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.
review
Outlaw Star Episode 03 – All Aboard the Ctarl-Ctrain
This episode always was a bit of a lull for me. Like the last two there is quite a bit of whirlwind action taking place within the runtime, however it feels like a bit too much time is spent in transit. After putting the kybosh on their nighttime assailants, Hilda and the gang make off for the mysterious ship she spoke to Gene of last week. Obviously this means more space battles…
…However the space battles are not as exciting as they were in the first episode, and if the opening and episode 1 prologue are any indication, the best is yet to come. One can’t do too much with firing lasers on the run on ships that are immune to lasers. So what is there then to make things interesting? Well, introduce a fourth character out of the five showcased in the intro of course: Aisha Clan-Clan. The intro pretty much spoils she’ll join the crew in the future, but I guess it’s nice to see how she and the other three in the intro (Gene, Jim, and Melfina)get their destinies intertwined.
Outlaw Star Episode 02 – Pathos to Gail Simone’s Chagrin
In the fight for gender equality, I believe women have a more pressing group to compete towards than men: The waifu. You may wonder: “Yo, aren’t waifus women? What makes them different and treated better?” Well, it’s a matter of this.
When you stick a woman in a refrigerator, chances are she’s dead. When you stick a waifu in one, it’s for the purpose of waking her up again for some story element a bit of a ways away. The argument has an issue however in that River Tam was NOT a waifu, nor should be considered one. However, that is another story for another day (That will never come). Let’s get back to Outlaw Star.
Outlaw Star Episode 01 – Makings of a Legend?
I’ve a confession. I never really finished Outlaw Star. I watched the first half until the midpoint of what I remember is the Space Race, and then lost interest after that, except for the then-taboo “Hot Springs Planet Tenrei”. However, thanks to FUNimation and an evolved animu home media market which does not sell 25 to 26 episode series in three-volume two-disc sets with an MSRP of $44.99 each, I have decided to take the plunge once more. It’ll not only be great finishing this, but it’ll also be great having a full opinion on the complete product instead of one where I’m “Oh, what I saw was good but I didn’t finish it.”
Otaku Evolution Episode 104 – WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3
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.
Otaku Evolution Episode 103 – New Dominion Tank Police
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.
Otaku Evolution Episode 102 – Vandread
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.
Otaku Evolution Episode 101 – Key the Metal Idol
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!
L/R Licensed by Royalty Episode 12 and 13 – Kingsmeh-n [FINAL]
SPOILERS
These final few episodes go out as you would expect them to if you’ve been paying attention to how I’ve been writing these. I’ll just laundry list some key points, make an additional comment, and get to the real meat of this article: looking back at the entire series and what happens moments after the crux of the finale.
Here we go:
- Noelle goes through with the coronation ceremony.
- DTI is outed.
- It’s a fake assassination attempt by L/R because Mister already knew what to do.
- DTI is stopped.
- Lots of old characters from previous episodes make reappearances. A nice touch to bring things full circle.
- Everything’s okay.
Alright let’s talk about the series now.
Overall: The fact I would give you some key points without much comment should be a clue on what I think of L/R. I praise some points, because the show gives some things a nice touch, but mostly I’m unimpressed. In fact it is not even worth raging about. It has a story it wanted to tell, it has a tone it wanted to sell, and characters that’d rather be laidback, but know how to entertainingly raise Hell. The foundations are right, so what went wrong?
L/R: Licensed by Royalty Episode 11 – Vicious Masquerade
SPOILERS
We’re getting somewhere here. Going to a place where all series have gone before, the continued build up to series finale fraught with intensity and uncertainty.
The show nails it from start to finish with this episode. Without much muss or fuss, we know something is up when Rowe is assigned to guard Noelle and Jack is nowhere to be found. Seeing the dynamic of a solo operation with one of L/R is welcome, especially at this juncture. Rowe does the best he can, yet he is bested by a mysterious Jude McManus, a new DTI hire who for some reason kinda sounds like Jack (30 years down the line thanks to smoking) and also looks like him. There’s a nice scene where Rowe gets routed by his means to protect Noelle, and the show delivers a nice guessing game on the whereabouts of Jack. Sure he seems to be Jude, but two similar-looking individuals enliven things up a bit.
