Archive for the English Anime Category


Penguindrum Anime Collection 1, Disk 2 (English)

February 6th, 2013

As Disk One of Penguindrum ended, we focus on the not-entirely-overlapping realities currently experienced by Shoma and Kanba, and which to increasingly involve Oginome Ringo and her dead sister’s notebook.

As Disk Two opens Kanba is puzzling out the issue of a number of exes who have suddenly, weirdly lost their memories. We, the viewers can see who is doing it and how but it will be some time yet before we know why.

Shoma is left to deal with an increasingly irrational Ringo, as the reality she believes in slips away from her. She watches as the object of her desire, Tabuki, is dating, engaged to and, evetually, living with “Sunshine-y Troupe” star Yuri. (The scenes of Yuri’s show and retirement party would put a smile on any Takarazuka fan’s face, as they neatly parody a number of fun tropes from the famous female musical revue. Not least of which is Yuri’s partner who looks suspiciously like Oscar from the Rose of Versailles anime.

The bulk of the this disk is caught up in Ringo’s unreality, where her destiny with Tabuki appears ever further from her, even as she strives to achieve it. Shoma, Kanba (and we who watch) learn that the notebook she treasures is the “penguin drum” the Princess of the Crystal commanded them to obtain. What this means is still unknown…and may well remain so.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

There are loads of things that makes one uncomfortable on this disk. Welcome back to Ikuhara world.

And once again, thanks to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for his generous sponsorship of today’s review!





Psycho-Pass Anime (English)

January 27th, 2013

A few months ago, I was wandering around anime/manga goods stores in Tokyo and, I could hardly help noticing the pony-tailed woman in a black suit with the intense gaze in the sections of Psycho-Pass goods. I have excellent gaydar, even for anime and manga, and I instantly got the vibe with her. I looked up the series and found myself confronted with a number of incredibly bad synopses to chose from, none of which explain anything at all about the story. (I understand that the Japanese companies send terrible copy over, but dear ANN and Crunchyroll, get someone who can write a friggin’ coherent synopsis, please. Synopses, at barest minimum should look like this:

In a setting, a protagonist finds him/herself in a situation cause effect. An adjective genre media by director/writer/famous name associated with the series.

Just like a Mad Lib, replace the italics above with the specifics and viola! coherent synopsis.

In a future where a global computer system determines a person’s fate – even so far as their capacity for crime – using their “Psycho-Pass”- new Inspector in the Public Safety Bureau, Tsunemori Akane finds herself  tracking down a serial killer whose “Psycho-Pass” remains unstained with criminal intent. A thrilling new suspense anime written by Urobuchi Gen and novelist Fukami Makoto.

See, it’s not that hard!*

Anyway, so I get home from Japan and Katherine H of Yuri no Boke tells me I really should watch it, Yayoi is awesome. But the synopses I read made the story sound so meh, I resisted. (Sorry, Katherine, I should have listened to you.)

Why the heck didn’t anyone tell me it was also written by Fukami Makoto? Sheesh, people, if you had just told me that, I would have watched it right away. I don’t give a hoot about Urobuchi Gen, but Fukami wrote Vertigo. Anything Fukami is involved in is sure to have lesbians who don’t suck.

Anyway, once I realized Fukami was involved, I started watching Psycho-Pass, which is streaming for free with registration on Funimation’s website. (Region blocking will apply.)

And it was really very good. It is indeed a “suspense” genre with a serial killer, so if you hate that crap (and who could blame you?) avoid it. They never go explicitly gross, like Suicide Club or anything. It’s suspense, not horror, but the implications can get really grim.

Yes, there’s Yuri. In the first half of the series, one of the characters involved in an arc set in a elite girl’s school is not above seducing underclassmen for a little sex and gruesome murder.

But the reason one might watch the series is the aforementioned black-suited “Enforcer,” Yayoi. When we first see her, she has just finished a light snack of Karanomori Shion, an analyst for the PSB. In addition, a full episode is dedicated to Yayoi’s backstory that does not shy from her orientation. If anything it gives a wholly functional look to the slightly ruined  life of a woman who loves women. (Something Fukami is good at.)

Yayoi makes a very decent series excellent. ^_^

There’s one other really excellent thing about the series – the character designs are totally atypical for a Fukami project, so none of the women have absurdly large breasts as they did in Vertigo. And Akane, who clearly would have been moe in any other anime series is shockingly not, here. If anything, her design looks a little droopy-eyed, rather than childish. I really like the character designs, they say “We want to become a live-action movie one day”. ^_^

A good watch, I look forward to the second half. My only complaint is the bad guy. I hate the handwave of the psycho killer who law enforcement canNOT track/find/identify for blah blah reason. Other than that handwave, it’s quite excellent.

Ratings:

Art – YMMV, but I say 8
Character – 9
Story – 9 It’s all shark jumping, all the time
Yuri – 8
Service – 7 Fans of creepy horror violence against women are creepy

Overall – 8

I like the fact that “Psycho-Pass” is a homophone for “psychopath” when said by a Japanese speaker.

*Actually, writing synopses must be hard, Funimation doesn’t even bother on their website for the series.





Bodacious Space Pirates Anime, Disk 1 (English)

January 22nd, 2013

“In a world where pirates are hired by collateral insurance companies….”

High school student Katou Marika learns that she is the only child of a Space Pirate Captain and, additionally, learns her mother was a famous pirate. Simultaneously showing natural talent at leadership and decision-making and working her ass off to learn how to be a space pirate, Marika makes it look like any of us might be able to do it, if we just apply ourselves. And who among us hasn’t wanted to be a space pirate?*

Joined by the experienced crew of her Father’s ship, the Bentenmaru,  and assisted by the members of the “Yacht Club” of her elite high school, Marika takes on any number of surprisingly fun adventures.

For anyone who has not yet watched this series, let me address the title issues: The word bodacious was probably a 19th century neologism formed from “bold” and “audacious.” Linguistic drift has added the usage of voluptuous, or even more crudely, large-breasted. The original definition certainly applies, but the latter definition is rather more inapplicable. Marika is indeed bold and audacious. This series has some, but not very much, and relatively mild fanservice. With a name like that you’d be sensible to think it was far worse than it is.

In short, this is a fun space opera that stars high school girls taking control of their circumstances, learning to make decisions, carrying out plans and building a future. All things that guarantee I will enjoy a series.

Several people have pointed out Sentai Filmworks’ salacious and irrelevant marketing copy in their reviews, but as this is the company that has always insisted on translating “Yuri” as “girl-on-girl” despite many protests, I feel that complaining that the copywriters and translators are Fanboys is redundant. Yes, they are, and that will not change because we find it annoying. As I said recently, being critical about translation choices is the least clever thing you be on the Internet. It’s Sentai, it’ll be skanky. If their ad copy makes you sad,  write them – again – and give them guidance on how to be better at their jobs. ^_^

I purchased the Blu-Ray for the series because it was a mere $4 more than the DVD. Clearly I am broken, because I genuinely do not see the difference. Well, occasionally the CGI looks worse than I remember it being when I watched it at lower resolution. ^_^

For fans of space opera, I strongly recommend this series. It’s just a whole lot of fun. ^_^ Available on DVD, Blu-Ray or legal online stream for free (region-blocking may apply.)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Character – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 1…for now
Service – Despite every effort, a mere 3

Overall – 8

*Well, okay, actually I haven’t ever wanted to be a space pirate, because I’m pretty sure I’d get sick in zero-gravity. ^_^;





Jormungand Perfect Order Anime Guest Review by Mara

January 16th, 2013

JORPOFirst Guest Review Wednesday of the Year! I have basically said everything I have to say about Jormungand but, as Jormungand: Perfect Order is streaming legally and free on Funimation (as Episodes 13-24 of the series. Registration is required,) I felt it was worthy of a decent review. And so here is Mara with a very decent review. Please welcome him once again to Okazu! Take it away, Mara…

I remember picking up the Jormungand manga right off the shelf of a comic shop with completely zero expectations, as I usually do and being firmly impressed. Here was a half decent action manga with two protagonists that have hilarious chemistry. So it was fantastic to find out it was getting an anime.

The anime of Jormungand was aired in two half season segments and with a thirteen week break between them. This gives the production team a sliver of extra time to make sure that we do not see too much quality slippage over the whole run. A sensible idea for an action heavy show such as Jormungand where if the motion is not there on the screen to an adequate quality the show will suffer. It is a good thing too as Jormungand: Perfect Order starts right at the R/Hex arc where we have a big set piece climax.

The problem is while Jormungand’s action scenes work very well in the manga, they have not been transplanted so well into the anime in places. In a way they were moved into the anime too well with no attempt to change them to suit the animated medium. This means a lot of static shots of the characters firing with bottomless magazines while exposition goes on. Very noticeable in the street fight between Koko’s group and Hex’s group, it sadly sucks a good deal of the tension out from the action.

Despite that minor gripe, I still loved the action in Perfect Order. The stand out point for me would be the tunnel chase sequence in Tojo’s story arc; an exciting and energetic chase scene that improved upon the manga and used everyone in Koko’s group.

So, sadly, you may be thinking that as we had Valmet personal arc in the first season of Jormungand there is not much Yuri to talk about in Perfect Order. Well, it is true that Valmet fades a bit into the background now she has had her revenge. Valmet becomes Koko’s yes-woman for the most part. We do have a small scene in episode twenty where Koko messes around with Valmet to show off to Minami; but nothing is made of it afterward.

In fact, the major Yuri moment is more of a what we might call ‘Yuri goggles’ variety, but not of a relationship. No, I would suggest that we should turn our lily-tinted lenses to the group of four women who end up creating and wielding the power that changes the world: Jormungand. That while Koko gets the world, the girl (Valmet) and the adorable boy (Jonah), Dr Minami, Koko’s co-conspirator, gets her own elite science harem.

Firstly she easily secures the then unemployed Karen Low and easily pulls her into her own unique working environment. Then when Elena Baburin gets kidnapped from her kidnappers by Koko’s team she seems really distraught, who would not be? But then when we get a very jarring bathing scene later on we see that Elena is totally okay we working on Jormungand… now that she has met Minami! Later Rabbitfoot is also kidnapped out of a different kind of captivity to work on Jormungand, Koko makes it clear that she does not really like Rabbitfoot due to her previous conduct. Someone however finds Rabbitfoot’s single-mindedness cute… Dr Minami!

Frankly for me, it did not take much effort to see the whole of Perfect Order as having a sub-plot of Minami ensuring her retirement in a toy factory in South Africa, with three differently beautiful women who are all geniuses in their fields and her own personal open air bath. Not to mention she also gets her own cool high-backed chair among the four people who will ensure peace in the world for the foreseeable future. Minami makes out of this show like a bloody bandit.

Even if you don’t agree with me on that, it is still pretty sweet that the four people who will put an end to war, something that has often been used as an excuse to suppress women, are four women who are super geniuses in their respective fields. At the very least it gives me a feminist power fantasy high.

Speaking of the end of Jormungand I do feel like I have to mention the run up to the ending. In the last few episodes Koko finally reveals her plan to everyone and to Jonah. Sadly Koko, who to this point seemed so in control and genre savvy, seems to do a complete one hundred and eighty and simply delivers a speech about the sacrifices Jormungand will require, like she was a villain in a less interesting manga. It does not help that all of Koko’s ideas hinge on a very pessimistic and conservative viwew of people and of changing the world for the better. It is a real shift in tone for Koko to go from: ‘This is right because I’m awesome’ to: ‘This is right because it is the most cynical possibility’. A trope that I am getting sick and tired of being used as a crutch.

Now this was not an out and out character assassination, but this did not fit the standard of Koko’s actions up to that point and there was little attempt to show Koko’s turmoil as we immediately focus on Jonah and his thoughts for most of the rest of the series.

The writer clearly tries to distract us from this with a bit of fanservce that actually seems aimed at me for once. Koko cuts her hair to above shoulder length and starts wearing a black suit, plus the official reveal of the aforementioned lesbian cabal that will rule the world. Yay and all, but that does not distract me when the even greater fanservce of Kasper giving the best villain speech I have heard this year to Koko; thus highlighting that Koko, a character I fell in love with because she does awesome and cool things, has not done a cool thing in the last episode of a show about her.

The end, though, is very sensible. A reconciliation is achieved and the anime ends on a point where we know where everything is going and does not continue beyond that; sensibly preventing us from being disappointed.

Jormungand was a fantastic manga about a woman who though her own will and ability changes the world. Not for someone else but for her own aesthetic ideals. The Perfect Order anime was a fantastic adaptation of the last half of the manga. Such a good adaptation I will hold it up as an example of all the good and bad you can do by being perfectly faithful to the source material.

Ratings:

Art – 5, every third character looks flat like they are in a different show

Characters – 10, best part of the whole thing

Story – 7, Good but points off for dithering

Yuri – 5, Valmet is awesome but needs a spine, everything else is just in my head.

Service – 10, Let’s see, suits, abs, eye patches, adorable guys and butch ladies. Can’t give this any other score when I am the one scoring it.

Overall – 8

Two points off for dropping the ball with character models and for forgetting at the end that Koko needs to be the coolest person in the room. Other than that as close to perfect in this genre as I have seen in a while.

Erica here: Mara you hit the nail on the crumpet, IMHO. I also saw Minami’s ‘true’ plan. Laudable, I thought. ^_^ Thanks for the review and for being the one that got me into Jormungand in the first place!





Penguindrum Anime Collection 1, Disk 1 (English)

January 14th, 2013

We are, at first, thrown into a tragedy. We meet brothers Kanba and Shoma and their frail sister Himari. When Himari dies, we expect that we are witnessing the catalytic moment for these two young men.

The tragedy becomes a fantasy, as a magic hat revives Himari, but the fantasy turns into farce with the appearance of three cartoon penguins with all the charm of a drunken frat boy.

From farce we are thrown into a horror movie, as we meet Ringo, and her energetic stalking of her teacher in the name of destiny. When we meet her teacher, Tabuki and his girlfriend the actress and singer, we are transported from horror to romantic comedy.

And then, then, finally, as the first disk of Penguindrum comes to an end, we suddenly realize that none of these characters are sharing the same reality.

We’re in the roller coaster car and we’ve just reached the top of the first hill…and we’re in for a heck of a ride.

Penguindrum is available on DVD or Blu-Ray from Sentai Filmworks.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Many, many thanks to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring this review and allowing me to poke around in Ikuhara’s head for a little bit. ^_^