Archive for the English Anime Category


Shattered Angels Anime, Disk 2 (English)

September 28th, 2010

Shattered Angels: The Complete CollectionDisk 2 picks up the story in a state of complete chaos. Everything the Ayanokojis are attempting to do is falling apart. Their Angels are disobeying them because of crises brought on by personal feelings and Kyoshiro, the most idealistic of them, is falling in love with Kuu.

For viewers, this means a lot of bouncing around between the Ayanokojis and lots of pointless fights and screaming. And sort-of love scenes. And talking. God, do they all talk.

Everything comes to a kind of climax when the missing Ayanokoji, Kazuya, returns, with his own Angel (voiced by Ogata Megumi, using her UFO Princess Valkyrie Val voice.) Everything Kyoshiro believed in is crushed under Kazuya’s heel in a scene I love with all my heart. I absolutely, genuinely believe that the scene that makes me love this series best is the moment Kyoshiro greets his long-lost, thought-to-be-dead brother Kazuya once again…and has his head pounded into the ground for his efforts.

Kazuya turns out to indeed be as crazy as Mika and Sojiro had been saying from the beginning, as he co-opts the Angels for his own use. The climax is full of a lot of talking and we’re still unclear as to what, exactly, Kazuya was going to do when he destroyed everything, but as there really was never any chance of him doing it, we weren’t all that worried.

Kyoshiro and Setsuna head off into the sunset to find thought-to-be-dead-but-hey-we-have-to-look,right Kuu, Kaon and Himiko live happily every after, Sojiro and Tarlotte continue to annoy the piss out of one another and the series comes to a confusing, but less-unsatisfying than usual, end.

I watched this all with Bruce and spent a lot of time watching his reactions, because I already knew what mine were going to be. The fact that he laughed as Kazuya slammed Kyoshiro into the pavement sort of puts the period on that for me – it’s a really funny scene.

My only complaint, really, is the lack of Kaon and Himiko extras. Guess I can’t give up that one ADV disk after all…

Shattered Angels, despite everything, is probably the best thing Kaishaku has ever created. Yes, the plot is full of holes, and yes, the world in which it takes place makes no sense and yes, it’s full of handwaves and eye-rollingly dumb things, but…and this is a big but…it’s funny and Kaon and Himiko have a happy ending. Which is all we ever wanted from it in the first place.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7, except for Mika, Kaon and Himiko, who are all 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 7

Overall – 7

Once more, thanks go to Okazu Superhero Amanda M. for her sponsorship of today’s review!





Shattered Angels Anime, Disk 1 (English)

September 27th, 2010

Shattered Angels: The Complete CollectionOn Disk 1 of Shattered Angels, we are introduced to the aptly named Kuu (空 means “empty” in Japanese, among other things,) an average highschool girl in a not-at-all average world, in which there are many schools and students, but no apparent teachers.
Kuu has a childhood dream of a prince with red hair taking her away, so when a red-haired “prince” by the name of Ayanokoji Kyoshiro arrives she, like the other female students in the school, is thrilled. But when she mets him for the first time, the “Prince” rips Kuu’s shirt open, *then* asks her to come with him. Sensibly, she runs away crying. (I commented to Bruce at this point, “I think he got that the wrong way ’round.”)

And then all hell breaks lose as giant robot arms and legs fight in and around the school, reducing it to rubble and forcing Kuu and Kyoshiro to run away from….?

Ultimately, Kuu and we learn of the existence of “Absolute Angels,” creatures that look like girls, but actually contain within them tremendous power. They manifest as robots and fight for their masters – all of whom are members of the contentious and crazy Ayanokoji family.

Of course, relevant to our interests, there are a number of characters, because this *is* a Kaishaku series after all. Chikane and Himeko clones Kaon and Himiko have a tragic love affair, tragic only because Kaon is an Absolute Angel who’s master is the slightly Evil, Psychotic Lesbian Ayanokoji Mika. I watch the series for her.

Kyoshiro, aside from getting the greeting/sexually harrassing order wrong, is painfully and hysterically obsessed with his oldest brother, Kazuya. I loved Mika right away, when, after Kaon had kidnapped Kuu and brought her to Mika, Kyoshiro has his Angel, Setsuna, lead their other brother Sojiro’s Angel to Mika’s school. When confronted with Kyoshiro and his whining about “onii-san this,” and “onii-san that,” Mika just looks at him like he’s an idiot and says something to the effect of, “Oh for pity’s sake, are you still on about that?” It made me laugh out loud.

The bulk of Disk 1 is taken up with Kuu being kidnapped and/or attacked or just being fail at everything, and Setsuna having to save her and pick up in the kitchen after her. Kyoshiro is an idiot and Kaon and Himiko are a beautiful, but tragic, love story. Mika is insane, sadistic and lesbian. ♥

Episode 3 still wins “Best Use of Showers as an Expository Setting.”

I am so very, very, very disappointed in the “Super Amazing Value Edition”of this series I could cry. Not a single DVD extra! Not one! What on earth is the POINT of watching this series if we can’t get the Kaon and Himiko extras?!? Why, Funimation? Why?

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7, except for Mika, Kaon and Himiko, who are all 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 7

Overall – 7

Many, many thanks to Okazu Superhero Amanda M. for her sponsorship of today’s review!

Becoming an Okazu Hero is as easy clicking any link on my Amazon Yuri Wishlist or Amazon JP Yuri Wishlist, purchasing that item and Hey! Presto! You are a Hero!





Maria Watches Over Us Anime , Season 4 Disk 3 (English)

July 9th, 2010

In Disk 3 of Maria Watches Over Us Season 4, we turn our eyes towards Touko and, for the very first time, take a good, long look at her.

Until this moment, Yumi (and hopefully we,) have had our opinion shifting so rapidly that we’re really hard put to know just *who* Touko is. And, despite her best intentions, Yumi finds that she doesn’t really understand her at all.

Like Sei, Touko has a secret. Like Sei, Touko has learned to hide it in a way that distracts people from even realizing that there is a secret that is being hidden. And on Christmas, like Sei, Touko does something that changes lives. Interesting, when you think about it that way, huh? ;-)

As I read the novels, what really moved me was Noriko’s reactions to Touko. Her innate understanding of her unlikely friend brings tears to my eyes even now. I swear Noriko cries more on Touko’s behalf than for any other reason.

Disk 3 would be impossible to watch without knowing that Disk 4 was there. But it is. Phew.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 10
Story – 10
Yuri – 2
Loser Marimite Fan – somewhere between a million and a billion

Overall – 9

There are so many kinds of love touched upon in this series. And, like Sailor Moon, it holds a special place in my heart, because I love so many things about it.

Oh, and, by the way – can you *believe* that I am reviewing the English-language version of this series? How freaking cool is that? I’m going to send chocolates to RightStuf next Valentine’s Day, see if I don’t. :-)





Maria Watches Over Us Anime , Season 4 Disk 2 (English)

July 2nd, 2010

You know you think a story is good when you know perfectly well that everything will work out, and you *still* get tense watching it all crumble.

On Disk 2 of Maria Watches Over Us, Season 4, we’re in a carefully suspended moment before several things start to crumble.

And with some deft writing by Konno Oyuki-sensei, not only are we allowed to enjoy that precariously suspended moment, we’re given an opportunity to laugh until our stomachs hurt – even knowing that soon our stomachs will hurt for an entirely different reason.

I am, of course, talking about the Kendo shiai, and the introduction of Arima Nana. After the Souer Audition tea party, Yoshino has to fess up to her rash promise made to Eriko. And now the chips are down and she doesn’t have a soeur to introduce to her! So, Yoshino does what anyone might in that situation- she lies bravely and tries to make a run for it. :-)

But after the laughter, we’re set up for tears. The series turns – rather reluctantly, it feels like – to the issue of Touko and Yumi. Because there is *so* much between them and because so much of it cannot be expressed by either of them, those of you who hate Touko will see only what is on the surface and will continue to hate her. There’s nothing I can say to make you look beyond that. So – hate away, my friends, because it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Here’s to clenching our fists and watching over them, until the logjam breaks. And break it will. But for now…we have to watch it all crumble before it can be built up again.

Art – 7
Characters – 10
Story – 10
Yuri – 2
Loser Marimite Fan – slightly more than a million, and climbing
Overall – 9

More Sei, Youko and Eriko. More, more!





Maria Watches Over Us Anime, Season 4, Disk 1 (English)

June 25th, 2010

In Maria-sama ga Miteru, Season 4, it’s time for the Lillian school festival and once again, the Student Council, known as the Yamayurikai, is putting on a performance. This year, because of the unusual resemblance Fukuazawa Yumi has to her younger brother Yuuki, the play that is chosen is the Torikaebaya Monogatari, a play that deals the with two siblings who switch gender roles in the Heian court.

But Yumi is only half worried about the play, because it comes to her attention that Touko has had some trouble with the Drama Club. In typical Yumi fashion, she resolves the issues by being irresistibly sincere. And to top it all off, Yumi and Sachiko finally learn the truth of Kanako’s issues with her father. The story is both much, much more horrible and much, much less horrible than we could have imagined.

Yumi and Sachiko don’t celebrate their one-year anniversary, for perfectly good reasons, but I still think Sachiko ought to do *something* nice for Yumi.

And Sei and Youko make an appearance that reminded us of just how wonderful they are. I’m glad to have been able to read the novels to enjoy all of their future appearances. I also admit to having been fascinated with the way Youko’s blouse was drawn. There was a lot more attention to detail in the way that buttoned shirt lay against her than probably was warranted. :-)

At the end of the disk, Yumi, having been commanded by Sachiko to find a soeur and Yoshino, pressured by a rash promise made to Eriko, set out to hold an “audition” for the open positions. This is, possibly, the novel most chock-a-block filled with zOMG amazing plot points, that the anime couldn’t hope to do more than scrape the surface, but damn that surface is awfully busy. :-)

The one striking this about this 4th season to me was that there was no way you could start with the first disk of this season, and start to watch. Quite often with anime series that continue for a few seasons, the first episode summarizes what has gone before, at least enough for a relative newbie to sit down and watch it. Not so for this. If you had no idea who these people were or why they were doing the things they were doing, it would be a slightly befuddling story. And, of course, the real in-jokes would be lost. There would be no way to appreciate just *how* much Sachiko had changed when she proposes the double gender switch for the play if you did not know what kind of person she had been. As a staunch obsessive fan, it kind of felt good. This anime is not for the off-the-street, “who is this? what’s going on?” person. It’s for *us.* :-)

The DVD includes the “Maria-sama ni ha Naisho” and liner notes as extras. The physical extra for those pre-orderers among us is a fetching writing pad.

Art – 8 for Youko’s button-down shirt
Characters – 10
Story – 10
Yuri – 1
Loser Marimite Fan – slightly less than a million

Overall – 9

In this life that I have created that focuses so much around anime and manga, this series, Maria-sama ga Miteru, along with Sailor Moon, has profoundly affected my life. I really just want to say thank you to Nozomi/RightStuf for allowing me the pleasure of seeing this series in English.