Category: Ongoing Investigations

Ongoing Investigations: Case #061

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Without a doubt Taisho Baseball Girls has been my favorite anime of the summer of 2009 and it was a strong summer lineup. Baseball Girls does just about everything right. Each episode left me feeling great afterward. It is comedic where it needed to be comedic and dramatic where it needed to be dramatic. There are great strong female characters that grow together and as individuals. But Taisho Baseball Girls makes sure to have a decent amount of male charterers that get screen time and development, too. Other than possible a little yuri fanboy pandering there is nothing objectionable about the series. The only real fan-service is writing so good it’s sexy and plotting so tight it’s scandalous! The ending is suitably dramatic and fulfilling. If you have not started watching Taisho Baseball Girls I suggest you at least watch the first episode and see what your missing out on. It’s a long shot but I would like to see someone pick this up in the States. It’s everything good sports anime should be. I would also love to read the light novels and the manga but I realize when things are pretty much unlicensable in the current market.

I read the last two volumes of Fruits Basket and found it very satisfying. The 22nd volume wraps up the main story with the curse and then the 23rd moves each relationship along its merry way. While I think everyone knew where the story would end, the series keeps the heart from start to finish and readers will be decidedly engrossed. Though some may be disappointed in the fate of characters who they feel have slighted many others on the canvas. If ever you want a story to be definitive this one is like a yes-we-will-be-together-now-and-until-we-are-old-and-die together type. This is a series that I had been following for quite sometime so it was a very emotional ride. But here at the end I can say it is one of my favorite series to date.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #060

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I received a copy of Oh! My Brother 1, one of the latest series coming from CMX, and by the same manga-ka as their other recent release, The Name of the Flower. This short two book series revolves around Masago who is rather average in all things and her brother Shiro who is rather extraordinary in all things. When Shiro loses his life saving Masago from a speeding truck, he doesn’t actually go away. In fact, his spirit gets implanted in Masago so he can help her and take care of some unfinished business on Earth. Masago is tied between blaming herself, feeling inferior to her brother, and helping him because she loved him so much. And she is in love with his best friend. Sure that sounds complicated but the story is rather tame, it’s unclear whether or not Masago will really change or grow, in this first book she doesn’t seem to. The story is not surprisingly, rather silly and highly dramatic at times but never seems to do either extremely well. With this premise I expected the comedy to be turned up much higher. I found this better than The Name of the Flower but on the whole it is just a serviceable little series. 

I am very curious to see what my friends that started Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 at the same time I did have to say about the series as a whole. It was an excellent show with a unique premise. By taking such a tremendous but mundane event as a major earthquake you get all the power and excitement of a fantastical plot but with all the weight of story feeling of reality. The major divide in people’s feelings will come with the fact that each third of the series has a different feel. The last third will either make some viewers claim it as one of their favorite series of the year or it will make them walk away feeling very disappointed or even betrayed. It is an ending that has to be experienced fresh for maximum impact. Therefore I suggest you avoid spoilers for this show until you finish it and then let the actuality wash over you. No matter how you feel about the ending you can not deny that it made you feel something. Continue reading →

Ongoing Investigations: Case #059

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In honor of Yoshiyuki Tomino coming to NYAF there is only one thing to be done. Gundam Sousei has to be reviewed because it was a documentary, and the events were drawn in real time. Alright, that may be an exaggeration. Gundam Sousei is actually an over the top dramatization of the creation of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. This manga does not reflect events as they  happened. It reflects events as they should have happened. All the actors look remarkably like the characters they portray. All the production staff looks like you would imagine them to look. Tomino does not just yell at Toru Furuya to get him into his role. He Bright Slaps the performance right out of him. Shuichi Ikeda does Char so masterfully that when he is recording people see Char Aznable in the booth. Tomino masterfully schemes in ever step of the creation of Mobile Suit Gundam as if he were the Red Comet himself. Things just don’t happen in the manga. They are moved into place by the unalterable hand of destiny as the prophets that are the production staff will it to be. If you are a fan of Gundam and/or epic drama then you should check this manga out.

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.

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