S.W.A.T. Reviews: Summer 2011

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Four years into the blog has taught us, to a degree, what works and what needs changing. When we started the blog the season reviews were some of the most popular posts but as time went on we have seen a distinct decline in interest. A large part of that has to do with Anime News Network now doing a seasonal review and in a very timely fashion. In response, we sat down to decide how to revamp the seasonal review to stay relevant. Our idea is to do micro-podcasts instead of a whole article. The premise behind the S.W.A.T. (Season Watching Anime Taskforce) reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down a record a review podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. The reviews have been going up on Anime3000 but in case you missed them there we collected them here for your listening pleasure.

Blade: We review the classic tale of a half-vampire VS. vampires. Now with extra Marvel/Madhouse blandness.

Blood-C: We review the OTHER vampire vs vampires anime. Now with CLAMP. Which sadly does not help.

Bunny Drop: We review the tale of an ace sniper and pathological lair who is a brave captain of the sea. Sorry. That is Usopp Drop.

Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth: We review (up soon!) an anime about France that is not The Rose of Versailles. We are as shocked as you are.

God’s Notebook: We review the spiffy keen NEET detective agency. The main character is a Speaker for the Dead.

The IDOLM@STER: We review a show about idols in training that is better than you would think it would be. That does not make it good.

Mawaru Penguindrum: We review the new Kunihiko Ikuhara anime. In fact, we are wondering why you are not watching this RIGHT NOW!

Mayo Chiki!: We review what proves that on all lives a little rain must fall. If you watch this, there shall be a downpour of sadness on your heart.

The Mystic Archives of Dantalian: We review (up soon!) the autobiography of Otaku USA’s Caleb Dunaway.

No. 6: We review the most obtuse remaking of Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner.

Sacred Seven: We review (up soon!) a Tokusatsu show cleverly disguised as an anime. But with maids, butlers, mecha, and Greek mythology.

Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love 1000%: We review a show about idols in training that is better than you would think it would be. But is also actually good. We cannot forget to mention: Norio Wakamoto. ‘Nuff said.

Yuruyuri: We review a show of boy-friendly lesbians in training that is just as bad as you would think it would be.

All Points Bulletin: Wonder Woman’s Bizzare Adventure Part 4: Mickey Mouse is Unbreakable

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 Narutaki’s picks:

Hisui’s picks:

Lots of comic book related articles this week so:

Ongoing Investigations: Case #132

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Broken Blade‘s 5th movie really takes the series down a notch I am sad to say. The focus of the film is Girghe a lot, a character who as far as I’m concerned has no soul in their design. Perhaps this movie was trying to fix that impression, but it doesn’t work and the “reasoning” behind his past seemed like a cop-out full of holes. I just refuse to feel for the guy and I think they really wanted me to change my mind. While Girghe is acting crazy, Rygart isn’t helping the situation. They decide the best time for a vendetta fight (which they are having because why again?) is right in the middle of a major mission. Probably the only redeeming scene in the entire movie is the fight between Brocuse and Rygart, looks amazing, just try to forget why it is happening and why it ends the way it does. This is the problem with most of the film, it isn’t well put together and thus you start questioning why anything is happening the way it is.

Sadly since the defeat of Zess the Broken Blade series has not been nearly as strong as is started. Rygart just seems to lose a lot of strength as a lead character as he seems way too interested in dealing with Girghe but not nearly as invested in doing anything else as he should. And Girghe just comes off as an unrepentant and unlikeable psychopath despite them trying to soften him up during the movie. I think they want him to be the dark mirror to Rygart’s noble intentions but he just comes off as a big waste of time. Their last confrontation actually annoyed me. I don’t see why Rygart would waste time with his theatrics when everyone else is getting slaughtered. General Borcuse on the other hand as at least a little more subtle in his villainy. He sometimes twirls his mustachio but at least I can understand being a completely wretched human to your enemy on the battlefield. The dehumanizing effects of being a solider can do that to a man. Also his fight with Rygart was pretty good which was the highlight of the movie. Hodr and Sigyn mostly seem to show up in this movie to wishfully wonder how Rygart is doing. And Sigyn has to have more slumber part-time with the POW Cleo. I had such high hopes for Broken Blade. It started off so well but it seems to have sadly lost its focus.

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