that the fact that CLAMP targeted three different demographics with three different series and then intertwined their story lines was not an accident. As in life, all human interaction usually intertwines and I think that CLAMP wanted to bring the three worlds together. Of course they could have just been trying to make more money by targeting a larger demographic, but I'd like to think you can have both.
Kimihiro Watanuki: 四月一日 君尋, whose name ,Watanuki, stands for April 1st by no coincidence. On the surface he just a fairly fun loving nice high school boy who happens to have the misfortune of being haunted by spirits. He's often very naive and trusts people openly. His magical ability to see spirits was passed down to him by his parents who died when he was in grade school. His parents just happen to be the parents of Sayaoran (Tsubasa) and Watanuki's very existence is said to have occurred as Syaoran's payment for returning back into time. Watanuki and Sayaoran are in essence not brothers but the same person. Because when Syaoran went back in time Watanuki was born to fill his void with the relationships of those people in his original time-line. Confused yet? Watanuki's loving spirit is probably his greatest assets as it is that loving insight and openness that helps save himself from time to time and helps others. This tender nature and his duplicity are what make him unique and indispensable to the universe and Yūko the beautiful witch. Yūko and Dōmeki act as his protectors and teachers in regards to spirits. He is also in love with beautiful girl at school named Himawari.
Yūko Ichihara: 壱原 侑子, is an enchanting and beautiful Witch who attracts people who desire to have wishes performed for them. Her powers come from being alive for a very long time and the collection many magical items. She also does not grow old due to a wish that was made in her behalf. Her character is pivotal to the balance of the universe in that the wishes she fulfills are said to temper the evil of Fei Wong Reed (Tsubasa) a very evil and greedy being that is basically trying to take over the universe which also transcends all dimensions. On the surface Yūko is very carefree and selfish and enjoys spending her days drinking and eating the food that Watanuki cooks for her. Underneath she is very intuitive and wise which gives her impeccable timing when it comes to helping balance the Yin and the Yang. I'd definitely say she is on the side of good, although her vices do seem to add to a duplicitous character. Her true goal is never really known. It's weird but you'd think an attractive women like herself would have a genuine love interest. And I can't help but feel that it is possible that Watanuki could be it. I say could because her wisdom seems to transcend the need for normal human relationships. In reality Watanuki is the only character who is really developed in this first series. However, the second series xxxholic Kei, next two characters are developed further.
Shizuka Dōmeki:百目鬼 静, is our next important character. In this first series his part is not quite as large as Kei, nevertheless it is just as important. Dōmeki shares the role of the protector of Watanuki. He is the grandson of a powerful Shinto Shrine Priest who has passed his knowledge down to his grandson Dōmeki. He is tall, popular and good at sports. His lack of flaws tends to act as a great annoyance to Watanuki, particularly when it comes to the wooing of Himawari. Ironically, Dōmeki's personality is very cold and very hard to tell weather it is his intention to compete with Watanuki for Himawari's affection. It seems though that he enjoys making Watanuki angry. I'm not hinting on any homosexual intention, but well you never know. His character is actually really static almost robotic. His actions are flawless and he's almost as intuitive as Yūko. One thing is for sure though, he is essential in protecting Watanuki and later they become very good friends. Watanuki and Dōmeki also represent cyclical pattern when it comes to emotion. Dōmeki's lack of emotion balances Watanuki's irrational nature.
Himawari Kunogi: 九軒 ひまわり, is Watanuki's clear love interest. She is also very tall, with voluptuous striking features. Here personality is very kind and nurturing towards both Watanuki and Dōmeki. It isn't found out until Kei that the reason she is so stand offish is because she has been cursed with extremely bad luck. If she even touches someone she could kill them. The only people that are not effected are her parents and supposedly people with magical ability. This is why you often see her shying away from physical contact with Watanuki and why she is kind to both of them. She is just glad to have friends. As for a love interest, she understands that it just isn't in her cards as of yet. I'm sure she is hoping that some day someone will be able to overcome her bad luck and that is why she is attracted to people with magic. She is also very intuitive but has yet to be fully developed. Most of the development just discussed occurs in the Kei.
It's not to say that this series did not have it's flaws. I don't know weather the jumpiness in some of the In-between animation is the fault of FUNimations encoding/compression, but it was distracting. On the other hand the unique styling and character design did allow for some forgiveness. Still the sloppiness in the in-between animation is unforgivable in today's standards. The background art was decent but not really all that spectacular. You can't always have Shinkai doing your backgrounds I guess. However the art was still very fun and interesting with long fluid lines and fluid animation most of the time. Of course the animation doesn't even compare to today's standards but is still quite exceptionally done. Plus the artistic style is just really fun to watch.
The music was less than great. The opening song by 19sai by Shikao Suga, while unique just didn't really incorporate the feel for this series in my opinion. The first ending "Reason" by Fonogenico, similarly just didn't feel like a right fit and the last ending"Kagerou" by BUCK-TICK really was just like WTF? Basically I give S.E.N.S. a 'D' for their efforts and just pushing these j-pop songs that had absolutely no mystique to them. I'm thinking that this series should definitely had more of a haunting sound, not jazzy pop rock. I'm sure many disagree. I will say that the music during the series did not distract, but it also wasn't noticeable.
The English voice acting was done well, right up to episode 24 where Grey Ayres shows up as "The Kid". All of sudden "Beck" just came into my head. Way wrong voice for this series. His voice just really didn't work for me. On the other hand the other voice actors did quite a good job of matching the original Japanese feeling and emotional intention and didn't take away from the series. However, I actually like the English voice acting of Colleen Clinkenbeard as Yuko more than her Japanese counterpart Sayaka Ohara . As for Watanuki's English voice actor Todd Haberkorn he comes off a little effeminate if you know what I mean. His Japanese counter part Jun Fukuyama had more of a mama's boy sound but was much more appealing.
The look and the feel of this series is something that is a bit strange at first. The elongated stile of legs and bodies can at first be distracting, compared to other more realistic styles. However, it is this unique character design that eventually grows on you. The vivid imagination and distortions of reality give this story a lot to play with. However, in my opinion Holic didn't go too far down the road of ambiguity, that the story was undesirable. The lack of analysis actually added to it's mystique and gave the series an interesting feel. Of course for those of you who have been following the manga series of CCS, Tsubasa and xxxHolic, you will no doubt have a different perspective and quite possibly a deeper enjoyment of the animation. As a whole I enjoyed the series, even though there were some obvious flaws that could have otherwise destroyed other series. It was the story, while not totally unique, using many different aspects of other genres including sci/fi, comedy and romance that kept me entertained. One big problem I had was with the last episode 24. It really didn't seem like it belonged. I'm actually wondering if episode 24 was an added Ova to the series. If not it killed the pacing of the story and the hypnotic ending of episode 23. It should have been made a special feature and not part to the original series.
Character Design: A
Music: A+
Voice Acting: A
Overall: A
BACKGROUND INFO:
xxxHolic is stated as a Seinen Manga released by CLAMP and was initially published in Kodansha's Young Magazine in April of 2003. Holic's root is Holism, whose definition really does embody what xxxholic is about IMO. It is also stated that xxxholic's unique artistic style comes from Ukiyo-e wood prints. Which I'm not very familiar with so you will have to take that for what it is. Holic is currently being distributed by Del Rey Manga in Region 1. Tsubasa is a Shōnen manga and came shortly after in March of 2003. Cardcaptor Sakura preceded both these series and is a shōjo manga published by Kodansha's Nakayoshi Magazine in 1996. It is my belief that the fact that CLAMP targeted three different demographics with three different series and then intertwined their story lines was not an accident. As in life, all human interaction usually intertwines and I think that CLAMP wanted to bring the three worlds together. Of course they could have just been trying to make more money by targeting a larger demographic, but I'd like to think you can have both.
CHARACTERS:
Kimihiro Watanuki: 四月一日 君尋, whose name ,Watanuki, stands for April 1st by no coincidence. On the surface he just a fairly fun loving nice high school boy who happens to have the misfortune of being haunted by spirits. He's often very naive and trusts people openly. His magical ability to see spirits was passed down to him by his parents who died when he was in grade school. His parents just happen to be the parents of Sayaoran (Tsubasa) and Watanuki's very existence is said to have occurred as Syaoran's payment for returning back into time. Watanuki and Sayaoran are in essence not brothers but the same person. Because when Syaoran went back in time Watanuki was born to fill his void with the relationships of those people in his original time-line. Confused yet? Watanuki's loving spirit is probably his greatest assets as it is that loving insight and openness that helps save himself from time to time and helps others. This tender nature and his duplicity are what make him unique and indispensable to the universe and Yūko the beautiful witch. Yūko and Dōmeki act as his protectors and teachers in regards to spirits. He is also in love with beautiful girl at school named Himawari.Yūko Ichihara: 壱原 侑子, is an enchanting and beautiful Witch who attracts people who desire to have wishes performed for them. Her powers come from being alive for a very long time and the collection many magical items. She also does not grow old due to a wish that was made in her behalf. Her character is pivotal to the balance of the universe in that the wishes she fulfills are said to temper the evil of Fei Wong Reed (Tsubasa) a very evil and greedy being that is basically trying to take over the universe which also transcends all dimensions. On the surface Yūko is very carefree and selfish and enjoys spending her days drinking and eating the food that Watanuki cooks for her. Underneath she is very intuitive and wise which gives her impeccable timing when it comes to helping balance the Yin and the Yang. I'd definitely say she is on the side of good, although her vices do seem to add to a duplicitous character. Her true goal is never really known. It's weird but you'd think an attractive women like herself would have a genuine love interest. And I can't help but feel that it is possible that Watanuki could be it. I say could because her wisdom seems to transcend the need for normal human relationships. In reality Watanuki is the only character who is really developed in this first series. However, the second series xxxholic Kei, next two characters are developed further.Shizuka Dōmeki:百目鬼 静, is our next important character. In this first series his part is not quite as large as Kei, nevertheless it is just as important. Dōmeki shares the role of the protector of Watanuki. He is the grandson of a powerful Shinto Shrine Priest who has passed his knowledge down to his grandson Dōmeki. He is tall, popular and good at sports. His lack of flaws tends to act as a great annoyance to Watanuki, particularly when it comes to the wooing of Himawari. Ironically, Dōmeki's personality is very cold and very hard to tell weather it is his intention to compete with Watanuki for Himawari's affection. It seems though that he enjoys making Watanuki angry. I'm not hinting on any homosexual intention, but well you never know. His character is actually really static almost robotic. His actions are flawless and he's almost as intuitive as Yūko. One thing is for sure though, he is essential in protecting Watanuki and later they become very good friends. Watanuki and Dōmeki also represent cyclical pattern when it comes to emotion. Dōmeki's lack of emotion balances Watanuki's irrational nature.Himawari Kunogi: 九軒 ひまわり, is Watanuki's clear love interest. She is also very tall, with voluptuous striking features. Here personality is very kind and nurturing towards both Watanuki and Dōmeki. It isn't found out until Kei that the reason she is so stand offish is because she has been cursed with extremely bad luck. If she even touches someone she could kill them. The only people that are not effected are her parents and supposedly people with magical ability. This is why you often see her shying away from physical contact with Watanuki and why she is kind to both of them. She is just glad to have friends. As for a love interest, she understands that it just isn't in her cards as of yet. I'm sure she is hoping that some day someone will be able to overcome her bad luck and that is why she is attracted to people with magic. She is also very intuitive but has yet to be fully developed. Most of the development just discussed occurs in the Kei.Art:
It's not to say that this series did not have it's flaws. I don't know weather the jumpiness in some of the In-between animation is the fault of FUNimations encoding/compression, but it was distracting. On the other hand the unique styling and character design did allow for some forgiveness. Still the sloppiness in the in-between animation is unforgivable in today's standards. The background art was decent but not really all that spectacular. You can't always have Shinkai doing your backgrounds I guess. However the art was still very fun and interesting with long fluid lines and fluid animation most of the time. Of course the animation doesn't even compare to today's standards but is still quite exceptionally done. Plus the artistic style is just really fun to watch.
Music:
The music was less than great. The opening song by 19sai by Shikao Suga, while unique just didn't really incorporate the feel for this series in my opinion. The first ending "Reason" by Fonogenico, similarly just didn't feel like a right fit and the last ending"Kagerou" by BUCK-TICK really was just like WTF? Basically I give S.E.N.S. a 'D' for their efforts and just pushing these j-pop songs that had absolutely no mystique to them. I'm thinking that this series should definitely had more of a haunting sound, not jazzy pop rock. I'm sure many disagree. I will say that the music during the series did not distract, but it also wasn't noticeable.
Voice Acting:
The English voice acting was done well, right up to episode 24 where Grey Ayres shows up as "The Kid". All of sudden "Beck" just came into my head. Way wrong voice for this series. His voice just really didn't work for me. On the other hand the other voice actors did quite a good job of matching the original Japanese feeling and emotional intention and didn't take away from the series. However, I actually like the English voice acting of Colleen Clinkenbeard as Yuko more than her Japanese counterpart Sayaka Ohara . As for Watanuki's English voice actor Todd Haberkorn he comes off a little effeminate if you know what I mean. His Japanese counter part Jun Fukuyama had more of a mama's boy sound but was much more appealing.
Overall:
The look and the feel of this series is something that is a bit strange at first. The elongated stile of legs and bodies can at first be distracting, compared to other more realistic styles. However, it is this unique character design that eventually grows on you. The vivid imagination and distortions of reality give this story a lot to play with. However, in my opinion Holic didn't go too far down the road of ambiguity, that the story was undesirable. The lack of analysis actually added to it's mystique and gave the series an interesting feel. Of course for those of you who have been following the manga series of CCS, Tsubasa and xxxHolic, you will no doubt have a different perspective and quite possibly a deeper enjoyment of the animation. As a whole I enjoyed the series, even though there were some obvious flaws that could have otherwise destroyed other series. It was the story, while not totally unique, using many different aspects of other genres including sci/fi, comedy and romance that kept me entertained. One big problem I had was with the last episode 24. It really didn't seem like it belonged. I'm actually wondering if episode 24 was an added Ova to the series. If not it killed the pacing of the story and the hypnotic ending of episode 23. It should have been made a special feature and not part to the original series.
Story: A
Art: A-
Character Design: A+
Music: C+
Voice Acting: B+
Overall: B+
Character Design: A+
Music: C+
Voice Acting: B+
Overall: B+
Availability:
Did you know that Dragonaut the Resonance Part 1 is now for sale, Part 2 comes out in December in region 1. It doesn't make any sense to me why FUNimation would release a thirteen episode series in two parts other than obvious profit goals......Art:
I'm not even sure if it's worth the purchase, however it is definitely worth a watch. This series that is filled with fanservice and overdone character designs, but the beauty of the relationship between the two lead characters kept me anticipating each new episode in 2007. I liked the space dragon/Fifth element plot combination but Theron Martin of ANN seems to have some extremely critical thoughts on the plot of this show, which I thought was pretty basic and enjoyable if you leave your brain at the door and the door to your heart on the table.Story:
What Martin misses in my opinion is that the original concept and character designs where not supposed to be unique. And I definitely wouldn't go as far as saying that Gonzo was attempting to recapture the character designs of Witchblade, but that's because Witchblade in itself uses stereotypical etchi character designs. To me the designs where closer to Rosario + Vampire, which were adorable. I do agree after a second watch that some of the costuming was a little over the top and time paradoxical, and that the animation wasn't as spectacular as Gonzo had probably intended or comparable to some of Satelight's works like Macross Frontier, but that was released in 2008. I must mention though that the only Satelight series that I've seen some of in 2007 is Shugo Chara and it's animation was on par with Dragonaut. I can't comment on Engage Planet Kiss Dum because it has never been released in region one and the fansubbs are still incomplete and or impossible to find right now. Kamichama Karin on the other hand looks spectacular.
Music and Dub:
While I can't comment on the FUNimations Dub yet, the Japanese voice acting was good and the music also made me immediately begin looking for it in dark and dimly lit servers across the net. My recommendation is that you rent this series and see what you think for yourself. As for myself I don't think I'm going to purchase this one until FUNimation releases it in a complete season set.
Overall:
In short Theron's review is a little to harsh on the plot, which successfully created an air suspense and sympathy for the lead characters "Jin" and "Toa", whose love story was sort of a Fifth Element hybrid. It's themes stayed true to many Japanese stories, like apocalyptic threats, and humanity's ability for love being our strongest weapon against the propensity for war and destruction. Jin and Toa do offer up a relationship that models itself as love at first sight. There symbiotic relationship offers the chance for humanities individuality and ability to love, to overcome what could have been the end of our species. Toa's ultimate re-integration into Thanatos is an example of how different cultures can resolve misunderstandings by learning from each others differences. However, the story does begin to drag and Jin and Toa' relationship never moves beyond the platonic. So this series does fail where most etchi always does. It's not hentai, it's masturbatory material for adolescent boys minds. That being said this series ends up being a little better than average etchi action sci/fi.Story: B-
Art: B
Character Design: C
Music: B+
Art: B
Character Design: C
Music: B+
Overall: B-
Intro:
So I was able to watch this movie yesterday and it was pretty good. Mamouru Hosoda delivers and interesting view into the future of society in which OZ, a social platform, is used to run many aspects of our society including business, government and leisure of course. His underlying theme of family was probably the most interesting part of the movie. The message and the movie are wonderful, even if
Art:
The 2D artwork didn't really fit seamlessly into the 3D backgrounds. Much of the art design has been compared to his work on Digimon Adventure: Bokura no War Game (movie) and unfortunately it doesn't look like Madhouse did that great of a job with the animation. They probably thought they had a slam dunk with an art director like Takeshige Youji, but it appears that he really dropped the ball on this one. His line art isn't the greatest and the chibi avatar characters felt Nintendoish at best, which isn't really that bad I suppose. I think MadHouse would have been better served if they went with Studio 4°C for the animation.
Here is a screen shot so you can see what I'm talking about with the art.
If you look closely you can see how beautiful the background animation was done, however Obaasan here doesn't really blend into it very well. I'm going to save my final judgement on the art for when I can view a Blu-ray version of this movie, but it's my guess that the flaws will only be more apparent in High Definition.
Story:
Still even with the substandard art, a huge flaw, the movie was still very fun to watch. The non dynamic characters and lack of any true leading role gave this movie an interesting feel of community and family. The family archetype was woven well throughout the story into a moral that reflected the idea that the entire human race is interconnected, much like the biblical moral of everyone being brothers and sisters. This theme worked very well at the end of the movie and left me feeling very satisfied. It is pretty obvious to me that Hosoda uses elements, particularly the rogue A.I. theme, from the 1992 movie The Lawnmower Man. This is nothing new for Hosoda considering The Girl Who Leapt Through time used the main premise from the movie "The Butterfly Effect" for it's success. The idea social networks being used as a virtual proxy for all aspects of Human life was probably the most interesting theme to me.
Characters:
The love story between the two main characters was very shallow but also seemed to be incorporated flawlessly. Kenji Koiso is the classically Japanese shy virgin male and Natsuki Shinohara, who he calls Sempai through most of the movie, is the dominant Aggressive Japanese female that Anime directors seem to love incorporating so much. The fact that Kenji is a math genius adds another element to the plot that eventually leads to him saving the world of course, with the help of Natsuki an her expertise in a game called Koi-Koi.Critic Commentary:
Justin Sevakis from ANN wrote a raving review basically targeting how great the social commentary in this movie was. Apparently he didn't seem to have much of a problem with the Superflat art that just looks sloppy in my opinnion. He gave the art an 'A'. He even went as far as to make this statement:
"Decades from now, Summer Wars will be seen as the official arrival of Mamoru Hosoda into the realm of historically important anime directors."
I just can't agree with this comment at all. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was and still is Hosoda's best work and will be the movie that cements his importance as an anime director. I'm guessing Sevakas has been starving for a great movie with a decent plot, that he was able to overlook some of it's obvious short comings.
Music and Dub:
This movie has yet to be released with an English Dub yet, so comments on that will have to wait, however the Japanese voice acting this movie was done extremely well, no complaints there. I wasn't pulled out of the movie once due to a bad voice performance. As for the music Akihiko Matsumoto delivers a high charged techno soundtrack for for all the moments in which we are taken to the virtual world of OZ, and his choice for the in-between music was nothing that pulled me out of the movie and it helped the general flow of the story. No complaints from the soundtrack, actually it was excellent.
Overall:
The movie was very enjoyable and left me very satisfied after watching. So it wasn't a waste of time in my book. It had me smiling most of the movie with it's interesting, although static characters and the story had my imagination running wild in the beginning. The use of the close nit family to enmphasize the commonality between the human race seemed the obvious goal of this movie and I think it did get the message across in an interesting way.
Story: A
Art: B+
Animation: C
Music/Voice Acting: A
Overall: B+
Animation: C
Music/Voice Acting: A
Overall: B+
Definitely worth a purchase when it comes out in your region. Here is the link to the preview. Click Here
Future Boy Conan
If you haven't seen Future Boy Conan yet then you're only missing Hayao Miyazaki's directorial animated series debut. I must say this debut was amazing at that, not that I was expecting any less from the Maestro. To make it clear though he wasn't alone. He had the help from a few other directors likeIsao Takahata, director of such classics Grave of the Fireflies and Alps no Shōjo Heidi and Keiji Hayakawa, director of Iga no Kabamaru and Future Boy Conan 2. However, it appears clear that Miyazaki did the lions share of the work in this series. Future Boy Conan(FBC) is a series that encapsulates much of what Miyazaki has come to be famous for: great compositional story telling that is interesting, superbly animated with excellent music. In FBC's case, he took a great story by Alexander Key and helped create a Classic gem. I was actually really surprised myself as how well this series stands the test of time. Even though the animation is dated, it is still beautifully drawn and animated for it's time. All the animations are fluid and the pictures, while a bit dated, still hold very fun artistry by Nizo Yamamoto and animation by Yasuo Otsuka. As far as the story goes, it is a story that seams a lot different than Miyazaki's later works. It is more in line with Nausicaa in that it deals with an end of the world scenario that involves two nations who go to war in 2008, WWIII if you will, and destroy the planet using Magnetic weapons. FBC manages to be a little bit darker than Nausicaa though with it's evil Lepka character, who seems so hell bent on taking over the world even it means destroying it all over again. Lepka's is from the nation of Industria, which survived the war underground and still posses technology. In many ways this series is anti-technology, transcendental if you'd like. But enough of my blabbering about the story, you can read the synopsis by clicking on the FBC link at the top of the page. I want to get to the good stuff, and that is the pics and what surprised me about FBC. One of them was a since of humor that I'm not familiar with from Miyazaki. A little Masochism!!! Yes, I'm not kidding! King of the Children's classics created a series with masochistic humor. I Loved it! Example: While being held captive the Conan the main protagonist is spanked with a wood plank but is told that he can't cry. Instead the audience is left with Conan having a huge smile on his face will being spanked. Hilarious!!!This is probably the funiest thing I've every seen come from Miyazaki. I died laughing during this scene.
The boy hood hi-jinks between Conan and his best friend Jimsy are also very funny.
But probably the most endearing part of the story lays within the heroine story arc. In this case it a girl
named Lana who washes up on Conan's Island and changes his life forever. Lana is clairvoyant and they share a special bond. From first site, Conan doesn't know what to do with a female girl. Did I mention that Conan has godly strength. While he makes his introduction to Lana, he has a great white shark on his head.
It is pretty clear from the beginning that Lana is Conan's love interest. Throughout the story both Lana and Conan continue to attempt to save the world almost as if to ensure a future for themselves together. Yes it sounds cheesy, but Lana and Conan where so cute sometimes it was hard to bare watching. I loved it.
Oh course there is a lot more to this story but I'm just going to leave you with the supporting cast picture and tell you to watch this series.
I actually went and looked for a legitimate way to watch this series in the states. Unfortunately I only found this series on e-bay for purchase. Amazon might get a few copies later, I'd keep checking. However if you really want to watch it then you are left with a few other options. One is to watch it Here.
Animation:C
Art:B+
Story:A+
Voice Acting:A
Music: B
Overall: B++
MAL: 7/10
Boys Over Flowers
Ok so ANN's Justin Sevakis has done it again. He truly has found a gem called Hana Yori Dango(Boys over Flowers). series today that I've already shared with a few people, but I thought I should definitely tell everyone about this tear jerking romance. Justin usually goes after movies for his Buried Treasure column, this month he decided to pull out this wonderful Shoujo classic. I'm already speaking so highly of it, and I've only seen 11 episodes and read about five or six reviews. I find myself falling into a somewhat similar category. It really is no surprise that this Anime has spawned successful t.v. shows in Taiwan, Japan and soon to be Mainland China and South Korea. According to Wiki it is the top selling Manga in Japan of all time with over 54 million copies sold. It's really hard for to believe that I missed this shoujo series somehow for so long. A lot of that has to do with it's unsuccessful distribution by Viz when it was first released in 1996. There are certain parts of Justins Review that I just don't really agree with all that much. His review paints a picture of masculine men, but in all accounts the men in this series while not as bishi, never the less are still a little bishounen. Yes they are more masculine, but the their drawings are still that of thin and pretty men. At least the men do have male characteristics and short hair. One even has Nero like curls, while the main protagonist is a classic bishi male with blue eyes that seem to entangle every woman's heart with one glance. So far this story is an extremely dark and tormenting love story stands in stark contrast, more like mirror opposites of Ouran High School Host Club 
It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the creator of Ouran was also inspired by this manga/series. While at times the drama could be much too much for the average male, it has enough testosterone and sophistication to hold even my attention. There were moments where I felt that things where just getting way too over emotional and dramatic, but somehow it was able to hold my attention and move me almost to tears on multiple occasions. I can only imagine what the rest of this series has in store for me. Unfortunately it's availability in the R1 dvd market is scarce and expensive to collect all twelve volumes of this fifty-one episode series but not impossible. It is readily available with fansubbs though. If you're one that loves powerful love triangle reverse harem stories that are twisted to the point of masochistic emotional torture which leaves you defenseless and heart broken in the first eleven episodes, then this series is for you. I'll be sure to check back in when I finish this tomorrow. I just felt like I needed to put something down about this series already.
So I was actually able to finish this 51 episode series in about two days somehow. That goodness for vacation. My final thoughts are a bit different than initial thoughts after the first 11 episodes, but that should be expected. I really don't want to give too much away about this series. In some of the many of forum discussions and reviews I read I thought that they had probably destroyed the ending for me. I was happy to discover that they hadn't. There were some obvious flaws in this series which became painful obvious after the 40th episode. Flashbacks began to drive me nuts the more and more they used it. I actually had to start fast forwarding through them. They worked well in the beginning establishing a more dreamlike feel to the series, but as the series started maturing it's use began to become painful. The music also began to get really painful, probably much earlier on though. Somewhere around the thirtieth episode Loui's Violin solo began to become very annoying. I could other people getting annoyed much earlier on too with it's overuse. Obviously the artwork was extremely low budget. The use of stills however did give the series a unique feel. Even though the art was bad, the style worked and didn't pull me out of the story too often. One thing that really comes to mind was how terrible the shooting stars looked. Background art in this series was laughable in that case and the female character designs were not that better. The story line twists so many times but always seems to come back to the same formula which usually makes a series feel too Formulaic, however in this case the writing in the story was so well done, that the formula worked very well, so good that if it had strayed to far I think the series would have been awful. This emotional roller coaster was very good. I stick with my original opinion. Besides, you really don't need my opinion, I'm thinking the popularity of manga and Live action spin off's in three different languages should be enough proof of great this story is. I guess it's on to live action for me to see if it can even compare.Art: C-
Music: C
Voice acting: A (English and Japanese were both well done.)
Story: A++
Overall: B+
MAL: 7/10
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