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Sep 6, 2008
Rurouni Kenshin (A) – in my opinion, THE samurai anime. It’s a series that attempts to blend reality and history with superhuman action and suspense. It succeeds at being hugely entertaining and almost flawless.
The title character, Himura Kenshin is timeless and classic character set in a history piece that manages to be original and absolutely likable despite his past. Supporting characters Saito and Sanosuke also manage to be memorable favorites with some rather annoying, but unique and identifiable characters rounding out the cast.
Kenshin’s story is wonderfully told through seasons 1 & 2, through flashbacks and encounters with characters from his blood soaked
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past. The action is a mix of Kenshin dispatching villains in quick and sometimes funny ways and epic battles with masterful assassins/manslayers. In true shonen style, the other characters get a chance to knock heads, but in the end it always comes down to Kenshin.
The series also adds in comedy and romance with mixed results. I don’t find Kaoru to be a particularly likable character, and I found Yahiko to be extremely annoying for most parts of the show. And usually when one of them was featured something less than entertaining was probably going to happen. This usually took the form of some less than stellar filler episodes or completely skippable scenes.
The music for the series is extremely well done and memorable, with nothing really standing out as out of place. Well, nothing except the shows first opening theme, that really rubbed me the wrong way. Saying that I own the soundtrack should tell you how much I enjoy it.
Every series has a pivotal story arc and action series usually have a turning point battle that changes the series from that point forward. That battle was the match between Kenshin and Saito, which finally gave the viewers more than slight glimpse into what Kenshin truly was and let everyone know that things had gotten very serious. The arc is of course the Kyoto Arc (season 2) leading up to more battles of that caliber and a deep and powerful story. That arc may be the best in any series.
I also prefer to not include season 3 in my reviews, as I did not particularly care for it. It gave an ending completely deviating from the manga, and the pivotal Jinchuu Arc in the manga where Kenshin was forced to face the darkest part of his past. This is covered though in the excellent OVA’s Trust & Betrayal and Reflections. If I were to take into account the final season of the anime, I would probably drop it a point, because it drops the ball, in my opinion.
In the end, Rurouni Kenshin is an action series where the comedy helps round things out, and the romance will help give the characters depth. But make no mistake, it is the action and Kenshin and the villains/allies who make this series what it is.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 6, 2008
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (A) – my favorite Gundam series. This direct sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) is a coming-of-age, giant/real robot masterpiece. Sure the show is old (I never got to watch it until the highly affordable 2 disc sets started coming out around 2005-06), but it can’t be punished for that.
The story is told well, with some primer not necessary, but very helpful to help understand whom some characters are and where they come from. Amazingly, for a series that spans 50 eps, they never let anything meander too long. It constantly changes and evolves as
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new characters are introduced or leave the show. The action is great and happens often with all the characters’ lives on the line. Honestly, you don’t know who is going to die or when.
It also has some of the best characters you’ll ever find in an anime. Kamille may be annoying, arrogant and whiny in the beginning, but he makes more progress during the series than you’ll ever see any character make in an anime. Scirocco and Haman also make up a memorable and legendary cast of characters. The Titans are the general antagonists of the series and they are on a whole other level of ruthlessness. Most terrorist groups wish they were this evil and powerful. This adds another dimension to the action, as often the horrible and disgusting things they do to win get you rooting even harder for the other side.
Any mecha series, especially one this long, needs great action. Zeta does not disappoint. The action is frequent and often edge of your seat. Once you finally learn that any of your favorite characters could go at anytime, it takes on a much more tense and suspenseful atmosphere. It is done very well considering the limitations at the time. The monster/mecha of the week formula that was so present in the shows of the era appears here as well. But it is not done in such an overtly gimmicky way as the original Gundam series.
The sound for the series is tough to judge, simply because the series is so old. And that may leave you a bit put off by the dated music. It certainly does fit the show. One of the more controversial things about the American release of the series is the opening theme. Apparently, they couldn’t use the original theme in the opening credits for whatever reason, so they used some background music from the original soundtrack. In my opinion, it fits the series far better than the original theme. But thankfully, it wasn’t thrown away and they still included the original opening in the main menu for each and every disc.
Perhaps, the most infamous thing about this series is its ending. This series is dark, dark, dark, often to the point where during a marathon viewing, (maybe 5 –10 episodes) you may have to take a break. And the ending tops it all. It may be the biggest cliffhanger and possibly the most shocking ending for an anime. I almost guarantee that this series will leave an impression on you.
Note: it was VERY difficult for me to review this series b/c it was one of the first anime I had seen from that era. So I base my review and my personal scores on my own experience and personal enjoyment. And not so much emphasis on the technical merits of the show. And finally, if you are viewing the series for the first time: "Avoid ending spoilers at all costs!"
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 6, 2008
Azumanga Daioh (A+) – an anime about a bunch of high school girls and their eccentric teachers, it is a masterpiece of comedy that does what many shows fail to do. Be consistently hilarious and entertaining. It has memorable characters and memorable moments and is done almost perfectly. It is surprisingly accessible even though some references and jokes need you to read the little booklet that comes with the discs.
The characters are a strange group to say the least, but you will definitely find someone to identify with, or a character that reminds you of someone. No matter how outrageous the
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personality. The star appears to by Chiyo-chan, the cute little genius who is only about 10 years old, but it is actually about a core group of girls who are friends and are growing up and enjoying life together. Ms. Sakaki is the “cool” girl who is tall athletic and popular, but she loves cute things, especially cats. And she wishes she were cute like Chiyo. Tomo is the girl who appears to have ADD, and is generally a hyperactive idiot who doesn’t think before doing or saying anything. Yomi is her best friend and is probably the most ordinary of the group. She’s about as smart as Chiyo and like many normal teenage girls obsesses about her weight and eating habits. She’s also often the voice of logic in the group (thank god). And then there is Osaka, she’s the kid who daydreams a lot and says weird things, she’s a bit slow, honestly. She’s also probably my favorite character.
Kagura is another girl who joins the group later and is almost as athletic as Ms. Sakaki and a bit of a tomboy. She’s also her chief rival and a bit of an idiot like Tomo and Osaka. She falls into the strange category of being in between a main character and a supporting one, much like some of the teachers. Ms. Yukari qualifies as a main character and is also a great source of comedy, much like Chiyo, Osaka and Tomo. She’s the strange self-centered teacher who can’t wait for the end-of-the-day bell to ring. Strangely enough, she is pretty smart and is a language (English) teacher. Her best friend is also a teacher. Nyamo, who is much more practical than her friend, is a P.E. teacher and very popular with the students. The group is pretty much rounded out by Kaorin, a girl in the same grade as the others who is a huge fan of Ms. Sakaki (much like many of the girls in the school) who looks up to her coolness in a strange kind of groupie way.
The plot is pretty much that of a sketch comedy show. It all comes together more or less chronologically, as it covers the three years of high school of the girls. Things are usually highlighted by annual events like the sports or culture festivals and trips to Chiyo-chan’s summer home (her family is RICH). And the comedy is usually a random mix of random insanity. The laughs come from all angles as characters just being themselves lead into hilarious moments. The pitifully un-athletic Osaka trying to do gymnastics, Ms. Sakaki and her love of cats, Tomo being Tomo and generally annoying the hell out of Yomi, Chiyo-chan just trying to understand a high school world in a child’s body and generally when anyone upsets Ms. Yukari, all lead to the most hilarious moments. The comedy translates well and is laugh out loud funny.
If I had any complaints, they might be that some jokes do fall flat. And the show can very much be an aquired taste. And that might be my biggest recommendation, as well. I have to fish for something I don’t like about this series.
It is hard to explain why the show is so good without someone watching it. With a show like this it is best not to tell the joke, but to let someone see. It is so good that you hate to see it end. The ending goes without saying, they have to graduate and go to college, but it is sad because even with 26 episodes you never want it to end. I would recommend this show to ANYONE.
Note: the score for the story is only so low, b/c there isn't much of a story, more like situations. Its not a bad thing, it just makes the score kind of irrelevant.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 6, 2008
Fullmetal Alchemist (A+) – the ultimate in story telling, personal and epic at the same time. Rich, depressing, uplifting. Even the so-called “filler” episodes beat out most other main story arc episodes on other series. It also has the strongest opening scene of any anime.
The story is not really about one character, but two. The brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric have perpetuated the greatest of taboos and have paid dearly. Though both brothers had their distinct personalities and traits before their tragic accident, this moment transforms and traumatizes them forever. The hotheaded Edward is a great character, one who
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comes with a bit of a “Napoleon complex”, and acts like an adult. But in his greatest moments reminds you that he is still a child who misses his mother and feels terrible guilt for what has happened to his brother. The younger Alphonse is now merely a soul bound to a suit of armor, trying to live normally. He seems to be way too innocent and childlike at times even if he appears to be walking metal monster.
The supporting characters also have strong personalities and it appears everyone is connected and has some tragedy of their own. Two of my favorites are actually bad guys, the homunculi, Envy and Greed. Greed may personify his name completely, but someone how he becomes a sympathetic character that shows heart and (dare I say) qualities you find admirable in a person. Envy is the kind of character that is so heartless and powerful that he transcends his role. As a matter of fact, he and Major Hughes have one of the best scenes in the show. As Major Hughes becomes another transcendent and memorable character.
Episode by episode the plot is tightly woven and told better than any other story I’ve seen. Everything is well thought out and interconnected, the beginning, middle and end are all equally as important and there are no throw away episodes. The show flawlessly goes from pure horror to light-hearted fun, and back again. Even the silly episode dealing with Major Armstrong’s family and a haunted warehouse has some meaning to the overall plot.
The action in the show is also smart and exciting and varies greatly. We see moments of terror as a character try to escape serial killers. We see the fantastic action of alchemy against alchemy and also sword and gunplay. The action definitely shows off its shonen roots. And many of these fights become heart wrenching, always giving the life of a person, any person, its proper weight in the story. Some of my favorite battles are Edward versus Colonel Mustang, Edward versus Greed and Edward and Alphonse versus Sloth.
The deaths of people are never glossed over or taken lightly in this series and I think that that is the shows greatest message and legacy. There are MANY deaths in this show, major and minor characters alike, and there are many tragedies as many people foolishly or ignorantly meet their end at the cruel hands of a fate and malice. No matter what though, the show always finds time to ask what the price of life is.
The ending for the series certainly throws a curve ball at you as some nagging mysteries are finally revealed. In a way, the ending was satisfying even though everything wasn’t neatly wrapped up. But honestly, the real ending is the fantastic Fullmetal Alchemist movie, which may be one of the most satisfying anime ending you’ll ever see.
Edit: I know the 10's across the board may seem a bit "fanboyish", but I honestly and personally didn't find any flaws in the show to make me downgrade the scores. It is a perfect example of not only shonen, but what anime is general can do.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 6, 2008
Neon Genesis Evangelion (A+) – groundbreaking series, the entire show is classic with iconic images coming from everywhere. It is a smart, confusing, deep and polarizing series, with possibly the greatest ending in all of anime (for good or bad).
The characters are all distinct personalities, and have huge gaping flaws that they hide behind talent, duty and sealed lips. But many have the added of effect of being creepy (possibly because they hold onto so many secrets, personal or otherwise). Shinji is probably the original antihero in anime, not in the way Hellsing is antihero, but in being like a sad mirror
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image of most coming of age boy anime heroes.
Shinji Ikari is a coward, weak and wishy-washy, kind of like a screwed up Charlie Brown. He is someone who you have fun comparing to other characters in his role. He doesn’t seem to permanently develop and mature over time like Kamille in Zeta Gundam or Ayato in RahXephon. He is not a smooth talking, professional James Bond-esque adult like Roger Smith in Big O. And he’s definitely nothing like the super macho super robot heroes like Domon Kashu of G Gundam (hell, he piloted a robot called God Gundam). But you can see his effect on the genre after his appearance in Eva and you can see his origins in characters of the past. And when he did get a backbone… wow!
The plot is… well its hard to explain, which says a lot about the show. The first half reels you in to believe it’s a traditional robot of the week anime, except with the twist of fighting the Angels (or Apostles) of God. THE most memorable image for me in Eva and possibly in my time viewing anime is the first time I saw an Angel. Without knowing what to expect, it shakes you to the core.
And like the Angels, the plot is a shocker too, there are so many symbols and twists and red herrings that you start to fill in the blanks in your own way. And that is the beauty of Eva’s plot, it becomes a personal experience. Because so much is left to the imagination that you start build a story in your head that is completely different from what someone else might pull from it. Like the religion it uses so often to tell its story, Eva becomes open to interpretation. Which leads to the infamous ending.
Obviously a lot can be given away by talking about the ending, but I am only going to skim over the reactions to it… or them (I told you the plot was confusing). The last two episodes are shockers, more than likely downers and possibly a wall. Many people were confused by it, me included. But after a second viewing, the ending I originally thought was just confusing and sad became a happy ending. Like I said, a lot is left up to interpretation. And that is the beauty of Eva.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is in essence another boy becoming a man robot anime, but it is told in the most unique and engrossing way. Empathy, apathy, action, tension and terror come together to paint a chilling picture of a world on the brink and the people trying to live normal lives with that fact. With characters and a plot that have become legendary, iconic and almost mythic, it is no wonder that this show is my #1.
Note: I wrote this review long before I found MAL, so I apologize if I don't address all of the subjects pointed out for review. I hope the numeric scores will be enough.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 6, 2008
Destiny is a tale of two shows, the show it could have been versus whatever the hell the staff of the show presented it as. To get to the point, I’ll point out the shows main problems immediately. The show’s pacing, character development and plot I felt were all horrible and on top of that unoriginal.
Destiny started off better off than any Gundam series I’ve watched so far. While most series in Gundam canon usually start off slow and tedious. Destiny gave you some brief, but useful enough introductions. The age old practice of stealing Gundams right from under the
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enemies' noses was fine, I chalked that up to them paying homage or going with a tradition. And then you were thrown headlong into the action. Pacing was pretty good throughout the first half, while they developed this somewhat annoying formula of action, followed by character development episodes, the action was good enough to make you put up with the way stuff was spaced out. A particularly enjoyable part of the show was the interaction between Athrun and Shinn. Though whiny, generally ignorant and pretty arrogant, he showed signs of hope, realizing at times that Athrun’s advice and tutelage had helped him for the better.
In the second half of the series, the trend continued, but with far less interesting action. The Gundams became over powered and the later battles seemed inconsistent and unfair at times. Also, the change in focus about half way through meant that you had to sit through the same babbling that permeated the original SEED, but this time its just a rehash of their already stated opinions and can’t be counted as character development. Clip shows and flashbacks were also used EXCESSIVELY and killed pacing. The worst pacing came towards the end, as entire episodes seemed wasted on minor characters or minor developments and MORE flashbacks, only to have a very short, rushed feeling ending that seemed to have a lot of out of character moments, but that’s an issue for the next paragraph.
Destiny showed signs of good characters and good character development. Instead of getting a patchwork group of out of place soldiers and refugees, you get professional soldiers in their element, facing extreme challenges (except for Arthur, I don’t know how he became an XO). Durrandal started to become my favorite character that, even though he showed signs of being evil, was just a very smart, sharp character with a lot of charm and who made a lot of sense. Shinn though a professional soldier is whiny and arrogant. Captain Gladys seems like a character with logic and a good amount of insight into the world. Athrun shows up as a conflicted character, who ends up being a mentor to Shinn. And tries to show him what is wrong with his impulsive and arrogant attitude.
Unfortunately, the interesting characters of Destiny are replaced halfway through with the much less interesting characters of the original SEED. And then the previous cast gets a serious downgrade in on-screen time, skills and even intelligence. The characters from SEED seem like less than objective observers, until they start meddling and screw everyone over. The characters of Kira and Lacus show no change, nor room for it. Athrun changes, but only in the way a pendulum does. It takes him an entire series to come to the same realization he had in SEED, war is bad, no one should be killed and hatred will destroy the future. The characters come off as almost god-like, knowing all, looking down on the world and generally being untouchable, literally.
As for the new cast-away cast, once they are pushed to the side, you don’t know whether the director wants you to root for them or not. They go from saving the day, to be viewed as oppressors in the span of an episode. On top of that, their skills and intelligence seem to change as the episodes go along. In one episode, they are able to practically fight off the entire Orb military by themselves, later in the series they are unable to take down Orb even with the entire ZAFT military behind them and with Shinn and Rey using upgraded, super powerful Gundams. The Alliance was able to take down Orb in the original series even with Kira, Athrun and the Archangel present, yet ZAFT receives a brutal punch to the nose and retreats. This is also in contrast to when they fought the Alliance earlier at Heaven’s Base. With no less than 5 Destroy Gundams (mountainous Gundam death machines with more weapons and armor by itself than most militaries), they pretty easily take their objectives. Even earlier than that in the series, one Destroy Gundam was enough to hold off both Kira and Shinn by itself.
The worst case is the final battle, where everything comes to a head. The same ZAFT that pretty easily defeats the entire Alliance, and takes their super weapon for themselves, gets a resounding defeat by a pretty small Orb force in what has to be the worst Gundam ending ever. Their ace pilots are easily chopped up, the Minerva is defeated, not by the Archangel, but by a restored Mu La Flaga in his overpowered (Hyaku Shiki rip-off) mobile suit. And in the end, three major characters on the ZAFT side decide to cash it in and commit suicide, while two more lie on the surface of the moon, next to their destroyed mobile suits crying.
My final gripe is with the overall plot of the show. Sure it started off pretty simple, but it then threw a pretty nice twist at viewers, by dropping a massive celestial body (Junius Seven) on the Earth at the beginning arc of the show instead of during the last two episodes like most shows. Great! Then the plot goes into the basic war itself between the Alliance and Z.A.F.T. Once the Archangel starts screwing with things though, it becomes a slower more convuluted plot. And when it gets near the end, it just seems to become nonsensical and chaotic. It really isn’t that complicated and there aren’t many surprises.
If the point of the show was to show that repeating one’s mistakes was foolish and stupid, then this show proved that perfectly. Then didn’t just repeat the stakes of the original SEED, which was a good show in its own right, it doubled them. Great character and mecha designs and potential are wasted by the flawed plot and logic. And this show has left me disappointed to say the least.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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