The first English-language bastardization of Space Battleship Yamato, Space Cruiser Yamato, a recut version of the compilation version of the first TV series, is quite a ride. A ride into mediocrity, with its truncated, if not entirely decimated character development and simplistic plot summarizing. And you know how I hate people who just boil down long works into a neat package, as if to comment on them with faux-wry humor for an audience of captive idiots too lazy to watch a whole TV series.
It’s been quite a year here on Otaku Evolution. Shuffling videos from platform to platform because of Copyright Dragons, re-recording reviews for quality, reaching my 100th episode, and just generally being exhausted and largely unsuccessful. I may have extended my viewer base, though, which means I think now… *checks notes* 12 people regularly watch these. Maybe by this time next year, I’ll have 16! Grabbing for that brass ring.
But anyway, as usual, this is a review of the English dubs for the anime I covered since my Mid Season English Dub Review plus some of that wonderful bookend material I love to afflict upon myself and others. Flying fortresses! Penguins! Plot threads from my old comic strips nobody will remember!read more
My annual Christmas episode has it all, atmosphere, a framing device, a variety of different anime, some Christmas music, and… that’s everything, right? There’s nothing else to be had? I guess some gratuitous sex would be nice, but I’m anime reviewer, so that’s not likely to happen to me. But I do get to cover some Lupin III (again), Vandread (again), and Azumanga Daioh (!!!). Enjoy the video, folks. It took me a long while to do.
I mean, okay it’s still kind of a thing, the TV series hasn’t completely concluded, right? Well, yeah, for now it has, but it’s sure to come back, right? One thing’s for sure, this OVA that adapted Yoshiki Tanaka’s historical fantasy novels before Hiromu Arakawa’s manga or the show based on it certainly stopped, and pretty much ended with no real conclusion. But here I review the final two episodes, regardless, making sure to stop now and then to drop referential jokes and still really like Gieve, because Gieve is the best Arslan character and we all know it.read more
It actually took a couple of weeks to make this (all things considered) pretty short Halloween episode that might be a bit padded, but I’m otherwise pretty satisfied with. Like last year, I didn’t want to go with a ghouls and monsters title, I wanted something more psychological, and while there are, in fact, supernatural boogie(pop)men in this, it’s very much in the same vein as Serial Experiments Lain in the way it gets you to think about the social commentary as much as the characters and plot, if not more. So enjoy my review of Boogiepop Phantom, a veritable Russian nesting doll of a narrative, and form a few memory butterflies as you watch.read more
Action Channel bled into October this year, but that’s fine, because I’m taking a week or two off to work on the Halloween episode!
Patlabor 3 is a strange beast. It’s barely a Patlabor movie, it’s barely a mecha movie, it’s barely an adaptation of its source material, and it’s… well, it’s kind of all over the place. It’s a kaiju horror film, it’s a hardboiled detective noir, it’s a thriller, it’s a buddy cop film, a tragedy, etc. I’m surprised that Wasted 13 didn’t end up being an interdimensional alien. But all in all, still compelling enough to rewatch without trouble.read more
Yikes, September was supposed to be Action Channel Month, but this is going to bleed into October! Ah well, I can move some things around.
Let’s take a look at New Dominion Tank Police!
I know this is a short video, but most of what I can say about this in terms of themes and such I basically already said when I reviewed the original OVA. Here I concentrated on some of the newer things happening to our favorite ragtag tank maniacs. Well, they do seem a tad less impulsive, but there’s plenty of collateral damage, nevertheless. But what I’ve done here is just a basic overview type of review without bells and whistles.read more
It’s September, so naturally it’s time for another Action Channel Month (though I’ve fallen behind a bit, so expect some delays/bleeding into October). The Encore Action Channel provided me with a lot of anime to chew on in the early aughts, just when my anime fandom was kicking in highest gear, but they weren’t all Macross Plus and Metropolis. Some of them were just Vandread, a show that’s… well, somewhat memorable, at least, if just for the premise alone.read more
Sometimes anime titles slip through the cracks of my fandom, even titles that are fairly well known and appreciated. Back in the day, Key the Metal Idol was one of those titles that I’d always heard of and read about, but I never got around to actually watching it. Since it’s part of the zeitgeist of my formative years as an anime fan, I thought I’d watch to review here.
Teen girl Tokiko Mima is a peculiar sort. She’s quiet, withdrawn, and somewhat naive. Oh, also, she’s a robot created in a rural laboratory of her now-deceased “grandfather”. When she’s left his final wishes- for her to become human by making 30,000 friends- she moves to Tokyo to make it big. The only problem is, she doesn’t have any actual talents. Well, none that would make it big on the stage, unless you count her array of esp-based abilities. But is “Key”, as she’s called, less than human, or more than human? It’ll take a pop idol, a harsh taskmaster coordinator, a fanboy, a robot fetishist businessman, his indestructible right hand man, and a passive-aggressive best friend to bring out the song in this synthiod!read more
It’s the big 1-0-0 here on Otaku Evolution, and I wanted to celebrate by reviewing one of my favorite anime movies… that’s been talked about to death by everyone else already! Don’t be too concerned, though, I’m certain there’s some insight in my observations and reactions, and if not, you can at least be entertained by the bookend material! I spent a couple of weeks on that, so give it a shot.
Here’s to 100 more! (Hopefully people will actually contribute to my Patreon before that.)read more
