- Last OnlineDec 16, 2015 12:07 PM
- GenderMale
- BirthdayDec 8, 1985
- LocationLisbon, Portugal
- JoinedJun 11, 2008
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Jul 28, 2008
A re-imagination of some of the Grimm Brother's classic fairy tales.
First of all, the art is some of the best I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. The character drawings are a real pleasure for the eye, highly detailed and expressive. Her well-defined traces give a strong, attractive image of the characters, and yet still she is able to maintain a full background without it detracting from the foreground. While I am not fully familiarized with Kaori-sensei's work, I believe well enough that this form of character design, clearly one of her strong points, is also one of her weak points, as I shall attempt
...
to explain.
What happens, when a character is detailed to the extreme is that, to some readers (I would not dare to speak for all of us), the art becomes so visually intense, that it begins to distract somewhat from the remainder of the work, and generally becomes tiring to the eyes.Another example of this, although a bit better balanced off when compared to what happens in Ludwig Kakumei, is the works of Masakazu Katsura, in which the art, while maintaining a certain level of detail, is softened by a less 'sharp' character design and shadowing, that blends naturally into the background.
As for the story, short and sweet. It may seem, at first, to be of a rather episodic nature, but the author quickly picks up on the small strings and hints through the story, to quilt them together in a wonderfully open-ended conclusion. How this can be considered 'good', is very easily felt by the reader, upon seeing Prince Ludwig mature as a character. As Kaori-sensei wrote in her final notes on the series, the Lui-sama at the beginning of the story is much different from the one in the beginning, leaving the open "Happy Ever After" a satisfying one. His companions also receive a good amount of background and personality development, and one of them participates strongly towards the final plot-twist, something remarkable, in particular for a short story, a style that tends to ignore the backing characters.
The darker view on the Grimm brother's tales, proposed by the author, ends up sitting with a good degree of comfort and stability on the border between parody and drama: The introspection into the dark motifs and motivations behind each of the fairy tale princesses is finely peppered with the occasional pun or light-hearted event, without ever detracting from a firm continuity.
All in all, Ludwig Kakumei's rich artwork and interesting, alternative story make for a very enjoying read, and the darker overtones to the classic fairy tales are well balanced, as to please to, what I would tend to expect, a wider audience. A definite must for those who enjoy gothic imagery and selfish, narcissistic male leads.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 13, 2008
A great series, a sad excuse for a movie.
When you imagine a series you enjoy, a classic like City Hunter, getting transformed into a movie, you hope for an epic storyline, that deepens and develops the characters, adds something new that couldn't be handled in the series, or, generally, something extra, not seen before. This movie doesn't deliver that product. At least, not entirely.
As for the art, soundtrack and vocal acting, it's all the same, good City Hunter that we've been used to all the time, and the main cast is as delightfully bipolar as usual. (As a side-note, City Hunter makes Hammer Space look
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GOOD.) In fact, the Ryo's past is explored a bit, to some interest, but still, it's annexed to the movie's main problem.
And that problem is, this is pretty much filler.
The story, unfortunately, doesn't fulfill the expectations one has towards a full-length feature movie, being a bit shallow, and having few connecting points to the larger continuity of the rest of the series. I'm no City Hunter specialist, but, surely, despite the mainly one-shot nature of the series, I was hoping for much more.
But, let's be fair: It's still a good piece of entertainment, and it's always nice to watch Ryo nearly get his head blown off for peeping. Good times.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 12, 2008
OK! Cough it up! How many of you sons of silly people enjoy Hard Gay? And what about Borat? Well, Hentai Kamen can only be described as what would happen if those two ever met up and had a justice-loving, fishnet stocking-wearing son.
First off, the story. The idea behind UHK is mostly a (perverted) parody of the Kamen Hero types, so the writer pulled together a laid-back story that is entertaining, hilarious and a genuinly fun read. The one-shot story base for the series still is able to hold up a story-line, through the basic techniques of character introductions on the right moment, and recycling
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of villans; There's a loose timeline, but one nonetheless, just like in classics like Ranma 1/2. Stereotypes? Yes! As I said, this is a parody, and these sterotypes get played on, but fortunatly, not so much as to make the characters too stale or predictable, and a good few of them can really stick to the reader. Needless to say, Hentai Kamen leaves quite the aftertaste, and is quite a memorable hero. The timing on the puns is perfectly coordinated, and most of the chapters will have you laughing your head off at a regular schedule, specially when Hentai Kamen lands a killing blow (or a pun on his, how to say, weapon of mass justice).
The art is exactly as comedy manga should have it (at least in my opinion), simple designs with a bit of a early 90's feel to them, always clean and clear, and the author has proven on several times that he can also make a few good action scenes, and draw muscular characters quite well. The art helps keep your attention on the situation, neither so intricate that it overwhelms the situation, neither so simple as to detract from it, and carries a whole simple charm to it. All in all, it's kind of a cross between early Rumiko Takahashi and Akira Toryama.
Maybe the series should have been longer, maybe it's just the right size, but overall, this is a good series to shut your brain down, relax and enjoy. Good, plain, fun.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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