A cross-dressing noblewoman, Heian period magic, and Abe no Seimei as a total pretty boy, what’s not to like?

(Okay, the above is not really a fair summation of this story at *all.* But it made a good tag line. lol)

In reality, Otogizoushi is really a collection of many things rolled up into two distinct storylines. The Production I.G. link above is good for the first half of the story, while the NTV site is good for the second (and, in my opinion, far more interesting) half of the series.

The tale begins, as all good magic/horror tales do, in the Heian period. The Miyako, the capital city, is falling apart from corruption, over ritualizaton and political intrigue, all of which is true enough. A young scion of a noble household, Raikou, lays dying, even as he is given the task of going on a dangerous quest. So his sister, Hikaru, dresses as Raikou and heads off to find the five magatama. These will assist the court sorceror, called an onmyouji, to save the capital. The chief Onmyouji,, Abe no Seimei (who is REALLY famous, or infamous, depending on how you first encountered him) seems to have his own agenda for the magatama.

Raikou, that is, Hikaru, spends the first few episodes amassing her traveling companions, and running into a lot of Heian period legends, all the while collecting magatama and looking very somber about the fate of her brother and the capital. There’s the *teeniest* hint of yuri flirtation at the beginning, when a few female inn maids try to schmooze “Raikou” (and I think that Urabe, the only other female in the group kind of has a little affection for “Raikou”,) but that’s dropped pretty fast in the reamining episodes. The crisis looms, the tension builds (not), until the final, wildly predictable conflict with the only possible character, GASP!

Obvious as it was, it was still a nice enough opening to the story. That is to say, ending to the first half and lead-in to the second.

The second half is FAR stronger, and the opening song and animation are quite catchy. (The characters are seen to be singing the song as it plays, which I find charming.) Set in modern Tokyo, there is, sadly, no cross-dressing, no yuri, no Hikaru wielding weapons, but the plot is now loosely based around a collection of *modern* urban legwends, ghost stories and myths, which fascinate me inutterably. The characters have all been reborn into modern times with the same names and personalities and they have, as of yet, no connection at all to their former lives, except in so far as they are all still clumped around Hikaru and her brother. Her brother has been missing for a year, but Hikaru has begun to see him in connection with some paranormal happenings around the city. The rest of the cast are renters in the building Hikaru runs in her brother’s absence.

The animation for Otogizoushi is not great, but it is original, which is something these days. The characters’ eyes are drawn especially strangely. But they also look more like Japanese people than most anime bother with, which gives it an edgy, realistic feel – which, in turn heightens the magic/horror stuff when it arrives. Paranormal occurences in Heian Miyako, sure…but on a Tokyo subway line? Way more creepy.

Ratings:
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Art – 7
Music – 8
Yuri – 1

Overall – 7

All told, Otogizoushi is a thoroughly enjoyable, slightly different take on the paranormal/magic genre. With, sadly, only the barest hint of yuri. :-(

Just in time for your holiday shopping, Yuricon brings you gifts, t-shirts, baseball caps and more that tell the world that you love yuri!

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One of the stand-out anime that I am watching at the moment has got to be today’s entry, Phantom Memory Kurau. I really cannot recommend it enough. In a season full of mostly-predictable, fanservice-filled retreads, Kurau stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Technically Kurau isn’t really from this season – it began last season on Japanese TV and was licensed very quickly by ADV, who saw a winner in it. And I agree wholeheartedly. Even watching this series raw has been a pleasure. In fact, I’m amazed at how much (other than the police lingo and scientific jargon) I can follow. Which says alot about how basic the idea of this series is.

The setup is presented neatly at the beginning of the anime as Dr. Amami, a scientist, is exploring a new form of energy, called Rynax energy. His daughter, Kurau, is invaded/attacked/infested by the Rynax and begins to show signs of mysterious and completely para-human abilities. After an accident in which Dr. Amami loses an arm, in an effort to protect her father from her unpredictable nature, Kurau leaves her father. When we encounter her, she is an adult, working as an “agent,” a sort of free-range PI. Not surprisingly her powers make her very, very good at her job.

But life is not perfect for Kurau. She is awaiting the arrival of her “twin”,” her Rynax partner. Shortly after her twin manifests, the two are pursued by a para-military police force called the GPO. Kurau’s twin, Christmas, looks like a younger version of Kurau, but does not initially appear to be able to manifest Rynax powers.

The chase still goes on as the series approaches ep. 26, but the story has been consistently excellent. There has been the occasional threat of a predictable plot complication, but so far the writers have avoided any serious plot potholes.

As bad guys, the GPO seem pleasantly conspiracy-theory-ish, while the individual GPO members have developed really interesting personalities. Leading the pack is Ayaka Steiger, an angst-filled GPO career officer with many axes to grind. Her pursuit of Kurau and Christmas quickly becomes personal…but it’s to Kurau that Ayaka reaches out when she needs to be understood.

Even the sidekick all-knowing smart guy and ex-GPO dude, Dag, isn’t annoying. How is that possible? Ex-whatever guys are *always* annoying. Not Dag. He’s just a really, really nice guy.

Yuri-wise you’re not going to get anything blatant here. Kurau and Christmas are like sisters, but they definitely, genuinely love one another. Their connection is really deep and really touching. In fact, despite her age, Christmas is such a good character and so great with Kurau that even *I,* child-hater that I am, don’t dislike her. Plenty of people are seeing yuri there, but I’m not a big fan of yuricest and I don’t see anything physical between them, just sisters that share a major connection through the Rynax.

There is serious yuri potential between Ayaka and Kurau, however. As the recent episodes have played out, Ayaka has sought out Kurau, befriended her, opened up to her and, if you’re a typical yuri fan, you’re seeing sparks starting to build. I can totally see Ayaka x Kurau fanfic in the works. If the anime doesn’t provide the actual bread, it’s certainly handing us the grist. :-)

Even the science in Kurau is interesting. Some of it is quite plausible, which gives the more hypothetical stuff a firm base. And I love the way the terraformed moon is drawn. It’s too cool. :-)

Ratings:
Story – 9
Character – 9
Art – 8
Music – 8
Yuri – 5

Overall – 8.

Let’s see – cool, competent older lead. Cool, competent potential love interest. Gee, you *think* it’s my type of anime? LOL

And not a single school uniform to be seen. Happy sigh. :-)

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Over the next few weeks, check out our new line of gifts, t-shirts and other items that we’ll be adding just in time for the holidays!

A series about an abusive Gothic Lolita doll and her loser human servant. Need I say more?

I had actually picked up a copy of the Rozen Maiden manga ages ago, flipped through it, then dropped it like the evil thing it is.  But when the anime came out, I found myself attracted to it in ways that make absolutely *no* sense to me whatsoever. For one thing, I hate dolls with a passion. They utterly creep me out. And the Goth-loli look is not a charm point for me. So, why then am I watching this with something approaching actual enjoyment?

Well, to be fair, the anime for Rozen Maiden is really well done, for one thing. The art is clean, the voice acting excellent and the opening and ending themes are done by Ali Project, those darlings of Bee Train anime and also the folks who gave life to Pastel Pure – the opening theme of Maria-sama ga Miteru.

The story is simple – creepy doll Shinku finds her way to the house of Jun, a boy who is a classic hikkikomori, in the sense that he is *so* socially retarded (and, we are led to believe, genuinely phobic) that he is terrified to leave the house. Jun’s sister Nori seems happy enough to take care of Jun even while she hopes that he will one day go back to school.

Shortly after Shinku’s arrival another doll (a clown…of course,) arrives to kill Jun. Shinku informs Jun that she can save him, but he must swear to be her servant. The word she uses has more of the implication of “slave” so, naturally, Jun is reluctant. However, he is more reluctant to die, so, he kisses her ring and now lives as indentured servant to a doll. A doll with impeccable manners, but still…

The next several episodes involves introducing many more dolls, some good, some bad, and one seriously annoying little girl doll who makes my teeth clench everytime she speaks. Each doll has her own issues and powers. At least one of the dolls is *evil* – you can tell, she’s all in black and leaves raven feathers everywhere she’s been…oh, and she says something about destroying Shinku somewhere in there too. See? Evil.

Okay, I admit it, I have no sense of tension, urgency or passion about this series – in fact, when questioned, I admit it’s stupid with a capital “stoo,” but I like it anyway. Where else but in anime can one see a creepy loser kid get the stuffing beaten out of him by a doll and still like the doll better than the human?

So, yeah, Yuri. Well…I don’t got my hopes up, but I’m willing to be wrong. I think the sister would make good crush fodder, but as has already been pointed out to me, she *does* have a serious brother complex, so maybe not. Yuri between the dolls somehow holds no appeal for me…but then, I hate dolls. If there is any, I’m betting we see akogare by at least one of the dolls for Shinku who is, honestly, quite cool if you like physically abusive goth-loli dolls. ^_^

Ratings:

Story – 7
Character – 8
Art – 8
Music – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 7

Overall – A strong 6. I’m willing to give it time and see where it goes.

Watching Shinku beat the crap out of Jun makes me happy, what can I say? Apparently my admiration for women who aren’t above a little physical violence extends to dolls. Great.