Category: Detectives

Ongoing Investigations: Case #088

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I rewatched the beginning of the Raoh Gaiden TV series and then finished it off. It stays pretty much insane and hilarious all the way through as we learn the story of Raoh before the beginning of Fist of the North Star’s main plot. We follow him through his first upheaval and declaration as king as he builds an army, meets Kokuoh-go, imprisons Toki, and bests many foes. Though it doesn’t have as much fighting as you might imagine since Raoh pretty much wins every time within 5 seconds. The exception to this is the last fight between Raoh and Souther but clearly that can’t end with either one’s death! There are new characters for Raoh’s story including some love interests, yes for real, not that Raoh every engages in such romantic actions. This becomes doubly funny with the ending animation seemingly implying this series has a really romantic slant. Reina as one of the ladies is hard to swallow as never being talked about in earlier works considering she is both Raoh’s childhood friend and a general in his army. The series is about Raoh so of course it is entertaining and of course I enjoyed every minute, but I don’t think it will appeal to anyone who doesn’t already have this feeling in their heart!

hisuiconI decided watch one of the cornerstones of shojo history by taking on the 115 episode beast that is Candy Candy. After 25 episodes it is obvious why this is such an influential and celebrated work. Candy Candy is the story of the spirited tomboy Candice White who starts life as an orphan with nothing but her good nature to her name. She tries to keep in contact with her best friend Anne and find the Prince of the Hill who won her heart. She is thrown into adversity after adversity including the various machinations of the family that adopts her. Whenever it seems like the plot is going to drop into a predicable formula they will shake things up by doing something like sending Candy to Mexico. I have to say the end of this arc is quite surprising. If this is any sign of things to come I will say Candy Candy is anything but predictable. I feel a little bad for Archibald and Stear because they are really cool gentlemen who are obviously in love with Candy but everyone including them know they are always just going to be in the friend zone. I am very curious to see what the next 25 episodes have to offer.

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June’s Final Denouement: Not-America, you are the villain!

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SPOILERS FOR PLUTO


I finished Pluto rather recently and subsequently listened to a number of podcasts about the series. The series has a number of twists and turns in its narrative as well as a bevy of themes and symbolism to discuss if you so desire. As Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki made the story their own they modernized it in many ways while also maintaining many of the messages of old. One of the things that everyone seems to recognize but I haven’t heard as much discussion on is the new and very clear anti-American view presented in the thinly veiled guise of Thracia that wasn’t in the original story.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #087

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hisuiconI 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!  Continue reading →