Reviews

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Valvrave the Liberator – Episode 01 Quick Review

The 2013 spring anime season is here and it’s a great one for mecha fans. Majestic Prince started things off followed by the promising Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet. Now it’s time for Sunrise’s entry, Valrave the Liberator, and things are looking good.

Synopsis

"Shinreki 71, 70% of all human beings have finally migrated to space due to the development of space cities. Between two organizations called the Dorushia Military Pact Federation and the Atlantic Ring United States (ARUS), there is a small neutral nation called Jiōru that has prospered economically. In the same year, Haruto Tokishima, a high school student living in Jiōru discovered a mysterious mecha called Valvrave during the Dorushia’s attack in the nation." via Wikipedia read more

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Revisiting Gundam SEED – Part 1

If you asked me my thoughts on Gundam SEED I would quickly tell you I don’t like it. If you asked why I would respond with, "the characters were awful," then proceed to give some vague remembrances from years past before mumbling off. Chances are I’d also mention how much I loath Hisashi Hirai’s character art while I was at it. The short of it is, I don’t quite remember much about Gundam SEED.

I can tell you that I watched it when it first aired almost a decade ago. I watched it for a long time, just how far into the series I don’t remember. My memory tells me that the characters were pretty unlikable even as the story pretty much took its plot points straight from Mobile Suit Gundam. The suits I remember a bit more, especially the Strike Gundam, which I consider to be one of the best all time Gundam designs (I have two PG Strike kits). There was also the four legged suit which I liked the design of until I saw how poorly it was used in the series. The enemy grunt units though, man how I hated them (and still do). Where the Strike was a classy remake the want-to-be Zaku’s and like looked as though they were styled by a child. "Eh, here ya go. We just messed with the shapes and added some spikes here and there. Oh, you want more? Well here it is with a horrible mohawk contraption." With such fragmented memories I thought it appropriate to reintroduce myself to the series and rewatch Gundam SEED. Is it as bad as I recall? Was I looking at it too much through rosy UC glasses? Will I discover anyone in Northern America who actually likes the program? read more

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Three Episodes In – Vividred Operation

Naked Impact!!!

(Note: Contains some spoilers, but it doesn’t matter. You’ll understand what I mean if you read this)

So, as mentioned in my Sasami-san@Ganbaranai review, having been disappointed with the Winter 2013 crop of anime, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and watch a couple of shows that I would normally skip because they had caught my eye for various reasons. The second show I took a gamble on was A-1’s new original show Vividred Operation. It piqued my curiosity for two reasons: read more

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Three Episodes In – Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

Yes, Sasami-san!

(Note: Contains spoilers, but they are confined to a clearly marked section)

The Winter 2013 anime season did not exactly bring with it a plethora of content that I would consider appealing to me, so instead I opted for something a bit different – I picked a couple of shows that I normally wouldn’t have watched, but that caught my eye for various reasons. The first of those shows was Studio Shaft’s new project, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, based on the light novel series by Akira. The only thing I knew about this show going in was that it was in the romantic comedy genre (according to the tags on Myanimelist) and what I read in the official synopsis, which described Sasami-san as a show about a hikikomori (compulsive shut-in) who experiences the world vicariously through her brother by using a special surveillance system. The synopsis has since been expanded, but that was the gist of it before the show aired, and that was the general idea I had about the plot. However, something about the previews for the show seemed a bit… off. There were little flashes of scenes that seemed to involve science fiction, action, and fantasy elements. Now, I am well aware that plenty of "regular" romantic comedies and school shows that have those elements incorporated as day dreams and the like (such as I am told is the case for Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! or, to a lesser extent, in Hyouka), but my Spidey sense was tingling, so I figured I would give it a shot. read more

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The Anime I Watched Before I Watched Anime – Akira

 

In some form or another, I’ve been around anime my entire life. A bunch of the cartoons I watched as a kid were anime, and I also had a chance to watch various anime movies that crossed over into the mainstream throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. In the early 2000’s I dipped my feet a bit deeper into that world (including watching my first proper show as an adult – Cowboy Bebop), but I quickly lost interest due mainly to lack of availability, and spent the next ten years or so watching the occasional big time movie that came to my attention as I did in the 90’s. read more

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Thoughts On The Eureka Seven: AO Finale

I agree, Ao. I felt the same way after watching it.

(Note: Contains E7 and E7AO spoilers)

If you haven’t read my review of Eureka Seven: AO, here it is in a nutshell: First half was great, second half was a mess with too much plot and not enough clear motivations. The final two episodes, which have finally aired after an annoyingly long hiatus, are actually fine, but make me angrier at the creators than I was before watching them. Not only did this show have a good idea to begin with – the idea was apparently good overall (including all the reveals and ultimate finale concept), but they felt the need to fuck around for about 8-10 episodes in the middle, and then were forced to cram in the entire explanation and pseudo resolution of everything into the last two episodes. In fact, it’s mostly in the last episode, since the one before it is basically more setup (in that sense it reminded me a bit of Trinity Blood – another show that tries to explain everything in the last 5 minutes). read more

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Another Review

 

Always uphold the class rules…

(Note: Contains extremely minor spoilers, mostly with regards to the exposition of the story.)

 

Another is a 12 episode adaptation of the mystery horror novel by Yukito Ayatsuji produced by P.A. Works. In 1998, Kouichi Sakakibara moves from Tokyo to the town of Yomiyama. His mother died shortly after his birth and his father is a college professor doing research in India, so Kouichi is sent to live with his maternal grandparents and attend the ninth grade at his mother’s old junior high. Kouichi is assigned to class 9-3, which turns out to be quite unfortunate. read more

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Three Episodes In – Robotics;Notes (Actually Five, But Who’s Counting?)

Tanegashi Accel Impact!

 

Robotics;Notes is the third anime adaptation of one of the Science Adventure series of Visual Novels by 5pb. and Nitroplus, following Chaos;Head (produced by Madhouse) and Steins;Gate (produced by White Fox). This time they handed the keys to Production I.G, and FUNimation has already licensed it to stream on their website.

 

  

Robotics;Notes takes place in 2019, presumably in the same universe as Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate (a bit more on that later), and ostensibly centers on a high school robotics club in danger of losing its club status. Its only two members are the terribly disinterested gamer Kaito and the overenthusiastic club president and mecha freak Akiho, who is obsessed with completing a giant robot that the club has been working on for years. I say "ostensibly" because clearly there is more to this story. All signs point to it being more than just a show about a high school club building a giant robot together. Kaito and Akiho are linked by a mysterious incident in their past and something awfully weird is going on with the world… read more

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Three Episodes In – Psycho Pass

Psycho-Pass takes place in a futuristic Japan (I guess) where society is governed by tests which index people’s personality traits. The tests help determine best career paths and, most importantly, the likelihood that they might commit a violent crime. Psycho-Pass tells the story of a police division whose task is to stop those who commit these crimes and are likely to do so. A proper synopsis from Wikipedia…

In the near future it is possible to instantaneously measure a person’s mental state, personality, and the probability that a person will commit crimes with a device installed on each citizen’s body called the Psycho-Pass. When this probability, measured by the "Crime Coefficient" index, is too high in some individuals those individuals are pursued and apprehended — with lethal force, if necessary. This task is performed by a special team of potential criminals called Enforcers, who are supervised by police officers known as Inspectors; the Inspectors ensure that Enforcers perform their duties within the constraints of the law. Enforcers and Inspectors employ special weapons called "Dominators" that are designed to fire only on those with a higher than normal Crime Coefficient. The story follows Unit 1 of the Public Safety Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Psycho-Pass is another piece from Production I.G, directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani, and written by Gen Urobuchi (Fate/Zero, Blassreiter). It’s already been licensed in the US by everyone’s favorite Chris Sabat employer, FUNimation. read more

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Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Review

You must be thinking to yourselves, "Really? Mahou Shoujo? What are you, 12?" Ah, yes. The Mahou Shoujo ("Magical Girl") genre – bunch of cute schoolgirls with magical powers, mascot characters, chibi humor, and fanservice galore…

Not here, my friends. Not here.

If you read my Mawaru Penguindrum review, you know I am a fan of shows that are not what they seem, and Madoka Magica is firmly in that category. It breaks almost every rule you’d associate with a show about little girls in adorable outfits fighting evil witches, and manages to do so much more than shows with a similar launching point. Madoka Kaname is a cute little girl with a nice family, nice friends, at a nice school, in a nice city. Then Madoka and her friend Sayaka discover that not only can they become Magical Girls that save the world from evil witches who curse weak humans, but they get those powers by having one wish granted to them. Sounds like a sweet deal, right? read more

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