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Mar 22, 2025
Revivals can often be a mixed bag in the world of anime. There are plenty of licenses out there that have a lot of fans that would love to see a return to a character and to a story they hold dear. Often times certain licenses should be better left alone because revivals can often diminish the popularity and the legacy a certain character has held in the world of anime/manga by being associated by a less then stellar product regardless of how popular and beloved that character is from some of the earlier anime that this character has had an opportunity to be in.
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This is definitely the case when it comes to Cutie Honey Universe.
2018's Cutie Honey Universe is an anime revival of a very classic character that got her start in the 1970's and hasn't seen another entry in the world of anime since 2004. Does this revival hold a candle to many of the cutie honey anime that has come before it, I wouldn't really know since this is my first entry into the world of Cutie Honey but I have this strange inkling that if I had watched any of the other Cutie Honey anime the score for this entry would probably be a lot lower. It's not that the anime is bad per se but it comes across as a very bland even though there are a few moments of brilliance throughout this 12 episode adventure.
Cutie Honey has always been a hyper sexualized character ever since her introduction in the 1970's so when you watch any Cutie Honey anime you know there is going to be a lot of gratuitous fanservice so it's not like anything about the fanservice is really going to catch you off guard. Cutie is always going to get naked when she transforms and by the time she finishes every battle about 70 to 80% of her clothes are going to be destroyed. Even the anime goes really hard with the sexual content because I kid you not the third scene (within the first 10 seconds) in the very first episode of the anime you have two women in Sister Jill's lair viciously making out with each other, so if that doesn't give you any idea of what kind of adventure your in for then I can't really help you. Pretty much all the villains in this anime are women showing off some kind of cleavage no matter how monstrous they look.
The story of the anime focuses on Sister Jill's relentless pursuit of trying to obtain Honey Kisaragi's Airborne Element Fixing Device which is a device built into Honey's android body that gives her the ability to transform when the need arises. So Sister Jill uses her organization known as Panther Claw to perform petty crimes or even put Honey's friends in danger in order to lure Honey out in the open in order to claim this device. Sister Jill has an army of female minions to help her complete this task. All of her minions are human women transformed by Sister Jill into a monstrous form of a specific animal such as an octopus, snake, tarantula, moth, and dragon among many of the other creatures you'll see throughout this anime. Not only that, Sister Jill disguises herself as Inspector Genet and works for the PCIS (Panther Claw Criminal Investigative Services) in order to get close to Honey Kisaragi and her friends at that organization. Honey Kisragi also works for this organization because she wants to stop Panther Claw at all costs since they are responsible for the death of her creator/father (Dr. Kisaragi).
The first half of the anime focuses on a standard monster of the week formula. In each episode there is some kind of plot regarding trying to get Honey's Airborne Element Fixing Device and by the end she fights and defeats one of Sister Jill's minions. It's not until the second half of the anime that things suddenly take a dark unexpected turn. It's almost like the anime can't really decide what it wants to be. The first half of the anime is incredibly bright and cheerful and it's hard to break Honey's unbridled positive energy, but yet tragic events happen in the second half of this anime that makes Honey realize that her actions have dire consequences. I was quite surprised with how much death this anime had especially in the second half. It's not like this anime has a lot of bloodshed and violence to showcase because not one aspect of this anime is gory but it's pretty evident as you get to watch certain episodes who has actually perished throughout this 12 episode adventure. I do appreciate the shift in tone because I think the overall story works much better when it wants to be serious then when it wants to be silly and humorous. There are actually some really good scenes of character interaction especially when it comes to Honey and her best friend Natsuko. It's nice to see the anime give Honey a layered emotional range especially when she has to deal with a lot of tragedy in her life especially during the second half of the anime. There is even some really good development with one of Sister Jill's minions by the name of Tarantula Claw. Even this member of Panther Claw from my personal opinion has much better character development then Sister Jill herself.
When it comes to the action in the anime it really is kind of a mixed bag. Honey after all is a warrior of love and when she is ready to fight one of Sister Jill's minions they usually fight in this alternative space called a gravity tunnel. Honey does have a wide array of weapons at her disposal such as her standard sword and she gets a bunch of heart style abilities from the heart armband on her arm that can act offensively and defensively. The fights in this anime aren't very long but I do think they are well animated for the most part. I think what's truly disappointing is that Honey has better fights with Sister Jill's minions then Sister Jill herself. Honey does clash with Sister Jill quite a few times throughout the anime and Sister Jill easily overpowers her which gives you the hope that their final conflict in the final episode will be well worth the wait but it turns out to be incredibly lacklustre which is a damn crying shame. Honey does have different forms and even though we get to see all her transformations throughout this adventure many of them are highly underutilized. There are really only really two transformations that she really utilizes throughout the anime, and the other's are done in such a throwaway fashion it seems so unfair to even have them included if they're barely going to be used. Some of them even have the tendency to have a blink and you'll miss it moment which is a crying shame. I can personally think of several potential plot points where her transformations could of been utilized a lot more.
I think one of the biggest faults of the entire anime is really the supporting cast. Minus Honey's best friend Natsuko, the rest of the supporting cast is beyond annoying. We have Akebi and Momomi who work at PCIS as intelligence operatives but they're always using cruel and demeaning language to their superiors. Naoko and her school gang at the high school that Honey goes to aren't the most developed of characters and their interactions with Honey I find aren't the least bit entertaining. I do appreciate that they did Naoko a bit of redemption during a specific episode of this anime. However, the majority of my ire comes from the characters Danbei and his sidekick son Junpei who I understand are probably the comic relief of the anime, but their antics are anything but comic relief. They're constantly ogling and groping Honey at every conceivable moment and trying to sneak a look at Honey naked when the opportunity presents itself. Every time these characters show up, I just have to roll my eyes in disgust because they use every opportunity imaginable to be perverted at Honey and it's personally not funny and they don't really offer much to the overall plot. They have their moments where they can be useful but it's feels so horribly shoehorned in all the time and their antics really turned me off from enjoying the anime.
The opening and ending themes for this anime are a lot of fun. They're certainly better than average with regards to what you would expect out of an anime opening and ending song. It does a good job of matching the energy of the entire anime and music in the anime is more than serviceable. I really have to give a lot of credit to Honey's English voice actress (Jessica Calvello). She did a really excellent job of matching Honey's positive energy but she knew how to dial it back when it came to Honey having a vulnerable moment. She's certainly had the best English performance compared to the rest of the cast which is only fair since she is the main character of the series. The rest of the characters English voices go from being serviceable to downright annoying.
The animation in itself is very colourful and very polished which is to be expected for something made in 2018. It manages to keep with the 70's style aesthetic with regards to the character designs without any graininess. The anime being release in 2018 means your going to get some pretty vibrant colours and serviceable animation throughout the adventure.
The way I ultimately look at Cutey Honey Universe is if this is truly the worse iteration of Cutie Honey that is being presented to us in anime form then it can only go up from here when I get around to watching the older entries of Cutie Honey. It's not the greatest, but it's not downright horrible because it does have a few moments of some really good storytelling along with some competent action set pieces. It's lack of consistency, a complete tonal shift, an annoying supporting cast, and a lacklustre finale really hold this anime from being memorable. I'm certainly not going to be against the fanservice in this anime because that is what Cutie Honey is really known for is its fanservice. From my research I think that Cutie Honey is the first female anime character that gets nude during her transformation sequences so you know the fanservice is absolutely going to be prevalent as you watch this anime. It certainly had opportunities to be better but it just couldn't deliver.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 18, 2025
Animation can be such a wonderful medium of entertainment because as long as the effort is put into it, it will always retain the permanent ability to be timeless. What I'm often surprised in the world of animation is sometimes the most beautiful pieces of animation can come from the most unexpected of sources. This is definitely the case when it comes to Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust because even though work for the film started back in 1997, the finished product never got released until the year 2000. To this day, from my personal opinion it is still one of most beautiful animated films you'll
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ever watch even though it's 25 years old. It's artistic style and quality of animation certainly rivals some of the most beautiful anime films from the 1980's all the way up to the 2020's with it's beautiful attention to detail regardless if it comes from the character designs, gothic architecture, and the action set pieces. The most perplexing thing is that Vampire Hunter D is not really a well known license outside of Japan so to see such effort into a very obscure license is very strange because vampire hunter D only had one other attempt in the world of animation all the way back in 1985. Even now Vampire Hunter D has not had another visit in the world of animation since this film, but even if we never see D in another animated feature, boy did he end on a high note with how unbelievably beautiful and action packed this film is.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is a tale taken from the third novel of Hideyuki Kikuchi's vampire hunter D series called Demon Deathchase. The story focuses on the kidnapping of a young woman by the name of Charlotte by a vampire noble by the name of Baron Meier Link. The young woman's father by the name John hires D (an accomplished vampire hunter) in order to rescue her by any means necessary and to also kill her if she has turned into a vampire. Charlotte's older brother also hires another vampire hunting group by the name of the Markus brothers who consists of 5 individuals who have a wide array of skills and deadly abilities in order to defeat the vampire threat. The entire film literally focus on two competing sets of vampire hunters trying to save Charlotte from this vampire noble and the obstacles they have to endure in order to rescue Charlotte. However, as we progress through the story we discover that Charlotte's disappearance is a lot more complicated when it is discovered that she traveled with the vampire of her own free will which complicates things for both sets of hunters when it comes to rescuing her.
Even if a first time viewer of this film is not familiar with the world of Vampire Hunter D this film is put together in such a way and it tells a basic enough story that it can be easily followed not only by fans of anime and horror but by film fans in general. The film moves at such an amazing pace that throughout the entire adventure you'll never feel bored or tired throughout the entire adventure. However, for as action packed as this anime is, it does know when to slow down when it needs to do a little character development especially when it comes to Charlotte's relationship to the vampire Baron Meier Link and we get some great story exposition when it comes to the character Leila which leads to a very touching and heartfelt ending. The film even finds time to deal with racism and persecution especially when it comes to the character of D who is a dhampir (a half breed - a child born of a vampire and a human). A biological aspect that the general populace is often not willing to accept despite D constantly taking care of the vampire threat on multiple occasions.
When fighting vampires, you have to expect a ton of action and you get this constantly and consistently throughout this entire film. In the world of vampires and the world of horror you can't be afraid to show a little blood. This anime film definitely accommodates that with some really great over the top violence not only from the protagonists of this anime but from the antagonists as well. Despite the film's length of 1 hour and 42 minutes, we still get time to see each member of the Markus Brothers vampire hunting group showcase their abilities. We get to see everything they have with regards to their attacking ability from extensive crossbow use, spinning blades, a giant hammer, guns/bazooka use, to a ghostly apparition of pure destructive power. The bad thing is it makes you want to crave these characters even more but when you have such a short amount of time to tell your film then you have to take liberties with certain characters and as much as you want to see more action set pieces involving certain characters you can't sacrifice the compelling story that your trying to tell just to see these character kick ass more often. The great action doesn't only come from D and the Markus brothers but it also comes from the many antagonists that the film has. In this film, Baron Meier Link hires three mutants to protect his carriage as him and Charlotte travel through the countryside and they offer some of the best action set pieces in this anime especially when D and Leila fight against the shapeshifter Caroline is this huge forest. However, for as great as the action in this anime is, it does suffer from some really epic missed opportunities. I do personally wish the fight scenes for as beautifully animated as they are lasted longer and there is a huge let down when you expect this big fight to happen between one of the mutants and D and unfortunately it doesn't happen and you only get to see the aftermath and the very small conversation after the fight happens off-screen.
The film also suffers from the curse of not establishing the overall encompassing villain until the end of the anime. The main antagonist of the anime is actually a very compelling and beautifully drawn character who loves to use manipulation and illusion in order to get their way by not only being an enemy to D but also being a villain to Charlotte and Baron Meier Link, but it feels cheaply tacked on when the overall chase between D and the Markus Brothers against Baron Meier Link and Charlotte was more than a suitable story by itself.
I do appreciate the fact that for as cool and as epic as the main protagonist is, he is certainly not invincible and he has many of the weaknesses that any vampire would have regardless if he is a half breed. It is always welcome in the world of action or horror if a hero gets beat up or suffers a moment of weakness because in a way it humanizes the character to know that each battle he puts himself there is some semblance of stakes involved. Any veteran of any type of action cinema is very well aware that the hero is obviously going to win but I personally don't want to see a one sided affair because it makes any conflict relatively boring. You want to see your hero fight tooth and nail to overcome every battle he puts himself in and not have such a relative cake walk towards all of his adversaries.
The music on the other hand is not really the greatest throughout the entire film. It's suitable but it doesn't really have that blow it away factor. I think for how beautiful the film is, it often distracts the other senses so while your strictly focused on looking at the film in both the foreground and background your often ignoring the music in the process. The film does have a very beautiful and timeless ending song that encompasses the very surreal and emotional ending.
Beyond the beautiful animation, I really have to give a lot of credit for the impressive amount of detail that was placed in many of the beautiful locations that this anime film takes place. Despite it's length we get to see a lot of variety with regards to many of the locations that the anime takes place in. From the old school stone streets in the opening city to a very beautiful and gigantic gothic castle during the film's final act. The anime is certainly not afraid to put an immense amount of detail into it's environment. It doesn't really matter if it's an urban city/town/village landscape or a strictly environmental landscape such as robust forests and arid deserts - this anime goes above and beyond to make these landscapes as beautiful as possible.
I think with regards to the overall story that the anime tried to present it was probably more suited as a four 45 minute episode OVA because there were segments of the anime that certainly felt rushed and there were quite a few characters I truly wish we could of spent a little more time with. It's one of those situations where you have to be grateful for what you have. Could the anime be turned into a 4 45 minute episode OVA, sure, but I think if it went that route then the detailed animation could of taken a horrible hit. I don't think the animation budget would of been as plentiful if it decided to go the OVA route. It's also as if they were going about this film knowing that there are a lot of awesome things to showcase but they had to do it sparingly in order to keep the film moving at a steady pace. They probably had an inkling that the fans were going to demand more of what was being presented but unfortunately it couldn't be done and ultimately we as the viewer have to be grateful for what we got to witness and most importantly enjoy.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is simply one of those films that can be enjoyed by anime fans across all generations but it can also be enjoyed by the overall movie going audience. Even if anime is not your thing, this film can actually resonate to the normal everyday film fan by focusing on what I personally feel makes films enjoyable. The film keeps the easy to follow plot moving at a steady pace, it offers beautiful incredibly detailed fight scenes, and it also has the ability to take a break from action set pieces to focus on some much needed character development. There is always something to enjoy for any film fan that want's to give this film a fair try. I highly doubt that if Vampire Hunter D ever comes into the world of animation again, it's going to have an incredibly hard time overcoming how truly beautiful and entertaining this film is. That's a legacy that any anime film would love to have and it strengthens it's overall resolve to be one of those beautiful animated films that will always stand the test of time even though we all just wish we got to spend a little more time in this world a little more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 8, 2025
I've always had a fondness for power-suits. For as long as I've been an anime fan I truly believed that I was mecha fan all my life but as I've gotten to increase the amount of anime that I've personally watched I discovered that I actually prefer power suits more than actual giant mechs. I just have this silly love of watching the transformation sequences as the human characters equip themselves with these suits regardless if their robotic or medieval in nature in order to unleash their full power. Thankfully you get your share of power suit armour shenanigans in this beautifully animated 4 part
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ova involving the ronin warriors.
Ronin Warriors: Legend of the Inferno Armour is a 4 part ova that focuses on the complexity and history of one of the ultimate abilities of the ronin warriors which is the power of the white inferno armour. An ultimate piece of armour that is summoned with the power of all 5 ronin warriors. However, for as powerful as this armour can be, if the warriors aren't careful it can actually lead to the destruction of their entire world especially if it engages in battle with it's counterpart which is the black inferno armour which is conveniently used by the antagonist of the entire ova. The antagonist is an African warrior by the name of Mukala that suddenly arrives in Japan and without any warning and even without any armour starts attacking the ronin warriors starting with Ryo. Ryo and the rest of the ronin warriors discover quite quickly that they are seriously out-skilled and outmatched and when all 5 warriors manage to show up in the very first episode the African warrior summons his black inferno armour to take them on. As the warriors start the technique to summon their white inferno armour, Cye decides to not align his power with the rest of the warriors in order to summon the white inferno armour because he has lost his will to fight and often wonders why he should keep battling to begin with. Thankfully his reservations about fighting saves the world from total destruction because at the very start of the ova the entire ronin warriors team is unaware of what will happen when the white inferno armour and the black inferno armour will battle each other. As a result of Cye's reluctance to help summon the white inferno armour, both Ryo and Sage are sucked into a portal which takes them to Africa where we finally get to learn the backstory of the warrior they're fighting and what they need to do to stop it. As the OVA progresses we also get to see that the ronin warriors learn very quickly that it may not be the African warrior that they have to worry about fighting when they finally understand that there is a true conflict between the power of their armours and their own personal virtues especially when their very own power can be their undoing especially when the white inferno armour is drawn towards fighting the black inferno armour and vice versa and it doesn't really care if it leads to the destruction of the entire world.
The anime in itself moves at a really good pace and it doesn't feel too long in the tooth. You have plenty of opportunities to watch the ronin warriors in action even though more often than not they're usually getting their butts kicked by a completely overpowered enemy. It's really an OVA that really focuses on the action without much in the way of character development . The ronin warrior that gets the most character development is obviously Cye because at the start he abandons his responsibilities as a ronin warrior and throws his power gem in the lake, but he ultimately finds his way and his motivation to fight again but his character development helps move the anime along when you need a break from the action and the exposition of the overall plot of the story while the rest of the ronin warriors in Japan try to find a way to get to Africa (Tanzania) in order to help Ryo and Sage. I think ultimately the biggest fault throughout this 4 part adventure is really the main antagonist. He doesn't really do much except battle and be ultimately corrupted by the black inferno armour. He barely speaks, with the only dialogue he uses is summoning the black inferno armour in a foreign language. Even when he isn't fighting he is very stoic but you can tell through his facial expression and body movement that he can be incredibly stubborn and hard headed. His bride to be that Ryo and Sage meet in the African village has much more of a personality and she is the one that provides a lot of the background story about her lover and the legend of the black inferno armour.
The action and there is plenty of it is pretty good and very entertaining but there is always a part of me that for all the multiple times that the ronin warriors fight Mukala the ronin warriors would come out on top but it's simply not the case. We do get to see the majority of the ronin warriors use their skills and weapons to the best of their ability but a lot of times they're simply no match for Mukala. It's not until the final battle where we get to see the ronin warriors excel to the best of their ability. There isn't really much in the way of humour but it doesn't really need it especially when the action stays relatively solid throughout the entire adventure.
Probably the biggest thing to love about this OVA is the quality of animation. For something that was made in 1989 it looks absolutely beautiful with a lot of beautiful detail to the backgrounds, character designs, and the detail of the armour. It really makes the action scenes pop and you can't help but marvel about how beautiful some of the backgrounds look regardless if it takes place in the city or on the african landscape. The music is a little better than average with the main opening theme being the major selling point with the music through each ova episode being fitting for what is being presented but it doesn't really do much to make it pop which is a crying shame because the music could really shine when it has such beautiful animation to use as it's emotional canvas.
I do have to give a lot of credit to the english dub of this OVA. There is a lot of well established mid to late 90's English voice actors associated with this OVA and it was incredibly easy to recognize their voices especially if you watched any of the English dubs of some of the first Gundam anime to hit North American Shores such as Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed. If your also familiar with the CGI shows of Mainframe such as Reboot and Shadow Raiders you can also hear some of the voice talent from those shows as well.
Ronin Warriors: Legend of the Inferno Armour is a very action packed and entertaining watch with personally some of the best animation I've seen from the late 80's that would match up with what you would see in Gunbuster or the later episodes of Bubblegum Crisis. It's a 4 part OVA with a plot that is very easy to follow and even if the antagonist is a little wooden and uninspiring it shouldn't hamper your ability to enjoy this little adventure in the world of the ronin warriors.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 1, 2025
In the world of animation, one of the best things that can happen to a well established television series is having the opportunity to make a film in order to continue the story-line that an animation studio worked so hard to tell the best story they could. Usually with films, you have a much bigger budget and more resources in order to put the best piece of animation you can out there for an audience that an animation studio has worked so hard to please. You think this would be an easy recipe for success but despite more resources and a possibly bigger budget, the
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biggest fault that can often come out of taking a well established property is you have to try to tell the best story you can in a 90 minute time frame which can often be hard especially when you have two seasons of a well established show to build from. Can you truly make a great film based on a really great story that took two full seasons to earn it's legacy? The harsh answer is - kind of.
This is sadly the case when it comes to Space Battleship Yamato: The Second Voyage. The second voyage is technically the third part of the Space Battleship Yamato story-line, but it's also the third movie with regards to Space Battleship Yamato because the first two Space Battleship Yamato films were condensed versions of the the first two tv seasons of the Space Battleship Yamato story-line. For me personally, this is my first entry into the world of Space Battleship Yamato but I often want to look at films on their own individual merits instead of trying to compare it to what was already established in the world of Space Battleship Yamato.
There is quite a few good things to take out of this film but the biggest problem with this film is that it has it's share of pacing problems and it does take a really long time to get to the action especially when your expecting this gigantic space opera just from the cover art alone. The film focuses on the character of Kodai as he and the rest of the Yamato crew take on a brand new set of fresh recruits onto the Space Battleship Yamato while they race to save their friends Queen Starsha and Mamarou from having the planet of Iscandar strip mined by the Dark Nebula Empire so they can have the resources needed to order to contribute to their war efforts. They also lend assistance to Desler and the remnants of the Gamilas Empire as they try to fight them off the best they can until the Space Battleship Yamato arrives on the scene.
For a film that showcases the Space Battleship Yamato, you barely get to the see the huge battleship in action. However, when it does get into the middle of the action it leads to some of the best action set pieces that the film has to offer. I just personally wish we could of seen more of the Yamato in action, The film does start off incredibly boring for the first half of the film. The space battleship is back on Earth for repairs especially for what that ship had to endure in the last epic battle it had to be a part of. They're low on crew members and they have to bring in a new set of cadets to assist with the running of the space battleship and there are plenty of scenes where we get to see their inexperience on a space battleship first hand as they struggle to run the battleship correctly and even use the weapons on the ship incorrectly. Unfortunately when you have a story that is condensed into a 90 minute time-frame you don't get to spend a lot of time learning about the new crew since the focus and rightfully so are focused on the well established characters of the Space Battleship Yamato story-line. There is a nice little memorial moment dedicated to the deceased members of the original Yamato crew during the beginning of the film. For a film you can't really expect a lot of character development especially for characters that are already established in the Space Battleship Yamato story-line. They do a good job of adding a little more development to the existing characters and we do get the conclusion of one character's story in the world of Space Battleship Yamato.
In the realm of science fiction you really have to suspend your sense of belief to get engaged in the film's story especially when it comes to dealing with a runaway planet that can hit warp speed with no sense of explanation. It's an unbelievable plot device, but a plot device all the same in order to keep the plot moving. One thing I do appreciate when it does come to the space battles is there is some great care put into realistic tactics when the space battles do begin. It's not as simple as showing up and blasting everything in site. You have to make sure the enemies are in range when firing the cannons, if your cannons don't work and the enemies ship is shielded then there is nothing wrong with trying to ram it, and even trying to find a way to attack the enemy while the enemy is using the planet as a shield to stop the good guys from firing their most powerful weapon. The good guys and bad guys have their share of casualties, more so for the bad guys and rightly so. Even Desler and the remnants of the Gamilas empire lose a lot of their ships while waiting for the Yamato to arrive. I do appreciate for as powerful as the Space Battleship Yamato is, it's not invincible and it does suffer it's share of the battle damage in the concluding space battle.
Another problem throughout the entire film is the inconsistent animation. When the film wants to look gorgeous for 1979, it absolutely looks gorgeous but there are several scenes of the film where you see a huge drop in animation quality. The best animation quality is definitely in the space battles and the long wide shots that show a lot of landscape or the high intensity space battles but it's usually during character interactions where you can often see the biggest drop in animation quality. The art as expected is absolutely beautiful as it would be expected when Leiji Matsumoto's character designs are involved. I still stand by the fact that he does some of the best and original designs of female characters in the world of anime to the point that it often feels like a new age renaissance of the female body as an art form.
The music also suffers some of the same fate. The movie does have a beautiful musical score but it's very inconsistent. When the musical score is utilized it is always a treat to listen to, but there are scenes throughout the animated film where little to no music is even used especially when it comes to some of the action in the film. You also expect in certain scenes that your going to hear this excellent musical score and you get sadly disappointed when there isn't any music to be heard of throughout the film. At least on the bright side, when the musical score is utilized in the film it's absolutely wonderful to listen and for the scenes it is used for absolutely matches the aura of the scene that it's trying to elevate.
The film is a serviceable attempt at continuing the overall story-line of Space Battleship Yamato, but a very boring first half and the inconsistencies with regards to animation quality and the lack of a musical score in certain scenes really hold this film back from being anything memorable. Once the space battle is over it does have a very touching and somber ending that will hit you in the feels and I think one thing that we can take from the world of Space Battleship Yamato is regardless if they're putting their best work forward or a lackluster attempt forward - they will always find a way for the viewer to take a somewhat positive experience out of what is being presented to you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 21, 2025
If your a teenage boy and you wanted to know the kind of conversations 14 to 15 year old girls have when the boys aren't around, boy is this anime going to scratch that itch whether you want it or not. The story of Joshi Kousei: Girl's looks at the lives of 6 teenage girls as they make the transition from middle school to high school and how they're excited and somewhat nervous about making that transition to high school. However, as they start they're first day oh high school they are constantly building up and exaggerating an unrealistic expectation on what to expect out
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of going to an all girl's high school with often results in a lot of great hilarity.
The biggest credit I will give to this anime and watching the misadventures of 6 teenage girls as they navigate the scary reality of going to high school for the very first time is that it's incredibly funny. I can't tell you how many times this anime has had plenty of laugh out loud moments regardless if it's through visual gags, embarrassing situations, or sharp witted dialogue but the funny thing is that the humour comes from all of the 6 anime girls to varying degrees. Even though we have 6 main characters in this anime with the girls Eriko and Akira taking up the majority of the spotlight and being responsible for some of the best humour throughout the anime, but I do appreciate the fact that each of the other school girls has their moment to shine throughout this entire experience. All these silly shenanigans take place throughout typical high school settings that you'd expect out of an all girl's Japanese high school such as the first day of school, the high school physical, different sports and cultural festivals, and even a good old fashioned trip to the amusement park during summer break.
I will hand it to this anime because the concept of the anime could of been really boring and incredibly clean cut while we watch a bunch of high school girls try to navigate high school but the anime goes the extra mile of tackling on topics that are not necessarily clean cut but in all actuality are topics that teen girls probably talk about to their female friends when their parents or boys are not around albeit they do it in hysterical fashion. They talk about periods, beauty tips, sex, body image, boys, getting a date, having a crush on their teacher, dealing with perverts, and dating parties which often leads into a lot of expected hilarity. They even take the time albeit not to a great detailed length that some of the girls have gone through some aspect of teenage life that many teenage girls have already experienced through adolescence. One of the female characters has already lost her virginity, one high school girl dreams of being an actress, one of the teenage girls has a boyfriend and is being unbelievable lovey dovey throughout the entire experience. Despite the anime's focus on humour throughout the many misadventures of trying to navigate an all girl's high school it does take a break about the halfway point of the anime when a meddlesome little sister of one of the 6 main female high school students goes to great lengths to sabotage the friendship that her older sister has with these 5 other girls. The little sister has issues of her own and it's up to the bigger sister to find out why she is acting this way while protecting the friendship she has with these 5 other girls. It gives the viewer a nice little break from the zany humour that you'll see throughout this anime.
The biggest elephant to address in the room when it comes to this anime is the fan-service and the fan-service in this anime is really a mixed bag. It never truly goes over the line of actually showing any nudity of any sort but the fan-service definitely is there with the amount of panty shots and close ups on specific female body parts throughout this 12 episode misadventure but the fan-service is done in such a way where it's exemplified from my perception for purely comical purposes. This is definitely the case in the episode where the girls are going through their high school physical by wearing these scantily clad hospital gowns as they navigate through the school to get through each section of the high school physical before the end of the school day and another case where the girls suffer wardrobe malfunctions as they're going down the water-slide at the amusement park. I personally think the anime does an excellent job camouflaging the tame fan-service with some well placed humour without making things too uncomfortable.
The plot of the anime in itself is very self contained minus the two serious episodes. You could watch the anime at any point and not really totally lost with whatever is transpiring throughout each of the episodes which gives this anime a very sit-com feel to it. It truly is about teen girls learning the ropes of getting through the first year of high school while maintaining the friendships they have with each other without getting on each other's nerves.
The anime is actually animated very beautifully for 2006, it has that feel of a late 90's anime while having a nice glossy finish with regards to how the teen girls are designed. The anime has this very brief gag at the very beginning of each episode where the teen girls are dressed up as a type of anime fandom regardless if it's pirates, samurai, detectives, or part of a rock band. I really love how the teen girls are animated during the ending credits of each episode. They all have their little dance that they perform during the end credits and the way that the girls are animated while they're dancing is probably some of the best animation I seen in this anime. The music that is used in each episode is passable, but the the highlights of the music is definitely the opening and ending themes with the ending theme of Joshi Kousei being my personal favourite.
I personally got my enjoyment out of this anime for having some really effective humour while tackling on topics that no boy really wants to listen. It's probably not a complete accurate representation of the things that teen girls talk about when it comes to going through high school but no matter what the characters talk about, or what playful struggles they have to endure you can be guaranteed that it's going to cause a lot of intentional humour because of it. This anime does something that often a lot of anime struggle with and that is they manage to make all the main characters in this anime completely likeable in their own little way which contributed to my overall enjoyment out of it. It's not going to blow you away, but I hope the great humour in this anime keeps you interested in watching it right to the very end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 17, 2025
The wonderful world of high school romance. Something I personally haven't had to worry about in 27 years. After watching this anime I think a part of me is grateful I went through all of high school without being involved with someone because it's not worth the stress to go through the mind games if someone is interested in me or not.
In the anime Maid Sama, we look at the character of Misaki Ayuzawa who is tasked with the responsibility of being her high school's first female class president in a high school that is normally an all boys school and it is only
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recently that this high school has allowed women to attend but unfortunately the ratio to men to women in this high school is 90% boys to 10% girls and Misaki is trying her best to get the boys to behave in order to attract more female enrollment to the school. However, she takes her responsibilities as the class president really seriously and is dead set on getting the boys to shape up with regards to their very degenerative behavior and enforces her strict policies with an iron fist which doesn't make her well liked among the school boy population. She tends to be very forceful, easily angered and irritated which doesn't make her the easiest person to approach or get along with. However, she has a secret that she absolutely needs to protect or else she will lose all credibility as being the class president and that secret is after school she works at a maid cafe in which her personality takes a complete 180 Degree Turn because when she works at the maid cafe she has to be cute, obedient, soft spoken and adorable in order to work at that job. She has to work at that job in order to help her mother, and her younger sister through the stress of paying bills.
Her world flips upside down when a high school boy by the name of Takumi Usei discovers her secret of working at a Maid Cafe and while Misa is worried about her secret being revealed by Usei - he promises to keep the secret to himself after hearing the reasons why she works at the Maid Cafe to begin, but this doesn't stop him from playfully teasing her about it while becoming a regular customer at the Maid Cafe whether Misa likes it or not. However, what Misa doesn't seem to realize is that throughout the entire anime Usei develops genuine feelings for Misa regardless if she wants them or not and the anime strictly focuses on helping Misa and Usei evolve as a couple as much as Misa doesn't want it to happen because she has always been capable of being a strong independent woman. No matter what Usei does in order to make her feel appreciated or valued, she finds a reason to reject it at every possible instinct while calling him names such as a perverted idiot or perverted weirdo. This pretty much sums up what your going to see to when you watch Maid Sama.
I think the biggest problem this anime has in my eyes is the characters have a hard time being likeable throughout the entire ordeal. Misa throughout most of the anime is very loud, obnoxious, stubborn, but she does have some tender heartfelt moments especially when Usei has to come to the rescue because she decides to take on whatever challenge she has to endure in many of the episodes on her own without much help. I can understand the desire of never wanting to be the damsel in distress but one of the most important lessons we have to learn is nobody gets anywhere in life without help. It's okay to ask for help just as much as it's okay to offer help. The funny thing is the humour really works in the first few episodes of the show especially when Usei playfully teases her instead of maliciously teasing her about the fact that she works at a Maid Cafe and she is trying to hide it from everybody. Every time Usei comes in to rescue Misa or try to make her life easier it does allow her to let her guard down and become more welcoming to other people in her life and take other people's suggestions a little more seriously on how to better the school. It's very obvious from the very beginning that Usei has genuine feelings for her, but despite Misa's stubbornness towards admitting the fact to herself that Usei likes her on top of the constant playful teasing from Usei it gets tiresome to watch this little cat and mouse game over 26 episodes. It also doesn't help that Usei has this perfection complex to himself and he seems to have a solution to every stressful situation that Misa is put in. Despite the anime being 26 episodes we really don't know a lot of backstory on his character or why he seems to be so good at so many things. It also doesn't help that there are many times where his attitude comes across as very controlling or stalkerish despite it may be done with the best of intentions.
Therefore lies the problem. This anime is way too long with too much useless filler to even be remotely engaging and I feel like by the half way point they're just trying to throw as many stories and scenarios into this high school romance in order to make the anime last longer but a lot of these episodes don't really have much pay-off and there are simply more episodes that do not help evolve the characters than there are episodes that are absolutely needed in order to to help evolve the main relationship between Misa and Usei but they are very few and far between. It seems like the anime often focuses more on ticking the boxes on what people want to see out of a high school romance anime instead of offering a very detailed analysis on Misa's and Usei blooming relationship without resorting to petty visual gags and tiresome/annoying minor characters.
Is there a school festival episode - Yes.
Is there a beach episode - Yes.
Is there a sports festival episode - Yes.
Are these episodes really needed to help evolve the plot - Sadly No.
Despite the over-bloating nature of the anime, there are some good things to take out of it. There are some episodes where Misa has to deal with a cruel and manipulative president of a rival high school that is very preppy in nature and there are other episodes where she has to take it upon herself to prevent the Maid Cafe from being bought out by pretending to be a boy to win a butler competition that is being hosted by the class president of the preppy high school. There are also some really good episodes where Misa has to deal with stalkers at the Maid Cafe and even schoolmates that want to undermine her hard work as class president at the high school. Also very late into the anime, we have a rival love interest that vies for Misa's attention as well but from my personal opinion it came into the anime's story way too late. The anime itself does offer a very heartfelt resolution by the very end but it doesn't happen until the final 7 minutes of the very last episode of the anime where it could of been much more engaging or emotionally impactful if it was done over an entire episode or even two episodes.
I don't think the anime has a very great and engaging supportive cast. They don't really offer much with regards to overall character development minus the odd exception. There are a group of three guys often referred to as the idiot trio that come to Maid Cafe just to see Misa and frankly their antics are borderline annoying. Misa does have two female friends that she has adventures with but they don't offer much to the overall story and there are a few characters that she constantly interacts with that she works with in the school council and even though these characters do have their own little stories in the entire length of Maid Sama, they're often times very forgettable and not important to the overall plot of the anime. We also get to see the characters that Misa works with at Maid Latte but they don't have any significant character development. I personally would of loved to see a more in depth analysis on Misa's relationship with her mom and her little sister and the struggles of helping her mom make ends meet in order to keep a roof over their head. I personally would of loved to see a story-line where her secret was accidentally revealed by Usei to the school and he had to redeem himself for Misa's sake. I felt these stories could of matured the overall plot of the anime but I understand the desire to keep things relatively lighthearted and carefree especially since this anime is catering more to the teenage audience more than anything else.
The art for the anime is absolutely fine. I do appreciate the fact that the Maid Cafe will often have different theme days which results in the maids wearing different outfits to cater to whatever event that Maid Latte is holding so that the overall audience isn't bored by seeing the same damn maid outfits each and every episode. The music is incredibly well done in the series with the both the opening and endings songs being quite enjoyable to listen to. The second ending song for the anime is my personal favourite.
Maid Sama is definitely an anime that can certainly get its enjoyment from a broad teenage audience and even I will admit that I am not the audience this anime is designed for. I will applaud the anime for always keeping the aura of a lighthearted humorous high school romance story without having to cater to any shallow fan service which makes it a great watch for fans of anime for all ages. However, it is an anime that loses a lot of focus with too many episodes, volatile main characters, unlikable minor characters, and a tendency for missing the mark when it could of matured the overall story. It's a harmless watch that you might be able to get a laugh out of it, but overall it's not very memorable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 5, 2025
Sometimes one of the cruelest things in the world of anime is when something has so much promise that you want it to see it be successful, but yet you have to endure the fact that you only get to enjoy just one episode of something that could of been so much more. This is pretty much the case of Riding Bean where the viewer only gets to enjoy one 45 minute ova episode of the adventures of Bean Bandit and his partner Rally Vincent. However, for as unsure as it may be - it's better to get something in the world of anime instead
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of nothing and thankfully what we did get is something incredibly enjoyable but it unfortunately leaves you wanting more.
The best way to sum it up is it's literally an animated episode of Miami Vice or Knight Rider that ignores the rules of syndicated television and is willing to show a little bit of nudity and some over the top violence. There is even some creepy lolitaism throughout the entire adventure. The funny thing is that these things come across very unexpectedly because within the first 5 minutes of the anime OVA your going to see some nudity and see people get killed in a brutal unapologetic fashion. It's almost jarring in a way because from the promotional art and trailers you get this impression that your in for a fun action based anime but you totally expect it to be PG, but instead you get something that is willing be a little bit ultra violent but it actually works.
Riding Bean focuses on the story of Bean Bandit and his accomplice Rally Vincent who are couriers for hire that accept a simple escort mission that unexpectedly turns into an elaborate kidnapping plot in which all hell breaks loose and it's up to Bean Bandit and Rally Vincent to survive the onslaught of cops and bad guys that go out of their way to either capture or even try to kill them while Bean and Rally try to determine who is pulling the strings and who is the true ringleader in this kidnapping plot.
It's a plot that you've absolutely seen before in any typical action movie or syndicated police show but the anime still manages to keep things fresh by keeping you guessing on how the plot will proceed and the true ambition of why a simple escort mission turned into being framed for a kidnapping while finding out the true motivation of why this situation happened to begin with. Everything does have this generic feel to it with regards to the mindless action set pieces and the elaborate car chases. No matter how generic it may be - it still retains a simplistic charm to it. The main characters are likeable and despite the short length of the OVA the good guys have their time to strut their stuff and the bad guys have their time to show how truly cruel and vindictive they are.
There are some brief moments of humor mostly from the the police Lieutenant Percy Bacharach who is deeply obsessed with trying to catch Bean Bandit by any means necessary even if it means wrecking his super powered muscle car in the process. One thing I will give this anime a lot of a credit is there is a lot of animated detail put into the car that Bean Bandit drives, but there is even a lot of animated detail put into the muscle car that the police lieutenant drives as well. I often feel like the vehicles that are placed in this anime have to be a little polished because the best action scenes throughout this short little ova involve some sort vehicular madness.
The animation is on par with what you would expect out of anime in the late 1980's to early 1990's. The characters are animated beautifully and regardless if certain scenes take place in the day or night the art matches the setting that the anime tries to present. The music is overall nothing too memorable but it's adequate for the scenes that it's presented in.
Overall, Riding Bean is adequate little adventure from Bean Bandit that pretty much ticks a lot of boxes if your looking for a typical police chasing outlaw story. It's serviceable but doesn't really do a lot to set itself above other anime that tries to do these types of story-lines. Unfortunately it is a little bit inferior to Gunsmith Cats, but I feel like you can only do so much in a 45 minute adventure and maybe if Riding Bean had a few more episode it would of scored a lot higher.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 12, 2024
Oh boy, where to begin with this one.
Queen's Blade: Grimoire is the 4th animated series in the successful Queens blade series and is my first experience with Queens Blade as a whole and despite the action in the series being surprisingly competent with some perfectly timed comedic moments - it is completely dominated by fan-service, fan-service, fan-service (Boobs, Boobs, Boobs) all the damn time. If that's what you want out of your anime, then this anime is definitely for you. Key note is that this short anime OVA takes place in an alternative setting from the established Queen's Blade series.
Queen's Blade Grimoire looks
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at the misadventures of a character by the name of Alicia who is a court magician that ends up opening a portal where a character by the name of Kyuel who has bunny ears comes out of the portal and lures Alicia into the portal that transports her into a world by the name of Mel Fair Land where Alicia desperately wants to get back to her own world. If you can't already tell, this is an homage to the traditional story of Alice in Wonderland and while Alicia is in this world she desperately needs to find and capture Kyuel in order to figure out a way back home but not without a few battles and a lot of silliness in between. Queen's Blade Grimoire in two short episodes basically takes established fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Little Mermaid and re-tells them in a queen's blade kind of way. Many of the characters established in this two episode OVA are going to be potential fighters for the next Queen's Blade tournament in Mel Fair Land.
With an OVA like this, I think the episodes move at a really good pace and when the action happens, fight scenes tend to be really good and really entertaining but it's completely blinded and bombarded by all the fan-service throughout the anime. Any time, and I mean anytime a battle happens or one of the many comedic moments happen - your going to see a breast. It's pretty much going to happen. Yet, every time Alicia loses her clothes regardless if its after a battle or when she drinks a potion that causes her to increase in size completely destroying her clothes in the process, the mad hatter shows up out of the blue and cuts her a brand new outfit.
The first half of the first episode of the OVA, focuses on plot elements from Alice in Wonderland while the second half of the first episode focuses on plot points from Little Red Riding Hood. This episode probably has the most hilarious moments especially when flowers randomly pop up and mock Alicia when she puts herself in an embarrassing situation. Villains are easily established without much depth but I don't think anybody would really watch this for the story. The second episode of this OVA literally focuses on the many plot elements of The Little Mermaid while putting in a pirate villain (Liliana) just to keep the flow of the story going. In the second episode of the OVA you have a mermaid that desires to have legs so she can dance like a human, and an overprotective father that is not a fan of her rebellious daughter. The mermaid (Tiina) is pretty much topless throughout the entire episode minus the poor excuse of a translucent top that she is actually wearing. There is also a behind the scenes villain by the name of Seiten that sporadically appears in both episodes and is kind of manipulating things behind the scenes.
As I stated above, when the action does happen it is entertaining but I find it incredibly laughable that it doesn't take long before there is a sword slash, or attack that results in having one or both of a female's breasts exposed. I guess in the world of anime, sex does indeed sell and this anime is certainly a perfect example of that. If you took the mountainous amounts of topless nudity, I think it would be a lot more enjoyable. The art is really well done, the designs of all the female characters are actually quite nice and I do like a lot of the weapon variety of many of the female characters that get their hands dirty when it comes to fighting each other. Surprisingly there is a bit of blood in the anime as well, especially when Alicia is fighting the big bad wolf in the second half of episode 1. The music is fitting for each scene it is used, but the anime doesn't really have any opening theme. It's just a story element to set up the initial plot-line of the episode and then the title card appears. That's pretty much it.
Overall, at it's very core Queen's Blade: Grimoire is the very definition of a fan-service anime. You can't really expect the most intricate of plots, but if you desperately need to see breasts all the time then this anime is for you. The fan-service comes across more comical than anything else but it's really hard to focus on anything else when there is nudity all the time throughout the anime even during it's most tense moments. There can be a few things to enjoy about it, but it's strictly a story that is fixated on its fan-service that it's hard to take anything else seriously even when it tries to be serious.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 11, 2024
Anime as an entertainment medium can delve into a lot of different topics but I often find that anime can often work its best magic when it can tell a very basic story but instead of being breathtaking or memorable, it abandons those to focus on pure simplistic charm. This is definitely the case with the film Esper Mami: Hoshizora no Dancing Doll.
Mami is a teenage girl that suddenly develops super powers and she has this ability to detect when people are in trouble and can automatically teleport to the area where she can help. She also has the powers of telekinesis and telepathy
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in order to aid her and the people that she lend assistance to. In this little adventure, she lends her assistance to a dedicated group of puppeteers that take great pride in performing puppet shows in order to bring joy into children's lives.
Mami actually comes across as an incredibly endearing character albeit a little naive and impulsive but her heart is always in the right place because not only does she truly care about helping people, but she likes performing tasks that increase her skill set because even though she is completely enamored with how much these puppet shows actually make the kids happy she actually gets into making puppets herself. For a film that is about 40 minutes long there isn't really a lot of story to tell, but it does cover a few mini stories that eventually get tied together at the very end.
One of the first stories that get addressed is a little girl that gets upset that her doll is missing because the doll was thrown out at the request of the child's father because ever since her mom died she has been completely fixated on the doll and nothing else which brings out concerns from her father. Mami and the puppeteers put on a random puppet show outside the girl's window to help her through this tragedy and reinforce the importance of her dad in her life. Another story focuses on a duo of gruff business men wanting to destroy the little shed that the puppeteers operate out of and they almost succeed with the use of a bulldozer and they almost succeed but Mami comes in to save the day with her superpowers and teach those degenerates a lesson. However, this entire ordeal has demotivated a lot of the puppeteers and they end up leaving the troupe. Even the two main members (Tomoko and Hideki) of the group are debating if they should continue, and the lead male (Hideki) of the group decides that it may be time to retire being a puppeteer and move back home permanently. Mami decides to intervene because she truly believes that his skill as a puppeteer should not be abandoned because of all the joy his puppet world puts into the world. While Hideki is resting in a park she uses her power to animate and voice the puppets to make him realize the error of his ways and it leads to a very heartfelt and very beautifully animated moment where the puppets are moving and flying on their own talking about how they won't be able to tell their stories anymore. Tomoko comes in at the very end to tell Hideki to not give up on his dreams, and that they should continue to make people happy.
The animation is really nothing to write home about and it's pretty standard fare for stuff that was released in the late 1980's but it has that animation style that you would see out of the 1980's astroboy anime. The music is nostalgic and a little better than average with a really cute opening song and proper music throughout some of the anime's more emotional scenes. I personally think it's a great anime for kids to watch and it teaches some very valuable lessons on how to overcome tragedy and to always follow your dreams. There are a few small scenes of Hideki smoking and drinking alcohol that may not be kid appropriate but I think the overall aura of the entire experience in this entire film is something kids could really enjoy. There are also a few cute comedic moments from Mami's dog Konpoko and some well placed comedy from Mami fighting off those gruff business men.
Esper Mami: Hoshizora no Dancing Doll is an anime that isn't going to blow you away and it's nothing you really haven't seen before if your well versed in magical girl anime from the 1980's. However, it's charming story is enough to keep the viewer entertainied with some really good lessons to take out of it. Always follow your dreams and always take advantage of an opportunity to help somebody because it could improve a person's life in ways you never thought imaginable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 9, 2024
We're delving into Pikotaro's comedy shenanigans in the second outing of his brand of humor with regards to children's bedtime stories. The length still remains the same for each of these episode are only 3 minutes long but instead of 3 episodes from the original net animation, we now have 9 episodes of his madness to deal with it. You know what's even more ridiculous is the fact that some of the humor in some of these episodes actually made me laugh which is why I'll give it a slightly higher score then the original net animation.
The premise is still the absolute same from
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it's first iteration. The animation is still stop motion characters that either vibrate, bounce, or move up and down on a single storybook page where characters are often zoomed in or zoomed out all depending on the insane plot that is present in any of these children's bedtime stories. They don't really make any sense all thing considering, but I often find that the longer I get exposed to Pikotarou's the more I'm kind of/sort of starting to understand his style and it does lead to some pretty humorous moments in some of his stories. I particularly liked his humor in the stories about Jack and Beanstalk and the Three Little Pigs.
The children's bedtime stories that covered in this 9 episode adventure of asinine insanity are:
The Ant and The Grasshopper
The Golden Axe
Jack and the Beanstalk
The King Has Donkey Ears
The Emperor's New Clothes
The North Wind and Sun
The Three Little Pigs
The Town Musicians of Bremen
Little Red Riding Hood
A lot of these episodes are purely nonsensical and they can have their share of funny moments as well, but even if the sense of humor and the animation style isn't your thing; the episodes are only three minutes long so it's not like it's going to suck up a considerable amount of your time. I personally think the humor works a little better in these 9 episodes than the first three episodes of Pikotaro's interpretation of classic children's bedtime stories but overall it was never that enjoyable or memorable to begin with.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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