Mai Otome Zwei OAV Anime

January 10th, 2007

As we begin I never did an overview of the Autumn 2006 Anime season because, frankly, there was (and is) damn little yuri to be found anywhere. The few series that have anything are mostly minor characters in minor roles.

There was, of course, the Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV, Kohitsuji no Kyuuka, which I have reviewed previously. And there are a few series I’ll be covering in the upcoming days, as well. And also of note to fans was another continuing anime going direct to DVD, Mai Otome Zwei.

Like most other OAVs, Zwei is pretty much for the established fanbase. There’s no introduction, no set-up – you’re just thrown into the story, such as it is.

(Let me back up for a sec, because I know I get new readers all the time. If you have no idea what fanbase I’m talking about, you’ll want to take a moment to read my comments on Mai HiME .)

If you are already familiar with Mai Otome, then slipping into the OAV will present little difficulty. It picks up a year after the TV series ends. Like most action stories, it begins with a short vignette that sets our protagonist up as a powerful superheroine. It then follows that up with a quick change of place and tone, to show that she’s also still a young girl and comedic relief… a technique used in many, many James Bond movies, without the “girl” part. ^_^

The plot, which is the predictable “fight an unknown opponent who/which is massively more powerful than us good guys” has some good elements. That is, right off the bat the opponent removes the most powerful forces we have (almost in order of power, in fact) so that by the end of the first episode our resources are significantly weaker than we should be able to expect. The problem here is that this plot complication is incredibly overplayed in anime, so while it’s well done – it’s also kind of “uh-huh.” It’s not like we’d really expect that the new mysterious enemy would be easy to handle…where’s the drama/angst/power-ups/new transformation in *that*?

Secondly, the relationships. As I mentioned, this OAV is strictly for the previous fanbase. All relationships are assumed. You simply need to know before you start who everyone is, and all the in-jokes of their relationships and personalities. Which works fine for me. In fact, I saw that as a strength, that no time was wasted restablishing prior relationships, except through interactions that read as quite natural. So, if you don’t know the couples, you wouldn’t see anything that even remotely resembled Yuri (with one notable exception, also pointed out by Zyl.) If you *do* know the history, it’s easy to see Shizuru’s and Natsuki’s interaction as that of a long-term couple.

The notable exception is a single line voiced by the eccentric Professor, a former Schwarz rebel now working with Garderobe. As she puts it in her eccentric mix of Japanese and English “[Shizuru]’s definitely getting a pretty girl now” – followed by a typical jealous/denial reaction from Natsuki and accompanying titters from the gathered cast and crew. The teasing feels like a group of old friends having a little fun at their friend’s expense…which is exactly what it is supposed to feel like.

The fact that the relationships are understood makes the OAV feel more comfortable and less strident than the Otome TV series. The weakness here is that if you were a first-time viewer, you wouldn’t be getting any of the in-jokes.

All that having been said, if I had not already watched both Mai HiMe (and yes, and I am refusing to refer to it as “My” HiMe”, because that totally misses the point) and Mai Otome (whaddaya gonna call that in English Bandai, huh???) I probably wouldn’t have given the time of day to this OAV. Because in and of itself, it has no depth, no body. It is a fanfic of a fanfic. Mai HiME created the characters, personalities, powers and backstories. Mai Otome played with those in an alt-universe setting, altering some of the relationships, adding others. (Moving Tate away from Mai and sticking mopey Nina with him, for instance. Changing Chie and Aoi from a fanon couple to a canon couple, that kind of thing.) This OAV doesn’t have time (or to be fair, the need) to do anything else other than write a new battle story with the same pieces as before.

But it’s hardly over. Like the Marimite OAVs Zwei will be released piecemeal over a series of months. I believe the total is 4 episodes, so who knows what they may add in terms of character development. My guess is that we’ll get to see Nina’s new relationship with Serge/Tate, but probably not much more.

Whether the plot will hold up, or turn into another Sunrise reset is also a matter of some speculation. Check back after Episode 4. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 3
Service – 4 (inappropriately worn thong bathing suits, unecessary jutting breasts w/nipples during transformation)

Overall – 6

As the first installment of an Otome fanfic, Zwei is a decent enough way to kill an hour. ^_^

Posted in Mai Hime, Mai Otome | 5 Comments »


Yuri Anime: Kannazuki no Miko, Volume 2

January 9th, 2007

I was torn today. Do I review some of the backlogged stuff I have to review, or review new stuff I have to review, or finally get around to a roundup of the anime season this winter?

After agonizing over it for a while (like twenty minutes on and off throughout the day) I’ve decided to get something old out of the way, because I’m sick of looking it on my list. :-) And because it makes a nice lead-in to a new anime.

So, here I am, at last reviewing the second volume of the Kannazuki no Miko anime. It practically seems like ancient history at this point, a thought which is funnier to me than it ought to be, but I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that my body thinks it’s 4AM right now. ^_^

So, in Volume 2 of Kannazuki no Miko, we are treated to the back histories of the two who are competing for Himeko’s love: Souma and Chikane. We learn, mostly through flashbacks, of Souma’s tragic and difficult past; and why the Orochi’s first neck, Tsubasa, has issues about Souma particularly. Chikane’s past and personality are fleshed out a bit through the admittedly biased eyes of her adoring maid Otoha. In both cases, we are meant to admire the strength and kindness of the character. Which works.

What each story also reveals is the true nature of the Orochi – obsession turned to mania, obsessions that use flawed logic to further the plot. And here is where the story simply is not good. I know no one cares. But I really watched this volume carefully to try and pinpoint the things that make this such a train wreck of a story. It had to be in *this* volume and no other, because the anime is so short.

Here is the first flawed logic that leads up to an inexplicable decision. Tsubasa: “I killed our abusive father to protect you, my brother. I then let you be taken from me to give you a chance at a happy life, while I resigned myself to a life of hardship. Now that I have the power of the Orochi, I want you to give up your happy life that I strived for, in order to be evil with me…or failing that I will kill you, or force you to kill me. If you kill me, you will still be taken over by the evil blood within us.”

I will grant that KnM is A) a fantasy; B) a short anime; C) crap, but even so, this simply makes no sense. And that is not even taking into consideration that no one we defeat stays defeated (or that the end of the story will negate any power the threat of “Orochi” has.)

That’s just the one story. The other is this: Sister Miyako forces Chikane to see her own feelings for Himeko for what they actually are – physical attraction, desire. It is sensible to me, having been in a similar situation, to see Chikane leap through hoops to deny this. It is also sensible that she will not just accept her feelings. It’s damned hard when you have no models or mores that make it “okay.” (One of the many reasons I live my life in the open and why being out is genuinely so important here in the real world. If Chikane had a pair of happy, openly gay aunts or cousins or something, then she’d have no cause to angst over her feelings half as much.)

I can make it work that Orochi infiltrates Chikane’s brain through this crack. I can do that, because I’m an imaginative, creative person. If I had written the story, I would have done that visibly, so the viewers could actually see it happening. Instead, we suddenly go from a Chikane who desires Himeko but denies it, to a Chikane apparently mad with Orochi and obsession. Sure – we can make it work. But I resent being asked to do so. You wrote the damn story – you make it work.

Here’s my understanding of Chikane’s logic: I desire you, but that’s disgusting. Therefore I am disgusting. Therefore I am evil. Therefore I am Orochi, since Orochi is the embodiment of evil and perversion of all that is good and light, i.e. you. I have remembered our true history, and can see that you do not. Under the pretext of trying to bring back your memory, I will do something horrible to you so that you will hate me (and the Orochi I claim to be part of) and will want to defeat it (and me) thus saving yourself. If I save you in that way, the ends justify the means, and I condemn myself to the eternal punishment I deserve anyway for being so vile.

If you follow that, you are probably certifiable. Or 15.

When Chikane’s resolve to be punished fails, her logic, which is already flawed, gets more complex and inexplicable, but I’ll save that for next volume.

So, in my attempt to understand Volume 2 as a real story, I come up with these two conclusions: 1) Obsessions are bad and 2) Obsessed people make bad decisions.

Now, if you ignore the fact that much of the story makes no sense, it’s a pretty good volume. LOL Lots of giant robot fighting, bickering among the female Orochi which is marginally amusing, and lots of Himeko service. We pretty much get to see Himeko in every possible kind of dishabille, for both good and ill. Souma takes the lead in the “Get Himeko” contest, but if it weren’t for Chikane’s insanity, she might have pulled even. Instead, she forces the issue in the infamous lesbian rape scene, making yet another bad rap for us Yurizoku.

More interesting to me was the scene involving Sister Miyako’s mental rape of Chikane, using a mirror image of Himeko. It’s pretty much the key moment in Chikane’s snapping. I liked the mindfuck going on – and Sister Miyako, who doesn’t look like any nun, anywhere, ever, was worth it. ^_^;

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 5 (Let’s face it, without the lesbian element, hardly anyone would have watched this)
Characters – 6
Yuri – A very nasty 7
Service – 7

Overall – 6

Remember evil Chikane. You’ll be meeting her again soon.

Posted in Kannazuki no Miko, Yuri Anime | 15 Comments »


High School Girls Manga, Volume 7

January 8th, 2007

First of all, thank you very much to everyone who sent their good wishes for our continued health. ^_^ I’m mostly okay, the wife is going to the doctor’s in about an hour.

Secondly, my deepest appreciation and thanks go out to everyone who sent me something from my Wish List. I will absolutely be reviewing everything you sent, but my sincere thanks to you all for your kindness and generosity. (Getting my mail today was a bit like Christmas morning. ^_^)

Now, on to today’s most excellent review, by our most excellent Guest reviewer, Sean Gaffney.

I received High School Girls, Volume 7 yesterday from Dr. Master’s online store, a mere year after Volume 6. HSG has ‘caught up’ with Japan, so I suspect we will start to see it as the traditional twice a year release that most caught up with Japan series get.

Content first: the series continues to be hilarious. There are tons of quotable lines, my favorite at the moment being “Teach me how dumb people study!”. The girls are as themselves as ever, though this volume does emphasize a subtle shift in the focus of the manga that we’ve seen since Volume 4.

When the manga began, Eriko, Yuma and Ayano were the stars, with Kouda, Himeji, and Ogawa as supporting players. The mere fact that the other three are *still* called by their last names emphasizes this. However, after a while it became clear that Kouda needed more air time, and needed to be paired with Eriko more. These were the most consistently funny situations.

So now you have the manga of Volumes 4-present, which stars Eriko and Kouda, with Yuma and Ayano dropping back to supporting. (Himeji and Ogawa have always had much smaller roles in the manga (they’re called ‘second string’), and the anime beefed up their presence a lot.)

In addition, when this shift takes place, the class itself, which had been fairly faceless, begins to get real people. Kouda divides them up into groups (A Girls, Sports, etc.) and they tend to stay there, but they do get personalities, especially the ‘Takarazuka pair’, our canonish lesbian couple. The manga has, to a certain degree, broadened its focus, and it’s made for a much better story.

This volume the stories involve the girls trying to figure out how to attract guys with the help of Yuma’s bitchy younger sister; Eriko suddenly finding it hard to concentrate and thinking that the others have turned her dumb (hands down the funniest story here); Himeji and Ogawa getting a focus story devoted to their friendship; and the school trip.

The trip is what would be called a ‘major arc’; it takes half of this volume and all of the following. Eriko and Kouda are naturally in charge of it, and find that the others have all agreed to hang out with other groups for a change. Himeji with the A-Girls, Ogawa with the Funky-Girls, Yuma with the Sports group, and Ayano with the Freaks. This leaves our heroines rooming with Nao and Sayaka (as Yuma notes, “Make sure you don’t get in their way…”) Eriko, thinking they’re all ‘divorcing’, then begins to freak out as only Eriko can do.

The volume ends with a nightmarish plane ride in which Kouda deals with air sickness and Eriko with her period, in the traditional unsubtle style of this book. The trip itself will be covered in Book 8.

So, I enjoyed the content, now what about the presentation? Well… they’re trying a lot harder, I’ll grant them that. We now have honorifics, complete with a guide at the back. The cover is handsome, and there are color pages at the start. I could do without the mature content label being in a voice bubble on the front cover, but hey. There are some culture notes, which are mostly… inadequate. Takarazuka is not described well at all, and some jokes are simply altered for the English volume, such as Yuma missing being the ‘tsukkomi’ of the group. But yes, it’s much better than Volumes 3-6 were.

There’s 4-komas interspersed throughout, and the end has a character poll that was done in Japan. The poll itself is very interesting, and tells you a lot about the Japanese audience for HSG; Ogawa’s #2 behind Eriko (loli loli loli get your adverbs here…), while Himeji is #11, behind some really minor characters. The art of Himeji sitting at a desk in deep depression is funny and rather touching. :)

The cover art style has changed, as the Japanese publishers redesigned 1-6 and re-released them before doing 7. Dr. Master are unlikely to re-release 1-6, so we just get a major style change. Yuma’s sister Momoko is on the cover.

Lastly, any yuri? There’s pretty much the usual. Nao and Sayaka are as gay as ever without actually saying they’re gay, holding hands on the plane and gazing adoringly at each other. Kouda, as Erica has noted in past reviews, has an unconscious crush on Eriko badly, and the scene where she poses in fairly outrageous bathing costumes for her would be Yuri if it weren’t so dumb.

This is likely hard to find at the moment (it was solicited late from Diamond, and Amazon has it in their ‘1-3 months’ category for shipping). I got it from the publisher’s store. But if you can get it, grab it. It’s the usual funny, vaguely gross, occasionally heartwarming High School Girls antics. Oh, and you get to see Kouda wearing a King Cobra as a bathing suit. And nothing else.

Ratings:

Art: 7. Mostly for the very amusing Kouda costumes.
Story: 8. Very funny, and more focused than before.
Characters: 7. Ditto.
Yuri: 4. Despite an ‘almost canon’ couple, there’s not much in this.
Service: 8. As always, there’s a high sleaze factor balanced with the practical discussions of life as a woman that would drive away many Fanboys. But any manga which has Kouda wearing a strap-on on her forehead will have a high service rating.

Overall: 7.

Once again, thanks so much, Sean! I’ve got so much floating around here, I’m not even sure where to start. (I know, you all feel my pain, I’m sure.) 

I’m back to work tomorrow, and quite possibly overwhelmed, so no promises for reviews, but I’ll do my best. ^_^

 

Posted in English Manga | 1 Comment »


Home again, home again

January 8th, 2007

Did I say it was going to be a long day? Well, let me tell you, I was prescient.

The morning came with good and bad news: the wife was feeling better, and I was feeling not so much. Luckily my immune system was up to the task and she was on the mend, so overall, we were both okay for the trip home. Which was good, because our plane was delayed by 5 hours.

Narita isn’t as big as it looks initially, when you have something like 9 hours to kill. :-) Oh, and it closes, I mean the airport *closes* at 10PM. Lights going off, TVs off, stores closed. Our plane began to board at 10:15 or so. I feared that if they didn’t get us off the ground soon, we’d be stuck overnight.

But off the ground we got and miracle of miracles, the car service was there to pick us up, so here I am, at home, on my comfy sofa, contemplating sleeping in my pluffy bed. But before I did that, I wanted to share a picture with you all.

This is all the stuff *I* brought home in our checked luggage, not counting all the shrine related goodies and the wife’s stuff (well, I included her Sailor Moon lockets.) This is all the stuff that, should it be lost in shipping, I’d cry. There’s novels, Drama CDs, anthologies, manga, artbooks, calendars, some key doujinshi and a whole lotta other crap. :-) Or, as the wife says, “It’s not crap, it’s good stuff.”

The prize among all of it, is the stuff I got at Fujieda Miyabi’s table at Comiket – the stuff I waited an hour to get, and when I got it, it was totally worth it. :-) There’s an artbook, a nifty bag, a calendar called “Iono-sama’s black haired girls” which is squee-worthy for the picture of Frechet (official spelling at last!) and Arata all snuggly. Squueeee! :-) And some doujinshi, including his Strawberry Panic doujinshi.

Now, I must end this narrative and dive into my pile of good stuff, wallow a bit, then crash. Before I do, let me take this opportunity to thank, from the bottom of my heart, Rica Takashima and Bruce Pregger. Not only could I not have done half what I did without you, having you there made it just that much better. :-)

Tomorrow – reviews!

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »


Going Home

January 7th, 2007

We’re sitting around the room, with about an hour before check-out and heading to the airport.

Now we’re both sick (whee!) and have about another 24 hours to face until we’re home. :-)

Last night I started watching TV when, to my disbelieving eyes, there was yet *another* tuna related show on. This time we followed a real maguro fishing boat. It was riveting, I assure you.

I started to watch Byakkotai, but there was a lot of talking and very little training. The plot was cute in a stupid way, but the whole “joining the Byakkotai” scenario was *exactly* like the “joining JAL as a flight attendant” stuff that had been on the night before in a live-action version of “Attention Please,” a manga oddly enough, that I’ve read.

As I type this entry, there is someone below on the Sumida river water skiing. On Jan.7th. I boggle.

We cancelled meeting Rica yesterday. Wifey was just too sick and I was too worried, and the weather was foul in every way. So the day passed as the wife slept, and I read Marimite doujinshi anthologies and a book that was neither as erudite as the Umberto Eco it aspired to be, nor as easy a read as the Dan Brown it hoped to cash in on. Instead, it was just sort of a constipatedly predictable “ancient secret” suspense mystery.

Keep us in your thoughts, please…it’s going to be a long trip home this time.

But reviews will resume as soon as I get home and settled. And heaven knows I got tons to review! :-)

Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »