Rurouni Kenshin has been getting a strong revival recently. The manga ended in 1999, and other than the slightly infamous Reflection OVA, the series was fairly dormant until last year. Then a PSP fighting game and the Kyoto Arc movies heralded a Renaissance for the series ushering in the upcoming live action film. Even more surprisingly than any of that is the newly re-imagined manga of the original series. Seeing that the Kenshin name still has a good deal of cache with western fans Shonen Jump Alpha announced that Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (aka Rurouni Kenshin -Cinema-ban-) would be the one of the titles they used to replace the recently finished Bakuman manga.

Like any good reboot Restoration is immediately familiar yet feels new at the same time. Clearly Nobuhiro Watsuki has changed and improved his art style since he last worked on Kenshin. But at the same time it ins unmistakably Kenshin.If you have ever seen the character redesigns for the covers of the Rurouni Kenshin Kanzenban reprints then you have a good idea of what to expect.

The first story combines the original introduction of Kenshin, Karou, and Yahiko with elements of the first Aoshi story. Like the art the story feels familiar but it is still its own beast. It starts during Bakumatsu with flashes of some iconic battles between Kenshin, Jin-e, and Saito. It then moves forward to the relative calm of the Meiji era and Kenshin once again gets mixed up with Kaoru trying keep her dojo from unsavory scoundrels. It is a quick little story that unites the main trio and shows off Kenshin’s skills. The chapter end with some cameos of villains from throughout the original series including Sanosuke, Saito, and Inui Banjin. A good introduction to the cold-hearted assassin of the revolution who becomes a pacifist who carries a revered blade sword so he can defend the weak without killing. But at the same time it reminds you that there is still a bit of the beast still in Kenshin.

It is an interesting trip back to the story of Himura Kenshin. I think it has the distinct ability to draw in new fans while reminding older fans what they liked about the original. I am curious if they are going to make Kaoru anything more that a damsel in distress most of the time. This would be a good chance for her to live up to the initial promise she had in the original series.

I myself am mostly just sitting back and waiting for Misao to be reintroduced.

I wasn’t really all the interested in the online magazine Shonen Jump Alpha. I had nothing against it, I just wasn’t keeping up to date with any of their offerings. But then they announced Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration and I folded. So here I am, reading a comic weekly which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. I’m pretty excited!

From first glance I was happy with what I saw. The art is top-notch, very sharp and crisp. The action is swift and bold.

We start with bloody battles featuring Kenshin as Battosai and then jump forward to the period after the war. This set-up works, you don’t know too much about Kenshin and his abilities but you know enough to be aware of his badass status. He makes it pretty freakin’ clear to a lot of people that he is indeed Battosai from the first chapter. It feels more aggressive, instead of trying to live out a humble life, Kenshin is ready to jump in the fray for a purpose. He hasn’t lost the rejection of unnecessary violence, but he also isn’t hiding from who he was. At least, that’s how it seemed in this chapter.

I wasn’t really kidding when not too long ago I joked that if they were redoing Kenshin they should have forgotten about Karou. Blessedly, she is already not nearly as annoying. I believe this can continue!

I feel like Gundam Unicorn 5 is beginning to show a bit of a dip in animation quality. The first few episodes have been gorgeous. You can tell that almost every scene was A Team animation through out. In episode 5 anything with the camera focused on the foreground is still amazing but when you get long shots you start to notice the B Team being brought in. It happened enough that even someone like me who does not normally notice such details of animation was keenly aware of it happening. I wonder how much that has to do with them having to stretch their budget now that Bandai announced an additional 7th episode that is rumored to be over an hour-long.

Unsurprisingly most of this episode has to do with the Black Unicorn, its pilot, and how Banagher deals with them both. There is also a good deal more Audrey Burne in this episode which I always appreciate. Nice bit of double-dealing in the episode as everyone tries to move things forward for their faction with the upcoming prisoner transfer of people who are technically not prisoners.

Riddhe’s job is technically ace pilot for the Federation he seems to be much more a professional cock blocker. And he tries his best to do his job in this episode. But by the end of it he seems to be going towards being cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. I guess that is what happens when you get both the political and romantic “Lets just be friends” speech.

I do find it slightly odd the Bright constantly talks to a picture of Amuro. They were close and even had a bit of a father son relationship but they never seemed THAT close. When Bright gives Banagher the pep talk about those who pilot Gundams that snaps him funk it makes sense. That is the sort of leader Bright is. But I never saw him being that sentimental about Amuro. Maybe I am just thinking of Bright as too much of a hard ass.

Thankfully the centerpiece around Banagher trying to talk down Marida Cruz is better done than the Tomino crazy town speeches he had with Loni Garvey in the last episode. Banagher and Marida have a far more established relationship, Banagher has a bit more heft to his arguments, Marida has been legitimately brainwashed, and she is not killing civilians while they have their conversation. The whole scene with Loni last episode was clearly to set this up but there was clearly some Tomino logic going on in episode 4 that is thankfully not present here.

There are two cameos in this episode. One that everyone talked about that I am sure that Narutaki could care less about. The other was one that surprised me a little. Sadly we probably won’t be getting anymore Sayla Mass so I will make due with what we get.

While the budget has dropped the story is still compelling. I still had a great time with this episode. I hope that the money they saved here is going to be poured into that last episode. Maybe they only spent a little money on this episode because Full Frontal only shows up at the end. Speaking of which even in death General Revil never catches a break.

I finally finished up watching The Earl and the Fairy anime since I was waiting for more of the manga.

Sadly, it ends up being sloppy. They try to cram in so much story in that it feels rushed and disjointed. I assumed that we would be following Edgar and Lydia attempting to get Edgar his earldom for the duration of the story. But that actually resolves itself rather quickly. Most of the series is them dealing with various fairy business and plots. This isn’t inherently bad, but like I said Edgar’s journey to becoming the Earl is too rushed. It doesn’t feel earned.

Some of the other stories are good like the moonstone ring and the final story with Banshee is also strong but everything just needed more time to develop. The idea of the Prince who is after Edgar also remains rather amorphous throughout the series.

Edgar and Lydia’s relationship seems to get nowhere by series end, too. It has a lot of one step forward two steps back moments. Lydia flat-out refusing to believe Edgar is in love with her even a little is a frustration. I’d much rather watch Lydia deal with her own changing feelings.

I really liked the setting, the characters, and the lore but it just doesn’t come together. Now I’m worried how the manga will fare.

When I caught up with Hayate I also got the new Excel Saga 23. It is as quirky a manga as it has ever been. There is a lot more collusion between the Municipal Force Daitenzin and Excel. In fact most of the book is both forces of working together while keeping their superiors in the dark. Of course this being Excel Saga things all go horribly wrong at the worst possible time. In reflection I can’t think of too many other series in which the manga is so utterly different from the anime in anything other than the core premise and charaters.

I think it is nearly impossible not to notice that Excel Saga has gotten much sexier as the series has gone on. It is not devolved to constant panty shots and shower scenes but there a quite a bit more “choice” camera angles and serendipitous costumes then there were at the beginning of the manga. But I am fine with that because it got Elgala out of the bargain. For some reason I find her incredibly alluring. But that the same time she also plays of Excel rather well. You need someone who is just as crazy as Excel but in a different manner to bounce off her at times. I am a but sad this means we don’t see Hyatt as often which is a shame.

With only 4 more volumes to go I am a little surprised Viz has not canceled Excel Saga but I am glad they have had the commitment to the series to finish it. I look forward to owning volume 27 whenever they release it.

I read the romance one-shot collection Sono Kuchibiru, Itadakimasu. Each story features an unlikely couple coming together. Each are sweet and cute sweeping you up in their simple stories.

My favorite was unsurprisingly the second tale about a girl who accidentally invites a delinquent boy to spend the school festival with her. She got the e-mail address of the class president wrong.

They end up working at a class cafe together and she gets to know him so when the truth inevitably comes out she realizes it was a happy accident.

That was my personal fav., but all the stories are good. Close second was definitely the title story about the guy with the mole on his lip. A very nice little collection.

The Ongoing Investigations are little peeks into what we are watching and reading outside of our main posts on the blog. We each pick three things that we were interested in a week and talk a bit about them. There is often not much rhyme or reason to what we pick. They are just the most interesting things we saw since the last Ongoing Investigation.

SPOILERS FOR GUNDAM AGE EPS. 1-15

Now that the next generation of Gundam AGE has started I think Bandai has the ability to really build on what they started in the first third of the series. I know that there are still people complaining about this being baby Gundam and that accusation will never go away. In fact we did a whole article on how much of that statement is true and how much of it is the normal Gundam complaining. But I think they have a golden opportunity to add a little complexity to AGE to bring in otaku who had dismissed the show while not alienating the existing fan base. Here is my list of the top 5 things I would like to see out of the part two of Gundam AGE:

5. A Female Ace:

So far we have not had any notable female pilots in Gundam AGE besides Yurin who basically is a pilot for one episode against her will before getting the “Lalah Sune sendoff.” A good Emma Sheen or Roux Louka styled competent female pilot would probably win some fan to the series by her mere existence. Plus she could make a good romantic rival for Romary Stone.

4. A Broader Scope:

Despite the fact that there was a war going on the first leg of the story it was a fairly personal battle. It all centered around one ship and one crew with some help from some other ships near the end. I think that the second act would benefit from a great number of pieces of the Federation being involved. While that story can revolve around Diva seeing more of the other fleets would give a greater insight into how big this war has become. Gundam has always been about big wars and this series needs to start embracing the entire conflict now that we know the stakes involved.

3. Desil needs to get his comeuppance:

If you make someone as loathsome as Desil and then have them get away in the first part then the karma that hits him in the second part should be equally powerful. If he dies then his death should be grand like a Zabi family member and not something minor like the death of Jerid or Cronicle. If he lives he should have a fitting punishment like Katejina. But he can’t get be ignored, casually forgiven, or given a lazy off handed death. If you keep someone like him around you have to use hims and remove him correctly.

2. The Return of Grodek:

Grodek needs to get out of prison and make an Otcho style reappearance in the series about half way through this arc. The older fans loved Grodeck so seeing the grizzled old captain back in action would get them excited again. Throw him in a grungy old grunt suit and they may finally be happy. Plus Grodek busting heads and taking names would surely be awesome.

1. More Shades of Grey:

One of the constants of the Gundam franchise that any organization named the Federation is always a ponderous and corrupt bureaucracy more concerned with its own preservation than the safety of its people and AGE is no exception.  But the Veigans on the other hand are just bad guys. They were severely wronged by the Earth government but their reaction to this injustice puts them at a level of over the top evil. It does not help that Desil is a psychopath and Yark Dole was a fanatic. They need some Veigans to be a bit more sympathetic and nuanced or this just turns into a battle of white hats vs. black hats. Zeheart Galette is a good start but they need to flesh out the Veigans as a human enemy beyond just him. Also if they muddy up Flit and his obsession with defeating the Veigans while keeping him a likeable character that might add an unexpected depth as well. The attempt to present both sides of the conflict as neither hero or villains has been a hallmark of the series and would certainly help here.

SPOILERS FOR GUNDAM AGE EPS. 1-15

Gundam AGE takes a lot of steps to try to combine the old image of Gundam with a more appealing aesthetic to children. While trying to bring kids into the Gundam fold isn’t a totally new approach for the franchise, attempting to grab both young and old audiences at the same time in the same main show can be hard to serve up. This is most difficult because of its ardent fans and long history, as opposed to working on something completely new.

Gundam AGE makes great efforts of this balancing act in the first arc of its multi-generational story.

I think it is very important to note that Gundam AGE was originally supposed to be a Gundam video game by Level-5 until Bandai decided to green light the story to be a full anime series. Everything was originally written out to be for a younger video game audience with the pacing, characters, and story structure of said players in mind.

I think the main disconnect between the traditional Gundam fan base and the anime is that they kept much of that same scenario in mind when they created Gundam AGE. With a younger audience turning more toward video games for their entertainment it makes sense on a certain level to try to court that audience with the same vibe of storytelling they seem to prefer.

How well this is going to work has yet to be seen but there is a method to the madness. It all comes down to how well they adapt this game into an anime now that they have chosen that as their medium.

There is still quite a bit about AGE that feels like a video game. The AGE System is clearly how you were supposed to level-up your suit in the original game. The nature of the upgrades and even the method in which they are implemented seem relatively untouched from original blueprint. The enemy suits even have classes they are beaten with certain upgrades Flit unlocks by fighting enough of a certain type of enemy.A very classic video game structure of progression.

Also the whole story on Fardain seems more like a video game plot than an anime plot. Flit befriending Iwark Briar and his daughter and how the crew of the Diva gets involved with the conflict between the Zalam and Euba have the pacing and story mechanics more suited for an RPG.

Most people I have talked to seem to think that part of the story drags the most. I think if you were fighting while leveling up none of the section would have been as slow and unwieldy. But as a passive observer the your notice the chinks in the armor of the plot a bit more.

Something basic like the design of the characters immediately makes Gundam AGE feel younger. But as the story proceeds, those aesthetics seem to work as a grounding contrast to the story. Almost as if by creating these colorful characters they can present children with a darker story.

The tropes of Gundam, like the price of war on civilians is still there but there is a bit more kiddie wish fulfilment in the earlier parts especially in terms or alliances as well. Flit acts as a an intermediary for people with long-standing feuds and inspires all those he meets. Emily even seems to forget she is a young girl or perhaps it is because of her youthful spirit that she confronts Grodek, on her own, about what she believes to be nefarious plot.

The enemies that Grodek and soon all our leads are trying to defeat remain faceless, aliens for a long while which gives emotional distance but as a viewer you can read the writing on the wall. Decil is a very single-note villain who is pure evil vs. Flit the savior; black and white. Decil even cuts down his comrade Yurin without a second or remorseful thought (instead of say, having Flit accidentally do it which we be so Gundam of them).

This comes off simplistic without the rest of the story being looked at. That anger that Flit has been fighting against since the beginning boils to the surface. Flit’s reaction pushes him to do attempt something he might have regretted, but he’ll never know since Grodek takes on the burden instead.

There are some parts of the first Gundam AGE arc that are more like the Gundam we are familiar with.

It seemed to me that when Don Boyage died it was major turning point in which the story really started to put away a lot of its childish story telling. There has been deaths among both military personnel and civilians including Hendrick Bruzar but Don Boyage’s death seem to raise the stakes. The deaths seem more personal and more constant.

Most importantly Grodek gets absolutely nothing for being totally right and not only discovering the truth behind the Unknown Enemy and dealing them a decisive blow that set back their plans for years. Nothing else sealed the corrupt nature of the Earth Federation Forces like sacrificing a hero for the sake of dirty politics while taking credit for his success.

Also Grodek executes Yark Dole with no remorse. When we first meet Grodek he merely knocks out the some Federation officers with a stun gun. But at Ambat he murders Yark Dole so that Flit does not become a murderer.

The story grows, the consequences of war become a vital issue, and the grayness of fighting people each with a point of view and grudge is central. Bringing children in and then aging the characters up as the arcs continue might be a brilliant plan to get them interested in mature characters. One will just have to see how things play out. Onward to more Gundam AGE!

It is a hard line to toe in between appealing to old fans while trying to court new fans. Hardcore fans tend to resist change no matter how much they ask for it and nothing says changes will actually increase your audience.

Gundam AGE has been an interesting experiment so far. I can’t say that it has fully succeed.

The Gundam fan base just seems angry. But that is their default state. The anime fandom outside of Gundam otaku has not seemed to embrace the show as well.

But the show so far has matured. I think they are moving in the right direction with slowly upping the ante and the maturity of the story. The story has a good deal of potential to keep this new-found maturity while making sure they don’t alienate their younger viewers.

I wonder if this is a show that will have an audience that slowly warms to its methods or will it only be appreciated for what it is doing years from now like many of the other more experimental Gundam iterations?

There have been a lot of Gundam announcements of late, but it seems like no matter what the internet lights up with as many negative nancys as can be mustered. Perhaps the classic case of people not actually knowing what they want? If they want to do something new, if they want to broaden the audience, if they want to remake the classic, or if they want to add to the continuity, it seems nothing will satisfy the established fanbase.

It was a perfect storm of announcements recently. On June 13 Bandai announced that the newest Gundam series would be Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. Almost immediately after the announcement there was an overwhelmingly negative outcry from the Gundam fan community. The show was instantly panned for being immature and nothing more than a toy and game tie in for children. It was clearly too far from the franchise’s legacy. Then on the 22nd they announced that they were also adapting the Gundam: The Origin manga as well. This lead to an equal but opposite outcry from the fan base that they were just rehashing the original series and that Gundam had nothing new left in it. I noticed quite a few outsiders on Twitter questioning what did the Gundam fanbase want as it seemed that absolutely nothing made them happy. As someone who considers himself part of the Gundam fandom it is still puzzling to me. It almost seems that no one hates Gundam more than Gundam fans. What do you have to do to make them happy? Is there anything you can give them that does not cause a hissy fit?

 The most important thing about discussing these problems with Gundam AGE is that only a handful of details and a couple of pictures have been released about the series. But that in itself is relevant. The “immaturity” angle is really only supported by the merchandising plans outside the series. The plot and characters sound interesting, as does telling the story on three timelines. Randomly, you can buy bathing suit figures of most Gundam girls, not sure I’d call that “mature.” Anyway, considering that I can only name a handful of protagonists in robot series that aren’t teenagers, or younger, I’m not sure what we are freaking out over. 13, 14, 15 seems pretty standard fare that everyone should be used to and I might point out that each character description has the qualifier “at the beginning” after their ages.

I think Bandai has realized that Otaku are not immortal mystics monks whose magical parana is kept eternally youthful due to their virginity. Therefore the current Gunpla builders who drive the Gundam franchise need to have new blood enter their ranks. Therefore marketing to a younger fanbase might be better for them over the long haul. I don’t mind them doing a kids series on occasion to reinvigorate the fan base as long as it is well executed. Nothing says that Gundam is now only going to market itself towards 10 year olds for eternity. I know people are going to counter that they can market at kids all they want but they should do so outside of the main pieces of the franchise. But I think sometimes you have to go all out if your want to really shake up a fan base. Also who says that just because a show has young protagonists it has to be either garbage or dumbed down. I thought that one of the reasons most of us got into anime was that it was a medium that could make very intelligent and challenging kids cartoons as well as cartoon for adults. Plus the mecha fandom has embraced shows with young protagonists in the past like Zambot 3, GaoGaiGar, and even Gundam 0080. Why must they be contrary now? As Adam aka SoulBroRyu said so well in a recent article for Gundamn, Victory Gundam had an extremely young cast and the youngest Gundam protagonist ever but it has a plot that was as dark as pitch. There is a good amount of potential to tell a generational tale in which we see the prolonged effects of war on a population from its bloody beginnings to its protracted conclusion. You think by now mehca fans would be able to look past initial appearances considering their love of the Brave Series. Plus when has Gundam NOT been about selling toys and related merchandise. Perhaps everyone else has been watching a different Gundam series but the one I remember is carefully designed machine to sell merchandise hand over fist. As soon as video games and card games became common place they were added to formula of what a mecha series can make money off of. There are some Gundam titles that got made more to tell a story because the franchise had grown large enough to support that style of storytelling but don’t believe for a second Tomino was not given mandates on the beloved Zeta Gundam to sell more toys to kids.

They are trying to expand the reach of the Gundam franchise. This seems like a positive if you ask me, the last thing we need is a situation that superhero comics have been going through for the last decade with no signs of stopping. If you aren’t familiar with superhero comics, their fanbase has been rapidly shrinking because of creators writing for the adult who are already fans. And don’t we hear so often people complaining that anime is pandering to otaku too much? Following the aging fanbase down the rabbit hole would be a mistake and so far they have stayed solidly in the middle. TV series with broad market appeal have been the standard because that is the way to reach new people, say it with me new fans are born from this. You can’t get that with an OVA or movie. But there is no way you could say they dismissed the long time fans with the addition of more fandom centric OVAs like Gundam Unicorn and the announcement of Gundam The Origin.

This article was original only going to talk about Gundam AGE but then the announcement of an animated Gundam: The Origin brought into picture perfect clarity the insanity of the fanbase. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin was considered an amazing adaption of the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the original character designer of Mobile Suit Gundam, was able to retell the story he worked on to create something just as good if not better than the original. Gundam: The Origin is able to take many of the ideas that had to be scrapped from the original TV series when it was cancelled while letting Yasuhiko take advantage of the expanded story telling boundaries of manga and the wisdom on hindsight. So the ability to tell an updated version of the orignal Gundam story with modern graphics seems like something that would please the old fans while helping to bring in new fans at the same time. But all I hear is people complaining about how Bandai is merely going back to the well and they can’t create anything new.

Beyond the fact that I’m personally very excited for Gundam The Origin, I think it has the potential to bridge a gap. I’ve always said that Original Gundam is a timeless story only held back from appealing to newer fans by the dated animation (yes it is sad, but it is reality). Gundam The Origin could change that and get new fans interested in the UC timeline. Despite what some say, every iteration of Gundam is not retelling the original. Is it inspired by? Is it taking themes and pieces? Sure, of course. But it is a mistake to ignore all the differences, too. New, yet familiar, is actually a good and realistic goal.

So you can’t give the Gundam fanbase a series with an original premise because then they feel cheated that you are not giving them the Gundam they love. You can’t give them more of what they liked because they claim you are just regurgitating the same story again and again. So apparently you have to toe the line on an incredibly narrow path to give them a show that is radically new and different while giving them exactly all the things they loved in the past. While you can make a show like that it is so amazingly hard to do and you will only do so on rare occasion. If everyone could easily make something radically revolutionary but still solidly enjoyable then the entertainment industry would be a much easier field to work in. But don’t believe the lies the Gundam fans tell you as well. First off all the radical Gundam series have been universally hated when they came out. G Gundam, Turn A, and Gundam X were all panned harshly by the fandom when they first came out (heck X was cancelled) but only with many years of reflection has random realized why those were great additions to the Gundam Universe. If I was Bandai I would be gun-shy about innovating as well if that is the reaction I am going to get. Recognition 10 years down the line does not pay the bills today. At the same time if you are too close the formula they complain as well. I can’t remember how many times in the last month heard people state that  Gundam is pretty much the same story again and again. The fan base has even begun to turn against Gundam Unicorn which I would have assumed was an impossibility years ago. But they seem to now even hate anything that is an amazingly crafted part of the Universal Century. It seems nothing makes them happy.

Despite what nostalgia glasses might tell you, original Gundam was aimed at children, with toy and model kit tie-ins. It built a teen audience which included women, believe it! No matter how many times you watch Zeta Gundam, Kamile is still a teenager and acts like one. They added in transforming Gundams because they wanted to sell toys, it is true. I don’t know if Gundam AGE or Gundam The Origin is going to be great, average, or terrible but I’m going to judge it based on actually watching some of the show.

Overall I think that everything I said before is actually based on lies. The fans don’t want a new show that is amazingly innovate or a show exactly like the show they loved. Gundam fans want to dwell eternally in the feeling of the first Gundam show they truly loved. It does not matter if it was Zeta, SEED, or anything else in the franchise. They want that first feeling they fell in love with. They wish to recapture that lightening in a bottle. They want the Gundam show that will have them reborn as Gundam virgins. This is not only a self-defeating attitude for the fandom but also for their own personal enjoyment. I’m not saying that fandom has to accept any slop that is thrown on their plate. For all I know Gundam AGE might be a wretched abomination worse than the lovechild of Double Zeta and 0083. Gundam: The Origin might be a worse adaption than The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But I believe that you should give these shows a chance to prove themselves. I will give these shows a few episodes to prove what they are made of. But the fanbase has already judged for themselves based on a few scraps of information which I think points to their unhealthy attitudes toward their fandom more than anything else could have.

All the way back in my 2009 review of Gundam X I promised to explain my theories on the show with spoilers and then promptly forgot to ever do such a thing.  In the article I theorized that Gundam X was partially a critique of the certain aspects of the Universal Century of Gundam but then stated that any detailed analysis would actually be a biggest spoiler for the series possible. Since the whole purpose of the Ballads of the Earth and the Moon articles was to look at the two somewhat unappreciated Gundam series I felt like spoilers would have gone against the spirit of getting people to check out the series with an unprejudiced attitude. But I am finally going to unleash my little theory for everyone who has seen the show.

I think that one of the main points of Gundam X is that the mythology and possibilities of Newtypes in Gundam 0079 is full of hooey. Tomino presents Newtypes as a positive step forward in evolution and man’s true potential being awakened. While the Newtype’s psychic powers are mainly used for combat in the Universal Century it is often stated that their powers  let them understand people and concepts better. In fact it is due to the action of key Newtype like Amuro Ray and Char Aznable that the One Year war actually ends in one year as opposed to dragging on for years. Throughout the Universal Century it is Newtypes that are at the center of major changes for better and for worse. They are the movers and the shakers. So what is different in Gundam X?

Throughout Gundam X Jamil Neate and his crew tries protect all the Newtypes they can find while trying to discover the secret buried before the apocalypse. The grand reveal in Gundam X comes from the first Newtype D.O.M.E. when they discover him on the moon. They learn that everything they were told about Newtypes being the ultimate form of mankind and the destined architects of the future was a lie. The Earth and Space governments both knew that Newtypes were nothing more than humans with unusual beneficial mutations but needed something to rally the population around an unceasingly unpopular prolonged and bloody war. With no one to cut through the madness of the increasingly desperate and  insane leadership the war came to the apocalyptic ending that it does in Gundam X with a massive colony drop devastating both sides. And so Newtypes wound up with a sizable but largely undeserved legacy after the war.

I can’t help but think the portrayal of Newtype in Gundam X is not just an alternate timeline than the original Gundam but a critique on the idea of the show. Gundam X posits the idea that mankind can not look to evolution to solve its problems. Looking toward the idea of a scientific based savior or miracle is just as foolish as looking toward a mystical savior.  We must look to ourselves as we are today and improve our condition with hard work, sacrifice, and innovation. In the end Newtypes did not save the people of Gundam X and they will not save us. Only an honest desire to change will do that. That is the true message of Gundam X.

The last episode Gundam Unicorn left us with not so much a cliff hanger as a short pause before the crescendo that is the battle that opens up The Ghost of Laplace. While we get some conversation and character moments this episode is mostly a series of battles. Thankfully these battles are story relevant as opposed to lovely but time-wasting mecha porn filler. The battles are as engaging as they have been in the past although we don’t get much action out of Full Frontal. He mainly seems to be doing the Char the Manipulator not Char the Action Rival shtick this episode. We learn quite a bit about Marida Cruz and how she ties into previous Gundam material. We also get some mandatory Newtype nudity and trippyness as is a UC Gundam tradition. I did realize at the end of the episode that my Snarky Reductionist Theater title for the show would be Mobile Suit Gundam: National Treasure. It seems the main plot shall be Banagher Links pretending to be a calm version of Nicolas Cage as he goes around the historical sites of the Gundam universe solving puzzles that will unlock Laplace’s Box as he is chased by agents of various secret societies.  The end of this episode will seem VERY familiar to anyone who has seen a good deal of Universal Century Gundam but it continues the tradition of getting the audience excited for the next episode of Unicorn which is important in an OVA series like this.

I watched the short animation Out of Sight from Taiwan by recommendation from Twitter. It features a little girl whose bag is stolen, her dog then chases down the thief leaving the girl on her own searching the city for him. This is a brilliant piece of work incorporating all five senses in order bring the world to life. The design is stand-out while the little girl wanders the city as it comes in and out of focus. Beautiful, sweet, excellent.

Princess Tutu ends loud and strong as it should with an emotional climax as well as a full exploration of the themes of the show. The series wisely knows how to pace itself as it slowly removes the comedy elements so that the change does not come off as a sudden tonal shift. Included in this shift are some darker elements than what had come before including the revelation of a murderous secret society within the town. Princess Tutu also wisely changes the formula of the show half way through so it is not the same heart shard hunting that it was in the first half. The ending seems very quick but maybe because I was on the edge of my seat because of what had built up to it before hand. No matter how quickly it ended the show made sure to tie up all the major loose threads and have a satisfying conclusion. I really do think this is a series that everyone should who likes deconstruction and is fascinated by stories about storytelling. On top of it all I was highly amused that Drosselmeyer is the essence of who we are complaining about in a previous article. It is a show that very unique and will be mentioned as a hidden gem for years to come.

The Switch OVA like so many others assumes that you have read at least a little of the manga. This is a story that happens in the middle and even the signature “switch” doesn’t occur in these two episodes. Or rather it isn’t obvious that it happens I should say. This is fine for me, but it is worth noting to anyone unfamiliar. The case for the OVA involves a botanical center that is involved in producing a drug from Hal and Kai’s latest case. As Hal infiltrates the drug dealer’s gang, Kai begins working undercover at the gardens. As per usual Kai trusts way too much and gets in over his head. The final scenes are really tense and the story finishes open-ended.

The 8th Kara no Kyoukai movie is an epilogue that came with Blu-Ray box set. It is clearly an epilogue only for hardcore Nasu fans as it is a half an hour conversation between Mikiya and Shiki’s hidden third personality as they discuss Shiki’s powers. They mostly tie up some of the philosophical threads as well as some of the minor plot elements as well. It is well animated as they have their little conversation in the snow with some beautiful backgrounds and CG snow effects but all in all it is just a half an hour of two people chatting under a street light. There is absolutely no action and there is a whole bunch of navel gazing. I enjoyed it immensely because I am an odd human being but it quite easily could be the most mind numbing part of the series to anyone else. If you found yourself yawning during any of the explanations of magical systems and philosophy during previous movies you can easily skip this part and be none the worse for the wear. Considering that this did reasonably well they could always animate the Gospel in the Future bonus story as well but I would not hold my breath for that. If it end here I will be satisfied. They have gone above and beyond.

I rewatched the first episode of Neuro: Supernatural Detective since VIZ started streaming the series recently. It features Neuro a demon who eats mysteries. He has come to the human world because none of the demon world puzzles satisfying him anymore. In order to find great mysteries he strikes a bargain with Yako to use her as a genius child detective while trying to solve a mystery of her past. It was a nice refresher on just how insane the series is; it is truly a mash-up of crazy shonen with mystery. But don’t expect to be solving any of the cases here, they tend not to show you all the clues, but the ridiculousness of the show makes up for it.

Will this be the last time we mention Ryougi Shiki in an Ongoing Investigation? Not if I can help it!

Flawed works are sometimes the most special of all; they are chance taking stories that don’t quite have all the details worked out. When breaking new ground it is no surprise when one gets lost along the way. This can occur in many different facets from having the amount of episodes suddenly shortened due to low-ratings or lulls in the middle of the story as they try to stretch or even extraneous characters taking up too much time. But these are also stories that surprise you with their decisions and that’s a most powerful and memorable reaction.

The examples that spring to mind immediately are two of the biggest game changing mecha shows of all time, Mobile Suit Gundam and The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Both shows constantly had their episodes counts changed during their production leading to major changes in the story during production which were often detrimental. They both have wildly inconsistent animation due to budgetary constraints. Gundam was plagued with odd dialog and Tomino’s peculiar characterization. The last third of Macross is usually considered the weakest and feels tacked on. Neither show is objectively flawless and can be picked apart rather easily.  But they were innovated and bold for their time. They both changed the way people look at mecha forever. The characterization and formulas of both shows would influence countless imitators, protegees, and successors.

Any game changing show really depends on the context of its release, more often than not this can be summed up by what year it came out. The title that comes to mind for me is Space Battleship Yamato, a classic, but not a flawless work. Parts can be hard to watch now, if you hadn’t seen it when it was more fresh, without the knowledge of its importance in those early anime days. But there is no denying the impact of this space opera that showed that a dramatic anime could garner a huge fanbase. The medium was different after Yamato hit the airwaves and likewise the world of anime and its fans changed much with the premiere of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Love it or hate it, think it is overrated or the best thing ever, some people would (and have) describe the anime scene as pre- and post-Eva. And just like many that came before it, watching it now and not acknowledging what the world was like when it came out can make you view it very differently. Even for myself, seeing The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzamiya after the fact gave it a different feeling.

In contrast think of the works that you think of as near flawless masterpieces. Like any piece of art they are flawed but for the most part they are solid works that get almost universal acclaim. The cherished works of Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki are often cited as shows that inspire creator to go into animation. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is awe-inspiring and beautifully crafted. But how often do you see people trying to imitate them? But how often are they considered revolutionary? How often do they change how anime in the genre that produced them? Oddly enough as amazing as these works are they rarely go on to be as influential as their ugly ducking cousins.

A perfect 10 in anime, personally I think it quite rare; even in arbitrary grading like MyAnimeList, I am pretty stingy. And just looking at it, with the exception of the original Gundam movie trilogy (which is a remake anyway) I can say that none of those shows changed the face of anime forever. There can be a difference between being a masterpiece and being revolutionary. Where would we be without the risk takers? Not even the greatest of them all, Osamu Tezuka, did everything perfect. And I don’t think any of us mind too much. Even if something is imperfect, or a flop, it can inspire other to think differently.

It comes down to the fact that a flawed work can be improved up. A masterpiece is often created in the prime of a genre. The flaws and kinks of the genre have been tested so a great director can come in and take what has come before it and make it sing. But something with almost no room for improvement might be a challenge and an inspiration to live up to  as an ideal they are sadly often creative dead ends. A flawed work on the other hand says to a creator that they can do better.  When are show makes tragic mistakes but is still inspiring and enjoyable it often gives creators a direction to work towards with a road map towards an even better creation. New frontiers are not only filled with new ideas but with new dangers and mistakes to be made. A flawed work is often the best soil for new frontiers.

I really enjoy doing this post. Yeah, everyone does one, but that is because they are fun! For good or ill I know what kind of year I’ve had when I do this post.

Best Anime of 2010 or the Junmai Daiginjo-shu of Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn by Sunrise I know it seems impossible but Gundam Unicorn might actually be the one modern series that a majority of Gundam fans can get behind without their normal bickering. It incorporates the newest and flashiest technology while keeping true to the strength and spirit of the original Universal Century series. If you did not know better you would assume that Yoshiyuki Tomino played a part in the creation of this series for who seamlessly it works itself into the universe. The characters for the series harken back to the former archetypes set by its predecessors while not seeming like clones. Obviously a good deal of money and love was poured into this series because it consistently looks amazing. I look forward to learning the secrets of the Laplace Box and the RX-0.

Runner up: House of Five Leaves by Manglobe An absorbing and atmospheric character based historical drama. Based on seinen manga it is an adult work for both sexes that continues the tradition of great noitaminA anime.

Giant Killing by Studio DEEN When thinking this over, I had to ask myself what was I most anxious to watch each week? What did I want another season of (and thought it could sustain it)? I arrived at my answer pretty quickly. It was Giant Killing’s approach to characters that impressed me throughout the season. Never did the show bang you over the head with who these people were, instead we were shown through small actions, bits of conversations, and of course their approach to soccer. And best of all we got to see everyone involved when it comes to sports from the players to the fans, from the press to the managing staff. Everyone had a role but our main character was not a star or up and coming player, but rather the coach. Tatsumi makes this show and gives a new perspective for a sports anime. Perhaps Giant Killing isn’t the most thought-provoking showing of the year, but it did things just a little bit differently and it never faltered.

Runner up: Kuragehime by Brain’s Base (second mostly because I haven’t seen how it ends yet) This is a very absorbing comedy about a house full of girl geeks whose lives get turned upside down when cross-dressing Kurnosuke takes an interest in them. This is the most genuine depiction of geeky girls I’ve seen to date without being pandering. And it is also turning into a tender romance as well.

Anime Man of the Year or Manlier than Isaiah Mustafa

Toma Kamijo from Toaru Majutsu no Index Yeah. I picked Toma Kamijo. I know everyone just considers A Certain Magical Index the world’s most inefficient Railgun delivery system but I actually like the stories involving Toma and Index as well. Toma has the very unusual power of a totally defensive ability of power negation. From what I have seen characters with  defensive abilities are almost always less popular than characters with offensive powers. I think it makes him stand out from the normal shonen protagonist while keeping the fights more interesting and creative in the process. I also find the fact that he is an amnesic interesting in the fact that we knew the character before he gained amnesia so his memory loss is not a back story delaying device. Also they bring up his amnesia just enough that it is a problem for him but never letting it define him. Finally he delivers a running uppercut and flying right hook to a petite nun voiced by Rie Kugimiya. That alone should have earned him an eternal fan following.

Shizuo Heiwajima from Durarara!! This was a pretty easy choice. Durarara!! had its up’s and down’s, but Shizuo was consistently the highlight of the show. A bartender in Ikebukuro, complete with garb, but also the strongest fighter and one of the most feared in the city as well. When he first appears he is hurling a vending machine, and this wouldn’t be the first or last time for that, then we quickly learn he knows a bit about the nefarious Izaya and is a good friend of the headless, motorcycle riding Celty. Yeah, Ikebukuro has a lot of crazy supernatural goings on and Shizuo super-strength just might be related as well. But Shizuo doesn’t want to be violent, it has led him to heartbreak, his control is always on the verge of breaking but we get to see him finally embrace who he is and even see a bit of his journey of redemption.

Anime Woman of the Year or A Good Woman is Hard to Find

Erika Kurumi from Heartcatch PreCure! Narutaki and I certainly had a hard time picking a woman of the year for 2010. I myself had to go to a show for little girls to find someone but within that show there were a great selection of characters to choose from. I picked Erika most because she deviates a bit from my standard choices (I would normally pick Itsuki). She is certainly the most standard girly girl of the 4 Cures with dreams of becoming a world-famous designer. She is energetic, optimistic, and filled with seemingly limitless self-confidence. She is genuinely friendly and loves meeting, helping, and encouraging others. But she is not just a prefect Mary Sue. While she is totally gung-ho about things she is passionate about she tends to be a slacker in all other fields putting off anything she does not care about. While she is super personable she also tends to forget about personal boundaries and tact. She can also be petty and jealous especially when it comes to her sister who has done more than her. But like the rest of the Cures one of the main themes of the show is each of them overcoming their flaws as they grow as people as well as magical girls. She is an utterly charming character who is a great role model for any of the girls watching the show.

Nino from Arakawa Under the Bridge Nino’s weird-status, though perhaps not so weird as her neighbors, puts her on top for me. Yes, she is a woman who believes she is an alien from Venus and has decided to live in an odd commune under a bridge, but that just shows her independence! Her straight-forward and simple approach to the world makes hee way she sees things actually quite perceptive; she clears away the clutter and is even poignant at times. This is shown mostly through he relationship with Kou a guy who at first is completely bogged down by the expectations of society. One of my favorite lines to him was, “We want to know who you are not what you have.” Brilliant.

Best Long Running Manga Arc or Why You Keep Reading 20 Books into the Series

The Marineford Arc – One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Ch. 549-580) The Marineford Arc is the conclusion of the series if arc with a solo Luffy trying to save his brother from being executed. The final leg of the rescue ends with an all at war between the marines and the Whitebeard pirates and their allies. It is a nonstop series of fights between old favorites like Sir Crocodile and Smoker, some characters who had only been hinted at like Jimbei and Admiral Akainu, or new characters like Vista and Vice-Admiral Dalmatian. It ends with some unexpected deaths and a dramatic and series altering conclusion. An unforgettable arc in an unforgettable series.

The God Killer Arc – Kekkaishi by Yellow Tanabe (Ch. 170-current; English release) The current goings on of Kekkaishi are pretty heavy and involve a lot of players, both old and new, creating a wide scope. When a powerful spirit landed in Karasumori, Yoshi and Tokine were on it, but things quickly spiraled out of control and Tokine ends up destroying the God because she didn’t have a choice. However, this incident set in motion a major investigation and we soon learned that Gods were being taken out all across the land, now making Tokine the prime suspect. Everyone is affected by this and even Yoshimori’s mother may know something. It’s a family affair and much, much more as this engrossing mystery continues to build. 

Worst Thing I Watched or Just Because Twitter Likes it Doesn’t Make it Good

Angel Beats! by P.A. Works I am not one to stick to the theory that a leopard cannot change his spots. I wish to believe that it is hard for  people to change but they can surprise you if you let them. That said I also do not ignore everything I have seen in the past being irrelevant as well. So when everyone insisted that despite its origin from Jun Maeda that Angel Beats! was totally different from any of their past works and that by not watching it I was doing myself a disservice I was skeptical. But Angel Beats! show itself to be a Key show as its very heart that just had a clever new coat of paint on it. It still had the same emotionally manipulative maudlin story as its core and any action or social commentary was just window dressing to the standard Jun Maeda story I despise. Also throwing on an all girl band to cash in on the popularity K-ON! did not win it any points in my mind as well. Yes I am a monster for not liking this show and I do not care.

Yosuga no Sora by feel. It seems there is always one show a year that I watch for some unknown reason and then want to claw my eyes out afterward. Yosuga no Sora is based on an incest, harem game. Yeah, this show was not something that was in any way, shape, or form going to appeal to me. Still besides the fact that there is a lot of sexual situations and nudity, this show is utterly boring with lifeless characters. It is also the show that has reminded me they really need to get a handle on TV shows, this should have been direct to video porn.

Most Desirable Piece of Merchandise or The Best Readers Would Buy This For Us

Crocodile EX Model Portrait of Pirates Figure Sir Crocodile has been one of the best villains in One Piece so who would not want to own a figure of him? I have always found his mixture of classical pirate and mafia don and very unique stylization. Plus that big gold hook is very catchy. If anything I would love to get all the Portrait of Pirates figures I don’t have but for now that is just a dream.

King Kazuma Figma Seeing Summer Wars on the big screen was one of the highlights of the year. The moment I saw King Kazuma on screen, I knew I must have a figure of him! Luckily this year they decided to oblige.

Best Convention Guest or Best Person No One at the Convention Went to See

Yuji Mitsuya All you have to do is look back at my Otakon 2010 report to see why he was an amazing guest. Although he was mostly ignored by the attendees because he was an older voice actor it turned out he was a spectacular speaker. The amount of insight he had into the anime industry was amazing. He was willing to talk at length about anything and everything he was asked in a friendly and candid manner. If he ever comes to another anime convention you owe it to yourself to attend any panels he is at.

Kenji Kamiyama The reason why I always attend AnimeNEXT is because when they get a guest, it is usually a very good one. And since the con is medium-sized, there is much more access to them! For 2010 they had the incredible Kenji Kamiyama who directed Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex among other things. Best of all he was very talkative to both the fans in his panels and to the press during the round robin interview with him. 

Thing I Wish People Would Stop Talking About or We Should Just Rename it the K-ON! Award

K-ON! by Kyoto Animation Just when you thought that all the talk about K-ON!! would let K-ON! fade a bit from memory Bandai USA decided to throw money right out the window and pick up the first season. Now people are arguing about the dub, the songs, the packaging, and the release schedule. They are also people saying that they will only buy a Blu-ray release. But quite frankly I could care less. It is a niche show that a majority of the fans are going to find some petty insignificant reasons not to buy. So I would rather they just stop talking about K-ON! and the fans can silently push Bandai one step closer to death as opposed to doing it in the noisy fashion they are doing now.

K-ON!! by Kyoto Animation Hot on the heels of the hit first season, this year we got more of this show. As far as I could tell K-ON!! was the most moving anime ever created in the history of the medium, it changed people’s lives forever. Please, spare me. It was inescapable, and just when I thought I would be free, because this audience moves on to the next thing so fast it makes my head spin, they announced a movie. So this show will probably land in this same category next year!

Series I Unexpectedly Liked or Gravy and Biscuits with Grape Jelly

Zettai Karen Children by Takashi Shiina As much as a might be loath to admit it I actually have really enjoyed Zettai Karen Children. It has a distinctly loli vibe in the first part and anyone who drops the series or even hate it is fully justified in their feelings. But if you can tolerate such distasteful elements then there is actually a solid story and some great humor involving some very enjoyable characters. The action scene can be quite well done and some of the psychic powers are inventive. I would never pretend that the series is deep but it is enjoyable and has a brisk pace. It also helps that the time skip has removed some but not all of the creepy factor in the manga but you have to read quite a bit to get up to it.

SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors by Sunrise All of the spin-off SD Gundam series have a pretty terrible reputation, but if they are anything like this Three Kingdoms version I would welcome them! It is totally ridiculous and played pretty straight. Very funny and very entertaining. I especially enjoy seeing Zakus as civilians.

Best Short Manga or Short Manga Have Plenty of Reasons to Smile

Tenken by Yumiko Shirai Tenken is a smart and mature story that uses the classic Japanese legend of Yamata no Orochi to tell its own story with its own message. It is a tale of urban fantasy for adults which in an unexplored segment of the US manga market. The characters are somewhat simple but compelling and there is a strong love story at the center of everything. It tells a complete story in one book making the ideal manga to pick up if you want a change of pace in your normal reading habits but don’t want to take a big risk with your pocketbook.

Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP (Dark Horse English Re-Release) This was one of the first manga I read back when TokyoPop was Mixx, it was a special time indeed. But having a new translations and new release for this beautiful fantasy series is most welcome.

Worst Character of the Year or Please Die in a Fire

Fumiaki Uchida from Occult Academy If anyone person sabotaged Occult Academy from living up to its potential in the episode it is undoubtedly “Uchida Bunmei.” Maya Kumashiro was cool main character that really hooked you into the series. But then you after the second episode you quickly realize that Bunmei and Maya share the position of main character with Bunmei getting several episodes almost entirely devoted to his escapades. His whiny and self-absorbed nature does little to endear you to his cowardly and banal antics. His courtship with Mikaze Nakagawa is creepy and awkward and leads to an ultra icky porn kiss. Also his selfish actions in the last episode do little to make up for his heroics.

Shinra Kishitani from Durarara!! Since this is a character that I had such a bad feeling about that I had to write an article about it, I figure he belongs here. I felt suspicious of him from the beginning but as things are revealed about Celty’s past, I began to loath him. The way he interacts with Celty disturbs me and I don’t feel he has her best interests at heart. Get away from this creepy, controlling jerk Celty! FREE CELTY!!

Funniest Series the Sakuya Aizawa Award

Shinryaku! Ika Musume by TV Tokyo This is Keroro Gunso with a cute girl instead of a frog and that is not a horrible thing. The show follows a simple fish out of water ineffective invader formula that works well. Every plot line is either Ika Musume learning about the surface world or enacting some silly scheme. The show is cute and sweet for the most part although Sanae Nagatsuki can be a bit questionable. The anime had an earnest heart and a pleasant if somewhat laid back approach to humor. It is a simple show that bring a smile to my face and makes me chuckle.

Arakawa Under the Bridge by SHAFT From the mind of Hikaru Nakamura the manga-ka of Saint Young Men, I could expect nothing less than oddity. A commune of weirdos who live under a bridge creates mountains of hilarious situations and the word absurd can’t be used enough when watching this show.

Favorite Mecha Anime or The Terminus typeR909 Prize

Broken Blade by Production I.G A surprisingly overlooked mecha series especially considering how much mecha fandom is hungry for new titles. An unexpected bend real robot and fantasy with good characters and signs of some real political meat to the story. Rygart Arrow is a strong protagonists who is both conflicted yet cable of making decisions and progresses when the story dictates he does so. A real treat for any mecha fan who needs a combination of story and action with a bit of love triangle for all the Macross fans.

Star Driver by Bones I had to pick this show for two reasons. One, I have no idea where it is headed, it is intriguing. Since we’re only about half way through I could end up regretting this call but we shall see. And two, I love the unique mecha designs especially that of Takuto’s which resembles a fencer. 

This post has been brewing for a while, and is by no means a complete listing. But before it got totally out of hand, we had to think of which characters could really use their own stories beyond the fact that we just like them a hell of a lot. This is mere sampling of some of the great side characters that we’re pretty sure could hold their own in a series. Eventhough the title of this post mentions L, he already has a spin-off albeit a bad one, so we’ve come up with a list of other great spin-off options! Oh, yeah, 1/3 of our picks are still detectives though!

Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune and Zelgadis Greywords
Slayers

The Slayers anime could have been named Lina Inverse starring in Lina Inverse’s Magic Kommandos considering how much the supporting cast spent in the background (quite a contrast to the original novels) especially during the final battles. However, that doesn’t mean you could forget any of them! The two with the strongest dynamic among themselves were easily Amelia and Zelgadis. After seeing them in the latest Slayers anime this was only more confirmed. They contrast either other with near polar-opposite personalities but can come together for a cause with a bit of romantic tension on the side. Zelgadis needs to find a cure for his condition and Amelia’s love of justice creates an easy way to hook them to whatever plot line you whip up. Also while being powerful fighters and magicians they are not the invincible powerhouses that Lina is therefore you can give them adventures of a smaller scope rather than the fate of all existence and not feel like they are overpowered for the task.

Heiji Hattori
Detective Conan

If anything it might seem like Heiji Hattori is almost cheating. He is the Great Detective of the West while Shinichi Kudo is the Great Detective of the East. But they aren’t total mirror images of each other, similar romantic situations notwithstanding. Heiji has a more upbeat, fun-loving attitude giving his mystery-solving a different flavor. While Heiji does not currently have an overarching meta plot like Shinichi has with the Black Organization, he could easily be given some greater mystery to piece together. For example, since he is quite famous as a genius teenage detective his fame could easily attract him a Professor Moriarty like arch-villain to so spice things up. And since we already know the abilities of Gosho Aoyama to tell a good mystery, it seems like a safe bet.

Ozma Lee
Macross Frontier

No matter where your allegiance was in the Ranka/Sheryl War there was one character everyone could get behind, at least we hope, and that was Ozma Lee. He is a new Roy Focker without being pineapple-saladed. Ozma is the prime character for a more adult like Macross Plus-style spin-off that deals with a more mature storyline. Heck, many a fan like Macross Plus best of all despite it being a bit off the beaten path of the original. It would also let them develop the relationship between him and Cathy Glass which was one of the best parts of the TV series. Plus him being a Fire Bomber fan could easily lead some Macross 7 cross-over. So really what we are saying is that we want an aging-rocker Basara and Ozma team-up.

Cotton
Oblivion Island

So Oblivion Island, not sure a great flick, but one character stood out for both cuteness and resourcefulness, the plucky stuffed-lamb Cotton who kinda looks like a rabbit with his hat on. The design is on the more creepy side, especially those button eyes, but Cotton proves to be the best companion one could ask for. And he pretty much saves the day. The world create in Oblivion Island could make for a ton of adventures and no one would be better suited to explore it than Cotton.

Wataru Tachibana and Saki Kijima
Hayate the Combat Butler

Kenjiro Hata has stated that if he ever did a spin-off from Hayate it would be centered around Wataru and Saki so we just want to voice what a wonderful idea we think that is. This is a parody and comedy series but has enough appreciation for the things it is poking fun at. First of all Wataru’s shameful otaku nature is both a comedy goldmine and is sure to be relevant to modern fandom. Plus he has all the trappings of Nagi like school life and weird relationships to deal with. Saki on the other hand provides a bit of otaku pandering while staying on the pleasant side of entertaining. The video store is a great place to start plot lines and bring characters together like a nerdy Cheers. Plus you can always work in Hayate character cameos then add regulars at the store for a backbone to a new cast.

Aru Akise
Future Diary

Aru Akise could, and should, easily be the star of his own detective manga. Who can not get behind a man whose dream it is to be the world’s greatest detective? And since he isn’t yet the greatest you can build tons of growth. He has displayed an amazing amount of intelligence and was able to go toe to toe with enemies using his wits alone. He is sort of like L, but with social skills, having a Sherlockian ability to draw conclusion from the smallest details and a connect the dots. Aru could play off an assistant or not, either would entertain the audience while solving cases. Also having a positive and strong homosexual character in the protagonist position that isn’t a yaoi manga would be a nice change of pace.

Hisui’s Bonus picks:

Allenby Beardsley
Mobile Suit G Gundam

Don’t you hate it when of the coolest characters is introduced late in the series so they never get as much screen time as they deserve? Sadly Allenby was not introduced until halfway through the series. But her charming spunky tomboy personality won me over. Plus you can be hard pressed to remember too many capable female and powerful Gundam pilots who don’t die horribly. Her adventures in the Future Century world could be fun with a great combination of comedy, action, drama, and romance. She is powerful to stand on her own as a heroine but likable enough to draw other characters to her for momentous tasks. Plus I always just want more Allenby.

Touko Aozaki
Garden of Sinners

Despite being at least mentioned in Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and being a supporting character in Kara no Kyoukai it seems that Touko Aozaki has never gotten her own time in the spot light. The woman runs a supernatural detective agency so she is automatically cool. Since Touko is not an overpowered god like Shiki it would require her to do more investigate work and use bit more finesse like a Japanese version of the The Dresden Files. Maybe we can finally see what caused the falling out between her and her sister.

After hearing several rave reviews Narutaki and I were interested in seeing the Sherlock preview at the New York Comic Con but since that was the weekend of missing out on things we never got the chance to watch it. When we did find it playing on public television we eagerly gave it a look. The show is modernization of the classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries. While we have all the classic characters like Sherlock, Watson, Mycroft, and Moriarty but at the same time Sherlock has iPhone, Watson has just returned home from the Afghanistan conflict, and everyone has a web page. The cases themselves are loose reimaginings of  some of the original Shelrock Holmes mysteries. Sherlock himself has the right mix of genius, charisma, and full on prat that defines the character and makes him so iconic. At the same time Sherlock and Watson have a fun dynamic that sells the show (and would have people running to the Internet to complain about fan girl bait if this were an anime.) I did notice a bit of a vibe that I see in House which I found highly amusing because it means the influence may have come full circle. House was heavily influenced by the original Sherlock Holmes and now it seems that influence has come home to roost. Like many British TV shows the first season is extremely short with only 3 ninety minute episodes. The 2nd episode was the weakest of the three but they were all very entertaining and had a good mixture of action, comedy, and most importantly sleuthing. The only real downside in the first season ends on a cliff hanger so if you watch this you are just going to be on the edge of your seat for the conclusion.

I just can’t help myself, I really must talk about the BBC Masterpiece Mystery 3-part Sherlock (2010) series. This a modern telling of the classic detective unlike any done before, and wow did they set the bar high. The production quality is wonderful and well-crafted. Turning Sherlock and Watson into characters who live in the 21st century is a smooth transition in this series. Sherlock still relies on his incredible memory and capacity for noticing the smallest details but he does use some modern science once in a while. The reaction to him by the police is also a nice touch with most afraid of him or thinking he is a sociopath. As for Watson his war trauma and not feeling right in society is perfectly suited, and as my dad said “Watson always carried his gun.” Oh and I love that he has a blog about the cases. The dynamic between these two is comical at times but more comfortable than anything else despite them only meeting for the first time in part 1, in this I feel you can see the House influence the most. Watson is exasperated by Sherlock but also gripped by his insight and the mysteries. The first mystery is wholly gratifying in its puzzle, climax, and ending. Pretty much perfect. The second’s mystery is a little less solid but nevertheless good, and it was nice to see the solution be a bit unexpected. The final case is very intense because of the cat and mouse angle. And as everyone has already said, the cliffhanger is a major one (on par with that darned Twin Peaks first season cliffhanger!). It is excitement for the series that makes it devastating to wait a year for more of this brilliant rendition.

Since it is only 20 dollars I decided to pick up a remake of the classic game Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. I have been always eager to pick up the game since I have fond memories of the original plus the remake has some added features and a much cleaner translational. It has been giving me a good flood of nostalgia while reminding me why I liked the original as well. It also reawakened by love of unlocking classes and abilities even if that means crazy amount of unnecessary grinding. But that also means I have gotten to the point were the random battle are now insanely hard and the story battles are cake. The new cut scenes are pretty stylish with cel shaded animation with cross hatching. It gives the scene a very unique feeling. It is a great way to go back and visit an awesome and timeless game.

Gurren Lagann Parallel Works 2. Once again I have to wonder if the directors don’t know what a music video is or if they just plain ignore it, as the first installment made me ponder, too. Big Building and My XXX is the Best in the World (seriously don’t know what this title had to do with the video) were music videos just not very memorable ones. Kittan Zero with plenty of action and comedy and The Sense of Wonder which felt like an anime music video of a series I’d want to watch stood out as the better pieces, but there was nothing very amazing in this collection.

As my very soul demanded I watched Gundam Unicorn 2. Overall I think it kept up the good feelings and momentum from the first episode despite the fact that I saw a bunch of tweets that seem to indicate that people’s feelings had cooled a bit. I think they wisely waited to show the Unicorn verses the Kshatriya fight for this episode because there was a bit more talking and less action in this episode. Of course we get to see Full Frontal in full three times as fast glory inside of his mecha and outside. This had to be done considering you could feel the Gundam fans need to see him from the second the first OAV started. I was happy to see a little more of what sort of person Audrey Burn is and we get the first big reveal about her. The federation officers clearly show that the more things change in the Universal Century the more they stay the same. Other than that is did a lot of setting up for the rest of the series as is the standard of the second act of any Gundam series. I listened to the dub on my second watch through. Everyone seemed pretty solid. No one stood out as amazing to me but I was happy with everyone’s performance.  I would go into more detail but Narutaki has to yet to see this episode so I can’t say anymore than I look forward to episode three. The trailer for that is already out.

I read Bunny Drop vol. 2 and it continues to play me like a fiddle, I absolutely adore it. At the end of the first volume we saw Daikichi going through his grandfather’s house hoping to turn up some clues about Rin’s mother. That continues here and we even meet the woman, but I have to say who she is surprises me and it felt a little wacky and out of sync, but that might have just been my expectations. I also took an immediate dislike to her. I’m not actually sure how she will fit into the story just yet as it feels a little premature. It was nice to see Daikichi’s parents getting involved in Rin’s life and not treating her like a curse, too. Daikichi grows as a parent in this book quite a bit as Rin gets ready to start elementary school and you can see him transitioning from feeling sorry for her to truly loving her. As for Rin, she is making friends and coming out of her shell bit by bit but you can also see her trying to act more like a “big girl” and how that is affecting her relationship with Dai. So far the book has stayed rather positive, even with the monumental underlying issues at hand. I’m not sure where this journey will take Rin and Daikichi but I really hope he gets to stay by her side.

I had to dig through some truly awful Milky Holmes pictures to find this but it was worth it.

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If someone were to ask a Gundam fan who was the main character of the Universal Century series of Gundam two names pop into most people’s minds. They would either answer Amuro Ray or Char Aznable. They are both iconic characters of the series and have an enormous influence on the Universal Century time line. But neither character is in Gundam Double Zeta and their deaths in Char’s Counter Attack make it hard (but possibly not impossible) for them to participate in Gundam Unicorn. A more savvy Gundam fan might realize that Bright Noah  has been in every major Universal Century TV series and movie. But he always been a supporting cast member and never rose to prominence as a main character.  In fact there is one character for all of the first leg of the Universal Century time line can be a backdrop for their story.

I purpose that Mineva Lao Zabi is the true star of Gundam. Her history starts in Mobile Suit Gundam as the One Year War starts to head towards its inevitable conclusion.  As the Battle of Solomon quickly turned south for the Zeon it forces Dozle Zabi to evacuate his family and make his last stand. This act would give his wife and daughter a chance to escape and soon find themselves the only surviving members of the Zabi family.  Mineva appears again in Zeta and Double Zeta Gundam as a puppet of Haman Karn. She is clearly uncomfortable in her position but is trapped in the role as  the only remaining link to the Zabi legacy. We eventually discover that the Mineva in Double Zeta in a body double leading to the question of where did the original go. In Char’s Counter Attack we have an offhanded reference to  Haman and Mineva from Char as leader of the Second Neo Zeon movement. But finally she come to due prominence in Gundam Unicorn. It seems that since Zeta Gundam Mineva had been protected by various Zeon holdouts until she reemerged with the the Sleeves going by the name of Audrey Burn. Here she finally transcends to main character status as she tries to prevent the Laplace Box from falling into the wrong hands. She has played a major role in every step of the conflict between the Federation and Zeon.

While I am being slightly facetious by calling Mineva the main character of the Universal Century I do think that she has a unique place in the history of Gundam. Her growth can be seen over the course of the series and her fate seems bonded by blood to that of the Zeon movement that defines half of Gundam. The history of the first Gundam universe is the history of  Mineva Lao Zabi and vice versa.

Anime 3000 presents The Speakeasy Podcast:
Drink #010: The Red Comet, Romance in the various Gundam Universes

When you think of Gundam you usually think of a mixture of real robot battles and politics as the foundation of the various series that make up the franchise. But the relationships between the characters is an equally important part that is easily overlooked because of all the cool robot fights. High on the list of debate are the romantic relationships; some are praised as highly realistic and touching, others are viewed as melodramatic but engaging, while still others are seen as travesties. The problem is that few fans agree which relationships from which show go in which category. In this episode we will examine the relationships that stand out the most in our minds from all the Gundam series we have seen. We start with the works of Tomino and go up to the present with Gundam Unicorn and Gundam 00.

(Listen) (Show Notes)

And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present you a drink invented by Hisui:

The Red Comet (It gets you feeling toasty three times as fast)

6 oz. vodka
1 can Red Bull

Drop a shotglass of vodka into a Highball glass of Red Bull. Bonus points are given for being dressed as Casval Rem Deikun with a mask or at least wearing all red. Anyone dressed as Quattro Bajeena has to drink a Hyaku Shiki.

I was blown away by the amount of premieres and showings announced for NYAF. This was the first convention I have been to in a long time where I spent a good deal of my days actually watching anime. And it was not from a lack of having other things to do. There were things here that literally couldn’t be seen anywhere else not even in Japan yet, like Mardock Scramble, or things that only recently hit Japanese theaters, like Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer, plus all manner of things in between. These were the biggest draws for me this year, and from the crowds that packed in for most of these showings it seems I wasn’t the only one.

NYAF was the Cannes Film Festival for anime films this year. I saw part of three anime films you cannot see in English even with less that legitimate means. I have been to some awesome premieres but there were three major coups this year. The Gundam 00 movie and the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya were being shown before they made it to DVD in Japan and we got to see Mardock Scramble before audiences in Japan. Any one of the three would have been amazing but all three in one place was simply breathtaking. Being able to see the first episode of Star Driver and talk to the producer was merely icing on the cake.

Star Driver was already show I was waiting for in the fall 2010 season, so being able to grab a look at the first episode with producer Masahiko Minami of Studio Bones couldn’t have been a richer experience. I was happy to see a full room and Mr. Minami was upbeat and welcoming to the crowd. He ended his quick intro with a pose and a shout of “Kiraboshi!” which everyone quickly picked up from Star Driver and ended up greeting each other with for the rest of the con. The show is high energy, over-the-top, and quite quirky; all of this makes it endearing almost immediately. There is an elegance to the unique robot designs, particularly Takuto’s mech which moves like a fencer. This plus the secret society in a strange school with a mysterious cast and a more mysterious plot gives the series an Utena quality, happily. The audience laughed and cheered and clapped, which was quite pleasing because I enjoyed it immensely as well. Once it ended, Mr. Minami spoke very tongue-in-cheek about their goals of combining school and robots. He also answered a number of questions about the non-translated parts of the show most notably the hilarious “Ginga Bishonen” which he called “Galactic Prettyboy,” and everyone laughed. But this went on to prove the show would benefit from full subtitling. There was a query about seeing more Heroman, Mr. Minami (who was wearing a Heroman shirt) answered very melancholic that he would like more but there are no plans. I was sad to not hear any plans for a simulcast of Star Driver which had an incredibly promising first episode.

Without a doubt the premier I was looking forward to most was Star Driver. It is a mecha show written by Yoji Enokido so I had to check it out. The fact that Yoji Enokido also wrote Revolutionary Girl Utena is obvious by every bit of structure, style, and dialog. From the very understated but strong sexual themes, the comedic timing, and the way people enter their robots  sparked within me a feeling like when I watched Utena. When George Honda is defeated in the first episode I said, ” What is up Saionji?” They fact that they both have green hair sealed the deal.  But Star Driver still feels a fresh concept and not just Utena with a mecha paint job. The robot fights are clearly inspired by Gurren Lagann but I don’t think most people watching this show will be anything less than thrilled by that prospect. Yoji Enokido also seems to have an obsession with people being saved from drowning as it is a major plot point in the Utena TV show, the Utena movie, and now Star Driver. As for the show itself, it is spectacular. It is just a lively anime bursting with fun while containing a darker and more serious plot underneath.  Twitter has nothing but good things to say about the show so you have to check it out.  Kiraboshi!

It wasn’t done up big like some of the others, but Katsuhiro Otomo’s animated adaption of his Hipira, a children’s manga about a little vampire who has big trouble follow him, played in a small viewing room on Sunday. The series looks like stop motion animation, but of course reproduced with CG, and you see the influence of Tim Burton in its combination of the macabre with humor and children’s imagination. At just 5-minute running times for each episode, they are quick and funny snapshots of Hipira’s life, follies, and friends. The only real downside was for the many children in the audience the series was a little less accessible due to it being in Japanese.

Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer aka GaoGaiGar: King of Innovators. I must say that I could have had worse seats but it would have been hard. First of all I was next to two people who seemed to think that bathing was strictly optional and both of them had their own special order. Second the guy in front of me was rather tall as to make sure I could only read the subtitles half the time. And lastly they tried to end the movie prematurely so they could do a signing. The crowd was about ready to revolt when they said that. But despite this I was just thrilled to be able to see the Gundam oo movie with a crowd that was full of energy and love for Gundam. I think the most jarring thing about the movie is that is that is as different in tone from the TV series as the two seasons are from each other. This change in tone is not going to win it fans with the hardcore fans but I think the casual fans will enjoy Gundams vs aliens. The ending is a bit odd. When I sat down and thought about it I realized that oddly enough it brings together all the themes of the TV series but in a way that is going to leave people scratching their heads. I wont go into spoilers but there are just as many glaring flaws as reason to enjoy this movie (if not more flaws than positives) . I will buy the DVD when it comes out as I enjoyed it but you have to watch it in the right frame of mind. This is Gundam 00 in an over the top action movie fashion. Anyone wanting the social commentary and political allegory of the first season is going to be SORELY disappointed.

Mardock Scramble was one of the most exciting premieres of the convention. The first part of three films, it hasn’t even hit Japanese theaters yet, was presented to us by the multi-talented Tow Ubukata who wrote the novels for this series first and then went on to help create the anime version. The screening was only about half full, one of the most disappointing aspects of NYAF not being hyped enough, but there was a collective feeling of suspense from the audience as the screening began. Lush animation and a science-fiction cityscape hit you immediately as the story of a young girl who has had a hard life beings to emerge from her past as a victim to hopefully take control and possibly revenge. There is a quietness to the series but also great action scenes and drama. The film ends on a huge cliffhanger which was kind of devastating since it is unknown when we will ever see the follow-up films. Mr. Ubukata talked a bit about the film and was asked a few questions by the audience. A great topic that came up was how using a young girl was giving power to the victim, the weak, or the small. We were also told that the books on which the films are based have been licensed by VIZ so perhaps those will tide us over till we can see the subsequent parts.

Someone obviously realized while DVDs of the second season of Haruhi have sold for some inexplicable reason in Japan that they would need  a GOOD iteration to keep the series viable. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a return to form in a spectacular fashion. It is almost a 3 hour movie so you better be in for a long ride but an immensely engrossing experience. The story is a very faithful adaption of the 4th book in the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series. The series has a distinctly Yuki based focus (Yuki X Kyon shippers will be in heaven) but everyone else gets a good amount of screen time. The animation is fantastic but I do notice they cheat quite a bit and use some flashy but noticeable CG during some less essential scenes to cut down on costs.  The story is a nice return to the comedy/drama/philosophy formula that made people love the original series. If anything will remove the bad taste of the Endless Eight from fandom’s mouths it will be this movie.

I attended Marvel’s anime panel and was surprised to find them showing the full first episode of Iron Man. It was a packed house and I suspect it was more comic fans than anime ones. There were laughs and cheers throughout, despite that I really couldn’t get into the show. The pacing is very odd as well as the constant fades and cuts. The ending fight is okay, but nothing to write home about. I think it will do fine though. Jeph Loeb now head of Marvels television initiative was also in attendance as well as a couple of people from G4 where the Marvel anime adaptions will find a home. We also saw a trailer for the upcoming Wolverine adaption. Not a lot was said at the panel beyond the odd and disappointing news that Iron Man would not hit U.S. television until Summer 2011. This seems like a huge mistake since it is only 14 episodes long and already hit Japanese airwaves this fall.

I was very sad that the room playing Mardock Scramble was only half full. I only watched the first third but it seemed the perfect film for the casual anime fan. I think putting it up against the Haruhi movie is a colossal blunder as it stripped a good deal of the audience for the film. Despite that I was very happy seeing all these premier films at an anime con. It has been so long since I actually watched anime at an anime convention. I hope that next year continues the tradition but having several exclusive premieres and I look forward to what I will see.

The screenings I found the best were the ones with creators along side and a small discussion afterward. I think it really solidified the shows in your mind and it wasn’t an experience you were likely to forget. NYAF made me excited about screenings again and hey maybe they have found the magic formula for getting fans to go see creators!

More NY Anime Festival and Comic Con 2010 posts:

NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Tweets
NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: General Impressions
NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Anime and Manga Industry
NY Anime Festival 2010: Artist Alley – Making it Big!
NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Exhibitors Hall
NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Panels
NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Minori Chihara

I decided to check out Real Drive mostly because I was intrigued that I knew almost nothing about the show despite its pedigree. A cyber future anime from Production I.G and Masamune Shirow seems like the type of show everyone should be talking about. I think the main problem people have with this show is two fold. First is chubby girls. All the female characters are full figured to the point that most of them look sort of chunky. I did not have a problem with it but I know that it is like 80% of the reputation of this show. The second is my nickname for the show: Slice-of-Life in the Shell. While there are cases of killer cyborg assassins, man’s relationship with technology, and political intrigue the fact that Minamo Aoi the 15-year-old girl is the main character is a turn off if people wanted the standard Shirow protagonist. One of the stories is even about a ghost at Aoi’s school but what people are mostly going to remember is Aoi and her friends being goofy ghost hunters. Overall the slice-of-life aspects are really high at times so if you can’t stand them there is no reason to even try to plow through to get to the good fight scenes and deeper plot. I had a good time but it’s hardly a show that you must see especially considering how light the story can be at times. I do have to give the show props for making the other protagonist a 81-year-old hacker in a wheel chair. Now that isn’t an overused archetypal anime character.

I got Kekkaishi 21 in the mail earlier this week, I’m glad I had this on pre-order. The last few books have been setting up the many facets of sacred sites being destroyed and then hanging the blame on the Yoshimori’s clan which is causing turmoil in many different sects. Everything is still very shrouded in mystery, few ties of trusts, which is only multiplied by Okuni’s group getting involved. Things really heat up in this volume when Karasamori itself is targeted and as Tokine makes a difficult decision in the battle. We finally get more hints about who and what is destroying the sites and Yoshi among others starts doing some detective work. Yoshi continues to grow in this volume, but there is a little too much of people spelling everything out. And given my dislike for Sen, it doesn’t help that he is digging further and further into his know-it-all attitude even though I can read betrayal all over him. However, Yoshi is able to recognize himself as a person who has to listen to others with the realization that using their knowledge to further his learning is okay. I also can’t help but feel Yoshi is such a misunderstood guy, but he is moving forward. Kekkaishi is also starting to feel a bit more like shonen adventure and even less like shonen fighting than it already does. The battles are good and hard won but they aren’t dominating the plot. I really wish this came out quicker! 

I finished Victory Gundam with episodes 31-52. I guess I will just throw out my overall feelings since the other person on the blog has not seen this yet. Observant Tomino fans will notice that there are 2 types of “Kill ‘Em All Tomino” shows. In the first type you will have one or two major deaths but almost everyone who is important dies at the very end. Then there is the constant murder throughout the series in Victory Gundam. I do have to note that some of the deaths were especially horrific even for Tomino. The big climactic fight centered around the Zanscare super weapon was suitably dramatic and tense. Tomino made a super weapon in a fashion he had never done before. He also seemed to be stalling for time at points with Shakti being passed back and forth between Uso and the Zanscare Empire. Overall I thought it was a solid Gundam series but not an exceptional one. It’s worth watching if you like Tomino but not anything you have to rush out to see. You just have to be braced for a series with a deep melancholy that permeates the show.

Conan Magic File 4 is a companion short to the latest film, The Lost Ship in the Sky. These shorts are always little insignificant romps which can be mildly amusing depending. This one is about Conan and Heiji’s attempt to get to a wonderful okonomiyaki restaurant before Conan has to depart for home and the many obstacles that get in their way. This mostly highlights both of the guy’s good Samaritan qualities but the likes of which often spill over into jumping to suspecting crime at every turn. Considering how many crimes happen around these two, it’s hard to blame them! And while they don’t solve any crimes they do clear up a misunderstanding between a couple. Fun but once again nothing too special.

On May 13th I participated on the live chat session of Monster episode 1 on manga.com. They played the first dubbed episode of Monster while letting viewers chat with each other or ask the producers at VIZ questions about the series. It was an interesting way to promote a show so I decided to check it out. They went out of their way to make the experience very interactive. You could also answer trivia question in a side bar quiz if you liked. The staff answered the questions in a quick and friendly manner which was very nice. Amazingly everyone was well-behaved from what I saw which for any open invitation online event is pleasing. For the life of me I could not get the advertisement bar to go away during the chat so it was hard to read the Q&A. But they answered a few of my questions including how free they felt they were in the adaption of the anime. They responded that they worked extremely closely with the translator of the manga to make sure they were perfectly in sync with each other. I think the showing with live Q&A session was clever and hope to see them do it again.

I have watched Heroman 2-6 and I can’t help but feel each subsequent episode seems less fulfilling than the previous. The pacing in this show is keeping me interested however since it is so wildly jarring as things you might suspect to happen over a couple of episodes instead occur almost instantly after you think of it. And the things that happen in Heroman you do literally think of because it is that familiar. I just keep suspecting there is going to be waaaay more to everything without any real proof of that. Though considering this show will probably be 50+ episodes it can take those first 10 to really get the ball rolling. Speaking of rolling balls, they are currently my favorite characters in the series, and as such I have taken to calling the show Marble Madness until they are disposed of.

They tried to stand up to the victory:

Kimi ni Todoke reminds me that although I may associate Production I.G with smart action shows like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Le Chevalier D’Eon they can do all type of shows really well. The series just gives you a warm feeling throughout. It is a fabulous series to pick you up and reassure you of the good things in life. We learn more about everyone as they learn more about each other as well. And we want to learn these things because these are delightfully positive characters.  Everything we said about the first episode remains true throughout. If you liked the first episode you will be just as happy with the last episode. I never felt any of the story dipped in quality which is great. If you need an utterly conclusive ending that says, “This is where we stop” you have to hope the manga gives you that. The anime picks a good place to end where you can imagine where everything is going and be happy but if you got a second season you would not feel it was tacked on. The best series of the fall season and a wonder anime to hook a certain type of new anime fan as well as satisfy an old hand as well.

Kimi ni Todoke was always an especially bright spot in my weekly anime watching, it really has an uplifting feeling that is followed by a satisfied sigh. As the story takes a close look at friendships and love it creates an incomplete, but no less fulfilling, picture about growth. Few people could hope to be as endearing as Sawako, however, no one would ever know that had she not decided to come out of her shell. This is one of the many reasons I listed her as anime woman of the year for 2009, she is afraid but she moves forward and succeeds. I love Kimi’s ability to make you believe (or in my case remind me of what I have always known) that people change everyday, for many different reasons. I found the development of Chizu a surprising extra to the series, as well as how much I enjoyed Kurumi, Yano’s reveal of being somewhat of a mastermind, and how deeply I felt Ryu’s love. Each character added something to the mix never coming off as extraneous side characters in a love story about Sawako and Kazehaya. But that love story is wonderful, subtle, and fits in along side all of the other slow and sweet relationships that develop in Kimi ni Todoke. The shy quality that comes over the otherwise outgoing Kazehaya and the utter freaking out of Sawako are touching and hilarious as is the knowledge that they will end up in the right place someday, one small step at a time. Kimi ni Todoke deserves a spot as of one of the best of 2009/2010.

The next stop on the trip through the iterations of Cutey Honey was Re: Cutey Honey or as I like to call it Re: Super-Obvious-Lesbian-Sub-Text Honey. Re: Cutey Honey was made by Gainax as a companion to the Hideaki Anno movie. Once again Honey Kisaragi must battle Panther Claw after they killed her father. The biggest difference is now instead of Seiji Hayami being her love interest with a good deal of lesbian subtext to her adventures they outright have Natsuko Aki as her love interest. Also Honey is now an office lady instead of a student. Overall the formula is still the same one I mentioned on The Speakeasy and it does it well. The fan service is sort of off the hook in these OAVs. There are naked breasts all over the place and the racy material you expect from a Go Nagai work with a modern Gurren Lagann feel. The action is also rather well done and the fights are exciting and amusing. I’m actually quite surprised this has not been picked up. It’s only three episodes, the animation is quite good, and it delivers on all fronts that U.S. fans usually like.

I went to see the play Enjoy by Toshiki Okada translated from Japanese over the weekend but it struck me as almost more of a conversation rather than a production. The narrative revolves around a bunch of part-time workers at a manga cafe in Shinjuku. There is virtually no set or props to speak of so the crux of everything hinges on the stories they are telling to each other and the audience, often speaking directly to you the viewer. The speech used is worth noting because it really is street level, repeating yourself, stopping and starting, skipping things, filler words, very “real.” There is a bit of a divide in the cast, some are 30 (or just turned so) and the others are between the ages of 22-27, everyone makes frequent mentions of this. Much of the conversations revolve around societal pressures about jobs and relationships, but more to the point is this close look at a phenomenon of college grads who only work part-time and still live at home without being able to move on to the next stage. I found this concept an easy one to see in American culture as well. There is a presence of humor certainly in the quirkiness of many of the characters in the first half, but also a melancholy that gets more pronounced in the second part. In fact, while even some characters recognize their flaws throughout the play, it never really feels like they will move forward because of it. But in this way and others the characters are very tangible, you know these people or are/have been these people, you want to hear their story, sympathize, listen, encourage, advise, and talk to them. Enjoy doesn’t really come off as positive or negative, and is certainly never preachy, it is a play about what goes on, what is, and it succeeds in making you mull over all that you saw.

I made it to the next leg of Victory Gundam with episodes 15-30. These episodes all take place in space giving us a good deal more insight in the Zanscare Empire, their queen, the the rest of the players behind this war. We discover some shocking secrets about Shakti but they do seem to ever reveal her true birth name, Princess Peach. I say that because boy does this girl get kidnapped. The cast passes around Shakti like a hot potato. At the end of these 15 episodes Uso finally meets up with his mother and we get from her the requisite mid season upgrade to the Victory 2.  In between we get a betrayal from a certain character that is not entirely unexpected but is sort of jarring. We gets a bunch more dead characters because if Victory Gundam is not murdering the cast at an incredible rate it does not know what to do with itself. I’m still having a good time but Tomino’s depression is quite apparent in the grim and brutal nature of the series.

After watching each episode of Durarara!! I have a habit of saying “I don’t know about this show.” And I have maintained that attitude for 12 episodes. It has an intriguing pace, characters that are interesting to say that least, and an attitude about it that feels very hip. The twist came when it needed to, I was getting a bit bored by the character it pertains to so it was a perfect transition. However, I don’t like the relationships portrayed but thank goodness they are not the entire focus of the show. And even more importantly, they peeked my curiosity in the last minutes of episode 12, important because without that moment I would have more than likely dropped the show. This is a hard show to talk about without giving things away, and I’ve done a poor job of it, but Durarara!! is still worth seeing where it all will lead.

It took me a bit of hunting to find a picture that really captured what makes Kimi so good. There was lots of well done pictures but this one is prefect:

To me each season means a new chance for anime to surprise me, though it does that all the time anyway, and a chance to grab things while they are hot. It also means that a few of the shows I had been watching wrapped up making some perfectly timed space for new goodies. It can’t be denied that it’s just plain fun to check out all the new stuff and in a way have to pare down what I’ll have time to watch on a weekly basis. I am happy to say that anime is back ladies and gentleman, and the spring is looking impressive indeed. As a reminder, we don’t review ongoing series or anything that we are more than likely not going to like.

Heroman
(Award for Best Mecha Tribute to Back to the Future)

Just to use a soundbite description no one else has used: Heroman is FLCL meets an 80′s movie. Heroman is a simple but fun story if you can accept that fact. Joey a hardworking nerd fixes a toy robot who com to life after being hit by mysterious lightning. Together they must defeat evil aliens that wish to ravage the Earth like space locusts. The show fuses the strengths of Stan Lee and Studio Bones into a show that has an international appeal for kids. It also brings along some of the flaws from both styles but overall it blends wells. The look and feel of California is well done and will make a U.S. adaptation very simple. The characters are simple but enjoyable with no one really breaking the mold but not horribly unlikable either. I am curious how much Psy and Lina are going to be useful and how much they are just going to be people to put in danger. I would like to see them slowly add some gravitas to the story but I won’t be disappointed if that never happens. I will definitely continue to watch.

Upon completion of the first episode I immediately wondered why this wasn’t being broadcast on American television at the same time. It would fit in perfectly next to Ben 10. Heroman doesn’t come off as original or new, but it weaves its story well. Something about it really screamed 80′s movie to me, or rather I thought of Back to the Future a lot while watching this show even though there is no flying Delorean. It may have been the aesthetic that at once felt old and new, kind of like how people imagine the future is but in this case it’s the imagining of what the present day is. And I like the stylization presented as well as the animation. I enjoyed the familiarity of the story, the characters, and found it totally enjoyable. Besides, after reading Ultimo, Heroman looks like an the greatest story ever told!

Working!!
(Award for Best 5-Star ZAGAT-rated Comedy)

I was a little worried about this show, slice-of-life comedies can be very painful but Working!! shows it can do genuine comedy decently and therefore looks like it might be worth watching. It revolves around the family restaurant Wagnaria and the strange people who work there. I think the key factor in any of these shows is a male presence. When there are guys around it dopes not fall into the trap of just relying on girls being cute to sell a show and warm your heart. They have actual jokes that I enjoy especially anything involving Kyouko Shirafuji and Yachiyo Todoroki. I really want to learn more about the too male chefs and hope they do not let them fade into the background. The only thing that may kill this show is the introduction of the androphobic Mahiru Inami who looks like she could be highly annoying if they focus too much on her or don’t tone down her irrational fear of men. I am curious if they can keep up the strong energy they establish in the first episode of the show.

Sometimes I’m feeling lucky when I pick what I want to watch of the new season, Working!! could have easily fallen into the big-mishaps-that-occur-when-I-pick-shows-at-random pile but instead I found myself laughing happily at the antics. Souta becomes the newest part-timer at the Wagnaria restaurant after Poplar is assigned a recruiting mission because they are short-staffed. Souta pretty much acts somewhat as the foil to some of the crazy business that goes on, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t without quirks like having very little tact when it comes to making comments. But he also represents the viewer as he learns about each of the other employees. I thought Poplar was upbeat and fun, the two chefs guys are cute and seem somewhat normal, and the manager is certainly strong-willed! Working!! has a good cast and made me laugh so I’d like to see if it can continue, though I really didn’t like the few minutes of Inami there was I atleast want to see where it will go.

Rainbow
(Award for Humanitarian of the Year to the Staff of Shio Prison)

Rainbow is one of those shows that once again reminds you that anime is not all the misadventures of boys being surrounded by hot girls, school romance for girls, and action shows made to sell toys. There is the distinct ability to tell mature stories and at least one show a year attempts to do that. Rainbow is the story of 6 men in prison for a variety of mostly violent crimes. They must deal with the harsh and brutal treatment of their jailers while learning to survive from an older inmate. Everything is setting this up to be a harsh series to watch. The representation of incarceration is grim and realistic especially considering it takes place in 1950s Japan. If you want a dark tale of human survival then this is going to be the anime of the year for you. But the realistic violence and a brutal tone of the series is going to make a good deal of people not be able to watch something like this and I can’t blame them one bit.

Using the word rainbow in the title of this show is misleading, but then again any description or picture of the show would fix that. The story is pretty much brutal from the second the opening finishes (random note that I really liked the opening), though the opening isn’t happy kittens and rainbows either afterall it is about these guys in prison. The  beginning on the bus is probably a little overdramatic, but things start to even out into just plain disturbing after that. Each guy seems to have an equally difficult past to deal with. I can’t really say I know what the themes will be in this story, not sure redemption will be a part or not, survival is certainly imminent, it’s all speculation after only one episode. But my point is that it seems serious in it leading to some really harsh realizations. With that said, I can’t continue to watch, the violence (among other things) is landing too much in the realistic realm, but I think it’s got a lot to offer.

Kaicho wa Maid-sama
(Award for Best Shojo Show in Moe Show Costume)

Kaicho wa Maid-sama seems like a generic shojo comedy with solid shojo romance but it is also very bland. Misaki Ayuzawa is a hardworking girl who has become Student Council President at a formerly only boys school. She is a holy terror to all the male rule breakers but she has a secret. Since her family is poor she is forced to work at a maid cafe. When the devious Usui finds out her secret he seems devoted to torturing her with his new found knowledge. The story plays out like you expect. Misaki is a good woman who just can’t stand the slightly devious Usui. Usui has a bit of a bad boy edge to him but seems like a nice guy overall. With shojo anime being overall so few and far between I see why many people would watch this show but I have a feeling most people would just want to stick to the manga. 

Maid-sama was a show I was very much looking forward to being a big fan of the manga. But the only feelings I can muster up about the anime adaption is disappointment. There is a level of ridiculous over-the-top crazyness that the manga has, not to mention that both Ayuzawa and Usui are way meaner in the manga and believe it or not that is what makes the series so hilarious. I never for one moment took the story seriously, it just keeps getting more and more unbelievable including just how Mary Sue Usui is. All of this seems to be softened in the anime, including the character designs, and there isn’t that biting spirit making it a bit standard. Usui actually seems like a nice guy, so much so that you wonder why Ayuzawa is being such a jerk to him. It is standard now and that makes me sad.

Yutori-chan
(Award for Making Anime about Working at a Toy Company Boring)

This is what people complain about when they complain about moe comedy. Yutori-chan is learning the ropes at the Popuu toy company from her patience-tested sempai. The thing is that Yutori-chan is a space cadet moron who is supposed to be cute because she is so dumb. She is less cute and more aggravating than anything else. Tsumekomi’s trials as a working woman at a toy company might have been amusing but Yutori-chan sabotages any attempts of that occurring. I must mention that Narutaki and I were thrown off by how huge the bosses’ bottom lip was. All I can say is at least it was short.

I tossed a coin with this show and I lost. The main girl is dumb and annoying, if you don’t like that then I guess you shouldn’t watch this show. If you find that oh-so hilarious then dive right in. Thank goodness this was under 5-minutes long.

SD Gundam Sangokuden
(Award for Least Accurate Representation of the Gryps Conflict)

A retelling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms only using Super Deformed Gundams. We have seen them tell the story of the Three Kingdoms a million times. Heck, I knew the second I sat down they were going to start with the Yellow Turban Rebellion as a person who played Dynasty Warriors. It all comes down how much you are amused by the concept of seeing chibi Gundams fighting in feudal times. If you are tickled pink by the idea of Zakus as Yellow Turban bandits then you are already watching this. If not then your mileage may vary. But with the first episode clocking in at under 10 minuets it’s worth a look if you are unsure.

Oh SD Gundam, you amuse me so. The series is just about as silly as you think it would be, and only becomes sillier if you really start to pay attention and really think about the details in the series. I enjoyed it, but I won’t be waiting for it each week. In fact, since they are so short I will probably marathon then when it is over.

Hime Chen!
(Award for Best Portrayal of. . . Whatever the 3rd Mascot Was)

This is a magical girl show for little girls. This is not Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Cardcaptor Sakura, or even Fairy Musketeers. Adults may enjoy it but there are no hooks that I can see for them. The land of fairy tales is dying so the Queen of Fairyland sends servants to grant 3 girls the ability to turn into “princesses” in hopes that they can help revive the kingdom. The three chosen girls discover that forming a idol singer group is an effective way to generate the happiness needed to save Fairyland. Hime Chen! is a little girl wish fulfillment series like Marvelous Melmo or Fancy Lala where the girls can become older to accomplish their dreams. The three girls seem a bit bland so far but none of them are annoying and the mascot characters are not insufferable which is always a plus.  The series looks fine but I can’t see an adult really getting much enjoyment out of the series.

I have a special place in my heart for magical girl shows so whenever a new one appears I go out of my way to see what it’s all about. What is nice but could turn out to be bland is that none of the girls seems to exhibit crazy over-the-top personalities. Even the main girl who is clearly lively and a bit silly is so in a rather calm way. Equally wonderful, and has no draw backs, is that the mascot characters don’t make you want to strangle them.  The story is pretty basic and doesn’t seem like it will be jumping out as especially memorable. It’s for little girls, it succeeds in being cute, has fashion sense, and is fun in that respect. I have to agree that there isn’t much to draw a larger audience than the little girls who this is for. The only thing that would make me interested was if the songs and dancing were particularly good, but they are just average.

Hakuouki
(Award for Sexiest portrayal of Saitou Hajime in 2010)

When I saw this was an anime set around the Shinsengumi I was intrigued. When I found out that it was based on a visual novel for girls by Idea Factory I went in with more measured expectations. While I am reserving judgment, the first episode started off well. Chizuru Yukimura travels to Kyoto dressed as a boy in order to find her missing father. After witnessing strange samurai being cut down she is taken into the custody by the warriors of the Shinsengumi. After some tension Chizuru and the Shinsengumi decide to work together in finding her father. My enjoyment of this series mainly comes down to how well the overall conspiracy plot is structured. We know that the members of the Shinsengumi clearly know more than they let on but how sinister their dealings are is left to be seen. I would love to see this series balance action, conspiracy, and romance in equal measure but I  am worried it will end up not excelling in any. Only time will tell how it turns out.

Hot Shinsengumi. Oh wait that is not a review. It’s hard to really tell if this story could go in a good direction or not, there are signs pointing both ways in this first episode. Chizuru could be totally useless for the duration of the story or she could actually learn some skills from hiding out in the Shinsengumi barracks. I like the insertion of weird supernatural/experimental things hinted at, kind of reminds me of Le Chevalier d’Eon in that way, and the setting is certainly one I enjoy. There was a decent fight at the beginning but then the episode becomes fairly exposition heavy and just needless talking. With the absences of blondes my favorite character was the genki-boy! I’m kind of interested and kind of not.

Senkou no Night Raid
(Award for Using the Power of Telekinesis Awesomely)

Senkou no Night Raid gives me the same vibe that Hakuouki did in how much potential it has and how easy it could be wasted. Set in 1930s Shanghai it revolves around four secret agents with superpowers. They seem to be working for a not entirely trusted secret section of the military. In the first episode they are tasked with saving a kidnapping involving a rebel army. I am curious about the mysteries brought up as it gives us many questions but I don’t see a clear and obvious path the plot is taking. I want to know how much of this show will be episodic with occasional glimpses at a overall plot or will there be one main plot that everything feeds into. Either could lead to great anime series but it also has the potential to fall flat on its face since I have no definitive clue what they are building up to. The characters are interesting but still enigmas that I hope we can explore further along with the plot.

I love the visual direction in this show, there is a part at the beginning where a character comes in and out of shadow that particularly stood out to me. The action scenes are executed nicely as well and I was pulled in immediately by them along with the dark intrigue that is apparent almost immediately. I was slightly surprised that superpowers were a major part of this story that really centers around espionage, but it added a nice flavor that may make missions a bit too easy. But I don’t really think that will be case as they are already hinting that these abilities have limitations and possible side effects. They do a nice job creating the period and setting of the 1930s with one very big exception, the main character. Aoi’s hair cut, sense of style, and manner of talking seems very modern but perhaps this is hinting a some greater secret with him, too. The story has plenty of potential and plenty of secrets that I would like to learn about.

Arakawa Under the Bridge
(Award for the Best Emotional Depiction of the Homeless Kappa)

All the cool kids know that Saint Young Men is a hysterical comedy manga so when I heard that Arakawa Under the Bridge was an anime based on the work of the same manga-ka I was very interested. Arakawa proves that Hikaru Nakamura is more than a one trick pony. Scrooge McDuck in training Ichinomiya Kou is saved from drowning by the very odd, possibly alien, homeless girl Nino. Since Ichinomiya has been raised to never allow himself to be in debt to anyone he soon finds himself dating his savior and meeting the strange people she interacts with. Shinbo adapts the manga’s delightful mixture of dry character based humor with its delightfully zany premise very well. I am really curious to see what other characters they will introduce and how they play off of Ichinomiya and Nino. Might there be more than one Studio Shaft anime that Narutaki enjoys?

I am cautious when it comes to Shinbo, but this time I was pleasantly surprised. However, I do think he works better on quirky comedies than anything else so with manga-ka Hikaru Nakamura’s story to work with, also the creator of Saint Young Men, things are bright indeed. It is a frantic show that switches from one weird moment to the next using all sorts of visual ques, moments of silence, and a whole lot of insanity. The contrast between Nino’s more than a little offbeat path in life with Ichinomiya’s straight but obsessive-nature makes it a site to behold. Arakawa Under the Bridge may be the most eccentric, nonsensical, gag comedy yet and it was all wonderful.

Giant Killing
(Award from the Green Street Football Hooligans)

My first though after watching this was I should find out if there is more seinen sport manga and anime because if it is as good as this then we should all be checking it out. Takeshi Tatsumi is convinced to come back to Japan to coach his old team the ETU. The team is at the bottom of the league in every way possible and there is a good deal of resentment towards him mixed with some awe due to him leaving the team when he did. Can Takeshi turn straw into gold for his old team and will the fans, the management, and most importantly his own team give him a chance? I am really impressed to see an anime about a professional sports team. All too often we see school teams which are often excellent as Cross Game and Taisho Baseball Girls have recently proved but I welcome the chance to explore a sport with adult players and all that it entails. So far the story has really grabbed a hold of me and I am already invested in the characters. If this show can keep up this strong start it could easily be a contender for best show of the year.

I had heard of Giant Killing before watching the show, but the only thing I really knew was that it involved soccer. Being that I enjoy sports anime and had heard good things from others about the manga, I was looking forward to this series quite a bit. What was most pleasantly surprising for me was that it wasn’t a shonen sports series but more of seinen story about 35-year-old coach Takeshi who is not exactly welcomed with open arms. The building of Takeshi and everyone else’s characters is done with finesse woven between flashbacks and present actions. Takeshi is brash and confident, but he has a lot of past baggage and plenty of strong personalities to deal with on and off the field. There are a great variety to the cast, plenty of quirk in them, who really make the series come alive in only 30-minutes. It clearly establishes itself as a miracle coach story, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be surprises along the way. If there is only one show I am following this season I’m making it Giant Killing.

Mitsuru Adachi once again proves he wants to be writing shonen romance manga but keeps being forced to throw in a sports angle due to his perceived image as a sport manga guy. Cross Game has an ending that while different than Touch left me with that same feeling that the baseball and the trip to Koshien Stadium to just window dressing to the relationship. I enjoyed the series overall especially since I was braced for this sort of ending after Touch. I could tell you how I would have ended Cross Game but I am saving that for next month’s Final Denouement. Overall I think the series was well done and you should not let any criticism I give discourage you from watching the show. It ends well and is a very satisfying if you realize that the romance is the real heart of the series no matter how much the baseball might seem to be the key.

Cross Game started off incredibly strong then dipped in the middle as baseball appeared less and less even going for a stretch of 10+ episodes without the sport mentioned more than in passing. But throughout it all the characters were engaging and admittedly though I complained a lot, I did not give up on the show. Kou and Aoba are an interesting pair because they don’t change so much as realize what has been there all along, and that in itself is a change, but who they are is solid and established right from the beginning. I was equally happy to learn who each of the side characters were like Azuma (who quickly became my favorite) and Akaishi who both show how strong the bonds of friendship are. And within all of this the baseball really delivers, when it is in the story, with real tension and energy. The real problem for Adachi as I see it is that he can write really gripping baseball moments even if he doesn’t want to and therefore I wanted to see more of it. And believe me the ending hits all the right spots between a great last game and the wrap up of the romances I truly felt chills and emotion. The only hiccup with the ending is one piece of unfinished business that’s outcome is never disclosed. Much to my surprise I ended up being happier with Cross Game than I thought I was going to be.

With a mixture of sadness and triumph I come to the end of the the Universal Century time line by starting to watch Mobile Suit Victory Gundam episodes 1-15. Goodness. People have always said that Victory Gundam is clearly the work of a extremely depress Tomino. They are not exaggerating by any stretch of the imagination. This show has been a meat grinder so far and I can’t see that letting up any time soon. I mean they start killing of people right away and it never lets up. Set 60 years after Char’s Counter Attack and 30 years after F91 Zeon may have become a problem of the past but the Federation must now deal with the threat of the Zanscare Empire. Uso Evin is living next door to his friend Shakti Karin. They are both illegal immigrants on Earth looking to find their parents. Soon Uso is drawn into being a pilot for the League Militaire against the Zanscare Empire. The story itself starts in medias res and takes several episodes to show you how they got to the position they did in the first episode.  The Victory is yet another combining mecha which I have to assume was the in thing at the time but it is surprising to see a mass produced Gundam. As of episode 15 they are finally in space although I don’t think the journey to get out of Kasarelia was a bad as people made it seem. Also so far even better than Zeon they have shown that Zanscare Empire has some really horrible leaders with all types of people in the lower ranks. The Federation is merely selfish, apathetic, and incompetent. Well it only looks like it’s going to get worse before it ends so I will be sure not to watch any episodes while depressed.

Thanks to the IKKI website I started reading Kingyo Used Books (chs. 1-8). It is a very fun approach to healing manga in which manga itself is the healer. Whether it helps people remember their youth, give them hope for the future, or just plain make them laugh a different manga is featured in each chapter and guides these souls on their way. The workers of the Kingyo Used Books store appear in various degrees of importance depending on the story, sometimes making only a minor cameo when a customer comes looking for a manga. They all have their own quirks though and there does seem to be a little bit of continuing plot involving them which comes up now and again. The stories are fun to read, but what really makes this a standout series are the notes at the end about the manga that appear in the chapters, it’s a great learning tool! Sometimes I have heard of the series and sometimes not, but either way there is always some insight into it at the end.

I finished A Certain Scientific Railgun recently. There were a good deal of people complaining about the filler episodes in the middle but overall they were enjoyable fluff. They gave us some more insight into Mikoto Misaka and her friends. The problem comes down to the fact that I did not expect grand things out of Railgun so the plot filled episodes were a treat as opposed to being disappointed when the filler strayed form the main plot. The end ties everything together nicely bringing in all the major plot lines we had into to one final plot. Overall the story works out rather predictability but in a very fun manner. The fights at the end are nice and everyone gets a role to play. Even Saten gets a role to play which is nice to see. (Am I the only person who wants to shout all hail Satan every time I see her?) This show reminded me that since A Certain Magical Index is not being picked up any time soon I should go back and finish that.

I watched the new Bohemian Rhapsody music video by Leiji Matsumoto. The beginning was well done but then it kind of loses direction at a few early points, they just don’t seem to have much relation either storytelling wise or beat wise. However, it crescendo’s incredibly well and climatically, it seems to hit a stride. The character designs are of course old and familiar, the animation is good but there is the added bonus of CG animation thrown in, being me I would have preferred all 2-D animation but it isn’t terribly jarring. Another nice piece of work from Matsumoto.

Waking Sleeping Beauty is a fascinating documentary highlighting the renaissance of Disney animation from 1984 and 1994. It goes in depth on how the perfect storm cam together to create amazing Disney films like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, and the Little Mermaid after it seemed like Disney animation was dying. The studio went from putting out box-office bombs to having Beauty and the Beast nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards. The film shows how the triumvirate of Roy Disney, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg were all so instrumental in the success of these movies and how the tensions between them would eventually kill the renaissance as easily as they built it. The film uses archival footage, sketches, and caricatures from the artists of the time to ground the documentary in the period to great effect. It goes to show how luck plays just as much of a part in the creation of a great film as hard work does. Amazingly insightful and extremely well-executed. I think parallels could be made with the most recent rise and fall of anime as well for a clever soul out there.

What struck me as very unique about the story of Waking Sleeping Beauty is the focus on the artists, directors, musicians, and all other manners of the creation process rather than the infamous infighting between Roy, Michael, and Jeffery that has already been well-documented. This documentary goes deeper and really shows the hard-work of all those people who rarely made it into the newspaper. The way that it is cut together with only old footage much of which is very off the cuff like home movies (the only things that are new are some of the voiceovers) really helps it to feel grounded in reality and not like some glossy corporate highlights reel. What I found truly incredible about this 10 year journey was the proof of fate, that sometimes the right people come together at the right time and it can never be duplicated because the factors were so diverse. That isn’t to say that hard-work and dedication isn’t the most important part of this project, it’s central to what these animators especially went through to perfect these films, but there is a little bit of magic in these people getting together and making it all happen. Waking Sleeping Beauty is insightful, funny, moving, and may make you believe in Disney magic.

It seems like Fate/Stay Night TV Reproduction is based on the Wikipedia summary of Fate/Stay Night more than the game itself. It plays out like someone constantly hitting the fast forward button on the plot. The story is compressed so much from the visual novel to a 26 episode TV series then to two hour long episodes that it is incomprehensible to anyone that has not experienced some previous iteration of the franchise. In fact as out of character as it might seem I don’t think I could recommend this to anyone. Unless you need a refresher of the series everything goes by so quickly that anything newly added goes by unnoticed. Heck it is so rushed they can’t even spare the time to do all of Archer’s Unlimited Blade Works speech. Your best bet is just to watch the new opening in HD which is pretty sweet and call it a day.

I watched the latest Lupin III Special, The Last Job. This hour and half of anime includes the following: big-bosomed ninjas, car chases, a roaming band of kittens, explosions, ancient laser beams, a dog that can use smoke bombs, a psychopath with a deadly yo-yo, the mafia, the “death” of major character, a mutant bird-man, and history. It was entertaining, amusing, and fun…do you really need anything else from Lupin III?

I can easily picture how Mobile Suit Gundam F91 was created. When Tomino was forced to turn his idea for a 50 episode Gundam series into a single movie I am sure he was amazingly frustrated. So I assume that he just took the show notes for the TV series and adapted them directly into a movie script without any alternations overnight. The he got drunk on sake seconds afterward. Because that is exactly how Gundam F91 feels. I just sense that Tomino had these high points that he had written out like certain people changing sides, dieing, or discovering things. But he had them set up to be revealed over the course of a full length TV series. Now they just come off as a jumbled mess. Even more so than Tomino’s normal crazy. I will say that F91 is beautiful and the fight scenes are pretty sweet. It is a delightful piece of mecha porn but the movie is sort of a train wreck. Also Cecily Fairchild proves Gundam knows how to create attractive red headed pilots. This is a very good thing. If you are a Gundam fan it’s worth a look but everyone else should stay far far away. I wonder how much I will understand everything better after I read the Crossbone Gundam manga that supposedly explains quite a bit even if it is set after the movie.

While waiting for more Blade of the Immortal manga, I grabbed the novel The Legend of the Sword Demon. As per the author’s note in the back, the story is supposed to be a retelling and therefore doesn’t have to fit into the actual storyline. The story isn’t too far off the beaten path of what you’d expect from Blade of the Immortal though. We start with Rin and Manji’s first meeting and then follow them through a story about a monster of a swordsman who keeps showing up when Manji is fighting Itto-ryu guys. The story is well-written with fights that are vivid and tense plus the author has the personalities of the cast down. The one problem that arises with this book thanks to this new adversary is making Manji look a bit like a punk, this monster just keeps getting in his business! It’s like hey this fight is just getting interesting, oh wait now it is interrupted by demon beast! Also the ending fight is much more a highlight of how awesome (and he is oh so awesome) Magatsu is rather than Manji. The new pieces of art by Hiroki Samura are a welcome edition but I was a bit disappointed that the only new character, the Sword Demon, isn’t fully featured in any of them. The Legend of the Sword Demon is a quick, light read but may just make you want to read the manga even more.

We don’t have nearly enough mecha pictures so here is the F91:

It can be easy to dismiss Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn with “another year another Gundam project” but I am thrilled to see a full return to the Universal Century. Unicorn is so UC you can hardly tell it’s not directed by Tomino. Banagher Links is a student on the colony of Industrial Seven.  He is quickly drawn into a brewing conflict when he helps the mysterious girl Audrey Burne who is trying to prevent a war between Neo-Zeon and the Federation over a mysterious object know as the Laplace Box. At the end of the episode most of Banagher’s friends at school have been killed by the fighting that had broken out, he has found his father just before he died, Audrey and his remaining friends have been picked up by the Londo Bell soldiers, and Banagher himself is piloting the Gundam Unicorn. The animation is luscious and everything is what could only be OVA quality. The fights be they hand to hand or mecha are fluid and expertly choreographed. My only real complaint is other than being totally into Audrey I did not get much of an impression about Banagher. We know that Micott is the inheritor of the Frau Bow legacy of being in love with the main guy who totally ignores her and Takuya is a geek. Suberoa and Marida Cruz of Zeon distinctly make an impression as people to watch. It will be a hard 6 months to wait for the next episode but it will be worth it.

YAYAYAANEWUNIVERSALCENTURYGUNDAMYAYAYA! Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I can happily say that all the hype (that I myself was contributing to) surrounding this OVA release is 100% justified. Gundam Unicorn has all the trappings of the original storyline directed by Tomino, it knows its source material well. Audrey caught me happily by surprise with her determination and courage. Banagher acts in typical UC teenager style and does things seemingly for no reason and falls in love at the drop of a hat, but atleast I didn’t want to punch him! They set up a lot of players for the coming story and rattle off a few tempting names before a spectacular finale. I am completely in love with the modern but 70′s characters designs that are the trend for series with old roots, their simplicity actually makes the series looks even more slick. And that’s pretty amazing because the production quality is on overload with this. I am also enjoying the robot designs with this animation as well, Marida’s Kshatriya makes quite a splash in this first installment. Everything about Gundam Unicorn’s debut episode was exciting and better than I could have imagined, here’s to the rest being as impressive!

I started watching Future Police Urashiman (eps. 1-25) again. I had started watching a while back and then stopped watching in favor of waiting for the fan-subbers to just finish the series. Getting back into it I have to say it’s lots of fun. It reminds me of those old kid cartoons were the bad guys have wacky schemes to make money and defeat the mobile police. But all the characters have depth and when the villains have plans they more often than not tie into their personal history. There are three things about this show that stick out to me. The first is that everything about the series is so 80′s from the animation and character designs to the overall vision of the future. The second is apparently everyone is an acrobat because they jump around like sentai heroes and villains all the time. I was half expecting Inspector Gondo to jump up 10 feet in the air. The third is the show really likes to use insert songs. The real hook is the waiting for the reveal of who the Fuhrer is and what Ryu’s power is. I know that we are probably only going to learn these things in the last 5 episodes but it still keeps you waiting for answers.

Finally picked up the last two volumes (7-8) of Monkey High! Even though it gets a little more dramatic in the last volume with the interference of Haruna’s father, it still stays a little, familiar, and happy romance story where love rules the day! Though I was glad to see it take a closer look at a some adult issues, but still keeps that positive upbeat outlook. Monkey High! doesn’t do anything incredible but it uses what it knows perfectly and Masaru and Haruna are just adorable together.

Since I talked about Cutie Honey during the second Speakeasy podcast it spurned my interest in actually seeing the show I used as an example. I decided to start with the 70′s classic series (eps. 1-10). You see the groundwork for the immensely successful Cutey Honey franchisee laid out in the first 10 episodes. Honey Kisaragi’s father is murdered by the evil organization Panther Claw who is trying to obtain all the beautiful and rare objects in the world. Honey is actually an android made by her father who can transform into various forms. She uses her transformation powers to defeat the generic goons and gimmick bosses working her way up the ladder. She is assisted by the Hayami family who wants in Honey’s pants (because this is a Go Nagai work) and are all based on characters from another Go Nagai series. The episodes all follow a simple formula of Honey sneaking out of school, getting involved with a Panther Claw plot to steal something, taking on several disguises to find the boss, and then transforming to her ultimate Cutey Honey form and taking out the boss. It is a fun series but very simple and very low budget. They mostly keep the viewers interested by making sure Honey is naked every time she transforms and by often having her clothing shredded by villains in key locations. I can’t say it’s a great series by any stretch of the imagination but it does have a distinct charm to it. Also it is sometimes worth watching just to see some of the odder transformations Honey makes that people don’t talk about like Homeless Honey, Woodsman Honey, and Charlie Chaplin Honey.

Read through Kekkaishi books 19 and 20. The end of 18 was a bit of a cliffhanger and it finishes up nicely in 19. But what is most exciting is the looming longer story arc that is evolving out of it. A prophecy and a vision of destruction! Someone is destroying scared sites! The council of 12 is starting to be revealed more! And Yoshimori’s mother and brother are in the thick of things! And seriously it’s hard to tell if they are in the right or the wrong many times. Yoshimori is continually building his power, but his attitude (i.e. I want to seal away it’s power and for it to be gone for good) about guarding Karasumori is making him powerful enemies. He seems to be growing up a bit in these books but it’s hard to tell just where he is headed. Tokine hasn’t been as much of a prominent figure, but it looks like her feelings are starting to reveal themselves a little more regarding Yoshi.

It can be hard to find a tasteful picture that sums up Cutie Honey but I think this does the job well:

It was a natural combination that was an inevitability like the teaming up of Jackie Chan and Jet Li we have the combination of Detective Conan and Sherlock Holmes. Thankfully Detective Conan Movie 6: The Phantom of Baker Street turn out better than The Forbidden Kingdom. When Conan and his detective gang are invited to the world premier of a high tech virtual reality game the festivities quickly turn to a race to solve murders in real life and the virtual world. The draw of the movie is going to be Conan substituting for the world greatest detective as he tries to solve the Jack the Ripper murders in a virtual London. The fact that if they lose the game everyone playing dies also ramps up the tension. The action in the virtual world and the real world work well in tandem but eventually tie together in an unexpected manner. There was always some bit of action or excitement going on which helped keep the movie lively. It was great to see Professor Moriarty and Sebastian Moran in the game as well although there is less Holmes than I expected. The Junior Detective League also seems like they were deliberately part of the script as opposed to crammed in like the other movies. Overall it was a good time and a fine addition to the franchise.

I can’t tell you how trilled I was when I got my hands on this movie, I insisted that it be next on this list. My goodness, what a combination: Conan (love!), Sherlock Holmes (love!), 19th century London (love!), and a Jack the Ripper mystery (love!). I really enjoyed that the creators finally cooked up away to bring all those elements together even if it takes place in a virtual world. And the virtual reality aspect of this film tells you exactly when it was made, the mid-90′s when everyone was convinced that was going to be the next big thing! But it’s not like Detective Conan isn’t already set around some pretty crazy technology so this doesn’t seem out of place. Everyone contributes a lot to this movie and we even get an appearance from Conan’s parents. There are of course many twists and turns, and this one does have some very suspenseful moments. I found the final confrontation scene especially thrilling and once again tip my hat to Ran, in fact the franchise is very good at the final scenes overall. Detective Conan Movie 6: The Phantom of Baker Street is a great romp in the collection!

I finished Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and I have to say it came together pretty well in the end. I was happy to see that Roux and Elle were useful through the series as I was a little worried they would fade away. Emary Ounce was sort of useless as a captain but it is not like Beecha is much better. It was also odd to see what were pretty much comic relief villains being dangerous cyber-newtype killers but it gave some weight to the last fights. The ending had some notable character deaths on all sides but was not the Battle of Gettysburg that the end of Zeta was. Glemy and Puru Two could have gotten a little more fleshing out as villains but served their purposes. Overall Gundam ZZ is hardly a necessity as a part of the Universal Century story. You can skip it if you don’t have the time but you would be missing out on some good characters, stories, and fights near the end. Also a bit of resolution to Kamille, Fa, and Haman Khan’s stories from Zeta and more story to the tale of Bright Noa. It is also a major point in Mineva Lao Zabi‘s story which can almost be seen as the story that ties together all the main Gundam series. If you do watch the series you just might want to skip to episode 12 and just read an episode guide to catch up. Also Tomino why do we get the most fan-service from Puru Two when wonderfully attractive Roux and Elle were cast members? I am also amused it has several instances of shirtless Judau and cross-dressing which proves once again that Gundam always catered to women despite what fans may say. I almost forgot to mention that one very important person shows up for a few scenes and that makes it all worth it.

I found the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Parallel Works, which is a collection of music videos, to be as a whole rather disappointing. For many of the shorts, the music and image were not in sync and by that I don’t just mean the beat (though that happened often), but also by theme and by mood. The ones that were even able to accomplish one of those tasks (Boing vs Boing, Omae no xxx de Ten wo Tsuke!!, and Gattai Nante Kusokurae!!) were still just okay. The only real stand out piece, and truly the only one worth seeking out, is the last one about Lordgenome’s past. There is a great combination of style, design, scale, music, and weight all of which is able to convey such an ominous and spic mood. Omaera Zenin Moete Shimae!!! exemplifies what the collection should have been and therefore blows everything that came before it out of the water.

I was both very pleased and a little disappointed after watching Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagan-hen. The disappointment came because all the reviews I read really made it seem like there was a significant new direction in the second Gurren Lagann movie. But I was pleased as the movie succeeds in what it set out to do. And that is tell the rest of the story of Gurren Lagann in two hours. It does so very well and reminded me what I really liked about the TV series. It starts off with Simon fighting Lord Genome and ends with a little more of what Simon is doing with himself after the climax. It told the story in a compressed manner without any of the awkwardness of the first movie. With the new material I did notice there were differences but they did not change the narrative that much. Sure some characters lived who died in the TV series but no one cared about them anyway. We got a little more mecha porn and some nudity from Yoko and Nina which gives the audience what it wants on both fronts. The second movie really sells you on what made Gurren Lagann such a great show. It works well for new fans who just want to watch two movies to get the feel of the series and old fans who want to see what they love again with a slight twist.

I watched Toradora episodes 2-7 just a week or so before the license announcement, so while I’m waiting for the DVDs to finish it off I thought I’d share my feelings since I think it’s worth buying. I’m glad to have watched these installments in quick succession because I don’t think the 2nd and 3rd episodes are nearly as good as the first. ToraDora always seems to be teetering on the edge between being a standard shonen romance and really living up to the potential of the stand-out moments that occur in every episode (when Ryuji and Taiga take out their frustrations on the light pole, it was a perfect scene no doubt). You could sense though that the staff knew they took the relationship between Taiga and Ryuji too far, too quick and had to back pedal. However, from episode 4 onward the series starts to even itself out, and the gradual build happening for our tiger (tora) and dragon (dora) is solid. I do worry that we won’t see as much of Ryuji’s perspective and struggles, as they have already been relegated to the side, but Taiga is a good character whose story and transition I am eager to explore.

I continued my journey with Detective Conan in watching the 4th Movie, Captured in Her Eyes. This one clearly makes Ran the focus of the movie but by giving her amnesia after she witnesses a police woman being shot in front of her as part of a series of attacks against police officers. So most of the movie is Conan trying to get her to get her memories back so she can remember the shooting while trying to simultaneously to solve the case.  I got a better insight into every one’s relationships as they tried to explain to Ran who they were. The story is weaker the the last movie but I still found it enjoyable. The story starts off strong with some action and murder and sort of coasts in the middle. The end gets exciting again and has some great chase sequences with a solid finale. Everyone role in this movie was more organic integrated than the last movie which was nice to see. Not the first Detective Conan movie you should see but definitely not one you should skip over either.

Captured in Her Eyes is strangely able to show Ran at her weakest and show her kicking ass in a properly dramatic scene. At first you may think, Ran sees murders all the time as does anyone involved with Conan! However, this time around she was close to death and what’s more, she has seen the killer’s face. There is a much more personal element in this movie, even in the mystery itself as one of the officers targeted is a recurring character. This movie also showcases a little of Ran and Kudo’s connection, not that it isn’t obvious, but it’s not always central and in this case there is a desperation on Conan’s part. For better or for worse, those are the best parts of movie. The mystery itself is enticing for sure but the figuring of it out isn’t as intriguing. Though this is all saved by some really incredible animation sequences including one of Conan skateboarding down this giant ice slide thing and then almost immediately after a nice boat chase scene! Enjoyable of course, but Capture in Her Eyes is more memorable for the animation than anything else.

Ever since Leina got kidnapped by Neo Zeon it seems that Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ has taken a turn toward the more serious like a regular Gundam series. As I understand it ends with the same grim demeanor of Zeta but as of now it is a solid war story with action, drama, and humor but has not become utterly dark. The section with the Moon Moon colony and it’s Amish ninjas was not nearly as horrific as I thought it would be but that might have been due in part to the fact that I had lowered my expectations enough. I do find it amusing that other than Judau it seems Elle and Roux are the most competent pilots and very competent people. So far neither of them have being utterly undermined as well. Has Tomino finally realized women are people too or will he be back to his own tricks soon? Then again he also has Elpeo Puru is a loli character before it was “cool” to have loli characters. By the way I don’t see why there is the fan following for Haman Karn that there is. She is a creepy and dangerous even when sexy but she is supposed to have a vibe like that.  So people in the fan community worshiping “Haman-sama” is just odd to me. Maybe if I read Char’s Deleted Affair I would grow to care for her like everyone else but until then she just gives me the heebie jeebies.

Got a copy of Rampage 1 from CMX a week or so ago. The first thing anyone will notice about this title if they see it is that it’s a larger trim size and it has a explicit content sticker on the front. This applies to the graphic violence and nudity held inside though I am clearly so desensitized that this particular manga seemed like child’s play. Rampage takes place in ancient China where war is in full swing. We meet wanderer Zhang Fei who for no real reason decides to join a volunteer army that he runs across. This army is headed by well-known general and tactician Lui Bei and seconded by the fierce Guan Yu. Zhang’s not particularly skilled or courageous but he has an attitude for sure and after an incident ends up with an immortal, but possessed, body which makes him a kick-ass warrior. That all sounds well and good, but the most attractive part of this manga is the violence and the promise of more violence as each new person who appears is the “strongest warrior, etc.” But there were a lot of names getting thrown around in this first volume making it hard to really connect with anyone right off.

After reading Rampage, Narutaki asked me to read it as well and give my opinion. The first thing I noticed that he was unaware that it’s set during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms which I think explains quite a bit. Being a classic of Eastern literature and a staple of anime, manga, and video games the author clearly assumes that you know all the important characters because it is just something “everyone” knows. Unfortunately, this means that it is easy to be lost in this series unless you have read the original novel (or have a brother who owns every Dynasty Warriors game). The main problem is the author leans on the text when throwing out historical characters and does little to develop them outside of this fact. And the original takes on the classic characters are just not that interesting. Yunosuke Yoshinaga clearly wants Zhang Fei to be inherently good and noble guy with a realistic amount of cowardliness and selfishness but his characterization comes off as more slapdash than nuanced. He will be noble and brave in one part and then turn on a dime to be selfish and cowardly in the next section to move the story along. I was also amused that Lui Bei is apparently the Baroness with her ability to hide quite an ample rack around hundreds of soldiers. The art is solid and the action is fluid but the story that ties it together is just bland and unremarkable. It’s not a bad manga it ‘s just nothing that makes me want to read more.

I watched the first Seitokaichou ni Chuukoku OVA, I’m not exactly sure how many are in the works. This is a BL story about rough but shy Chiga ends up as vice president to Kokusai who is equally shy but also a rather oblivious guy. Chiga is a tall blond with glasses while Kokusai is a brunette with a more feminine frame. The story in this first episode mostly consists of Kokusai getting molested by creeps and Chiga getting him out of trouble and comforting him. Which results in an interesting almost-rape/dream sequence. The one nice thing about this OVA, thus far anyway, is that Chiga is as uncertain about his feelings as Kokusai is oblivious, so there isn’t an air of over dominance between them. Overall not really too exciting and of course the animation is only serviceable.

For this movie the only appropriate picture is one of Ran and Conan.

This past weekend with some friends in toe I went to the Tatsunoko VS. Capcom event being held at Nintendo World in NYC. Usually at these little gatherings you can get a copy of the game early, but not so this time around. Though you could win a copy by beating out everyone else in the game tournament. Of which there were tons, or atleast I think there were, maybe they were all just in line for the autograph and poster as seen above. In any case, talk about packed! Luckily we caught glimpses of the game as we were waiting in line. I am happy to report many people playing as Joe the Condor (as they should be!) who is basically the reason I want to play this game myself. Actually I was happy to see everyone really playing an array of the hefty cast. I did get to play for a minute at the end where I doubled up with Joe the Condor and Viewtiful Joe and promptly got trounced by Gold Lightan! Looking forward to this release so I can try again.

So begins the end of Umineko with the first part: End of the Golden Witch. I devoured this episode over the course of two days and loved every second of it. It picks up the ball from where it landed after the ultra dramatic end of part 4. With Battler initially sitting the game out we get the introduction of Erika Furudo as the new detective. She starts off as the text book definition of a Mary Sue. As the episode goes on we slowly learn that she is not the nice person she might first appear to be. She is a detective without love and sort of psycho at times. Any worries that she would become the new main character and sweep Battler to the side are utterly blow away by the end. I’m not exactly sure if she is supposed to be a tool to explore the story or if there is some deeper hints in her appearance in this stage of the game. I was a little surprised that I liked Dlanor A. Knox infinitely more than I initially thought I would. The Internet made her seem much crazier and more useless than she was in the actual visual novel. I hope to see more of her. Battler himself is utterly epic when he finally gets his head back in the game. I will say this new set of chapters seem to ramp up the meta commentary to the next level. The conversation about how a good relationship is like a good mystery novel and the use of Knox’s rules was so delightful.

I continue on with Yumeiro Patissiere with much glee, the series continues to be a very nice, energetic, and happy shojo series. And with the new element of the baking contest it has thrown in some shonen tournament style! Ichigo has the proper balance of self-doubt mixed with gusto. She doesn’t miraculously get better as a patisserie, she truly works hard. There was also a nice scene where she realizes that one of her seniors who is considered a genius is not just natural ability either as she puts in long hours in the kitchen after others have left for the day. The tournament is going to be a fun romp and I expect it will take up a good portion of the next maybe 10 episodes, maybe more. I’m really looking forward to see what kind of strides the team makes!

In preparation for Gundam Unicorn I decided to brave one of the more infamous Gundam series: Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. I know people did not like the first part of because it changes the tone of the series from riveting war drama to slap stick mecha comedy but it really is a shift that has to be seen to be believed. Most everyone who survived Zeta from the Argama is back but now they are two hundred times more incompetent. It is best summed up by the fact that Yazan Gable, who is one of the deadliest characters in the Gundam series, is nothing more than a goofy comic relief villain who attacks a Gundam on a scooter with a metal pipe. Also they attack Bright with fruit. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Judau Ashta is a shady teenager who does salvage work. He is a likable energetic young chap in contrast to the previous Gundam antagonists but he is sort of dumb as a box of rocks. The rest of his crew is a decent band of nogoodniks but none of them stand out too much. Roux Louka is the shinning reason to watch the series. She was a breath of fresh air when she comes swooping in to save Judau. So far she is practically a magical girl because she has an amazing power that no one else has so far. She has common sense. I will say the Rainbow Bright stars on her outfits are sort of odd but I also find them cute because she is definitely my type of lady. I am going to stick with ZZ but I could see what would get people so upset at this series. It is almost a parody of Gundam at this point. And I have not gotten to the Moon Moon colony yet.

I sped through Swan 10-14, if I had anymore than that I would have kept going! But since 15 won’t land on my doorstep till next month, I’m out of luck. We some major hurdles overcome in these volumes from much of the cast, though also some heartbreaking down falls, it truly is an amazing rollercoaster ride look at a highly competitive field. Masumi really starts to stretch herself in the later books and as she makes a major move and starts to get a look at the world of modern ballet we really she her constitution toughen and her resolve set in. There are a couple of new love interests, one of which I really like, but I’m still anxious to see how Aoi will eventually fit into her life as is my fervent wish that he will. The drama never ends, and I don’t want it to! I have to talk about Swan as much as possible because it truly deserves it and is probably one of the best series currently being released in English.

If there is one reason to watch ZZ it is the lady right here:

So I decided to go a little crazy and try to put together a perfect grade RX-78-2 Gundam aka original Gundam kit a while back. I really wanted to either get a master grade RX-78-2 Gundam or a master grade RX-93 Nu Gundam. But when I saw the perfect grade RX-78-2 at AnimeNext I knew I had to have it. I also decided to splurge and get the extra weapons kit. I mean it comes with a Gundam Hammer on a real metal chain. What more could you ask for? When I initially opened up the box and saw pieces in sheets labeled from A to Z I was quite daunted by the task. But when I got into the swing of things I mostly found my previous Gunpla skills did not make it that much harder than anything else I had put together. When it came together it looks really nice. I would definitely not casually buy another perfect grade kit but I thought it was worth the extra money and effort.

The latest episode of Anime3000 features this very blog and the Otaku Diaries as its main topic of discussion! It was a bit unexpected but I think we did alright and it made us feel special. The podcast is a little more insight into the whole project and what our future plans are if you’re curious. There is a also a bonus segment where you can hear us go on and on about what shows we are sticking with from the new season and we even manage to throw Cross Game in as well.

After a random conversation I was inspired to go and watch some Exo-Squad on Hulu which quickly turned into me marathoning the whole series.  I mostly bring up the series because of it’s origin as a American cartoon specifically designed as a response to anime. It is an interesting show for a wide variety of reasons. Exo-Squad takes place in a future where Earth has colonized Venus and Mars, people work and fight commonly in powered armor called Exo-Frames, and there is a genetically engineered species of humans called neosapiens. When the Neospaiens revolt and enslave humanity the characters who are a part of humanities space fleet have to liberate humanity. The influence of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross is unmistakable. While hardly a clone the use of mecha, the themes of culture clash, the one fleet that has to save humanity, and even some of the sub plots can be seen as homages to Macross. The fact that is had such a sprawling plot that demanded you watch every episode was uncommon enough at the time as well. Also the attempt to capture the more “mature” storytelling in anime was clear. The protagonists in Exo-squad which often flawed characters who had vices and flaws that were ongoing problems. The show not only dealt with issues like alcoholism and  prejudice but had main heroic characters have these problems as well. Both minor and major characters characters died with an unusual regularity for American kids cartoon. It did feel like an American cartoon. It did not want to be a American anime but an American cartoon that took the strengths of anime and added it to the strengths of American cartoons. The characters designs were really ugly in my opinion but the story telling was top notch. It is an interesting artifact and definitely worth checking out if you never saw it when you were younger.

After watching three episodes of Animal Detectives Kiruminzoo I still don’t know what I think of it. The art style is rather odd, the story is rather odd, the whole is just plain odd, okay? It seemed like it was going to be a magical girl show, but it hasn’t really sprouted legs in that respect. A lot more people who can transform into animals have shown up, but they don’t seem to need the lockets like our main heroines. But I feel curious enough about what is going on. I also rather like Kanon who is a transfer student, who can transform of course, and is just strange. She also had a conversation with her mother about finding a husband. I am glad to report that the show seems on the level and not creepy. This series is also getting a manga adaption in Ribon.

Since this is the post about things I have been meaning to talk about in an Ongoing Investigation but never got around to, I will share my thoughts on the Kannagi OAV. Set during an indeterminate time during the TV series Takako finds a bunch of money and decides that the art club should make a movie using the main cast. This can be nothing else but a nudge and a wink to another series Yutaka Yamamoto worked on. Even the plot of the movie and the horrible acting is clearly supposed to invoke another movie about a combat waitress from the future. Other than, a rainstorm provides a reason for the cast to get soaked and have to play video games in bathing suits. Nothing major happens but it is a bonus episode that was thrown on the last DVD of the series so what do you really expect. I thought the epic quest to return the overdue DVD at the end was cute and delightfully over dramatic. It brought a smile to my face and that is all I ask of Kannagi.

Cross Game episodes 29-36 were seriously lacking in baseball, well except the last episode. Of course there were developments on other fronts like the appearance of Akane, which was done in a nicely jarring way. The main problem with a new love rival appearing this late in the game, and since they have stayed away from it becoming an annoying love triangle, is there is no real tension as the audience. However, Akane may prove more important as she could help people move on and accept some things. Finally, at 36 we get some decent baseball along with a good cliffhanger ending. Though I heard that was ruined by the preview, why do the Japanese like to do that?

In honor (or dishonor depending on who you ask) of Amuro and the first Gundam I present to you a line up of cute Gundam girls:

Dishonor.

Gundam X begins after the apocalyptic end of a war between the Earth and the colonies. During the climax of the war the colonies dropped themselves on the earth killing 99% of the population. Fifteen years later the environment is somewhat stable again and people are just starting to making decent headway in the rebuilding of Earth. Garrod Ran is hired to save a kidnapped young girl named Tiffa Adill with mysterious powers who was taken by mercenaries. But the people asking Garrod to rescue her might not have her best interests at heart. While rescuing Tiffa Garrod also finds an amazing pre-war mobile suit called the Gundam X. This suit is just as mysterious and powerful as Tiffa.

Garrod Ran is a likable chap. I like describing him as if you took all five Gundam Wing pilots and made them one guy with Duo being the main and strongest template. He is a loner but usually easy going, energetic, and resourceful. He goes through periods where he is depressed and angry but he’s fifteen. It would be highly unrealistic for him to be any other way. Garrod has an aptitude for piloting but does not start out as an ace and it is implied that he has done some piloting before the show begins. Tifa Adill is sort of a stock mysterious girl with powers but she is a well done version of that archetype. It turns out she is a Newtype but unlike in the original Gundam series she never uses her power for combat. She is a quiet and odd girl who cuts herself off from everyone else. Although it is never stated, you know that Tifa has been unable to live a normal life ever since she discovered her powers. Still she is a good and kind person who wants to help others but is not always sure how to interact with people in order to do so.

Eventually Garrod and Tifa wind up on a ship called the Freeden. The captain, Jamil Neate, was a war hero who now goes around saving Newtypes while earning a living as a mercenary and scavenger. He is a quiet father figure for the crew who is trying to atone for several major sins committed during the war. The rest of the crew is a tightly knit group that slowly integrate Garrod and Tifa into their family. They are a varied bunch from the ditzy blond helmswomen to the the 12 year genius mechanic. In the first episode we are introduced to Witz Sou and Roybea Loy who start out as independent mercenaries but they quickly become full members of the crew. They usually fight along side Garrod in lesser Gundams while providing him the advice of a pair of older brothers. I would be remiss in not mentioning Paula Cis, the spunky tomboy that saves Garrod at one point and later allies herself with the crew of the Freeden. She was obviously supposed to get a deeper back story and more screen time but Paula is a victim of the show getting the number of episodes cut. Which is upsetting because Paula Cis reminded me of a mixture of Sayla Mass and Allenby Beardsley. In other words, pure awesome.

The villains in the series are usually greedy individuals using the chaos that the colony drop caused to profit or push their personal agendas on the world. Gundam X is much more arc based than previous Gundam shows so the minor antagonists are usually around only for a few episodes. They are a mix of scheming politicians, evil and slightly mad scientists, despicable pirates and mercenaries, and power hungry war mongers. The only consistent villains Ennil El and the Frost Brothers. Ennil’s role changes several times throughout the series depending on who she is working with at the time. She is rather well endowed and they like to remind you of that from time to time. Shagia and Olba Frost are evil schemers who I think are supposed to be charming in a Char-like fashion but come off more crazy than cool. In fact they only kill enemies soldiers to set up their greatest act of ally murder yet. They keep going after Tifa and quickly develop a rivalry with the crew of the Freeden. I sort of wonder if part of the reason Gundam fans never got into Gundam X was because so many of the antagonists were villains instead of just heroes on the opposite side. Then again the Titans from Zeta Gundam were hardly shades of gray.

After reading this very good article on Gundam X I noticed something that I really liked upon reflection. In most Gundam iterations, a Gundam is exponentially better than any other mobile suit in the series and therefore the only real threat for a Gundam pilot is another Gundam pilot. In Gundam X it seems that Gundams are better than regular mobile suits but they are merely a level or two better. This means that the pilots for the Freeden can’t take on armies by themselves and the Gundam X’s trump card is amazingly powerful but limited in it’s applications which is unusual. Also the Gundam X eventually gets a weapon called the Harmonica Cannon which not only has an awesomely silly name but is actually awesome. It gives you a greater sense that the pilots have to fight hard to earn any of their victories which is refreshing.

It’s almost immediately obvious that Garrod Ran and Tiffa Adill are the official couple they are moving together for the whole series, spoiler! They obviously like each other right off the bat but they are both not romantically experienced teenagers so they are clumsy about expressing their affections. Slowly but surely as the series goes on they come to realize how they feel, how the other ones feels, and how to express those feelings. They also, very importantly, learn who the other one is beyond their first impression. I thought that was well done and cute especially after watching Tomino’s attempt at romance. I will say that there are a few other relationships in the series. Some are well done and some are TOMINO SAYS YOU ARE IN LOVE NOW! But the main romance is done well enough that I forgive it when they throw one or two characters together for hardly any explained reason.

In many a place I have seen Gundam X described as an alternate take on the Universal Century time line. While I think this is 100% correct I think it leaves out a vital part of this alternate take. It is also an examination and criticism of the themes in the original series. Most importantly it is an examination of the role of Newtypes and humanity. I think you could do a whole paper on the issue and I am sure there are several in Japan. It’s a fascinating subject but extremely spoiler heavy. I might go back and do an article with spoilers on it one day. In my opinion Gundam X is an examination of what would have happened if there were not an Amuro Ray to help bring the One Year war to a speedy conclusion. The reason there was no Newtype like Amuro Ray in the After War universe is one of the major themes of the series.

I can’t say that Gundam X is the pinnacle of Gundam but it is enjoyable show. I can’t agree with the major complaints with the series. The ending was a bit rushed but they did everything they needed to. It ties up all the lose ends and has about as much falling action as any other Gundam series. I also feel that people often complained that the characters in Gundam X were unlikable. I feel for people living in a post apocalyptic world they were fairly upbeat and well-adjusted. I think that having just come off of Gundam Wing people wanted more Gundam Wing but got something that was good but not what they were hoping for. This is a real shame because there is a lot to like about Gundam X. If your looking for a enjoyable mecha show I think you might be surprised at this unappreciated gem.

Everyone’s question was would NYAF live up to, exceed, or fail compared to the two previous conventions? There was quite a bit of talking with the announcement that NYAF would join with NYCC for 2010 so there was also the question of what would NYAF do as its last year as an independent convention? Although those are all pressing questions my main question was if I was going to have fun? Was I going to be able to do as much as I wanted to? We were also running two panels one of which had a lot of people looking forward to it. The Bloggers Roundtable had some big names on the marquee but it was a the first time we ever ran the panel. I had the most expectations for the panel because I felt it could succeed or fail so much more than any of our previous panels. On top of all that I had two guests staying at my humble abode during the convention so I had to play host as well as press.

It was no secret that we were looking forward to New York Anime Festival, probably more than any other con previously thanks to a killer guest, director Yoshiyuki Tomino. This sent NYAF which I always enjoy but never as much as say Otakon right to the front of the line this year. That being said, the rest of the con experience remained the same though I was happy to see quite a few license announcements this year. Since NYAF’s space has basically stayed the same from its first year, there weren’t too many surprises but that also means it still has some of the same problems. Javits, is Javits, its a bit of a walk from the train, the hotels, and most food. Though it also means that for the most part events went off without a hitch and things seemed to be well in hand with the staff.

The convention for me started on Thursday night since most of my main convention group went to see the Eureka Seven movie. Although not officially a part of the convention experience it felt like a great way to spend an evening before the big show. The movie itself was bizarre. I will never forget the line, “I am an enemy alien spy robot” as long as I live. It was a visually appealing movie but otherwise a utter train wreck. I appreciated their attempt to do something new with the original story but their execution left something to be desired. Though I was happy to watch a film with my friends and be able to talk about it afterward because I often feel like I hardly watch any anime at anime conventions. On Friday morning my two guests the spectacular OGT, the amazing PatzPrime, plus the remarkable SDShamshel all met up and went to the Javits center early to get Tomino autograph tickets. We were all a little worried when we heard that people were already starting to line up at 7am. We finally arrived at 10 and got progressively worried when we saw how the VIP line was growing but we were able to get our autograph tickets. Since we got there before the con officially started getting our press badges was a snap. We all went for some delicious Go Go Curry before starting the convention. Starting the con with curry is a tradition I could get behind.

Once again, the staff of NYAF as far as tickets goes were on top of it. Not a moment more than one was I in line for my press badge, which incidentally looks very different this year. This goes for the weekend con badges and VIP ones as well and only half for individual day passes. I’m not sure what to make of them, on the one hand I really like the hard plastic but on the other hand the badges aren’t very fun. Maybe that sounds like a stupid complaint, but too bad, many of us have a grand time trying to guess what show or characters will appear on the badges before going to a con. The speculations can even spawn forum threads, so it has become a popular and expected part of anime conventions. And I was surprised to not at the very least see the badges sporting the logo from this year’s contest winner. Since I never made it to the convention center before opening time, I have no idea what the lines looked like but from the massive crowds on Saturday I can imagine there was a pretty good wait in the morning. However, panels seemed to be well organized in this regard though having a press badge prevented any problems for me. The Javits space allotted for NYAF was insufficient for Saturday but was tolerable on Friday and Sunday. Happily this mean the Tomino panel was rightfully full.

I had heard so many stories about Yoshiyuki Tomino but it is still hard to say what I was expecting. To be very brief, Tomino was quite chill from the moment he cut the Opening Ceremonies ribbon to the insistence that he finish answering all the fans who lined up to ask him a question at his Saturday panel. To expand more thoughtfully, Tomino in the past has made some pretty harsh remarks about all his works and most notably about Gundam but at this convention (and quite possibly because this year also marks the 30th anniversary) he seems to have accepted its value, its popularity, and become more content because of it. During his keynote, he remarked that he wanted Gundam to be remembered even more fondly than Star Wars. Tomino also gave the impression of being proud that he created something that is still watchable and relevant thirty years later then going on to discuss his use and philosophy of cinema which made Gundam the show it was. Though the audience may have been missing out on more wisdom from Tomino due to a poor translation at the Keynote, but thankfully at his Q&A this was corrected. The Q&A started off very lively as they showed a reel of Tomino’s work, many members of the audience sang along to the theme songs and of course there was mass cheering for many pieces on the screen (surprisingly Gundam ZZ had a rousing reception). Tomino then finally took center stage and got down to the nitty gritty of tackling fan questions. It was pleasing to see, after a couple of questions submitted online were answered, Tomino signaled that he would much prefer to answer those standing before him. He clearly understands how many people came from varying distances just to see him in the flesh, and frankly they should get the priority. The people helping to the run the Q&A went down the line hearing everyone’s question first, and making sure it was actually Tomino related. One could have probably heard the collected booing a mile away from the Keynote when a con-goer stood up and began to ask a question about Gundam 00. Tomino’s visit ended (not counting a final autograph session) with a showing of Ring of Gundam, his short 30th anniversary film. Tomino left the room with a standing ovation and there was little doubt that he made many a fan happy this past weekend.

I was expecting Tomino to be a man of very little words but for those few words to be extremely cranky and point blank. However, he  seemed genuinely happy and upbeat at the convention but you could tell that the cranky old man Tomino we all knew and loved was there. While his answers were always pleasant, he never seemed to be holding back. As expected there were a few lame question, a few rephrased and then repeated questions, and a few super egotistical questions from the attendees but overall selection was very good. Tomino mentioned that he always had regrets on all his series because he always felt they could be majorly improved in retrospect. But he also felt that feeling makes him always strive to do better in every project he works on. He said that one of the major themes of Gundam was that adults who were rigid in their mindsets were the enemy so therefore since he was super old that made him the super enemy now which got a good laugh out of the audience. Tomino seemed to have a fuzzy memory on any sort of details of the projects he had worked on. He thankfully remembered a little something about Sayla so I did get a partial answer to my question about what her role would be if she was in Zeta Gundam, he seemed to think he would have left things as is. I was also thrilled we got a good answer to the one Turn A Gundam question about why no newtypes appeared in the series. Tomino clarified the confusion by saying the people in Turn A would later become newtypes but the story couldn’t have been told as it was had they already evolved so. The way he dodged questions about Gunpla and his time at Mushi Productions told volumes but his actual feelings. When someone asked him about the possibility of Double Zeta Gundam compilation movies he stated that he was ignoring the fact that he was asked that question. Thankfully no one brought up Victory Gundam or Brain Powered. On a side note, during a reel of Tomino’s work they played almost every one except for Garzey’s Wing. I wonder if that was an accidental or deliberate oversight. Everyone who went to the Tomino panels and autographs sessions got a unforgettable experience out of it. Just look at that man’s face on the picture above. He seems down right giddy and it’s not just because he is holding a book with a page turned to Sochie although that is a good reason to be giddy.

So NYAF marked the first Bloggers Roundtable, it was an interesting experience, a learning experience if you will. You always have to have the first of these things and often times it has many flaws. Biggest being, there were just too many people but it’s such a difficulty because you want to get as many great people as you can! Also this panel was our first technical difficult in a while, and it was never actually corrected. We just did the best we could, and since the panel mainly involved talking it wasn’t a major issue. It started to get more lively as the panel continued, people got comfortable, and the discussions became more interactive. When first deciding what this panel was about, we thought asking only blogging questions might seem too blah (perhaps people wanted to know these bloggers on a more personal level), but they really engaged the audience so that would be the majority another time around I would think. In any case, it was fun and we did end up with plenty to talk about (even spilling over a bit since we were the last panel of the night).

Overall I think the Bloggers Roundtable went well despite the fact that it had major flaws. Several things will have to be changed if we ever run the panel again such as a maximum of five participants. I was a little worried that people would not have enough to say on certain questions but everyone had a good deal to share. In fact they often held back because of the size of the panel. We should also try to go to audience questions quicker, I was impressed by the number and quality of the questions from them. After this first round, we got a better understanding of what questions worked and what questions fell flat. Despite all the flaws I know I personally had a good time on the panel. I had fun hearing everyone’s answers and the playful banter of the panelists when things got rolling. I hope the audience had a good time, too. We even got a question from Zac “Answerman” Bertschy over the internet. I would definitely run this panel again if I could get people to do it. We will take what we learned from this attempt and make the panel even better.

We once again presented our Anime Recruitment panel with a good 30 or so people in the audience. This was a pleasant surprise considering the time slot of 4PM on Sunday, essentially the last panel slot for the convention, but hey someone has to go last. As always the Q&A portion where we answer any and all recommendation questions to the best of our abilities is the most fun and interesting part of the panel. This time around we were hit with some difficult requests like something gothic in style but with robots or a gore comedy. We were also called experts which was a little unnerving but kind of cool at the same time. Each time we do this panel we hone it just a little better and our ability to come up with a show for anyone increases. This is a panel that will be around for a long time with us because it goes over well and it is a lot of fun!

It is always fun to see a premiere at a convention. The ability to go a screening of something you will before everyone else is exciting. Much like Voices of a Distant Star it turns out that Cencoroll is the almost entirely a one man project done by Atsuya Uki. Cencoroll is the story on a bored teenager named Tetsu who has a shape shifting monster that is forced to do battle with another boy with a similar creature. Tetsu’s female classmate Yuki gets drawn into this conflict  when she discovers Tetsu’s secret. It was an amazing little piece especially since it was done by one person and used no CG. I had a very good look and feel. I am curious to see more work like Atsuya Uki. I would like to see him as the next Makoto Shinkai.

I didn’t really know much about Cencoroll till it was announced as a premiere title for NYAF. Then I began to hear things about it, most prominently that it was another one man show and put together without the use of CG. A fascinating part of this short was the discussion of what is acceptable in a short film verses a series. Cencoroll tells you virtually nothing about the why of its world or its premise but that was fine for a half hour jaunt. Beyond that, the relationship between boy, girl, and Cenco was well formed with some humor and moments of surprise. This 30-minute short ended up being a highlight of the convention.

There was a good amount of manga news and manga licenses at NYAF. While the manga market might not being growing anywhere as quickly as it used to it is not sickly from what I can see. I missed out on the Vertical panel because it was against Tomino but they announced four new manga titles, including Chi’s Sweet Home. More obscure titles were Peepo Choo from Felipe Smith that did the comic MBQ for Tokyopop before he started doing manga from Morning 2 in Japan; and Twin Spica and Needle which are two very different sci-fi manga. Tokyopop still seemed to be alive despite what everyone fears, for how long is another question. They admitted to switching to a cheaper paper company but had to switch back after a huge number of customer and retailer complaints. They had some new title announcements, including the next installment in the .hack line .hack//Link, so they still are in the game enough to get new manga. VIZ seemed to be doing extremely well as they announced not only some new manga but also anime and sci-fi novels. The most interesting announcement was that they will be streaming Inuyasha: The Final Act. I had a feeling that this was going to happen but it was never definite. I am curious how well this new fiction line is going for VIZ. All the other manga companies have been delaying or seemingly canceling their novel lines. Del Rey did not have a lot to say but they did pick up Rave Master. If there was any sure sign that Kodansha has cut off its ties to Tokopop it was the fact that they gave Samurai Deeper Kyo and now Rave Master to Del Rey despite the fact that both series had almost finished under Tokyopop.

The majority of the panels that I attended were industry related which in recent years have become fairly entertaining rather than tedious. Funimation always puts on a good show but I was shocked to find them making an announcement at NYAF. An announcement that personally made my draw drop, Initial D Fourth Stage. Actually, they have acquired all of Initial D and will be repackaging it. I nearly wept with joy. They also made mention of their upcoming ShoDojo site which is going to be a sort of social networking tool. The piece of the site that sounds fun is the ability to chat while watching streaming video. The launch of the site has been delayed but it could be another thing Funi does right for fans. Bandai didn’t have too much new stuff to say though they did have dates for things like the Eureka Seven movie on DVD (January 2010) and mentioning of things making the move to Blu-Ray such as the Escaflowne movie. These companies and others sat down on Sunday for, what has become a standard, State of the Industry panel moderated by Chris MacDonald of Anime News Network. There was not much new ground covered at this one, topics like watching digital media and reading digital media differing greatly as well as the difficulties in simulcasting (seemingly ignoring all the successful ones currently going on) were well discussed. One thing that leapt out thanks to so many anime companies finally doing streaming video is the inability to monetize such ventures, yet. It was pointed out that most likely their day will come but DVD/Blu-Ray is and will remain king for quite sometime.

I went to the How to Become Famous on the Internet panel which was an informative presentation on how to promote your work on the Net be it a blog, podcast, webcomic, or anything else that shows your skills as a artist or writer. It was pretty solid advice from panelists who knew their stuff. As always the most important thing is to go out there and honestly connect to other people. The How I Broke into the Anime and Manga Industries panel was nothing I did not know but I think it was a good wake up call for anyone who did not realize how hard it is. Kevin McKeever made it clear that it was extremely difficult to make your way into any entertainment industry because everyone else wants in as well. Sacrifice and the ability to deal with repeated failure is essential. The CPM Retrospective was a nostalgic look back on working at Central Park Media. I had heard quite a few stories from various people on how crazy Central Park Media and John O’Donnell could be for better and for worse. Although everyone spoke glowingly about their times at CPM is was obvious they took their fare share of lumps as often as had great times. It was a fitting tribute for a former major player in the anime industry.

The artist alley was located in a much better spot this year, and it was really hopping! And most importantly, it was open until the convention closed up at 10PM. I saw some familiar faces among the artists but plenty of new people to go around. In fact, while I had set a strict no buying policy for myself at this con, I broke it in artist alley for a piece of Cloud fan-art by a very talented fellow, ningyee7. I was much better at resisting in the dealer’s room. There were visibly more booths but the merchandise itself didn’t seem to be too special or rare for the most part. I was also sad to not see Ultimate Doujinshi. While I avoided this section for most of Saturday, I did move through it a little and found it cramped but not wholly deadly. Still is there ever enough room in the dealers room anywhere?

One of the biggest draws of any convention has nothing to do directly with the convention itself and that is meeting with your friends who you do not normally get to see and to hang out with your regular friends in a dynamic setting. I think that meeting One Great Turtle in real life was almost as awesome as meeting Tomino and that is saying a lot. I also got to meet the infamous Wild Arms Heero. He was unsurprisingly normal and quite amusing in real life. It was extremely fun going out to karaoke, stores, arcades, and meals with people you have only met online. Hey, I even got to play Melty Blood: Actress Again on an arcade machine. Speaking of karaoke, I am always fascinated by other people’s song choices. I wish I had enough Japanese knowledge to sing the Japanese songs like many others but people had to settle for my lame renditions of Queen and the Police instead.

New York Anime Fest brought many familiar faces to NYC this time around, some of which I already knew and some I would meet for the very first time during this event. So instead of having a big dinner at this convention, the theme was karaoke with many bloggers in tow (and friends) on Friday night. My Japanese is about pre-school level but others among me belted out all kinds of fierce Japanese tunes including Holy Lonely Night from Macross 7! If I practice really hard maybe I can pull some opening off in the near future. But there was also plenty of English songs being sung,  most memorable being On A Boat from SNL. This was the latest night of con and really wrecked me for the rest of convention. There were also various dining and chatting experience a plenty during the con and after hours. NYAF overall became a rather large hang out and meeting convention.

I am always most interested in the Japanese guests and the panels at any anime convention. They tend to be my meter stick of how much fun. Tomino pretty much assured that NYAF won completely and utterly in the guest department. My now signed Turn A Artbook was worth the time and money I spent on the convention alone. I would have liked to have seen one other big named Japanese guest but that was hardly a requirement. I did enjoy several of the panels but for some reason I felt this years panels were lacking. The ones I went to were excellent but there was a good deal of dead space for me on each day. It did give me time to hang out with people and have leisurely meals but I would have rather had to decide to either have a leisurely meal or a quick bite to eat like at Otakon. I am also a little bummed out that next year there will not be a single solitary NYAF but instead it will be combined with NYCC. I liked having a anime convention and a comic convention in Manhattan. I could do my anime events at NYAF and my comics events at NYCC. Hopefully NYAF will not just be a name tacked on the NYCC but only time will tell. Still I will remember New York Anime Festival with fond memories.

While I don’t want to be running without a moment to spare at a convention, I found myself too often with time on my hands. If there was one of two more rooms for panels or workshops this problem would be solved. Also the lack of fan run panels is certainly getting better but still wish to see more of a fan presence in the presentations. It will be interesting to see how it combines with New York Comic Con in the coming year. So really the highlight and reason for NYAF 2009 for me was Tomino and everything else was just something I went to in between. It can’t be said enough that having a chance to see and hear speak a director of such importance is a rare chance which makes NYAF one of the most memorable anime events I may ever attend. As Dave said during the Bloggers Roundtable, “Tomino Con 2009 was great!”

Top 5 Tomino shows I want to watch that are not Gundam
5. Aura Battler Dunbine
4. Invincible Super Man Zambot 3
3. Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3
2. Space Runaway Ideon
1. Combat Mecha Xabungle

Loran Cehack is a man from the moon sent on early reconnaissance to see if the Earth is fit for recolonization. The problem is they have to displace the people who stayed on the Earth since the Moonraces’ exodus long ago. The Moonrace is equipped high technology that includes space travel and mobile suits while Earth still has the far inferior science of the early 1900′s. Once on Earth, Loran quickly falls in love with the Earth and is conflicted when the Moonrace starts a forceful colonization of the planet. When the fighting breaks out, Loran uncovers the Turn A Gundam which he uses to turn the tide for the otherwise outclassed Earth forces. Soon the people of Earth discover other deposits of mobile suits and begin to fight back turning what should have been a quick battle into a prolonged war.

Loran Cehack is the most likable Gundam protagonist. He is friendly, smart, sociable, honorable, loyal, and brave. He has the ideals of a pacifist but realizes the grim reality that sometimes you have to fight to protect that which is precious to you. That balance between wanting peace and the ability to realize when to fight right from the star make him a very unique Gundam hero. Usually Gundam heroes either start out try to run away from their responsibilities or talk about wanting peace while killing everyone in their path. I also find his role as a double agent fascinating. Unlike most double agents who are really working for one side, Loran is working for everyone’s best interests. This often forces him to make tough decisions but he always makes them when needed based on his own personal code of ethics. In addition, he has a delightful mixture of politeness and playfulness that sort of reminds me of Hayate Ayasaki. Something about him just makes you want to root for him.

Kihel Heim and Sochie Heim are the two daughters of the wealthy Heim family. They both become friends with Loran while he works for them. Kihel maintains a friendly but aloof relationship with Loran but it is obvious that Sochie develops feelings she can’t adequately express. Sochie begins the series vehemently hating the Moonrace after a tragedy caused by their first attack. Slowly, thanks to Loran, she begins to see that each side has their own heroes and villains. Dianna Soreil is the Queen of the moon who looks exactly like Kihel Heim. After they meet during a series of peace talks they become fast friends. Through the rest of the series various circumstances force them to switch places several times. This lets both of them see what life is like for the other side while presenting a unique set of advantages and problems. It is almost like The Prince and the Pauper although it’s more accurate to say the Queen and the Upper-Middle-Class Debutante. Both Kihel and Dianna are strong women each in their own way. As they switch back and forth they begin to add the other’s strength to their own. It’s highly implied that both women don’t just have the same face but they share the same soul.

By popular request Harry Ord gets his own paragraph. It is easy to label Harry as a Char clone but I think he is a richer character than that. Unlike Char who was in many way the polar opposite of Amuro, it turns out that Harry is more a parallel to Loran. He is the head of Queen Dianna’s Royal Guard and fiercely loyal. His loyalty is first to Queen Dianna and then to his own sense of honor. Like Loran he wants the conflict between the people of the Earth and the Moon to be settled as quickly and painlessly as possible. He fights with Loran several times but he is just as quick to hear him out when Dianna is not being threatened. Much like Loran he is an extremely likable and charming character. He can be devious but any deception on his part is for a higher purpose or for the benefit of another not just his own selfish gain.

There is a pretty big cast beyond the five principle players. One rule about them: No one ends up allied with anyone they start allied with. What starts as a simple war between the Earth and the Moon quickly turns into a multi-factional mess of scheming. We get all the juicy politics of coups, betrayals, and alliances of convenience. On the side of Earth, we have Guin Sard Lineford who is a prominent politician and a noble. He is handsome, charming, and one of the most devious characters in the series. He is constantly scheming to come out on top but much like Char you can’t hate him for it. Lily Borjarno is a young noble woman from another country that is infatuated with Guin. At first it seems like she’s a silly girl lead and manipulated by her love but we eventually see she is much more politically astute. There are a variety of other generals and soldiers in the Earth Militia including the poor Suicide Squad that gets stuck with their salvaged Zakus. As for the he Moonrace, Phil Ackman starts as the loyal leader of the Moonrace forces on Earth and Miran Rex is Queen Dianna’s personal adviser. As the series goes on, they both show their true ambitions. Poe Aijee is a overly ambitious Lieutenant whose main purpose seems to be to be the show’s Team Rocket and crybaby. Fran Doll and Keith Laijie are also undercover agents from the moon that have infiltrated Earth with Loran. They quickly becomes torn between two worlds as well. Then there are Bruno and Jacop who are villains so bad at being villains and assassins they have to become decent people just to survive. Gym Gingham is the closest thing the series has to a true villain although he only appears in the last fourth of the series. Gym is essential because all good mecha series need a psychotic god complex warmongering wannabe space samurai.

Before I make this show seem to be a magnum opus of mecha anime, I must point out that Tomino has gone a little nuts. And it certainly shows is parts of Turn A Gundam; it can be a very peculiar show at times. There is a country of Meso-American warriors whose religion centers around the worship of a mass driver. There are militant deep-cover spy Moon hippies. There are a series of fights between a mobile suit and unarmed parade floats. There are a number of unconventional uses for the Turn A include being used as a cattle transport and a washing machine. Let’s not forget Harry Ord’s goofy nerd boy disguise complete with pocket protector used to infiltrate the Earth forces mining operation. I know that turned off some people to the series but it really made me like the series. It has all the major themes of a Gundam show but it has fun with them and didn’t take itself serious all the time. This let Tomino focus more on the characters and their relationships when he had to worry less about the mecha and the war. He was able to create filled-out characters which the conflicts and relationships naturally grow out of. I like Tomino but I feel he makes better shows when he lets himself be goofy.

Turn A Gundam is the last of the Gundam series to use cel based animation. There is nothing extremely flashy about the show. The character designs are pleasant but not spectacular. Same thing with the over all animation quality. The mecha designs are varied so it is easy to like the design of one or two and just as easy to hate with a burning passion the same number. The music is done by Yoko Kanno so it is a beautiful mixture of melodies that set the tone for every scene. Even the incidental background music is rich and melodic. White Falcon stands out as a great song that has an extremely epic feel especially the use of the horns section. I will say that Moon has to be my favorite Yoko Kanno song. It’s just so good at drawing out emotion. Also, the openings and closings are additively catchy. I found myself playing them not just every time I watched an episode but many a time outside of watching the show.

Turn A Gundam is the the right combination of fun and serious, playful and thought provoking. I think that Tomino wanted to leave a positive legacy with what might very well be his last full-length Gundam series. Turn A has one of the most uplifting endings of all the Gundam series. While there are deaths, there are nowhere near the body count of earlier Tomino Gundam series. Everything is not right with the world but there is a clear potential for something better for everyone. In fact most characters get a relatively happy ending. I will admit I got a little misty eyed at the end. Of all the Gundam series that have gone unreleased in America, I would push for Turn A the most. Other people need to see how good a show this is. Maybe I just really like Sochie. But who could blame me?

There is an interesting spectrum in the three Gundam OAVs we have watched recently. On one end is Gundam 0083 which is the biggest in scope and totally focused on the mobile suits. It deals with the events that make Zeta Gundam possible but I highly doubt that anyone claims their favorite characters come from 0083.  In the middle you have 08th MS team where the story is  more personal while still having a good mixture of mecha to character importance. Then you have Gundam 0080, everything about this series is personal. The objectives, the feelings, and the missions are all clearly motivated by the characters not the politics. There are mobile suits but they are almost MacGuffins to move along the individual stories within 0080. I won’t claim that 0080 is the Gundam series for people who hate robots, that Gundam series does not exist. However, this is the Gundam series for those who care most about the people behind the machines and how they are effected by war.

Since we decided to watch the Universal Century OVAs in timeline order, this was our second stop and truly I felt 0080: War in the Pocket had much to live up to since I enjoyed 08th MS Team so very much. I knew this OVA was going to be different from other installments in the Gundam franchise merely because I had been told so, but I didn’t fully understand what that meant till actual viewing.

Maybe just to prove that this OAV is very different from any other Gundam series, we start with an elite commando team trying to steal an experimental mobile suit from a secret facility. While this seems extremely formulaic it deviates when after two attempts the Zeon unit cannot waltz off with it like it was a free sample of cheese and crackers at the local supermarket. During the second attempt Bernard Wiseman is shot down and crash lands in a deserted part of the colony. Bernard is discovered by a young boy named, Alfred Izuruha, who is a mobile suit fanatic. As Alfred beings following Bernard they become friends. Bernard soon discovers that the Zeon fleet has decided they will just destroy the whole colony. Will Bernard try and save his new friend or will he leave everyone on the colony to die.

From what I have seen, the 0080 OVA may be the Gundam series that deals the least with robots and pushes the development of its characters and the moral ambiguities encountered in war. Also of note, Gundam tends to do away with young children protagonists except as background or minor characters, but not so in 0080. But hold on there, no Alfred isn’t a super annoying (okay sometimes he is annoying just not all the time) and irrelevant child character. He shares the screen with Bernard and is equally vital to the telling of this story.

Bernard comes off as suave, charming, and an ace pilot. Bernard knows deep down that he is not that great a pilot and the courageous hero he pretends to be. Alfred is a boy who is fascinated by fighting robots but he obviously does not realize the terrible cost that comes with said fighting. He looks up to Bernard as  everything he want to be. It’s obvious that Bernard never wanted to random Federation kid looking up to him as a role model but as the series goes on he becomes attached to Alfred. As he is forced to get to know Alfred he discovers he is a bright and clever kid who becomes a valuable asset for the mission. Bernard also becomes attached to one other person on the colony: Christina Mackenzie, Alfred’s next door neighbor and test pilot for the new Gundam model. She is a charming and beautiful lass but also a capable and professional pilot. Christina and Bernard begin flirting with each other after they meet unaware of each others’ true identity. These friendships and romances are seeds for tragedy as the deadline quickly approaches.

Bernard is an eager soldier with a desire to prove himself in combat, he immediately comes off as cocky but also ignorant of the politics and motives behind the war he is so ardent to fight in. His overestimation of his skills comes to a sad and helpless end which comes off as particularly human. Bernard is like the person who Alfred would have become had the world not turned out very differently from his meeting with Bernard. Alfred in the beginning is like so many boys at his age, carefree and vibrant with a fascination for war and robots. But of course he hasn’t lived long enough nor developed to the point to understand the destruction, pain, and gray qualities of large scale combat and conflict. Alfred is really quite tragic, there is viewer conflict as if you want him to understand the dangers of war but at the same time admire the innocence he possesses. This duality also occurs in Bernard as their relationship builds. There is significant change to these figures and it’s presented quite honestly.

The main themes of War in the Pocket are the loss of innocence and the birth of maturity. Bernard and Alfred both start off as immature. Alfred is a naive child who knows of the war between the Federation and Zeon but since his colony has been neutral he has been untouched by its effects. He starts with a glamorous view of combat and the mobile suits that participate in it. When he sees Bernard’s Zaku crash land he rushes to see instead of fleeing in the opposite direction. Alfred involves himself in Bernard’s mission because he sees it as a great adventure. By the end of the series his childish concepts of war are burned away. Alfred is irrevocably changed by his time with Bernard.  Bernard starts off as a rookie pilot who seems very selfish and while he is more mature than Alfred he is still naive about how the military operates. When the full nature and ramifications of his mission come to light Bernard must weigh the possibility of almost assured self-sacrifice against his obligations to the Zeon. So, Bernard’s time with Alfred in turn changes Bernard just as much.

This OVA had an added bonus with Haruhiko Mikimoto heading up the character designs which maintains a look and feel much like his Macross character work. Though other than that the animation itself doesn’t really stand out, afterall we are minus big battle sequences for the most part. You also might recognize Chris’s voice actress, the infamous Megumi Hayashibara in one of her early roles.

Gundam is hardly a series known for its upbeat happy go lucky endings. Most Gundam series end with the deaths of several likable protagonists, one or two unlikeable protagonists, and/or scores of antagonists, nameless soldiers, and civilians. Our heroes might win but at a terrible cost proving to us the price of war. That being said, War in the Pocket stands out to many as the most bittersweet if not downright tragic of all the Gundam series. This is in no small part due to the fact that we grow attached to our principle players right from the start and so when the tragedies come we are as devastated as the characters are. The ending of Gundam 0080 might not be the most epic of all the battles in the Universal Century time line but it might be the one that sticks with you the longest.

I don’t know if surprised is the right word, but I was certainly caught off guard with this OVA. War in the Pocket is a short series that uses all of its time with deliberate and poignant purpose. The struggles faced and the changes the characters undergo in just a few short episodes is gripping and dynamic and in the end 0080 asserts itself as a tragic lesson. War in the Pocket pulls its story from the core of what Original Gundam had to say about war to make a thoughtful and unique work in the long running robot series.

Top 5 Best Gundam Females
5. Feldt Grace
4. Paula Cis
3. Allenby Beardsley
2. Sayla Mass
1. Sochie Heim

I picked up this One Piece pin set which is all the emblems that the crew came up with for the flag design. I had seen this set of pins before but when they presented themselves to me on the cheap and in person, I couldn’t resist. Colorful, fun, and unique.

Flower, Sun, and Rain is best described as, what if Goichi Suda made his own version of the Professor Layton games. So instead of being a cheery cartoon puzzle game it is a more realistic looking bizarre and moody puzzle game. This game has somewhat of a retro feel due to being a PlayStation 1 game imported to the DS. Sumio Mondo is a professional detective that find lost objects know as a Searcher. He has been called to a resort island to find a bomb before it can explode. Every time Sumio tries to solve the case he is interrupted by some strange event that makes him take another case instead. He is then so delayed that the bomb blows up. But soon the bomb explodes he finds that time has reset to the morning of the incident so he can try again. So Sumio must not only find out why he is stuck in a time loop but also who keeps setting off the bomb and stop them. You go through the game using you laptop named Catherine to interface with various objects to solve puzzles and progress the plot. There are also bonus lost and found puzzles you can solve as well. Where as Professor Layton has a universal appeal Flower, Sun, and Rain has a distinctly more niche appeal. It has strange characters like a girl with a pink alligator as a pet, a fraudulent psychic, and an insane soccer obsessed system’s engineer. Unlike Professor Layton all the puzzles are number puzzles. While there is a good deal of variety to the types of puzzles they can turn into puzzles that have numerical answers they are still all number puzzles. It’s a bizarre game but one worth checking you if you like puzzles games or Goichi Suda’s odd sense of style.

After hearing so much about it, it finally came time to watch the Giant Robo OVA. So far I have watched up through episode 4 and find myself fully enjoying what I see on my screen. Since I have no experience with this series or any of the past ones, I can’t play the game of picking out characters but its quite obvious that many of the are from different stories or completely different genres! What is especially fun in this OVA is the very serious tone of the series but its mixture of over-the-top and sometimes hokey characters and fights, it is done pitch perfect. As I’ve heard, the show looks amazing and some of the Giant Robo scenes are just spectacular! I can’t say I am as enamored with the series as so many others, but I’ll reserve that verdict till I’ve seen the whole thing.

Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Burned is a manga re-imagining of Imagawa’s Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still. The spirit and concept are the same but the plot is complete different. We still have a story that revolves around Daisaku Kusama and Giant Robo being the stars in a manga made up with side characters from various Mitsuteru Yokoyama manga. You still have way cool physic powers, mystical mayhem, and steam punk technology all participating in awesome fights. Once again there is a plot so horrible it just might destroy the world and only Daisaku can stop it. But now we start with Dazzling Cervantes having to protect Daisaku from the Experts of Justice that are trying to kill him. Heck that fact alone that the series starts with Dazzling Cervantes should tell you that everything is completely different. The art and character designs are  not really my style but it’s still well done and they definitely tell the story well. And that is the most important thing. If you watched the original Giant Robo OAV and wanted more then this is the manga to start reading. It has everything you could want with new story to draw you in.

Finished up volumes 6 to 8 of Swan. The melodrama seems to be a on consistent incline as Masumi returns to Japan for ballet school and the 2nd Annual International Ballet Competition. We see the reappearance of friends and rivals in these three volumes as well as the appearance of new challengers. Masumi’s new roommate helps us and Masumi learn a little more about her mother’s past. And while attending to her mother’s grave, we see a man who could only be the mysterious Russian dancer from her mother’s career in ballet. Of course I am under the impression that he is also her real father, soap opera style! The school holds a competition in which the 1st and 2nd years face off. As the pressures builds there is an explosion of romantic feelings revealed. Once again I am impressed at the pace of this series, while these relationships aren’t resolved, rather they have just gotten that much more complicated, there is continued progression. The excitement continues!

Since we are both talking about different iterations of Giant Robo I decided to go with a powerful picture of Alberto the Impact:

Ernest Hemingway once said that, “All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you.” And with that in mind we come to the end of the story of Amuro and Char that began in the epic Mobile Suit Gundam. The Universal Century time line and stories would continue on in a variety of fashions including the Gundam F91 movie, the Victory Gundam TV series, and the upcoming Gundam Unicorn OAV. But this is the end of the story that introduced us to the Universal Century. This is the culmination of legendary rivalry of Amuro and Char in the most spectacular fashion possible. Whoever wins shall determine the future of humanity.

Ah, Char’s Counterattack, with a name like that who wouldn’t want to watch this movie? There is a duality to having an ending for a series. On the one hand, it is great because you receive closure as a viewer, perhaps secrets are finally revealed or a love is finally confessed. On the other hand, it can be a bit depressing because the ride is over and you have to say goodbye to characters you have watched for so long. And on either of these fronts, there is a possibility of an unsatisfactory finish. Char’s Counterattack has a big job to do, showing us the last story of Amuro and Char.

We begin with a colony drop because if you are going to have an epic Gundam movie then you have to start with a colony drop. This colony drop is being orchestrated by none other then Char Aznable as the leader of Neo-Zeon. He plans on continuing to drop satellites on Earth until the resulting nuclear winter is so harsh that humanity has no other choice than to leave Earth and take to the stars. It is up to the Londo Bell Task force with Bright Noa and Amuro Ray to stop Neo-Zeon before they can make the Earth uninhabitable. The problem is the Federation government is more content in appeasing Char than stopping him. Amuro knows you can’t just hope the Red Comet will fade away into the background. When Char gets his hands on the Axis asteroid you know he is not going to use it for low cost but high quality housing purposes.

At the end of Zeta Gundam, Char’s fate is ambiguous but clearly he survives to fight another day. Though had I seen Zeta at its  release time, I’m sure I would have been decidedly more devastated. In Char’s Counterattack Amuro finds himself at odds once again with his original rival and it seems parts of their history have not been swept under the rug after all. As old wounds are opened up, Lalah Sune and her influence on both men can still be felt here. Since Char and Amuro make up the main part of this film, it comes off quite well, but the people swirling around them don’t always fair so well. The pace at which Char’s Counterattack moves is brisk but sometimes so much so that character decisions don’t get the background needed to make sense.

The character with the most fluctuation thought the Gundam series is Char. He goes from devious revenge seeking schemer on the dark side of gray in Mobile Suit Gundam. He then becomes a mysterious mentor figure in Zeta Gundam mostly on the side of angels. His final transformation is into a charismatic commander with sympathetic but disgustingly apocalyptic goals. Char’s feelings for Amuro go from that of a deadly rival, to an awkward ally, and finally to nemesis. The problem is we never really see why that is on screen. I am sure there are books and manga that fill in these gaps but we don’t have access to those texts in the U.S. Amuro on the other hand is no where as radically different. He has obviously grown past his shell-shocked nature that he had through most of Zeta Gundam. It is obvious that he is more mature than we have seen him in the past, as seen by his take charge attitude, lack of hesitation, and calmer demeanor. For no adequately explained reason Amuro is no longer with Beltorchika Irma but instead with this engineer named Chan Agi. I don’t really have that much to say about Chan because she does not get that much screen time and what little time she does get leaves little impression. Quess Paraya on the other hand is a bizarre character though I did not find her as annoying as most people do but I did find her almost incomprehensible. Narutaki and I joked that her dialog sounded like she was reacting to an older version of the script. But Quess is a cyber-newtype and we all know they are a few cards short of a full deck. It was amusing to see her fawn over Char and have him condescendingly pat her on the head then send her out to die.

With each new iteration of Char, you can somewhat see the evolution but at the same time there are huge leaps of personality going on. Zeta’s Char was a far departure from his attitude at the end of Original Gundam, here in Char’s Counterattack he comes off as more intune with who Char would have become after the events of the One Year War. It almost seems like Zeta never happened. Though Zeta seems to have happened a little more to Amuro, even if he wasn’t in it very much, because he brings over that calmer demeanor but loses none of his skills. Once again I find myself liking Amuro’s character here with the inflammation of a old rivalry. Many of the new characters that are support for our heroes are completely throw away, or rather are there to replace some of the characters who didn’t make it through Zeta. Hathaway is a much better, but still rather an idiot when it comes to girls, version of Katz. But really what would this be without people falling for crazy cyber-newtypes. Speaking of, Quess’s attitude makes her seem like a Tomino lovechild. She is insane and therefore everything she does is random and fits in only with the world that must be in her head. Finally, I am happy to report that Haro is in his full glory in this film.

Char’s Counterattack looks gorgeous. Tomino was quite clearly given a big budget and used it. Everything is bigger and better for the big screen as well. Amuro’s Nu Gundam and Char’s Sazabi are the quintessence of their suits from throughout the series. As it should be for their final battle. Oh, it seems there was a buy 1 get 1 free sale on funnels because people are using them left and right in Char’s Counterattack. Part of me wonders if Tomino always wanted to have funnels be as prominent in series but budget constraints kept them from being as prolific or was the increase in funnels a reaction to fan demand. These mobile suits will forever be fondly remembered by fans of the franchise.

The production values, especially where our mechs are concerned are a lovely sight and certainly comes off as a much higher budget (and used well) than Tomino has been given in the past. And thanks to that Char’s Counterattack has suspenseful and breathtaking battles. Once again this show updates the character designs but for the most part everyone is recognizable. I say most because it took many quite a while to realize Mirai (the closest to a newtype a human could be!!!) was on the screen at the beginning. Also, Quess’s hair is dumb but I digress.

Overall Char’s Counterattack was good but hardly a perfect end to the story of Amuro and Char. It would seem that we have Tomino in full force in this movie. He gives us an epic story line, great robot battles, and excellent political back and forth battles as well. On the flip side we also have odd relationships, crazy women, and a magical Newtype powered letter T that flies around at the end. In other words everything we love and hate about Tomino. This is definitely the work of kill-em-all Tomino. The body count in this series is quite high and it almost seems like Tomino introduces new characters becuase he ran out of old characters to kill. But it is this grim finality that conclusively ends the story while not being utterly pessimistic or nihilistic. If you have made it this far into the Universal Century time line there is no reason not to watch this movie.

I enjoyed this film and overall liked it better than Zeta Gundam but I still felt this installment in the Gundam line falls closer to the entertaining but not amazing category. So much of this film goes under explained or under examined but there are solid strokes with Char and Amuro, their ensuing rivalry, and beautiful visuals. Amazing in its visuals for sure, but that really isn’t enough especially when closing the story between these two. It may sound contradictory to my last statement but Char’s Counterattack is still a must see because you just plain have to see Char and Amuro throwdown one last time.

When it was announced that Yoshiyuki Tomino was coming to NYAF Narutaki and I jumped for joy, it was without a doubt a dream come true. While it was fantastic news it also meant we had to radically change our viewing schedule to accommodate watching one of Tomino’s most respected works, Zeta Gundam. While Zeta Gundam does not go without criticism it is one of the few parts of the Gundam franchise that gets universal approval by all but a few heretics. So this is one of the few Gundam series I went into with high expectations.

Even if I wanted to go into Zeta Gundam without expectations, it was virtually impossible. After I watched Original Gundam, all I heard was talktalktalk about Zeta and chastising for putting it off as I have. Well, that is all over! I have watched it kids, and though we aren’t doing a full run down of the show, we are sharing some choice thoughts from the series.

Seven years after the One Year War things are very different. While Zeon has been defeated, remnants still remain after all these years and plan to overthrow the Federation. In response the Federation created the Titans a task force given extraordinary powers to root out any Zeon or other anti-federation forces. But with extraordinary powers can come extraordinary abuses and the Titans have abused their power to the extreme. The Titans do what ever it takes to ruthlessly crush anyone who gets in their way including people who speak out against them and any bystanders. Zeta starts when Kamille Bidan helps the Anti-Earth Union Group steal three new Gundam Mark II prototypes. Soon Kamille is caught up with the AEUG’s three way battle against the corrupt Federation forces and the Axis Zeon forces.

Taking the Federation and making them the ones with the crazy plans this time around was a nice change. This also helped press the idea from Original Gundam that both factions have people in positions of power who abuse it. In conjunction with this it was great to see characters switch sides even if some of them happen very abruptly. One problem I found was that the opposing side didn’t really have a rival for Kamille considering Jerid is more of a joke and usually only survives by the skin of his teeth. There was tension there due to many deaths of many characters for each of them but I never wondered who was going to be victorious. So while many of the plots of the Titans put things in dire straights, the personal factor of suspense was sometimes lost. Though such was not the case in the final episodes when characters square off and it’s a coin toss to see how it was all going to lay out after the dust settled.

Kamille is very similar to Amuro but also his own character. Both are mechanical geniuses who through their Newtype abilities are natural born pilots and they are socially awkward and self-involved. But where as Amuro was dragged into the conflict, Kamille throws himself into the conflict the Titans. Amuro was paranoid and untrusting where as Kamille is oddly naive. If Kamille is like Amuro then Fa Yuiry is definitely his Frau. Fa is Kamille’s long suffering pseudo-girlfriend who fights with Kamille all the time and winds up taking care of the kids aboard the ship. Unlike Frau we have Fa trying to be a pilot to support Kamille on the battlefield but most of her sorties find her getting into a mess that Kamille has to bail her out of. Most of the old gang is back as well. From Bright still being Bright and punching people to Kai the whip cracking investigative reporter. Oh I love when they mention that Mirai Yashima must be the closest a human can come to being a Newtype without being a Newtype. Narutaki and I got a good long laugh from that. Oh and we only get one shot of Sayla for the whole series. BOOOO! Sayla could have turned this whole series around with her sexy awesomeness.

I can’t say I liked Kamille much, especially in the beginning though one good thing did happen, I like Amuro quite a bit more now! And while I certainly accepted Kamille in the end, I stand by my statement, “Kamille may be a super newtype, but that doesn’t mean he is smart!” As far as other new pilots go, Katz is nothing short of irritating and dumb (and he kicked Haro!) and Fa somehow sucks just as much as a pilot but isn’t as annoying. There is also Reccoa who starts off as an excellent strong female pilot, even Char (I mean Quattro!) trusted her and asked for her help but she disappointed me in the end. The addition to the cast that I really liked was Emma who is a good fighter, doesn’t act like an insane woman controlled sorely by her hormones, and tells it like it is. Many of the other female characters either start out strong and deteriorate or aren’t around long enough to make an impact. Now on to my favorite subject: Char. Why does most everyone continue to call him Quattro after it is revealed that he is indeed The Red Comet? Anyway, as usual he distinguishes himself from the very beginning (and gives a hilarious little pep talk about himself!) and mentors Kamille while also jumping head first into politics though he doesn’t get a lot of cool battle scenes. I couldn’t dislike Char on any account, but in Original Gundam he was a great rival and gray villain who was looking out for number one; in Zeta that is taken away and diminished what made me like him in the first place.

Speaking of villains, pretty much all the Titans went to Evil University and graduated top of their classes. Bask Om with his silly hat and glasses and casual disregard for human life tops the list of baddies. Then there is Jamaican Daninghan who is the whitest Jamaican ever.; Jared or The Subway Guy whose main purposed is to keep killing Kamille’s loved ones after Kamille keeps killing his girlfriends; and Yazan Gable aka evil (eviler?) David Bowie who wins the prize for most bloodthirsty pilot. Then there are the female cybernewtypes that are totally out of their minds and and all strangely attracted to Kamille. Four Murasame either tries to kiss or kill Kamille every chance she gets. Rosamia Badam thinks that Kamille is her big brother and people seem fine humoring her even though she is so obviously a Titan. And Sarah Zabiarov is just useless. The two real major villains are Paptimus Scirocco and Haman Karn. Paptimus Scirocco aka the Jerk from Jupiter’s strongest power seems to be hyper-pheromones that make any and all ladies do his bidding. Haman is Scirocco’s counterpart in the Axis Zeon. She does not pop up in the series until late in the game but when she does she is always making problems for everyone by playing both ends against the middle. I don’t know why Tomino loves to bring in major villains only off handily introduced in the first 2/3 of the series but Haman is a prime example of this.

The attitudes of the cyber newtypes made me ponder the possibility that Zeta Gundam was a cleverly disguised harem show. But I have dismissed this theory for one much more proven, Tomino just doesn’t know how to write relationships. In the spirit of Original Gundam, Zeta plays a game of upping the ante on people being thrust into love rather than slowly building up to that point. Although, I suppose to be fair, a good portion of the cast is insane so maybe everyone was exactly as they should be! Most things run the gamut from meeting for two minutes and being madly in love to falling in love and becoming the biggest idiot on the planet. The destruction of love in this series is mostly due to one or both parties being killed. Zeta certainly lives up to the body count hype for the show, though for the most part the bigger deaths are left for the end.

Zeta Gundam is famous for many things and mobile suits is no exception. The big gimmick in Zeta is transforming mechs. Despite how much the characters make a big deal about them I was rather unimpressed with the fighting power of any of the transforming mecha. They looked cool but you never got the feeling anyone one was getting a distinct advantage from the ability to transform like in Macross. Also while it looked cool, Paptimus’s the O did not impress me but oddly enough did in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam by pulling of some impressive moves with its four arms. The Titans have to go through the most mecha in the series because every time Jared sorties they give him a new suit. He gets everything from horribly mundane suits to crazy mobile armors. Axis Zeon will forever be remembered if nothing else because they funnel system in Haman’s Qubeley. Oh I have to add, while it’s no Zakrello, both models of the Psyco Gundam are quite silly looking with their ability to transform into flying boxes.

Not surprisingly the animation for Zeta Gundam is better than its predecessor but still, it is an 80′s TV anime so let’s not expect too much. Quite a bit of effort goes into the battles, happily, and they are fast paced and fierce for the most part. Off model characters seem to be in check for the most part (I don’t recall any giant mutant sized Haro moments this time), but some characters from Original Gundam had me scratching my head for a minute (Hayato?) with their updated designs. A sad fact for the domestic release of Zeta Gundam is the absence of its opening and closing songs.

I enjoyed Zeta Gundam, it was a fine edition to the Gundam legacy but I did not feel the overwhelming love that real Zeta fans have. I see what is really good about Zeta: The three way battle; by the end of the series you have no idea who is going to live and die; and seeing old you favorite characters from Original Gundam while making sure they don’t overshadow the new ones. On the other hand Zeta is also like Tomino in overdrive at times. The odd relationships, dialog, and character decisions are back in full force and often stronger. I was also never as invested in any of the characters as much as I was in the original cast. Still I assume anyone thinking of watching Zeta is a long haul Gundam fan. For you I say, “Thumbs up but never going to displace my love of Turn A Gundam.”

Despite all my poking at it, I found Zeta quite entertaining. Zeta Gundam interwove robots, politics, comradeship, and space together quite nicely. However, I have heard quite often that Zeta Gundam is even better than the show that it is based upon. I have also frequently been told that any Char fan would love Zeta more since he is in it so much. I disagree on both counts. While the overall story may be darker than the first, it doesn’t hammer out a more cohesive story. As far as Char goes, he isn’t in the forefront of this show much more. And Char aside, I have to agree with Hisui, I wasn’t as fond of Zeta’s cast. There is plenty to enjoy in Zeta Gundam and it is a worthy squeal to the series that kicked off a large franchise but it doesn’t blow Original Gundam out of the water.