Archive for the Series Category


Aria the Natural Anime

April 18th, 2006

Once again – not overtly Yuri. But for the Spring 2006 Yuri Anime Season, this second season of Aria, entitled Aria The Natural has the same Yuri triggers that were in place for the first season, which I reviewed back in November 2005. Aika still has a raging case of akogare for Alicia, Akira and Alicia still reek of “let’s get the kids out of here so we can have some fun…” and the general fan sentiment of “it’s a bunch of beautiful, sweet women all together so there must be Yuri in there” is the same as always.

But this series is not without problems. But these are much more indicative of *my* idiosyncracies than any actual failing with the series itself. Primarily, I loathe cats and do not find them to be charming, mysterious, cute or special. I just find them irritating. Entire episodes crafted around cats are pretty much always going to leave me cold. Unfortunately, Aria is crawling with cats. And the animators have a strange, unhealthy obsession with Aria-shachou’s butt. I’m really thinking I don’t need to see it any more than I already have. Really. And that IS a problem with the series itself, not me.

I also found Akari and Ai’s behavior questionable in the first episode. The pagan in me kept saying, “this is a BAD idea” when they happily wandered off behind a group of guisers. “Nonononono” was the other thing I kept telling the unheeding aforementioned girls. Have they never heard of fairies? Have they never heard tales of stupid children who wander off after disguised who-knows-whats and are never seen again. Lucky for them the cats like them, or that would have been the end of the series right there…but I suppose that we’re back in the “my idiosyncracies” section of criticism here. I’ve been in the mask, kids – you *don’t* want to follow the masked dude. Okay?

My third point is sort of a lop-sided compliment, rather than a complaint. Because I find Aria so pleasant and charming, I found myself unable to stop comparing pictures of the real Venice with the images of Aria in my mind, as I looked at my sister-not-in-law’s vacation pictures. (A problem compunded by the fact that the other pictures were from Versailles and I kept seeing Rose of Versailles in my head.) But it is in no way the series animators’ fault that I am a hopeless otaku. ^_^;

I think the animation for this season is a bit tighter than the first season. They seem to have skipped over most of the early chapters of the manga, but I hope they’ll consider doing a kitsune wedding episode, as that was really quite nice. And I keep hoping we’ll get more of the three fairies, Athena, Alicia and Akira, because I like them. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 5-8 depending.
Music – 7
Yuri – 1
Service – 1 (unless you’re a cat anus fetishist. Then – 9)

Overall – 7

It’s always worth spending a quiet moment with Aria and Akari, Aika, Alicia, Alice, Athena and Akira.





Drama CD: Hayate x Blade 1

April 13th, 2006

People have been mistaking my review of the Hayate x Blade *Mini* Drama CD for a review of the *actual* Hayate x Blade Drama CD, so I thought I’d better get that done. The mini CD came with the April issue of Dengeki Daioh – the full Drama CD is available from Amazon JP through the Yuricon Shop.

I have to admit that the drama CD, (which was released as Volume 1, so we probably can expect more,) was surprising on several levels. Most importantly for us, the focus on Yuri was upped quite considerably from the manga – but in a strange fashion. But let me get to that in a second.

For those of you unfamiliar with the basic plot of Hayate x Blade (or Hayate Cross Blade, if you prefer,) you might want to read some of the posts –  including reviews of the manga –  in my category for the series.  The review of the Mini Drama CD, linked above, has a list of major cast members, so I don’t have to do all that gushing and jumping up and down in excitement again. ^_^

In short, this series is about students at a girls’ school who, paired up with sisters-in-arms/partners…read into that as you will…fight with swords for rank, prestige and other tangible and intangible rewards. Our heroine is grumpy Mudou Ayana, a skilled swordswoman with a past, and hyper Hayate, a young girl with a mission.

The beginning of the Drama CD is half a dozen very short tracks, which detail in very silly ways, a typical Hoshidori battle for Ayana and Hayate (in this case against Suzuki, a student with a grudge against Ayana, but whom Ayana has completely forgotten.) This is interspersed with flashbacks on how Ayana and Hayate met, fell in love, wait…no! (imagine the sound of Ayana punching me to the moon)…

…

…

Hayate’s stories go a lot like that on this CD. She’s sidetracked easily. Her sound effect for a flashback is very amusing, too. :-)

So we learn about how they met and became shinyuu, and why they fight.

In the opening tracks, we also meet and spend time with Amachi Hitsugi, school chairwoman and principal and her partner Shizuku…and Hitsugi’s lovelorn hanger-on, Tatewaki.

After the first half dozen tracks the story settles down a bit and we follow Ayana’s bout against Suzuki, and Tatewaki’s hopeless bid for Hitsugi’s attention. The last few tracks are significantly longer….but much, much weirder.

In the manga it is Ayana’s roommate, lesbian Jun, who frequently comes on to Ayana and gets pummelled into oblivion for it. In this CD, Jun has a very minimal role (boo, hoo!) but *Hayate* is all OVER Ayana. She manages to say the Japanese version of “coffee, tea or…me?” about a dozen times – and of course, gets pummelled everytime for it. This is a really abusive, violent comedy, let me tell you. ^_^ But if you’re familiar with the creator’s, Hayashiya Shizuru’s work, (Strawberry Shake Sweet and myriads of Jesus Drug doujinshi…) you’re familiar with her style.

Tatewaki also has a strangely inflated role. In the manga, she’s an “oh, you’re here too?” kind of character, but she’s all over this CD. It’s horrible and pathetic and really mean-spirited (and, obviously, funny) the way she’s treated. ^_^ For instance, Tatewaki makes soba noodles for Hitsugi-sama, and the rotten so-and-so goes and shares them with Shizuku right in front of Tatewaki! *And* she’s all lovey-dovey and flirty with Shizuku while she’s doing it, just to rub salt in the wound.

One of the final tracks involves Jun, Hayate and Tatewaki concocting a plot to get Ayana for Hayate and Hitsugi for Tatewaki. Need I mention that it’s ridiculous, over-the-top, full of random bondage…and a complete failure?

The last track involves Hayate trying to get a night alone with Ayana. Under the guise of studying, she plays the wife, but Ayana’s not a happy hubby. She locks Hayate out of the room, until Hayate shares a tear-jerking, gut-wrenching sob story that turns Ayana to emotional mush. She lets Hayate back in on several conditions…. The next morning Jun archly asks her about her romantic night alone with Hayate. Ayana asks where she heard that they spent the night together? Hayate, of course, Jun replies…and we end the CD with more unspeakable (and kind of uncommunicatable on Drama CD) violence. ^_^

So Yuri? Yes.

Anything good? Well Hitsugi and Shizuku are awfully snuggly.

Tatewaki and Hayate are more goofy than anything else. And Ayana gets the usual tense moment with her former partner, Yukari.

Sadly Momoka, Isuzu and Jun all have teeny tiny roles here – I look forward to more of them all in future CDs. Isuzu *still* manages to be all googly over Momoka in the few moments she’s on, which was lovely.

The sound effects, of which there were many, tended towards the “silly noise” type, for auditory slapstick effect. But Hayate’s “flasback” sound still wins. ^_^

The final track, to my delight, was a bonus track in which all the seiyuu are given a chance to discuss a theme – and today’s them is!: The moment you realized you were a moron. ^_^ This is very fitting, as you know if you’re familiar with the series, since every chapter beings with a variation on the theme of baka, i.e., idiot or moron, in this case. Alot of the seiyuu’s moments of baka-hood seem to revolve around difficulties with Tokyo’s train system, which made me laugh – I’ve been there.

(I’m not 100% sure, and I really have to go back and listen again, but I could have sworn I heard them mention Morishima Akiko, the manga artist who drew up the Yuricon in Tokyo report for Yuri Hime 1, and also drew up a report on the recording of this CD for Yuri Hime 2.)

Ratings:

Story – kinda weird but fun 7
Characters – 7
Voice Acting – also kind weird but fun – 7
Yuri – 7
Service – no visuals, and yet *still* fanservice – 2 ^_^

Overall – 7

It wasn’t as hysterical as the Mini CD, but it’s still pretty fun, and funny. I’m looking forward to more!





Yuri Anime: Simoun

April 12th, 2006

Next up in our New Spring 2006 Yuri Anime Season reviews, Simoun. I touched briefly on the Simoun manga that premiered in Yuri Hime 3 in February. There wasn’t too much to say about it, as the publication is quarterly and we’ve only seen one chapter. (T-minus one week to Chapter Two in Yuri Hime 4) So, I had no specific expectations going into the anime.

The premise of the Simoun anime appears to be the same as that of the manga. Our protagonists are Neviru and Aeru, two female warriors from an embattled society. Everyone in this world is born female, but at some point (it was originally stated on the website that the choice was at 15, but it has since been changed to 17) that everyone chooses whether to remain female (which they must do to continue to fight) or to become male. Most Yuri fans appear to be a bit hesitant to embrace a story in which a sudden gender change might render a lesbian couple suddenly straight, but I’m not that concerned.

The main objection appears to be that in the middle of a really wonderful yuri love affair one character might suddenly decide to change her gender. This is reasonably unlikely for several reasons, based on what I have read and seen so far:

1) This decision is a once-a-lifetime choice. At 17, you go to the sacred lake and chose. Then it’s done. You don’t choose again, and the choice isn’t reversable.

2) The main characters we are following are all going to be female because they are warrior-pilots. To fight you have to be female. I expect one or two to change gender as the story goes on, but the bulk of any main relationships you’ll see are going to be lesbian.

3) The manga is running in Yuri Hime, which is a Yuri manga publication for a Yuri audience. I think it unlikely that they’ll piss the audience off by changing too many of the couples mid-flight, as it were.

Interestingly, all the characters in this anime, male or female, are voiced by women, which I thinks puts a very unique spin on the masculinity of the male characters. I though it an original touch. In addition, several of the leading male roles are drawn with very feminine features.

Let’s go over the bad first, as I frequently do when there is more good than bad. The thing I like least has got to be the character designs. The clothing is less annoying than it is in the manga, but in general, I don’t care for the characters’ faces – especially their eyes and mouths. Most especially our heroine Neviru, looks, with that mouth, just like a sex toy blow up doll. I find that very unpleasant.

That about covers the bad. Now the neither good-nor-bad, but it makes for good conversation:

The opening episode has several Yuri kisses, which are clearly not plot drivers. On the one hand, they are, to my realistic eye, Yuri service to sell the anime to the widest audience possible. On the other hand, I think that they might also represent a tradition.

One – the pilot pairs kiss each other before departing.

Two – the pilots then kiss a green gem-like thing that must be understood to be the energy source for their ship.

I conjecture that Neviru’s original partner and she were (I think it’s fairly obvious, actually,) much closer than just partners. Neviru’s partner and she shared kisses because they were lovers, and the other pilots, seeing their princess sharing a kiss with her partner were moved to do the same – and from there it became a tradition. It’s not entirely unlikely that the partner-pilots grow exceptionally close, as they hold each others’ lives in their hands. Think of them as Spartans. But now it has become a tradition and regardless of partner one shares a kiss, to remember the fragility of life, to remember love and peace and good things, before one boards for battle.

Now let’s look at the second kiss, the one that, perhaps, activates the ship’s power source. We know pretty much nothing about it, and personally, I hope we never really do learn anything about it. It’ll make writing fanfic easier. ^_^

So – let me just take a flying leap here and say that the technology does not have to be activated by a kiss. It might be both pilots touching the gem that activates it – or their intent brought to bear upon the gem but, like the kiss shared between pilots, the kiss on the gem focuses the mind and intent *directly on* the technology, and makes it activate. So it becomes part of the tradition – a kiss for your partner, a kiss for your ship.

In a sense – a very feminine way to approach battle. In another sense, a fun, cheesy way to gain instant yuri street cred. Whichever you want. It matters not. ^_^

Serge then pointed out that the kisses may well be an older/religious tradition quite apart from Neviru and her partner, as they all refer to God quite a bit in reference to the whole thing. So there you go, justification for the conjecture. ^_^

Now for the fantastic:

On the definitely good side, we have to start off with the background art, and the CGI of the mecha. The designs for the mecha are unique and the computer animation is lovely. The backgrounds are, like the picture above, watercolor-esque and very appealing. The two combined work for me, absolutely.

Also, story-wise, I absolutely ADORED the point of view in the first epsiode. Nota Mamiko (Shimako in the Marimite anime) voices an “enemy” pilot. A large portion of the first episode is from the perspective of a pilot from what is (to us anyway) a miserable over-industrialized world, which has demonized the protagonists’ society, Simoun. Simoun is shown as a garden-like, beautiful world, without taint of smog or grime, in which the technology is as beautiful as the people. I really, really liked how we first see Simoun through the eyes of someone who seeks to destroy it. This kind of writing is more important to me than any kiss will ever be, in an anime, at least. :-)

Music was good very good, I’ll have to consider getting the soundtrack

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – hard to tell, let’s go with 6 and revise later
Story – 7, with some genuine hope for more/better if the writing keeps up
Music – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 8

After two episodes, I think we can, perhaps, look forward to a decent anime with some unique characteristics, at least. Time will tell whether it is actually *good*, but at least it’s not starting out from the gutter. ^_^

Oh, and P.S. – Simoun was the name of French-made series of airplanes. Just thought you might like to know. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Strawberry Panic

April 11th, 2006

I’ll do my best to make today’s post simple and straightforward, so you have less room for cognitive dissonance, but I have little hope of you all following the logic. So, with a deep breath and a dash of desperation, I bring you the first of the Spring 2006 Yuri Anime Season reviews.

I first encountered Strawberry Panic as a series of short stories published in Dengeki G’s Magazine. (These have now been collected into a single volume, which is NOT the same as the first volume of the manga.)I reviewed these stories as a whole in January 2004. These stories were all short, plotless vignettes. Each one gave the briefest glimpse into a “Yuri coupling” (the phrase used on the original website which is now gone) between two girls who attended one of three schools – the same schools with untransliteratable names as those in the anime.

Because Dengeki G’s is a magazine for fanboys who play dating sims and h-games with characters that all look unpleasantly young (and who, I am sure, call out “oniiii-chaaaan” at every opportunity,) in every short story, we meet a horribly lolified girl who does something exciting like trip and scrape her knee, or fall inexplicably into a pond, or make lunch. In each of these vignettes, the older, admired/desired girl is cool only by comparison with her partner who looks 6 years old. At the end of every vignette, we read a breathless thought of love, or perhaps a scandalous confession of like or, in some case, even a quick peck on the cheek! Shock!

Now here’s the part where you have to work hard to follow me. *Based on the aforementioned stories*, the anime is not that bad.

Don’t get all hairball on me – I am not saying that the anime is not bad or – heaven forfend – good. I am saying, in what I hope is a clear and concise manner that given the utter craptasticness of the stories from which the idea came, the anime is less horrible than I expected.

The anime, while moe (duh) and distinctly derivative of Maria-sama ga Miteru, and school uniform fetishy, and just plain stupid, is still better than I imagined it would be, because for however bad the Strawberry Panic anime is – it is *still better than the original stories.* (And incidentally, better than the manga, as well, in which Nagisa is one of those horrible creatures who refers to herself in third-person.)

Okay. So, I’m the only person on this continent whose expectations for the Strawberry Panic anime weren’t disappointed. But I had an a priori understanding of how dire it was going to be.

Now, let’s get the actual review over with quickly. Strawberry Panic is written for the lowest common denominator, will have as many cliche’s as possible crammed into each episode and the Yuri equals fanservice. This is a classic use of Yuri as a sales tactic. Yuri is the fetish du jour here.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 6

Will I watch it, since it’s such crap? Hell, yes! I find crap as amusing as the next person. But the first person who tries to, say compare Strawberry Panic with something decent like Strawberry Shake Sweet, which is Yuri by a woman for women (and men), will be shunned.





Yuri Manga: R.O.D – Read or Die, Volume 1

April 10th, 2006

In an effort to enrage more people with opinions that are not theirs, I *promise* to review some new season anime from tomorrow on. However, today, I thought it might be nice if I got a break and let guest reviewer Sean Gaffney enrage a few people instead. Thanks again to Sean for his opinions which are not yours (or, frequently, mine.) :-)


R.O.D. – Read Or Die, Volume 1

I’ll take ‘Die’ for 500 please, Alex.

The Read Or Die OAVs, when they first came out, were a favorite of mine. Yomiko was scatterbrained and likeable, Nancy was beautiful, appealing, and tragic, Joker was cool yet detached and mysterious, and Wendy fell over a lot. Also, the story worked well and made sense. And Yomiko was a very likeable superhero.

Then there was Read or Die the TV. This introduced a grumpy writer friend of Yomiko’s, Nenene, as well as three other Paper Masters. Yomiko was the missing bit around which the first half of the series revolved. I fell in love with Nenene from the start. The Paper Sisters were all emotional cripples and freaks, but were also
likeable and sympathetic. Joker and Wendy had changed the most, and were essentially the villains of the piece, but even so I didn’t really mind as much. And when Yomiko and Nancy returned, things got even more complex. Yomiko wasn’t as shiny this time around, and she was far more practical and realistic. But she was still, despite it all, a likeable and sympathetic superhero, who in this series played a support role for the Three Sisters who starred.

I haven’t read the novels, so don’t really know what they’re like. If they’re like most anime novels, though, I imagine they’re written first person from Yomiko’s point of view, so I can imagine that, while they draw from the same plotlines as the manga, Yomiko has to be sympathetic purely based on the popularity of the series and the POV.

Then there’s the manga. This first one is basically an adaptation of the first novel, and contains the first meeting of Yomiko and Nenene.

Let’s get the good out of the way first. It’s hard to ruin Nenene, and she’s clearly the highlight of this story. Grumpy yet still energetically teenage, she is easily recognizable to those who know her older self from the TV series. She’s a good likeable audience identification character in amongst all these superheroes and supervillains.

OK, that’s it for the good. Let’s talk Yomiko now. I notice that the artist seems to enjoy drawing faces that are laughing maniacally, sneering insipidly, or just otherwise insane. Which is good, as this Yomiko seems genuinely unbalanced. This is not necessarily a bad idea. The TV series carried its flawed heroines off wonderfully, and I include Yomiko in there. There’s nothing wrong with a tragic/messed up backstory driving you, nor is it wrong to emphasize Yomiko’s book obsession.

But you’ve got to make her REMOTELY likeable! Come on! The Yomiko of the manga (clearly less experienced than the anime versions we know), is a headcase. She reads like a person who is a Bookevangelist, and like Jerry Falwell, it comes out creepy. She’s at her best in this first volume, working well in the conversations with Nenene, and the bit about her not taking her glasses off was one of the few really good pieces of writing in the volume.

I think another big problem is subtleties. The anime were both rather oblique in the way they handled characterization, especially in their plot revelations. The manga is as subtle as a hammer to the head. Plot points are shouted at the top of their lungs. “Did you know I can do this! Because I can! Now watch!”

Any other good news? Yes. This is the best of the four volumes. It’s still readable, if not likeable. There are occasional good bits. The ending is rather sweet.

But man, if you want your Yomiko fix, stick to the TV screen. And I say this as a huge Nenene fan. Yomiko’s a freak here, but not a fun one.

–SG

This is Erica, once again wth a note for Sean, really. I have a few of the ROD novels and for the one I picked up and started to read, the beginning was from the point of view of a completely, hopelessly insane villainess. I loved her instantly. I don’t know if the rest of the novel was from her POV, but we can both keep our fingers crossed. LOL When I complete the Marimite novels, the ROD novels are next up.

Let me also remind you that if you *do* desire to picke up a copy of R.O.D. Volume 1, you can simply click the picture or the link above and you’ll be instantly transported to the Amazon page. This goes for almost all the manga and anime I review here that’s available through Amazon or Amazon JP.

Thank you once again, Sean, for giving me the night off!