Category: Anime

Ongoing Investigations: Case #005

Leave a comment

So I have been on some 80’s OVA rampage and let me tell you, I see why they don’t make tons and tons of OVAs anymore. Most of them are rather unremarkable. I guess Del Power X was atleast mildly entertaining with its comedy and giant robots. And the robots use wrestling moves, haha. Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora, had no idea what it was trying to be. Was it space bounty hunting? Fantasy? Magical girl? Not really sure. Same goes for Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon. It started out fine but then our investigator changes into a sentai hero for no apparent reason. He was kicking ass as regular ole Hikaru, but the story was pretty lame anyway.

Blue Flames is certainly memorable because it was just that awful. It was insane! They must of thought about what kind of guy would be the biggest douche bag, now let’s make an OVA about him! The amount of stuff he does within 40 minutes is mind boggling. In the beginning, I thought he was a prostitute, but no. Anyway, he seduces this one girl which I really don’t know how since he is so cold. Oh, that’s right as the story goes on we find out he is totally amazing in bed (and allegedly good-looking), enough to make women attempt suicide, beg to be his slave, and buy him cars. At some point he also tells his family screw you and leaves for Tokyo for no apparent reason. One woman tries to kill him, but he disarms her and then has sex with her instead. Everything is then alright. At the end of this mess he is seducing another girl, he slept with about 6 or 7 in total, and you know he is planning to blackmail her rich parents. Not sure how that is an ending. We also come to find out that all of this is somehow going to take him to the top. The top of what exactly? Man with most STDs? ANN I demand you remove the words romance from the tags for this show.

Walkin’ Butterfly is a joesi title I picked up form Aurora Publishing. I am always interested in new josei titles because it’s one of the most unexplored genres in America. Michiko is an extremely tall girl that does not know what do to with her life. Because she is so tall she has never fit in and never really dated. She drifts from job to job and can’t find her place in the world. A mistake occurs when she delivers a pizza to a fashion shoot she winds up getting humiliated by Mihara the show’s designer. After some soul searching she decides to use her height to try to become a model and get revenge on Mihara. I’m not sold on the series yet but I am interested to read more. I was a little caught of guard by the drug use and full frontal nudity. It was not bad or exploitative but I was certainly not expecting it even if it was josei.

Natsume Yuujinchou may turn out to be my favorite new show from our summer list. I watched episodes two and three. It is simple, poignant, and has just enough of an emotional hook. Natsume is also starting to wield some power using the book of friends which adds another layer to the story. I honestly don’t know where this story will lead and that excites me.

I watched Garden of Sinners 3: Remaining Sense of Pain. It was as beautiful as the other two movies. Fujino Asagami, the main subject of their investigation in the movie is definitely an odd character. Her actions are somewhat understandable at points but they do let her off very lightly despite her actions. On a side note, I am also curious if we will ever learn why Mikiya Kokuto is so devoted to Shiki or do they just chalk it up to blind love. He has very good reason to want nothing to do with her but he seems to believe in her no matter what.

Takane no Jitensha was a short TV special. A boy wants his own bike so he and his mother make a deal. If he is in the top 100 at school after the next tests, she will get him the bike. As the story unfolds we find out about a mischievous spirit at the local temple. Takane somewhat jokingly says he will exchange his sister for a higher test score. Quite family friendly with a lesson being learned at the end. A cute story with stints of good animation. Though I wish the spirits were given a little more development.

The World Ends With You is why I watched so little else all this week. It’s a fun little game and an entirely new setting for a Square-Enix game. The main character Neku Sakuraba has found himself with the dreaded plot condition convenience of amnesia in the middle of Shibuya. It seems he has been entered in a deadly game for an unknown prize. Players must find a partner, defeat monsters called noise, and complete certain tasks every day within time limits or be erased from existence. The battle system is fun and fast but the learning curve is quite steep. You will be getting bad ranks on battles for quite awhile. The only other major problem is once you get used to one partner they take her way and add in another partner who plays slightly differently and has no equipment. So basically you have to readjust yourself to your new partner. It’s not insurmountable but it can be a pain. I also have a nasty feeling they are going to do it to me one more time. Hopefully the third partner will not have such a high learning curve.

That’s it for this week! Catch a new ongoing investigation every Friday!

//

Sword of the Stranger, Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?

2 Comments

This was our second experience at the Imaginasian theater and it continues to be a nice, quite place to see a film (though it was about 40 below in the theater). My only issue was the film was dubbed, I was quite surprised. I figured a place that specializes in foreign film would show it in its original language. When I asked about it they said they have no control since it is just what the company gives them. Bandai! In the Anime News Network coverage it said it would be shown in Japanese.

I think it all revolves around the fact that anime companies are convinced that the majority of people want dubs over subs. That is a mantra you here all the time. So they release movies in theaters with dubs because they assume they will get more people in the theater. That might make more sense if this had a large number of theaters it was playing in. But as it stands Sword of the Stranger is only playing in a few select theaters across the nation. At that point you’re only going to get less casual anime fans (more otaku) and art house movie goers, both of which tend to prefer subs. I understand their position but I too would have preferred watching the Japanese version.

The movie begins when Kotaro and his faithful dog Tobimaru are on the run from warriors from China. The monk Kotaro has been staying with tells him to run to the main temple in the area where he will be safe. While trying to get to the main temple Kotaru takes refuge in an abandoned shrine and meets a nameless swordsman. Soon warriors come to take Kotaro away and the nameless swordsman defends the boy but Tobimaru is poisoned in the fight saving the swordsman. Kotaru then hires No Name to save his dog and escort him to the temple. No Name reluctantly agrees but must wonder why such powerful warriors are attempting to kidnap such an ordinary child.

Sword of the Stranger presents a simple tale of a man who did something terrible in his past and lost his warrior spirit. Through the events he becomes entrenched in he regains his desire to fight.

Atleast it would be simple but the director, Masahiro Ando, insists on throwing in dozen of side characters and secondary plots. The are over half a dozen Chinese warriors who have their own little stories. There is local lord and his servants who are working with the Chinese while plotting against them. There is also several sub plots that are only tangentially related to our main character’s story.

Don’t forget the drug plot! Oh and they guy who wants to marry the Princess. Along with the man that sort of knew No Name in the past.

I admire the director’s ambition but if this were a series of OAVs or as TV show I would understand the need to throw in so many different plot threads. But it is a movie so he would have done better to simplify some of the plots or reduce the number of changes to make things run a little smoother. I realize he wanted more fleshed out characters and themes but this movie did not need them. All it needed was a simple plot to attach us to Kotaru and No Name and more quality with less villains.

It is true it might have served better is some longer format, but I still saw what was important coming through to the surface. The characters that were supposed to stick out did and the fights were great. And while the plot does have a too many threads, it isn’t done poorly and it isn’t confusing. The film sets the tone and pace with the fight in the rain kicking it off then gradually building up to the final confrontation.

Indeed the director has the good sense to make sure we never got too bogged down in the byzantine plot. We spend a good deal of time watching Kotaru and No Name bonding. We also learn quite a bit about all the people scheming to get Kotaru and scheming against each other. In between all these scenes are some awesome battles. Anytime things get close to getting slow someone will challenge No Name or the Chinese warriors will get into a fight. This is an action movie and it know you came for the fights so they deliver.

No Name (Nanashi) is a totally sweet combination of Kenshin (from Ruroni Kenshin) and Jubei Kibagami (from Ninja Scroll). His refusal to draw his blade doesn’t keep him from beating the tar out of everyone that tries to attack him. His past haunts him and though he claims to be helping the Kotaru and his dog for payment he grows to genuinely care for both of them.

Unlike Kenshin, No Name seems to have made no such vow as not to kill. He quite impressively proves that a sword can still be an effective killing weapon even if you never unsheathe it in the first fight. He is a laid back fellow with many secret although one of his secrets was rather odd and I’m not sure why it even existed in the first place.

Kotaru is your stereotypical anime brat. An inexperienced angry little know it all punk in the beginning he definitely grows into being a much more likable character as the movie goes on. I liked the scenes where No Name teaches Kotaru to ride a horse. They let you bond with the characters as they bonded with each other. Tobimaru is an awesome dog though out the movie and one of the most likable characters. I am sure Narutaki wishes he had a Tobimaru.

We get a wide variety of villains, some with a little gimmick and some who are just damn good with a sword. Like the whip guy who was the first to show up was out of control. But then our major baddie, Rarou, is just looking to slice and dice in a new country. He establishes himself as a force to be reckoned with when he kills an entire group of bandits in the opening. His only real motivation is to pick a good fight, well he certainly picks a good one when he runs into No Name.

Rarou is an evil (more evil?) Kenpachi from Bleach. He is always fighting in hope of finally finding someone who can give him a run for his money. In fact he is only with the Chinese because he knows they are were the action will probably be. The Chinese bad guys were without a doubt cooler than the Japanese ones. They mostly exists to get their bums handed to them by cooler fighters.

The battles were beautiful, fluid, and bloody! Heads rolling, limbs flying! The movement was smooth and they always kept you right in the action. I just keep thinking of the fight that starts on some stairs. It was only a moment but it was so cool! Also liked how the terrain was coming into play for some of these fights, just kept it interesting. They were everything I was hoping for.

The fight choreography was well done and beautifully animated as only a movie could be. I liked the fact that most people had their own unique but interesting fighting style. There are even good deal of horse mounted fighting which in not something you commonly see in anime. The end battle is quite the bloodbath which is a fitting climax for the movie. It is quite a nice series of battles even if Narutaki thought that the music was too epic for the actions taking place. I would definitely see other action anime by Masahiro Ando again.

As much as I complained about the plot I could see this being a break out hit in America. It is a one shot movie with a good amount of violence which is usually popular among casual anime consumers. In fact, the plot complications might give it a boost among the casual anime fans. Most of the plot additives where added to give a sense of depth and philosophy to an otherwise standard story.

My initial interest in this movie stemmed from a need to see some really well done and totally cool fight scenes. Everything else that might have happened was just gravy so on that note I was totally satisfied. Sword of the Stranger doesn’t do anything new, doesn’t have an incredible plot, but it has a serviceable story with totally amazing battles and great animation to boot. I will be happy to own this movie.

Top 5 Favorite Swordsmen
5. Guts (Berserk)
4. Magatsu (Blade of the Immortal)
3. Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)
2. Zoro (One Piece)
1. Manji (Blade of the Immortal)

//

Ongoing Investigations: Case #004

2 Comments

Banana Fish ends, as all classic BL manga do, with tragedy. I enjoyed the series. It ended well and rounds out the last book with a prequel story and an epilogue. I’d recommended it to people who want to test the water on their enjoyment of BL and can get over the fact that Ash Lynx is the bestest guy at everything. On a side note it might come off that I dislike Ash but I found him a charming if rather messed up character. I am mostly warning our readers of what to expect. Plus it’s fun to make fun of Ash.

Pretty Cure, wouldn’t you know as soon as I start watching this it comes up by Toei for download! Hurry up and catch up to where I am! This series is a more modern Sailor Moon. Why 4Kids licensed this and never put it on TV has slipped into many a conversation lately. I’m about to buy the license and become rich by getting it on TV because it would be that big. It is magical girl to a tee, nothing more and nothing less. The two girls are very different from each other and they start an unexpected friendship since, ya know, now they have to save the world together. They have cute outfits and cell phones that transform them into their other identities (Cure Black and Cure White). I do find their little familiars incredibly annoying. And even if you can’t get into this show, I dare you to watch the opening and/or ending and NOT get it stuck in your head.

I have watched about as much Pretty Cure as Narutaki has and I only have one comment. Dear Internet: Nagisa and Honoka are not lesbians. Get over it. I don’t see this lesbian subtext people go on and on about. If you want there to be this subtext A. you are extremely creepy or B. admit that it’s all in your head. They have a perfectly innocent female friendship. It seems guys can be just as bad as fujoshi in self-delusion.

Mach Girl is a new show and the first short episode is streaming online in Japanese. This is a spin-off series of Speed Racer. The styling of the show is what most interested me, it is a meld of American and Japanese. Certainly Flash created and has the cutout feel (and extreme simplicity) seen in a lot of Cartoon Network original shows. Also has very Hanna-Barbara type villains.

I just finished Tower of Druaga. I enjoyed it. It’s nice to see some fantasy anime again. I was obviously much sadder about one character’s death than Narutaki was but I think it was mostly because I liked that character more. Seeing how Gonzo is in big trouble, I really hope they can finish Tower of Druaga. I can’t say I would be devastated if they never finished it but I do want to see how it will all play out. I am most curious to learn more about Neeba’s motivations. In many ways the reasons for his actions will determine how much I go on to recommend this series overall.

I <3 Neeba

Just got around to reading the first book of Two Flowers for the Dragon. It is shaping up to be a good fantasy shojo romance. It has a competent female lead who is willful and spiritually powerful. Her two suitors (quite literally fiance #1 and fiance #2) are different from each other but not polar opposites. And neither is pretending to dislike our heroine (thank goodness!). There is also a story beyond this love triangle dealing with the kingdom, her missing father, and hopefully more to come. I’m glad to see CMX continuing to pick up some obscure but delightful titles.

That’s it for this week’s investigations! Look for new ongoing investigations every Friday!

//