Archive for the English Anime Category


Revolutionary Girl Utena Anime, Volume 3, Disk 1 (English)

April 27th, 2012

The difference in tone between the first disk of the third box set, the “Apocalypse Arc” and first disk of the “Student Council Arc” of Revolutionary Girl Utena is so profound, the gap so enormous, that I’m having trouble finding words to express my thoughts on it.

The Student Council themselves are different. They have faced their darkest thoughts and are no longer terrified by them. It almost comes as a surprise to them that still they have weak spots to be be exploited. And yet, there they are, on the dueling ground, for reasons that they themselves don’t really understand, fighting.

The End of the World shows himself to us, and in many ways, he is aptly named. Akio, the Morning Star, Lucifer, the fallen angel…the End of the World, in the sense of a border or a boundary outside which is…what?

There are significant changes in the dynamic between the characters. Everything is fraught with sexual energy, even relationships we desperately wish were not. (How many of us grit our teeth when Akio put his hand on Utena and pulls her closer?) Kozue and Shiori attempt to embrace their own sexuality, only to find themselves left as wreckage on the side of the road. Nanami is made fun of, brutally, blatantly, so we must see her as a buffoon, naive and soft. This will lead to one of the most mind blowingly profound moments in the series.

But of all the changes, the most fraught, the most profound is the change that has come over Anthy. In the beginning of the series she was (apparently) a passive player in the game. Now Utena and she share a room – to some extent, a bed – and in the transformation and subsequent duels, Anthy plays a more active role. It’s impossible to ignore her or write her off as a victim with a nasty sense of humor. There is something very important going on in regards to her, although we do not yet know the full story. Watching this disk, I am reminded of the concept of shakti and suddenly, Anthy’s physical appearance makes sense on a deeper level than it ever has before. Is she the divine feminine power, the agent of change that charges the male manifestation of divinity’s power and makes him “able to do”? I think so.

In the beginning, Utena was the Prince who longed to save Anthy, the Princess. Now Anthy appears more as a goddess, giving Utena the power to…what, revolutionize the world? Really? Does that mean anything? With each episode, the tension around that phrase and around the phrase “The End of the World” becomes thicker. To see what it all means, we must simply keep watching.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Character – 9
Yuri – 4
Service – 4

Overall – 10

I don’t want to look, but I can’t stop watching.





Magic Knight Rayearth Anime Second Season, Disks 5 & 6 (English)

April 22nd, 2012

As I suspected, neither of the two plotlines that were the entirety of the end of the Second Season Complete Box Set of Magic Knight Rayearth, were enough to hold my attention.

At least twice, I thought “Surely we must be past Hikaru’s self-confidence issues (i.e., Nova)?” But no, both times we’re dragged back to re-re-re-re-face the darkness in her heart. And the last of the plotlines was resolved in the only way that made any sense, really, from the very beginning.

For the rest, the girls befriend enemies and land, once again, back at Tokyo Tower, probably incapable of ever really returning to a normal life. Sure, “will” can help us overcome difficulties in our world, but they’ve been trained to associate “will” with whipping out a weapon and fighting. That’s going to be awkward next time they get in an argument in school. Just kidding – they’ve all proven repeatedly that they can fight with their brains and hearts, as well. Still…you can’t tell me Umi won’t reget not being able to kick someone’s butt every once in a while. ^_^

I felt generally unsatisfied with the ending. Mostly because it took three disks too long to arrive. Most of the final two disks were fluff, while they put the end of the story off. I was watching only an episode or two at a time, and it just felt too delayed, much like the final episodes of Sailor Moon Stars…we *know* what’s gonna happen and we get that we have to get through certain things, but…3 episodes of recaps on two episodes of action…ugh.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 3
Characters – 6
Yuri – 4
LoserFanBoy – 4

Overall – 5

The second season was just not as satisfying as the first season – too loosely plotted, not enough content for its length. And Nova will forever remain in my mind as a total bore. She also kills the family-friendliness of the series, to no real end. She could have been just as annoying without boob-grabbing. Sigh.





Magic Knight Rayearth Anime Second Season, Disk 4 (English)

April 14th, 2012

I pride myself in watching anime without expectation and my ability to clearly, concisely separate my delusions and desires from what is actually happening on the screen. We all choose to interpret what we see differently, but sometimes the information we’re give is clearer than others. Sometimes the holes are so huge, it’s impossible for me to ignore them, regardless of what I want to be happening.

Which brings us, in an oblique way, to Magic Knight Rayearth, Volume 4 of the Second Season Complete Box Set.

In this volume Nova put a full-on passive-aggressive seduction of Hikaru because, as she says, she loves Hikaru. Well, okay, but a second earlier she told Hikaru that the reason she hated her was because Hikaru hates herself. So, having been given that piece of information, we have to conclude then that Hikaru also wants herself in a sexual way. Or, we can presume that Nova is making it up (and being inconsistent about it) or – and this is my best guess – no one told CLAMP that that made no sense.

In any case, Hiakru remembers for the 17,000th time all the people who are counting on her and manages to get her sword back and call Rayearth for the first time in a few volumes.

More interestingly Fuu defeats Princess Asuka by being calm and cool and smart and unflappable. Standing her ground when Asuka attempts to renege on a deal was a beautiful moment – as was the emotional reunion with Ferio.

Umi’s relegated to a back seat for this volume.

We do get a few moment’s with Eagle, but it looks Lantis is out of the question for him, now that we’ve been told so many times that Hikaru and Lantis are an item. Snoooze. And Debonair-sama laughs evilly for a bit.

Now that we’ve had the Nova gay moment, I doubt that I’ll review the last two volumes individually, but I’ll probably do a single wrap-up for the series as a whole. I really don’t dislike it, but it was dragging there a bit. If we can get back to the plot, I’ll be happier.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 4
Characters – 6
Yuri – 5, but bleah
LoserFanBoy – 3

Overall – 7





Magic Knight Rayearth Anime Second Season, Disk 3 (English)

April 9th, 2012

For those of you looking at the actual disks of the Second season set of Magic Knight Rayearth, this review is of the Disk labeled 7, as the disk numbering continued from the first season straight through the second.

Finally, at last, I encountered Nova and subsequently stare at many of you now with some concern that you see her as a “Yuri” character, and not just simply as insane. ^_^;;

But first, I should point out that the plot is now so deeply flawed and diluted that it was hard slogging through every episode of this disk, so Nova wasn’t the real problem.

If you recall, the plot as it was set up is that, now Pillar-less, Cephiro is in danger of being invaded by three other countries. Eagle of Autozam is the least annoying and in these episodes he also appears to be dying of tuberculosis so that his story is extra tragic. Hikaru suddenly develops a raging crush on Lantis out of nowhere and Umi is likewise assigned a pairing – we already knew about Fuu and Ferio from the first series. At least that one makes sense. Having given everyone something to lose, everyone loses everything, Hikaru is lost in her own thoughts, assailed by the monothematic Nova, while Umi and Fuu are captured by the other two countries who want Cephiro.

I was not thrilled to my core to learn that there were three more disks of this to wade through before resolution.

Okay, let’s look at Nova for a second. Really? Yuri…?  I don’t see it, sorry. I see someone who was created to be a monomaniac, self-absorbed and obsessive with one goal in mind – to emotionally torture and defeat Hikaru. The fact that she touches her a lot and goes on and on about how “cute” she is reads about as charming as a serial killer.

OTOH, I really like Fuu and Umi in the final episodes here, where split up they are forced to be the actual people they are, rather than Legendary Magic Knights.

So, yeah, just about halfway through this series, the plot becomes messy, but we’re about due for a breakthrough. The Magic Knights will be back in top form in just a bit.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 4
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3, if that’s what you call it
LoserFanBoy – 3

Overall – 7

I’m okay with Eagle and Geo, if Lantis doesn’t work out. ^_^





Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie Anime Dub Review (English)

March 23rd, 2012

Happy Guest Review Day! I know I have not yet reviewed the third box set of Revolutionary Girl Utena, much less the movie, but I will. I’ve just been a tad busy. In the meantime, here is a special Guest Review from Okazu Superhero Eric P. on, specifically, the dub of the Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie, since as you know, I do not watch dubs.

I hope you’ll all extend a welcoming hand to Eric, as always. Enjoy the review!

In my review for the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series’ dub, I pretty much summed it up as a dated mixed bag at best. I would so far as say that Nozomi/RightStuf should’ve made the 5.1 Japanese the DVD’s default language, as they’ve done with most of their bilingual releases, rather than having to go to ‘Setup’ to make it so. However, and most fortunately, the same would not be said for the movie’s dub. Even though it is the exact same cast as the TV series, the Revolutionary Girl Utena The Moviedub production is a considerably vast improvement.

A variety of reasons comes into play here. It may have had to do with the animation having more vibrant life to it, and thus there’s more vibrant life to the acting since there was more to play off of. They had an ADR director for the movie who was not the same as the guy who did the TV series, so no doubt that was a huge help. Perhaps it  helped even more that Kunihiko Ikuhara himself came to the studio and offered his feedback and personal direction on some key scenes.

One of the key reasons was that all the weak-link actors trimmed either to just a brief few lines or just brief mute appearances. For instance, the flat-voiced English Nanami just cameos as a short-lived moo-ing cow, so nothing grating there. But for those with high expectations, there can still be some nitpicks. Saionji’s voice can be considered the least good performance. And Miki still sounds older for his age for anyone who finds that bothersome, but the acting itself still isn’t bad and, since he’s supposed to be mature for his age it still works in its own way.

In the end, for all the TV series dub’s weaknesses, by comparison the dub for the movie is a much more solid effort. The overall cast complements and adds to the surrealistic atmosphere of the story, and the actors convey all the necessary feelings through their characters as much as they should. One of the best examples is the scene where Utena and Anthy are in bed together—I thought the mood was really right for that moment, and it’s consistently reflected in all their scenes together. All things considered, it still stands well today, and I would so far as believe it’s interchangeable with the Japanese track; I can watch this amazing and excellent movie in either language and still appreciate it on the same level. So, if you’re a dub fan or are at least open to dubs but shied away from watching the movie in English due to the TV dub’s mediocrity, there’s nothing to be afraid of here. Give it a try if you’re inclined.

Ratings:

Overall – Well done if not so far as being totally perfect. To heck with it, I give it a 9.5

Thank you Eric for the review. Well folks who’ve seen both -what do you think? Does the dub hold up as well as the original track? All opinions welcome in the comments.