Review: Ouran Koukou Host Club (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2006-04-04 to 2006-09-26
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Animation Production: BONES

Source: Anime News Network

Ouran Koukou Host Club is one peculiar shoujo to say the least. A fair warning should be said about this show though, which is, it’s a real shoujo. Hardly any aspect of this show can overlap with any other tastes, so unless you’re prepared to be wrapped in male eye candy with some comedy romance drama, you should rethink your decision to watch this show.

Now with that out of the way, Ouran Koukou Host Club tells the story of a first year student named Fujioka Haruhi at the Ouran Academy for the rich and the elite. This student is quiet and very reserved, in part because this person does not have any affluent characteristics at all. As such, this student is known as the special scholarship student that got into this super-rich school entirely on academic strengths and no other merits.

On a regular day in high school, the student in question tries to find a quiet place to study and strolls into a music room that doesn’t seem to be in use. Much to this student’s surprise, the music room hides the presence of a peculiar group of people — the Ouran Koukou Host Club. These people did not quite expect to see Haruhi walk into their lair so nonchalantly. Just like every good story, Haruhi ends up in a bind and is “trapped” (yes, I meant it) in the world of the Ouran Koukou Host Club to pay off a debt of several million yen for a tiny accident in the music room.

Because Haruhi can’t even afford the school uniform’s exuberant price, the little accident in the music room is no joke. The payment for the trouble caused ends up being Haruhi’s torment of having to form part of the Ouran Koukou Host Club. Haruhi’s duties start out as lowly errands, but soon “he”… or should I say “she”… becomes a real host. I’ll let you find out about this legendary trap’s real story on your own.

The Host Club is simply a group of guys that for an hour or two a day, dedicate their after school time to entertaining women with their innermost desires. They’re also some of the most powerful sons of the super rich socioeconomic world, and as such they are both rich and handsome. They speak directly to the hearts of women with soft and enchanting words. They whisper delicately into their ears and wash away their qualms and take them away to their dreamlands. In other words, the Host Club is a club these guys made for women to come by, drink tea, and marvel at them. Add a ton of “moe” fetishes that they play out to further reach these young maiden’s hearts -and- pockets, and you have the Host Club. Give or take a few details of course, that you’ll have to find out on your own if you’re interested.

The Host Club itself is fairly complete, although, once again, it’s not necessary to “get” all the little details. What I’m referring to is the nuances of shoujo and female oriented manga that tends to go to “other” extremes you wouldn’t understand if you’re used to shounen stuff. I’m not going to try to sound like an expert, because I’m far from one, but if you know the difference between an uke and a seme, you’ll probably find this show more refreshing than most from your “usual” material.

Even if you’re not into the homoerotic gags early on, the show will stem away from most of that later and can be tolerable for those of us that don’t really like that kind of stuff. In the end, I stuck with the show because it was incredibly funny almost consistently. There’s tons of comedy acts and the mix of characters seem to pull it off well. They break the 4th wall from time to time by making fun of us commoners a lot. Rich school anime is never complete without pauper life being subject to ridicule for the littlest of things, and it’s pretty good throughout. There’s also some banana slips… maybe a little too many banana slips!

The show makes fun of, but also makes use of a lot of moe fetishes too. It’s good that you don’t have to be into the moe to enjoy the scenes, since after some long winded explanation, some other character will break the ice and bring the show back to its goofy self.

The ending is quite nice, although it’s of the fairly generic -yet- expected happy kind. If you’re feeling experimental, or just want to get to know the cutest reverse trap in the history of anime, I wholeheartedly recommend Ouran Koukou Host Club. It can’t get much more shoujo and funny than this. The few heartwarming scenes can’t be ignored either, especially in the presence of one fine trap!

Review: Ookiku Furikabutte (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 25
Vintage: 2007-01-11
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports
Animation Production: A-1 Pictures Inc.

Source: Anime News Network

I’ll be honest for a moment and say that there have been times when I really wished I was born in a different place, a different time, and as a completely different person with a different nationality. The moment after I finished Ookiku Furikabutte was one such time, even if it was for a short while.

Ookiku Furikabutte is a baseball anime that shows how a group of boys spend their summer months preparing for baseball matches against equally hardworking teams across their prefecture. Every single one of them is tough, and every single one of them is determined to reach their ultimate goal — the Koshien.

Unlike many parts of the world, in Japan the Koshien is the single greatest sporting event of the year. Everywhere else, such as in the US, all the big dollars will go towards pro players making millions of dollars in baseball, amongst many other big budget sports. However, in Japan, the Koshien is open only to high school students. These are guys that spend their hard earned summer vacation in crazy concentration camp-like training grounds where they perfect their game, bond as a team and as friends, and ultimately better their chances to reach the promised battleground known as the Koshien.

When I think about how hard it is, and yet how awesome it is to be able to be seen on TV and rooted by everyone, I have to wonder what’s the big deal about pro sports. Sure, it’s difficult to become a pro player, make the big bucks, and win half the time, but there’s even more difficulty to reach the Koshien. You only have 3 years of your life to make it. You either make it as a Freshman, a Sophomore, or a Senior. Then it’s over. Sure you can keep playing ball and make it to a pro team and be admired by lots of people, but you won’t ever play at the Koshien. That’s what makes it so special in my opinion, and that’s what made me wish I had such an opportunity to spend a part of my life on. The way the show drew me in with how every character fought with high levels of determination, I felt as if I needed to be there. I needed to not cheer them on, but be on the field, keen on my position and supporting the team from within.

Ookiku Furikabutte’s main character is Mihashi Ren, a highly timid freshman that was his middle school baseball team’s star pitcher. He was able to take the ace number he wanted so badly through connections, since his grandfather manages the team. The players resented him, and although he was hardworking, he felt as if his selfish ways let his team down.

Now Mihashi is going to his first year of high school at a new school. He convinced himself he’d only watch the baseball club, and not join them, as he approached their field. As you might have guessed, he unwillingly got put up to try out for the team since the coach was having trouble getting a full team put together. The coach ended up being a very peculiar girl named Momoe Maria. She’s a very docile and caring woman half the time, but can turn into a scary and violent tough-girl when she wants to. When asked, Mihashi stated his name and his position, and surprisingly Mihashi seemed to be the only pitcher present. The only catcher, Abe Takaya put Mihashi to the test and he observed that Mihashi had an incredible amount of skill in his pitching. Although his pitches were slow, they were accurate, almost too accurate. Not only that, his “fastball” had an alarming backspin that not even Mihashi seemed to be aware of.

Mihashi eventually takes the ace number for his new team and tries to make up for the past, depending solely on his skills and hard work. As he learns to cope with his new team members and their aspirations, Mihashi takes it upon himself to battle his emotions on the inside and the game of baseball on the outside. Unfortunately, Mihashi is a first-class crybaby, and you’ll have to cringe at him crying at every little thing that happens. He worries a lot and is constantly aware of making mistakes. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s plain stupid, but it will always reflect who Mihashi really is — a hardworking individual. As a result, Mihashi’s personality can be a bit annoying at times, but thankfully Abe takes care of him for us. Even so, Mihashi will win you over from time to time on the field. Fortunately, everyone else on the team is fairly normal.

The baseball team eventually molds together little by little and they finally enter the summer competition. An entire team composed of freshman students coached by a girl is extremely rare, and everyone else underestimates Nishiura, Mihashi’s high school baseball team. You’ll need to watch it yourself to see how it all unfolds.

The end of Ookiku Furikabutte is incredible to say the least, and as a result it is the best baseball animation I have ever had the chance to enjoy so far. I loved the first season of Major, but this show is a lot more condensed and fair. The main story is much more compact, and therefore the details stand out more. Although the show ends abruptly without going as far as I and most likely others would like, the point where it stops is very symbolic. You can almost “finish” the show yourself with the pieces left behind at the end. You’ll soon find out Mihashi and his friends have what it takes to survive and that they’re “just starting.”

Review: Nodame Cantabile (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 23
Vintage: 2007-01-11 to 2007-06-28
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Animation Production: J.C. Staff
Music: Nodame Orchestra
Music Collaboration: EPIC Record Japan
Music Production: Fuji Pacific Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment

Source: Anime News Network

Close your eyes for a moment. Picture yourself in an auditorim. Listen to the void of the hall as it prepares to engulf you with the waves of aural enchantment. As it begins, you are instantly drawn in. The first note is enough, as you resonate strongly with the bold introduction. The intensity binds you with a chord and hits you repeatedly. Then it continues on to a strong -yet- delicate heart-piercing arpeggio. The force is enveloped by the emerging sound of the orchestra. How strangely, through the hollows, glows this piano introduction like a dull red morning light! Into the deepest gorge it flows, scenting abysses in their night. There vapor rises: here the orchestra sweeps, now like a fragile thread it creeps, now like a colored fountain it plays. Here the vast length of a piano passage winds its way, in a hundred veins, down the vales, and all at once, it swept you away to a golden world!

Nodame Cantabile is just like the first paragraph of this review, hard to picture but a beautiful experience. There’s many layers of intriguing things to find in this unconventional yet amazing shoujo. Nodame Cantabile is strictly a show about classical music and how a very special group of people end up living and experiencing it in ways that many of us may never have the opportunity to do so. If you’re put off by classical music, don’t worry. I was put off at the beginning and now I’m a fan of Rachmaninov!

Nodame Cantabile is a true shoujo at heart, and the main female character is named Noda Megumi. Noda Megumi likes to be called Nodame for short for some reason, hence the name of the show. She’s a piano major at a conservatory in Tokyo called Momogaoka College of Music. Together in the lime light with Nodame is Chiaki Shinichi. He’s the perfectionist number one piano major at the same conservatory where Nodame studies. He is not only gifted with musical talent, he is also gifted (or cursed, however you look at it) with looks that make all the ladies fall for him.

Although the show is called Nodame Cantabile, much of the focus is on Chiaki and his turmoils towards success. This makes sense in a shoujo, since his appearance, skills, and personality is the eye candy. Nodame does get developed a bit later on, but it was a little surprising how quickly Nodame’s spotlight disappeared in the beginning. She’s always a part of the show in some form or another, so my comments about her participation might be a bit moot.

As for the premise, it’s fairly simple. Chiaki, being a son of a famous pianist, was able to travel to Europe as a child and experience some of the world’s greatest musical performers on stage. He was smitten since then and he vowed to return to Europe one day to become Vierra-sensei’s student and become a conductor like him. He played the piano and violin early on as a child, and wished to hone his skills and become a conductor proficient in piano, that can also play the violin! The problem is that Chiaki soon developed a fear of flying -and- a fear of sailing ever since two seemingly cursed events formed his paranoias. He’s now a grown man, yet he’s emotionally trapped in Japan and cannot reach the outside world to fulfill his childhood dream.

As his world continues to fall apart to the point where he even considers quitting music and just getting a typical salaryman job, he meets up with the strangest girl on the planet — Noda Megumi. Noda Megumi, Nodame for short, is just weird. I won’t list her peculiarities, since it’s part of her charm, but for now just picture the the weirdest girl you know. Now take that image and multiply it by 100, that’s Nodame.

As strange as she is, Nodame was able to get Chiaki back into caring about music and working towards his goals without depending on studying overseas. A bit of luck and help from the outside brings Nodame, Chiaki, and a ton of hard-working students at the Momogaoka College of Music in contact with a very special foreigner. As you can expect, it boils down to Chiaki not being able to go see the world, so with the help of Nodame and a little luck, he brought the world to him. There’s plenty more to discover in Nodame Cantabile, especially since the story takes on a new direction after one of the best high points in the story. Chiaki’s goals take on a new direction, and Nodame takes the talent that Chiaki saw in her and puts them to the test. All of this unfolds in interesting ways all the way till the end.

Nodame Cantabile is exceptionally funny along the way, yet it takes pauses to exemplify the rich serious tone when it needs to. There are a few high points in this show that are just beautiful, and although it’s always a known classical piece, for me it was always a scene of musical discovery and appreciation for yet another work of art so pure that I never took the time to appreciate. You will be tempted to watch the high points of the show at least more than once, given how much of an impact they create. Very few shows can make me want to watch them over and over, but this one did.

The end of Nodame Cantabile is an open ending that won’t exactly compare to the shows other high points, but it does deliver a solid reaffirmation of closure and new beginnings for all of the characters. The unsolved mysteries are pointed out in manga-style shorts that are both informational, witty, and out-right funny. This show won’t make you do anything drastic like get your friends to play instruments so you can conduct an orchestra, or make you change your major to piano, but it will open your eyes to some really beautiful music if you make the effort to appreciate it.

Hidden within the magic of music is a very comical romance story that will definitely hold your interest. It’s amazing how well things are so obvious to some characters, while others remain completely oblivious — or at least want to be. The way things unfold bit by bit until the end will at least give you a few laughs in between the music and the rest of the insanely good gags.

If you need any more convincing, piano, violin, oboe, cello, -heck- an entire orchestra is to Nodame Cantabile as guitar is to BECK. Maybe rock music as a whole to NANA. You can even throw in Hirano Aya’s performance in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu if you want to stretch it a bit. If you were swayed by fictional character performances in these anime shows, Nodame Cantabile is yet another experience you shouldn’t miss. The bond between the viewer, the characters as performers, and the music has only been achieved at this level in very few instances like these.

Review: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 27
Vintage: 2007-04-01 to 2007-09-30
Age rating: ???
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Mecha, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Animation Production: GAINAX
Production: Aniplex, GAINAX, Konami
Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi (God)
Planning: Hiroyuki Yamaga

Source: Anime News Network

The burning passion — Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I really did not expect to be able to enjoy another mecha show on this level so soon. GAINAX knows their stuff, but Eureka SeveN proved that there’s other studios that can do mecha right. However, this one’s special guys — the kind of anime that transcends past all expectations and stays on your favorites list forever. Gurren Lagann is currently the epitome of epic mecha giant robot action shows. Not a single part of me doubts what I’ve just said. It’s the burning passion of hot-blooded action, it’s Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!!

The show starts off introducing you to Simon and Kamina, two really distinct guys that live in an underground village. They’re not real siblings, but they’re close enough to refer to each other as siblings anyway. Kamina is the older tough-guy and loud-mouth that always gets off on excitement and adventure. Simon, on the other hand, is a very timid child typical of GAINAX anime. You could say he’s a dirty Shinji, if you will, for those of you that have watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, since he likes to dig the ground and find stuff.

Kamina and Simon’s village is forced to stay underground because of some strange fear for what’s on the surface of the Earth. Kamina, being the way he is, makes it clear that he will pierce the enclosure of the ground above and live to see the surface. His father supposedly once left to the surface and Kamina feels it’s his calling to do the same. Simon kind of just tags along, even though he doesn’t quite have the drive to make it to the top — yet.

If you’re still reading you might want to know why the hell am I calling this the epitome of mecha anime, when I haven’t even mentioned them yet. Well, I’m getting there, and much like the show, it won’t kick off for bit. One day as life remains the same underground, a giant mecha, called ‘Ganmen’ falls from above, just like that. Soon after a very foxy girl, who seems to be have been fighting the Ganmen that just came crashing down, falls into the underground village too. Kamina doesn’t let up and immediately lets his fiery personality take over and he begins to interfere acting as if he’s actually helping. Kamina even declares his participation as part of the “Gurren Brigade,” which at the time is composed of just him and Simon. A lot of comical moments ensue, and it leads the pretty girl, Kamina, and Simon to a spot where Simon had been digging earlier and found something strange. To everyone’s surprise it seems Simon found a small mecha buried in the ground and Kamina puts Simon in the spotlight when he tells him to pilot it since -he- found it. Kamina, being the smack talker he is promptly and aptly gives the little Ganmen they found a name — Lagann. You’ll have to find out about the ‘Gurren’ part on your own.

The fight that follows is sensational and at times downright silly. However, pay attention to Kamina’s words because he hints at what the show is going to be about. With shouts of only needing your spirit and guts to succeed in ass kicking, you know something just has to happen for this to make sense. Kamina and his essence, character, and personality is the backbone of the show; the very mold of the Gurren Lagann experience and the ultimate reward for sticking with the show.

Right then and there, the legend is born and the gang in Gurren Lagann begin their incredible adventure towards the top. When I say the top, I mean it, because the sense of scale in Gurren Lagann is ridiculous. I would love to come up with a better way to describe the way the show will rock your world, but it’s better experienced. Also, understanding the pacing in Gurren Lagann is crucial to enjoying the show. The slow start is just the calm before the storm begins. Keep going, because by the end of the third episode you will know that the show is special and if you stick with it you’ll be rewarded with many, many, many great moments of WOW.

It’s about time GAINAX made a full length mecha anime series of this type that isn’t Neon Genesis Evangelion. Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster, Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster, and FLCL are all classics and each one added to the genre and GAINAX’s stronghold in mecha anime. However, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann mixes a little bit from every great GAINAX mecha and with a solid focus it is able to - literally, as the name implies - break-through the seemingly perfect mold the studio founded in its long history of anime production in the mecha genre.

The show is easily described as the burning passion, a man’s fiery spirit that burns with every waking moment of his step. With the brothers and the brigade of ass kicking, Gurren Lagann, has no equal. A drill in an abstract sense is the fitting image of this sensation. The upwards spiral towards the concentrated single point. All the energy, all the thoughts, power, emotion, and feelings are all in that single point. Put aside logic, put aside reason, this is manly instincts infused with 100% determination and 0% chance of failure. Probabilities of success? MEANINGLESS. They CONTROL probability. They win. That’s it. It’s always do or die. If they miss, they shoot in every direction, then they can’t miss. Never falter, not even an inch. This is Gurren Lagann. Determination by proxy. Believe in me who believes in you. True determination. Not you believing in me, not me believing in you, but you believing in yourself. This show will say to you, who THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!?

This is man versus beast! Or is it beast versus man? Or is it man-beast versus man! Or worse, BEAST VS BEAST!! The beast within the man, that is. Join the brigade where true men’s spirits live. Be a part of history. Watch this anime. Introductions. It’s all about your introduction. Hot-blooded speeches. Defeat your enemy before you lift a single finger by the power of your words. Enchant your populace, envigor your peers. You have the power to destroy -yet- also to create. Create hope in the hearts of men. Change despair into strength. Strength into spirit. Spirit into victory. Victory into ultimate victory. There is no limit for those with the spiral, the drill, the point of concentrated force that tears through the very fabric of time and space and bores through any and all obstacles. It’s within each and every one of us. It’s in our DNA. We are all potential energy waiting to be moved by the heart and soul of manly speeches. ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWER!!

This is the burning passion in you, in me, in all of us. You’ll want your kids to see this. It’s that good.

Review: Hataraki Man (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 11
Vintage: 2006-10-12 to 2006-12-21
Age rating: ???
Genres: Slice of Life
Animation Production: GALLOP
Production: GALLOP, Hataraki Man Production Team, Kodansha

Source: Anime News Network

Hatarki Man is genuine slice of life show, so you won’t see anything you wouldn’t expect to happen in real life. Anime doesn’t always seem to work with stories that encapsulate “real” individuals, but this one does it well. There’s a fine line to keep between real life drama and an “animated life,” but Hataraki Man somehow happens to do it and hang on with enough style to keep you interested.

The name of the show stems from the fact that the main character, Matsukata Hiroko, is true a work-a-holic. She rushes to work even when she’s not late, she always surpasses her boss’ expectations, and will constantly blow off dates just to get her work done perfectly. Sure, you could argue she’s just doing it because she likes to, but there’s a lot more to it. Her peers are impressed the most when she actually becomes the Hataraki Man, or “Work Man.” It’s not really what you’d expect since it’s not some kind of superhuman ability. She just unleashes her innermost potential as a magazine editor and fully concentrates on her writing. For most writers, being able to switch on your “zen mode” and spew out words as they come is a gift. Matsukata has that and it really helps her succeed at her job.

The anime takes place in the offices of Weekly Jidai Magazine, a fictional magazine in Japan. It’s a magazine geared towards men with content such as fad diets, fashion, serialized novels, etc. Matsukata’s a journalist working on weekly articles about all kinds of topics of interest to the male readership. She’s not the only editor at this successful company so she doesn’t do all the work herself. There’s plenty of interesting people at the office that also pitch in to make sure the readers are able to get their fill each week with juicy articles and blowout specials.

The characters in the office range from Matsukata herself to Tanaka, the rookie editor on the lower end of the spectrum. He’s not quite anyone’s friend and he’s always expressive about doing the minimum effort required for the job. The Editorial Desk manager, Narita, is Matsukata’s direct boss and the chief director, Umemiya, is Narita’s boss. They’re kind of the older and wiser bunch that lead the team through adversity. Editor Nagisa is a nervous wreck and is part of the few women in the company along with Matsukata. There’s plenty of characters that I missed that you’ll eventually find out about on your own. Most if not all of them will make sense in terms of why they’re there and what drives them in their daily lives. They each fit their roles perfectly, exemplifying the typical hierarchical structure of an office in Japan.

There’s plenty to find and appreciate in this show, especially if you have any kind of work experience. To truly succeed you need to have a plan, or you’ll end up drifting away from what you want to do. Then there’s the sacrifices you must make in order to complete your plan. In other words, it’s not quite as simple as laying down a road map and crossing out milestones the moment you reach them. When there’s an aura of satisfaction in your work your life completely changes for the better. The offset of satisfaction when you truly enjoy what you do every day changes your perspective. Being told to balance “work,” and “life” is a fair assessment that we’ve all heard a thousand times. However, when your “work” is your “life” it becomes much more complex to try to imitate the majority of people who are working to live but not living to work. While this show is not as deep as I wish it could be, not as long as I wish it could be, and doesn’t quite end as conclusively as I’d like, it was still an eye opening experience. It reminded me time and time again of my respect for people that strive for success using as a driving force the sheer satisfaction of what they do day after day. The show reduced that feeling to the simplest degree that in my opinion made it much more realistic than I originally thought it would be.

This show made me feel as if there’s no greater achievement than finding your place in life and sticking with it because thats what you believe in. As the show conveyed, sometimes being where you want to be may force you to make choices that will ultimately affect every facet of your “personal life.” When you no longer consider artificial boundaries such as a “personal life,” it becomes much more difficult to control a typical modular lifestyle where you can switch in and out the work you do, while being able to live on your “personal life.” Your life and your work become entwined as one experience and adversely affect each other. Distinction becomes faint and others who may not think like you may end up scorning you for your way of being.

If you’re ever interested in a short story about hard work and dedication, complete with the turmoils of romance this is a great show to watch. You might even get to funnel some of the characters’ dedication into your own life, and allow yourself a moment of reflection. Are you a Hataraki Man?

Dropped: Blue Dragon (TV)

Running time: half hour
Number of episodes: 51
Vintage: 2007-04-07
Age rating: ???
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural
Animation Production: Studio Pierrot

Source: Anime News Network

The Good: Music by Nobuo Uematsu and character designs by Akira Toriyama.
The Bad: Everything else.

Status: Dropped

My impressions and review:

Wow. It’s been a while since I last blogged so I have my old backlog to sweep through plus the ton of stuff that just piled on top of it. If anyone’s been expecting posts for a while I’m sorry (yeah, I’m talking to you — the two people that still read this blog )

Getting back on topic, Blue Dragon is a pretty big well-funded project with a lot of motives behind it. Sure I could complain about why Microsoft funding it for marketing, or the merits of the game by the same name, but I’ll just stick to the anime. The plain and absolute truth is the anime is complete and utter crap. The first episode is the best part of the show, mainly because it opens up just like an old school RPG would. This is cool, especially with the Uematsu music giving it the right flavor. However, from that point on it just goes into a downhill spiral of cliche and boredom.

For a show with music by Nobuo Uematsu and nostalgic character designs by Akira Toriyama, I expected a lot more. Uematsu’s music superb, but even the great music can’t save this atrocity. Toriyama’s art is fine, it’s the same stuff we’ve seen since forever, but it’s not enough. Besides the two aforementioned bullet points, the anime is a complete failure and never quite delivers enough to be satisfying on any level of enjoyment. I hardly need to sound off on this show since it has little staying power and many others feel the same way or worse about it. It’s a late but meaningful warning. Stay away from this one folks, it’s not worth the effort.

Genshiken Second Season is Coming!

 

Yep. It’s coming. We can all stop pretending we like Kujibiki Unbalance now. According to the official television website Genshiken will recieve an entirely new second season that will air later this year in the Fall. The new character that appeared in the OAV, Chika Ogiue, will be joining the rest of the gang in the clubroom right away. This means we’ll get to enjoy more otaku antics from all sides of the spectrum in a glorious full TV series. For those of you that don’t understand the significance of this news I point you towards the first season and the OAV’s. Don’t be late to the party this Fall!

This is madness!? No, this is Genshiken!!

Source: Anime News Network

Review: Zettai Shonen (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2005-05-21 to 2005-11-19
Age rating: ???
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Animation Production: Asia-Do
Production: Bandai Visual, GENCO, Zettai Shonen Project

Source: Anime News Network

Slice of life can be a very interesting genre when it’s presented well and wrapped around a scenario that augments the best traits of the genre. Some may agree that it’s easily described as storytelling fragments inspired by every day life that form the lives of the characters in any given story. These typical encounters allow for some reasonable balance between fiction and what could be a plausible event in the day of any typical person under certain circumstances. This ties in with Zettai Shonen which heavily bases much of its emphasis and focus on delivering an engrossing slice of life style that steps beyond the bounds in many directions. As a result it ends up portraying a striking blend of supernatural mystery and unexplainable things with the routine events of the lives of regular people.

The story in Zettai Shonen starts off with Aizawa Ayumu, a son of a divorced couple that is offered a mountain bike so that he can stay with his father who lives in a rural town called Tana. Ayumu takes the offer and expects to make use of the bike until he’s satisfied. There must be some differences that have pushed his parents apart but Ayumu doesn’t seem to be phased by it. Ayumu also isn’t entirely new to the town since he used to live there many years ago. As could almost be guessed, Ayumu somehow doesn’t remember key details of his stay in the town that soon become the gateway to a very rich mystery. This is where most of the mystery of the town and the elements within it start to revolve around the story in Zettai Shonen.

The town is not quite all that eventful except for the peculiar yet reasonable actions of its inhabitants. The kids in the town have their own agendas and reasons to skirmish around and because of the small size of the town they usually end up bumping into each other regardless of their intent. Some characters are just strange while others seem to know a lot more than they should about the weird things in the town. Included in the mix are characters from outside of the town adding a bit of complexity to the overall mindset of the individuals involved in the story.

The story carries on until there is a small build up that concludes the arc in the rural town where Ayumu stays for the summer. The second half of the story transfers the setting to the city and new characters and a new viewpoint is presented. It’s not quite entirely different from the experience of the first arc, but it does have its own mood and personalities because of the immediate change of characters and a new mystery.

The mystery that unfolds as the story goes by isn’t exactly Earth-shatteringly complex, but it is deep enough that the deeper you go in the layers of its obscurity you will begin to understand things in sync with the other characters as the story unveils. Zettai Shonen’s mystery is much less about the mystery and it’s eventual solution -or lack thereof- but the passive discovery process it entails. The unknown powers at be do not seem dangerous to any of the characters, so there really isn’t any kind of fear or urgency to retaliate at the mere existence of the creatures.

Putting it simply, the show is a mostly a flat line experience with minor buildups towards some of the darker parts of the story revealing some much needed details. I’d compare it to a very slow bass-line only song that throws in the strings only when it needs to and keeps the frequencies low as possible. This makes it a passive experience with a mood that will either interest you or push you away. The strength of the show lies in keeping that balance and plowing through the slice of life and how the things happening in the places where these characters live adversely affect the regular lives of everyone involved.

Watching: Lovely Complex (TV)

I currently have: 2
Running time: 23 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2007-04-07
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Shoujo
Animation Production: Toei Animation
Production: Shueisha, TBS

Source: Anime News Network

My impressions:

Yep. Another shoujo. I think it’s about time I admit that I’m a sucker for quirky romance stories, especially when every single character in the story speaks in kansai-ben. Man do I love kansai-ben.

Anyway, for those of you who care to know more about Lovely Complex let me put it this way. In a regular school there’s a girl named Koizumi Risa that’s taller than most guys at 170cm and a guy named Ootani Atsushi that’s shorter than most girls at 156cm. It’s the start of a new school year and Koizumi is all fired up hoping to find a boyfriend and ends up confronting her seemingly destined rival at life, Ootani. They constantly fight and bicker and never fail to mention things that usually lead to jabs at their difference in height.

Koizumi and Ootani form a truce when they agree to help each other in the first episode. Koizumi offers to help Ootani get close with one of her close friends, Tanaka Chihara, while Ootani in return gets Koizumi closer to the new guy in class Suzuki Ryouji. Things quickly backfire on them (don’t they always?) and they’re back to square one each being single. They both have very aggressive and competitive personalities so they decide to make it a competition to see who gets a girlfriend/boyfriend first.

The fun starts when Koizumi and Ootani basically become closer “friends” than they think (everyone perceives them as lovers) and are constantly together or thinking about bumping into each other. Their hobbies are all too similar, they like similar foods, heck they even like the same bands! Things are a little too perfect when they’re together even though they actively deny any affection towards each other. There’s some things getting in the way early on in the plot (as expected of any good shoujo) that are both entertaining and drive the romance forward. I’m wholeheartedly enjoying LoveCon for its complete shoujo narrative, excellent comedy, and the kansai-ben. Can’t get enough kansai-ben these days! nande ya nen?!

Dropped: Gakuen Alice (TV)

I currently have: 15
Running time: half hour
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2004-10-30 to 2005-05-14
Age rating: ???
Genres: comedy, Fantasy, Magical Girl, shoujo
Animation Production: Group TAC

Source: Anime News Network

The Good: Gotta love the kansai accent.
The Bad: It gets a lot more kiddie later on.

Status: Dropped

My impressions and review:

It’s been hectic for me so I took a break and started swifting through my huge backlog again. I had been watching Gakuen Alice when it first aired a very long time ago but I quickly moved on to other shows that were infinitely more appealing.

Rather than rant on the shortcomings of Gakuen Alice I’ll just keep it short and say that this show is extremely simple-minded. It’s not really the kind of anime I like so I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when I started watching it. It had a sort of “kids get abducted to a secret school funded by the government where they use their special powers for the good of man kind” kind of vibe, but then it just becomes dry kiddie comedy.

If you like simple anime with not much to think about with quirky loli characters, this might be your thing, but for those craving a decent magical girl comedy should stay away.

Review: Afro Samurai (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 5
Vintage: 2007-01-04 to 2007-02-01 (Canada & USA - Spike TV) 2007-05-03 (Japan)
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction
Production: GONZO
Music: RZA
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson as Afro and Ninja Ninja

Source: Anime News Network

This isn’t quite your average anime, so it might be a good idea to describe Afro Samurai by what it’s not. It’s not Samurai Champloo, not even close. There, I said it. If you were vaguely attracted to Afro Samurai by proxy of Samurai Champloo you can forget about associating the two because they are completely different in style, approach, and execution.

Being only 5 episodes long, Afro Samurai ends very quickly but not before throwing a ton of concentrated action at you. With GONZO’s amazing talent, this anime produced for America looks and feels like a real Japanese animation like it should. The addition of Samuel L. Jackson’s voice talent gives the show some personality and helps it deliver a worthwhile experience.

There are some things that really stand out in this anime though. For example, Afro Samurai’s story is severely bare bones, so don’t expect anything to move you in any way. The comparisons to Samurai Champloo will usually neglect this very important fact.

The anime takes place in a fictional feudal Japan where an afro-headed black samurai is the strongest warrior in the world, aptly known as number one. To show his title he wears a headband with number one written on it. After his crowning headband is a gun-wielding-cowboy-esque-rugged guy known as number two, the second best warrior in the world who also wears a headband denoting his rank as number two. In the midst of all the fighting things will be clear. Those who wear the number one headband can only be challenged by number two. Those who wear the number two headband will be constantly in danger as every warrior he or she faces will want to wear the number two headband for the right to face number one.

As you can see, the story is simple and straightforward, so immersion and captivation was probably not on the director’s agenda. The whole thing is simply badass encounter after badass encounter, but in the context of what Afro Samurai is all about this formula works in its favor. In other words, the little bit of story is just enough to deliver on the premise of a black badass samurai fighting his way to the top of the mountain, so to speak.

Afro Samurai will not really make that much sense in terms of artwork, much like its story. Feudal Japan mixed with futuristic technology doesn’t quite feel right in my opinion, but this isn’t the first time GONZO has gone overboard with crazy art. On the plus side, the show animates beautifully, so there’s little reason to complain about the art when it’s in motion.

Since Afro Samurai is produced for America the voice acting is in English. I’ll be honest and say that Samuel L. Jackson as Afro is just awesome, but since Afro is mostly mute or repeats a lot of the same lines it’s almost a waste to cast Samuel L. Jackson. Samuel L. Jackson also voices the very energetic “Ninja Ninja,” the sidekick that can never be absent from a black comedy.

The soundtrack is really good for the most part. The RZA did a good job of giving the show some hip hop influence, but it’s no where near as deep as the stuff in Samurai Champloo. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t have the same communication of urgency and style that the riffs and beats in Samurai Champloo have.

To summarize, I’d say Afro Samurai is a worthy anime aimed at America with superb Japanese animation talent backing it up. It’s no Champloo, but it’s got its own stuff to strut. If the target audience has never seen anime before, this will surely open up their eyes as to what animation can provide as a form of entertainment. I’ll probably check out the Japanese release if there are any significant changes, but this is one of the few times where the dub is fine in english.

Trailer:

Watching: Death Note (TV)

I currently have:19
Running time: 23 minutes
Number of episodes: 37
Vintage: 2006-10-03
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Police, Psychological, Supernatural
Animation Production: Madhouse Studios
Production: Madhouse Studios, NTV, Shueisha, VAP

Source: Anime News Network

My impressions:

Ok I give up. You guys win. Sometimes you have to believe the hype and check out why some people are going apeshit over certain anime. I have to say that all the buzz behind Death Note is totally worth it. This anime gets my approval. I can’t believe how awesome it is.

The story, for the few of us that are extremely late to the party, is about a guy named Light who finds a very special notebook called the “Death Note.” It belonged to a Death God named Ryuk that dropped it in the human world. Light opens the Death Note and finds instructions written inside that explain how to use it but he has his suspicions that what he found is a very elaborate prank. He eventually breaks down and tries it out with a criminal he saw on TV, and to his surprise it worked.

I don’t want to go in depth any more than that because the anime is put together really well and sucks you in with every choice that is taken. Just imagine the chaos that you can cause if you had a notebook that allowed you to kill anyone you wanted as long as you knew their real name and saw their face. It’s also one of those shows that uses intelligent characters and elaborate thought processes to move the story, so you’ll be guessing your way through what’s going to happen and put on the edge of your seat at every turn. If you thought Lelouch was smart, wait until you get to know Light and L!

Too bad that some of the bad things I heard about Death Note are also true, especially when I went on a marathon run through a ton of episodes. The show is running out of gas fairly early and although there’s plenty episodes left, I felt as if the big change of events that flipped the story around wasn’t all that good. I’m still going to continue watching it but if Death Note keeps going downhill from here on end then it will be a shame because the beginning is pure genius.

Dropped: Asatte no Houkou (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 12
Vintage: 2006-10-05 to 2006-12-21
Age rating: ???
Genres: Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Animation Production: J.C. Staff

Source: Anime News Network

The Good: It starts out pretty good.
The Bad: It runs out of gas very soon.

Status: Dropped

I don’t want to rant too much since I actually enjoyed a nice little portion of this anime. However, when it came to carrying on and developing the story after seeding the characters and the setting, the show fell apart and did not really unfold as beautifully as I thought it would.

Asatte no Houkou starts off in a typical rural town and introduces a few kind and apathetic characters with an unconventional aura about them. As you can probably guess, the characters have the same kind of conceited attitude found in most ’serious’ japanese drama that either you dig or you don’t. Catching your eye a few seconds into the first episode is a child named Karada and a grown woman named Shouko. For some reason the two characters have issues with themselves and each other (that you later learn about) and it all seems to revolve around Karada’s brother, Hiro.

Karada and Shouko met at a wishing stone, one that is famous in the little town for its capacity grant true wishes. As faith would have it, Karada and Shouko made independent wishes to trade ages. This starts off life for Shouko as a child again, where as Karada is now an adult. It doesn’t happen immediately, but when it does, they know exactly why. While overcoming the circumstances, they learn to cope with their new perspectives and somehow fix the anxiety they have and their relationships with Hiro and other characters.

The real catch is that although the show starts fairly well, the middle and the end is very poor, so don’t expect some kind of impacting scene or anything dramatic. It was just too easy to figure out what was going to happen, and worse, it just happens and leaves you stranded with no sense of satisfaction. It really boils down to how simple and crude it became, lowering it down to a bitter show that’s barely watchable but nothing truly memorable.

GDC 2007: LittleBigPlanet

LittleBigPlanet GDC 2007 trailer.

Every generation of consoles usually brings about a new idea that really wouldn’t work on the previous generation of consoles. It’s not always about texture detail, polygon counts, or even shader technology. Sometimes the idea itself is just so different it really stands out as a truly next-generational experience.This is where LittleBigPlanet comes in. A game by a newly formed company called Media Molecule under the wing of Sony Computer Entertainment developed a game that starts out blank. It’s basically a combination of tools, pallets, and props all entwined in a realistic physics environment. It starts out by allowing you to select items and start placing things in a blank level, and with a little time and dedication you can create a full level — something that could be in a “real game” in essence. As you can see in the videos, the tools are very powerful and can really provide endless amount of creativity. Imagine, you can recreate levels from older 2D games you remember or go crazy and create some really hard physics puzzles for others to challenge

The next level of awesomeness is that the game is based on cooperation so it allows for online cooperative play. This means you can have people from your PSN friendlist hop into a game with you and you can challenge the newest content out there together. In the second demo video you can see how the sharing of content resembles Youtube and allows you to put out content and monitor it by play count and even view gamer comments that have played your level. Of course, this is not the only game to ever allow simple level editing without the need of complicated tools or scripting knowledge, but it’s certainly the most fleshed out one on a console. If Starcraft could live for more than 10 years with custom maps created almost daily by fans, imagine the possibilities of a much more simple and refreshing experience with LittleBigPlanet that is all about new content every day. You probably won’t ever get bored of this game as long as people keep coming up with all kinds of new level ideas with the added benefit of being able to challenge them with your friends online.

There’s also the developer levels that can be a way to experience a pros take on LittleBigPlanet and even a way for them to advertise their games. Plus, you can change the levels as you play so nothing will ever be the same as long as people keep adding their own stickers and adding new parts to a level and calling it their own. Combine this awesome experience with music by The Go! Team, a surprisingly good band from the UK, and you’ve got a recipe for greatness.

LittleBigPlanet will be released on the PlayStation Store sometime this year and a retail Blu-ray disc with all of the best user-created content is planned in early 2008.

GDC 2007: PlayStation 3 ‘Home’

Home’s trailer says it all. As a virtual space for match-making and socializing, ‘Home’ seems to be the biggest improvement in matchmaking services we’ve seen on consoles.

The potential is evident in the emergent virtual socializing possibilities that ‘Home’ can offer. Imagine, you can start your PS3 and access a living breathing virtual space from a new icon named ‘Home’ on the Xross Media Bar (XMB). From your very own and private virtual apartment you can set off into the public spaces of this world and find friends to socialize with or invite them to a game. Communication is possible using predictive and predefined text messages, full keyboard chat using a USB keyboard, or a bluetooth headset allowing full voice communication. You can venture out into this world looking the way you want to look as there is something for everyone. The customization options seem vast and there’s always possibilities for more to come down the road.

The fun doesn’t stop there because there’s tons of things to do besides just looking at 3D avatars and chatting. There’s virtual arcades where you can play public games with other people. You can even play mini-games such as golf or bowling, using the excellent motion-sensitivity of the SIXAXIS controller. If that weren’t awesome enough, you can invite people over to your virtual apartment and play mini-games there or full-retail blu-ray disc games if you all have the same games. This is a great way to get all of your friends together in the future to play Gran Turismo 5, Killzone 2, SOCOM IV, or any other major online game to be released on the PlayStation 3.

Unlike Xbox Live, ‘Home’ is available free of charge and offers similar functionality and in may cases more. There are microtransactions, but they’re a lot more meaningful and entertaining than what is avialable on Xbox Live. You can buy furniture for your apartment, thus making it more appealing for your guests, especially if you host a lot of online game parties. There’s tables, chairs, frames, and all kinds of things you can add to suit your personal tastes. There’s also electronics that become useful when using yet more features of ‘Home’. For example, you can have a large virtual HDTV that you can use to show your guests videos that you have stored on your PlayStation 3’s hard drive. This means if you have a movie on your hard drive you can watch it together with your friends in your virtual apartment. You can also have your friends listen to all of your music you have on your hard drive with the appropriate device in your virtual apartment. If you have pictures from a digital camera stored on your hard drive you can put them up as posters in your room, further customizing the look and feel of your very own virtual apartment. Not only that, your apartment can be fitted with trophies and awards you get from completing tasks in games and other challenges. You can basically show off by winning and accumulating more stuff than all your friends. There’s also public exhibition of awards too, in a very cool Star Wars-style hall of fame showing everyone’s achievements — so to speak.

As the virtual space grows in the future, many commercialized venues will be opened up for public access. ‘Home’ is free, so advertising is a given, but nonetheless there will be some of the co