Archive for the English Anime Category


Yuri Anime: Doki Doki School Hours, Volume 4 (English)

July 29th, 2007

Today’s review is Doki Doki School Hours Volume 4, or “How you know an anime (that had a pretty thin plot in the first place) has jumped the shark.” ^_^ Many, many thanks to Ted for sponsoring today’s review – your support is greatly appreciated! (And note to Ted: no space settings, but it does have chicks in suits, so good/bad.)

School life in Japan. Classwork, school festivals, exams. How many anime cover these things and the joys of summer vacation, the class trip, transfer students, etc, etc? Many, I’m sure. But how many anime also cover dystopian realities in which manga is outlawed, or hotel stays that end up being survival exercises with visits to the hot springs people,or alt-universe versions of their own plot in which all the characters are suddenly brothers and sisters?

Few, I wager.

Yes, in the fourth volume of Doki Doki, the writers of Mika-sensei and her second-year students at Okitsu High suddenly get sick and tired of their own plots, and start randomly adding silly alternative universe stories starring their own characters. There is no rhyme or reason for these stories, half of them have no particular tie-in to the story at hand. But because they are entertaining, who, really, cares? ^_^

The volume begins with a trip to the beach which ends up in an exclusive hotel which, for no good reason, has a jungle ride through an extensive in-hotel onsen. This leads to the students getting lost, braving monsters and onsen-people and waterfalls. In the hotel. Yes.

Okitsu gets a transfer student – from America! He’s the usual Aryan type (because all Americans are blond/e and blue-eyed. all of us) but this time, he is also – an otaku! The students boggle as his Japanese, which is fluent, is also incomprehensibly filled with otaku terms like “moe.” His appearance leads to the dystopia scenario, where manga is illegal and Kitagawa looks good in a suit. ^_^

Back in “reality” the sports festival is approaching. Cross-dressing Seki is dissed by the girls when he suggests that he wears a cheerleading costume, but they flock to Kitagawa when she appears in Japanese traditional boy’s uniform, the gakuran. ^_^ This was my favorite moment of the volume, easily.

The last episode is a totally bizarre alternate universe story in which Mika and all the students are suddenly siblings (which in no way lessens Kitagawa’s feeling for “big sister Mika”) whose mother runs a ramen shop. It’s just….wtf. As if the writers decided to write a fanfic for the series, because no one stopped them from doing so.

With the exception of the the shenanigans in the hotel, I liked this volume a lot. It was totally random, it made no sense, but it’s not like this anime was super intelligent or deep to begin with. Yes, it jumped the shark. As I said earlier, who, really, cares?

I’m not sure I’d recommend this series for a beginner in anime – too many of the jokes are parodies of Japanese culture and life to be easy to understand for the newbie, but if you’ve seen/read more than a dozen school-type anime or manga, you ought to get most of it.

Ratings –

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 3

Overall – 6

Kitagawa remains totally lesbian, Seki is still a cross-dresser, Kudo is still gay.





Yuri Anime: Battle Athletes, Volume 1

July 16th, 2007

Sorry for not posting for the last few days – I’ve been juggling trying to get ready for Otakon this weekend, and catching up on myself. Before we begin today, let’s offer up paeans of thanks to Eric who provided us with the subject of today’s review! Thank you Eric!

Battle Athletes, Volume 1 is…old school. Old school art, hair, opening theme, character design, everything. It’s so old school that a few minutes after turning it on, I had to turn it off to regroup mentally. ^_^ Once mentally prepared, I turned it back on – and was pretty pleased with what I saw. It took some retrofitting my brain used, as I am, to what’s currently running now, to enjoy the old animation, the whiny heroine and the screaming. There was a *lot* of screaming.

The story follows Kanzaki Akari, the daughter of the former greatest athlete in the universe, Tomoe Midori, on her quest to become the world’s greatest female athlete and win the title her mother held – Cosmos Beauty.

Unfortunately for Akari, she has inherited few of her mother’s traits. She appears to have barely any athletic skills, is a crybaby and generally whiny. Of course it can’t stay like that, because then there’d be no story, so when Akari is moved to save another competitor’s life, her heretofore non-existent athletic skills skyrocket into hypercompetence.

Thankfully for the audience, Akari is surrounded by much more interesting characters. There’s the offensive Chinese stereotype Ling-Pha, and the strange “weird foreign tribal-type” stereotype Tanya. Then there’s Akari’s best friend Ichino who, voiced by Hisakawa Aya, is the perfect Osaka stereotype. Completing the main cast is Russian stereotype Ayla and America stereotype Jessie. And one of the things I thought while I watched the latter two compete was that, when this anime was made, the concept of US vs Russia athletic competition was far more politically charged and intense than it is now. ^_^ Now, anyone under the age of 20 (if we could get them to sit still for this anime at all) would be like, “so?”

The basic idea of the anime is that we are following these women as they train to attend the Satellite Training Camp, where they will be training even harder to try and become competitors for Cosmos Beauty. So we see a variety of futuristic and often silly “athletic” competition. And a variety of service as well, since of course as female athletes they never wear pants.

Compared to later episodes, Volume 1 is marginally gay…except for those moments when it’s massively gay.

Ichino pings most people’s gaydar right off, something that’s borne out in later volumes. But I kind of think Akari has it right when she says that Ichino is like an older brother to her.

Ayla and Jessie, by virtue of being powerful, talented athletic women who seem to be very focused on one another read totally gay…even if, in a real-world situation, they’d just be excellent rivals and maybe friends.

Jessie, the less lesbian of the two gets the first open proposition of the series. When running around looking for Tanya, in what is otherwise an incredibly stupid episode, another student confesses her feelings to Jessie and asks if she can call her onee-sama; she suggests that they could start off by training in sports, but maybe they could segue into this and that. Jessie replies that she appreciates the thought, but isn’t interested.(This whole scene reminded me strongly of the old schoolness again, because the translation just sort of plays fast and loose with what’s being said. “Onee-sama” is not translated as big sister, much less kept as is. They sort of randomly assign words to what the classmate is saying. And Jessie’s “I have no interest” is, as often is the case for some reason in anime, translated as “I don’t swing that way.” Another phrase I’d like to see corrected in current anime translation. “Thank you for the thought, but I’m not interested in that” is so much less crude than, “No, I don’t swing that way.” Jessie is voiced by Itou Miki and speaks in a tone reminiscent of Sachiko’s formal voice – I really just don’t see her being that crude. But hey, this was translated a gazillion years ago before Onee-samas and Yuri ever made it to the shores of America. So I’ll let this one slide, but I would like to see it done correctly going forward.)

The final episode on the volume is Yuri enough for most, as it follows Ayla’s growing obsession with Jessie, and ends in a swimming match. For many, many reasons, I loved this episode. Mostly for the swimming. I swam competitively as a kid (without ever being good, mind you) and my love for swimming has never left me. Watching these two women swimming and obsessing about each other was definitely my happy place for the day. ^_^

So, I gotta say, Volume 1 was a lot more Yuri than I remembered it being. And it was a good chunk of fun too.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – Everyone other than Akari – 8. Akari – 5
Yuri – 5
Service – 5

Overall – 7

Let me also mention that I have reviewed the Battle Athletes series as a whole, Volume 3 and Volume 6, previously, should you be interested.





Yuri Anime: Ninja Nonsense, Volume 4 (English)

July 12th, 2007

Because I failed at this a few days ago, let me start off by thanking Serge for his sponsorship of today’s review! Thanks Serge!

Sponsoring a review is easy! Just buy something off my Yuri Wishlist and I’ll review it – with thanks to the generous donor. There’s SO much coming out these days, that its hard, even with my good job, to keep up with everything. So many thanks to the wonderful folks who help me do these reviews!

Today’s review, Ninja Nonsense, Volume 4 is the final volume of this anime series, also known as 2 x 2 Shinobuden. But you wouldn’t actually know it until the very, very end. Instead, the series starts on the usual wacky note. This time the Ninjas are going to “learn” how to celebrate Christmas. This segues into a sudden tidal wave of cursed objects infecting the Ninja Academy, Ninja class president Sasuke’s adolescent fantasies, and Ninjas trying to put on a play. All brilliant, if unsubtle, send-ups of typical school age life.

This is followed by a torpid episode in which Onsokomaru reveals his “secret” (which we all knew anyway and which Shinobu doesn’t get.)

Which brings us to the final episode,. Shinobu, if she passes the final exam, will graduate from Ninja Academy and go to a school in England. Hold onto that – I’ll get back to it.

As Yuri goes for this series, Yuri quotient on this volume is pretty high. It begins with, as I mentioned, the Christmas episode. At the end of this episode, Kaede instructs Shinobu in the “true” meaning of Christmas which is, obviously, that it’s the night to spend with the person you love. Kaede asks if Shinobu likes someone; Shinobu happily responds yes. After an awkward moment or two, Kaede clues in to the fact that she is, in fact, that person. While she does not melt happily into Shinobu’s arms, she doesn’t leave, either.

More importantly, the last episode. When Shinobu hears that she would, upon graduation, be transferred to a school in England, her mind immediately conjures up an image of a all-girl private school, in which other girls happily laugh and call her name…and she drools. lol So, that basically says that. She’s not just “in love with” Kaede. The girl’s gay.

When Kaede learns Shinobu may be leaving, she gets very depressed and moony. She berates herself for being down, but can’t shake it – even though she grits her teeth and says she’s happy for Shinobu.

Shinobu completes the test and graduates. She leaves Japan for England. We follow mopey Kaede, still missing her even months later. One day, Kaede is walking home from school when lo and behold! There’s Shinobu! She got lonely and came back, end of explanation. Kaede leaps into Shinobu’s arms as the series ends. Yuri fans nod, our work here is done. :-)

DVD extras consist of a reversible, but printed the same on both sides (?) cover, and “character gallery” with stills and no real information that couldn’t be gleaned from episode 1-4. It’s thin on the extras, let’s just say that.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7

As with all the other volumes, Ninja Nonsense is a brutal, but funny parody of the very fanboys that watch it. Fun party fare and good for a needed laugh.





Yuri Anime: Mai HiME, Volume 4 (English)

July 9th, 2007

Woops! I forgot to thank Ted for his sponsorship of today’s review. Sorry ted – I promise I’ll try to not slack off next time.

Visit my Yuri Wish List and pick something for me to review! Your contribution will be received with thanks…(even if it’s a teeny bit belated) and you can join the ranks of people who, by sponsoring a review have been imbued with magic lesbian powers. Yes, even the guys. ^_^

Where the heck was Volume 4 of My HiME when I was watching Volume 3? I wanted other people’s misery and all I got from Volume 3 was goofy evil creatures that ate cake. And here I was ready for some more goofy and Volume 4 had to go and be self-important and serious. How vexing.

After all the happy-go-luckiness of Volume 3, Volume 4 wallows deep in Mai’s various emotional conflicts, seasoned with a little light portentous (and pretentious) apocalyptic plot for flavor. But we’re just past halfway on the series, so even when the entire world blows up, we’re just not as tense about it as we should be, I think.

So, the story picks up on the night of the Tamayura festival which, among many other things, comes along with a traditional love tradition, in which lovers traditionally tie ribbons to traditionally express their desire for an eternal love. More importantly – and probably even more traditionally – lovers sneak into the woods for a quick snog. Mai *almost* gets a good first kiss, but then the schlub has to go and ruin it. Then the world blows up.

After the world blows up, we learn of the Searrs Foundation’s unreasonable plan to bring world peace by something something the something, until we all fall in line like the cattle we are. ‘Cause that’s worked before.

Lots of fights, and Mai nobly sacrifices herself for the first time in the series. Don’t worry – she’ll get to do it again later. And Miyu and Alyssa (who I still like better as a bird) get to have a melodramatic end. Don’t worry…they’ll get to do it again later, too.

Let’s see…for Yuri, we have Yukino’s hidden desire for eternal togetherness with Haruka, Chie and Aoi are eternally together, despite their occasional vageuish mention of wanting a guy and lots of Miyu x Alyssa snuggles. And Shizuru’s continued leering after Natsuki, which in this volume is pretty laid back. Almost as if they didn’t want us to know…oh, wait, that’d be a spoiler. ;-)

The “Character Featurettes” (seriously, that’s what it says on the DVD!) are the usual powerpoint slides accompanied by insightful monologue. This time we get to hear the deep feelings of Tate – whose deep feelings seem to be “Mai has large breasts” – Miyu and Alyssa – who ruins it all by mentioning her father, what a jerk – and a “funny” discussion of Orphans by Nagi and Natsuki. The actually funny thing about these was that I had completely forgotten them all until I went to write this review, so I had to throw the DVD in to see what they were. I forgot to change the language track to Japanese. Honestly, I jumped when Tate began to talk in English! It was so stupid.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Character – 7
Story – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 6

Overall – 7

The volume ends with Nagi pretentiously (and portentously) telling the HiME that the “fun” is just beginning and now they have to fight one another. In my reality, I’d have nodded, and suggested to my fellow HiME that, before we fight one another, we should kick the snarky little bastard’s ass. But hey, that’s just me.





Best Student Council Anime, Volume 3 (English)

June 29th, 2007

While Best Student Council, Volume 3 isn’t the Yuriest volume of this series, it has some notable moments where Yuri fans, depending on their level of desperation, can project some. ^_^

The volume begins with one of the stupidest plots I’ve ever encountered in an anime, for which it has to get some credit. The school futsal team has all come down sick and they can’t play against the (of course) rival school. So, it (of course) falls to the Supreme Student Council to protect their president’s reputation. Because you wouldn’t want to, say, ask the *outdoor* soccer team to be replacements. No, of course you wouldn’t. The episode explores every possible cliche it can – ojousama laughing rival president, absurdly corrupt referee, incredibly stupid physical gags, absurd ringer for the rival team, etc. etc. The few good moments are watching Kaori continue her level of extreme competence, and the utterly absurd gag that wins the game. As a self-aware parody of “one for the gipper” type episodes, it was splendid.

The second episode is where more desperate fans may wish to linger, as we look back upon the origin of Nanaho’s and Kanade’s friendship – and the larger nature of their relationship. Personally, I don’t see it as “Yuri” but as a really excellent story of close friendship/shinyuu. But then, I’m not desperate. ^_^

This is followed by a brutal two-episode arc where they beat us over the head with the least funny situation ever – the bratty kid who runs around and destroys things because she can. This is followed by the episode where we learn who the bratty kid is and why we shouldn’t kill her; although I was never convinced, myself. I adore Seina, I do. She’s my favorite character. But regardless, Minamo needs to be punished thoroughly. Perhaps permanently.

The one amusing thing about the arc is the lame play the Council puts on to raise funds to rebuild their dorm. It was so awful I can only imagine that they asked a real child to write it. ^_^

(True story. Last Thanksgiving my nephew, who is 12, asked me if I published comic books. I said I did. He asked me about what, and I told him that they were stories of women who loved each other. He then went on to tell me what they *ought* to be about. The story he suggested was a pretty standard fantasy quest-type plot, but rather intensely dull, because he RPGS and those usually have pretty basic plots – since the main focus isn’t in the complexity of story, but complexity of the challenges/opponents. When he was finished – and of course his plot included a male hero and no women – I said, quite honestly, that comics like that was already being published by about a million people, so my books were about things that *weren’t* that. He didn’t really get it, and then we got into a slapping contest, which sort of killed that conversation. The point of the story is, you want an excruciating plot, ask a 12-year old.)

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 2

Overall – 6

So, no, this volume is not super high on the Yuri-o-meter, and you need Yuri goggles for what little there is, AND it has an annoying little sister plot, but for all that, I’ve seen worse.