Back to meganium's Profile meganium's Profile

Chinese dialogue with Japanese subs - watching this really put my limited reading ability to the test. Because of the childlike dialogue, the text is relatively easy to read, follow and understand. We follow her through her mundane everyday life, her narration as she's using the house phone, bullied at school, goes to the shops with her grandparents. Before I knew it I was completely immersed in this little girl's world.

And then it happens. My hair was standing on ends. I felt physically sick. Her innocent dialogue throughout the scene absolutely broke my heart. Her questioning the reality of what happened, as there's nobody to ... guide her through her horriffic experience. All you as a viewer can do is watch her stumble through her innocent thoughts and conflicting feelings. Her mundane world slowly distorts to darkness. The familiar everyday, once a source of comfort, now becomes her personal horror.

The art and visuals are impeccable. The direction is stunning in every sense of the word, and the juxtaposition of her beautiful town and the horrifying nightmares that haunt her as a result of her trauma explores her inability to process her feelings incredibly well. I'm thoroughly impressed with this work. Would be wonderful to see this subbed properly for more people to experience this short.

My Daddy Long Legs is a World Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of the 1912 novel by Jean Webster. I first read the book when I was 18, at a friend's recommendation, then watched the anime adaptation afterwards. Just like many Nippon Animation adaptations that came before and after this one, it faithfully adapts all the good, the bad and the ugly from the source material, for better or for worse.

I will begin with "the good", as there truly is a lot of greatness in this story. The anime perfectly adapted everything that is so lovable and charming about the protagonist, Judy Abbott. She brightens up the ... lives of everyone around her and is a girl with a hidden talent for writing. An orphan thrown into the world of the upper class, we watch her grow as she navigates this alien world with wit and dignity. And though her friends and classmates seem stuck up and unlikable at first, they too change and grow as they learn to be more humble and kind like Judy.

The world that Judy is surrounded by truly feels alive. This is also helped by the stunning art direction and strong sound direction. We watch the seasons change and the students of Lincoln Memorial School slowly physically age over the course of their education. The anime is filled with subtle and quiet moments where Judy will self reflect on her current situation with breathtaking background art and establishing shots of nature or the New York cityscape. As I watched these characters change I grew very attached to them all over again, only wishing for their happiness. However, as I knew the entire story already before starting the anime, the feeling of dread loomed over me knowing that under this easygoing slice-of-life, the problems that plagued the original novel were just as poignant here in it's on-screen adaptation. As they are problems rooted in the premise itself, there is very little even an excellent adaptation could fix.

Now let's explore the elements which may be "the bad" to some. There are a lot of aspects of this anime and story with which many people will simply not resonate with. If you do not find Judy an enjoyable protagonist, the likelihood of you enjoying 40 episodes of her journey to adulthood is unlikely. The character design is very simplified; they don't appear very realistic and at times even resemble caricatures. The plots and twists were easy to follow even in the novel, since the source material was relatively short - this is even more so in the anime adaptation. It makes the plot easy to follow, but simultaneously it makes it predictable and many might find it boring or slow.

By far the biggest change in this anime adaptation worth noting was the setting - while the novel begins with Judy Abott completing her university education with the assistance of her benefactor, in the anime this was changed to her entering high school. This was likely done to make the story more palatable to a younger and broader audience, as many anime under the World Masterpiece Theatre umbrella were produced in a similar manner.

Finally, I would like to explore "the ugly". In the case of Daddy Long Legs, the new high school setting has become a growing problem as the already complicated relationship between Judy and her guardian only grows worse when viewed through the lens of an adolescent girl. And though this was what always plagued the original novel, all these issues become significantly magnified the moment that Judy's age was changed and thus had a very negative effect on my enjoyment of this adaptation. The scenes that made me uncomfortable in the novel become borderline unbearable in the anime adaptation because of this one simple change.

There is no way of putting this lightly - at its worst, the core of the plot revolves around a glorification of grooming. And as these issues were always there in the source material, perhaps it shows that this anime should have never been adapted as a shoujo story. A seinen or jousei direction and with the original university setting would make this a more faithful and slightly more palatable adaptation of the source material. As I continue to watch the anime it becomes more difficult to ignore its problems, despite the charming characters and anime production. By all means do watch it for yourself if you are intrigued but discretion is heavily advised.

Before the mascot-creating corporate giant San-X filled store shelves with Rilakkuma, they did so with Afro-Ken. This short and sweet OVA by San-X and studio Sunrise follows the titular mascot character Afro-Ken and his friends living life and having fun in their bright and colourful world.

The OVA mostly opts for visual storytelling and wordplay for all the different afro dogs interacting with their afro world, thus there is no overarching plot to speak of. The intended audience for young children helps make it easy to understand what little context we get in narration. The plot is by far the weakest link of the OVA in ... retrospect, but when the anime isn't intended to be anything more than cute-afro-dogs-being-cute-things is the plot truly what's important?

However, what might seem like a bizarre passion-project meets young children's television at a glance, oozes with cuteness and charm. San-x have kawaii character designs down to a science, and the simple CGI models work great for the emphasis on the round and fluffy hair on everyone's heads. The simple model designs also helped the OVA age better than similar 3D style anime from the same era, which often opted for an ephasis on realism. The ocassional use of live action mixed with CG was a pleasant surprise and is also well utilised. What was potentially a workaround for budget restraints ends up further adding to the surreal and absurd aesthetic.

This OVA shouldn't work as well as it does. It certainly is obscure, featuring a beloved character that has been sadly cast aside and left in the early 2000's. From the lack of plot to the slightly dated CGI it might sound less like an anime and more like a review for AI generated videos for young children often seen on Youtube Kids today. However what sets this anime apart is that it features absurd humour that anyone can enjoy while also predating a lot of the internet meme culture commonly seen today. It's simply earnest and inoffensive fun at its best and an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a short watch that might make them smile.

Video Girl Ai is quite a hidden gem of its time. I found out about it by chance and whilst it was the stunning art that has drawn me in, the plot and characters is what made me stay. To be honest, I had low expectations for this anime, but finished the series pleased and surprised. I tried to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible.

Within the six episodes, each lasting only around 30 minutes, the story is explored in a captivating way. The pacing is good, as the plot forces the pacing to feel rushed, since Ai's time is limited; very fitting for an ... anime this short. One of the most surprising things I have found about the plot is how it felt so much different from other romance plots found in anime, as even the more recent romance series are not able to produce a love triangle as original as this. The main question of "who is Youta going to end up with?" is left ambiguous throughout the series, and the writers have done a fantastic job in exploring the relationship between the protagonist and the two girls. I must point out, however, that I felt that the part of the plot which covers Ai's origins was in my opinion the weakest part of the story, as I felt it lacked the charm and excitement which the remainder of the series has obtained. Overall, the plot is very good and easy to get the grips of, so I would rate the story an 8 out of 10.

As the art is what brought me to this series, I was hopeful to receive a dose of some stunning 90's anime artwork and I was not disappointed. From the character design to the background art and animation itself, this anime is a beautiful sight from start to finish. My favourite element by far is the artwork of the characters, especially Ai. The art captivates her bubbly and charming personality perfectly and she looks absolutely adorable! Though it perhaps may not look like anything spectacular to viewers used to seeing digitally drawn anime, I ask that you keep in mind that for the standards of the early 90's when this series was produced, it definitely is one of the more visually pleasing series to see. Art is a strong 10 out of 10 for me.

The audio, just like the art, has fully captured the charm of the 90's. The cheerful pop songs featured throughout the series fittingly add to the cute and sweet atmosphere which this anime emits. Though the opening and ending themes are quite lengthy, they are worth a listen because they are simply so uplifting. The seiyuu also do a wonderful job in capturing their characters' personalities. Although the cinema scene's English voice acting will most likely raise some eyebrows (it sure raised mine), maybe there is a song or two from the OST which will win you over. Even if you don't enjoy the anime, at least you might appreciate the beautiful soundtrack. Because of the voice acting in that one particular scene, the score for audio is hindered to a 9 out of 10.

Video Girl Ai focuses on a select few characters, and it does it well. The characters are not reduced to pitiful one dimensional archetypes which is an unfortunately common mistake amongst romance anime for the sake of quantity (*cought* harem). Even the girls - and especially Ai, our eponymous character - are expanded upon within the story, which is always a lovely sight to behold in a romantic plot where women are too often reduced to nothing more but a prize for the male characters. Not to mention that Ai is almost literally a prop for Youta, due to her origin as a video girl - for even her to have so much depth gives other anime no excuse to treat their characters with no less complexity as her. Youta makes a very lovable protagonist, and he matures a lot throughout those six episodes, which is by far one of the strongest foundations to what makes this anime so enjoyable. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to everyone: i thought that the popular boy Takashi, is an oddball. I don't intend to spoil the series, so I will simply say that I found the boy puzzling and didn't like him, though perhaps I just didn't understand him. Despite the well-written and realistic presentation of Ai, Youta and Moemi, Takashi and the simpler supporting characters have lowered the score of the characters to a 7 out of 10.

When I watched this anime, I did so with an open mind, almost unknown to what I was about to see, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. To be honest, I don't quite understand how Video Girl Ai isn't more known, as it ticks so many boxes for a majority of anime fans: it's beautiful to the eyes and ears, it's exciting, it's thought provoking, and it's good entertainment (and it's a heaven for those 90's kids who think the 90's was the best decade in human history). If you like romance, fanservice, and cute girls, this anime is certainly for you. Still not convinced? It will only take around 3 hours to watch the entire OVA, so you might as well give it a shot. Or, at least, listen to 'Message' by Nav Katze which is one of the most entrancing songs I ever had the pleasure to find in an anime.