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This series is my introduction to the inspired mind of director Kunihiko Ikuhara who is well known for creating the popular fan favourite Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997)

I admittedly am yet to see Utena so apart from the mostly glowingly positive reviews for this series I had no expectations or reservations of what to expect

Now that all is said and done, after finishing Penguindrum I am left asking myself is this a show where style and intention surpasses execution or is this series something that was intentionally created to get you thinking more about its various themes / subtexts long after it’s completion

or does it actually ... accomplish ALL of these things exceptionally well

Hmm…..

Plot

Takakura Kanba and his twin brother Shouma live together with their younger sister Himari in a small, multi-colour painted house. However, their parents are missing and Himari has been sick for many years and is close to death’s door. Kanba and Shouma resolve to make Himari’s last days happy and live a playful day to day life.

One day while on a trip to a nearby aquarium Himari collapses and is rushed to hospital, where soon after she sadly passes away. However, in a strange twist of fate, a penguin-like hat purchased from the aquarium’s souvenir shop magically brings Himari back to life. But this hat is anything but charitable. The penguin hat has now given their beloved sister’s body a new host that gives the brothers a virtually perplexing and impossible task in exchange for keeping their sister alive.

Animation

Whoa….Brains Base, the animation studio responsible for such visual delights as Madoka Magica & Durarara have once again produced yet another gorgeous looking anime series.

Lots of words come to mind for this show in terms of animation, to name just a few. Colourful, Vibrant, dynamic, playful, surreal, fresh…the list goes on

The animation is undoubtedly the strongest part of this series for me. There is just so much going on and so many different styles blended so well together for different reasons it’s just really captivating to see something done so well and look so clean and fresh.

Character designs are nice, with an overall more slender look to them opposed to other shows.

Opening and ending themes are great, particularly the ending themes which look like gorgeous paintings fused with fluid animation.

Backgrounds and surroundings use different styles which make the anime rather playful, for example sometimes things can look exceptionally well detailed and colourful while at other times things can look intentionally cartoony and fun with background characters drawn as simple outlines or shapes.

There is also a very notable magical girl transformation sequence throughout this series which is fun, colourful, playful and even has some cool CG elements to it

I find the animation on a whole to be refreshingly beautiful and dynamic, making this series particularly memorable for me in that respect.

Sound

Overall I found the sound to be very good, in particular the background themes which set the tone really well in the given situation. OP & ED themes are very good and are beautifully sung. The voice acting in Jap sounded fine – at the time of this writing there is an English dub available which I am yet to hear but I look forward to and I’d say everything else regarding sound is adequate / fine.

Story

Ehh, this is where I problems arise for me.

In its entirety I think the story is good and there are good ideas here I just have a problem with the actual execution of it.

I understand that the direction of this series may have been to give more food for thought about certain topics / themes but for me this series went about this in a way which just made the overall enjoyment for me difficult.

The series starts off with the brothers mission to find the penguindrum, then the story seems to shift for almost half of the core series to another related character and her weird crush on a teacher and then finally for the last half we slowly get revelations told in continuous (and at times extremely annoying) exposition which in particular, totally derailed the flow of the story for me.

The ideals and thought provoking plots in here are actually very good but for me the execution was just too erratic and purposefully unorganized to make this show an anime that “goes against the grain” in all aspects

If you want to be different from the countless vanilla animes out there nowadays I’m cool with it but sometimes simplicity in storytelling makes things that much easier to enjoy BUT in saying that I know there are people who enjoy a more complicated (if not convoluted lol) way of storytelling and to this animes credit I don’t feel like it was pretentious or fake about anything. I just think it does things in a way you are either going to appreciate / study or ultimately get a bit frustrated with

So, in a nutshell I’d say I enjoyed the core story itself but would have preferred a more simplified execution of storytelling, there was just too much exposition littered throughout the series filling in the majority of the core plot which for me is not on


Characters

On the whole I found this series to have a very likeable and believable cast of characters. However yet again the implementation of the story brings up some inconstancies with them

Notably for me, the character development for a lot of the characters are erratic to non-existent, based on the fact that as the series progresses you find out (through later revelations) that from the very beginning most characters were not being their true selves which means in the blink of an eye (particularly in the last quarter of the series) characters personalities just change abruptly and you just have to accept it based on the new story revelations hence no actual character development just characters showing their “true face” so to speak. This is not a completely negative criticism to be honest just a different way to portray characters in a story which I have mixed feelings about

Saying that though, the cast of characters are very likeable and I actually found them to be realistic in their motivations and reasoning’s.

There is alot of playful banter and honest emotions conveyed through the characters which I have to praise, but again it’s hard to say the characters actually developed throughout the show – its better if I just say I enjoyed watching the characters interactions and observing how they dealt with the issues / plots that went on throughout the series run which was handled well enough.

Yeah so, suffice to say this show does things differently with its characters so admittedly its harder for me to identify clear negatives / positives about them but for what it’s worth they are all portrayed very well and convincingly enough so I can’t say anything was done badly at all there


Enjoyment

Overall I’d say I enjoyed it okay. I do kinda wish the story was implemented a bit more linearly to make the overall story experience more fluid but to be honest all the aesthetics made up for a lot of my frustration with the execution and kept me watching through to the end which was decent enough

Value

It’s wasn’t exactly a masterpiece for me but it is a pretty decent anime with a lot to like. Regarding all the subtext and things most people love about this show….well for me I need a clear story to draw me into those elements more. Call me a lazy simpleton if you wish but I wasn’t really blown away by all the noticeable subtext this show had to offer, like with any anime I mostly just want a great story with all the bells and whistles attached and I could identify this anime certainly had all the ingredients. It just wasn’t prepared in the way I would have preferred for me to give it a much higher rating, which is a shame

I’d say check it out if you want see something beautiful with an interesting story done differently from the countless other meh anime series out there

Planet Tyro Rating: High Watchable

Visual Version: http://bit.ly/YJL5ZB

planettyro.com

The Rurouni Kenshin TV series….ahh this was one of my earliest exposures to more longer running anime series…well, somewhat after completing DBZ of course

Ahhh yes I have very fond memories of this series and how it heightened my love for anime in general with it’s compelling storyline and well-crafted characterization.

Anyhow…to begin

After watching the original and highly acclaimed Trust & Betrayal OVA (A MUST WATCH BTW) I was actually somewhat surprised to find out the story of Kenshin Himura continued on as a TV series.

Storyline

This story is set many years after the events of the T&B OVA. The protagonist Kenshin Himura has been wondering Japan ... for many years as a non-violent wondering swordsman often referred to in this series a Rurouni hence the series Title: Rurouni Kenhin.

One day on his wonderings Kenshin comes across a training Dojo run by a young woman named Kaoru Kamiya. Kaoru is the sole instructor of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū fighting style developed by her late father, Kamiya Koshijirō who was killed during the previous Seinan War.

Soon after their meeting an incident occurs at the dojo in which a group of thugs and their leader who claims to be the legendary assassin “Battousai the Manslayer” threatens Kaoru and her training dojo.

Kenshin comes to Kaoru’s rescue and swiftly defeats all the thugs as well as their leader, revealing Kenshin himself to actually be the true Battousai. After this incident Kenshin realises he is growing tired from his ongoing wondering and admires the philosophy behind the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū fighting style so henceforth Kenshin decides to settle down to become Kaoru’s first lodger…thus, his life at the dojo begins.

Soon after, we're introduced to the other characters who become central to the series: Yahiko, a child pickpocket who becomes the first new student of the Kamiya Kasshin Style, under Kaoru's guidance; Sanosuke, a fighter-for-hire who allies himself with Kenshin after they fight, as Kenshin helps him understand that there is still work to be done to build Japan's future; Megumi, a doctor who is rescued by Kenshin and Sanosuke from the Oniwaban group and a whole plethora of other supporting characters introduced as the series progresses, many of whom are introduced early on, only to return later in the series to play a pivotal role in the overall story.

In general the tone of this TV series is strangely more upbeat than the previous T&B OVA. The story includes many moments of light-hearted humour sometimes (rarely tbh) ceryain situations border a slapstick level of comedy which can feel awkward if you are coming from the exceptionally darker toned OVA

However as the series story progresses we do encounter some of those more familiar darker themes / situations - it is just more mixed in with the now peaceful light-hearted-ness of this newer TV series…..which does ultimately make sense in regards to how the current society / era has changed over time

Now although the tone shift from OVA to TV series was a bit awkward to start off with as previously mentioned all in all I wasn’t particularly bothered with the light comedy / drama blend this series decided to combine.

The series goes through more than a few different story arcs that range in quality from good, very good, excellent and then finally ending on somewhat of a meh….which is ultimately the most disappointing thing aspect for me with the story - It did not feel consistent…..it felt kind of hit and miss for the most part with some story arcs just feeling out of place but then saying that nothing in this series various story arcs actually comes off as being particularly terrible…just mediocre at it’s worst

Overall there’s a lot to be seen within the many adventures Kenshin and crew participate in throughout this series. It’s just a shame the quality of the storyline seems to sway back and forth throughout the entire series run making it a bit more difficult to judge it in any singular fashion

Animation

Taking into consideration that the animation was done in 1996 and it was quite a long running series I think it still looks pretty decent / acceptable.....admittedly though it does show its age looking at it by today’s standards

For me the character designs can look a bit too cuteish most of the time but then it can suddenly change and become more aggressive looking and detailed when necessary….something I’m not really fond of – animation inconsistency.

Yep this series picks it’s moments to shine with it’s animation and I can only assume budgeting issues are to blame for the odd switches of consistency with the animation.

For the most part I’d say the action scenes are still pretty cool and upon revisiting some of the more epic battles I am still impressed with the action and attention to detail with the fighting scenes.

Finally, this series has some of my absolute favourite openings and closing themes which are also animated quite well…especially for it’s time.

Sound

Well, I originally watched the English subtitled version in Japanese and found everything to be just fine. Sadly when I eventually purchased the media blasters DVD releases I found a pretty shallow and annoying English dub that actually put a couple of my friends off this series altogether when I recommended it to them.

For me…the English dub is passable at best but if at all possible I would urge people to watch the Japanese language with English subs version for a better overall experience.

The overall soundtrack, opening and ending themes for this series were really good and I have nothing bad to say about them. Very well done and perfectly fit the tone of the series overall imo.

Characters

Ah…for me this is the series strongest point.

The characters in the show are very likeable on a whole but what gives this series that extra special edge for me with characters surprisingly enough is that I found most of the antagonists / villains to be the more interesting and well written in regards to their personal motivations, justifications and philosophies on life.

These “villains” were not all your everyday typical stock predictable archetypal characters. They actually explained themselves and had some interesting and thought provoking motivations behind their actions. Most of these characters had an interesting code of ethics and a strong belief in what they were doing…even if it was ultimately evil (lol).

Coming from the OVA’s story and background I found all the continued political and philosophical situation’s of this animes universe to be particularly thought provoking for my young mind upon my original viewing of this series and I appreciated a lot of the social and personal issues many people had to face throughout the series.

I know I’m making this series sound pretty visceral but that’s exactly what it was for me upon the first viewing and even now those characters dwell in my mind as still very well written characters.

Now, saying all that I will admit there are more than a few bad apples and lame side characters in this story but for a series of this length Its pretty much inevitable that is going to occur and I can forgive that as they do not hinder the overall story all that much

So in conclusion, I feel (for the most part) this series has a great cast of well written and memorable characters that help make the story that much more enjoyable

Enjoyment

On a whole I enjoyed this series a hell-of-alot upon first viewing and still appreciate a lot of the depth and thought provoking subject matter that was raised til this very day. As it stands now I still look forward to a time when I will sit back and re-watch the series…..i’m actually hoping for a reboot to trim the fat off some of the more weaker mini-stories / subplots that I feel were out of place or just plain filler for me

Sadly this TV series has a somewhat open ending imo…but luckily things are all wrapped up in a sequel set of OVA’s (which I found to be a perfect ending to the entire franchise)

Value

When this series is good it is REALLY REALLY good…..and when it’s not it still pretty watchable

This series undoubtedly shows it’s age in terms of animation and does have more than a few faults which can put people off it, but I’d say it certainly hits WAY more than it misses and if you combine the other related prequel and sequel OVA’s with this series and see it as one big story….(WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND) This part of Kenshin’s story does hold firm and add’s in an interesting counter-balance to the rest of the franchise

However, judging this TV series alone as a separate entity....i think it would come off as a somewhat interesting shounen samurai anime….but it may seem pretty mediocre to newcomers with no idea to the stories background



Lastly on a side note, more recently (circa 2012) studios are doing some rehash movies and other stuff to reinvigorate Interest in the franchise…which I do appreciate but to be blunt I feel a completely rebooted TV series (like the recently remade HxH series) with all the OVA’s combined in one go would be a better way to go to gain new interest…not just releasing a single live action / anime movie highlighting the best part of the series separately (cough Kyoto movies cough)

Yes I’d say a trimmed down ultimate 1 shot Kenshin series of possibly 52 episodes would be the best way to reinvigorate the franchise…A Rurouni Kenshin KAI (Done Right) if you will

Here’s hoping.

Planet Tyro rRating: Solid B

Planettyro.com

Visual Version: http://bit.ly/14IMnrD

P.S for all the diehard Kenshin fans out there check out uberhikari on youtube….he’s been doing some fantastic analysis on the Kenshin universe for a while now : http://bit.ly/OuoNDl

In all fairness I admit I have not actually read the original LM novel….however, before watching this anime take on LM I had already seen the 1998 movie adaptation which starred Liam Neeson (Taken) & Claire Danes (Romeo + Juliet) and it gives a general idea of the story.

AFTER watching this anime series I watched the 25th anniversary London play which has been confirmed to be 90% faithful to the original novel…so writing this review now I feel I have a good grasp on the material

I did really love that 1998 movie version to death from seeing it YEARS ago and it was actually ... the movie that got me into period-pieces.

Anyway, naturally being the anime lovin guy that I am I was more than excited to hear there was a 50+ episode anime adaption of Les Miserables.

However, after completion I’ve found this series didn’t turn out as perfectly as I imagined it could have and to be honest I put this down mostly to it’s actual toned-down implementation of the story.

Yes, sadly it is the softer approach to this somewhat grim story is what keeps me from holding this series in much higher regard than I actually do right now but anyhow…..on with the review for details


Animation

There are good things and bad things about the animation to be frank so let’s start with the positives.

The animation is very clean, clear, bright and colourful. Characters are drawn quite well and everything looks beautiful overall. Scenery is very clear and beautiful which is obviously in line with the scenery that beautiful France – tres bien.

Now the negatives. Well first off, although all the characters are animated well for the most part they look too cute-ish for the drama that is LES MISRABLES. A particular gripe for me in this series is Cosette and her mother Fantine being albeit* the ONLY blonde hair blue eyed characters IN THE ENTIRE SERIES!!! ….for real…come one now

This really bugged me because this was intentionally pointing out these two characters stand out more than anyone else in the series and I found this change (only in the anime I might add) very patronising. It really was like watching two characters with halos over their heads all the time and it just overstated the obvious point that these two characters are the “good people” and everyone else are the supposed bad people.

I understand very well that Japanese anime characters use hair colour and facial features to emphasize certain character types I just wish they avoided that trait with these two characters in this classic story.

Apart from that the character designs in general were very soft looking and gave a kind of Disney-esque feel to what is overall a very dark and depressing story.

So in a nutshell good aesthetically looking animation that did not quite fit the dark tone of the storyline itself in my humble opinion

Sound

Well there is no English dub for this (which is extremely surprising given it’s an adaptation of something so wildly popular) however the Japanese dub sounds very good. All character voice acting were good to my ears and the background themes were excellent.

It was quite disappointing to have the same Op & Ed for the entire 50+ episode run however, the ending theme song was an exceptionally beautiful track dedicated to Cosette’s mother


Characters

Again there are positives and Negatives. The positives are in this anime adaptation you get more or less the full cast of characters from the novel and they intertwine well with each other, which is actually not the case for the 1998 movie where some characters were left out of the story.

The negatives are some characters in this anime come off more one dimensional then they actually are in the Novel / Play and the biggest victim of this is the main character Cosette herself. In the beginning when she is young it makes sense she is mousey and quiet but after a while you expect her to expand even if it’s just a little bit more as she becomes an adult and she really does not. All through the series she is extremely timid and passive even when she eventually falls in love which is a very different experience for me since I have seen the movie and play which shows her character to have more of a caged bird waiting to be freed syndrome in comparison to the completely submissive yes daddy, whatever you say daddy persona she has in this series. She came off just too one dimensional and unrealistic to me which was a surprising disappointment in comparison to her character portrayal in other adaptations.

Then lastly there is Marius….my god this character is pretty unbearable in this adaptation. I’ won’t go into too much detail but again unlike the other adaptations I have seen, Marius in this series is such a wishy washy, love struck, indecisive…..TOOL I just could not bear to see his scenes in this series. Easily the worst character in this adaptation…I mean seriously for a good part of the series he can’t even get Cosette’s name right….he was a true eyesore throughout the entire series for me.

ALL the other characters in this series are actually very well written and I don’t have anything at all negative to say about them or their characterization in this series so to be fair the good certainly out-weighs the bad in this series regarding the characters

Storyline

The big difference with this anime adaptation of LM in comparison to all the other incarnations of LM is Jean Valjean is actually the secondary character not the primary one in this story, which is why this series is called a girl named Cosette.

We get to see the story of LM begin and end from mostly Cosette’s perspective and this is an interesting new look at the story which adds a new dimension not fully explored before.

My major problem with this storyline on a whole is it is more noticeably toned down in terms of the more serious elements that occur in the original story (Fantine’s prostitution for example) and this combined with the cutesy animation style as noted before takes away some of the intensity LM is well known for.

The extremities’ and dark elements is what LM is known for so it surprised me when I saw those elements were either diluted or taken out completely when they are actually what has made the original story so compelling over all these years.

Now saying all that, I will admit there are plenty of miserable elements still left in place which still stay faithful to the original story I just wish they kept the entire tone on the darker side of things in place instead of making it softer and cuter.

I would usually put story censoring / changes like this down to wanting to expand this story out to a larger demographic but then I have to ask myself is LM really a story for a younger audience.

Me thinks no.

So anyway back on the positives. The story of LM in this anime adaptation is actually weaved together really really well, with some major plot changes that actually make MORE sense that the original novel….yes folks I actually agreed with almost all the written changes in this adaptation and commend these alterations for making the series a bit more streamlined and somewhat tighter.

So yeah even given my few disappointments, this series OVERALL is a commendable and solid adaption of a fantastic and well written novel. In particular I found the ending to be really well done.

Enjoyment

It’s an enjoyable series. It does have a few hiccups and even some minor filler episodes (4 or 5) but overall I enjoyed the series. First timers may want to catch the live action 1998 movie for better enjoyment before watching this and possibly even the 25th anniversary London play on DVD.

Value

I think it’s a solid anime series. I do wish it was shorter..maybe 30 episodes instead of 50+ and that the tone actually matched that of the original novel but all in all they definitely got more things right than wrong with this series and for that I commend the creators and welcome more anime adaptations of classic literature

Planet Tyro Rating: Solid B

Visual Version: http://bit.ly/10lPSF1

planettyro.com

This anime is certainly up there as one of the weirdest yet intriguing anime series I have ever seen. In many ways this series showcases how mixing completely different themes and genres and even animation styles has given Japanese animation such a varied and unpredictable pallet.

Storyline

Our main character is a zany 13 year old orphan girl called Marin who lives in a small town and usually just goes about her day with her head in the clouds delivering newspapers. Suddenly and without warning Marin starts being chased out of nowhere by mechanical monsters. This incident leads her to come across a tiny capsule like bottle ... which contains a human weapon called Melan Blue who then protects her from said monsters but for some reason will not explain the current situation they are now involved in. Soon after this it is revealed the earth itself seems to be in peril due to a strange phenomenon involving a parallel world floating above the earth called...you guessed it Brigadoon.

Somehow all these events are connected to Marin….the question is how and more importantly why?

What I both liked and disliked about the story is, just like our main character Marin, we the viewers are totally kept in the dark about what the hell is actually going on with these continuous ongoing manic encounters and this can be intriguing to watch…….well, to a point

So while this mysterious story lingers on the character interactions actually start to fill the void and keep things interesting enough so that you don’t feel yourself getting agitated waiting to see what is going to happen next and more importantly why

The story has elements of drama, action, comedy and surprisingly even romance. Now mixing all these things together in one show has been done before but with Brigadoon it kinda feels like things go from one extreme to another…..and this is something I didn’t particularly enjoy very much.

For example one moment Karin could be daydreaming about something humorous and insignificant and then a moment later she would be getting the s*it beaten out of her….because that’s how life is? Erm….okay!?! lol

Alright, to be fair those extreme moments were actually genuine in formation, however they just flow together rather abruptly and the cruel moments in this series are pretty intense

Add to this we have the mix of other extremely zany characters (the brigadoon alien committee) with extremely serious ones (the gun swordsmen) and the series really does feel like a washing machine full of various opposing elements set to super spin and for this series it works out for the most part. Okay a better analogy would be it’s like having a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles of chopped onions all around it….not the best combination to have at the same time

Ultimately, the story IS quite interesting but still a little convoluted with continuous questions that will not get answered until the last eighth of the series. Elements of this story did however come around as a surprise and it even had it's share genuinely sad moments. Sadly I'm not sure I like the actual implementation of the story on a whole

To me, the actual setting and character interactions make this mixed up story standout more than anything else……intriguing….yes…..consistent……not really

Animation

The animation style in general looks quite colourful and pastely as almost everything drawn has a visible white streak around the edge giving it a unique shine affect….and I’m not sure how I feel about that as an art style in here

Character designs look very cutey and soft looking overall which plants a friendly atmosphere perception in this anime……which is intentionally misleading.

Action scenes and various disasters points were animated quite well however because of the childish animation style things that happen in this story tend to HIT you harder when they come out unexpectedly. The overall feeling from the animation style also reminded me of shadow star narutaru somewhat.

I did actually like the fact that this animation style puts your mind in a certain place while the storyline alters that original perception and explores different….well..darker things you would not have invisioned being in here. This weird mix of dark theme storyline and cute animation is the kind of thing you will only find in Japanese Animation…reminding me just how different Anime can be in comparison to other animation types

Sound

This is without a doubt the strongest point for this title. The English dub was excellent, I have to applaud Wendee Lee’s performance for playing both Marn & LoLo as well as Tony Oliver as Melan Blue - I can honestly say I felt the emotions these characters were carrying through the dialogue because of the great voice acting…..good stuff

Background themes where very smooth and classical reminding me of escaflowne. Op and Ed where cute and full of life...but the ending theme got very annoying at times mostly because some of the crueller episodes would end on a very dark note (take episode 24 as an example) and then the happy go lucky ending theme just did not make sense at these points. This I will admit is more of a personal nit-pic. Overall I will just say the sound, dialogue and English dub was very impressive for this series

Characters

I actually found the characters to truly be the heart and soul of this series. Your two main characters Marin and Melan both have a kind of blind innocence which is endearing and compelling to watch.

Although I am pretty sure I have seen this kind of character setup before (human and alien/monster/cyborg etc) in this case the partnership did not feel like just another variant of an overused formula. Melan Blue’s character in particular grew the most throughout the series and I found him a particularly likeable and admirable character

Supporting characters are also surprisingly realistic with their interactions and although the story can jump from zany comedy to dark drama in an instant at no time did I get annoyed with the characters motivations as they all seemed to be playing their parts very well making things more believable as the series progressed

I guess the only thing I really did not like about some characters was the fact that they would not explain their actual intentions for so long I just did not want to see them at all sometimes (Brigadoon aliens) but that fault I should put down more on the storyline itself as keeping things secret or hidden was also a major running theme in this series.

In conclusion I can honestly say that if it was not for the genuine-ness of the characters and their realistic reactions to the situations in this series I certainly would not have enjoyed this anime half as much as I did

Enjoyment

It's fair to say I enjoyed this series quite a bit and was consistently engaged to find out WHAT the hell was really going on and who was pulling all the strings. But as I said before, over time I soon became more interested with just watching the character interactions themselves and just hoping everything would turn out for the best for them

The thing I think that kept throwing me off at times with this series was the zaniness of the Brigadoon aliens and the sometimes radical shifts in tone which often made me wonder when I should take things seriously. Also there was the occasional yuri-ish vibe I got from another female character that was actually named “moe”. Well it’s not like I’m opposed to Yuri or anything it just came on a lil thick at times (Moe the Giant).

Value

This title as many others have said is hard to label as it mixes many genres with a cartoony animation style, but even so I can honestly say this series achieved a sense of originality in my eyes and once it was over I really did feel the impact of the relationship between the characters.

Unfortunately I still feel the actual implementation of the story is a bit all over the place and I believe that if it had dropped some of the more comedic-zanyness and stop throwing the emotional tone from one extreme to the other this series would actually be more consistent making it’s grade be of a much higher level.

However, regardless of all that this series is still a solid and original experience....some patience may be required though.

Planet Tyro Rating: Solid B

Visual Version: http://bit.ly/11oRWaH

planettyro.com

Although 4kids are infamous for the creative butchering of their licenced anime titles I’ve always known one day I would tackle the Sharman King series as I had just seen so much of it on and off on local TV throughout the years.

So to no great surprise to anybody the English dub 4KIDS version was as blundered as I expected it to be…..so I felt it was only proper for me to go and watch some of the original uncut Japanese episodes to make a fair assessment of the series in its intended form

So now, finally having watched both versions (for the most part) the ... Final verdict is in on Shaman King

And All in all, it is mediocre at best….and no I haven’t read the highly praised Manga version which is apparently a masterpiece…it’s the anime I’m commenting on here people…tha A n I m e keep that in mind :oP

Storyline

A Boy who can channel spirits of deceased warriors (a Shaman called Yoh) wants to win a fighting competition against other people / Shaman with similar abilities in the legendary Shaman Tournament to ultimately prevent the world from calamity by becoming the Shaman King (Tournament Winner)

And it’s pretty much the same for every other character in this series except the other characters want to win the shaman tournament for their own personal (and predictable) reasons….for example…to be all-powerful or to save some dying spieces or to rule the world or to become the greatest comedian in the world (yes seriously) yada yada yada

Okay……

So, for a 64 episode series things start off pretty well with the story by introducing the characters and their abilities, generating some angst between the characters and basically to laying down some typical story foundation as all shounen titles should………and for the first 12-15 episodes things go at a reasonably good pace.

Unfortunately upon the start of the actual Shaman tournament at around episode 15 the majority of this series (about 30 episodes) focuses on the characters and their hijinks trying to find the second and primary venue for the shaman tournament ……..which ends up taking an unreasonable amount of episodes….i think they call this filler o something…hmm

By the time the actual tournament resumes and the story gets back on track we are already at the 45 episode mark which is ridiculous imho

I am not totally sure if the pacing / filler issues have anything to do with the original mangaka taking an extended break when writing the adapted manga story….never-the-less it is poorly paced and because it’s so uneventful and filler-ish the story feels like it shouldn’t be taken seriously at all

Animation

The series has a more simplified design to it which automatically makes the show look somewhat childish. A lot of the characters have a puppet-body look to them with either rounded or squared off features – this is particularly noticeable with the limbs of the characters.

However, there are a lot of cool and zany looking characters like Rio which are more standout but for the most part I think things look very simplistic and clean……and for this kind of series it’s not really a bad thing, just not very dynamic.

The action scenes are mediocre looking as well with no particularly memorable fights but then again nothing was particularly god-awful either……it just looks sub-par

Ultimately I feel the animation suits the theme of the show and to be honest it is perfectly adequate….just not standout in any memorable way

Sound

Since I watched most of this in 4kids outstanding English dub version (urg)it should come to no surprise that I found most of the voice actors EXTREMELY ANNOYING.

Now, saying they were annoying in this case is not the same is saying they were terrible. My problem with the voice acting is 4Kids seem to think most of the voice actors needed to give over-the-top performances to keep the audience’s short attention span in check thus making the characters more memorable – well I can tell you the original Japanese do not play these parts as obnoxiously as the English counterparts and as such I had a tough time enjoying any part of the English dub……….this goes double time for the purposefully bad accents of some characters…truly unbearable yet strangely amusing too.

Lastly, the 4Kids dubbed opening theme is as korny as it gets…..take a read

“Look around you, Look beyond, You could make an unbreakable bond, The world around is not what it seems, Souls revealed beyond your wildest dreams, So many things I never could see, So many choices falling on me Could it be my destiny, To be shaman….SHARMAN KING!”

I’ll admit it was painfully catchy at times but still awfully lame

Characters

The characters are a bunch of thrown together odd-balls that ultimately play very well off each other in almost every episode.

To the shows credit the characters are somewhat likeable and comedic but other than that they are extremely predictable and pretty much one dimensional.

To be fair I think the actual antagonist Zeek and side character Anna (The megabitch) were the two standout characters for me in this series because Zeek acted more like a Seinen antagonist who thought things out a bit too well for a shounen series. Then Anna…..the megabitch….urg…….man…I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen such a bitchy character in an anime series.

Anna is pretty much a hyper-bitch in this series from beginning to end and I found it a little but out of place for this somewhat light-hearted series to have a bitchy character of this magnitude…..I do however hear her bitter personality is actually explained in detail in the Manga but that does me no good here as it seems only natural to see some character development for such an unforgiving character but….nope…no dice……as far as the anime is concerned she’s a bitch and you must deal with it and be happy…..no explanations necessary, thank you come again

Enjoyment

Did I enjoy this show…..err….somewhat

I think the one thing this series has in its favour is a good level of comedy between the various characters and that I will admit I did enjoy…..everything else about this show is extremely run-of-the-mill, mediocre and paint by numbers….nothing more

Value

Well the 4Kids version was just terrible. You could easily tell where crucial scenes where just skipped or horribly cut out because of the originals more violent content and as a result this series feels like a forced attempt to make something somewhat interesting into something more tame and child friendly, it’s like reading a newspaper that has big gaping columns missing plastered with smiley faces and bright colours to hide any material deemed inappropriate

When viewing the uncut episodes I can definitely say the series is a lot better and I can clearly see it has a lot more to offer, however, in the mist of the enormous and ever-growing shounen anime tidal wave of titles out there today…..even in its original form……Shaman King just does not stand out as anything special, well at least in regards to the anime version anyway

It’s just meh…..at best

Planet Tyro Rating: Low Vanilla

Visual version: http://bit.ly/16GILXf

planettyro.com

People who usually claim to have seen FOTNS for the most part are actually referring to the 1986 feature length animated movie of the same name and not this particular 109 episode TV series……..and when they become aware of this long running TV version of that movie people may very well assume this series just to be a dragged out gore fest version of the movie.

They may think to themselves how could you make that 109 episodes!?!

Well I’m here to tell you that…yeah….there is a little bit of truth in that line of thinking HOWEVER that movie only scratches the surface of the underlying story ... told in this compelling TV series

Animation

The animation is pretty lacklustre and korny looking for the most part. Things like duplicated character designs, identically overused death sequences and a somewhat dull colour palette are the standout weaknesses for the animation but saying all that one has to take into consideration the time it was made….the early 80’s…..where digital animation was non-existent and funding for a long running animated TV series meant quality cuts.

From what other anime TV series I have seen made in the same era I would say the animation is actually on par with a lot of 80’s anime and as such I can forgive it for its visual flaws and honestly speaking I personally don’t find the animation god-awful but rather comical and vintage-cheesy if you will accept that as a viable description (lol)

Sound

For the most part I think the sound is pretty well selected and appropriate across the board

Firstly voice acting is actually pretty good, even to this day…I mean most of the characters are either thugs or crazy gang leaders and as such they give a convincing and consistently entertaining performance.

The opening is a pretty unforgettable rock ballad which oozes with both despair and energy and the closing theme is just miserable…..which is very appropriate for the theme of this series

The short lived English dub version of this series which only covered about the first 36 episodes I believe changed things up with the sound overall, opting to use a more electro mixed with drum and base theme which came off sounding pretty hit and miss tbh however the closing theme for the English dub is actually pretty cool……….but still the whole drum and base idea sort of a weird choice….meh

Characters

Strongest point for this series is the actual characters and how they interact with each other.

Even though this series is littered with countless foot-soldier type enemies that are squatted in mass volumes throughout the series, the CORE characters who are central to the actual storyline are written quite well and do a good job convincing you of their motivations, whether it be for good or evil reasoning’s.

Also, the interaction with the CORE characters were also very compelling and enticing which makes it easier for you as a viewer to get invested and curious about their futures. Even though it is pretty clear to everybody who is going to win what battle I had no idea what supporting character would actually survive…..and everybody is up for the chopping block in this series…kids included!

To the shows credit, it even made me get a little bit emotional about some of the horrible things that were happening to the weaker class of people…..oh the inhumanity….someone kill these evil &%$%ers already! @_@

Enjoyment

This series IS very enjoyable because it ends up being more than what it appears to be on the surface and it actually hits a lot of different beats that you usually would not see in a single anime title such as ultra-violence, oppression, romance-drama, a hero story, martial arts story, post apocalyptic disaster themes, action comedy, compelling characters and last but not least a some korny 80’s animation.

Okay, actually that pretty much sounds like a number of shounen anime I’ve seen over the years…but hey that’s the crazy thing….even after all these years this show still feels original in it’s own right and is still very entertaining overall

Value

This series is vintage shounen at its best really. Something negative about this series I did forget to mention up to this point however is people who have already seen the feature movie may actually find this series to be quite a drag as it takes about one third of the series to catch up to where the movie’s story ended and as such many people may give up on this series prematurely…..well that and the animation is actually a lot worse than the actual movie’s was

Well if you liked the movie you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how much better this series is in terms of storytelling….it’s EPIC compared to the movie and as such you will be in for a pleasant surprise if you give this a chance.

Total newcomers to the franchise should give this show a chance after you see the movie….(yes I actually recommend you watch the movie first) it starts off slow but once that Shin arc is eventually over there is no more filler and a much more compelling story awaits you.

For me this series is an anime classic that deserves the place it actually has in pop-culture and anime / manga history…..if you have no idea what I’m talking about check it out for yourself….at the very least the crazy 80’s violence will give you some great laughs….well….i think it should anyway :0P

I also made a super blog about the entire FONS anime franchise if your interested: http://bit.ly/TBVFQv

Thanks for reading!

Planet Tyro Rating: Hall of Fame

FONS Franchise Blog: http://bit.ly/123faBT

planettyro.com

This short series was actually adapted from the Mayonaka no Tantei Night Walker PC game developed by company Tomboy and Arieroof…..yeah, I have never heard of those company’s either lol

Animation

Animated by Studio AIC in 1998, I have to say it's not bad for the time it was made and even now in 2012 its passable….nothing special.

The Demons and few battle scenes are pretty average and the same goes for the opening and closing sequences. Character designs have a bit of that clamp-ish girly style…….which should be expected somewhat for this sort of vampire series.

Sound

Speaking about the english dubbed version the strongest point for ... this title is the sound. The voice actors do a solid job, in particular we get to hear Richard Cansino (best known for playing Kenshin) lend his talents fo the main character Shido which actually fits very well.

The opening theme was alright, it has an odd sounding yet appropriate gloomy melody and the closing theme has a surprisingly cool and slightly upbeat rocky love theme.

Characters

The Characters in this show are somewhat predictable and stale with the odd episode that attempts to flesh them out a little bit more…to no real avail.

Our three main characters at the detective agency stick to their archetypes and its really only from the main protagonist that we get a decent understanding of…everybody else is undeveloped….even for this short series it could have been done a little better.

Again, characters not hateable but pretty much paint by numbers


Storyline

Hey, It’s a vampire with a good heart that runs a detective agency with his human friends…hmmm….where have I seen this idea before (cough ANGEL cough)….meh...jk..I know this was out wayy before ANGEL i'm jus teasing

Okay, well the majority of this story is an episodic monster of the week run of ordinary people either being taken advantage of by demons or bad people making deals with demons leading to a (mostly) unhappy ending…hmm that rings another bell (cough..Vampire Princess Miyu…cough).

Although the premise itself feels unoriginal it’s not a particularly boring show. The situations are somewhat interesting and there are actually a few episodes that I really did enjoy (e.g stuck in a well) but the problem is this series doesn’t establish a solid major plot so it feels like your just watching a random mystery of the episode series with no real foundation for anything.

The series also ends with more questions than answers and you just feel like you just saw chapter one of an unfinished vampire novel.

Enjoyment

It was moderately enjoyable and helped pass some time while I was ironing my clothes…and there were a few curveball episodes otherwise it was just kinda meh

Value

Not very high on value to be honest. If it was already on TV and you had nothing better to do it’s alright to watch I guess but really it’s just a vintage filler anime show with no standout traits

Planet Tyro Rating: Watchable

planettyro.com

Hmmm…let’s see….what do we have here, yet another anime romance / drama set in a high school setting…wow…this is sooo original (yawn)…well let’s watch a couple of episodes and see how crappy and un-original this is gonna be…..like all the rest of em..

After watching entire series...........

Damn….that was actually done really really well…..can’t believe I almost skipped this title..nice

Storyline

Toradora's story is a somewhat interesting romantic twist that revolves around two classmates Ryūji Takasu & Taiga Aisaka who are both (for different reasons) perceived as school delinquent’s.

After their initial and somewhat violent introduction the two soon find out that each of them have something very peculiar in ... common. They both have a crush on each other’s best friends. However both characters cannot make any headway with their loved ones by their own means so they decide to become each other “wingmen” so to speak to help each other hook up with their best-friends.

What follows after this is a well-executed series that deals with a lot of the now overdone and predictable anime school themes such as love triangles, comedic-misunderstandings and family problems.

but guess what folks……….THIS SHOW HAS DONE ALL OF THESE THINGS THE RIGHT WAY……unlike the countless other school anime series that I will not name right now…cuz I’m lazy…and the list is too long

Animation

The animation for this series is brought to us by J.C. Staff who seem to be quite experienced with animating shows from a similar vein e.g. Bakuman, Honey and Clover, Ai Yori Aoshi etc.

With this series I am particularly impressed across the board with the animation style, most notably with the fluidity of character movements. For some reason the smoothness of this show stands out more than anything else as things just seem very crisp, vibrant and slick.

Character designs for Ryūji & Taiga are different than your typical stock anime characters and as such feel more unique. Supporting characters on the other hand do look un-original in terms of conception but are still animated very well.

Scenery and building designs are very good and I noticed no lack in detail when inside characters homes……quite impressive.

Lastly, the opening sequences are very cool and I found them enjoyable……not so much for the closing sequences…..not very memorable there

Sound

Another wasted opportunity…..urg…..sorry……let me elaborate

I watched the Japanese Dub with English subs for this series and found no real fault in anything there. Voice actors where good (Particularly Taiga & Minori). BGM is pretty good….nuttin spectacular and the same goes for the opening / closing sequences.

The missed opportunity statement I made earlier is in regards to the fact that this series HAS actually been licenced to the US however it was picked up by NIS America…..with NO NGLISH DUB!

This is extremely disappointing and slightly vexing for me because this show has some excellent dialogue and character interaction that would make it a fantastic English Dub - sadly thanks to NIS this will probably not happen until they lose the contract to Funimation….which may not ever happen……but let us wish upon a star

I really can’t express my disappointment with there being no English Dub for this series where other trash shows continue to be dubbed….something I have been mentioning more and more recently in my reviews for better anime shows

Anyhow…….I digress


Characters

I could go on about the characters for a while but to cut things short i’d say the thing that makes this show a cut above the rest is the personalities and interactions of the characters.

Although this is mostly a romance themed show you don’t get melodramatic or completely predictable character archetypes here. What you do get are characters that act more like real people making believable decisions.

Our two main characters Ryūji & Taiga for example are not what you’d usually expect from your main male/female anime leads…for one, they both look extremely aggressive and don’t get on particularly well with each other however, they are written in such a way that the story makes you interested in their humorous plans so ultimately you end up getting to watch a unique friendship blossom between these two unlikely characters.

Supporting characters also start off seemingly predictable as well but over time they reveal layers of depth and introspect that doesn’t betray the actual storyline and ultimately all the characters end up relating and understanding each other better over the course of the series.

When it’s all said and done, to be honest the cast of characters do not feel all that unique in terms of storytelling but it’s their believable actions and likeable personalities that make them feel more genuine and interesting to watch compared to similar characters in other anime series.

Enjoyment

I really REALLY enjoyed this show. It did almost everything perfectly in my opinion. The comedy was good but not over the top. The drama was believable and not melodramatic. The romance was charming and fun to watch. The characters were interesting and interacted well with each other and the overall story was excellent with a satisfying ending. There really isn’t much more I could have wanted from this series.

Value

This show is great…PERIOD. It has the highest of high value and to date is the best romance-drama anime I’ve seen.

If I had to nit-pick (which I almost always do) I would say off the bat, the first couople of episodes are pretty tame and may make people think this series is nothing special…well stick with it and I guarantee you will be rewarded.

Also I felt things got a little abrupt near the end of the show with some of the supporting characters in terms of the ultimate climax but in retrospect I think even that makes sense as there were undertones to those particular revelations in earlier episodes….so yeah…hardly any faults at all actually :oP

Sadly, the only thing that could have made this show even better for me would be a solid English Dub so I could re-watch it again and again in my native language…..but you know what, saying that DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU. This is a top notch anime title that sets the bar a lot higher in the midst of all the other mediocre carbon copy anime rom-coms / rom-dramas.

It’s Greatness…Simple As

This is how it should be done…with some genuine thought and care.


Planet Tyro Rating: High First Class

Visual version: http://bit.ly/15hPoMq

planettyro.com

I absolutely love the Mind Game movie so when i heard this series was also done by Masaaki Yuasa i was extremely excited to check this out...all-in-all it was quite enjoyable

Storyline

The overall plot is pretty straightforward in hindsight but starts out somewhat confusing

Each episode canters around our main character Watashi, a university student who is always agonising about how he has wasted the last couple years of his college life on his already chosen club activity.

Looking back on his entrance to university, Watashi declares he could have achieved the rosey coloured college experience full of love, happiness and pure fulfilment that many other people seem ... to be having all around him……if only he had made a different choice back at the beginning of college maybe he coulda had that rosey coloured experience….….if only……………if only

Well, unbeknownst to Watashi some unknown force grants him his desire as at the end of every episode time is reversed and Watashi relives the start of his college life where he proceeds to take a different club activity from the previous one which results in a completely different college experience for our awkward protagonist

Alas, whether he joins the film club, tennis club or even the cycling club we soon see that through the following years Watashi’s choices end up leaving him gloriously unfulfilled and utterly disappointed…..and we the viewer’s get to watch the hilarious cycle replay itself out again and again in many different yet interesting scenarios.

Throughout Watashi’s college misadventures we will meet a slew of interesting characters, witness the highs and lows of his strange college life and ultimately be faced with the overwhelmingly elusive question Watashi cannot seem to find an answer to

Where can he find his true happiness in his tatami shaped world?

Animation

Madhouse...wow…you outdid yourself with this one

The animation uses a combination of simplicity in terms of character design and meshes it with vibrant and dazzling colours and shapes which give the animation a particularly likeable charm.

As the series goes on the animation also begins to meld with real images and even some obscured 3D imagery to bring a kind of trippy experience that reminds me more of the style Studio 4oC uses.

Overall, the weird and unique animation style is just the perfect fit for this offbeat comedy / drama and I personally found it to be a creative breath of fresh air in the midst of what I usually see in your typical anime series. I luuuved it!

Sound

Firstly, the Music is great. Opening theme is pretty charming and upbeat…and the closing theme is just fucking beautiful to listen to and really fits the mood of the show.

Now…an issue many people have with this show is the dialogue ….it can be fast…extremely fast in fact..which to non-Japanese speaking viewers can be a huge turn off as our main character Watashi goes into motor mouth monologues in almost every episode which results in HYPER FAST English subtitles that require pausing at times. This was admittedly a minor issue for me as well since Watashi spouts a lot of witty and comical information very fast….but to be honest I could see it was part of his charm and awkward personality to talk that way and eventually I found I got used to it.

Other than that I really enjoyed the other voice actors and I would ABOSOLUTELY LOVE an English dub of this show…which should have already happened since Funimation have already licensed this series but just have not dubbed it yet for some odd reason….a serious wtf there tbh.

Characters

Characters in this show are very likeable and three dimensional. As the series progresses you get to understand more and more about the supporting characters and as such they grow on you more and more and I certainly appreciated that.

Watashi himself…is kind of the loveable nerd dumbass

He is that kind of Woody Allen type that is smart in some ways but is utterly naive and pessimistic in others which does make the show that much more comical but can be irritating in some other situations he gets himself into.

By the end of the series you will come to realise most of the characters do not tend to be the predictable archetypes they seemed to be in the beginning and I found that to be an extremely pleasant surprise.

And on a side note it was bloodly hilarious to see Watashi constantly arguing with his mental “Johnny” who looks creepily similar to a particularly well known Walt Disney character lol

Enjoyment

Once again the overwhelming hype of this show is what initially drew me towards it and I have to admit at first it was a little bit of a chore to watch as things were a bit all over the place at the start but as time went on and I started to watch the series more slowly…even re-watching one or two episodes…it really grew on me and I can see why many people are drawn to this off beat and uniquely animated time twisted comedy drama.

Value

Value for this show is very high for me. I would love to watch this again in a good English dub and pick up each and every joke while enjoying the crazy animation style because tbh I let a couple of things go over my head as this show does move quite fast in terms of dialogue.

It’s nice to see something totally different in anime every once in a while and this show is not that long (11 episodes) so I’d say check it out, however i would be lying if I said I’d thought this show is for everyone…it’s too offbeat for me to say it has a broad appeal that almost anyone could enjoy

I think if you watch 3 episodes you’ll know if you’d like it or not….for me I’d say it was pretty good in Japanese but would be even better with an English dub….a quality English dub…by the guys who already have the US distribution rights

Make it happen Funimation….Make it happen damn you!

Planet Tyro Rating: Solid B

Visual Version: http://bit.ly/19h1xFr

planettyro.com

This is one of the most acclaimed anime series released in the last decade and I’ve been looking forward to watching it for a LONG time so let’s dive right in and see how it holds up

Storyline

Set in the year 2026, Dennou Coil focuses on a group of young children who use a massively popular new type of technology “computer glasses” that mixes the many technologies but manly the internet with augmented reality to create an intriguing and efficient new way of life.

Seemingly playful at first, the series delves into the various and more serious aspects of the “viewing glasses technology” which leads to ... some interesting questions about friendship, reality, addiction, disassociation and even urban legend.

Oh and let’s not forget a possible murder mystery.

Animation

Done by the overly popular Madhouse in 2007. The character designs look a bit simple yet strangely detailed in terms of motion, which give characters a very realistic look to them.

The CG of the actual augmented reality was beautifully and cleanly animated. Things flowed together seamlessly with the glasses technology and many of the action oriented scenes where great to watch.

Backgrounds and scenery where also very detailed and looked great overall, the animation’s still looking very good even now in 2012!

Sound

Not all that memorable. The opening / closing music was quite mellow and nice. Voice acting sounded fine and most of the sound effects felt like the right choices and suited their given purpose.

Nothing standout but overall decent sound.

Characters

About 90% of the characters are under 11 years old and as such I wasn’t expecting fireworks or anything but to be honest the cast was surprisingly likeable. I mean, for kid characters they were not all that annoying and I found most of their interactions to be quite charming.

If I had to nit-pik the main character Yasako was a little annoying for me actually. As she was such a gentle and mousey type character, even in the more dramatic moments I just wanted her to step up a lil bit and that rarely happened.

The few adults that are in the show are also quite likeable and cunning at the same time.

Character development in this show is good but the slow progression of the actual story made things seem stagnant at times…..but when push comes to shove and all is said and done the characters all work well together

Progression Problems

Now my major gripe with this show is the way the story progresses. I mean after reading other reviews I had an idea things would start out slow but DAMNN this was a bit too much for even a seasoned power watcher like myself. I mean starting this show, up until episode 14 you would think this is just a sci-fi slice of life children’s anime with some noteworthy undertones.

I mean the first 13 episodes I was basically watching two groups of kids collecting databugs and trying to out-do each other in an extremely childish way. Now I know a lot of people will say “they were setting up the premise and giving you information needed for later” Yes I understand that but honestly there’s a limit to how long you can drag things on for before you start asking yourself “is something substantial actually going to happen here” and from looking at other peoples reviews it seems like people where just so caught up in the visual marvel and technological detail they were able to overlook half this show just being about…..well…..childish fluff.

Well sorry for a 26 episode series…..that’s a big fat X in my book….regardless if things pick up later……and I’m sure for that reason alone fans of this show will disagree with my review…..well that’s fine with me…I’m just calling it how I see it.

Anyhow......

So after episode 13+ I really felt this show started to hit its stride and I finally got to see why this show has such high praise…..i just think it could have done the same way with fewer episodes of childish antics.

Enjoyment

I did enjoy this show after everything was said and done but tbh if I didn’t already know beforehand things would get better after halfway I would have definitely dropped this series because although the premise is very cool, I have seen similar things such as .hack and GITS and the story wasn’t exactly engrossing to me, more creative and yes at times even a little bit captivating.

Oh and the ending was a little convoluted in terms of how some characters ending up knowing each other and or being somewhat related in the past…but due to forgotten memories or people keeping secrets..certain lines between characters could not be drawn until the super emotional climax…..really?…..well alrightee then

Value

It’s a decent show that imo would be better cut down as a 13 episode series. It has a good mix of light-hearted playfulness with a lot of interesting social & techonological questions wrapped in a dark mysterious undertone.

However I was not as completely blown away by it as may other s out there seem to have been.

An English dub of this would be very nice…don’t know why it’ hasn’t happened yet.

Planet Tyro Rating: Watchable

Visual Version: http://bit.ly/13PcTNf

Planettyro.com