- Last OnlineFeb 14, 8:31 PM
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- BirthdayFeb 21, 1968
- LocationSt. Louis, Missouri
- JoinedJul 29, 2010
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Aug 4, 2010
Strike Witches 2, like its predecessor, is my guilty pleasure. I feel a bit like a pre-pubescent girl when watching it (this from a 40-ish year old man). It has some deep flaws in the core, but it also has some redeeming qualities, which generally makes it watchable - if only for a specific interest group.
Starting with the Good: If you're into War Anime, or a fan of WWII-era aircraft and lore, you may have a strong attraction to this series. The aerial combat, aircraft, and weapons designs are very tasty to the eyes. The story, in general (as of episode 4, and in general
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all of the 1st season) is enjoyable and at times actually enrolling. The characters are well-developed, although it very much relies on the viewer knowing them from the 1st season.
The Mediocre: The music and voice-acting for this series is good, but not outstanding - "appropriate" is about the best I can say, although I can't say anything decidedly negative. Call it "On Par" with most good anime.
The Bad: The main characters - essentially all the female characters - are walking contradictions of themselves. They vary in age from 13 to 20, but you'd have a hard time convincing anyone of that from the art alone. The characters are drawn to appear generally younger than actual age, although some have - inappropriately mature parts, compared to the perceived body maturity otherwise. As far as the male character goes - sorry, "characters" - good luck telling them apart. They're not the focus, so they're pretty indistinct. When they appear at all.
The Ugly: This franchise is infamous for it's panty-shots. The plot and its technology/magic combo gives the girls a reason to bare their legs continuously - and this season they seem to have dropped any pretense of using that to justify the underpants, none of which seem to come past half-crack-height. This season seems to have a lot more censor-glare than was required of the first. This season also seems, again just after the first four episodes, to have migrated from "innocent young girl friendship grope" to something with a bit more squick behind it. I hope that this is a passing thing.
The Summary: The plot, the tech art and combat scenes, and some aspects of the characters are entertaining for a military buff who doesn't mind girls - fans of Sora No Woto, for example (a much better anime) might enjoy this. If you can get past the squick. And believe me, there's a fair bit of squick.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 30, 2010
Catblue: Dynomite is a textbook example of a great idea poorly implemented. It definitely needs more love, and I think (even though it's only 4 years old) a remake or "reboot" could turn this into a fantastic series or OVA/ONA.
Characters:
I'm tackling the characters first here, because they are the strongest feature of the show. These characters have been referred to as "stereotypes", but that's not really taking it far enough - they are actual Archetypes, pulled straight from a Quentin Tarantino movie. The hard-ass New York Italian lowlife; the funky 70's blacksploitation hero; the wise-cracking street-smart Lady with a Grudge (and, in this case, nekomimi).
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This trio and the supporting characters and villains could power through just about any story they were dumped into.
Story:
The storyline itself is well written, enough so that you want to keep watching the rest... except there isn't any "the rest". It very much feels like an episode in a larger story, although it stands well enough on its own that you don't feel abandoned like at the end of some anime (*cough* NGE *cough*). Yes, there are some serious inconsistencies, such as the entirely inappropriate Jennifer Lopez reference in what is obviously supposed to be an homage to the 70's mob scene.
Animation:
Things start to go bad now. This is a cell-shaded CG movie, and as is often the case, that means the backgrounds look grand - but the characters are iffy. The scenery, cars, buildings, etc are gorgeous. The character designs are gorgeous. But when they move - ugh. It looks like rotoscoping. The mouths are over-animated - in the attempt to make sure you *know* they're speaking English, maybe. The only time these characters actually let their lips meet is when they're absolutely silent.
Acting:
Ugh. This is really where this anime falls apart. The voice acting sounds like a cold table reading rather than a final audio track. I have to admit that the voice actors do manage to capture the essence of the characters, they just seriously sound like they're reading a script instead of acting their parts. Since this is an English-only piece, it could be that the Director (if Japanese) just couldn't tell if it was good or not.
Music:
To end the detailed breakdown on this series on a high note, the music is spot-on. Appropriate to the era, mixed well, fits with the action perfectly. Two big thumbs up.
Misc:
* I'm seeing some abuse of this movie for not having a Japanese audio track. I don't understand that at all. It has nothing to do with how good an anime this is. There are a whole lot of anime out there that don't have English dubs yet (and many that likely never will). Deal with it.
* I found this show via Crunchyroll, and as far as I can tell, they, ANN, and this are the only places that know of it. There is no wikipedia article, no IMDB entry. Not even a tvtropes entry. "Needs more love" indeed.
Conclusion:
The design behind this movie is brilliant. Scenery, character design and development, music, script, etc - nearly flawless. The execution, however, is a near utter failure. In the end, I want to watch more - but I want to see it better produced. The best indicator of how good any piece is, is this - would you recommend it? I have to give an unequivocal "yes" to this. I want more people to see it. I want to see more of it. And I desperately want to see it better cared for by its creators.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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