Happy Halloween! I thought I’d review an anime that, while not necessarily horror-themed, is a horror itself, and what bigger horror than the existence of Violence Jack, one of the trashiest, bloodiest, mean-spirited OVA anime of all time? So cower under a blanket as you watch this in the dark and I hope you don’t eat so much candy you get sick!
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Episode 17, “The Yang Fleet Mobilizes”
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: After an assassination attempt on Admiral Cubersly by Andrew Falk, it appears that rogue elements in the FPA military are ready to foment rebellions. Yang is ordered to put down revolts on several FPA planets, but before he can, there’s a coup on Heinessen. The National Salvation Military Council, led by Dwight Greenhill, takes control of the government and military, even taking Admiral Bewcock into custody. Despite her connection to the ringleader, Frederica is surprised to learn that Yang still values her participation. The Yang Fleet disembarks from Iserlohn Fortress to fight the insurrectionists.
Eden of the East marks the second Kenji Kamiyama anime I’ve reviewed this year, after Moribito. Unlike that one (based on novels), this is a completely original story by him. He’s an interesting director who follows in the footsteps of his mentor, Mamoru Oshii. Even if this series isn’t nearly as successful or as fulfilling as his directed Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, it has a lot going for it and gives you a good idea as to his mindset and philosophy. Let’s hope next year’s new entry into Stand Alone Complex is more like the previous ones and less like, for instance, 009 Re:Cyborg. What a dud that was.
Episode 16, “Ignition Point”
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Hildegard von Mariendorf, daughter of Mariendorf County’s overseer, determines to ally herself and her family with Reinhard before a civil war breaks out in the Empire. She sees to it that the young admiral guarantee the rights of her family and their property via a document. Powerful nobles opposing Reinhard form the Lippstadt Noble Coalition. Grenadier Commander Ovlesser is dismayed that he couldn’t recruit former Chief Commander Mückenberger for the noble’s cause. Mückenberger, like Mariendorf, is convinced that Reinhard will create a new age. Lippstadt leader Braunschweig recruits a reluctant Admiral Merkatz to being the commander of the coalition’s military forces. After an assassination attempt fails to kill Reinhard or kidnap Annerose, Braunschweig and other nobles flee planet Odin to organize elsewhere, but Reinhard’s men are able to prevent some of them from leaving.
Episode 15, “Before the Storm”
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: The Empire sends an convoy for a prisoner exchange, which Yang reasons will work in Reinhard’s favor in his struggle against the nobles. Yang meets with Admiral Bewcock on Heinessen, where he suggests the Empire will foster unrest in the Free Planets Alliance to keep them distracted during their own internal conflict. A secret cabal of Alliance officers, including Dwight Greenhill, meet to discuss their plans for a coup, hoping to keep a close tail on Yang to prevent him from interfering. It seems that the defeated Arthur Lynch, an commander taken captive at the battle of El Facil, was injected into the returned prisoners, and has inspired this revolution on Reinhard’s behalf.
It’s been a while since I used the Bancho Truth character, and I probably should have utilized him in that Megazone 23 Part II review. It’s just hard to find delinquent/bōsōzoku-related anime that’s been both dubbed and is tolerable enough to review. If only I’d created the character before I reviewed Wild 7, I could have had him in that. Ah well. I just don’t know when it would next be appropriate to use him. But I guess he’s just a gimmick I can do without.
Episode 14, “The Death of the Kaiser”
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: After the Kaiser dies with no named successor, various related parties jockey for position. Reinhard decides to side with the Kaiser’s young grandson, Erwin Josef II, a puppet of the Minister of State, Lichtenlade.
Comments:
You see that two sentence synopsis? That’s because that’s about all that happens in this episode. Oh, not that the story didn’t need a breather from combat for the political moving and shaking, because it’s all good, but at this particular stage, it’s all just beginning, so it’s not at its deepest or most engaging.
Episode 13, “Amritsar”
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: The Free Planets Alliance, after a disastrous invasion of the Galactic Empire, gathers the remains of its expeditionary forces at Amritsar, where they plan to make a stand. Yang Wenli takes in the tattered 10th Fleet in addition to his 13th, with a plan to escape the battlefield with as many ships as possible. As the Imperial fleet encircles, Attenborough engages in diversionary tactics which confound the Black Lancers, allowing the Alliance ships to escape.
Please excuse the poor Japanese in the opening bit. I wanted to explore that Pen Pen has taken on a variety of different students from different parts of the globe, Katsuro among them. I always liked the onmyoji as a trope, stemming mostly from Subaru Sumeragi from Tokyo Babylon (and X, natch) and Sakura Yamazaki from Blue Seed. I’m sure the speech is too clunky and awkward, and I used a text-to-speech feature I found online for Katsuro’s voice.
Anyway, X TV is… well, it’s sort of dull, honestly. I mean, it’s better than the X movie, but that’s not saying a lot. It seems to have the opposite problem the movie did, instead of so many things crammed into one small space, it was a few small things dragged out over twenty episodes. Surely they could have done about 10 or so episodes of an OVA and balanced everything better. At least we get to see Subaru again, though he’s changed a bit from a certain tragedy. I won’t say this is a bad show per se, but it is very slow going.
I had this one in the works for a while. In fact, I had the scaled-down Pokémon version of my Penguinopolis bedroom done years ago, just in case I ever covered something from the franchise. I didn’t do anything as fancy as, say, do customized battle screens or anything, but let’s put that on a back burner, should I ever return to Pokémon in the future. For now, enjoy my 150th (!!!) video, on Mewtwo Strikes Back!
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