It's somewhat difficult to write a review about this series. The opening and ending themes are great, and the concept is pretty cool (though a bit unoriginal). Even the concept art and cover art for this series is fantastic. However, the series itself is somewhat deceiving of its shiny outer shell.
Bakuretsu Tenshi starts out well, introducing (who we think is) the main character, Kyohei, a culinary student hired to cook for a team of mercenaries, including Joe and Meg (the real main characters of our story). We think that's going to go somewhere but it doesn't. Neither does the pretty
...
animation and artwork that we get in the first few episodes. Around episode 3 things start to decline rapidly in the quality of the show.
The anime is full of inconsistencies- not only in the animation and artwork, but in the story and the characters as well (I'd say the plot is inconsistent, but there is no real overarching plot to begin with, so we'll just leave that matter out of it). At some points the characters' hair changes color, or their clothing randomly alters to provide for unnecessarily sexy bondage scenes (mostly involving Meg). By the end of the series you're only left with a handful of useful episodes that connect well to each other, and you wish you hadn't watched all the others in between. It took every fiber of my being to just keep going with the series.
For the most part, however, I'll admit it isn't absolutely horrible. The fight scenes are pretty decent, though short-lived in some areas. Most of the episodes consist of about 20 minutes of running around (or just walking) and heavy dialogue, leading up to a one-minute fight sequence.
The characters are, for the most part, bland, with no depth to them, and you often wonder what their motivations are (you never really get a straight answer to that question). Joe, the "main" main character, is intriguing at first. You want to love her for her sheer awesome conceptual design, but after a while you just end up wanting to punch her in the face.
Each episode's story (most of the episodes are self-contained) can be confusing and jumpy, but sometimes they'll hit on a good one. And don't even get me started on the cinematography. They break the 180 Rule (if you don't know what this means, just look it up) so many times it made my head reel. Often they focus on a character or an object that you think will have meaning later on, but never comes back into the mix, and you're left wondering what the heck happened to that one guy.
Another bad point is that they introduce a somewhat major character about halfway through the series, whom we are led to believe we don't have to care about, but she shows up in several of the other episodes after that. We still don't care about her, though, and she leaves quickly.
I will say this, though: the character designs, costume designs, and vehicle designs make up for the horrible and often cheesy writing, and the fight scenes, as I mentioned before, sometimes are good enough to make you want to watch the whole episode.
The series seems to want to be hentai, but just stops short enough to be rated PG-13 (it is definitely ecchi, however). There are moments of cheesy gore, though, but they are few and far between. There is also an unnecessary amount of flashbacks and recaps, and even a few episodes could be cut down to a 5-minute short. As a result, many episodes are tiring and forgettable. In the same way, some episodes drag on with too much information, while at other times you wonder if you missed something.
As with any anime, there's a lot of yelling and warped anatomy, and gravity-defying instances, but this isn't that much of a problem. For now, we'll just throw all physical laws are out the window (however, suspension of belief only goes so far for some people).
The whole series tries to build up to a 'big bang' ending, but fails on a few levels. It was a bit satisfying, though it did leave a few loose ends. By the end of the series, the main character switches over to Meg (this makes three main character switches now), whose new look and attitude makes you question why they didn't just cut the series in half and have a second season starting from the end of the first. I would much rather see an anime based on the new Meg than go through all that again.
All I can say is, if you're going to watch this, don't expect much out of it or try looking for a plot, meaning, or analysis, otherwise you won't enjoy it at all. If you have an education in art, animation, or any sort of entertainment, don't watch this series, because it will just disappoint you. If you do like watching ridiculously proportioned girls skipping around in precarious situations, then go right ahead, but again, don't look for it to make any sense whatsoever.
Oh, and one more thing. I simply can't take any series seriously when all the guns 'squeak' when you hold them.
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May 3, 2009
Bakuretsu Tenshi
(Anime)
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It's somewhat difficult to write a review about this series. The opening and ending themes are great, and the concept is pretty cool (though a bit unoriginal). Even the concept art and cover art for this series is fantastic. However, the series itself is somewhat deceiving of its shiny outer shell.
Bakuretsu Tenshi starts out well, introducing (who we think is) the main character, Kyohei, a culinary student hired to cook for a team of mercenaries, including Joe and Meg (the real main characters of our story). We think that's going to go somewhere but it doesn't. Neither does the pretty ... 
Oct 25, 2007
Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World
(Anime)
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Kino's Journey is Quite a Trip!
This summer has been and interesting one for me. After coming home from graduating from college, I discovered that my father purchased a membership with Blockbuster online. One look at the website was all I needed to make a new goal for myself: Watch as much new anime this summer as possible. And boy, did I do exactly that! One of the anime on my list that I'd been so hoping to watch was Kino's Journey, something I'd heard many rumors about, but known little of. This sadly little-popular series is truly a gem. Though it only runs for 13 episodes, Kino's Journey delves into some pretty ... |
