anime – Page 72 – OtakuRevolution

Random Shit

ANIME TOP TEN (LIST #1) – #9: Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)

Director(s): Hideaki Anno

Script: Hideaki Anno, Akio Satsukawa, Mitsuo Iso, Yoji Enokido, Yoji Enoto, Shinji Higuchi

Music: Shiro Sagisu

Neon Genesis Evangelion is more than an anime title, it’s a far-reaching phenomenon. It won the first Animation Kobe Award in 1996 and it’s consistently on top 10 lists throughout anime fandom. It’s not a perfect show. It’s actually a little overrated. The main narrative can be schizophrenic and there are elements left out you can only get information on through secondary sources. However, it’s conceptually solid. What Evangelion is really about, past the giant bio-androids, the giant monsters, and the often weird visuals, is communication. The problems the characters face are all due to poor communication, by being separate entities who have to make an effort to reach out, making themselves vulnerable to each other. Shinji Ikari (Megumi Ogata) is a boy who has trouble communicating what he means, and so he shies away. Asuka Langely Sohryu (Yuko Miyamura), on the other hand, compensates by being outwardly social, but inwardly insecure, looking always for validation. I watch Evangelion as more of a character study than anything else. The action can be good from time to time, but it’s a secondary quality. Evangelion is a concept-driven show more than anything.

by Penguin Truth•January 30, 2012March 9, 2025•0

Random Shit

ANIME TOP TEN (LIST #1) – #10: Space Battleship Yamato (1974)

Director(s): Leiji Matsumoto, Noboru Ichiguro

Screenplay: Eiichi Yamamoto, Keisuke Fujikawa, Maru Tamura

Music: Hiroshi Miyagawa

The brainchild of producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto, Space Battleship Yamato is considered a classic, and with good reason. It’s groundbreaking in the way it sells its themes and characters and fleshes out its concepts. The story of a humanity on the brink of extinction, driven to desperate measures when a sudden hope appears, hunted by a deranged enemy that is perhaps no so unlike us, the spaceship Yamato cruises the sea of the stars in search of a cure to a diseased future. The point of view is mostly through the combat team leader Susumu Kodai (Kei Tomiyama), a brash youth whose family has died, who has little else but his own skills as a pilot. But he’s far from the only character: the fatherly captain, Okita (Goro Naya), the cooler headed pilot Daisuke Shima (Shuusei Nakamura), the bionic scientist Shiro Sanada (Takeshi Aono), and Kodai’s love interest Yuki Mori (Yoko Asagimi), the crew’s seemingly sole female, also compliment the story. A story of triumph and tragedy, perserverance and humanity, Yamato soars above other works of science fiction with grace and nobility.

by Penguin Truth•January 29, 2012March 9, 2025•0

Reviews

Gundam AGE Episode 15 Review

Episode 15, "Those Tears Fall In Space"

*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Grodek’s team infiltrates Ambat. Yark Dole pilots a giant mobile armor called the Mucell. Flit, in the Gundam, encounters it on the way to the base’s core. With Woolf’s help, Flit is able to destroy the mobile armor, but Dole escapes. Flit gives chase, catching up with him in the control room where Grodek and the others are. Grodek reveals that Yark Dole led the UE into the colony his (Grodek’s) family were in, despite it being a peaceful colony without a Federation base. Grodek wants to kill Dole for revenge. Dole reveals that he and his comrades were part of the Federation’s Mars colony project, a failure that claimed the lives of many of its participants, due to a Mars-born disease. The remaining colonists were abandoned by the Federation. They formed their own nation, calling themselves Veigans. Flit threatens to shoot Yark Dole, but Grodek does it before he can. However, before he dies, Dole activates the base’s self-destruct mode. The Diva crew escape the explosion. Later, Grodek is arrested and imprisoned by the Federation. Comments: Though it was short, I thought the fight with the Mucell was one of the better combat scenes in the series thus far. I especially liked the part at the base’s core. It’s too bad Yark Dole did almost nothing aside from that in the whole episode. Even self-destructing the base was just doing what the Diva crew were trying to do to begin with. Flit was pretty badass in this episode. He easily destroys all the UE MS in the core, destroys the Mucell, and nearly guns down Yark. His chase after him felt a lot like the end of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, when Amuro and Char were fighting it out without mobile suits. He probably really would have shot Dole, too, if Grodek hadn’t done so first. When Flit is angry he’s a pretty interesting character. I think we’ll see in the next "generation" of the show, though, that he’s still damaged from what happened to Yurin. Amuro Ray never fully got over what happened to Lalah, after all. It makes me feel bad for Emily. Obviously the next generation main character is her and Flit’s son, so she ends up with him, but it seems like he overhwhelmingly loves Yurin and is completely devestated by her death, even after the UE’s defeat. So Emily’s doomed to forever being Flit’s silver medal. I feel bad for her. Finally, it’s revealed who the UE are. I actually quite like where they went with it. The UE, the Veigans (vegans? Do they have vegan psychic powers like in Scott Pilgrim?) are the survivors of the Mars colonies disaster. It’s no wonder that the Federation was trying to cover it all up, pretending there were no survivors. However, don’t you think they took denying it a little too far by not even going after the UE, whose mobile suits were killing innocent civillians? The Federation must be awfully corrupt to ignore the UE problem just because they would look bad if it got out who they were. It looks even worse to let them go on killing people. What was with Grodek telling the Blue Desil that his life will be tragic? Thanks for rubbing in the fact you killed his father, asshole. Anyway, the first part of the series is over, and I have to admit the past few episodes have finally made this show worth watching. However, I get this sinking feeling that it will take just as long for the second part to get going. Let’s hope I’m wrong. Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

by Penguin Truth•January 29, 2012

Reviews

Lupin III: Blood Seal ~ Eternal Mermaid Review

"Blood Seal ~ Eternal Mermaid"

Synopsis: When Lupin steals a jewel called the "Mermaid’s Scale", he discovers it’s a fake. The real jewel, another one, and a person with an immortal body turn out to be keys to the treasure of the Yaobikuni. Wanting to prevent a dangerous arms dealer from taking the prize, Lupin and the gang decide to get to it first. However, they’ll have to deal with a dangerous assassin, the police force, and a fickle Fujiko. In the end, who’ll obtain the ancient treasure? A thief or a merchant of death? Comments:

With Discotek releasing the original Lupin III TV series later this year (expect reviews), I was chomping at the bit to do something Lupin-related for Otaku Revolution. Luckily, there was a recently aired television special to watch and review! Even more fortunate, it was a pretty damn good one!

This was the first really fun ride for Lupin in a long while. The past few specials have been pretty terrible, especially the last one, The Last Job, wherein the running joke was Lupin being bitten on the ass by a ninja dog. This time around there were all the classic trademarks of Lupin: A heist, some chases, a secret treasure, a henchmen for Goemon to battle. Only the execution was really quite good. There were elements of past Lupin features like Plot of the Fuma Clan and Stolen Lupin, but with its own unique twists and turns. read more

by Penguin Truth•January 27, 2012

Random Shit

Audio: English: My Favorite English VAs in Anime

With the Audio:English series, PenguinTruth takes a critical look at the English
dubs which grace some of anime’s most defining series in North America.

As somebody with a critical eye on anime English dubs, I’m often at odds with a reputation for "hating" dubs and dub voice actors. But the truth is, there are plenty of very talented voice actors working in English dubs of anime. I’m fond of quite a few of them and have definite favorites. I’ve even been able to rank them in their own "tiers". But let’s put tier rankings aside, because this is just a list of the dub VAs I like the most. I’ve also listed the roles I like them in the most. read more

by Penguin Truth•January 25, 2012March 9, 2025•0

Reviews

Gundam AGE Episode 14 Review

Episode 14, "A Flash of Sorrow"

*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: The battle at Ambat continues. The Diva begins to take on damage. Flit is attacked by Desil in his black MS. Suddenly a pink MS interrupts them. Yurin has been physically forced to pilot it, with her unable to break free. Desil struggles to fight two mobile suits. As Desil closes in for the kill, Yurin’s MS gets between them and her MS is impaled. Her MS explodes. Enraged, Flit attacks Desil’s mobile suit with ferocity, disabling it. Flit changes the Gundam parts from Spallow to Titus and charges the enemy base, opening a hanger door. The Diva parks in the hanger and the crew arm themselves for close combat. Comments: Yurin dies? Huge shock! Never saw that coming. Actually, aside from the predictability, Yurin’s death was handled pretty well. It was interesting that the MS she was in was basically just using her and she was little more than a battery for it as it worked via X-Rounder resonance. This way not only is she forced to work for the enemy, but she’s physically forced to. Though if this was the case, why couldn’t her MS simply be remote controlled via Desil’s own MS? Or does it work better with an additional X-Rounder? Anyway, the vision of Flit and Yurin interacting in the woods just before her MS explodes was a little touching, to be honest. So I guess at the last moment she was able to take control of her MS? It’s not quite clear. I’m trying to decide which 0079 battle this is more like, Solomon or A Bao Qu. On the one hand, by the end of the episode, a new secret weapon that looks like the Big Zam is being activated. On the other, this feels more final than Solomon and the Diva crew is about to engage in close combat with guns, much like A Bao Qu. It’s probably a little of both, because I’m guessing fighting the new MS/MA (?) will be a significant portion of the next episode. Is the pilot the guy in the mask, unmasked? Who’s the blue-haired kid that looks a bit like Desil? The action was pretty good in this episode, especially when Flit became enraged at Yurin’s death and totally dominated Desil’s black MS. If the next episode can continue that level of awesomeness, this show might just turn around after all. Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

by Penguin Truth•January 21, 2012

Reviews

Gundam AGE Episode 13 Review

Episode 13, "Space Fortress Ambat"

*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: With the Diva armed with a AGE System-created beam weapon, the crew prepares for battle. Grodek commands the fleet from the bridge. The mobile suit forces launch. The fleet approaches Ambat at fires, but at first there’s no response. Suddenly, a massive ship emerges from behind a forcefield. The Diva transforms into more of a battleship. Combat ensues, but the UE outnumber the rebels. Flit draws the enemy towards himself and takes out many of them. The Diva nears the base and fires it’s beam weapon at the ship, which is heavily damaged. Ract tries to sacrifice himself to stop the remaining part, but before he can, other friendly forces arrive to assist them. Comments: Wow, this was an excellent episode! First of all, let me get this out of the way: what the hell is up with everyone’s normal suit? The Diva crew dress like they’re in their pajamas. The Zalam normal suits look like Zakus. The Euba MS normal suits are probably the best looking. It’s hard to take the Diva crew seriously with such ridiculous suits. Get some normal normal suits, guys! This isn’t a sleepover. Speaking of the Diva (and we’re getting to the good parts now), it’s transformation is pretty cool. It’s transformed state looks like the Albion from Gundam 0083. Before, it looked a bit like the Ptolemaios from Gundam 00. Considering how predictable this show has been, I was really pleasantly surprised by a the cliche-avoiding scene in this episode where Ract tries a suicide run but is stopped by Flit. Ract is unable to make himself a human missile like Don Boyage. The little talking-to he gets from Flit is a great moment. It feels like the kind of thing you’d see in FMA (though in FMA, it would be a big speech about not throwing your life away). Emily’s really got her shit together now. She’s in full support of Flit’s decision to continue fighting in the Gundam. For a while, I thought she was going to go crazy or something. There was some good action in this episode. I especially enjoyed when Flit drew a bunch of UE suits to himself, and then took them all out himself. That was pretty badass, especially the way he did it. It’s probably the best action scene in the show thus far. This episode was a lot more compelling than the show has been overall. I only hope the episodes that follow can live up to it. Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

by Penguin Truth•January 14, 2012

Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Episode 52 ENGLISH DUB Review

Episode 52, "Combined Powers"

*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Using the Philosopher’s Stone, Alphonse battles Pride and Kimbley. Kimbley is impressed, but is curious as to why Alphonse hasn’t used the stone to retrieve his body. Alphonse claims that the possibility exists to save everyone and regain his body. Kimbley argues that it’s possible that neither will occur, and attacks using his own, refined stone. In Central, the Armstrong siblings take on Sloth, who proves to be the fastest of the homunculi. Pride seemingly gains the advantage against Alphonse, but it turns out to be a trap. Heinkel comes from behind Kimbley and bites his neck. Edward, Scar, and the other chimera continue to fight the homunculi army, who try disabling them by taking out their legs. As Pride taunts Alphonse and his group, a car comes out of nowhere and hits him. The car is driven by none other than Yoki, who helps the others escape. Alone with a dying Kimbley, Pride decides to devour him like he did with Gluttony. Back at Central HQ, the troops who corner Olivier are attacked by the homunculi army and she tells them to make a choice between dying or making a stand. Beneath Central, Envy chases Mei. In the room where Ed and the others are, they are beginning to get overwhelmed, but Roy and Riza arrive. Comments: I just don’t know what to make of Eric Vale’s Kimbley. It sounds rough and detached. I guess it works to some degree, given Kimbley’s attitude, but I’d have preferred a smoother, sharpened voice for the character. I like the transition from Alphonse’s battle with Kimbley and the Armstrong siblings’ fight with Sloth. For a second it looks like Kimbley was creating the dagger-like rocks. Speaking of the Armstrongs, Sabat and Young both do an excellent job as the siblings, as usual. Even with the smaller things, like grunting when hurt sounds convincing from them. You can’t beat Young’s yells when she attacks. Jerry Russell’s Marcoh still sounds crappy, though. It’s too bad that Brice Armstrong retired, he brought a real sense of weight to the role. Armstrong had a certain authoritative air to it. This one sounds like he’s a million years old and is dying of throat cancer. There’s mercifully little of Vic Mignogna in this episode, and when there is some, it’s not that bad. I really like Barry Yandell’s Yoki in this episode. He hams it up, but that’s Yoki for you. I love how he’s crying as he saves everyone. Monica Rial’s May has improved over time. At first I found it a little off, but fitting, since I found May kind of annoying. But it evolved a little over time. Next episode has a lot of drama in it, but it’s mostly Travis Willingham’s Roy, so I have faith it will be well-performed. Well, it also has a lot of Wendy Powell. Shudder. Overall ENGLISH DUB Score: 4 out of 5

by Penguin Truth•January 12, 2012

Reviews

Gundam AGE Episode 12 Review

Episode 12, "The Rebels Set Sail"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: The Diva prepares to depart from Minsry. Federation forces intercept them as they leave. Reasoning with them fails and Grodek refuses to surrender. Zalam and Euba ships come to the Diva’s defense. The stalemate is broken when UE appear and attack everyone. Flit, Woolf, and Largan attack the UE in their mobile suits. The Diva is allowed to pass by the Federation ships to fire at the UE. The Federation ship then fires its own weapons at the UE, causing them to retreat. The Diva is allowed to continue on its way. Later, Grodek surmises that Flit could be a "X-Rounder", a person with extrasensory skills. Back at Minsry, Desil and the cloaked men threaten Yurin. read more

by Penguin Truth•January 11, 2012