Tag: Macross

Ongoing Investigations: Case #006

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I read BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad volume 12 and I have a feeling it is going to get the ax with the way things are going at TokyoPop. It’s a shame because we are finally getting to the story past the anime. Everyone is getting ready to tour in America and saying their goodbyes in Japan. It’s is essentially a transition book but Harold Sakuishi keeps it entertaining. BECK is such an amazing manga I can’t see why people don’t care about it. I guess music manga falls in the same category as sports anime and manga. It is one of those genres that people love in Japan but won’t give a chance in the U.S.

Watched Macross Frontier episodes 15, 16, and 17. It has certainly become a show I don’t want to miss a moment of. Obviously we are getting closer and closer to the end and it still keeps me guessing. Still haven’t seen the person who is the main villain. For a few brief moments I thought the love triangle was on equal footing, but not so much now. Sheryl and Alto have to spend some more time together in the next couple of episodes or there is no way you could convince me he would end up with her. I’m inclined to believe he won’t anyway (good!). I have taken to laughing at the karma I feel is biting Sheryl in the butt. Speaking of love, Cathy and Ozma have to be my favorites to see on my screen! It is kind of like if you ever wondered what would have happened if Roy got together with Misa.

We might not necessarily know who the head honcho of the bad guys is but we do know who his two lieutenants are. Oh episode 17 was just awesome for so so many reasons. If you were not sure that Ozma was a Fire Bomber fan this episode all but shows you his Fire Bomber fan club card next to his Mylene wall scroll. I loved the repeated use of Try Again. Even if we never get that Basara cameo we all want this was more than good enough. I want to mention more reasons why 17 was awesome but that is spoiler country. Sufficed to say more love letters to the all the Macross franchise. Oh and take that Sheryl fans! Take that! Cry while you listen to Don’t Be Late!

Finally, finally, finally picked up the first book of Vagabond. I must have been saying I was going to for over six months. Ended up being pretty good, I wasn’t totally blown away by it but it was definitely good and good enough to pick up the second (hopefully in less than six months from now). Inoue’s style seems to lend itself to this story, gives it a more gritty and real look. Also was glad to see the color pages in tact!

I read volumes 6, 7, and 8 of Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel recently and I have to say it’s a pretty good series that is totally falling through the cracks. It’s a Gundam series with a female protagonist. I know that is heresy but they make it work and are not consumed by the vengeance of Red Comet-sama himself. Ecole du Ciel starts after the end of the original Gundam series and is currently in the middle of Zeta Gundam. At least I think they are up to Zeta Gundam. Feel free to slog through the Universal Century timeline to prove me wrong. There are side notes to get you up to speed about certain major events but I feel they are more reminders to people who have watched the original than explanations for neophytes. Don’t be discouraged by that. This is Asuna Elmarit’s story as she fights in the Universal Century. Major events from the TV series are referenced but Asuna’s story is always her own. Characters die left and right, named characters are clearly not safe. It is a character based story but it is still a war story. Another  series that is probably getting the ax now that Tokyopop is dropping stuff left and right. It’s a shame because there is not much out there like this.

Read books 28 and 29 of Samurai Deeper Kyo. After book 28 I was like, why am I reading this? After book 29 I was like, this is why! I am so tired of groups of villains randomly showing up, now we are onto the four elders. Oh wait the girl they fight in the beginning of 28 is a EX-four elder. SIGH. Then we have three crazy magicians. UH. Oh look an elder finally! He has 10 levels of speed. WHAT? I will be glad when we are actually at the last bad guys, but I’m sure we will have to make it through more groups of villains first. Who is next? The five mahrajs? Thank goodness for all the excitement and bloody battling in 29. Plus a critically injured Yuya, spoiler you say, I think not. I mean can the girl do anything except get hurt, kidnapped, or possessed? This series is a complete roller coaster from bad to good. It is far and away too long, but it’s a shonen fighting series so why I am so surprised? But I keep hanging on because I love Demon Eyes Kyo, can’t help it.

My Heavenly Hockey Club keeps reminding be of Ouran High School Host Club if it were written by Ai Morinaga. I like Ai Morinaga but damn. The similarities are too much to be coincidence. They both have poor girls going to a school of rich kids. They both have tomboyish, sarcastic main girls. They both have a girl who is blackmailed into joining an otherwise all boys club. They both have clueless club leaders that are in love with the main girl. They both have twins that no one can tell apart. There are definite differences in the humor and the writing but you can’t even pretend that My Heavenly Hockey Club is trying to be super original.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #002

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I just watched the second Kara no Kyoukai movie so I might as well talk about the first and the second movie. There are going to be seven Kara no Yoko movies each based on a chapter of the original series. Each chapter is partially a self contained story but they also all build to a unified story. The first story is a ghost story with a bit of a flashy action sequence at the end. We are dropped in the middle of the story with a decent amount of time to develop who everyone is. The second is murder mystery with the origin of how the main characters met. I don’t know why Ask John was so harsh on the second film. It was clearly meant to be an unfinished story. It presents a mystery that makes you wonder what happened that is clearly only meant to be solved in the last film. I think it is clearly a series of movies for fans of Kinoko Nasu. It’s his first major work so I feel the story telling is not as polished as his later works but I still found it entertaining. The visuals are certainly theatrical quality so it is a pleasure to watch. As far as I can tell without ever reading the original stories the adaptation is fairly faithful unlike previous Type-Moon series.

Macross Frontier 13 was exactly what I wanted to see. It actually started with 12 and continued on into this one. Ranka singing and saving the world with it, Alto fighting like hell to keep her safe, secrets revealed, explosions, awesome robot fights, and a good cliffhanger! YES YES YES! Throw in some cute moments between Ranka and Alto (which they did) and I’m basically set for life. I felt as if I have been waiting for this and now my love for the series has really burst forth. I also found it funny that in original Macross I really started to love it about the same number of episodes in.

I am also pretty sure one character who “died” in this episode can’t be dead because they were just getting interesting. They went from seemingly unimportant minor side character with intriguing questions hanging around them, to major conspirator, to dead. I don’t think so. I’m usually not one to complain about the ability to kill off characters but this character was just coming into their own.

I watched a few more episodes of GaoGaiGar. It is distinctly formulaic but it is still fun. I am curious how it supposedly it goes from a by the numbers kids giant robot show to something beyond that but I’m still in the formula section. This show has made me come to the realization that giant robot shows are nothing more than magical girl shows for boys. They have many of the same tropes just in different guises. They both have similarly organized bad guy organizations; they usually have the same recycled transformation sequences; they both have recycled finishing moves; also the finishing moves is usually upgraded at the exact same rate in both types of shows.

I was really worried about not getting my Nosatsu Junkie volume 6. However, TokyoPop did not fail me. I was really pleased with this volume, there is a huge turning point and then a cliffhanger so we don’t know the results of said turning point till the next volume. We are also seeing Naka moving into the spotlight with her modeling career. This effects Umi is some interesting ways including making him jealous and making him worry about losing his top spot, but inevitably he loves Naka more. Their relationship continues to amuse me and I love watching their hilarious and sweet encounters. Can’t wait for the next volume!

I just read One Piece chapter 506 and wow did we get some major revelations. We finally learn a good deal about the capture and execution of Gold Roger. There was something that was never quite right about the whole deal and it is finally explained. One Piece has been making a good effort to get to explaining some of the mysteries of the series as of late. I know that Daryl Surat had complained that he stopped reading One Piece because he could not get over that they kept bringing up plot threads but never resolving them. I never really was too distressed at any unresolved plot threads. I never got the feeling that they would not be resolved but I can’t say I’m unhappy that they are starting to be tied up.

Read the latest chapter of NANA. I love Ai Yazawa with all my heart but I am a bit put off by the things going on in this story recently. It seems like the longer it goes on the less she knows where she is going with it. What with the forward flashes not seeming to connect with the current arc. And funnily enough that character I have been loving and care the most about currently is Reira. She is driving things to happen and she also seems to care about the people around her. I find myself wishing for a conclusion and soon. Oh and as usual I hate Yuri, FREE NOBU!

For some reason I see Narutaki flying to Japan and starting a sit in protest outside Ai Yazawa in the way one would start a free Tibet protest. That’s it for this week’s investigations! Look for a new case file every Friday!

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Spring Falls Out: Spring 2008 Anime Guide

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April showers bring May flowers and new anime series. There is no way that Narutaki and I can watch every new anime series coming out this season but we will try to hit up whatever looks interesting and report back to you our loyal readers on what is worth watching this spring. Plus, I think we are going to skip all the horrible ohwhenwillthehurtingend shows. Speaking of which it does seem this spring the moe choice is shows with fox spirit girls. I guess since Kamen no Maid Guy came out no one else dared make a maid anime.

Since they have taken my Gundam 00 away and my Hayate I am looking for all new shows to start watching! This is an exciting and sometimes tedious task. I don’t want to go too much into what the shows are actually about, those things are easily looked up. We are just going to be giving our gut reactions to a whole slue of stuff and beware that we have only watched the first episode of most of this.

Bus Gamer
I downloaded this because the short reviews I saw said it was about bad dudes, doing bad things with awesome fights. Okay, what were those people watching? It couldn’t have been the first episode of this seriously poor anime. The fight that happens at the end, I wouldn’t have even called a fight! It was like random thugs and the dude just came up behind them and hit them with a pipe. That is not a fight!! Also they spent way too much time trying to develope these three guys and the plot. No action occurs till the last 10 minutes! And considering this show is only 3 episodes long, they need to be moving at a much faster pace.

You forgot to mention that the blond guy was super annoying and might have well be the stereotypical swooning and shrieking useless girl character except for the fact that he has a penis (or at least I am assuming he does). I did not dislike it as much as Narutaki but this show totally did not hook me with anything. The characters seem rather standard stock types. I might have been willing to wait and see if the characters were more but it’s too short of a series to give them any more time to develop. I might have also overlooked the fact that the characters are bland if the action was awesome but the action scenes were certainly pedestrian and horrifically one-sided.

Special A
 This is by and large a typical shojo romance comedy. I like the character designs, I have also heard good things about the manga. But really it seemed very average to me. Not rolling on thefloor funny and not over the top romantic shojo. It was just walking straight down the middle. And it has wacky side character disease, those people were the most interesting and they will probably never be developed.

Maybe by old timer blood is finally maturing to make me a cranky old Brainwasher Detective but Special A seems so standard that I can’t get worked up to care. Hikari and Kei just seem rather boring to me. Shojo manga lives and dies on how much I like the main characters. Awesome side characters are just a bonus. I found that Hikari seems like she has potential but the fact that Kei is just the uber awesome guy who beats her every time seems like it will get old very fast. I keep expecting him to beat her at being able to kiss boys better at some point in the series. I also thought that the side characters were just there. Megumi Yamamoto having to write everything down to talk because her voice is practically a weapon was used for good effect but nobody else sold me enough to ignore the main characters.

Allison to Lillia
This show has the most potential out of everything I have seen and read about thus far. It has a plot, having to do with the country being split in two (constant warring) and how they can reconcile it. It has good characters, Allison is spunky, funny, and strong-willed and she drags her good friend (love?) Wil along for a journey that could change the future of their world. It had suspense, adventure, humor, friendship, and drama all in a beautiful looking fully realized world akin to the 1920’s. This is what all first episodes should be. And the second did not disappoint. I am betting on this being one of the best shows this season as well as the most overlooked.

I’m not sure how you can like this sexist anime that sets back the women’s movement for decades. Oh wait . . . maybe being slightly apologetic does not make you a doormat. Considering the characters designs, a plot centering around a spunky female pilot, and an anti-war message you might easily mistake this a Hayao Miyazaki story. I will go out on a limb and risk looking like a total idiot when I state this might be almost as good as such. I think it has a family friendly feeling while still be entertaining for adults. I did some digging and I found out this anime is an adaptation of the first two parts of a trilogy of light novels. We have not seen any of the Lillia parts of the series but if it is a good as the Allison part I’m sure I will be happy. We both got the feeling that this show is going to be the buried treasure of the season.

The Tower of Druaga
This show started out as a hilarious, rip-roaring, parody of all things RPG has moved into semi-serious mode (episode 2 recently came out). Even with this abrupt change, I am still interested in what is to come. It atleast has the makings for a decent fantasy story which is rare in anime. Let’s hope it doesn’t flounder in the 10 episodes it has left.

It feels like the Tower of Druaga has turned into a serious fantasy adventure with a quirky sense of humor disbursed between action and intrigue much like Scrapped Princess. There is so little good fantasy anime that I will take whatever fix I can. The show has definite potential to fall apart but so far it seems decent. I’m sure some people are going to be thrown off by the non-canon theme first episode but I think it lends the show a certain charm much like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Blassreiter
Blassreiter is junk. It’s true. I couldn’t even gleam enjoyment from it being so bad and blase. The dialogue was lame, the character designs are poor, and they tell you how to feel instead of making you feel it. I felt nothing for the main character and his tragedy, it happened three minutes in, how am I supposed to be connected? And my biggest complaint has to be that the dude on the posters for it appears for all of 5 seconds and he doesn’t even do anything. Although, even with that he still seems like the most interesting character in the series.

Blassreiter seems like a show for people who want to watch a series like the Guyver but wanted an older protagonist. I also feel no real need to go out and watch anymore of this show. Some people might enjoy the dark action and the slightly more mature plots that come with a slightly more mature cast. Actually it’s more of that fake mature like Speed Grapher. A show that thinks it’s mature because it’s dark and deals with issues like sex and violence but is really just a shallow attempt at being mature.

Kamen no Maid Guy
This show clearly says ecchi when you go to the description but I just couldn’t resist after seeing the picture of it on ANN. It deserved to be watched just for that. Kogarashi is just one of the most hilarious looking dudes ever. Of course our very buxom young female lead bounces everywhere for anything and quite often loses her shirt or is in the shower. While this was a little much for me, the episode was hilariously amusing while our maid guy attempts to keep her safe and also clean!

Kamen no Maid Guy is basically what happens when you replace the romance and otaku humor from Hayate the Combat Butler with perverted jokes and boob shots. It does certainly seem like fun if you can tolerate with high levels of ecchi content. The fact that it looks like you took a Fist of the North Star villain and made him the ultimate bodyguard french maid has a certain hilarity built into it. I will continue to watch this guy but I’m not going out of my way to check every night if a new episode has come out.

Amatsuki
Amatsuki has potential, I’m atleast interested in seeing some more of it. While the story is semi-basic, at least we haven’t been told that the main guy is the key to this, the king of that, or the only one who can save something. The brief fight was good, so hopefully there will be more of that in the future. The character personalities were broad enough to also make me curious. But then again I really have no idea of what the plot is at this point.

I have to agree with Narutaki. The main character seems to amazingly easily accept the fact that he has been transported back in time and there are monsters all around him. It seems he is in an odd state of ataraxia. It is certainly odd but it’s better than him be a whiny wet blanket like so many characters in the same situation. It is safe to assume that the main theme is about what are dreams and what is reality but they have yet to develop the main plot. It seems like the stereotypical story of a high school student transported to a monster filled past but it so far it seems to be well done. I like the characters and then seem to have potential so I think I will keep watching this one and see how it develops. It could be interesting or it could be generic but so far it at least seems to be well done.

Nabari no Ou
Nabari no Ou, ninjas! Pretty good fights, too. The characters however aren’t very engaging, at least not right off the bat. I may have to give this two of three more episodes.

I guess the easiest way to sum up this show is modern day Nate the Ninja. In fact Nabari no Ou has some easily identified counterparts in Naruto. That being said I think that the show has sort of its own groove that makes it different enough to be enjoyable. The sheer apathy of the main character makes for some funny scenes but it also makes him somewhat of a bland character at times. Along with Souleater I am predicting this show will be the other show people talk about this season. It is different enough from Naruto that people who want a ninja shonen fighting show might get into it but is good enough to win over a good number of Naruto fans that want more ninja action.

Souleater
Souleater is the show everyone is going to love and be the runaway hit of the season. For me it probably won’t be those things. Maybe it was that “glowing” review I read or maybe it was the fact that I have read some of the manga, but I wasn’t really looking forward to this show. In fact, I wasn’t even going to watch it. But here I get reeled in by what people are saying. The visuals are pretty nice, it has a playful gothic feel that gives the scenery a nice punch. However, I find the actual characters mostly dull looking, especially Mara our heroine. This manga also falls in the ecchi category and really I’m just not in the moody for annoying titty witches clogging up my anime watching experience.

Well anyone who claims that a show does Tim Burton better than Tim Burton better be reviewing an amazingly good show to back up that up. I’m pretty sure that Souleater does not live up to that lofty claim. I do agree that this show looks like it has the potential to be the breakout big hit of the season. In fact much of this show seemed like what would happen if mixed together Bleach and D.Gray-man and threw in a liberal helping of fan service. I’m pretty sure that the cloying titty witch made sure neither of us can get into this show despite the insistence that it has awesome fight scenes. I will admit thought the fact that Mara seems to be the main fighter and Soul is the more passive weapon is somewhat unusual and interesting for a shonen show.

Zettai Kareshi (Live Action)
Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend) I watched this raw so this is just my general impression of it. However, I have read the manga so that gives me some insight. But really the story is just a romance comedy, I don’t really need to know everything being said to be able to laugh and understand what is going on. The series has high quality production, like some of the effects used to show Night as a robot. Both male leads are very good looking, always a plus. And Riko our main girl is silly and charming. This series is nothing amazing but its a fun watch for females for sure.

Golgo 13
Golgo 13 is a show for Daryl Surat and anyone else who is a big seinen manga fan. It does everything a Golgo 13 anime needs to do to make Golgo 13 fans happy. Golgo gets a mission, has detached sex with a woman who needs him more than life itself, kills some thugs, and then makes a nearly impossible hit on his target and then goes of to do it again. I assume that each episode will follow the same basic formula in different places throughout the world with slight variations in the formula. It’s not like they made Golgo 13 throw out action movie one liners with a huge smile on his face or gave him a moe loli companion girl. He is the killing machine Golgo 13. The world conflicts he is involved with may differ but Golgo 13 never changes.

Kaiba
 This series is very beautiful right off the bat but in a retro way that may turn some people off. It has a mystical, fairy-tale like feeling from the moment it starts. We are immediately thrust into an unknown world where our main character is just waking up. He certainly doesn’t seem to know what is going on around him either. But others seem to know things about him based on a strange hole he has in his chest, the locket around his neck, and an odd symbol on his abdomen. It certainly remind me of many sci-fi stories from the 70’s. It captured the imagination right off and I’m curious to see where it all leads.

This is probably the closest you are going to be to an art house anime. I think no matter how good the story or the animation, the Osamu Tezuka style character designs dooms this show to obscurity. I can see the old guard anime fans getting into this show. Since Narutaki watched the show raw and I watched it subtitled we are kicking around the idea that Narutaki watch the whole show raw and do absolutely no research into the show. Narutaki then gives a report of what she thought it was about and then I talk about what the show was actually about from watching the show with subs.

Macross Frontier
For the 25th anniversary of the original The Super Dimension Fortress Macross we get the third TV series in the Macross universe entitled Macross Frontier. So far Frontier is much more the spiritual successor to the original Macross than the lol-fest that was Macross 7. We have all the classic features: a battleship with almost no outside support attacked by a mysterious enemy; transformable Valkyrie fighters; and a love triangle involving a pilot and a singer. This show looks beautiful and so far has been rather entertaining. Good actions scenes and lively characters make this show a joy to watch. American Macross fans might be able to finally forgive Japan for Macross 7 after this show. I think science fiction fans and mecha fans new to the franchise might also get hooked on this lusciously animated show.

I am having a blast following Macross Frontier! The character designs are good and the 3D animation is actually nicely done. Also supreme fighting sequences complete with pop music. Though I am not that impressed with the music. I did notice I liked the opening song a bit better the second time through, so I am hoping to see it grow on me.

Niju-Menso no Musume
Niju-Menso no Musume, was a show I was looking forward to this season because I am a sucker for a good thief. This series seems rather over the top. I think everything that has ever happened in a mystery show happened in the first episode. But it satisfies something in me and I was entertained. Something about the mastermind thief that is just one step ahead is always fun. I also really like the relationships developing between characters. This show is a lot of fun, nothing more nothing less, full of danger, mystery, and a whole lot of adventure.

Vampire Knight
I learned from Anime World Order that apparently Vampire Knight is one of the best selling manga in the United States which took me slightly by surprise. I think that Vampire Knight definitely has the two main of the draws of vampire stories: angst filled boys and drinking blood as a sexual metaphor. The humor and the drama are pretty well balanced. This is a super shojo vampire story set at a school for what it’s worth. Since nerd girls in general love vampires I’m sure this show will be right up their alley. If girls bought more shojo anime I’m sure this show could be one of the best sellers from this season. According to Kohaku they change the pace of certain of revelations so they might be trying to give us a complete story in 26 episodes of a 8+ book series. This can lead to some awful anime produced ending but since I have not read the manga I can’t tell how much better or worse the changes make the story as compared to the original manga.

This season looks to be pretty good! I think that is typical though. Pleanty of goodies to keep your eye on, can’t wait to see how they turn out. It is always interesting to go back and see if your initial impressions are true. Just how good is our intuition? Stay tuned to find out!