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“If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

Perhaps Nietzsche had something to say about this show as the longer I watches it, the more I’m consumed by its captivating landscapes and eldritch horror found within its depth.

[Contains Minor Spoilers]

Located on the island of Ōsu where its single defining feature is an one kilometer wide hole, that is speculated to be over twenty kilometers deep, Made in Abyss follows the pair of Riko and Reg as they progress on their one-way journey to the very bottom. The biggest strength is its immersion that Made in Abyss submerges its viewers with ... by crafting an entire society that has every facet of it revolve around the mythos of the Abyss. Everything from the hierarchy of the cave raiders, the harsh reality of the orphans left behind, and the general nihilistic attitude towards the Abyss is expertly encapsulated by visual cues like the color of the whistles awarded to each cave raider, the town’s architecture or the rituals that are reverently performed in respect to the giant hole in the ground.

Whereas other fantasy shows, that feature a singular towering dungeon, has its characters ascending and conquering its levels, Made in Abyss goes the opposite direction with its descent into the unknown, the unrelinquishing power of the Abyss to dominate all those who enter into its domain. In addition to the nightmarish creatures found below is the presence of a curse that exponentially worsen when a diver attempts to go back to the surface which depends on how deep they are. In effect, if one wants to reach the bottom of the Abyss, they can never return to the town of Osu. This isn’t a cheap gimmick for it pushes our characters past the point of no return and pays off in spades in some truly heart-wrenching moments later down the road. While the main plot-line of two characters going to lowest layer may seem simple but the way that is meshed together with interesting characters, danger and the prevailing ambience of mystery is what make this show so special.

Moving away from contemporary anime character designs, Made in Abyss characters have a very cute style of rounded faces wouldn’t be out of place on a children morning show. Given the utter ruthlessness of the Abyss, it presents an odd juxtaposition to have these two polar opposite meld together and only adds to the distinct vibe of the show. Reg, being a robot originating from the Abyss, remains an enigma due to his memory loss but still acts like like a child due to his programming while Riko is relentless on fulfilling her desire to go to the bottom of the Abyss. Individually, they are not the most compelling characters but it is their inseparable bond that is the real draw and it only grows stronger, the deeper they go. For while Reg is powerful with his integrated firepower and grappling hands, the knowledge and drive that Riko brings to the table forms a symbiosis relationship that neither is going to reach the bottom without one another. While Riko does have the maturity of a twelve-year-old girl at the end of the day, she is quite believable when view within the context of a society that trains its children to excavate for ancient artifacts kilometers below the surface in a hostile environment full of carnivorous monsters. I don’t want to spoil the rest of the cast but they range from childhood love to suffering personified to being unsettling and menacing in their pursuit of experimental research.

Animated by Kinema Citrus, known their work on Black Bullet, Barakamon and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, this is probably the studio’s best visual work to date. The real star is the how the Abyss is shown in both its vibrant and foreboding nature that shares many parallels to the many critically acclaimed works by Studio Ghibli. It comes as no surprise that the show’s art director of Osamu Masuyama is actually a former background artist from Studio Ghibli. Under his direction, there is a real sense of verticality and expansiveness that stretches to the void. Furthermore, complementing the gorgeous background art is the soundtrack composed by Australian-born Kevin Penkin where he uses an orchestral ensemble supplemented by electronic effects to give the abyss its sound. However, as good as his standard tracks are, the insert songs seems to be the popular with the audience with its hip-hop influence and haunting vocals.

If I had one complaint about Made in Abyss, it would be that the show doesn’t offer significant challenges to its two main characters until the last third of its run-time. All the elements are there in the background with nature of the curse, the ferocity of the creatures that inhabit the abyss and the adversarial geography of its individual layers but they are fully realized towards the conclusion. The fault doesn’t lie with how the anime was produced but rather the plot progression found within source material of the manga. I have a feeling that the production staff was very well aware of this issue and did everything its could within the constraints of a one-cour show with a slightly above-average run-time of thirteen episodes along with a double-length finale. In the end, they did an admirable job of pacing out the plot without rushing its story or creating an original shoddy conclusion.

It is so refreshing to have a fantasy adventure that stands alone on the merits of its world building, atmosphere and journey without dipping into the more unsavory aspects found within other shows of its genre. For a show to leave its audience only wanting to venture deeper into Abyss’s hauntingly beautiful and terrifying mysteries is indeed a very commendable accomplishment.

It’s not very often that an anime comes out that has its main protagonist be the villain and does it so well. Overlord is a popular show that explores this idea and Youjo Senki would be a highly recommended for those who enjoy certain aspects of it. It follows Tanya Degurechaff, a Japanese salaryman reincarnated into a female child soldier, in a reality where magic coexists alongside an alternate timeline of World War One. The twist is that she fights for Germanian Empire and behaves far differently than a stereotypical heroine.

Characters

Youjo Senki is defined by the main female lead of Tanya as she ascends ... the ranks of the Imperial Army though bloodshed and maneuvering within its bureaucracy. What makes her character and story so interesting is that she provides a fascinating case study on villainy. Far from the cliche ambitions of world domination, fame or riches, her ultimate objective is to live out a comfortable life by following the rules to an dogmatic degree and being competent. It is a mundane goal, but it does ground her character in becoming relatable.

Being a sociopathic salaryman in her former life, Tanya runs afoul of God due to her lack of empathy and atheism, which then causes her to be reborn into a grim world in order to unlock her faith in a higher power. The crux of the series is for Tanya to physically survive the ever expanding conflict that will become the First World War in this alternate timeline challenge for Tanya become twofold as she is to survive in this new world while not succumbing to the spiritual whims of God’s conversion efforts.

However, Tanya does have access to quite a bit of power in the form of retaining full knowledge of her previous life, extremely high magical potential, ruthless work ethic and state of the art equipment. Despite ending up in the body of a ten year old blonde girl, there is very little pandering to when it comes to her loli physicality, and those who underestimate her quickly find themselves outclassed and outmaneuvered. Tanya is completely ruthless and brutal when it comes to waging warfare as her tactics are to swiftly end the fight with clever tactics and overwhelming firepower. Off the battlefield and with the knowledge of World War One, she can sweet talk her way to the command staff with groundbreaking military doctrine and instill a sense of reverence in her troops.

Indeed, the greatest downfall to her is the incompatibility of her final goals, ideology and actions within the military environment resulting in the various schemes that she cooks up to ensure a comfortable position ends up with the opposite effect. Her adherence to rules, regulations and orders does not offer any alternate route in spite of Tanya’s being the villain in her own story. While the civilian business world can be far more accommodating to the desires of talented individuals, the military values competency by rewarding those specific individuals like Tanya, with greater responsibility. There was no way that the Imperial Army was letting a brilliant tactician and ace mage with unmatched strength or leadership ability, be sidelined in the greatest war to end all war. As smart and cunning as Tanya is, for her to not realize that simple face seems like an oversight to me.

The other characters of the show don’t even come close to holding a candle to the flamethrower that is Tanya, but that doesn’t mean that they are poorly designed or constructed. Her subordinate, Viktoriya Serebryakova, a female conscripted into the German Empire Army, acts as the foil to Tanya’s cold efficiency and utilitarian worldview. With nationalistic ideals, a strong sense of duty, concerns about her comrades and a belief in a higher power, she is far more akin to your standard anime female heroine. It is this juxtaposition of their attitudes that makes their interactions so peculiar as Viktoriya is slowly smitten by her superior officer.

Finally, there is Being X himself, a singular god-like entity as opposed to the myriad of deities in the source material. Studio Nut took liberties with the light novel and made him a far more sinister character by setting up Tanya in situations where she has no choice but to praise his name in exchange for the usage of the very powerful Type-95 magical orb. Appearing through proxies at certains encounter, his involvement in the plot goes to the point of altering the source material and cumlnate in an explosive climax which gives Tanya a real challenge and face to fight against.

Animation

From the limited information available, Youjo Senki is the first main animation production from Studio Nut, a newfound company is made up of former Studio Madhouse employees. There is obviously some talent behind this anime production as the action sequences looks quite good and convey a sense of ferociousness as Tanya effortlessly butchers her way through any and all enemies standing between her and a peaceful life. The backgrounds also looks great with the landscape and skybox being highly detailed while having this drab color palette that fits Youjo Senki’s interpretation of World War One’s bleak tone. My only real complaint is the use of some rather dodgy CGI that clashes against the 2D’s frame rate and fidelity. Others may take up issue with the the character design differences between the source material and the anime as Tanya and Viktoriya looks leagues apart when compared to their Soujo-like appearance in the manga and light novel. Personally, I think that sociopathic nature of Tanya and the wide-eyed look of the optimistic and duty-bound Viktoriya meshes well with their respective trollish and dopey animated appearances.

Conclusion

Youjo Senki is a textbook case on exactly how anime adaptions should done by having the strong source material as its base, and layering it with amazing animations, an epic soundtrack and a fitting bleak tone. The World War One setting is worth the admission alone as portrayal of the various weapons and military doctrine is spot on. Tanya, being one of the most understandable psychopathic loli that anime has to offer, only adds to its uniqueness and enjoyment.

After an agonizing eight months after its debut in Japanese theaters, the Blu-Rays and subs for Psycho-Pass: The Movie are finally released and I can move pass that abomination of that second season. I'm very happy to say that the movie has met my expectations and is a fantastic addition to the franchise.

Picking up after six months of the conclusion of the Psycho-Pass 2, a group of foreigners invade Japan with the intentions of committing an terrorist attack against the Sybil System. From that point on, Akane is sent off to a war-ravaged country, where the Sybil system is trialed, in order to find Kougami, ... who has some sort of connection to them. As this is a movie with a limited running time, the amount of action has been greatly increased to compensate the few new ideas that the movie brings to the table. This is where the second season has its greatest connection to the movie as the assault dominator and the bipedal mini-gun trotting killer robots are used to light up the screen with tons of bullets. Fights that go beyond the scale of the two seasons frequently occur with grandiose explosions and it makes up for whatever philosophical depth the movie may have lost in transition to the big screen.

Story

Building off of the themes from the two previous seasons, the movie expands its horizons by exporting the Sybil System into a country that is already embroiled in a civil war and violence is very much a way of life. The first season focused on judging the individual while the second season was about some nonsensical thing about collective identity and the Sybil system having to judge itself which then leads on into current situation within the movie.

Gen Urobuchi, as the primary writer, does a good job in keeping its focus on the new ways that the Sybil system is adapting itself to an outside world and its various implications. I really did like the message that movie gave off in the end as it is up to actual people, not systems, to decides whether to have freedom or security. Although the conclusion was a bit abrupt and had little impact on the primary cast as the all the important characters basically return back to the status quo, I felt that the cat was out of the box and was an appropriate setup for some major conflicts in future continuation of the Psycho-Pass series. Having a Sybil System that casts its net across the globe is something that is truly frightening to comprehend.

Characters

When it comes to characters, Psycho-Pass: The Movie has its sights on who made the series great by focusing squarely on Akane, Kougami and the Sybil System. Akane, having come so far from being a greenhorn inspector with native ideas about justice, continues to be the star of the series. Sporting a bulletproof vest and even carrying a 9mm pistol, she is takes a page from Kougami playbook in building herself up to be deadly without resorting to the technical marvel of the dominator. Far away from hyper-advanced Tokyo metropolis, it was immensely satisfying to see Akane be outside of her element and dealing with the brutal reality that most of the world faces.

Kougami remains the badass that he always is so it is like meeting up with an old friend that you haven't seen in a while and having both him and Akane together again is living up to a large part of what Psycho-Pass is. Ignoring Kamui of the second season, Makishima Shougo is back once again even though his physical body has a bullet hole in the middle of his head. A figment of Kougami's psyche, he is relentless in arguing his point that he and Kougami are of the same nature and that both of them will arrive at the same point.

Sadly, the real antagonists are little more than two-bit thugs armed with some serious firepower and are even weaker than Kamui in the previous season. They do have some fancy toys in their procession like giant-walking spider tanks, jetpacks and armored bio-suits but I don't think the movie could have crammed developmental time for the villains especially when there is so much awesomeness going with the main cast and gunfire tearing up the landscape . As a result, the supporting characters don't receive a lot of screen time and they don't show for the majority of the movie. Interestingly enough, Mika Shimotsuki is far more tolerable as a character even though there are more than enough hints of growing tension between the her and Akane. Knowing the full truth behind the Sybil System, she is far more ruthless and ideological harden than her former self, who was fumbled around in the dark while annoying the audience. For future installments, I can see this rivalry exploding when the stakes become even higher in a world that craves the promises of the Sybil System.

Animation

Production I.G. is in charged with once again with animating the entire movie and they do not disappoint. Unlike the work of Tatsunoko Productions, which clearly was not a first-rate studio and had some serious production issues throughout the second season, everything is skillfully animated and looks gorgeous. My only gripe with the visuals is the rather bland textures on some of the 3DCGI models like the Honda CRV in Akane's opening scene.

Music/Sound

Ling Tosite Sigure gives a wonderful opening titled "Who What Who What" that feels like a natural continuation of the second season opening and there is a spiffier version of the Psycho-Pass main theme.

There was one thing that really irks me during the movie and that was amount of Engrish being thrown around. The occasional mangled English phrase or sentence spoken by native Japanese voice actors is something that can usually be overlooked but hearing entire blocks of philosophical statements being spoken like that is more than cringe-worthy. Overall, the audio aspects are what you expect of a high budget anime movie but the Engrish is a black mark against an polished entertainment product.

Conclusion

Psycho-Pass is one of my favorite series in all of anime with its distinct lack of moe, cyberpunk sci-fi setting, thought-provoking mature subject matter and some really great characters, both protagonists and antagonists. The movie only affirms my love for the series with its lovely visual, bold new setting and some unsettling plans that Sybil System has as it go beyond its native Japanese borders. If you are a fan of Psycho-Pass, then there is absolutely no excuse in not watching this movie and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this show for those who are old or new fans of anime.

8.5/10

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, by all accounts, should have been a completely forgettable and mediocre show having the pretense of being a teaser anime for Cygames and their mobile card game. The source material has the plot of a piece of cardboard and is little more than a collection of conceptual artwork. With all those things in mind, Studio MAPPA rises to the challenge and completely shatters my non-existent expectations as they set the standard for a promotional show.

Taking place within a fantasy setting where the combined efforts of mankind, gods and demons have successfully sealed away the world-destroying Bahamut, the world of ... Mistarcia enters into an era of peace. To insure that Bahamut would be forever encaged in its prison, the seal's key was split into two pieces and given to the gods and demons respectively. Two thousand years, a women named Amira manages to steal the gods' half of the key and that where the show chooses to kick off its epic adventure. Caught up in Amira's quest to reach the land of Helhelm are two bounty hunters with clashing sets of personalities and values.

The plot is simple enough and easy to follow but Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis's strength lies in its brilliant execution and ever-escalating set pieces. Human, monsters, gods and demons of all different shapes and sizes come in for a battle royale that never fails to disappoint because the action is paced to be fast and furious which leaves little room for exposition. This actually works in the show's favor because it let the viewer's knowledge of other fantasy shows fill in the gaps instead of piling on explanations that would only get in the way. Fights takes place in varying degrees of captivating environments as the show overwhelm the viewers with its extravaganza displays. It does fall victim to losing momentum towards the middle portion as a dreaded recap episode shows up and the political maneuvering is less interesting than the hordes of monsters and soldiers duking it out with each other. Fortunately enough, it does manage to pick itself up to throws everything and everyone into speculate of the grand finale.

Characters

Having nothing but character illustrations as their starting point, the production staff MAPPA have crafted some very lovable characters that are all distinct in their attributes and eccentric personalities. It's not all about the action as the main characters are given fleshed out
backstorys and motivations rather than being Amria is actually a very strong demonic melee fighter capable of tearing apart much larger monsters with ease but acts very much like a child in spite of her terrifying power and outward appearance. She is quite endearing and the focal point of which the show drives itself.

Smitten by her looks and misguide notions, Kaisar Lidford is one the two bounty hunters accompanying Amria on her quest to reunite with her mother. A former knight that was disgraced, he still retains his code of honor in every fiber of his being and that extends to his fighting style, hair, and upkeep of his promises. He was overly the knight-in-shining-armor to a fault but I did warm up to him as the series went on as his character dynamics complement the other members of main cast.

This brings me to my two favorite characters of Favaro Leone and Rita. To start off, Favaro is nothing like your conventional hero as his goal in life is to loudly indulge in life's guilty pleasures of women, money and booze while. As a red-headed bounty hunter, he is selfish, crass and utterly underhanded when it comes to fighting while wielding a revolver crossbow.

How awesome is that?

Equally fabulous is Rita, who joins up with the main cast a little further down the story. She may look like loli bait but never adheres to the stereotypical template that her appearance suggested. Her character interactions and contributions made the show that much more enjoyable on top of what was already offered.

There is a myriad of other supporting characters from all the different race who don't really get or need character development but make the most of their limited screentime in just being plain awesome. Some standouts include Jeanne D'Arc of the humans, Bacchus, a god who manages the bounty system and Azazel of the demon faction.

Visuals

Animated by the Studio MAPPA, the very same team who created Kids on the Slope and Zankyou no Terror, the amount of quality put into this series places it among the best looking shows of the 2014 fall season. Drawing inspiration from Western fantasy aesthetics, the art style is atypical of the standard Japanese anime look and has that classic Dungeons and Dragons vibe to it. The attention to detail to the various locales and props really help immerse the audience into the world of Rage of Bahamut: Genesis and that not even mentioning the stellar cinematography which lends itself to be more of a Hollywood film than standard anime show. There are small amounts of 3DCGI and for the most part, it looks all right as it doesn't distracts from the pretty 2D visuals.

Sound

Yoshihiro Ike, who scored the soundtrack to Ergo Proxy and Tiger and Bunny, comes in with a full orchestra and choir to deliver something that didn't really live up to the epic action on the screen. His work, by all means, was well-composed and of high quality but I couldn't help but feel that the music was rather uninspired and lack the punch to bring the show to the next level. More specifically, it may be due to the lack of variety when it comes to just relying on strings and vocal as I found hard to recall anything memorable. Perhaps, if he had used more instruments in his ensemble, it would be an given the visuals the accompaniment and energy it deserves. In contrast, the opening credits, "EXiSTENCE” performed by SiM, was one of my favorites of the fall season with it rock music and awkward Engrish. It does what every opening should do and that is to be extremely metal and awesome in priming the viewers for each weekly installment.

Game Adaption

If Studio MAPPA had the goal of making me try out whatever they were advertising for,

they succeeded.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis was amazing enough that I simply wanted more and what better way to do so than to download the game it's based off of. However, upon seeing the chunky dated interface, confusing bland gameplay and obvious microtransactions, I promptly deleted it off my machine. I'm grateful that aspects of the trading card game were integrated quite well in the framework of the show of which was the bounty system and I never felt it was overbearing or obnoxious. It was just a small reminder of what the show's roots are and just how vastly difference they are in terms of quality.

Conclusion

Coming completely out of the left field, Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis is the surprise hit of the 2014 fall season. I simply cannot give enough praise to Studio MAPPA for their creativity and talent in creating a show that defies all expectations. There were a few small things that held it back from being a masterpiece, but nevertheless it was still one hell of a ride.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Produced by White Fox Studios as 24 episode series, Akame ga Kill! is the anime adaptation of an unfinished manga that follows the exploits of an assassination group looking to overthrow the corrupt empire. While it doesn't even have good writing or the proper foundations, there is no denying that this show takes its audience for a wild ride that is filled with bloodshed and explosions.

Set in a fantasy world, Akame ga Kill! begins with a talented but rather naive swordsman named Tatsumi, arriving in Empire's capital city and dreaming of making a name for himself. He quickly finds himself being stripped ... of his meager savings by a certain feline-looking women called Leona but comes across a wealthy family who decides to graciously shelter him. That very same night, a group called Night Raid hits the household with the intent of assassination. Through a series of twists that exposes the family's atrocities, Tatsumi accepts the offer to join Night Raid and starts on the path towards to assassinating those who they deem to be responsible for plaguing the Capitol with corruption. However as he and his teammates continues their campaign against those who stand in their way, the Empire responses by creating their own unit of elite soldiers called The Jaegers to hunt down Night Raid.

Within each of their own respective arsenals are incredibly powerful weapons called Imperial Arms that were forged in the early beginnings of the empire. From suits of armor to hand-held weapons and gears, the power within each of these Imperial Arms is unique and the main element to the fighting is countering each others power. Tied in with the usage of Imperial Arms, the primary feature that set Akame ga Kill! apart from other action shows is the alarming frequency in which notable characters are permanently killed. As a general rule, when two or more imperial arms users enter into a fight, at least one of them will die giving the show an huge amount of tension when battles do occur.

With a focus of ridding the Empire of its corruption, Akame ga Kill! is a very edgy show with that knows no bounds when it comes to displaying the appalling crimes and cruelty that exists within the series. However, the tone that is given doesn't lend itself to be a mature analysis of the mankind's darkness. More time than not, it comes off as being cheap and I found myself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. The underlying reasons are mere context and background to the real draw of the show of how the bloody battles unfold.

Characters

For all the horrific violence that the characters commits, the regular cast is a rather likeable bunch. Named in the title of the anime, Akame is the beautiful wielder of the Murasame, a sword that is guaranteed to kill its enemy with a single cut, and is a rather cold individual from onset. Once the series get underway, she does have some genuinely assuming moments and actually cares deeply for her friends but usually adopts a stoic demeanor during operations and for much of her downtime. Tatsumi, being the gullible and starry eye swordsman from the countryside , is the audience's introduction into the rotten and oppressive Empire and the fight bring about revolution. He starts off as fairly generic but develops into a much more powerful fighter with strong relational ties to others. Opposing Night Raid is the head of the Jeagers, General Esdeath, who is a very voluptuous and sadistic women that enjoys the thrill of the hunt. Believing in a very Darwinian principle of the strong devouring the weak, she is a very formidable foe and yet, is a little ditzy when it comes to the matters of the heart.

There are too many other characters to list off and go into details but they all share the common trait of being immensely brutal in their fighting while having comical elements attached to them. They themselves are representative of the strange dichotomy where scenes of slaughter, sexual exposition, and torture are offset by their playful comradery. While they don't having the most compelling back stories or development, the cast of Akame ga Kill certainly doesn't shy away from making their presence known by any stretch of the imagination. I would like to give a particular mention to Akame's VA, Sora Amamiya, for continuing to have an astonishing start to her career. In addition to her main role in Akame ga Kill!, she has taken on no less than four main character roles in Nanatsu no Taizai, Aldnoah.Zero, One Week Friends and Tokyo Ghoul. While her time being Akame has come to an end, I look forward what other roles she can play as she moves through the anime industry.

Visuals

Visually speaking, Akame ga Kill! is an above average effort with a very modern style, vivid colors and a few special effects thrown in for good measure. It does rely on conventional animation when going through its action sequences so there's nothing that makes it stand out in that aspect. Otherwise, the quality remains consistent throughout the entire series which is more than I can say for other series airing at the same time. In fact, one area that Studio White Fox have done a tremendous job on improving is rendering the background. While the manga does a decent job at framing its own surroundings, the additional detail and polish put in really elevates an aspect where the source material was lackluster.

Music

Taku Iwasaki, known for creating the soundtrack to Gatchaman Crowds, Noragami and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, is responsible the music behind Akame ga Kill!. Judging by his other works, he has been consistently been able to produce music that a bit quirky to listen to but still be able to enhance whatever show he works on. For this series, he incorporates a variety of musical styles from jazz to rock to orchestral music and he does a commendable job of engaging the audience with his music, no matter what the scene called for. I especially like the OST being played during the action scenes as a combinations of drums, tribal chanting and rock goes with perfectly with the unhindered primal violence being shown on the screen.

Manga Adaptation

As with almost all adaptation from manga to the anime, some things are bound to get lost in transition and Akame ga Kill! is no exception. Character interactions that gave depth to their relationship are left out but those scenes didn't really contribute in significantly in altering the core plotline. It is only towards the latter half of Akame ga Kill! that readers of the manga will notice that that the rather straightforward adaption will suddenly veer off into the original anime ending territory that leaves behind an entire arc unanimated and takes several liberties with the story. If you are only familiar with the anime TV production, it is unlikely that you would notice much of difference other than the accelerated pacing and build up. At this point, the manga remains unfinished and if the show decided to stay its original course, it would have ended in an awkward state and would have had to wait years before additional material would be available. For a show to tell a complete story in an age where anime shows are mere primers for the source material is a rarity indeed.

Conclusion

In the end, Akame ga Kill! sets out what do what it promises and that is to smother the audience with super powerups, violence and death up until the very end.

--The review contains spoilers--

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion is to its original twelve episodes series as to End of Evangelion was to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both have an extensive and truly mind-blowing foundation to build upon as well as featuring an absolutely earth-shattering ending that leaves the audience feeling shell-shocked.

Veterans of the Madoka Magica TV series know that something is eerily off within moments of the movie's introduction. Given the fairly conclusive ending in the previous installment, the setting in the movie's beginning, is perfect to a fault. Characters, that should be dead, are back and everyone's is best friends with ... each other including Kyubey .The same events are relived in different sequences and circumstances like some a twisted version of Groundhog Day. Even Mami gets a little friendly helper named Charlotte which, disturbingly enough, is the same witch that chomped off her head the first time around.

For the first forty-five minutes, the audience to treated to a mishmash of fanfiction and fanservice as the Holy Quintet goes about their business of smoothing the nightmares of their citizens and doing regular slice-of-life things. While it was pleasant to see all the main leads carry on with their lives in a typical happy-go-lucky mahou shoujo after suffering so much, I felt that the first act overstayed its welcome by fifteen minutes. By the time Homura begins to figure what is really wrong with this world, I was left tapping my foot and wishing the movie would hurry up and get to the point. Though, once the plot got over the initial hump, it just becomes a roaring rollercoaster ride to the very end.

Characters

Every main character, regardless of their status at the end of the TV series, makes a comeback. Starting us off is Homura is my favorite magical girl as she dethrones Sailor Mars of my childhood since she has an amazing power of manipulating time and uses high explosives and bullets to get the job done. Although, she regresses back to the timid and awkward girl in the beginning of the movie, by the time the second and third act hit, she is back into her badassery ways. Since the series is really about Homura and not Madoka, despite what the title suggests, she forms the core of the main narrative and Rebellion is just the continuation of her story, which is taken to the next level under Urobuchi.

Outside of the tremendous amount of development and dialogue given to Homura and Madoka, Sayaka is surprisingly given a good amount of depth and maturity this time around as opposed to her personality leading to some pretty dark implications in the preceding storyline. Where she was sort of unlikeable, Rebellion changes her into an assertive and confident young magical girl that put her on par with the rest of the Holy Quintet. Other members like Kyoto and Mami, while they do have their moments to shine and speak, aren't given that much of role in the plot. That is to be expected since their back stories have reached their conclusion in the original television series.The much-hyped character Charlotte being included into the main cast doesn't detract or add to the overall package. She is a colorful and playful thing of sorts and she does give Mami a witch/person to be paired with as strange as that sounds. Charlotte does suffer same problems as Kyoto and Mami in that they don't have really much to do other than coming along for the ride and use their powers in a supporting role during the climactic battle of the movie.

Visuals

Studio Shaft is notoriously known for rushing their episodes in order to meet airing deadlines and then redoing entire episodes for the Blu-ray releases. With all the heaps of money that they raked in with disc sales, spin-offs and merchandise, the production team spared no expenses for the entire two-hour long movie. At 2,300 shots, it is double of the typical amount in comparative animated movie and yet, all the visuals remain at a higher quality than the TV series.

If you thought that the witches and their labyrinth were trippy with their collage art project style, then be prepared to be utterly overwhelmed to point of questioning whether or not someone slipped LSD into your drink. At more than a few points, I was struggling to find traditional animation in the sea of psychotic art cutouts. Still, the creativity required to produced such things is nothing to scoff at. In fact, Rebellion has my favorite magical girl fight scene of all time and personal highlight of the movie which pits Mami and Homura against each other in a frantic gun battle. This fight is a display of Studio Shaft's ability as these two unveil their full abilities in the torrents of bullets that they unleash at each other in a spiraling dance to the death which is unmatched in any other magical girl show.

Music

Returning back once more to score the soundtrack is Yuki Kajiura, having down work on high-profile shows like Sword Art Online, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero and previous installments of Madoka Magica. While the quality of her music is still set to a high standard, I felt that her primary weakness is the lack of variety by reusing the same style of dance beats, strings and vocals. I could have literally interchange her music with her other projects and at one point, I thought I was watching another Kara no Kyoukai film. However, there were a couple of highlights and one of them, titled "Absolute Configuration" is perfect for the Homura/Mami fight scene.

Also coming back to sing the opening credits is ClariS, which give a very good performance that complement their pervious Madoka effort. At this point, the viewers know that cute opening is one trick pony that is not representative of the show but does have nice some fanservice and important insights for the interceding time gap between the television series and this batshit crazy movie. Closing theme is sung by Kalafina, Yuji Kajiura's own band and while it sounded nice, it didn't have that punch nor despair of "Magia". Overall, the sound department was handled fairly well , even if it retreaded old ground and missed some opportunities to take Rebellion to the next level.

Betrayal and Rebellion

After consuming vast amounts of literature, shows and movies over the course of my lifetime, I have come to a point where I don't really care what happens to the characters or plot as long as it's reasonably justified. What I mean is that I don't particularly ship couples or have an narrow expectation of where the story should goes. In the case of Homura's being the Devil to Madoka's role as God, I thought it was the perfect twist to a franchise famously known for its subversion and deconstruction of the magical girl genre. Love is often a central theme in this genre, where the power of friendship and justice overcome all evils and saves the day. In Rebellion, it is love that is taken too far and of a selfish nature that is the perfect instrument to stab the audience in the back in a delightfully manner.

It was reported that Gen Urobuchi originally writing a script that had an ending of Madoka carrying Homura into paradise after the Incubator 's trap was broken but Akiyuki Shinbo managed to convince him rewrite the conclusion into what it is today. First, this is an ending is entirely in line with Homura's hardening mindset over the course of the television series and movie. Remember, according to comments made by the Madoka's creative team, Homura had gone through the month-long time loop over one hundred times which is equivalent of reliving the same despair and death for five years nonstop. As an audience, we have only experienced glimpses of her past and the final iteration of her soul-crushing quest to save Madoka. Any teenager that has gone through the amount of shit that Homura has, is probably dead set on getting her own selfish way, even at the expense of the wishes of her waifu Madoka. Secondly, some viewers and pundits have decry the final third act to be an example of SHAFT milking the franchise and leaving it ripe for another season of Madoka Magica. To that, I say "who cares?". As long as the quality is there, having more anime to salivate over is never a bad thing.

Although Rebellion is infinitely more comprehensible and easier to understand than Hideaki Anno's definitive take on Evangelion, Homura's descend into becoming the devil is no less digestible than the third impact. If you have watched Madoka Magica in its television form, you would be doing yourself a great disservice not giving the Rebellion movie a watch, regardless of how might the ending rips into your soul.

9.0/10

Following my conflicted experience with Hellsing TV, I stumbled onto Studio Madhouse efforts into creating an anime that follows the source material of its manga to a much closer degree. Instead of a standard weekly airing schedule, Madhouse decided to go with releasing a total of ten OVAs over an agonizing long six years. In doing so, they have rectify most of the problems that marred the potential of Gonzo's effort.

While the first two OVAs are fairly straight-forward rehashed material from the original Hellsing, the remaining eight volumes goes off on a completely awesome and different tangent. Gone are the half-baked storylines ... and in their place, is the plot and every single subplot coming to a definitive conclusion by the time the final volume rolls around. Adding on to the main antagonist that is the Catholic Church, Nazis, of all people, have come back to wreck some occult vengeance with their own brand vampires, werewolves and abominations that soon engulfs the island nation of Britain into a state of war.

The thing I love most about the Hellsing Ultimate is that it takes itself so seriously with its notions of holy crusades, genocide, and grand ambitions of power and warfare. Yet, at the same time, it has some of the most over-the-top and ridiculous setups I have ever seen, having zeppelins, KKK outfits and Nazi vampires all mingling together in a climactic battle worthy of the Apocalypse itself. In the world of Hellsing, everything is black and white with no ambiguity in where characters stand. It is simply a matter of kill or be killed. The villains are no exception to that rule, that are none too subtle about their powers or motivation and offer some of the most unforgettable performances in the animated medium.

If you have watched the original show, the three main leads of Alucard, Intrga and Seras should be familiar to the audience but there are few key differences. With much more screen time to explore their relationship with each other and the stakes being so much higher, these three form deeper bonds than their previous versions. Also, power levels, in reference to Alucard and Seras, are exponentially increased to reflect this change in the amplified severity of their opposition. One change that I found to be hit or miss, was the addition of humorous elements placed in juxtaposition to some very serious and forbearing scenes, which could be jarring at times.

Under Studio Madhouse, which is well-known for high quality series like Black Lagoon and Redline, Hellsing Ultimate is noticeably different in its visual style and quality from the TV adaptation. The colors are much more highly contrasted and character designs have gotten angular, which is something I can live with but I do prefer the TV's style over Ultimate's direction. One thing is objectively better, and that is that the animation is top-notch and no expense were spared in handcrafting some truly titanic showdowns

For all the improvements that Ultimate has over Gonzo's effort, the OVA's music doesn't hold a candle to the quality and style of the TV adaptation. It ranges from orchestral pieces, that depicts the epic and dramatic moments, with mixed in electronic sounds. There were some moments where the music choice for some scenes that was downright bizarre and just didn't work out at all for me. If there is one thing that I wish I could change about the Ultimate version, it would be importing the music from Gonzo's production to cover up the awkward soundtrack. This area is, by far, largest aspect that is notably weaker in the transition to Studio Madhouse.

With a giant budget and a ridiculously long release schedule, Hellsing Ultimate, despite some minor gripes, is the definitive version to be watching Alucard, a real fucking vampire, go through one of the best supernatural shows that anime has to offer.

8.5/10

Years ago, before I seriously got into anime and kept up with shows on a weekly basis, I had little knowledge of anime outside of Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing and whatever FOXKids decided to show. There was a program called WINAMP which served as the basis for my media needs and also had a neat little function for internet streaming. Among the various streams, was an anime channel that had, you guessed it, Hellsing playing on repeat and that's how I got into this little show. Produced by Studio Gonzo in 2001, Hellsing would be the darkest and edgiest show that I have watched ... in the years leading up to my current watching habits.

Set in modern Britain, the Hellsing Organization, lead by Interga Hellsing who is a descendant of Van Hellsing, remains at the forefront of identifying and disposing supernatural enemies that threaten their nation. One night, a young policewomen, Seras Victora, is comes under a vampire's grasp during an operation inside a village that results in everyone else in her unit being turned into ghouls. Hellsing's top agent, another vampire, resolves the standoff with ease but ends up turning Seras into one of his familiars when she suffers a fatal wound. From then on, she is inducted into the Hellsing Organization where she comes to terms with her transition into a creature of the night while doing battle against monsters and demons.

Violence is something that Hellsing embraces fully with various firearms, melee weapons and physical attacks that has gore and body parts being thrown all over the screen. Lots of people die including innocent bystanders, human troops and horde of cannon fodder in the most terrible way possible. People and creature are impaled, have their bodies torn apart and eaten or even dragged into the harrowing abyss that is Alucard. Accompanying such brutality, is the mixture of gun and swordplay that is less about graceful fighting and more about who can inflict

The most glaring problem with Hellsing TV is that it was made before the manga had reached its conclusion and thus, it goes a different route from the source material at the midpoint of its run. Plot points like the freak chips behind instant vampires and the continuing conflict with the Catholic Church are dropped for dumber things like Integra's false sister and a villain that shows up at the very end. With the Hellsing train shifting tracks in the limited time of thirteen episodes that it has, the show derails before ending haphazardly in a unsatisfying finale where the viewers are left feeling confused and left hanging on what exactly was the point of Hellsing.
For actual characters, they prop up the entire show even though the plot fails to do them justice.

Alucard is as far you can get away from the romanticized version of vampires where they sparkle in the sunlight and have creepy stalker relationships with high school girls. He is overpowered. He is so overpowered that the viewers know he is going win no matter what, just like the Kritos and takuousa of Mahuka and Sword Art Online. The difference is that Alucard does it with style and flair that makes his powerful skills so awesome. Combined with his two signature hand cannons and combat style of luring his opponent into thinking they can beat him before taunting and beating their ass to a pulp, he is a flaming ungodly entity when compared to the cardboard cutouts of other male power fantasy shows. The only reason that anyone roots for Alucard is that everyone else is slightly worse off in their methods and reasoning and he is just so cool when he goes about wiping the floor with his foes. His red outfit, completed with a brim hat and trench coat, makes him one of the more visually unique anime characters that viewers will instantly recognize. In essence, the vampire of the Hellsing Organization is less of an anti-hero and more like a demonic monster, kept in check only by his master, Integra Hellsing.

The only two main character leads, which are female, do very well in keeping up with the overpowered vampire. At only twenty two years old, Integra Hellsing is one remarkable lady, being the head of an organization that specializes in taking down the undead and some very nasty creatures. She is rather cold and forceful in with dealing with Alucard and Seras, but that is expected of a person in her position. Seras, being a former police girl and newly inducted member of Hellsing, is the humanizing aspect of the show as Alucard and Interga operate on a completely different level from the common viewer. While she starts off as a very reluctant vampire, unsure of how to let go of her humanity, Seras' journey in embracing her supernatural is the focus of the television series. However, for much the show, she faintly clings on to her former life and instead of powering up like Alucard, it ends up dragging down the show, but not to the extent of the jumbled plot.

The best aspect and probably the most memorable part of the TV series was the soundtrack. With its jazzy style mixed with a bass guitar, piano and drums, it meshed perfectly with the British backdrops of dark seedy underworlds and very English architecture of castles and manors. If anything, the opening credits titled "The World Without Logos" serves as a perfect precursor for the what audience should expect from the audio department. It also helps that the opening has some pretty hardcore imagery that was grisly and awesome at the same time. One obvious point is to watch the dubs as the setting and characters are of a European background and the voice acting is done by some really talented actors
The visuals, for an anime airing in the early 2000s,is actually pretty good. The mixture of drab colors, like grey, black and brown, fits in with horror and bloody vibes that Hellsing goes for However, as the series worn on, Studio Gonzo's tendency to skimp out on the animation budget becomes noticeable and the overall product, already hurting from the sub-par story, suffers for it.

Despite all the flaws that turns a promising concept into a disappointment, I would still recommend watching this adaption, if only to enjoy the characters and music rather than focusing on the mishandled plot. It is a perfect way to be let down before moving on to its much superior successor done by a different studio and delivered in a much different format.

6/10

In a season filled with giant robots, teenage dramas and supernatural violence, Zankyou no Terror stands out from the usual crowd with its focus on the rarely explored subject matter of terrorism. Shinichirō Watanabe, renowned director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Kids on the Slope, once again teams up with Yoko Kanno and the newly formed Studio MAPPA to delivers one of the highlights of the summer season 2014.

Zankyou no Terror or Terror in Resonance, opens up with two mysterious male teenagers named Nine and Twelve, carrying out a heist at a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility and ends up stealing ... a device that contains plutonium. Six months later, in the sweltering heat of summer, both of them, call themselves Sphinx, commit a series of terrorist attacks on Tokyo under and caught up in their schemes, is a teenage girl named Mishima. Through a series of circumstances, she willingly becomes an accomplice in their plans to pull the trigger on the world.

Characters

Having spent their entire lives together, I felt that Nine and Twelve are two sides of the same coin with the same intentive goals in mind but exhibiting different mannerism as they go about their terrorism business. Nine is your emotionally distant teenager in glasses and approaches the work of Sphinx in a business-like manner. The Ying to Nine's Yang, Twelve more like a playful cat than anything else by the way he plays with a grenade as if it was a ball and prefers to drive a motorcycle when speeding his way through traffic. Both of them are extremely intelligent and physically capable and they soon make short work of anyone sent to apprehend them. The catch is that, while their acts of terrorism causes an enormous amount of damage, they are setup in such a manner that no fatal causalities occur. It is to the testament to Watanabe's skill that viewers can relate to characters like Nine/Twelve instead of the psychopathic monsters that the mainstream media often demonize terrorists as.

Completely opposite to the our males in every way possible is a female highschooler named Lisa Mishima. She comes across Twelve during their demolition of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and given a choice between dying or becoming a member of Sphinx, she chooses the latter. Casted out by society due to her broken family and being the constant target of bullying by her classmates, Lisa garners a fair bit of compassion from me. While I was sympathetic to her situation in the earlier episodes, as the series went on, my patience began to wear thin at just how inept this depressed teenage girl is at everything. It would be too much for me to expect that she would turn into a goddess of terrorism but a little more usefulness out of her would have gone a long way into fostering that emotional connection with the audience. I do admit, realistically speaking, for a bumbling depressed schoolgirl to be involved with such large-scale destruction, Lisa plays that role to a T.

Hot on the heels of Sphinx is Shibazaki, a former ace detective who comes back to active duty as he successfully decrypts the various riddles. He certainly doesn't fall short in the characterization department as I perfectly understood his motivations when comes to stopping Nine/Twelve. Being an old grizzled man filled with experience, he has the demeanor of a mature adult who is very committed to the idea of justice. At the same time, he does have these nonchalant moments that make him feel like a real investigative veteran accustomed to the norms of the world.

Even though Lisa did get a little on my nerves, I did genuinely enjoyed all the characters and their journey throughout the show for the most part.

For the most part.

Five

Of course, even though the next major character is a bit of a spoiler, I cannot ignore the effect that Five had on the show when she is introduced partway through the story. Being the primary antagonist by working against Sphinx and subjugating the Japanese law enforcement agencies, she is, by far the weakest part of Zankyou no Terror. Clad in a sailor school uniform, she brings an wildly overbearing presence into the story with her antics and games. The first of two issues that I have with her is that she seemed too omnipotent when facing off with the already formidable Sphinx and damages much of the grounded realism that the show sets itself up as. Second, I could dismisses her bat-shit crazy actions if her character had an interesting motivation and background but Zankyou no Terror drops the ball in that aspect leaving only hints of what might have been a fantastic villain. It's not that I wish that Five didn't exist but I want to see her character be rewritten in a way that was more restrained and fleshes out her story. That being said, she was anything but dull and was at least entertaining, even when her actions didn't jive with the core plot.

Visuals and Sound

Accompanying our band of teenage terrorist on their quest for vengeance is the stellar soundtrack by anime legend, Yoko Kanno. Having worked on Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: SAC and Macross Frontier fame, she produces a sound that is insidious, subversive and unsettling for the viewers. With haunting guitar riffs, subtle electronic beats and jazzy undertones coupled with the occasional outburst of sound during action scenes, Yoko Kanno skillfully tailored her composition to suit the gritty tense atmosphere of Zankyou no Terror.

Studio MAPPA has done an absolutely breathtaking job when it comes to the animation quality and comes close to what is expected of an anime movie instead of an ordinary TV production. One of the first things that viewers will notice are the muted colors and attention to detail that is intended to sets up modern-day Tokyo to be as realistic as possible. Backgrounds are expertly detailed from the reflective sheen on vehicles in traffic to the cluttered mess of a former detective's office to a Ferris wheel glowing in the rainy night sky as it carries its passengers on a ride. When it comes to 3D CGI, which is often a tricky thing to balance out in anime, it done to support the various angles and scene composition to gives Zankyou no Terror its cinematic quality. Although Studio MAPPA is still a newcomer in the industry, it has demonstrated it has the talent and potential to become a powerhouse within anime.

Themes

Aside from the very pretty explosions, Zankyou no Terror has pretty of depth to draw from with its ideas of a increasingly modernized society and its pitfalls while alluring to ancient mythology. By incorporating fancy pieces of technology like Twitter, YouTube and virtual currency as well , it makes the viewers think about the fragility of our current reality. Although, it doesn't provide any answers, Watanabe's work is certainly more than capable of generating an immense amount of discussion as to what it all means for the characters and our current world.

Conclusion

From the very beginning, I knew that Zankyou no Terror was going to be one of the very top shows from the summer season and maybe even earn a very rare 10/10 score from me. The question was whether it would be able to maintain the standard set out by the initial episode and the answer teeter somewhere between an 8 and 9. Lisa and Five certainly didn't do the show any favors as they could have as they represented the polar opposites of either being useless or completely all-powerful and insane. If Lisa would have been a little more capable and Five was toned down while given a complete back story, I would be incline to award higher marks overall. Other than those two flawed characters, every other aspect of Zankyou no Terror, from the distinct soundtrack by Yoko Kanno to the cinematic visual direction of Watanabe and his take on the touchy subject of terrorism mixed in with a little conspiracy, is certainly not lacking in quality nor relevancy.

8.5/10

"When I opened the door called Captain Earth, my ride on the hype train ended. It was an anime I could forget."

From Studio Bones and the same creative team that made Star Driver, comes a mecha anime that promises amazing action backed up by Shakespearean lore but instead, delivers a train wreck that is only worthy for the scrap yard.

The story starts off well enough, having a 17 year old high schooler named Daichi, through a set of extraordinary circumstances, coming to be the sole pilot of the Earth Engine, which was built to defend humanity from the invading Planetary Gears. However, it ... quickly becomes very apparent that Captain Earth has no intention of delivering a coherent plot and soon meanders off into slice of life territory with visits to the dessert cafe, idol concerts and chilling off by the poolside topped off with copious amounts of fanservice. There is even an episode where an idol gets to be a commander for a day onboard a space station, right before a major military operation is about to go underway. When it does get back to moving the story forward, it does so in the most convoluted manner possible and is nothing short of glacial in terms of progress. Among the worst offenders of this crime is the Planetary Gear's recruitment arc in which the bad guys are awakened and gathered for several episodes like some demented version of Pokémon.

Events happen or things are done in a certain way that has no bearing to proper protocol in a similar situation in reality. For example, when it comes to identifying and apprehending potential Earth-ending individuals, Captain Earth has teenagers taking the place of what should have been the jurisdiction of entire government agencies or armed special forces. I could understand having a bunch of high schoolers be the pilots of giant robots and saviors of humanity but not when it comes to scouring an entire urban center with only four people that get sidetracked by dessert cafe. Plot points are even worst, often appearing from a random direction and resolved in an equally hazard manner. In one instance, there was a scientist lady who was in charge of observing special children connected to the planetary gears. Said scientist kisses one of them and transfers her desire to obtain immorality using the child which results in a falling out between the two. Very quickly, the assistant to said scientist shoots her in the head with a pistol and the last time we see of her, she is riding in a back of a truck, wrapped up in a body bag. I swear to God, I'm not making this shit up. Explanations frequently comes down because the writers say so and that is nothing short of an insult to the audience struggle to understand the bigger picture because of inept writing.

When it comes to the four main characters of Daichi, Hana, Akari, and Teppei, their attributes make them seem anti-Evangelion to a fault. Daichi Manats is the overly confident and energetic teenage boy to distant Shinji Ikari, who only pilots only for the sake of his father. Hana Mutou is the curious and very voluptuous alien girl to the emotionless doll of Rei Ayanami. Akari Yomatsuri is the hacking/self-proclaimed magical girl to the emotionally broken tsundere of Asuka Langley Soryu. Finally, Teppei Arashi is the uncertain and withdrawn extraterrestrial to the transcendent angelic being of Kaworu Nagisa. The trouble doesn't lie in how the characters start off as but it's that they remain stagnant for the majority of their development. Yes, they have their own trials and personal issues to overcome but it's so ham-fisted and forcefully written that it almost becomes a parody unto itself. The obvious pairings happen but everything about their relationships are so bland and uninspired that it just bored me seeing Captain Earth clumsily go through the motions. There is simply nowhere else to go when all the characters become happy-go-lucky teammates that believe in the power of friendship and love to win the day. Unless Captain Earth had the balls to go a darker route from there, which it doesn't, it makes for a boring watch as our young heroes simply brute force their way onto victory, complete with sparkles and rainbows.

Outside other main four leads, which get plenty of screen time to dally about, there are just too many characters and factions in Captain Earth. Ranging from those who work at GLOBE, Tenkaido Space Station, Intercept and Ark faction, Salty Dog, Kill-T-Gang, Puck, and the Macbeth Enterprises, none of them are explored in any meaningful depth. Sure, members of the Planetary Gears get their own episode to shine but as quickly as they are introduced, they are soon forgotten in favor of the next shiny plot point.

One aspect that initially drew my attention to Captain Earth was the high production values in its animation. Having a wide assortment of bright vivid colors and highly detailed backgrounds, it is clear that a substantial amount of money was invested in the visual department. While other series like Knights of Sidonia and Aldnoah.Zero have embraced CGI robots into their animation, Captain Earth steadfastly sticks to the dying art of drawing 2D mecha. The 3D elements are subtly incorporated into the background of display screens and popup HUDs which demonstrates how CGI should be used to enhance the viewing experience. In particular, the Earth Engine's transformation scene was quite a novelty when it was first shown by featuring no less than three space station lined up together while the Daichi's machine speeds through the center as it becomes fully formed.

Also matching the high standards set by the visual department, is the music composition by Satoru Kosaki. His previous works is nothing to sneeze which include the entire Monogatari franchise, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and OreImo. In Captain Earth's case, he choose to go with a more traditional orchestral sound with booming trumpets and soaring string instruments doing much of the heavy lifting. It really is a shame that the stellar soundtrack is just another sad reminder how great this show could have been if it even had a half-competent writing team backing it up.

The mechs themselves are quite creative in their design and functionality. Earth's own engines look like a updated white version of the Gainax's Gunbuster with its massive shoulder pylons and fairly conventional weaponry. On the opposing side, Planetary Gears in their true mecha forms have more of an aesthetic that resembles doll figurines with umbrella dresses for the ladies and tailcoats for the men. As such, their respective fighting styles are more akin to dancing around their opponents before slicing or blasting them to pieces.

Being a huge fan of the mecha genre, much of Captain Earth's tremendous shortcomings could be forgiven if the giant robots fights were exciting, loud and filled with awesomeness, but sadly, this is not the case. Mech battles in Captain Earth often dissolve in shounon-like brawls that involve little to no tactics and obscene amount of deus ex machina bullshit in favor of the protagonists. The plot armor that every major character, both alien and human, is as thick as the front of a main battle tank and saps much of the tension from said battles. Indeed, the show even incorporates immorality into the invading Planetary Gears with their Ego Blocks, and has them blasting off like Team Rocket every time they get their asses kicked.

With names like Midsummer Knights, Puck, and Oberon, I would have expected a mixture of Shakespearean elements from his various plays like humor from A Comedy of Errors with a dash of the tragedy from Macbeth and the mystical atmosphere of The Tempest. Instead, Captain Earth simply reaches for the lowest common denominator of dumping a metric ton of fanservicey ingredients into its concepts and calls it a day. I suppose it could have be related to the sexuality that is prominent in Shakespeare's work in some sort twisted way, but I can't really be bothered to dig that deep when cleavage takes up half the screen and everyone is trying to kiss each other.

The first opening, titled "Runner's High" by flumpool, is a lot like my anticipation and first impression of Captain Earth. It was epic, energetic and pointed to something far more ambitious than your typical anime show. By the time, the second opening " TOKYO Dreamer ", by Nico Touches the Walls, rolls around, I had long stop caring about Captain Earth and abandoned any hope of the show redeeming itself. The show had wasted too much time on pointless exposition, fetch quests and scandalous shots of female anatomy. Studio Bones held a promising concept in its hands before weighing down with mediocrity and Otaku philandering that plagues the anime industry today.