Archive for the English Anime Category


Penguindrum Anime Collection 2, Disk 1 (English)

March 26th, 2013

pd2In the first half of Penguindrum, we learned that each of the characters appeared to be existing in a wholly different reality from the characters around them. On the first disk of the second half of Penguindrum, we learn why.

Himari’s health takes a turn for the worse, but that is set on the back burner, as bizarrely beautiful and immediately untrustworthy Sanetoshi-sensei inserts himself into the story, confirming our belief that there are separate, but intertwined, realities colliding here.

Shoma and Ringo confess their realities to one another, only to find that they are the same reality, which makes everything worse. Ringo get caught up in Yuri’s reality. Yuri, while living up to her name, turns out to be a broken and unhappy person, twisted by parental abuse and grief. Yuri’s backstory is absolutely agonizing and horrific to watch. The repeated concept of abusive father who smokes a pipe is starting to worry me, frankly.

But slowly, these realities all start to coalesce around one person and it feels like it all might make sense. Did Momoka change reality? That would explain a lot.  That almost makes sense until Masako and Mario’s story pops up. They have their own reality, but is any of it related to anything else? And what is Dr. Sanetoshi’s part in all this?

The most maddening thing about watching an anime by Ikuhara in full throttle is the unshakable feeling that, even when it’s all over, and all the pieces have been played, you may never really understand anything at all.

Collection 2 is going to have a lot more screaming, a lot more adults being horrible to children and more not-quite-matching realities.

Sentai’s translation and technicals are both not noticeable, which is exactly what one wants out of them. Rather than thinking about word choices, I find myself  scanning the visuals for more meaningless symbology like the cats, the arrows, cars, towers, (what does Michaelaneglo’s David as a tower mean, really?) apples and, of course penguins. Does any of it have any meaning at all, or does it just look good? Maybe we’ll find out. Maybe not.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8, but super grim, with a side order of misery
Characters -7  Shoma and Ringo become more real, while everyone else becomes a pulp fiction version of themselves
Yuri – 8 It’s all yucky, but it’s there
Service – 5

Overall – 8 A hard watch, a tense watch, but a compelling watch.

Many thanks once again to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring today’s review!





Penguindrum Anime Collection 1, Disk 3 (English)

March 3rd, 2013

The first volume of Penguindrum comes to a close in Disk 3, by introducing two major plot complications, several new visual symbols and a twist of fate. Or should I say…destiny?

We learn in a most roundabout way possible why Natsume Masako is after the diary. We see that Himari has a separate history of her own, a story about which she carries guilt, regret and unhappiness in great measure. And at last, we learn what really binds all the characters together…but not why. Not yet.

Visually, we’re noticing some new symbols, most especially Tokyo Tower, which now appears in many scenes. The storytelling to come is so powerful that merely seeing the Tower made me shiver (with what emotions, I can’t tell you – that would be spoiling it.)  The appearance of repeated, unexplained visual symbols laden with inexpressible meaning is the very essence of a Ikuhara Kunihiko production.

I’m watching the DVD of the series, as opposed to the Blu-ray, (and I’ve previously pointed out, I’ve got an ancient TV and that I’m not a great judge of video quality) but I still think the video is crisp.  I can imagine that on Blu-Ray, especially on a good screen, the video’s saturation of color and play of light and dark would be quite amazing.

I haven’t addressed the issue of translation. Sentai is generally adequate. They lack a translator with nuance, but for the bulk of the story, nuance is left out of the dialogue. The words Sanetoshi speaks are not where the nuance is, it’s they way he’s saying them and where he is and what he’s doing when he does. Luckily for us, since Sentai is generally adequate.

The thing I wanted very much to bring to your attention today is this – the song being blasted by the speakers that deafen Kanba is a Welsh folksong called Ar Hyd y Nos, also known by the English title, All Through The Night.  It’s a pretty famous hymn and lullaby and I wanted you to hear and enjoy it in a non-distorted version. Here is Aled Jones singing it in Welsh and English:

Which makes me wonder, why Ar Hyd y Nos? Doesn’t it strike you as odd that Ikuhara and his team would choose a Welsh folksong to blast at Kanba? But then, Ikuhara likes odd conjunctions of mismatched emotions. So, yeah. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Once again, thanks so much to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for his generous sponsorship of today’s review!

And welcome to the new Okazu. Hope you like it! ^_^

 





Bodacious Space Pirates, Anime, Disk 2 (English)

February 17th, 2013

Following on the tail of Disk 1, we reach Disk 2 of Bodacious Space Pirates, on which Marika sets out on her first piracy commission as captain of the Bentenmaru.

The commission starts off lightly, with a request from a Princess of the Serenity household, Gruier, asking the Bentenmaru to track a golden ghost ship, but as the plot progresses, and they confront Serenity battleships, Marika has to face real battles with real consequences for herself and the crew.

The deeper meaning of the Golden Space Ship and the part it plays in Serenity history is presented almost as an afterthought, because this is a space opera and we, like Bentenmaru’s San-Daime, want to see Marika be a cool captain. ^_^

The disk ends on a quiet note, but not really a filler episode, as we’re shown transition in Hakuoh’s Yacht Club and in Ririka’s life, as well as a welcome return to day-to-day life for Marika.

This disk pretty much has it all, adventure, friendship, leadership and other qualities I look for in a story about a “strong female” character.  Bodacious Space Pirates passes what I call the The Friedman Addendum to the Bechdel Test:

Does female character have agency?
Does she have society?
Does she have personality?
Is she merely a female-shaped male hero doing male hero things while being female?

Bodacious Space Pirates passes with flying colors. Marika has agency – she is capable of and given the opportunity to make decisions for herself and others. She has society, the members of the yacht club, and especially her non-space-faring friend, Mami, who wants and needs nothing from her, and who is a very excellent friend.

Marika definitely has personality. We’re shown that and we’re told it. She is quick-witted, hard working, fair, decent, and just evil enough to make a fantastic pirate captain. ^_^

No she does not wear a bodysuit, but the miniskirt would realllllly toe that line except that the anime uses a fair amount of restraint in clothing design and perspective. It’s not that there is no service – the space suits don’t have to be formfitting, for instance, but compared to oh so many other series, the level of service is low.

Available on DVD, Blu-Ray or legal online stream for free (region-blocking may apply), Bodacious Space Pirates passes the Bechdel Test, the Friedman Addendum and is a rollicking good yarn. I’m looking forward to the next disks with relish, since I know that, for once, the added “romance” subplot won’t merely be the usual obligatory stuff. ^_^
Ratings:
Art – 7
Character – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 1…for now
Service – 5Overall – 9

My hypothetical girl child, along with Legend of Korra and kung-fu lessons, gets this series as a present. ^_^





Lesbian Animation: Strange Frame – Love and Sax

February 11th, 2013

starngeframeI was going to review a manga today. I have it sitting right here. But like the magpie I am, when I see something shiny, I just have to go haring off after it. And so, today’s shiny thing is a movie-length sci-fi animation starring a mixed-race female lead and her DNA-modded female lover, Strange Frame – Love and Sax, by Shelley Doty and G.B. Hajim. (Apparently this animation was shown at DragonCon last year to some acclaim.)

Let me get the single major criticism I have for this movie out of the way – there is not one unique or fresh idea in the whole thing. In fact, about a third of the way through the movie, I hit a moment  when the Huggy Bear pimp cool voice that all the characters were using started to wear on me. That having been said, the story was very comfortable as a result. It was easy to slip into it and easy to get caught up in it. The pull quote on the website says, “A punk version of Blade Runner” but I think that is slightly off the mark. Not far off the mark, though. It’s more like a jazz version of a slightly gritty Fifth Element.

The animation is quite good. It had Eastern European animation vibes, with that smooth oil-painting feel one encounters in European animation of the last decade, with a sensibility that would be right at home in the pages of Heavy Metal magazine. (You know what I mean, right? All the dancing is hedonistic hip-churning, there’s “futuristic” nudity and the drugs are all post-Op Art black light psychedelic posters.)

The voice cast is a delightful mix of  cults, Star Trek (Michael Dorn, George Takei), Farscape (Claudia Black), My Little Pony – Friendship is Magic and a million other cartoons (Tara Strong), Barney Miller (Ron Glass) and Tim Curry who of course has been in everything ever. (And there’s a few other easter-egg voice actors as well.) The cast handles the script deftly. So while every scene is something you’ve seen before, and much of the dialogue is something you’ve heard before (and in a few cases, the writers damn well know it, and are very, very openly stealing from dialogue that has come before) it never feels eye-rollingly done.

The lead, Parker, has a comfy sort of ex-something feel, and her lover Naia is any pop idol ever. As I said, the plot is well-worn and no new ground is uncovered here, but if you’re like me, you eagerly await the day when this story is made as a live action and Parker and Naia are just the leads, not  zOMG a lesbian couple!

You can rent the movie on Vimeo or order the DVD.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Lesbian – 9

Overall – 8

I hope you’ll give the movie your support – the more of this kind of animation we get, the more we get, y’know? ^_^




The Legend of Korra Cartoon (English)

February 10th, 2013

Let me tell you something true and important.

Aang was wrong.

It’s not the moment you’re most down when you unlock your potential. It’s the moment after that. When you look at where you are and think, “Well fuck this, I’m going to live anyway.” *That’s* the moment you connect with your “spiritual” self.

This weekend, during snowstorm Nemo, I took the opportunity to sit and watch all of The Legend of Korra on Amazon Instant Video.

It was excellent.

Super quicky synopsis for those of you who have never seen it: In a world where some people, known as “benders.” have power over one of the four elements, the “Avatar” can manipulate all four. Avatar-in-training, Korra, has mastered all but Air, but when she comes to Republic City to learn the fourth element she find herself caught up in a veritable war.

I never did watch Avatar – The Last Airbender, beyond catching a random episode here or there. It looked good, plenty of people I know liked it, but we just never connected. So when I heard about Korra, I was glad, but not compelled to watch it. It was on my radar, I just needed to make some time for it.

Now I have and I’m pretty pleased at the result. Every character was written incredibly well. I mean that. As a person 100% driven by connection to character, there wasn’t one of the “good guys” that I thought, “oh come on…!” Especially Korra who is that invisible-unknowable to writers in almost every media – a competent adolescent girl. Korra knows from a young age she is the Avatar and has both self-confidence and self-doubt born from that knowledge. She’s not too fragile nor is she too arrogant. She’s welcome over for lunch anytime. ^_^

The story really takes off when she deifies her teacher Tenzen’s order to stay away from sport bending. Korra meets Bolin and his brother Mako…and it’s her illicit professional bending that sets much of the story in motion.

Mako picks up a girlfriend along the way, Asami, who turns out to be a key in the larger plot. Of all the characters, she was the one I was most afraid would be written poorly, but nope. The plot screws her a bit, but the writers never do.

Bei-Fong, the police chief, is a rare middle-aged female character with both bending and secular power. She also gets moment of “waaaah” during the series usually given over to male characters.

Even Tenzen’s family are not afterthoughts. There’s a moment early on when Tenzen and Korra are arguing. Miffed, Tenzen forbids his eldest daughter from being like that, which she wisely refuses to guarantee.

The plot is jam-packed and, as a result moves a teeny bit too fast at the end, but that’s honestly one of only three quibbles I have.

Quibble the first: City Council Members who are clueless sheep. Politicians might follow the money, but darn few of them are clueless sheep. They might be delusional, insane or incompetent, but not too many people are going to make a City Council without *some* presence.  At least make Tarrlok an amazing speaker or something to convince me they were convinced that the worst ideas ever were good. (“Why yes, let’s pass a law that does the very thing the enemy is accusing us of doing! That’s a great idea!”)

Quibble the second: Nothing personal to Mako, and he didn’t have to stay with Asami, but I can think of several ways in which he and Korra did not have to end up together and the story would have ended better. Also, how vexing that Asami, who is a very decent character, is basically brought in just to end up being Korra’s rival. Snooze. I want Asami to be avenged by being a major character next time.

Quibble the third: Aang’s BS about Korra connecting with her spiritual self. Yes, I realize time was running out, but really, 5 more seconds (hey, cut out the Mako scene and you’d have had plenty of time) for the right kind of epiphany and it would have been awesome.

Other than those small things, I genuinely enjoyed the heck out of this series. Korra was definitely my definition of a “strong female lead”. (You can read a discussion of my definition in my review of Bandette.) If I had a girl child, she’d get this series and kung-fu lessons for her birthday. (With a teacher that understands why Aang was wrong!) Highly recommended.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 8

Overall – 9

Bolin was my fave character, he just said what needed to be said.