Archive for the English Anime Category


Yuri Anime: Simoun, Volume 3 (English)

May 23rd, 2008

You know those moments?

When you’re watching a really good anime and all of a sudden you think, “Crichey, this anime is stellar.”

Volume 3 of Simoun is when an excellent series becomes stellar.

I took 4 pages of notes about things I wanted to mention, but I realized that if I mention any of them, I will simply be spoiling things. So I really can’t talk about what happens in Volume 3, except to say that *everything* changes in this volume. Episode 13 is particularly key, there are so many details; so many little, extremely subtle touches that it would be impossible to notice them all, but when taken together make a piece of anime that is absolutely stunning.

Now I remember why I said this was the best series of the year – because it was! What fantastic writing, what brilliant characters, what a delicately crafted and well-handled plot.

Let me digress – plot, in anime is often treated as a nag. If it gets any attention at all, it’s whipped and beaten until the poor thing is lifeless. Not here – the plot in Simoun is treated like the thoroughbred it is. Handled by skilled trainers and given the finest feed, what we get in Volume 3 is nothing less than anime its best. (And just in case you think I’m overthinking this, wait until you listen to the staff commentary on the extras – it will prove to you that I am not at all exagerrating in the slightest. So there, nyah.)

But, here’s the thing that I really want to say about this volume. Media Blasters did a fabulous job on this volume. Not a typo, not even an awkward moment of translation. This was the best work I’ve ever seen from MB – it was up to the standards of the anime itself. What a genuine pleasure to be able to simply enjoy the excellent translation without worrying about technical details. Thank you, thank you Media Blasters! Great work.

And, while I’m thanking them – thanks to them too, for adding me into the credits under “Special Thanks To”. I have to admit, it made me go a little blushy, but considering that all I do is rag on you guys, I can’t imagine what you’re thanking *me* for. LOL

The extras were interesting once again. I already mentioned the fascinating Staff Interview, but also included was an interview with Yukana (Dominura) and Noto Mamiko (Rimone) – and unlike the other cast interviews, they were totally relaxed and comfortable talking to each other. ^_^ But – why are we still getting snotty asides from the lollipop and not being allowed to just hear them talk? Beats me.

Anyway, did I mention that this volume was stellar? It was. Every second of watching the first two volumes is made completely worthwhile when you watch Volume 3.

Ratings:

Art – 7 (I’m being a little kind here, it’s so variable)
Story – 10
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7
Service – 6, but they make them pay for it, by reminding the viewers that Wapourif is really male. Hah.

Overall – 9

Stellar. Stupendous. Spectacular. Splendid. Superb. Superior. Stunning. “S” is for Simoun.





Kurau Phantom Memory Anime, Volume 4 (English)

May 18th, 2008

In Volume 4 of Kurau Phantom Memory, we follow Kurau and Christmas as an unhappy accident allows them a little breathing space. The ship they are on (a freighter piloted by Jose, the man Kurau saved many episodes ago) is boarded by pirates, even as the GPO closes in. In the intervening tragedy, it appears as if Kurau and Christmas have been destroyed, although in truth, they have not.

They head for the Alps, where Kurau grew up with her aunt and uncle. In a flashback, her separation from her father for all those years is explained. And for a little while, the two girls are happy and safe.

The GPO, having captured all the rogue Rynasapiens that they know of, is bored. Ayaka wishes for something to do, when they are drawn into a scandal of a sort. In their infinite wisdom, The Powers That Be are doing experiements on humans, “infecting” them with Rynax energy. And you just *know* they’re doing that for the good of all mankind, dontcha?

One of their experiments, Yvon, escapes after losing it when his pair is sent back to whereever they come from and he’s left alone. Because he is looking for Rynax, he naturally tracks down Kurau and Christmas and just as naturally, drags the GPO after him.

Yvon, desperate to be paired, first challenges Kurau for Christmas, but when Christmas rejects him and says that she would die without Kurau, leaves and tries to commit suicide.

Only, he doesn’t succeed. He’s found by Jessica, a girl who lost her parents to a Rynax accident. While not a Rynax herself, she’s got enough Rynax sign that Yvon feels paired at last. The two of them are happy for a little while, until the GPO arrives and isolates Yvon. Jessica overloads trying to save him and Yvon finds himself alone again, so he goes nuclear.

Kurau and Christmas, hiding in the deep woods, see the explosion.

The thing that makes this particular volume interesting is that it centers around the conundrum of relationship of Rynax to Rynax. Kurau’s aunt sees Kurau and Christmas as sisters, perhaps coloring their relationship in light of the loss of her own sister. Yvon’s desperation and Christmas’ words clearly say that the Rynax relationship is more like that of the Jian bird, who *needs* its other half to survive or it will die. Obviously, the Rynax relationship goes deep, and we, as mere humans color it in the shades of our own understanding.

In terms of Yuri, there’s the above – Christmas’s insistence that she would die if Kurau did, and for me, there’s Ayaka’s uncomfortable memories of Kurau and the questions her apparent death left unanswered.

Kurau remains complex, fascinating and full of emotion. In a world of anime that devolved in the last few years to inane, superficial non-relationships, Kurau stands out as something well worth the time.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

Once again, it is my sincere pleasure to thank Ted the Awesome for sponsoring today’s review!





Vampire Princess Miyu, Anime OVA 1 and 2

May 11th, 2008

What better way to start a new week than with a new word! Nioi-kei is a word coined by fujyoshi – the Japanese term for what you probably call Yaoi FanGirl. Fujyoshi are as delusional about Boys Love as you are about Yuri, and as a result come up with all sorts of neat words to describe stuff you didn’t realize needed to be described.

Nioi-kei (pronounced “nee-oy-ke”) means something that “smells of BL.” For instance, Ouran High School which has no actual BL, but because of the preponderance of bishounen and the twin’s playing with an incestuous BL relationship as part of their persona, “smells” like a BL series. In the case of Yuri, it would be something like Kiddy Grade, or Venus Versus Virus. They smell strongly of Yuri, but really, they aren’t.

Today’s review is totally nioi-ke, because although Vampire Princess Miyu OAV Volume 1 and Volume 2 *smell* like Yuri…etc, etc. :-)

The OAV is outside the framework of the TV series (which I am also rewatching). It begins with a girl possessed, an occultist named Himeko, and rumors of a vampire haunting the town.

Himeko learns of, meets, then begins to obssess about Miyu, sure that Miyu is an evil influence, here to destroy lives – and basically nothing Miyu does convinces her that she’s wrong. For her part, Miyu is determined to remain disinterested in human existence, so while in some ways she’s helping people, in some ways she really isn’t. It’s all comes back to the basic concept of existence as a human equaling dealing with stuff, both good and bad, that life brings. Miyu brings forgetfulness to some, but is she really helping? Himeko unconditionally thinks not.

Himeko continues to track Miyu, as their lives become intertwined in a tragic story of a family betrayed – and true to her inhumanity, Miyu involves Himeko in a way that could very well become deadly.

The end remains as ambiguous as the beginning, with Himeko still convinced that Miyu brings nothing good into the world, even if she doesn’t exactly bring evil.

The thing that stood out the most for me was that, at the very beginning, Himeko arrives at the airport with no money in her purse to get a cab or make a phone call. I just started to grin, thinking that these past 20 years have changed things a lot. Nowadays, you’d hop to an ATM, get some money and call your friend on your cell. But Himeko was basically stranded. Also, Himeko was animated in those days, a generation ago now, when adult women looked like adults, and women. It was very nostalgic.

The Yuri is, as I said, totally nioi-kei. You can just about smell the scent in Himeko’s unreasonable obsession with Miyu, but it’s not developed any more than that, not even as service. The mangaka who created Miyu, Kakinouchi Narumi, has bathed more than a few of her works with that eau de Yuri, and has even added a few actual crystals to the Miyu TV series and to her obscure, one-shot manga Utahime Fight.

For a 20+ year old anime, this OAV holds up pretty darn good, I think. The animation is old-school hand-drawn art and yet, pretty cool, the story is tight, dramatic, full of foxes and other supernatural creatures, action-packed and in some way, all very much about people and what makes a human life.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

Thanks be to Ted the Awesome for his contribution to today’s review and also to my wife who bought me the first OAV of the series a really, really, long time ago. :-)

Also thanks to Bangin-san, for his Japanese Words of Anime Fans blog, where we got today’s shiny new term!





Burst Angel Anime, Volume 6 (English)

May 7th, 2008

My biggest complaint about the previous volume of Burst Angel was that the winning formula – i.e., Jo and Meg being the point people – was sort of dropped and left behind as the plot flailed around in a Jo-focused sort-of-back- and sort-of-present- story.

Thankfully, Volume 6 recaptured what made the early episodes work, so we get to wade about in a pool of satisfyingly standard tropes of action team anime, with a decidely Western flair.

First, having resolved Jo’s personal arc, we must face the inevitable Storm before the Calm, as the team is dissolved for political reasons. As is typical in this particular plot complication, the characters, despite their personal bonds, shoot apart like shrapnel. I don’t know why that is, but it is a requirement that we all go bara-bara. Jo and Meg take to the road, Amy does Amy things and Sei-who-is-not-named-Beth does Sei-who-is-not-named-Beth things.

Jo and Meg face one more crisis, as Maria returns (another standard, which I mentally refer to as “Can’t keep a good bad guy down”) and in a lovely fit of Yuri, she kidnaps Meg, because she wants her for herself. There’s some lovely sexually suggestive stuff in there, before Jo shows up and beats the crap out of Maria in a nicely animated fight. (A trope my wife has just named “Get your hands off my Betty!”)

Meg has a chance to have her own moment of Yuri where she confesses her feelings to a sleeping Jo, kisses her and promises to protect her forever, thus notching up the Yuri without making any committment at all.

Akane returns, as the wildcard cowboy who rides in for the last battle; a nice touch, as it’s a classic tactic for Westerns.

And there’s the standard emotional parting scene where Jo leaves Meg behind before the final showdown. Also a classic Western moment, reflected beautifully by the music.

Last thing I noted was a convention of mecha/sci-fic/cyberpunk anime – the main brain to which all other brains are connected, is inexplicably wired to explode when something something something. Whose idea was that? Imagine if Google did that with their servers…. Seems to me to be a *really* bad idea.

So, the final volume returns to the classic Western roots it sort of vaguely nodded towards in the beginning. It really worked, I think. This wasn’t a deep look at anything particular, it’s not “slice of life,” or “drama,” or despite fans’ insistence “romance,” – Burst Angel is a pretty standard action anime, with strong ties to conventions of good, ole’ American Westerns. For a decent live-action analogy, I recommend Silverado which contained many of the same tropes and was about as satisfying to watch as any Western I’ve ever seen. Plus, the cast kicks. No giant weaponry though, unless you count Danny Glover’s shotgun. :-)

In the end, we get a teeny little brief glimpse of Meg’s future, which I really would have prefered to be her present, but oh well, it’s nice to know that Jo’s scarf bestows +10 competence on the wearer.

Extras as always – the American cast commentary, the Japanese radio dramas and a nifty book full of nifty facts and pictures. Extras aren’t crucial to me, and they won’t save a bad anime, but it feels nice to have such a *chunky* set of extras for this series. It’s the best of both worlds – something for the intellect and something tactile to enjoy.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Sevice – 4

Overall – 8

Overall, a fun series that would make really good background images on a big screen during a party. :-) My thanks to Ted the Awesome for sponsoring today’s review!





Yuri Anime: Kaleido Star, Volume 1 (English)

April 30th, 2008

Today’s review is brought to you by the word “Ganbaru.” Commonly translated in anime or manga as “do your best” or in the form “gambarimasu” usually with an energetic “Let’s go!” it means nothing of the sort. It means to persevere against unreasonable odds, to bear up under unbearable pressure. It means to persist, to hold out – to keep on going no matter what.

And when one watches Kaleido Star, one is treated to a tale about a young woman who isn’t just succeeding, she isn’t just working hard to get stronger, no, in this anime, we watch Naegino Sora overcoming riduculous, demented odds, absurd pressure and insane demands to live her dream. Kaleido Star is the very essence of “ganbaru.” With lots of pretty colors and impossible shinyness.

If you are interested in the evolution of my opinion about this series, feel free to click on the Kaleido Star category on the right sidebar. Originally, I wasn’t wowed, then as the characters (and Yuri) grew, my affection for the series did as well. But, I find myself often torn between tears of outrage and frustration and being moved by joy when I watch Sora and her friends. This series makes me so angry I want to scream, and then a second later, I’m sobbing over a beautiful visual effect. Drives me crazy – and I bloody well can’t watch it when anyone else is around.

In Volume 1, Naegino Sora, a Japanese girl with skills in acrobatics, arrives at Cape Mery to join the Kaleido Stage, a very Cirque de Soleil-type show. Through the most annoying possible set of circumstances, she’s late to the audition, and has to jump through any number of hoops (no pun intended) to get even a modicum of respect.

ADV. I know it’s too late but Cape “Mery,” not “Mary. It’s visible in signs and we can read. “Owner” not “Boss” – they are saying “owner” and we are not deaf. And “Carlos.” Where on earth are you getting “Kalos” from? Every other character has a normal name – Sora, Layla, Sarah, Ken. You couldn’t figure out Carlos? … I’m available for consultation if you need help with this kind of thing.

I tried watching this volume with a different perspective than usual. From Layla’s point of view, it *is* unreasonable to show up late and expect to be given a chance. And it *does* seem suspicious that Sora’s given an opportunity to get on stage when no one else who showed up on time was – so the girls talking behind her back right in front of her makes sense. Sora’s not being bullied, and all people do do that kind of snarking. Nonetheless, when she’s given a week to learn a technique that probably took Layla *months* to master, you can’t help but grit your teeth in annoyance.

But, as I said, this show is about bearing up under unbearable pressure. Sora’s dedication and determination quickly make allies of two of the snarky girls, Anna and Mia.

Which segues nicely into the Yuri. In Volume 1 – Anna and Mia for the win. I had forgotten how boyish Anna is, and how Mia is always looking at her with big heart eyes, and how plain *together* they are. What was I thinking the first time I watched it? Yuri goggles on low, they are still so a couple.

At the moment, Layla barely acknowledges Sora’s existence, but this will change and I will be there to watch it – again. ^_^

But. Truly. What makes this anime worth watching is the utter crazy beauty and brilliance of the tricks on the Kaleido Stage. Sure, most of them are physically impossible – because I don’t care *how* high you jump on a trampoline or swing on a trapeze, people do not hang in midair, suspended, for five seconds.  It doesn’t matter – that’s why this series works so well as an anime, because they can do impossible things and make them seem possible. And that, in a nutshell, is what Kaleido Star is about. Honestly, the person who is designing the tricks is a genius.

Today’s review was made possible by Ted the Awesome. So, while both the picture and the title above are linked to the first DVD volume, I actually received this disk as part of the thinpak box set. As a result, I would like to include Ted’s own words about why to chose the thinpak over individual volumes, because he says it so well.

1. Price! Volume One is listed at $29.98(!) and the following volumes are at the $26.99 range. When I checked out the complete set dubbed “The Amazing Collection”, it was priced at $44.99. That’s cheaper then two volumes of the show!!!!!!

2. Availability! I looked at your list and saw Volume Two was not available. I tried earlier in your list history to get you an item in the same circumstances, but it wouldn’t allow me to send you an item that an individual was selling. So it was either Volume One and Three or the complete series.

3. Space! Thin Packs are my absolute favorite cases for DVDs and I’m shocked and horrified that they haven’t become a standard. Some would say that the side banner is harder to see, but I have no problems with it what so ever. Some will say that they don’t hold inserts, but they can! And since you collect quite a lot of these DVDs, why not take advantage?

4. Complete! Did I mention that it’s complete so you don’t have to wait for every volume to come in?

Of course, for every advantage this set has, there are also a slew of disadvantages. Most of them are all ADV’s fault…

1. Covers – The Cover artwork will certainly be fewer due to packaging spaces and probably a lot less cool looking.

2. Extras – ADV had a good idea (at the time) to have those who collected the volumes of an anime series to keep the extra content while those who wanted the complete series sets just got the series and no extras at all. I still have incredibly mixed feelings about this, because some of the bonus features in Excel Saga are absolutely outstanding and educational that the complete series sets totally lacks! I don’t want to give this series to my friends without those extras!

3. Support – With the savings in price, there also goes a lot of support for the show. It’s probably tough for a studio to charge a lot less for the complete series for the price of less then two volumes combined. I just hope this support is enough, because I want to support the things we like!

That pretty much covers everything I might have had to say about it anyway. lol Thanks Ted, for both the support and the review!

Ratings:

Art – 8, with occasional lapses to 5
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4

Overall – 8

Although it is just a teeny thing, I find it really, I don’t know – charming, I guess – that Mia is Dutch and her emails are in something that looks Dutch enough to me (although I imagine that the folks I know from the Netherlands probably cringe and die when they see them. ^_^) But still, an attempt was made.