Archive for the English Anime Category


Yuri Anime: El Hazard – Magnificent World (English)

June 8th, 2009

I know I’ve told the tale many times, about how Sailor Moon was my gateway into Yuri. But it was not my gateway into anime. My first anime was back when I was watching Star Blazers after school and instinctively understanding that anime was a black hole into which all my time and money would go, so I avoided it like the plague. A decade later, I was teaching martial arts and hanging with a group of other MA teachers. We’d get together and watch crappy movies and stuff and one day one of them brought along Tenchi Muyo, the TV series, and for some reason, we all got hooked on it. We watched that and the movies…I’ll never forget how filthy the third movie made us all feel. ^_^;

Because, or perhaps despite the fact that Tenchi was one of my gateway anime, I somehow managed to skip El Hazard…until now. Of course I had *heard* of El Hazard. I knew of Fatora and Alielle. But I had never actually watched the anime.

When I announced on Twitter that I was about to embark upon watching Magnificent World, I was inundated with “OMG, that was SO AMAZING! Best EVAR!” responses. I asked those folks when the last time they actually watched this anime was, knowing full well the answer would be, for most, several years ago – or never since they first watched it, when it was their gateway. I knew, based on my many years of experience with anime fans, that these folks loved their *memory* of El Hazard, not necessarily the reality of it.

Let me say this. I enjoyed Tenchi Muyo. It was my first experience with harem anime, a genre I dubbed “dorky boy and beautiful babes.” But I am fully aware that it wasn’t high art, either, and if I sat down to watch it now, I’d probably give myself a headache from rolling my eyes. ^_^

Sean, who really understands my opinions on this kind of thing, got it right. El Hazard is good for what it is – a Tenchi-like harem anime in a fantasy, rather than scifi, setting. He understood how I manage my expectations of anime. He explained what I could reasonably expect to enjoy. He was pretty much right on, so cookies for him, when I see him on Saturday. ^_^

So, all that having been said as preface – El Hazard – Magnificent World was not bad. It had some elements that were interesting and some that were not as much to me as to others.

The basic plot is self-fulfilling. Average (but not below average) Makoto is sent to an alternate universe by the goddess Ifurita in order to save her from something that hasn’t happened yet. Along with Makoto, his self-proclaimed rival Jinnai, a childhood friend Nanami and a hapless teacher Fujisawa also find themselves in the Magnificent World. Makoto learns that he is the dead ringer for the missing princess, Fatora, and is thus requested to take her place until she can be found.

The bad guy is hopelessly obvious, the plot is a lot of sound and fury and really very little happens, but entertainingly enough. There’s enough silliness to appeal to the physical comedy crowd, a little bit of falling on naked women for the harem crowd and Jinnai laughs maniacally a lot, which seemed to be appealing to many who professed love for the series.

I was told that I would like the three priestesses, as they are “strong” female characters. And it made me wonder that they are considered strong, when they are obviously the weakest characters in the series. They scream and fight quite a bit – but they are weak in the sense that they lose more than they win and they go completely mushy for Makoto or other potential romantic partners. That is not how I define “strength.” I liked Diva and her bugs, and above all I liked Jinnai’s relationship with the Bugrom, which was surprisingly sincere.

Which brings us to Fatora and Alielle, who are both more interesting for what they are not, than for what they are. We are introduced to Alielle as the missing Fatora’s lover – it’s instantly apparent that no one really takes her seriously in this regard. It’s only after she then expresses interest in other women, that we are forced to reevaluate her. Yes, we have to admit, guess she’s actually “that way.” But because she is so diminutive, we’re never really going to take her seriously…ever. I believe this is quite intentional. If she were drawn as an adult, say like Shayla-Shayla, we’d be forced to see her and Fatora as an *actual couple*. And that is not done, so by drawing her (and voicing her) so childishly, we can nod, amused and certain that they are cute together, but not much more. Fatora, when she finally shows up is not the blueblood princesss we expect, but a total jerk, which pleased me no end. I think she and Alielle make a fine couple. ^_^

The main romance does not suck. And in this OVA at least, at the very end, in the still art that accompanies the credits, we are able to see something that utterly, completely lacks in today’s harem anime – some representation of Makoto and Ifurita as a totally normal, functional couple. They touch, they put their arms around one another and, we presume with the final panel, they kiss. It would have been even nicer to see them do so in the anime itself, but I’m glad to see it at *all* so I won’t quibble. :-) The fact that in a bad mood Ifurita can destroy the world is sort of passed over, but we’ll pretend that being a high school boy’s girlfriend is all a goddess could ever wish for and they live happily ever after. The End, until the next OVA.

This box set is not bad, considering it’s old. Old enough to be from Pioneer, not even Geneon. The packaging is nice, there’s a bit of artsyness to it and unlike the old cardboard box with 6 DVDs model, it doesn’t take up too much space on the shelf.

Compared with Tenchi, Makoto is less of a loser, the service is mild by today’s standards. The most eye-rolling handwave is that no one can see Makoto is a guy until his long wig comes off and then suddenly it’s instantly apparent he’s male! The romances are not icky, there’s less haremization of all the females. And Fujisawa, who today would be a creepy perv is just a plain old respectable drunk, who really gives a shit about his students.

I’m probably not running back to The Magnificent World as a comfort anime, but it had some good elements and was reasonably entertaining – as anime should be.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 6
Service – 4

Overall – 7

Sincere thanks for the generosity and kindness of Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring today’s review and letting me catch up on this classic Yuri anime!





Yuri Anime: Lyrical Nanoha A’s (English)

May 7th, 2009

There are many, many good things about Lyrical Nanoha A’s. There are also some bad things – things significant enough that they impact not only my own, but many other people’s enjoyment of this series.

We’ll suffice to say that the lolicon in this series strikes me as problematic. It’s not cute, or sweet; it’s pandering and it is troubling. I spoke at length about some of these issues in my original review of this anime, so I won’t beat it to death again.

Instead, I would like to focus on the positive aspects of this series. Primarily to convince Bruce that bearing with the first season is, really, I swear, worth it. ^_^

This season begins with Nanoha being trained by the Time-Space Administration Bureau, and Fate nearing the end of her punishment for her crimes from the previous season. In order to foster a positive environment for Fate, and to provide her with a functional family model, Admiral Lindy Harlown has adopted Fate and is going to live on Earth for a while, along with her daughter.

While on Earth, a powerful Lost Logia appears, and burns its way through the life energy of a girl the same age as Fate and Nanoha, Hayate. The Book of Darkness, a the Logia is called, manifests four guardians who, along with Hayate, form a surprisingly functional alternative family of their own.

For reasons that are very good on both sides, the TSAB, Nanoha and Fate are placed in direct confrontation with Hayate and her Guardians.

What makes this series good is, simply, that the characters are excellent. There is not one of the Guardians that isn’t likable, honorable and respectable. Vita’s a fun bundle of righteous anger, Shamal is cool and Mom-like, Signum is awesome embodied, and Zafira’s a good dog. There is no Prescia, no Jail Scaglietti here (okay, well, there is for like thirty seconds, but it’s a dumb plot complication that is made to go away practically as quickly as it appears) – just a tremendous, tragic conflict between opponents both equally matched and equally worthy. Of course we are never REALLY in doubt that Nanoha will befriend and “befriend” her opponents…and this time we’re so very, very glad she does. In fact, I kinda wished she had defeated them sooner, so we could spend more time just playing around together.

So, Bruce, I promise, if you can just manage to make it through the first half of the first season, it gets *so* much better. And this season is miles better than the first. Plot and character-wise, at least.

Yuri-wise, this is probably the least of the three seasons, mostly because just about as soon as Nanoha and Fate have even a second together, they are hard at work saving the universe. But, delusional as I am, I see it anyway. ^_^

I still think that the best characters are the Devices, something that has not changed no matter how many times I watch this series. I just love Graf Eisesn’s enthusiasm for smashing things, Raising Heart’s gung-ho supportiveness and Bardiche’s cool competence.

Technically, I have any number of issues with the Funimation translation, but meh, don’t feel like complaining. It’s a great series with great characters and some stuff that isn’t so great.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Character – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 3
Service – 8

Overall – 8

My sincere and repeated thanks to newly promoted Okazu Superhero Amanda M! I just adore this series and cannot thank you enough for sponsoring this review of it. As much as watching it still makes me feel a little icky, I don’t care – I’m gonna keep watching it. lol Please email me at your earliest convenience to get your shiny new gold Superhero badge!

 





Aria the Natural, Part 1 Anime Boxset (English)

April 26th, 2009

I need to say this first, because I am sick and tired of getting nasty emails, comments and blogposts from people who have no grip on reality. I do NOT think that Aria is Yuri. Many other people who are not me do. I review Aria as Yuri because the *other* fans  insist on seeing all sorts of couples in the mostly all-female cast, since so often they talk to each other, or are in the same frame. They even touch once in a while, so clearly there’s sex involved, in the eyes of this group.

I *do* enjoy imagining a relationship between Alicia and Akira. That is the only Yuri I have ever seen in this series and I am completely honest about the fact that I have wholly made it up in my head, encouraged only by Raku-Gun and Crush doujinshi. So please, stfu about me ruining Aria for you because I had the nerve to call it a Yuri series. If me calling a series Yuri pisses you off, then its probably a bad idea to read this blog since it is a *Yuri* blog and covers many things that other people who are not you think of as Yuri.

Moving on….

Unless you have your Yuri goggles on very, very high, you’re not going to see much Yuri in Aria the Natural, Part 1 boxset. What you will find is a story about a young woman who finds joy in the smallest things of everyday life. And by moving so slowly that she has time to see and enjoy these things, she brings the people around her into her world full of wonder and beauty – whether they want to or not. I believe that that is, in part, the reason why so many of the fans of this series are otherwise absurdly cynical people, with nothing specific to be angry at, so they rail at me, or The Man, or whatever, without actually doing anything about anything. Akari’s “my pace” attitude and appreciation for everything – bugs, bread, hats, weather – forces us to slow down and at least take a look at what she’s looking at, even if we don’t appreciate it as much as she does.

As with the previous Aria boxset, Right Stuf does a nice job on reproduction and translation, managing to communicate Al’s old man puns and Akari’s wide-eyed perspective uniquely. And although I did not order the set from them directly, I’m told that the extras for direct pre-order are way fun – in this case, an Aria-shachou squeeze toy. (Thanks to Sean for ruining it forever reporting on it with this line, “Hollowed out, it’s the most amusing condom ever!”) Unlike the first season box set, the extras for these disk live on a separate disk of their own and are entirely worth watching, if you care about such things as staff and VA interviews, trailer videos and the like – which I enjoy, no matter how insipid the comments. An Episode Guide Booklet is included as a physical extra for the set, as well.

Nevertheless, there are some scenes that will be imagined as Yuri. Alice’s shadow-hopping episode was very popular with Alice x Athena ‘shippers, for one. In my opinion, the hottest romance in the series is Aika and Al. ^_^

Of course, the number one reason I watch Aria is not Yuri, real or imagined, it’s the scenery porn; the love in our eyes with which we gaze at the shadow in St. Mark’s Plaza, a meteor shower, a street vendor making dolls dance or the evening sun shining on Venetian glass. It’s this that makes Aria worth watching and rewatching. And if your love of the series is affected by anyone’s opinion then you’ve missed the entire point of wearing Akari-colored glasses.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 3

Overall – 8

Many many thanks to new Okazu Hero Tricolor Cavy for sponsoring today’s review! I have enjoyed not only the hours it has taken me to rewatch this anime, but also the renewed appreciation it gives me every time for the simple joys of my real life. Thank you.





Maria Watches Over Us Anime: Season 3, Volume 1

April 2nd, 2009

The day my Season 3 Box Set of Maria Watches Over Us arrived I, like many of you, immediately opened box the looking for the third of the three phone straps. Once the Yellow Rose was safely attached to my phone, I was able to turn my attention to the DVDs themselves.

Volume 1 consists of “Vacation of the Lambs” and “Operation OK (Temp) For Short.”

Let me set the scene for you. “Rainy Blue” is over. Yumi has learned the truth of Sachiko’s distance from her, that she was in denial and grieving over her dying grandmother. Yumi has ceased her wide-eyed adoration of her Onee-sama as something perfect and “over there” and is starting to see her as a human being.

In this third season, Yumi’s begun to relate to Sachiko as an equal. The two of them are slowly rebuilding their relationship which had been strained to near-breaking. Yumi is beginning to assert herself, Sachiko is beginning to take herself less seriously, and to rely on Yumi more. It’s slow going for both of them.

In “Vacation” Sachiko invites Yumi to her summer house. It’s not the smoothest vacation ever. Yumi’s still bruised from “Rainy Blue,” and isn’t really sure of herself. She’s never really thought Sachiko’s life through – about the politics involved with her status, or the people around her. Sachiko has never really had a companion, she’s used to being the sole child in the company of adults. She’s also still a little idealistic about the nature of the soeur relationship and forgets, from time to time, that it comes with no magic powers of comprehension.

However. Yumi and Sachiko awkwardly get past all this and at the end of “Vacation” are indubitably closer that ever before. This story is the last one that will ever feature a low-self-esteem Yumi. This story is *the* turning point in the entire series. This story is the beginning of Yumi becoming Rosa Chinensis. “Vacation” is a beautiful story, with some lovely romantic moments.

“Operation OK” is the first time we really see the Yumi and Sachiko we’ve always wanted to see. Yumi is made responsible for the plan to acquaint Sachiko with their decidely male counterparts of Hanadera Academy. I found this particular story gut-bustingly funny, for any number of reasons. When Yumi caves and tells Sachiko what is planned, it is not weakness, as it appears to be, but Yumi’s unerring ability to manage Sachiko, that has finally borne fruit.

The scene where the Yamayurikai finally meets the Hanadera Student Council never fails to make me laugh out loud. The look on the Rosa’s faces as they gaze up…and up…at the Yakushiji twins, the memory of Noriko’s “ham” notation for Takada (left out of the anime, but it still makes me laugh when Takada flexes) and the Yumi/Yuuki comedy duo and Yoshino’s zinger.

This volume is quite possibly the most “important” in the series. If you are (and I am) watching this series to see how the characters mature and develop, then you really should take a second and just lovingly watch this volume. Take time to enjoy the details, the higher-quality art and the wonderfulness that is Fukuzawa Yumi.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Now, while I applaud Right Stuf in their efforts to fill my house with even more crap, this box set sadly fell very short of the good crap I got from the Collector’s edition from Japan for these two episodes. I wonder if it will ever *be* possible to throw $90 away just to get pressed leaf bookmarks, White Rose Family themed faux-leather book covers, Yumi’s hair ribbons, embossed paper coasters and limited edition postcards. I dream of that day.





Yuri Anime: [ẻl] (English)

March 20th, 2009

Did you know that the tagline for Rare Flix is “The Films Everyone Else Forgot”? It is, really. And sometimes we have to take a moment and remember why exactly, they were forgotten. ^_^

The plot of EL, such as it is, involves a post-apocalyptic earth, the “good” guys, called the Snipers, and the “bad guys” who are all women, called the Black Widows. What the Black Widows are actually doing is a little fuzzy, and I find it hard to get behind the “good guys” who use gang rape as an interrogation tool.

Our heroine, El, is an elite Sniper, as witnessed by the fact that 1) she wears a microskirt and halter top. That’s always a dead giveaway. And 2) she is the heroine. Duh.

El is hired to be the bodyguard of one of the two top pop idols of the world, a girl named Parsley. Parsely immediately begins throwing herself at El, since El is clearly the only character in the entire series who doesn’t suck. Stuff happens and everyone dies. Seriously. Everyone but El is dead by the end of this DVD.

Let’s cut to the chase here. This story bit; it is full of non-consensual sex and torture. But the lesbian sex was entirely consensual, not too cliched and actually had genuine affection and even sincere protestations of love. So, those parts weren’t too bad. Unfortunately, everyone dies by the end, which sort of puts a downer on the whole story. Oh well, it’s not like we were waiting for the next installment, anyway.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 4
Characters – 5
Yuri – 9
Service – 37.5

Overall – 5

This is is one of those anime that you think as you watch it, “Why the hell is hentai always made for the loseriest losers ever? If it were made for me, it really would have not sucked nearly so bad.” But, reality check, hentai is made for the loseriest losers ever, so joke’s on you. Hah.

My sincere, erm, thanks, to Rare Flix/Kitty Media/Media Blasters for this. Yes…thanks….