Archive for the English Anime Category


Doki Doki School Hours Anime, Volume 2

April 21st, 2007

Today’s review was, once again, brought to you by Ted. Thanks Ted!

(I am starting with Volume 2 because while someone kindly purchased Volume 1 for me from my Wish List, it has not yet arrived. I will be sure to review it when it does come, promise!)

So, Doki Doki School Hours, Volume 2, aka Sensei no Ojikan, is the story of a class in high school taught by Mika-sensei, who looks to be about 10, although she is actually 27. The characters in the class are a charming bunch of running gags, and the series is mostly one set piece after another where those gags can play off one another.

This volume starts after summer vacation, as we compare skin tones and talk about “what we did on our summer vacation.” One of the guys, who looks, dresses and talks like an old guy, so they call him “Oyaji” is assumed to have gotten a part time job in construction. Everyone is so convinced of this “fact” that no one even asks him what he did. So, he decides not to tell them that he was in Hawaii on vacation.

That’s about the tenor of the jokes here – mild, cute, but not laugh-out-loud hysterical. A Ziggy sort of anime.

For all that it is pretty mild, Doki Doki is also surprisingly gay. One of the boys, Kudo, has an open crush on another, Suetake – which everyone but Suetake knows about. Probably the best bit of this volume is when Kudo is chosen to play Snow White and Suetake the Prince in their class production of Snow White for the school festival. As the two boys practice their lines, the windows are crowded with girls oohing and ahhing at this BL team. A furiously blushing Kobayashi comments to a furiously blushing Mika-sensei that they should probably let them stay in their school uniforms, as the audience seems to like it better that way. lol

Another guy in class, Seki, is a cross-dresser. He’s not gay, he just thinks he looks even more beautiful than usual in women’s clothing. He *is* a narcissist.

And for the Yuri team, there’s Kitagawa Rio, the tall, attractive, smart blonde who has a loli complex focusing solely on Mika-sensei, and who is a sadist. Her greatest joy is teasing Mika-sensei in any number of ways. I don’t doubt that she would take advantage of Mika-sensei, if she could.

Notably, there’s some name-brand voice actors in this cast, including a load of “6 degrees of yuri” players. As a result, the voice acting is a lot better than what you’d expect for an anime of this caliber. It definitely helps the gags work.

Ratings:

Art – 5, but not meant to be “good”
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 3

Overall – 6

I can’t really call this a “Yuri” anime, because it’s not. It is a comedy anime with some Yuri for laughs. Another fun detox after a hard day type anime. Don’t expect to snort soda out your nose, but it’s good fun.





Yuri Anime: Best Student Council, Volume 1

April 18th, 2007

The first of *many* thanks to Ted for sponsoring today’s review! Give him a round of applause, will you? /round of applause/ Thank you kindly, sir.

As a counter to a day of heavy-duty thinking and talking about work-related issues, Best Student Council, aka Gokujou Seitokai, Volume 1 is a perfect way to unwind.

Volume 1 follows the adventures of Rando Rino, a slightly less average than most girl, as she leaves behind her life after her mother dies, and moves – with the assistance of a mysterious penfriend – to the exclusive Miyagami Gakuen. With no money and no where to live, Rino is at a loss, until she runs for the position of class representative and, in a bizarre upset, wins. Now she has room and board for free.

Because of a successful attack on an arsonist by the puppet Rino wears on her arm, Pucchan, Rino is further inducted into the Gokujou Seitokai, the supreme student council, which runs the school.

And *then* wackiness ensues. This includes giant nuclear cannons, a curry battle, a mysterious puppet disemembering and most of all, payapaya.

The supreme leader of the Supreme Council, the supremely admired Jinguji Kanade, seems to have taken a very keen interest in the newcomer. So keen, in fact, that when she’s spotted leaving Rino’s room one morning, rumors fly about the two of them doing “payapaya.” This meaningless word is given a very ripe meaning by sheer force of repetition. ^_^ The relationship isn’t Yuri, sadly, but the rumors sure are.  Assualt Squad member Rein even describes “payapaya” as “Yuri,” which the guys at ADV inelegantly translated as “girl on girl.” Thanks ADV, for rendering the genre I live and love into a porn term.

After Rino gets settled, she is assigned to patrol with Assualt Squad member Izumi Kaori who, despite initial over-reactions to and continued rivalry with Rino, turns out to be a competent, intelligent and honorable character. As we learn a little bit about Kaori’s difficult past, we also get the first of many clues to Kanade’s true abilities, as well. And, we also get a honest reflection by Kaori about her feelings of admiration (and possibly more) for Kanade-sama.

Lastly, based on nothing but their weird interaction and the fact that I have an overactive imagination, I still maintain that Vice President and Assault Squad leader Nanaho and Vice President and Covert Squad leader Kuon have a thing going on. ^_^

Good things about the DVD: 5 episodes, Pucchan stickers as an extra.

Bad things – “girl on girl” – feh, Pucchan stickers as an extra.

Weird thing – Ayumu gets the honorific “Ayu-chan.” All other honorifics are cut. Huh?

Ratings:

Art – 6 Silly, but not meant to be more
Story – 6 Goofy, yet charming
Characters – 7 – ditto
Yuri – 4 – You mean “girl on girl” don’t you? Grrr.
Service – 2 The cover seems to be the worst offender

Overall – 7

Entertaining, not taxing, with surprising moments of hysterical. Plus, Seina. She’s a great character, especially as no one even remembers her. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Noir, Volume 5

April 17th, 2007

Wow, there’s nothing like taking a step back a few years to really appreciate both what went before and what we have now. I recently sat and rewatched the volume with the most awesome episodes of Sailor Moon (106-109, in case you care) and on the train on the way to a professional conference, I rewatched Noir Volume 5 for the first time in many moons.

Volume 5 of Noir is not high art. It makes the art of Madlax look stunning by comparison, but story-wise, it’s pretty much the lynchpin moment, the moment at which the entire story alters.

It begins with one more foray into Mirielle’s past where she learns the horrible truth about herself – that she is a child of the organization who now hunts her. Turning away from her own past, she now decides to focus on Kirika’s. Kirika, in the meantime, when faced with a choice of knowledge about herself, Noir and Soldats, or saving Mirielle’s life doesn’t hesitate to chose her friend over herself. I say “friend” here, because it seems that that alone is enough of a revelation for both of them, that they might, perhaps, be becoming friends.

When Mirielle reminds Kirika of the promise that they made – that when they both understand who Kirika is and what, exactly Soldats wants, she will kill the younger woman, there is a edginess to it – we can see that that promise is now a lie, even if they can not.

Just as they start to deal with this change in their relationship, it all comes to a crashing halt. Chloe, who has been stalking Kirika from the beginning, shows Mirielle, in an impressive and incontrovertible display of skill, that she and Kirika are the True Noir. Her explanation of what Noir is, and why Noir is, only serves to highlight the gulf between Mirielle and her partner. When Kirika begins to respond to words that Chloe utters, it becomes obvious that Mirielle has lost the battle, if not the war.

This is a very “having loved and lost” kind of volume. We watch Mirielle gain knowledge of her past, but lose some of her understanding of what her childhood meant to her. She gains Kirika as a friend, but loses her as a partner. And she gains understanding of Soldats and Noir, but loses herself in the process.

I found the Noir/Soldats manuscript lines just as silly this time as the last, but somehow – and really, I don’t know how – it all sort of seemed to make perfect sense. Above all, the sense of loss that Mirielle was experiencing at the very end was very poignant and very powerful. And because El Cazador de la Bruja has already begun, I found myself hoping that I care half this much about Nadie and Ellis by the end, as I do about Kirika and Mirielle.

What makes the story here so interesting, is watching Chloe take everything that Mirielle has fought so hard to gain. What makes the rest of the series so interesting is watching Mirielle fight even harder to get it back.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 7

I still think Chloe’s character design looks weird and out of place, but I guess that kind of works…





Ninja Nonsense Anime Volume 2

April 15th, 2007

Ninin ga Shinobuden, known here in the west as Ninja Nonsense, is pretty aptly named. There’s ninjas…and there’s nonsense.

Once again, my thanks to Sergio Aviles for sponsoring this review from my “Yuri Wishlist.”

When I reviewed Volume 1 of this series, I labeled it a “Yuri” anime. Not so this one, although there is some Yuri-ish implication and service. But by and large, it’s just silliness all the way down.

There’s fart jokes and crotch jokes and nudity jokes and being scared jokes and gags about sex and food and various body parts…and one or twice some slight ninja-ing goes on. But not much. ^_^

This volume also makes it maddenlingly clear that the protagonist of the series here is not Shinobu, despite the series’ original name, but Onsokomaru. He is the catalyst for pretty much every gag.

In terms of Yuri, the best scene is one that turns out to be a fantasy. But the scene is important for two reasons: one, the massive Yuri-service in and of itself, which is kind of fun, and; the more important two, it parodies the viewer’s interest in that service, even as it feeds the fantasy. In fact, that, in a nutshell, is a good definition of the series. If we, the viewing audience, are Fans of either gender then our assumptions, needs, fantasies and service are all given to us with an open hand…and then with a caustic gag about what a hopeless Fan it makes us. Even Shinobu’s desire for Kaede is parodied as a fannish sort of thing. It’s broad comedy with a sharp edge. And I like it.

I also want to note that the liner notes are really pretty good – better than the “character bios” in the Extras section of the DVD, which appear to be based off of the first episode only. Someone did do their homework over there at the Right Stuf. So thank you, unnamed researcher. ^_^

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7

Insert clever one-liner here to end the review.





Yuri Anime: Strawberry Marshmallow, Volume 2

April 10th, 2007

Volume 2 of the Strawberry Marshmallow anime makes me regret that I was such a good kid. Now I wish I could go back and be eviller….

And because I was watching this with Serge, the Cult of Miu now commands three loyal followers. Bwahaha. Or something.

The first episode of the volume, “Sleepover,” is the one that non-Yuri folks argue is not Yuri, and those of us who count ourselves among Yuri fandom argue is Yuri. I say to you, verily it is Yuri. Not on Nobue’s side, but on Miu’s – which makes perfect sense to me as I see her as the very epitome of an Evil Psycho Lesbian-in-training.

But while “Sleepover” is amusing and watching Miu openly vie for Nobue’s attention and love is cute, it is the second episode of the volume that leaves me breathless from laughing. In this chapter we get to enjoy Miu’s brilliant story-telling skills and, incidentally, get to see Chika play along…which reminds us that they are actually friends. (I’m actually sitting here chuckling at Miu and Chika’s version of rock-scissors-paper. Snort, flypaper.) Most importantly, we get a scene which is so visual it’s actually rather difficult to convey in text: Nobue has fallen asleep. Miu challenges the others to stay in the room, but write instead of talk. The contrast of Ana’s obsession about ginger ale, and its relation to frogs, and Miu’s gag art which simply slays Chika (and most of the viewing audience) is simply hysterical.

Miu’s continued sociopathic behavior makes the inevitable trip to the beach and summer festival episodes just about as enjoyable as those old tropes can be made. It’s not that Miu is just a sociopath that makes her funny – it’s that she’s a funny sociopath.

This is probably my favorite volume of the whole series. If you want a giggle or two on a down day, slap this volume in the DVD player…and don’t drink anything unless you want it coming out your nose.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – 5

Overall – 8

You ever notice how often the Yuri and Service ratings are the same???

Also, keep food and drink away from your computer keyboard as you watch this volume or disaster is likely to occur. ^_^

Forget to mention, too – this DVD comes with a mini-pencil board which is nice if you like mini pencil boards. (I have converted many people to the gospel of pencil boards. They are just so darn useful.)