Me talking about anything involving anime, manga, and other things related to Otakus. There will be reviews, news, and rantings about anime. I hope you enjoy my rantings and ravings, and that you try to put up with me and become a reader of this blog.
1. 20th Century Boys:
This is hands down one of the best manga I have ever read and finally it received it’s American release this year. The story and art was masterly crafted to complete the feel of suspense and drama. While at the same time the story some how seemed to stay grounded to earth and made the characters seem extremely life like. I never thought that these characters were “anime characters” it seemed more like they were people somehow taken right off the streets and thrown onto the page. It’s a plot of peaceful reflecting, crazy cults, and world conspiracies. If you haven’t had the chance to read this manga do it now!
2. Pluto
And yet another Urasawa manga makes the top of my list. This brilliant and darker adaptation of the Astro Boy chapter “The World’s Strongest Robot” has blown me away. All though this is shorter than his other works it lacks absolutely nothing in comparison. It’s in stores now so go out there and by this amazing series.
3. Soul Eater
I started as a fan of the anime series and after that, quickly began the manga. The twisted animation that we grew so fond of in the anime can still be found in this manga, and in fact its even more twisted. It starts as basically the exact same thing that you would have seen in the series but down the road it starts to differ so don’t just write this manga off. It’s a winner.
Best Sci-fi: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
You just cant get any better than this masterpiece. It was a perfection of it’s era, painting a vivid and multi-layered world while juggling a complex array of stories and characters that came together to form a wonderful series. Everything from the writing, which was by Dai Sato, to the directing, provided by Kenji Kamiyama, was perfectly formed. The series was able to portray a whole new world to the viewer without being to blunt or apparent. It seemed to just instantly throw you into this complex new setting, but somehow, instead of turning away it encouraged people to keep watching. Some how the mystery of how this futuristic society worked seemed to make the viewer even more engrossed in the story. And when you finally get a grasp on the concept of this world you didn’t feel like you were watching a stereotypical futuristic world of plain robots and spaceships. Some how this world seemed like a real possibility of what could be to come; which made the stories that much more relevant and powerful. The characters in the series were masterly crafted as well. Not only showing depth and the ability to make fleshed out characters, they were even able to make icons. The Laughing Man has become an enduring figure to anyone who has watched the show and even became a bit of an internet icon. On top of all of this GITS also possessed the dub which many claim to be the best to date. Casting a long list of famous and highly skilled voice actors they were able to make a dub that even non-dub-fans had to enjoy.
Best Drama: Cowboy Bebop
This is an instant classic in my book. From start to finish this series created classic characters and stories that went on to become some of the best known and highly acclaimed of the decade. The characters and so fleshed out and likeable that while watching the series you find yourself becoming attached to them, which makes the emotional aspect of the stories that much more effective. From episode one it hits you with a power house collaboration of the all star staff which makes a notable impact on the psyche. And on top of the flawless action sense and powerful emotional aspects, it also has some of the best music ever used in an anime. This series mastered the art of using music to set the mood of the story in a way that few series have been able to match.
Best Fantasy: Mushi-shi
No matter how many times I watch this series it never fails to move me. The stories are so unique and powerful and the directing doesn't try to push action or anything. The series is a one of a kind that can never be replicated quite as good as it was. It puts you into this strange new world but you don’t feel lost in it, in fact you accept it. Each episode gives you an in depth look into the world in which mushi exist and the characters surrounding them. And the stories are quite modest but at the same time seem to hit you the hardest. The creatures that are called mushi throughout the series are some of the most imaginative and unique things I’ve ever heard of. Just the thought of them gives you the feeling of something magical that is unreal and yet surreal at the same time. It wins best fantasy hands down.
Best Mecha: Gurren Laggan
Its not just your run of the mill mecha series. There is always more to it beyond the jokingly stereotypical super robot story they hide a message of hope and encouragement. I think it's this message which gave the series life and made it such a big success. When you were done watching the series you were left with a feeling that if you try hard enough you can reach the starts. I think this spoke to allot of people and that’s why the catch phrases of the anime can all to often be heard shouted throughout the halls of any given anime con.
Best Comedy: Lucky Star
Sometimes this anime is seen as the bastard child of Kyoto Animation in between the two Haruhi seasons but in many ways I find Lucky Star to be better. The style of comedy is one that had never been seen in anime before and, I think, really broke the mold of your typical comedy anime. It's style of showing life-like events in a comedicly clumsy light makes it the type of comedy that makes you think "it's funny because it's true." And the use of everyday conversations gives it it's unique Seinfeld-esk feel. When your asking for best comedy there is really no other option, its Lucky Star hands down.
Is it really that much of a surprise? When I first saw this series aired on Adult Swim I was blown away by the intensity and precision the action sequences were done. This anime mastered the genre in a way to no other has before, leaving the critics breathless. I find it hard to even fathom a discussion of anime action without Samurai Champloo quickly becoming a point of conversation. No other series can and, most likely, will be able to match the amazing fight scenes that were shown in this series. And on top of that it had some amazing music. Fallowing in the shoes of Watanaba’s previous works, this series incorporated music as a key aspect of the series. This was the first time most Americans had ever heard of the artist Nujabes and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.
Best Mystery: Ergo Proxy
Sure I would have liked to say Monster but I haven’t finished it yet so I don’t find that fair. And sure most people would say Death Note but I think I speak for everyone that half way through the series it has a major drop in quality of story. So there is only one real choice here today and that would be Ergo Proxy. This series was able to present a mystery that I think few can match. There are so many mysteries to solve in this series it’s enough to make your head spin. You basically start off completely in the dark about nearly everything, but as the story goes on you learn new things that make you see this world in a new light and bring you one step closer to solving everything. It’s the type of series that pulls you along taunting you to try and solve the riddle. And the setting is very interesting, a cyber punk/post-apocalyptic world that has a strong undertone of darkness.
Best Shonen: Soul Eater
Few shonen anime manage to entertain me but this one just blew me way. It had everything perfectly done great music, imaginative plot, unique setting, and some mind blowing action scenes. I honestly cant find anything to complain about with this series. Only a hand full of shonen series has managed to impress me but this one goes above and beyond and stole a special place in my heart. This is not only my favorite of the decade but my favorite shonen of all time. If you haven’t seen this series yet you should asap.
Best OVA: Now and Then, Here and There
This was a tough call for me to make, I love FLCL and Now and Then equally but I had to make a choice and it went to Now and Then. I figured enough people were already going to praise FLCL as it was and Now and Then need some love. This series is one of the best and most depressing things I have ever seen. In as few as 12 episodes it puts you through a whole story that is often enough to make you cry. It doesn’t let up from being depressing and power at the same time. It makes you get attached to the characters and you hate to see all the bad things they go through over the course of the series but some how that’s what is so great about it. It’s a beautiful masterpiece that everyone must watch.
Best Movie: Undecided
This was a category that I just couldn’t deice on. I was able to narrow it down to 5 choices though. I’d have to say that the 5 best movies this decade were Spirited Away, The Girl Who Lept Through Time, 5cm Per Second, Millennium Actress, and Paprika. These movies set the bar up higher than most creators can ever hope to reach and they’ve set the standard for excellence for years to come. I think few could argue with a list like this. Each of these movies mastered their craft and put forth their best effort in animation, story, characters, and entertainment. These will be the legends of this decade that future anime creators will strive to succeed.
Sorry for taking so long for the next on but I’ve been distracted by catching up with my summer reading and watching. I’ve knocked out quite a bit, but I still got allot to go. But I’ve finally decided to take the time to concentrate on doing this review.
As promised in my last post I’ll be reviewing the Makoto Shinkai classic, The Place Promised in Our Early Days. I’ve been looking forward to doing this review ever since I saw the movie. This was actually my first Shinkai experience and it is what got me hooked on his works. The reason why this movie caught my attention so much is because it’s such a unique anime. And the reason why it’s so unique is because of Shinkai’s unique directing, writing, and animation.
The Place Promised in our Early Days tells the story of a young group of friends who are captivated by a strange tower that dominates the sky line. The three friends (Hiroki Fujisawa, Takuya Shirakawa, and Sayuri Sawatari) share the same dream of one day flying to that tower. But this dream seems impossible because the world is split by countries preparing for war, and the tower lies on the other side of the battle lines. But this doesn’t stop them; they begin construction on an air plain that will take them to their promised place. But when Sayuri goes missing with out a word they lose focus and hope. Now 3 years later war is soon to begin and the secret of what happened to Sayuri is revealed. It’s truly an emotional story that pulls on the heart strings again and again. One of the interesting things about the story line is the pace at which it occurs. The story seems to just gradually progress with one event after another piling on top of each other. But then out of no where the story hits the climax like a brick wall and suddenly seems to validate all of those events at once. The suddenness of the climax seems to make the emotional aspect of the story that much more powerful.
Through out the cores of the movie we see stunning animation that seems to leave you breathless. Every piece of animation seems to flow together seamlessly and isn’t forced at all. The movements are so fluid and life like that it’s hard to not just lose your self staring at it. But of course this is to be expected from Shinkai. In the interview with Shinkai on the DVD he mentions that it’s because he was able to work with Ushio Tazawa, and Takumi Tanji that he was able to pull more out of his work. He also said that when Ushio Tazawa was working on character design he said that his job was to re-create the “Shinkai Style”. Ushio ended up using the basics of the character designs from Voices of a Distant Star to create the main characters for this movie.
Another interesting fact revealed in the interview with Shinkai is that he used the actor Hidetaka Yoshioka as a base inspiration for the character Hiroki. The ironic thing is that Hidetaka later ended up being the voice actor of Hiroki. The voice actor who played Takuya (Masato Hagiwara) also seems to be mainly a live action actor. The English cast is mostly made up of voice actors who don’t have allot of lead rolls under their belt, but they put out a quality dub non the less.
In the end I have to say that this is a very powerful and entertaining movie that can be appreciated by all anime fans. Makoto Shinkai has a way of making powerful movies that can manage to touch the hearts of even the most seasoned otakus. I highly recommend this movie to anyone and every one. Currently this movie is available at rightstuf.com for $22.49. This is a must see movie for all anime fans so I suggest that you go out and buy it now. But if you don’t feel like buying something you haven’t seen yet I would point out that it is available through many other legal sources such as Netflix, The Anime Network online, and Crunshyroll. So go out there and watch it already!
Next time I will not be continuing my Makoto Shinkai reviews. As a personal rule I try to only review things that I have a hard copy of (besides MxO). Unfortunately I don’t own 5 Cm Per Second or Voices of a Distant Star yet. So this means I’ll have to postpone those reviews for now. But in it’s place I’ll be talking about my favorite manga series ever, 20th Century Boys. So look forward to that.
I’m going to kick off May with a marathon of Makoto Shinkai reviews. I see the most reasonable way to start this marathon is by looking at the Director himself. In this article I’ll be looking at what makes this young director so great and promising. But let’s first take a look at his background.
Makoto Shinkai was born February 9th, 1973 in the Nagano Prefecture. He spent his child hood here and graduated from in 1991. After that he went to Chuo University where he majored in Japanese Literature. He then took a job at Falcom for 5 years before quitting so that he could work on anime full time.
The first thing that he actually worked on (from what I can gather) is a short called “Other Worlds”. But his first recognizable success would be She And Her Cat which was released in 1999. This was what first started to get him attention. After this he worked on the movie he’s most known for, Voices of a Distant Star. From there he went on to make his other noted movies such as The Place Promised In Our Early Days and 5 cm per second.
Now that we got that out of the way let’s move on to looking at his actual directing. It’s no secret that Makoto Shinkai’s signature, if you will, is touching love stories. When looking at movies like Voices of a Distant Star and 5cm Per Second we see that his stories often involve young love standing against all obstacles. Some would argue that the type of love that he presents in his stories are idealistic and foolish, but when you see his movies all you can do is think “that is love”.
With this much passion being put into his movies you’d think that he was pulling these ideas from the raw experiences of his love life. But in the director’s interview on 5cm Per Second’s dvd, he reveals that this is not true. He said that people often ask him if his stories are based off events in his real life. He said no, that he hasn’t even had a long distance relationship (like the one from 5cm Per Second) except for one which only lasted a few months. I actually found this to be a bit funny. People often say that you should write about what you know, and yet he’s writing amazing scripts out of just plain imagination.
Aside from his unique sours of inspiration, Makoto Shinkai has become known as an unorthodox director from many other reasons. One of which is that fact that he is so involved in the making of his movies. When looking at the credits for his more popular movies we see the name Makoto Shinkai pop up countless times listed under many different jobs. Doing everything from Directing, to Story Board, to even Theme Song Lyrics he’s like a one stop movie man. It’s hard to believe that one person could do so much work. This ‘do it your self’ mentality is epitomized in the movie Voices of a Distant Star in which Makoto did nearly everything on his own over the course of 2 years. While making this he even tried his hand at voice acting for the original director’s version.
I think I should end it here for now, other wise I won’t have much to talk about when reviewing his actual works. Next time I’ll be reviewing the astounding Makoto Shinkai movie, The Place Promised in Our Early Days.
P.S.: If you don’t feel like reading my reviews on Shinkai I would suggest his fan site to gather info on him. They have a large amount of information on him that helped me write this.
As I said last week, I’ll be reviewing Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Some of you Toonami fans might remember this being aired a few years back (2001). From the first time that I saw it on Toonami (midnight run I believe) I was amazed by it. At the time the only other anime that I had seen were things like Dragon Ball Z, Tenchi Muyo, and Gundam Wing. I might have seen some of 08th MS team and some other things that they had started up that year, but I can’t be sure. I can’t remember which of them came first. But the point that I’m getting at is that this was an anime that really shocked me at that time. I had never seen anything quite like it. Now I’m not saying Gundam Wing had a bad story or anything, but the story in 0080 is on a whole other level.
The story is about a young boy named Al Izuruha. Al is, as many Gundam fans are, a war buff. His friends and him obsess over Gundams and other military related things. But they are in a colony with no military action, at least they think. Because of political situations, that are explained later in the story, the Federation forces have set up a base on Al’s colony. In this hidden base they are developing a Gundam called RX-78 (a.k.a Alex). Because of this base Zeon forces have been sent in to destroy it. This failed attack on the Federation base sets into a chain of events that affects Al’s life forever.
As the first seen battle between Zeon and Federation forces is in full action, Al is captivated by the sight of it. When he sees a Zeon fighter crash land into a forest he chases after it to see the Mobile Suit up close. When he arrives he finds him self facing a Zeon soldier pointing a gun at him. He quickly befriends the Zeon soldier who’s name is Bernie Wiseman. After Bernie leaves the colony Al runs into his old neighbor named Christina MacKenzie. She is returning home after being away for a long time. Little does Al know, but Christina is a Federation pilot. As the story progresses we see Al’s life being ripped in two by the war. He begins to learn what the true weight of war is, and the effects that it can have on the people involved.
I’m going to stop myself there so that there is actually something to watch that I haven’t already explained. Anyways, one of the reasons that I love this anime so much is because of how raw and powerful the story it has. The story really shows the affects that war has on everyone, and is very well done. I also enjoy how they show how many of the public are becoming desensitized towards war. One of my favorite sense in the anime is in the first episode. It shows Al running through the city to catch up with the crashing mobile suite. But as he’s running around with wonder in his eyes at the sight of a real mobile suit there is a battle going on around him. As he runs you can see and the death and destruction that this battle is having on these unsuspecting citizens. It was a very serial scene.
The director of 0080 is Fumihiko Takayama. Takayama’s work in this 80’s OVA is brilliant and really captures what the story is trying to portray. He’s a very serial director and it shows in this anime. Everything that happens in it seems very life like. It’s hard to explain with out watching. Nothing in it seems forced or tossed aside. Everything is presented and pulled off in a realistic fashion.
As for the screenplay, it was written by some one very different than you’d expect. A man by the name of Hiroyuki Yamaga. You might recognize him as the producer of FLCL, or as the animation producer for Neon Genesis Evangelion. He’s usually a producer or an episode director so it’s odd to see him take on the task of screenplay writer (aside from The Wings of Honneamise).
I’d like to finally mention Koji Sugiura. He was the art director in 0080, and he did a good job. He is quite a successful artist working on other Gundam series like 08th MS Team and 0083: Star Dust Memory. He has also worked on shows like Full Metal Alchemist, End of Evangelion, Eureka Seven, and more.
The English cast is also something worth mentioning with people like Beau Billingslea (who is best known for his work as Jet from Cowboy Bebop), Wendee Lee (with a list of works as long as the mind can imagine), and Brianne Siddall (who is know as Gimmy from Gurren Lagann, and Tsukasa from .Hack//SIGN). There are more great voice actors in this anime but those are just some people I decided to throw out there.
There has been a recent release of War in the Pocket in an Anime Legends box set. It’s quite cheap at only $18.74 at rightstuf.com. The set is well put together and I’d suggest picking it up if you like the show.
It’s time for my final focus. I really like this OVA, it’s probably my favorite Gundam. It is a classic and I’d encourage everyone to at least watch it once. It has a really powerful story good directing. There is no reason to not like it. Unless your one of those people who thinks that Grave of the Fireflies sucks because it’s sad. If so, GET OVER IT! IT’S SUPPOSES TO BE SAD! THAT’S AN AMAZING MOVIE! I’m better now. The point that I’m getting at is that this is a very good 6 episode OVA and I think anyone reading this should go out and watch it. It’s a sadly over looked part of Gundam history and I think it needs more praise than it gets.
Next time… I’m actually not sure what I’ll review. But it’ll be good. I might do my first product review. Probably involving the state side releases of 20th Century Boys or Pluto, But no promises.
As I said in my review on They Were Eleven, I’ll be doing a manga this time. I decided to not only do my first Manga review but my first negative review as well. When I thought of this the first series that came to mind was the little known series called MxO. MxO is a series about a young boy named Taiga Kuzumi who (after being denied acceptance) brakes into a school. But this is no ordinary school. It’s a magical school called Seinagi Private High School. Incase your wondering, your not the only one who thinks that this is Harry Potter. When he gets in there he finds that the people there can use magic and ends up getting into a fight with the whole school. After some how beating all the students off and then fighting and beating a teacher by using magic. He get’s taken into the school. After this he falls head over heels for a girl named Aika Hiiragi who loves to laugh at corny jokes. As it goes on you learn that the only way for the students and teachers to use magic is if they have special cards that represents their rank and that they are on the school premise. For a weird reason that is explained in the series, Kuzumi is given a fake card that is made to look like a gold card (the highest ranking car) and is suppose to some how trick everyone into thinking that he is a great magician. He has to depend on smarts, skill, and luck to trick the whole student body. Also, this magical card (known as the MO card) has the hidden ability to negate any magic that he wishes. Although I’m going to be giving MxO an over all bad review I’d like to say that it’s not all bad. I was at first (after the first few chapters) really enjoying this series. It had some funny moments, a few good action parts, and some interesting characters and goals. The only problem is that the series is cancelled before these goals are met, or the character conflicts are resolved. So picture reading a 99 chapter series that keeps saying that they’re building up to these big goals and events and what not, and next thing you know it’s over. It doesn’t really go down with the sweetest taste in your mouth. Another fault of the series is the fact that in the ending they go into this long arc of him trying to advance his MO card. This is accomplished by a ghost having him climb a wall or something and if he does than he advances his card. Unfortunately for the writer this arc happens just before the end of the series. So nothing really comes from it. Another negative for the series was the over use of moe characters. The series is crawling with them. But I guess this is to be expected from a modern Shounen series. An example of this is the fact that Kuzumi is, eventually, fallowed around by a little naked woman who has undying love for him. It’s enough to make Daryl Surat go blind with fury and destroy Yasukiro Kano. I guess I should just rap this up already. I would say that this is an ok series to read up until chapter 70ish I guess. I would advice no one to ever read this to the end. It is an awful ending that made me stressed and over all pissed off for the next week or so. I felt like Inuyasha even had a better ending than this. That’s my review of MxO. Once again, I wish I could have given this an ok review, but I can’t. It was a waste of time. If they ever get a new ending some how then I’ll enjoy it. Next time I’ll be reviewing one of my favorite mecha anime of all time. It’s a little OVA by the name of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket.
This time I have decided to review the forgotten movie that is They Were Eleven. I have to say that this was a great movie. I’d like to say straight up that I would suggest this movie to anyone. But lets move on to the actual review.
They Were Eleven is a 1986 anime movie that was based on 1975 manga series. The story is about a group of 10… make that 11… people who have hopes of attending Cosmo Academy. This is known to be the hardest Academy to get accepted to, and for reason. They have to pass multiple tests and trials to get by. But the story focuses on the final test. In this exam the 11 people are sent out to an abandoned space craft and are told to survive there for 25 days with out help or contact from or to the outer world. Now the test was meant to be for 10 people, but when they arrive at the space craft they are shocked to find that there are 11 of them. Now that the suspicion has set in, the fun of the movie begins. From there it goes into allot of interesting plots. Showing how they become paranoid, delving into character development, and taking on social issues of the time.
The main character of the movie is a young man by the name of Tada. He was quite an interesting character. He at first seems like an average guy (aside from the fact that he’s a genius like all the others). But we soon learn that he’s even more unique then that. We, not so cleverly, learn that he was ESP. Also, we start to realize that he knows things about the ship that he shouldn’t. This of course makes his fellow crew members suspicious of him being the extra man (and there for a danger). Another key character of the movie is Frol. Frol is a woman (at least that’s what you can assume by the way she looks, even though she hates it) that has joined the test for personal reasons that are later brought up and discussed later in the movie. This is actually a very interesting part of the movie that I really don’t want to spoil. Another character is King Mayan Baceska. He is, as said in the name, a king of Aritosca Le. Unlike the others on the crew, he doesn’t have much of a reason for taking the test. He says that he has no intentions of going to the Academy and is merely taking this test to prove that he can. The reason that he is such an important character is because many people on the crew rally around him as a leader. This sometimes is problematic for Tada because King is very suspicious of him. He is quick to blame Tada and this causes a good amount of the conflicts of the movie. There are other characters that I’d like to get into like Ganga and Knu. But I’ll leave that to the movie. Over all this movie has some very interesting characters in it. The characters, in fact, are a big push of the movie. You really want to try and learn more about them and how they react in different situations.
Another interesting aspect, to say the least, of the movie is the dub. The reason it is so interesting is because Steven Jay Blum (he is listed under multiple names) is in it. And as if that wasn’t enough, he also plays about 4 or 5 characters. It’s actually entertaining to listen to the dub. You’ll hear Spike, Roger Smith, Kazuma, ext. They all pop up at some point in the movie. Another notable voice is that of Frol, who is played by Wendee Lee. Wendee Lee is probably best known for her work as Faye from Cowboy Bebop, but her list of rolls in anime and video games goes on and on and on. I really don’t want to try and make a list. Another person worth noting is Joe Romersa. Although he isn’t to often doing voices for big characters, he is going a lot of ADR and Digital Tracking work. He worked on such things as Ninja Scroll, 08th MS Team, Trigun, Black Jack, and Yu Yu Hakusho. He’s a man worth noting.
As for the staff, this is one of those situations were I wasn’t to into the majority of the staff. Most of the staff members haven’t really worked on any “notable” series or movies. Most of their other works are obscure and forgotten anime, lost to the pages of time. I’m not saying that they’re bad, I’m just saying that they aren’t any big hit staff members. The one really notable staff member is Junichi Higashi. He is a great art director and has worked on a lot of great stuff. Some of his works include Cowboy Bebop, Oh! Edo Rocket, Escaflowne (series and movie), G Gundam, and Speed Grapher. He’s a very accomplished person as you can tell.
Over all I really enjoyed this movie. It had an interesting story, it had good characters, and was directed well. I really don’t see why this is such an unknown movie. It seems like something the should get a lot more attention. But it seems to not be too big. I hope that this soon changes because it’s something that really deserves more notice and praise. I would suggest this to any anime fan or movie fan in general. It has a lot of aspects to it in terms of genres and subject matters. I really encourage more people to watch this one.
If you feel that this movie would interest you and would like to watch it or buy it then you’re in luck. The dvd is available on rightstuf for $7.49. Or you can always rent it from Netflix and see if you like it first. Well I hope you enjoy this movie and the review. Next time you can expect me to be reviewing a manga. I’m not sure which one yet but a manga none the less.
