Archive for the English Anime Category


My Zhime (My Otome) Anime, Volume 6 (English)

September 24th, 2008

It is entirely thanks to the kindness and generosity of Eric P that I am able to bring you today’s review, so everyone say “Thanks, Eric!”

Volume 6 of My Otome does something completely unheard of in the
Mai series to date…it begins to *answer* some of the questions asked in the earlier episodes.

Who is the true Queen of Windbloom?

What is the Harmonium’s power?

What really happened to Mai?

And more of your favorite hits in this volume of…

There’s a lot going on in Volume 6. The story is moving rapidly towards a climax that feels, at this point, as if it might *actually* climax, unlike other Mai series we could name.

The action comes fast and furious. Arika and Mashiro, having found themselves a haven, are ripped untimely from it and deposited safely in the bosom of the legendary
Black Valley, where they encounter a bunch of ridiculous legends which are all true.

Nina becomes the possessor of the Harmonium’s power through a gambit that I actually thought was incredibly clever and deserves the writers a pat on the kepi.

The Valkyrie squad is deployed. Tomoe jumps at the opportunity to crush people
she thinks are beneath her like a bug, which is to say, everyone. Chie plays it more cautiously, and finds herself in a lose-lose situation. But we trust that she’ll come out on the right side of it because, after all, she has 1000x lesbian power. The forces of evil seem to have the upper hand, but the forces of good are beginning to set their playbook up in the background. Meister we don’t care
about die, while ones we do care about seem to be hanging in there, biding their time.

Yuri comes mostly in the form of Tomoe’s fixation on Shizuru. And her…interests. We also briefly get a glimpse of Chie reunited with a presumed-dead Aoi. She was only mostly dead, apparently.

But Yuri isn’t the point here. The point is war. That’s what we’re gearing up for and that’s what we have to be ready to deal with next volume. We’re ready, I say.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

And let us not forget the hallucenogenic effects of Maki-maki-ing.

 





Yuri Anime: Simoun, Volume 5 (English)

September 19th, 2008

Sometimes, the worst part of a choice is the time before the decision is made. The doubts, the waffling, the feeling of “what if?”

In Simoun Volume 5, all the choices are made, the cards are dealt and the fate of not only the Sibylla of Chor Tempest, but all the people whose lives touched theirs, is decided.

I don’t think I breathed once while watching this volume.

There are many people who did not enjoy Simoun. It was non-linear. There were giant holes in the construct of the world in which the Sibylla lived (although if you like your worlds tidy, I can’t *imagine* that there’s too much anime that suits you. Maddening inconsistency is about the only constant.) We never really learn the answers to a lot of our questions.

Honestly, I can’t imagine caring a damn about any of that. This series has beautiful art (with the exception of Nevril’s sex-doll mouth,) amazing characters, fantastic music, a terrific plot. And…above all…it made me realize exactly what I think makes a good story.

To me, a *good* story travels a considerable distance in character development from the moment we meet the character to the moment we last see him or her. If the characters grow, change, respond to circumstances and learn from their experiences and choices – that is a good story. If the character starts the story and ends it roughly the same, I might enjoy it, but I won’t consider it *good.*

So, Strawberry Panic (anime), for instance, isn’t *good* by my standard; Nagisa and Shizuma do change a little bit from the beginning of the series to the end, but not a lot. Neviril and Aeru travel astronomical units by comparison. They pretty much reverse roles completely from the beginning of the anime to the end.

Yun, who comes to Chor Tempest seeking absolution for not dying with her previous Chor finds her absolution in saving one woman. And the rest of the Sibylla face what they thought they wanted, and found out what was really important to them after all.

If Simoun was too hard to follow or just annoying to you, I won’t try and convince you to watch it. But there is *no* doubt in my mind, that this will be the best Yuri Anime once again this year for me. (With at least two Yuri couples and as many as four if you have no pride. ^_^)

The Director comments were particularly interesting this time. The director says that, at the beginning of the volume, when Aeru confronts Neviril about her feelings, he (the director) had ceased to think of them as two girls. Also the Animation Director commented that she felt that Yun was in love with Onashia, which I completely agree with. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 2

Overall – 9

Technical – 9

Couldn’t ask for better.





Maria Watches Us, Volume 3 (English)

September 15th, 2008

How ironic that the Valentine’s Day episodes of Maria Watches Us Season 1, are some of the *least* romantic in the series. Not that they lack romance mind you, it’s just that in comparison to the rest of this season, Yumi and Sachiko’s crisis and Sachiko being stalked, sort of pale.

Once again, I am looking back on this arc from the perspective of having read the many novels afterward. In fact, I’m currently reading the novel that follows the Valentine’s Day dates a year later. (And they are totally cracktastic, let me tell you…) So it fascinates me even more that in Volume 3 we get to see the beginning of what will obviously become a long tradition at Lillian. I can see it now, fifty years later, when the tradition is so long-established that everyone just assumes it’s always been done….

And yet…here we are, when crazy yellow journalist Newspaper club President Tsukiyama Minako sits down and sets the scene for the first ever Valentine’s Day treasure hunt. Kinda cool, huh? Kinda ironic too, that a woman without an ounce of romance in her is the source of this heart-pounding event. One of the best scenes in the arc is watching the Rosas defeat their soeurs and “encourage” them to participate. ^_^

In the middle of all this, Yumi and Sachiko have to deal with a significant crisis spawned by their differing styles of communication. This will continue to plague them for some time, ultimately complicating issues through “Rainy Blue” but, for now it’s no more than a few days of unhappiness for them to get through.

My biggest complaint with this arc is that the story of Yumi’s trick chocolates for Sei kind of suffer from neglect and confusion. Let me summarize – Yumi made two sets of chocolates, one with yummy centers and one with weird centers like tuna and wasabi. When she and Sachiko struggle with the box, the chocolates all get mixed up and its possible that the chocolate Sachiko ate and said was tasty is one of the weird ones. We’ll never know. ^_^

Sachiko’s stalker episode is notable for two things – when Mafuyu comes back into the story briefly a year later, Sachiko still has no clue who she is, and the fact that kindergarten Sachiko is hideously adorable.

In the end, Yumi proves that she is indeed suited to be Rosa Chinensis en bouton.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 4
Service – 0

Marimite Fan – 100

Overall – 8

Now I must run and finish the next year’s date stories, because really, *so* freakishly weird, I must know what happens!!!





Red Garden Anime, Volume 4 (English)

September 12th, 2008

I just finished reading a manga that I won’t be reviewing here, but found myself immediately composing a review in my head anyway. In that review, I was quibbling about a single phrase that really annoyed the heck out of me. It showed not only insensitivity but also complete lack of cultural knowledge by the company that translated the book. It’s not important, really, except for the fact that I find myself doing that quite a bit here – quibbling about a small thing that’s quite irrelevant to a series that I see as some kind of “wtf” committed by the American production company. And I will do it again today.

But, let’s set this quibble aside for a moment and discuss the meat, if you will allow me to be so crude, of Red Garden, Volume 4.

Kate, Clare, Rachel and Rose realize that there is no escape from their fate as members of one side of an ages-long battle. What that actually means to them is still unclear, but they are as determined – more so than before, even – to retain what little of their “real” lives they have left to them. Each reacts in a different way. Rachel sheds her superficial skin going so far as to shed even her genuinely concerned and caring boyfriend, someone she needs but understands will not be able to handle the truth. Rose embarks upon a quest to find her father and bring him back into the fold of her family. Kate tries to date, with tragic consequences, and Clare is forced to confront her (perhaps unfair) anger and feelings of betrayal she has for her father.

Paula remains the epitome of “Grace,” even in the face of Jessica’s flaring jealousy and accusations that her interest in Kate has changed her. In return, Paula forces Jessica to become a partner to Kate. From watching her so closely, Jessica begins to develop a kind of bond with Kate – and ultimately begins to sympathize with her, even if its for the wrong reasons. To Kate’s shock, Jessica confesses her sympathy and offers her help – again, even though it’s for the all the wrong reasons, Jessica is no longer an enemy. And Paula has once again protected Kate.

As the entire series edges closer to climax and everyone deals with betrayal – Rachel as the betrayer, Rose as the reconciler, Claire as the confronter and Kate as the betrayed, they all find some strength within themselves to fight the fight they must fight.

And in a surprising moment, the first instance of loss on our side is from an entirely unexpected source.

Yuri? Not very. Paula’s interest has not waned, but has not become a burden as it does in the manga. Fabulous? Definitely.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 1; Violence – 8

Overall – 8

So, here’s my quibble. On the DVD case for the last volume the reviewer’s quote said that this series was like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This time the synopsis of the episode includes a line that describes this series as “sexy.” *Sexy*?? What part of this is sexy – the beast men ripping Rachel’s shoulder open or JC taking one for the team? Did they just add that in for spice or do they automatically describe anything with female leads as “sexy?” American companies – WTF?





Kurau Phantom Memory Anime, Volume 6 (English)

September 11th, 2008

Hey, look at that! The Large Hadron Collider started spinning particles around and, inexplicably, mini black holes did not suddenly split time and space open and destroy the world. I’m sure you’re as shocked as I am that the world refused to be destroyed yet *again*. It’s so irritating of the world, isn’t it? We get all our cans of food and ammunition and whatever else we think we need to survive the end of the world and, dammit, the world is still here. Gets on my nerves, and now what am I gonna do with all that bottled water and batteries?

In honor of the world not being destroyed once more, today’s review is of Kurau Phantom Memory 6, the final volume. Watching this volume of anime was a bit like waiting for the world to end….

Not really of course. It was more like waiting for the dentist to start drilling. Only this time, I guess I had a good dose of NovacaineTM in the form of the director’s liner notes for the series. Apparently I had it all wrong.

*I* thought this was a series about a powerful, competent woman, being chased by another competent woman. Instead, I was informed by the director that all that was just an aside to the real story, which was about utter and complete normality. Apparently the real moral of Kurau was that not being different is way better than being different.

…

So, let me get this straight – being able to fly, to leap across the Alps, to open a portal to a new world, to have incredible strength and to love deeply and permanently because a being is out there who complements you perfectly is *not* as good as marrying some guy or other (who never gets a name or a face, so you know he’s special) and having his kid? I’m just checking, ’cause nothing personal, that really doesn’t fly with a sci-fi/fantasy audience. It’s almost as irking as the crap at the end of Labyrinth with whatsherface “putting away all her childish things” and me hurting from gritting my teeth, until the sappy ending sort of belied the point. Ptooey. Surely flying and phasing through walls would be a small price to pay for having nebulous government organizations hounding you day and night?

While it didn’t make me want to chew nails this time, I still found the end of Kurau frustrating. I’m glad that Christmas finally finds her pair again, because otherwise this entire series would have been rendered into a tragedy.

Thankfully, it was not a tragedy, and Kurau was able to pass into the obscurity her non-Rynax self deserved, while Christmas was able to once again discover the finest thing about the human condition – love.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Music – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 1

Overall – 7

The second best thing about the human condition is that no matter what the change in society or technological advance, *some* group of people will start screaming about the world ending. It’s nice to know that some things, other than particles, are universal.