Archive for the English Anime Category


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….





Steel Angel Kurumi Anime Season 1 and 2 (English)

February 2nd, 2009

Once more we turn to guest reviewer and Okazu Superhero, Eric P, for a look at a series we all know, but never really think about much. :-) Take it away, Eric!

Before Kyoshiro and Kannazuki, the infamous Kaishaku did Steel Angel Kurumi, a surprisingly popular and critically acclaimed series when it first came to North America.

Set in alternative 1920’s Japan, a young boy named Nakahito trains to be an Onmyou mystic, but is a poor student for it. Everything changes when he explores a house of a mad scientist, finds a life-like doll his size dressed in a maid outfit, and kisses it by accident. The maid doll, Kurumi, awakens, and at first sight she falls in love and pledges her devotion towards Nakahito. As it turns out, she was created as part of the Steel Angel project, a series of battle dolls driven by Angel Hearts, cores infused with the power of angels to gain superhuman abilities; they were basically meant to be military warfare combining science and mysticism. While not a proficient mystic, Nakahito still had the latent powers that awakened Kurumi. She is however, more special and powerful than the other Steel Angels, for she is imbued with the Mark II angel heart, which also seals demon powers. Due to the danger of her latent power, both the Imperial Army and Academy (for which Kurumi’s scientist creator, Dr. Ayanokoji, works) hunt her down. Everything ensues with Nakahito and Kurumi running off on a journey together to evade them, gaining companions and learning secrets/truths along the way, ultimately leading to the climactic finale upon the Academy’s suspended-in-the-sky castle, along with the basic power-of-love message that transcends Kurumi’s unconditional devotion and Nakahito’s weakness as a mystic.

The Yuri found in this series mostly centers around Kurumi’s Steel Angel ‘sister’ Saki, who Kurumi awakens with her own kiss with the power of her Mark II heart. Because of this, Saki falls in love with her just as Kurumi had for Nakahito, then fulfills the role of the obsessive lesbian archetype. She constantly fantasizes the perfect life she might have with Kurumi and always jumps on the opportunity to bathe with her – for obvious reasons. There’s one interesting scene in the middle of the series where she decides to tell Kurumi how she feels to clear up a misunderstanding, and actually does it. In response, it’s unclear whether Kurumi understands, but lets her down easy by saying she loves her as a sister, or whether she remains oblivious.

This is all the first series. The sequel of Steel Angel Kurumi, however, is a straight-out yuri harem series, where all the characters are enveloped in a web of girls-love, all stemming from the main protagonist being a girl this time. Taking place in the early 21st century, Nako, a descendent of Nakahito’s family, is a talented, aspiring cellist while also being a shy klutz. Her best friend is Uruka, who comes across as the somewhat cold, tsundere-type character that puts up with Nako’s clumsiness. Everything changes when they explore underneath the shrine where Nako lives, and they discover Kurumi. Nako kisses her by accident, Kurumi awakens, and thus history repeats itself as Kurumi falls in love at first sight and pledges devotion toward Nako. We discover at that moment that Uruka is gay and had harbored secret feelings for her friend, which gets crushed and encroached upon by Kurumi’s entry into their lives. Wanting nothing more than the romantic rival to be out of the picture, she turns to her father who runs their family private military, unleashing robots to attack Kurumi, which she constantly defeats. He soon finds Saki, whom Uruka awakens with a kiss. But Saki is less interested in fighting Kurumi than she is still being her romantic interest, while at the same time having unconditional feelings for Uruka, so she often fantasizes having a three-way relationship. Regardless of her devotion, Uruka will have none of it, even though she lets Saki stay with her in her room. Nako, for one, is clearly hinted to have mutual interest in Kurumi, but because of her reserved shyness, this does not develop.

Unlike the first series, nothing really happens here story-wise, nor does it reach the same epic scale, making it come across as having been made for pure Yuri service. The story is mostly about Kurumi integrating herself in Nako’s normal life, i.e., attending school with her; Uruka’s constant plotting to take back Nako for herself; and Nako’s rise as a self-confident cellist. Even so, if you don’t mind having pure Yuri service with a predominant Yuri cast of characters, then for some the second series may still be more entertaining than the first.

If you were able to read through and follow the story summaries of the two series above, with or without a straight face, you can basically surmise that Steel Angel Kurumi is almost everything you would expect from Kaishaku. The story is about as nonsensical as it can get, although this is actually their most coherent one. If you like Kaishaku at all, or you’re at least tolerant of their works, then you’ll likely find something to enjoy in this. Ask this reviewer, I’d say in a strange way this is actually one of their best series, or at least this is a best anime adaptation of one of their series, even if it isn’t ‘good’ per se. It’s got some nice action and some funny humor (especially in the English dub, which admittedly took some liberties but still gave it lively flavor). There’s also no lesbian rape, which should count for something, right? If you’re interested, feel free to check it out on CrunchyRoll if it’s still there. (Erica here: They are, but marked as mature, so yu’ll need to be registered as an adult.)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – Series 1, 6; Series 2, 9
Service – 7 (the usual Kaishaku panty shots, skin, fetishist outfits [mostly maids in this case], and other things I can’t recall from the top of my head)

Overall – 7 (my usual rating for everything it seems)

Erica again: Thank you Eric! I haven’t thought about this series in ages. I wonder if I’ll ever watch it again. lol

While I’ve got you all on the topic, did you know that there was a *Live-Action* Steel Angel Kurumi series? I didn’t. You can get the Live-Action version on Amazon if you’re feeling brave. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Season 1 Box Set (English)

January 25th, 2009

I’m just as likely to retcon my opinions as the next person. Only, I tend to go the opposite way from most. Instead of remembering the first thing as the best ever, never to be repeated or surpassed, I tend to like the newest and latest, and avoid going back to the orginal. When I first watched this series I was not impressed but, as the series went on, as the second and finally third season built up the characters and the situations, I began to like it more. By the time I finshed watching StrikerS, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. So, it was with some trepidation that I stepped back more than four years to watch the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha season box set. Would I hate it? Like it? Well….

The story begins with typical 3rd-grader Takamachi Nanoha who finds herself embroiled in the typical magical girl setup of a magical creature who gives her both the power and imprimatur to collect a number of magical items. If left unchecked, these items will inhabit various organic beings and inorganic objects and cause havoc. Also quite typically, she is opposed in this task by an equally magical rival of the same age, in this case, the “girl with the gentle eyes,” Fate Testarossa.

Nanoha becomes more interested in hearing Fate’s story and trying to work with her than anything else – and Fate’s story, when we learn it, is orders of trauma above the typical magical girl series. Her mother, insane from the loss of a child, is driven by a hopeless obsession. Precia’s emotional and physical torture of Fate is extremely distressing, making us root for Nanoha to break through the wall that separates her and Fate just that much harder.

Of course, Nanoha does break through that wall, saving both the world as we know it, and Fate herself, by beating Fate down. Thus she sets up the precident of herself as the “White Devil,” and the also-typical “Dragonball Phenomenon” wherein all former enemies, once defeated, become allies. It’s all so comforting. ^_^ (This is a good point to note that the “White Devil”s particular form of “befriending” shows up right in the middle of the opening song, when the lyrics say something like “I will touch you with a love so soft,” as Nanoha is bring Raging Heart down on Fate’s head hard enough to crack her skull open. ^_^)

There are two things of note that set this series apart from the usual and typical. One is, of course, the intense interest Nanoha shows in Fate and the (obvious to Yuri fans) feelings Fate has for Nanoha. And I am still convinced that Suzuka and Arisa are also a couple, for no particular reason except that I’m a Yuri fan too. ^_^

The second is the sudden appearance of a completely different anime in the middle of the story. The Time Space Administration Bureau’s appearance and absorption of the story takes it to a completely different place and plot – and sets up the tale for the next two series. There is no doubt in my mind that Nanoha was originally conceived of as a seinen version of the popular mahou shoujo series Card Captor Sakura. The wife, who had never seen any of this series, walked in on an early episode and immediately commented on the similarities. Watching this series now, knowing what I know, I found this to be a welcome mid-stream change for the anime. I was actually *happy* when the staff of the Asura join the fight and shift the setting.

In a nutshell, because of my particular form of retconning, I enjoyed this series much more this time, than I did the first time around. ^_^ (If you read Okazu regularly, this won’t surprise you too much. I’ve done it before…I’m sure I’ll do it again.)

There were a number of technical problems, however. Some were clearly because Funimation rescued this title from the Geneon pit. Others were original. The art, for instance. The art was inconsistent and in many places, plain old *bad.* Bad enough that I had a hard time looking at the screen. There were about 5 different groups working on this series, with styles that were so different that they really clashed. The “carnival head” group got the uber-moe scenes. The group that put in too much detail and made everyone move so much that they all looked like they had Parkinson’s disease, got all the “unnecessary service” scenes. I was glad when we switched away from either of those two groups, back to the three or so groups that kept the animation to boring standards of “you audience – hey you out there – you do the work.” ^_^

The translation started off pretty consistent and, to my joy, used “Raging Heart” for Nanoha’s device. Midway it switches to “Raising Heart.” (The editing/adapting went out the door about a third of the way through the series, as well. That, I assume, was the Geneon/Funimation switchover.

And there were some technical issues with the subtitles, like lines through the words. And surprisingly, the timing was *bad*. I never notice that kind of thing, really. If I noticed it – it was really, really bad.

Extras can be counted on one finger – double-sided covers for the DVD cases. Credits and adverts just don’t count as “extras” to me.

The only other thing I had an issue with was that I am still not happy with the nudity. I never will be. If there was version of this anime the had none, I’d be that much more pleased with it. It’s just not needed and the people it serves are not me. Thankfully, by about halfway through the series, that too is cast off for the new, shiny, magical dimension kick-ass fighting story.

Despite the problems, I was really enjoyed rewatching this series. It made me want to watch A’s right away, which I did, and I’m about to start on a marathon of StrikerS today. Nanoha is a series that bears watching, sticking with and repeating. I’m not sure I could use this series to turn a non-fan into a fan, but if you already like magical girl stories, it’s probably a shoo-in for something you’ll grow to like.

Ratings:

Art – At best 6 at worst 3
Story – Starts at 5 and ends up at 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Sevice – 8

Overall – 7

Paeans of praise and thanks to the sponsor of today’s feast, newly awarded Okazu Superhero Brent A! Brent – email me to get your new badge – with thanks for all the support you’ve shown for Okazu over the years!





Yuri Anime: Maria Watches Over Us ~ Printemps, Volumes 2 & 3 (English)

January 23rd, 2009

Spring, in Japan, brings with it the end of the old school term, the beginning of the new and many changes. Promotions and transfers go into effect, everyone shifts just slightly, all at the same time.

For the lovely ladies of Lillian, spring brings with it the change from the old leaders of the Yamayurikai to the new. Eriko, Sei and Youko graduate, leaving behind 5 girls seeking to make their own way as the new student council.

In Volume 2 of Maria Watches Over Us ~ Printemps, we learn how the three Rosas met, clashed and, ultimately, became friends. We get each one’s opinion on the others, which is simply priceless, often funny, insight. We also watch as they leave their final marks on their souer, walking away from the legacy they established as leaders of the school. It’s a beautiful volume, full of emotion and reflection, comedy, drama and tears.

And then we arrive in Volume 3. The beginning of the new semester, and the trials and tribulations of the new Rosas. Starting with the most impenetrable of the three – Rosa Gigantea, Toudou Shimako.

Volume 3 tells the story of how Shimako meets first-year Nijou Noriko and how their fates become intertwined. We watch them face difficulty together, only to come out the other end connected by the sacred bond of sisterhood. Unless you’re a Yuri fan – then you are watching a shockingly steamy courtship between them. When I watch Noriko watching Shimako’s lips as she talk, I feel as if the “film” is visibly melting at the corners. lol

I’ve said many times that no, I don’t believe any of the soeur couples in Marimite are actually lovers, but if you pinned me down (and frankly, you’d have to have some mad wrestling skills to do that, so I’d probably answer out of respect, since I love women who can fight) I’d say that my favorites in the “what if” contest are these two. Yes, Shimako wanted to be a nun. So did Shiori and look what happened to her. And Noriko, of everyone at the school, wins my vote for the person least concerned with issues like sexuality. She’s the mutt in a school full of purebreds and I love her for it. And…based on that incredibly hot picture of Noriko looking up Shimako’s nose in the end credits for the fourth season, I think Konno Oyuki-sensei thinks so too. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – 2

Marimite Fan – 100

Overall – 9

The Red Rose family quality is that they meddle. The Yellow Rose family quality is being bored easily and the White Rose family is totally gay. ^_^