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Summer Anime 2010 . . . Part 1

By spazmaster666 July 8, 2010 12 Comments

Well, the summer anime season has started and once again there are many new anime series that we can waste our time with. Since, the season has just started and only a few series have aired so far, I decided to split this blog into two parts. I will give my two cents on the new series that have started airing so far. After all the new series have aired at least one episode, I'll write up the second part. Anyway, on to the shows . . .

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

Production: J.C. Staff
Premiered: July 1, 2010
Genre: Romantic comedy, fantasy
Synopsis (from ANN): A love comedy parodying fairy tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Ant and the Grasshopper," etc. Ookami Ryoko (Ookami-san) is a spunky high school girl. She is a member of a "fixer" club so called Otogi High School Bank. She fixes the school's problems with her partner Akai Ringo (Akazukin-chan.)
Thoughts: Ookami-san has all the makings of a great anime (well at the very least a very entertaining anime). There's the tsundere female lead Ryouko, the extremely socially inept male lead Ryoushi, fourth-wall breaking antics, is narrated by Shirai (from Toaru Majutsu no Railgun), not mention that all this is wrapped up in a romantic comedy with character designs reminiscent of J.C. Staff's earlier Toradora!. The first episode was quite enjoyable, with some very funny moments (and a few not so funny ones). There are definitely some cliches at work here, as well as typical anime stereotypes but there is definitely a lot of potential for this series. My major concern at this point however is again J.C. Staff's ability to handle the animation. They have been incredibly inconsistent in the past in terms of animation quality and given that this show seems to have some significant action sequences, this could prove problematic in the long run.

Amagami SS

Production: AIC
Premiered: July 1, 2010
Genre: Romance, drama
Synopsis (from ANN): Based on the PlayStation 2 romance simulation game Amagami by Enterbrain. A second-year high school boy finds himself uneasy during Christmas time due to an experience in the past. However, this year at Christmas, he gets his last chance to ask out a graduating female senior named Haruka Morishima — or one of several other classmates. The story of the anime will be arranged in an omnibus format, with each heroine getting her own version of the story animated. Each heroine will sing her own version of the ending theme song.
Thoughts: I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this series so far. I had initially thought it was going to be a romantic comedy (with some fairly popular seiyu at that) but it turned out to me a romance/drama series more akin to True Tears. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as True Tears was probably one of the best romance series I've ever watched. But in general, I'm not a big fan of a straight up romance/drama series so while I definitely will continue to watch this series, my interest level has definitely decreased. However, there aren't many romance drama series these days (in fact, True Tears is probably the last one of any significance) so Amagami SS definitely will stand out amongst the crowd in the sense that there really hasn't been many shows like it in recent memory.

The Legend of the Legendary Heroes

Production: ZEXCS
Premiered: July 1, 2010
Genre: Fantasy, comedy, adventure
Synopsis (from ANN): Raina Lute is a lazy student of Roland Empire Royal Magician's school. One day, Roland Empire goes to war against a neighboring country Estaboole, and he lost his classmates in the battle. After the war, Lute sets out for a journey to search the relics of a "Legendary Hero" at Emperor Zion Astar's command. And he finds out a deadly curse spreading the continent.
Thoughts: Being proported as an "anti-heroic" fantasy, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes (the redundant title is even more blatantly redundant in Japanese) is basically a light-hearted fantasy series with a nice balance of action, adventure, and comedy. The characters themselves are fairly derivative (i.e. Raina basically has a sharingan) and the first episode makes no concessions on the number of characters and plot points it throws at you. However, while many aspects of the show scream "generic," I actually had a lot of fun watching the first episode. Besides, I've had my fill of actually serious fantasy shows at this point, so a light-hearted one is quite appealing. And I suppose, the story may turn out to be interesting, but shows like this always run the risk of having way too much back story and subplots. However, I'm getting some Scrapped Princess vibes from this, which is never a bad thing (well for me that is). Some else to be noted is that this show has already been licensed by Funimation and is being simulcasted by through their video service.

Seitokai Yakuindomo

Production: GoHands
Premiered: July 3, 2010
Genre: Comedy
Synopsis (from ANN): Takatoshi is a new student in a recently gender-integrated high school, and is asked to join the student council as the vice president. Thus begins his days as the only normal boy among 3 female student council officers.
Thoughts: This is yet another anime based on a 4-koma manga series. The situation is basically the reverse of Kaichou wa Maid-sama where you have a all-girls school becoming a co-ed school, with you typical cast of quirky characters, each with their own eccentricities, and of course Takatoshi (the "normal" protagonist). Some of the jokes are pretty hilarious (for instance, Shino, the student council president, tends to put a perverted spin on almost everything she says), especially in they way that the punchlines are delivered. Given that this is based on a 4-koma manga, there is definitely a lot of space to fill in-between the jokes, but the first episode did a very good job of keeping a consistent pace (something that KyoAni should be doing with K-On!!). Plus, the fact that we have Mio and Ritsu together in a student council setting doesn't hurt either (i.e. the seiyuu who portray Mio and Ritsu in K-On! also portray two of the main characters in this series). Given that this is a 13-episode series, I'm hoping that we won't be seeing a lot of filler, which is typically what happens when we have 4-koma manga that adapted into anime. Otherwise, this promises to be an entertaining high school comedy in the vein of Minami-ke or Lucky Star.

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~

Production: Seven Arcs
Premiered: July 4, 2010 (advanced screening on June 13, 2010)
Genre: Action, comedy, romance, ecchi
Synopsis: The battle to find the supreme Sekirei continues. Still some of the fighters and their masters refuse to participate in the battle since losing it means to lose the Sekirei forever, and many of them actually care about their partners, while others just use them as tools. A storm is rising on the horizon, a bigger threat approches the city and its about to bring pain and suffering to those who love and care for their Sekireis.
Thoughts: For those unfamiliar with the original series, Sekirei basically ends with a "to be continued" message on the screen, as such it's no surprise that there was going to be a sequel. As with many ecchi series, Sekirei is the type of show that you either love or hate. Personally I never had much love for the original but it certainly was entertaining, if not having much actual substance (i.e. along the lines of character or plot development). So the fact that this is a continuation of the original series has probably biased me in favor of it since I want to know how the story is continued. That said, if you're not a fan of ecchi, you're probably not going to like this show despite it's action/comedy elements. The first episode itself basically just served to reintroduce us to the series so it was more or less uneventful. Still the production values have definitely been improved from the original, which is a good thing in more ways than one. ;)

Gakuen Mokushiroku - Highschool of the Dead

Production: Madhouse
Premiered: July 5, 2010
Genre: Action, drama, horror, romance, thriller
Synopsis (from ANN): Takashi Komuro is a normal highschool boy, until an infection breaks out that turns people into zombie-like creatures. Along with his friends & the school nurse, they fight their way out and continue their journey to find out what exactly has happened to the world.
Thoughts: In a nutshell, Highschool of the Dead is about hot chicks killing zombies. Now that may seem like a criticism, but it really isn't. After all, the manga this was based on was all about fan service, and the anime definitely seems to be leaning in that direction as well (though considering this is Madhouse, fanservice is guaranteed). Sure the first episode had some dramatic moments, but in the end, this is a show about fanservice and zombies. Lots of zombies. In fact, I really enjoyed the fact that the reason for the zombie outbreak isn't really well explained. After all, who really cares what the cause is? All we need to know is that the Zombie apocalypse is here and get our baseball bats ready to bust some brains. What did I enjoy most about the first episode? Well, we see some of the classic cliches of many Zombie films, lots of shots of people getting eaten, a fair share of blood and gore (though Madhouse has thus far refrained from showing the most brutal moments), and of course boobs. Seriously, Zombies and breasts, what else do you need?

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (Occult Academy)

Production: A-1 Pictures
Premiered: July 5, 2010
Genre: Comedy, supernatural
Synopsis (from ANN): The story revolves around Maya - The daughter of the Former head Master of a private Japanese academy dedicated to the study of the occult who died in 1999, and a time traveling agent Uchida a mysterious young man who travels back in time from 2012
Thoughts: Honesty, at this point, I'm starting to question the wisdom of A-1's Anime no Chikara initiative. The previous two titles, So Ra No Wo To, and Senkou no Night Raid had great atmosphere sure but were overall pretty bland, and/or derivative. At first sight, Occult Academy also feels relatively generic, from the setting, to the characters, nothing about the show feels particularly fresh or original. However, as a supernatural comedy, it definitely delivers the goods and the result is entertaining, if not particularly revolutionary. Maya's rather cynical attitude toward the occult is often amusing, and A-1 definitely delivers in the animation department with some very impressive visuals. The humor is often very tongue-in-cheek and the horror elements are generally there to be made fun of, and not really meant to scare anyone. This looks to be by far the most promising of the three Anime no Chikara shows in existence so far, and I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming episodes (especially now that Uchida, the time traveler has arrived).

Overall, the summer season has some promising shows, though it does seem less attractive overall compared to the Spring. Well, that's about it for the first part of this blog. I'll be returning in a few days to wrap up the remainder of the summer shows (i.e. with the likes of Mitsudomoe and Strike Witches 2).

As always, thank you for reading this mostly meaningless blog, and enjoy your summer anime! (or just enjoy your summer ;))

12 Comments

SSD, Is it Really Worth it? Well, Yes and No . . .

By spazmaster666 June 17, 2010 5 Comments

Being the recent owner of a Corsair Nova 128GB SSD, I figure I might as well share some of my experiences with the drive. As a first time SSD owner, and after hearing many great things about SSDs vs traditional mechanical hard drives, I still wasn't entirely convinced until I saw first hand the improvements it makes to overall system responsiveness. Before I talk subjective points, here are some benchmarks I took with HD Tune Pro on all the hard drives installed on my current system:

Drive	Min Read (MB/s)	Max Read (MB/s)	Avg Read (MB/s)	Access Time (ms)
Corsair Nova 128GB SSD SATA II	170.7	206.1	201.5	0.1
Seagate 750GB 7200.11 SATA II	30.7	75.4	55.8	16.2
Seagate 1TB 7200.11 SATA II	57.3	119.9	96	14.9
Seagate 500GB USB 2.0	28.6	32.8	32.2	13.6
Seagate 500GB USB 2.0	31.7	32.5	32.1	13.6
Seagate 1.5TB 5900.11 eSATA	49.8	101	80.6	14.6
Seagate 500GB 7200.11 eSATA	38.2	65.7	59.8	13.1
Seagate 1.5TB 7200.11 eSATA	59.8	124.8	97.4	15.3
Maxtor 500GB 7200rpm eSATA	35	72.2	56.9	14

(Note: yes, I realize I should replace the 500GB drives with a couple of 2TB drives, but haven't gotten around to it . . . :P)

Compared to the two fastest mechanical drives I own, the SSD has easily double the read speed (and note, it only spiked down to 170 MB/s on a few rare occasions so it was more or less reading at a constant 200 MB/s), and 150x faster access times.

Of course, benchmarks alone don't mean much, so I'll also share some of my subjective experiences. I had previously been running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit on the 1TB Seagate 7200.11 drive and while it definitely wasn't slow, comparing it to the SSD installation is really like night and day. Start up times are minimal now and while shutdown times aren't quite as short, they are still significantly better. Most applications that usually take anywhere five to ten seconds to load now load instantly or in one to two seconds. Photoshop loads in about three seconds, Word and Firefox almost instantly, etc. Searches on the drive are lightning fast, and of course, shorter load times on games.

The downside though is also pretty clear. 128 GB is not a lot of space. It's certainly enough for Windows + core apps + a few games, but on my other install, Windows + apps wound up in the neighborhood of ~450 GB. This means that I will have to run less important programs and most of my games off of a separate drives, meaning load times and responsiveness of those programs won't be affected. Not to mention I spent $330 on this drive (ordered from Amazon) whereas I spent about $125 (at the time) when I purchased my 1TB drive (now, the price would be closer to $85), and can purchase a 2TB drive for ~$150.

So, was it worth the money? Well, I would say yes as now, multitasking is faster and smoother than ever (and as a big multitasker, the quick load up times for apps really is significant). But for most people, it's probably not worth the money just to save some seconds, at least not until the price comes down to a reasonable level. For gamers, shorter load times on games will certainly be useful but games these days don't really have long load times to begin with (the days of Half-Life 2 load times are a thing of the past) so it's probably not going to make much of a difference in that regard either (i.e. a faster CPU, more RAM, and more powerful GPU is still a better upgrade for gamers than an SSD in most cases).

Still, I'm quite happy that I spent the money as it has definitely alleviated of some of the frustrations of daily PC use (which is substantial in my case).

$329.99 of . . . fun?

P.S. Can't believe the Celtics blew their 13 point lead . . . this has become a theme for them the entire season. Still, Lakers played well and that was one hell of a game 7.

5 Comments

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I want an iPhone 4 . . .

By spazmaster666 June 8, 2010 12 Comments

Okay, as self-proclaimed Apple hater, I've purposefully avoided Apple products judicially for as long as I can remember. That's right, I'm one of those people who got a Creative Zen/MS Zune (I love my Zune HD btw) instead of an Ipod and an Android phone instead of the iPhone. And as awesome as the iPad would be as an anime/manga viewing device, it still does not justify the price tag. However, after looking into the next-gen iPhone 4 that Apple will be launching in June 24th, I'm starting to want one. Maybe it's the awesome 960x640 screen, the improved camera and WIFI or maybe it's because the HTC Evo that I was so looking forward to ended up having such poor battery life. The only issue of course is the lack of 4G support. But given the increased battery consumption as well as the lack of nationwide 4G availability at this point, it's not something that really bothers me (sure we have great 4G coverage here in Austin but that's not true even elsewhere in Texas). I've heard people complain about AT&T but such people probably have no idea how bad Sprint is (I'd even prefer T-Mobile over Sprint; note, I"m referring to customer service not coverage) so I'm more than willing to switch over.

So congratulations Steve Jobs, you finally got me as I fully expect to be a first-time iPhone owner sometime this Fall (when my contract with Sprint expires of course). Damnit, I'm already sounding like a jackass. ;)

12 Comments

Finally decided on my new laptop . . . it's a Dell!

By spazmaster666 June 1, 2010 22 Comments

I had been debating about what laptop I should get to replace my broken HP for several months now. I was mostly debating whether or not I should go with a big, powerful gaming laptop or a more business oriented one (since I'll be using it for pharmacy school rotations as well as personal use) with a price range of <$2000. I was looking at the ASUS G73JH-A1 at one point with its massive processing capabilities (especially the Mobility Radeon 5870) as well as the Dell Studio XPS 16 for it's awesome RGBLED 1920x1080 screen and great feature set. However, neither of those options had great battery life or portability, not to mention the Studio XPS 16 looks like it has questionable build quality and heat issues. After looking at the business grade offerings, the Dell Latitude E6510 really appealed to me. High build quality, great warranty (my school has Dell certified techs so I can do repairs directly through them), good thermals, and specs that were not exactly geared toward gaming but definitely powerful enough for most of my other needs (namely some number crunching, multimedia, and multitasking).

Finally, the 31% discount coupon on the Dell E6510 clinched it for me (it expires on June 2, BTW if you're interested). I figure that in the end, its build quality that matters the most with laptops and the Latitude line is up there with Lenovo Thinkpads or HP Elitebooks in terms of build quality. Also I already have a pretty decent gaming PC so I decided that I probably wasn't going to be playing a lot of serious games on my laptop and thus put more focus on battery life and thermals. So I placed my order today with the following specs:

Latitude E6510

Processors: Intel® Core™ i7-620M (2.66GHz, 4M cache) with Turbo Boost Technology (3.06GHz)
Operating Systems: Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64-, no media
System Color and Mobile Broadband Ready: Slate Silver, Mobile Broadband ready
LCDs: 15.6" UltraSharp™ FHD(1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED with Premium Panel Guarantee
Hardware Support Services: 3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year Next Business Day On-Site Service
Graphics: 512MB NVIDIA® NVS 3100M
Memory: 4.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS (will probably upgrade to 8GB once the 4GB DIMMS fall in price)
Internal Keyboard: Internal English Backlit Keyboard
Camera / Microphone: Light Sensitive Webcam and Noise Cancelling Digital Array Mic
Systems Management: Intel vPro™ Technology’s advanced management features
Primary Storage: 160GB 5400rpm Hard Drive --> will be replaced with a 128GB Corsair Nova SSD (since Dell OEM SSD, made by Samsung, aren't very good)
Primary Optical Device: 8X DVD with Cyberlink Power DVD™, no media (may be replaced with an LG Slim Bluray Combo drive later on)
Wireless LAN (802.11): Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 802.11a/b/g/n Half Mini Card
Bluetooth: Dell Wireless® 375 Bluetooth Module
Fingerprint Reader Options: Internal Swipe Fingerprint Reader and Contactless Smartcard Reader
Latitude ON: Latitude ON Reader
Primary Battery: 9-cell (90Wh) Lithium Ion Battery
AC Adapter: 90W A/C Adapter (3-pin)
Complete Care: 3 Year CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection

List Price: $2,099.00
Discounted Price: $1,448.31 + $119.49 tax + $329.99 (for the 128GB Corsair Nova SSD) = $1897.79 total

I was originally planning on upgrading to the i7-720QM but after looking at benchmarks and power consumption numbers decided that the 620M was good enough for my purposes. One thing I do find annoying is this trend of 16:9 resolutions on laptops rather than 16:10. Sure 1920x1080 is a more common HD standard, but I'd much rather have a 1920x1200 screen (you really do lose a significant amount of screen real estate). Well, I suppose I shouldn't really be complaining too much since 1080p on a 15.6" screen is more than adequate.

According to Dell, the estimated ship date is June 15th, and with the free 3-5 day shipping, the estimated delivery date is June 18th (though considering I live about 15 miles from their main headquarters, you would think it would be faster). Also since I'm having it shipped to my school (it has to be inspected by the IT guys there first) I probably won't get my hands on it until July. Anyway, the 31% is pretty awesome and saved me about $650 on what otherwise would have been a $2400+ dollar system (with the SSD included). Not a bad bargain IMO (well ~$1900 after tax is still no joke). I'm hoping that this laptop will last me at least three to four years (compared to my previous laptop which only lasted about a year and a half, lol).

Anyways, I'm excited that I'll soon have a laptop again. It's amazing how much you can miss something that doesn't seem that significant (since I already have two desktops) until you go about six months without it (i.e. taking notes by hand was painful for the past few months without my laptop). :P

In other news, it's about 100 degrees F here in Austin, which means my electric bills this month will definitely exceed $100. It's funny how we basically had a thunderstorm a couple of days ago and now the temperature hits triple digits. Well that's Texas for you.

22 Comments

Anime of the Decade Part 2: The Big List

By spazmaster666 May 21, 2010 18 Comments

The follow up to my previous top ten list, this blog post has the opposite focus: to list all the anime of the past decade (movies, and OVAs included) that are either high in quality or worthwhile watches. Since going through each title and writing a summary would be way too time-consuming, I'm just going to list the titles by year. This should be a much more comprehensive list of all the anime (that I've watched at least) that I feel is worth you time to go see if you are so inclined.

Edit:

To m ake this list more readable, and to make it easier to distinguish between series which I felt were OK versus series that I felt were great or recommended, I will put the latter in bold and italics. I've also removed some series from the list that weren't supposed to be on there (I basically took a list of all the anime produced in the last decade and took off the ones that weren't worthwhile or those I haven't watched)

2000

Ah! My Goddess: The Movie (Movie)
Banner of the Stars (TV)
Blood: The Last Vampire (Movie)
Boogiepop Phantom (TV)
Boys Be... (TV)
Ceres, Celestial Legend (TV)
FLCL (OAV)
Gate Keepers (TV)
Love Hina (TV)
Saiyuki (TV)
Vandread (TV)
Weiß Kreuz (OAV)

2001

Angelic Layer (TV)
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (movie)
Fruits Basket (TV)
Galaxy Angel (TV)
Hellsing (TV)
Metropolis (movie)
Millennium Actress (movie)
Read or Die (OAV)
Spirited Away (movie)
Vandread: The Second Stage (TV)
You're Under Arrest Second Season (TV)
X (TV)

2002

Ai Yori Aoshi (TV)
Azumanga Daioh (TV)
Chobits (TV)
Full Metal Panic! (TV)
Getbackers (TV)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV)
Hunter X Hunter (OAV)
Kiddy Grade (TV)
Love Hina Again (OAV)
Macross Zero (OAV)
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (TV)
Naruto (TV)
Please Teacher! (OAV)
RahXephon (TV)
SaiKano (TV)
The Twelve Kingdoms (TV)
Witch Hunter Robin (TV)

2003

Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ (TV)
D.N.Angel (TV)
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (TV)
Fullmetal Alchemist (TV)
Gungrave (TV)
Gunparade March (TV)
Gunslinger Girl (TV)
Last Exile (TV)
Munto (OAV)
Ninja Scroll (TV)
Planetes (TV)
Please Twins! (TV)
R.O.D -The TV- (TV)
RahXephon (OAV)
RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio (movie)
Rumbling Hearts (TV)
Scrapped Princess (TV)
Texhnolyze (TV)
Tsukihime, Lunar Legend (TV)
Wolf's Rain (TV)

2004

Air (TV)
Appleseed (movie)
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (TV)
Bleach (TV)
Burn-Up Scramble (TV)
Elfen Lied (TV)
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (TV)
Gantz (TV)
Genshiken (TV)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (movie)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG (TV)
Girls Bravo (TV)
Howl's Moving Castle (movie)
Initial D: Fourth Stage (TV)
Koi Kaze (TV)
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny (TV)
Monster (TV)
My-HiME (TV)
Re: Cutie Honey (OAV)
Samurai 7 (TV)
Samurai Champloo (TV)
School Rumble (TV)
Tenjho Tenge (TV)
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (movie)
Yakitate!! Japan (TV)

2005

Ah My Buddha (TV)
Ah! My Goddess (TV)
Air (movie)
Angel Heart (TV)
Aquarion (TV)
Aria the Animation (TV)
Basilisk (TV)
Black Cat (TV)
Blood+ (TV)
Elemental Gelade (TV)
Eureka Seven (TV)
Eyeshield 21 (TV)
Fate/stay night (TV)
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (TV)
Gunparade Orchestra (TV)
GUNxSWORD (TV)
Honey and Clover (TV)
Kamichu! (TV)
Mushi-Shi (TV)
My-Otome (TV)
Negima! (TV)
Paradise Kiss (TV)
Peach Girl (TV)
Shakugan no Shana (TV)
Shuffle! (TV)
Solty Rei (TV)
Speed Grapher (TV)
Suzuka (TV)
Trinity Blood (TV)
Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (TV)
XxxHOLiC the Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream

2006

Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy (TV)
Air Gear (TV)
Black Lagoon (TV)
Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (TV)
Buso Renkin (TV)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (TV)
D.Gray-man (TV)
Death Note (TV)
Ergo Proxy (TV)
Flag (TV)
Freedom (OAV)
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (OAV)
Genshiken (OAV)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society (movie)
Gintama (TV)
Hellsing (OAV)
Honey and Clover II (TV)
Innocent Venus (TV)
Inukami! (TV)
Kamisama Kazoku (TV)
Kanon (TV 2/2006)
Kasimasi - Girl Meets Girl (TV)
Kiba (TV)
Le Chevalier D'Eon (TV)
Musashi (TV)
My-Otome Zwei (OAV)
NANA (TV)
Negima!? (TV)
Origin ~Spirits of the Past~ (movie)
Otoboku - maidens are falling for me! (TV)
Ouran High School Host Club (TV)
Paprika (movie)
Pumpkin Scissors (TV)
REC (TV)
School Rumble: 2nd Semester (TV)
Strawberry Panic! (TV)
Tekkonkinkreet (movie)
The Familiar of Zero (TV)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (movie)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV)
Utawarerumono (TV)
Welcome to the NHK (TV)
XXXHOLiC (TV)
Zegapain (TV)

2007

5 Centimeters Per Second (movie)
Aa Megami-sama: Tatakau Tsubasa (special)
Appleseed: Ex Machina (movie)
Baccano! (TV)
Bamboo Blade (TV)
Clannad (TV)
Claymore (TV)
Darker than BLACK (TV)
Devil May Cry (TV)
Ef - a tale of memories (TV)
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone (movie)
Genshiken 2 (TV)
Ghost Hound (TV)
Gurren Lagann (TV)
Hayate the Combat Butler (TV)
Hidamari Sketch (TV)
Inukami! (movie)
Kara no Kyoukai - the Garden of sinners (movie)
Kaze no Stigma (TV)
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~Next Season~ (OAV)
Lovely Complex (TV)
Lucky Star (TV)
Macross Frontier (TV)
Minami-ke (TV)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (TV)
Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit (TV)
Nodame Cantabile (TV)
Oh! Edo Rocket (TV)
Romeo × Juliet (TV)
School Days (TV)
Shakugan no Shana (movie)
Shakugan no Shana Second (TV)
Sketchbook ~full color'S~ (TV)
Sola (TV)
Sword of the Stranger (movie)
Tales of Agriculture (TV)
Toward the Terra (TV)
Vexille - 2077 Isolation of Japan (movie)
You're Under Arrest: Full Throttle (TV)
Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi (TV 2)

2008

The Sky Crawlers (movie)
The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk (TV)
Birdy the Mighty Decode (TV)
Casshern Sins (TV)
Chaos;HEAd (TV)
Clannad After Story (TV)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (TV)
Ef - a tale of melodies. (TV)
Ga-Rei -Zero- (TV)
Golgo 13 (TV)
H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~ (TV)
Kaiba (TV)
Kamen no Maid Guy (OAV)
Kamen no Maid Guy (TV)
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens (TV)
Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de (TV)
Koihime†Musō (TV)
Kure-nai (TV)
Lucky Star (OAV)
Maria Holic (TV)
Minami-ke: Okawari (TV)
Mission-E (TV)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season (TV)
My-Otome 0~S.ifr~ (OAV)
Nabari no Ō (TV)
Nodame Cantabile: Paris (TV)
Persona -trinity soul- (TV)
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (movie)
Rosario + Vampire (TV)
Rosario + Vampire Capu2 (TV)
S.A (TV)
School Rumble Sangakki (OAV)
Sekirei (TV)
Slayers Revolution (TV)
Soul Eater (TV)
Spice and Wolf (TV)
Strike Witches (TV)
Tales of the Abyss (TV)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Guren-hen (movie)
To Love-Ru (TV)
Toaru Majutsu no Index (TV)
Toradora! (TV)
True tears (TV)
XxxHOLiC: Kei (TV)
Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo (TV 3)

2009

Bakemonogatari (TV)
Basquash! (TV)
Birdy the Mighty Decode:02 (TV)
CANAAN (TV)
Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini (TV)
Eden of The East (TV)
Eden of The East the Movie I: The King of Eden (movie)
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance (movie)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV)
Hayate the Combat Butler!! (TV)
Kämpfer (TV)
Kiddy Girl-and (TV)
Kimi ni Todoke (TV)
Kobato. (TV)
Koihime†Musō (OAV)
K-ON! (TV)
Ladies versus Butlers! (TV)
Letter Bee (TV)
Minami-ke: Betsubara (OAV)
Minami-ke: Okaeri (TV)
Nyan Koi! (TV)
Princess Lover! (TV)
Rideback (TV)
Saki (TV)
Shakugan no Shana S (OAV)
Shin Koihime†Musō (TV)
Slayers Evolution-R (TV)
Sora Kake Girl (TV)
Sora no Otoshimono (TV)
Spice and Wolf II (TV)
Summer Wars (movie)
Tears to Tiara (TV)
The Sacred Blacksmith (TV)
The Tower of Druaga: the Sword of Uruk (TV)
To Love-Ru (OAV)
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (TV)
Valkyria Chronicles (TV)
White Album (TV)

So there you have it, a more comprehensive list of the anime of the past decade that are more or less worth watching. Well, I should probably get back to Red Dead Redemption.

18 Comments

Top Ten Anime Series of the Decade

By spazmaster666 May 18, 2010 116 Comments

Since I'm keen on stirring up controversy (either with the people who are wondering why I'm posting yet another anime-related blog or to the people who watch much more anime than I do complaining about why X, Y, or Z wasn't mentioned) and since this past decade (2000-2009) had some pretty outstanding series, I thought I might as well write a blog about it.

Picking a top ten list of anything is pretty difficult, especially when that list spans a period of ten years. There has been a LOT of anime in the past decade, including plenty of great titles, and plenty of bad ones. Now to simplify things, I won't be including movies or OVAs in this list , with only one exception (otherwise, it would be that much harder to narrower it down to ten). Also I've decided that the top ten list will consist of the top shows for each year (from 2000-2009). Note that these are now necessarily the top ten series from a critical point of view but rather my top ten favorite series.

Well, enough with the preamble, let's get down to business.

2000: FLCL

2000 was not exactly a shining year for anime series, and that made FLCL stand out even more than it would have otherwise. Not only was this a fine piece of animation from Production I.G. but also a story that was eccentric yet relatable (it's a coming of age story after all) with a chaotic and sometimes insane visual style that would be quite influential in later years (btw for those unaware, a lot of the people behind FLCL are also behind a later anime series about drills and spirals and such). While this is probably one of the most divisive series on the list, it's innovation and originality are hard to deny and was an easy pick for best anime of 2000.
Runner ups: Vandread, Gatekeepers, Love Hina

2001: X (TV)

X (TV) was one of the first anime that I watched to completion and as such I may be somewhat biased towards it but it is nevertheless an excellent series with impressive animation, attractive character designs, engrossing music, and an interesting, albeit convoluted story line. Though there were anime produced in 2001 with better storytelling and more accessible characters, X (TV) remains one of my most memorable anime series (I did not read the manga before watching the series for the first time). And hey, who wouldn't like a series about the pending apocalypse?
Runner ups: Vandread: Second Stage, Fruits Basket , Angelic Layer

2002: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

No surprises here. Some of you may chuckle at my selection of Gundam SEED for my favorite anime of 2002 but not only is SEED my favorite Gundam series, but also probably the longest series I've ever re-watched more than twice (being 50 episodes, that's no cakewalk). What made SEED so great? Well first off, it helped kick off the era of digital animation by being the first Gundam series to move beyond cel painting into digital paint. SEED also had one of my favorite storylines out of all the Gundam series (an actual cohesive storyline, not just a random jumbling of political ideologies mixed up with stock animation of fodder suits getting blown to pieces . . . okay so the latter happened in SEED as well), as well as better developed characters and a sense of emotional resonance that you usually don't find in your typical Gundam series. Okay, so maybe I'm looking a little too much into it, but SEED was the Gundam series that got me excited about Gundam for the second time. Also apologies to Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. as you most likely would have been my choice if I wasn't so horribly biased toward SEED.
Runner ups: Full Metal Panic!, RahXephon, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

2003: Fullmetal Alchemist

The toughest year yet, 2003 was jam packed with great shows but Fullmetal Alchemist was no doubt the best of the bunch. FMA was a rare accomplishment as it hit all the notes and hit them out of the park: superb production values, well developed and likeable characters, a great story, compelling drama, exciting action, an addictive soundtrack, and a seemless blend of light and dark tones. With FMA, BONES had all the makings of a classic, with the only flaw being the ending (in some sense its hard to blame them for it). FMA took shounen to a whole new level, and few series since it have been able to the capture my attention the same way that FMA did.
Runner ups: Gungrave, Scrapped Princess, Last Exile

2004: My-HiME

While some may cry heresy at me picking My-HiME over Samurai Champloo or Monster, I can't think of a show in 2004 that I enjoyed more than My-HiME. Sure everyone hated the ending, and I did as well to some extent, but you have to look at a show as whole, just just in parts. And as a whole, My-HiME was thoroughly entertaining: it combines the shoujo-esque motif of magical girls and fantasy with shounen-inspired sci-fi and mecha action (and fanservice), and manages to pull it off without becoming an incoherent mess or one giant cliche. Say what you want about the deus ex machina of an ending, but for the purposes of this list, entertainment value outstrips critical acclaim. Again, I would like to apologize to Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig as again it would have probably been my choice if I wasn't so blatanly biased towards My-HiME.
Runner ups: Monster, Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig

2005: Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid

The only Kyo-Ani title to grace the list is TSR? Well, you have to give credit where credit is due. Not only did TSR improve upon what was already a great franchise, but it did it without much of the trademark humor that made the first two series such a success. Indeed, TSR is a darker, more violent, and much more serious take on FMP! that manages to succeed due to it's fantastic production values and near-flawless execution. TSR blew me away when I first saw it and I'm still impressed every time I revist it. This is THE show, after all, that propelled Kyo-Ani from relative obscurity to unprecedented fame and popularity.
Runner ups: Basilisk, Honey and Clover , Eureka Seven

2006: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Code Geass was a viewing experience unlike anything before it. It's also a very difficult anime to approach from a critical level. On one hand, it's filled with so much brainless action, bombastic dialogue, and has such eye-catching visuals that it tops the charts in entertainment value. On the other hand, the characters, plot and premise are so stereotypical, over the top and ridiculous that it's hard to take seriously. Code Geass is a political soap opera infused with plenty of sci-fi mecha action: a show that thrives on melodramatic moments rather than on plot or characters. You could completely ignore the plot altogether and hardly notice the difference; it may even be more enjoyable since, to be honest, the story itself isn't particularly well narrated or well executed. Yet despite some bad writing, poor storytelling, and some unlikeable characters, there's something ingenious about a show that throws its nonsensical premises and overacted dialogue directly in the viewer's face and still stays incredibly fun to watch at the same time. In that sense, Code Geass is a rare accomplishment: it is the culmination of style over substance and yet it totally delivers on an almost transcendental level. Apologies to Haruhi and Ouran for picking a train wreck instead of an actual quality series.
Runner ups: Blood+, Ouran High School Host Club, Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

2007: Gurren Lagann

Once in a blue moon, an anime comes along that is so awesome that it, well deserves to be the best anime of the year. I'll be blunt: Gurren Lagann is f*cking awesome, straight up. It's an emotional, action-packed, thrilling, GAR-infused, galaxy-spanning masterpiece of epic proportions. It was also one of the biggest surprises of 2007: Gurren Lagann came out of left field, swatting aside galaxies like they were tennis balls. It has some of the most ridiculously over the top and outrageous action sequences I've seen yet, not to mention a ridiculously awesome end battle. This is a piece of epic storytelling that's not likely to be repeated anytime soon. Gainax, I must bow to you yet again. Who the f*ck do you think we are?
Runner ups: Nodame Cantabile, CLANNAD, Minami-ke

2008: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

Two words come to mind: train wreck. Now to be fair, Code Geass was already more or less a train wreck, but R2 takes it to a whole new level. Sunrise pulls no punches here and the result is probably the most over the top, self-indulgent, nonsensical, convoluted, yet strangely emotionally resonant bromance in years. Unlike its predecessor, which started out with some sense of direction and then ended in a train wreck, R2 is headed off the rails from the very beginning. One the other hand, it's also possibly one of the most enjoyable and entertaining pieces of trash I've ever seen in a long time. Sunrise takes "so bad, its good" to a another level here and I can't help but wonder if the writers penned the series as one long practical joke or if they were all just smoking crack in a corner. In any case, I loved every minute of it. Also apologies to CLANNAD After Story, which despite being the actual best series of 2008, was relegated to second place due to my unhealthy love of all things GEASS. All hail Lelouch!
Runner ups: Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens, Soul Eater, CLANNAD After Story

2009: Bakemonogatari

Bakemonogatari can be described as either nothing short of brilliance or an incoherent mess. There really isn't much middle ground. I loved it because of the way that SHAFT made this mainly dialogue heavy show interesting despite the fact that most of the time you were just listening to the characters talk (and talk ALOT). Senjougahara may also be one of the best female characters of all time. And despite all the craziness that is often on screen and the sometimes esoteric dialogue, there's some sort of transcendental appeal here which is beyond my ability to explain in words.
Runner ups: Eden of the East , K-ON!, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 S2

Well, that about does it for my top ten anime series of the decade, and the end of yet another anime-related blog post. Man I'm tired.

116 Comments

Summer Wars . . . what, another Review?

By spazmaster666 April 23, 2010 2 Comments

Summer Wars is an amazing film, not only one of the best anime movies I've seen but one of the best films of 2009, period. It's so fantastic in fact that I've decided to dedicate an entire blog post to it (I know, prestigious right? Wait, I already did this with another anime, oh well). Well, here goes nothing . . .

Summer Wars

Directored by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Madhouse

Now that's a pretty large family...

The Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

The Synopsis:

Summer Wars tells the story of Kenji Koiso, a geeky second-year high school student who's only talent is math, albeit he's quite good at it and Natsuki Shinohara, a beautiful high school senior who he happens to have a crush on (they are both in the same physics club at school). Natsuki hires Kenji to be her "assistant" of sorts to help her out on her trip to visit her great grandmother's house for her 90th birthday. When the two arrive, Natsuki reveals that she in fact brought him in order to present him as her "boyfriend' to her great grandmother, who surprisingly gives her approval. Kenji, though originally unwilling, eventually agrees to go along with the ruse, and is introduced to Natsuki, large,and somewhat eccentric extended family. Things are thrown into array however when Kenji solves a complicated code sent to him via a mysterious phone call. As it turns out, this code was in fact the key to OZ's security systems, and soon an unknown intruder reeks havoc within OZ's, creating chaos all over the world as a result.

The Review:

Some critics have been comparing Mamoru Hosoda to Hayao Miyazaki. And indeed with his latest feature film, Summer Wars, it's not hard to see why. Following up his fantastic The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars weaves a tale that is steeped in science fiction and ripe with social commentary. Yet, despite its critical underbelly, Summer Wars is a light-hearted, beautifully animated, and surprisingly relevant piece of modern storytelling. It's a movie about the prevalent "web culture" of our times, of how social networks have come to dominate our lives, but also about the importance of family in this increasingly digital world. Summer Wars takes place in a world very much like our own, but unlike our world, the world of Summer Wars is dominated by a massive world-wide computer system called OZ, which is like a combination of facebook and myspace with second life. Except that OZ has been deeply integrated into the daily lives of over a billion people, including those in positions of wealth and power.

Like his previous work, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the story telling in Hosoda's Summer Wars is also pretty simple and straight forward, and much focus is put on the characters, especially Natsuki's relatives, who each seem to have their own quirks and eccentricities. Of particular note are Sakae Jinnouchi, Natsuki's great grandmother and the strong-willed matron of the family, Kazuma Ikezawa, Natsuki's 13-year old cousin who also happens to be prominent player within OZ, and Wabisuke Jinnouchi, the white sheep of the family, Natsuki's first crush, who ran away to America to pursue his own ambitions (and as it turns out has a bigger part to play in the main plot then it first appears). Then there are Natsuki's numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins who are each colorful characters in their own right. With such a large cast, the characters are relatively well fleshed out and are all likable for the most part, and even the minor characters get enough screen time for them to become memorable. As a result, we also get plenty of humor, which was perhaps best demonstrated in this particular one scene where Natsuki's relatives methods of helping Kenji are each more over the top than the next. Finally, the sharp dialogue and fantastic script helps to hold everything together.

Summer Wars is also filled with commentary on issues in our modern society, and Hosoda tackles several of them here, the most prominent of which is the onset of the digital era and the balance between the conveniences that innovations such as the internet bring as well as the downfalls of our current reliance on digital media and communication. In the world of Summer Wars, OZ has fundamentally altered the way that people live their lives, and in many aspects has made life easier for over a billion people. Yet, when OZ's system is infiltrated, the ensuing chaos puts into question the dangers of entrusting key aspects of daily living to a single, worldwide virtual reality of sorts. Here, Hosoda's criticism is two-fold: not only is he criticizing our reliance on technology to run our lives but also the dangers of relying on a single infrastructure that, as it turns out, is more vulnerable than anyone cared to admit (i.e. putting all our eggs in one basket). This criticism is fairly relevant to us as in our modern society, where the internet has become a dominating force in the lives of many, and while we don't have anything close to a system like OZ, it's easy to see us moving in such a direction. Summer Wars also seems to emphasize the importance of family and the power that it has to bring people together and accomplish seemingly impossible deeds. Indeed, Hosoda seems to contrast the rather cold, impersonal world of OZ, where every person is represented by a virtual avatar with the warmness and closeness of the "analog" family unit.

The production is also quite impressive, with Madhouse once again proving they are capable of creating both stunning action set pieces as well as superb character designs. Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the animation is not flashy or over-stylized but simple, fluid, well executed and high quality throughout. However, this is not to say that there aren't any spectacular scenes in Summer Wars (especially during a climactic sequence near the end), as there definitely are, but there's something to be said about Summer War's relatively restrained animation style, which is not only easy on the eyes, but also uniquely artistic in its own way (in this sense, it's not difficult to compare what Madhouse has done with many of Studio Ghibli's famous works). The audio is equally impressive, with some outstanding vocal performances, and a great soundtrack by Akihito Matsumoto. Having watched the Blu-ray version, I have to say that the video transfer is quite fantastic with great contrast, color saturation, and overall sharpness. The Blu-ray version also offers a pretty good Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track, which will be a nice treat for any audiophiles out there.

If it hasn't become obvious already, Summer Wars is a fantastic film. Hosoda has not only surpassed his previous work, but also set a new standard for animated storytelling. Is he the next Miyazaki and is Madhouse the new Ghibli? That's a tough question to answer, and while I would agree that what Hosoda has accomplished here rivals some of Miyasaki's best works, there are still stylistic and storytelling differences which differentiates the two enough that a straight-up comparison wouldn't have much meaning (nor do I think it's necessary to compare him to Miyazaki in the first place). However, this film is a definite must see and arguably the best animated film of 2009, anime or not (yes, this is better than Up in my opinion). Even if you're not into anime, this is still a film well worth checking out. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

Notes:

The Japanese Blu-ray does not have English subtitles or an English language track, though Manga Entertainment is set to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK this September. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any announcements about a North American release, though it's undoubtedly forthcoming.

And that's a wrap. I might post some screenshots later but I'm too tired right now to capture and edit screenshots in photoshop.

2 Comments

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time . . . what, a Review?

By spazmaster666 April 22, 2010 20 Comments

This probably feels random but after recently watching Summer Wars and absolutely loving it, I was inspired to go back and rewatch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and since I'm currently thinking about writing something up about Summer Wars I might as well post this review of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time that I wrote up several months ago but never posted anywhere.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time / Toki o Kakeru Shoujo

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, with animation production by Madhouse.
As a note, the version reviewed here is the Blu-Ray version.

I bet you can't leap as far as Makoto can . . .

The Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

The Synopsis:

Makoto Konno is your typical teenage girl attending high school in Tokyo until one day she discovers that she has gained the ability to "leap" through time and change past events. Though she initially uses this newfound power for trivial and selfish reasons, she soon discovers that not only are her time leaps limited but can cause unexpected and adverse effects on events of the future. Makoto soon realizes that leaping through time has not only changed the past but also her understanding of the world around her. The complexities of life are quickly revealed to her and upon learning the secret to her time-leaping ability Makoto learns that there are some things that should not be changed.

The Review:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a deceptively simple, yet surprisingly profound film that touches the heart and enlightens the mind and soul. Though a blend of romance, slice-of-life storytelling, and sci-fi, it still manages to maintain a sense of innocence and simplicity that is not often seen in anime these days. Combining an adorably entertaining story with remarkably insightful themes, it is a rare achievement that is sure to become a classic of cinematic storytelling.

Straightforward in its storytelling, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time focuses on the events that befall Makoto and her friends as she finds herself leaping through time and changing the past. Makoto is a carefree, relatively lazy girl who is uncertain about her future. After a arriving late to school and bombing a surprise pop quiz, Makoto has a strange encounter inside a science lab in her high school. She relates the incident to her best friends Chiaki (who, like Makoto is a rather carefree soul who is surprisingly gifted in the sciences) and Kousuke (a diligent student who aspires to be a doctor like his father) who promptly suggest, that Makoto should get her brain checked. Later, as she is riding her bike home, she finds herself escaping a would-be fatal train accident by some sort of space-time phenomena. Bewildered by the event, she enlists the advice of her aunt, who suggests to her that what occurred was a "time leap" and that she had gained the ability to travel back in time to relive/alter past events. As Makoto begins to use (and abuse) her new found ability, the secrets behind her discovery is eventually revealed, as are the consequences of her actions .

What makes the film compelling is the way that Makoto is portrayed: an average, slightly absent-minded girl who seems to possess no extraordinary traits. Thus she is an incredibly relatable character, and we can easily put ourselves in her shoes as she experiences the extraordinary events occurring in her rather ordinary life. The way she casually approaches such an bewildering situation (one would think that time travel would be a rather bewildering experience) is both amusing and reflective of her carefree and innocent nature. So as Makoto begins to bear witness to the fruits of her labor and the complexities of real life, we watch her grow and mature in both mind and soul. The journey of self-discovery that Makoto undergoes is one that many of us have experienced. And by the end of the film, we can be satisfied that she has indeed undergone a profound and meaningful transformation.

Also impressive is the way that the film tackles the sci-fi elements of the story. Time travel in cinema has undoubtedly had a complex and messy history. Often we are barraged with a plethora of scientific jargon, paradoxical concepts, and metaphysical justifications that often undermine the storytelling itself. Fortunately, in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, time travel is not the focus, rather it is merely a tool used to tell the story. In other words, this is a film that contains time travel, not a film about time travel. So while we are presented with plenty of sci-fi elements, it would be short-sighted to call this a sci-fi film. Although an attentive critic may call the film's portrayal of time travel simplistic, I would say it was designed to be simple because the focus was on Makoto's journey, not on the specifics of how she is able to travel through time. In fact, even without it's sci-fi elements, the core tenets of the story would remain intact.

What struck me the most about the film however where its visuals, and not in the most obvious sense as the visuals themselves are not very complex or technically impressive. However, the vibrant colors, and simple, but lively animation jump off the screen with dazzling results. Moreover, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is infused with a deeply enthralling and entrancing soundtrack,

Whether it be the beautiful animation, wonderful music, or it's compelling storytelling, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a an impressive accomplishment that reminds us why we watch anime in the first place. This is a modern classic, by any definition, and required viewing for all anime fans or fans of cinema in general.

The Screenshots:

Gallery

So there you go, another pointless blog post. Expect a review of sorts for Summer Wars to be posted sometime in the future: when depends on how well I can collect my thoughts during the next two weeks of term papers, exams, and interviews.

20 Comments

Anime of Spring 2010 . . . the pointless posts continue . . .

By spazmaster666 April 11, 2010 21 Comments

Well, since I'm taking a break between studying for exams and preparing for my upcoming interviews, I might as well "continue" my thoughts on the new anime season. I mentioned in my previous post about some other titles that will probably turn out to be pretty good as well. And to my surprise, I was more or less right in that assessment, at least based on the first couple of episodes. Well let's go in alphabetical order again.

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Kou is a proud man, an independent man. A man who was taught from birth the rigid doctrine of self-sufficiency, that a true man must never be indebted to anyone else. But one day, under purely random circumstances, he falls off a bridge and is saved from drowning by a strange girl named Nino. Now indebted to her, he must do as she wishes to repay the debt, or otherwise suffers the risk of a life-threatening asthma attack (did I mention this was a strange show?). Various other events take place, including some weird guy dressed in a Kappa outfit, whom Nino called the "Chief" Did I mention this is the new series from SHAFT, based a seinen manga of the same name?

Now as expected, SHAFT is being SHAFT and the result is as quirky as it is baffling. I have no real sense of what is exactly is going on as I watched the first episode or where the story is headed but yet I found myself profoundly eager to find out. As you would expect, this show is dialogue heavy, and that's by no means a bad thing as Hiroshi Kamiya (of Bakemonogatari fame) and Maaya Sakamoto (one of my favorite seiyuu to date) don't disappoint. And the production values don't disappoint either, though mainly due to the eccentric palette rather than smoothness of animation. The problem is it's hard to gauge at this point exactly what this series ultimately is about and whether or not it can reach the status of SHAFT's previous work, Bakemonogatari . However, the first episode was definitely entertaining, even if I really had no idea exactly what was going or where the show is headed.

B Gata H Kei

When you hear the words "a hormone-drive teenage high school student" you probably immediately think of the multitudes 15 or 16-year-old males who have nothing on their minds other than "getting" with as many females as possible. Well, imagine if the gender roles were revered. What if the hormone-driven teenage high school student was a female named Yamada instead? And what if her goal was to "get with" 100 males during her high school career. Well this is exactly the premise of B Gata H Kei, the new series by what is probably a relatively unknown production company Hal Film Maker (I say this because their name is probably not well known but they have done notable work such as 3x3 Eyes, Aria, and Boys Be) based on a 4-panel manga series of the same name.

As the premise suggests, adult humor, awkward situations, and plenty of fanservice is likely to ensue. And in the first two episodes, this is indeed the case. But what I didn't expect was just how funny it all turned out to be. Now to be sure, this is probably not what you would term a "quality" show on the premise of its story telling or character development, but I haven't had so many laugh-out-loud moments since Minami-Ke (quite a compliment in my view). The animation is also surprisingly good when considering the type of animation quality shows of this type usually receive. And to top it off the major characters are actually fairly likable, as silly and (in the case of Yamada) as perverted as they may be. That said, it's hard to recommend this series to everyone as its main source of humor so far is probably too juvenile or puerile for some folk (though there are definite hints of actual "feelings" developing rather than pure lust), but I dare say that fans of Superbad would probably be more than willing to hop aboard. I know, it's a high bar I'm raising isn't it?

GIANT KILLING

I'm usually not a big fan of sports anime, nor do I have any love for the sport of soccer (ahem, I mean football) so I didn't really have any real expectations when I walked into the first episode (especially considering this is a Studio DEEN production). Fortunately I found myself pleasantly surprised. There isn't really much to say about the first episode other than it was solid introduction to the show, with nice mixes of comedy and sports drama. Tatsumi, the main character, is pretty interesting as well and I really can't complain about the seiyuu ( Tomosaku Seki, who played Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile and Sousuke in Full Metal Panic!) either. Honestly, that all I have to say really, other than I'm definitely looking forward to the next episode.

BTW, "giant killing", for those who don't know, is a termed use in sports to indicate an upset of some sort, usually a pretty big one (like say an amateur club beating a pro club).

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

It becomes clear a couple of scenes in that Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou was going to be an ecchi series. Well to be sure, it's not a series solely about ecchi, but there's definitely a lot of ecchi involved (for those who don't know ecchi is a term that generally refers to images of a, well, dirty nature). Indeed the show, produced by Artland, is about Akuto Sai, a transfer student at the Current Magical Academy (great name right?) who is predicted, by a predicting spirit no less, to be a demon lord (though he himself ironically aspires to be a high priest) and possesses some awesome, possibly demonic abilities. Of course along the way we meet plenty of well-endowed female students that who seem to have trouble keeping their clothes on (convenient isn't it?) and possibly have feelings for our strapping young protagonist. Stop me if you've never heard this before.

Okay to be honest, I don't mind watching ecchi now and then. It's usually harmless fun and this is definitely the case with Ichiban Ushiro. However, what this series has going for it that other series of this type don't is a fantastic cast, including several of K-ON! fame. Similar to B Gata H Kei, this is a difficult series to recommend as it doesn't really provide anything more than some, ahem, nice scenery and a few good laughs, but there's room in each season for series such as this and I personally don't mind it at all (well as long as it doesn't get stale).

Senkou no Night Raid

An espionage thriller set in 1931 Shanghai is certainly not the typical treading ground as far as anime is concerned but that's exactly what Senkou no Night Raid, the second in the Anime no Chikara series from A-1 Pictures (the studio responsible for the likes of Kannagi, Valkyria Chronicles, and the most recent So Ra No Wo To) is about. Now obviously a show about Japanese spies in China right before the outbreak of WWII is bound to stir up some controversy, regardless of how the show actually treats the historical locale its interpreting. But it seems from the first episode that the producers did a lot of research and put in a lot of work to make the show authentic so I have to applaud them for that. And some terrible mandarin from the main characters aside (anyone who speaks even a little mandarin can tell right way what I'm talking about), this series definitely has potential even if the opener wasn't anything spectacular.

Working!!

Another A-1 joint, Working!! is yet another slice of life anime based on a 4-panel manga (of course of the same name). And again, what separates this series from the others like it is the star power of the cast which includes Jun Fukuyama (of CODE GEASS fame) and the likes of Daisuke Ono, Hiroshi Kamiya, and Kumiko Watanabe. The first episode was relatively charming, and the premise of a family restaurant filled with strange, eccentric characters isn't something super original but it does lend itself to at least having some pretty hilarious situations, at least that's what I'm hoping. It seems that there are already plenty of slice-of-life comedies to watch this season but Working!! seems to be worth checking out, if because of the all-star cast alone.

So there you have it, the second part of my anime of Spring 2010 blog feature, thing. And if my previous entry didn't cement this fact enough, I really wish I had more time to watch anime.

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Spring 2010 . . . aka a pointless post about anime . . .

By spazmaster666 April 11, 2010 44 Comments

Well since I'm bored out of my mind and trying hard not to re-watch Nodame Cantabile (the original series), I might as well write down some thoughts that have been brewing in my mind about the news shows of Spring 2010. Anime shows that is. That's right, it's another one of those anime-related posts.

Anyway, as Spring rows around and the new anime season begins, there are three series so far that have caught my eye (and a fourth that I'm peaking at using my peripheral vision): K-ON!!, Kaichou wa Maid-sama, and Angel Beats. Hmm, well let's go in alphabetical order.

Angel Beats

In theory, Angel Beats should be a no-brainer. The combination of Key (a well known media company responsible for the likes of Kanon and Clannad) and P.A. Works (a promising new production house responsible for the likes of True Tears and CANAAN) seems like a perfect fit (okay many would argue KyoAni would have been a better choice but let's not get into that here). Of course, when the series actually started airing, many people starting having doubts about the series, with me included. The main female protagonist, Yuri, seems somewhat similar to that other girl in that other series made by that other production company. And her merry band of high school guerrilla soldiers, the Shinda Sekai Sensen (or SSS for short) bared a striking resemblance to the SOS Bri-, ahem, I mean that other group from that other series. Then there's the all-girl band performance.

Still, this is a Key story after all which means that emotions will definitely run high at some point and indeed the first two episodes have had several of these "tear-jerker" moments that Key is well known for. And it is in this arena where I feel Angel Beats has the most potential. The series definitely has a potential to be more flash than substance (i.e. CANAAN) but if it can handle the "emotion moments" well, then it could turn out to be pretty good in the long run. Not to mention they actually got an American to voice TK, the English speaking rapper-guy (a huge plus in my book). Did I mention the all girl band already?

Kaichou wa Maid-sama

A tsundere high school girl that works part time as a maid in a maid cafe? Did I mention she's tsundere? This sounds like a recipe for success by anyone's standards. (Really though all you had to say was "meido" and you'd have me hooked.) But seriously, Kaichou wa Maid-sama has a lot going for it: it's based off of a pretty good manga, it's a shoujo series which probably means it's likely to have a decent story, and it's produced by J.C. Staff which means . . . well not much but hey I like J.C. Staff (for the most part) so that's a plus in my book. And so far, after two episodes, this is indeed turning out to be an enjoyable series. MIsaki is about as tsundere as it gets (and not just tsundere but a guy-hater) but is also a very likeable character, and Takumi, well he's not only the "cool guy" type but also the "doesn't mind cosplaying as a sailor or staring at Misaki like a creepy stalker at her maid cafe all day" type.

Okay, so the Misaki and Takumi thing seems pretty telegraphed from the very beginning but c'mon, this is shoujo, that's to be expected. And the Kare Kanno and Special A vibes I'm getting from this series doesn't hurt either. J.C. Staff's successful handling of the animation (or in some cases using plenty of still shots instead) remains to be seen as is the ultimate "meido" potential of the series but the fact that the show has so far followed the manga to the letter bodes well for the series. And besides, who doesn't enjoy that moment when we see a tsundere break down that hard outer shell to show the soft, vulnerable side within? Do I really need to say "meido" again?

K-ON!!

One of my favorite series of 2009 is back and its just as good as it was last year. What do I really need to say about this? I mean K-ON!! is basically moe overload. KyoAni has mastered moe to a masterful level and even a relatively Mio-less first episode is filled with great moe touches. Of course, KyoAni also continues to impress with the production values, which continue to improve with every series it seems. And while it the ending sequence doesn't quite manage to topple the moe masterpiece of last year's "Don't Say LAZY", that Mio wink at the end will probably give any unsuspecting viewer a heart attack. And screw the people who said K-ON! sucked because there was no story to speak of. It's a slice of life comedy show, based on a four-panel comic strip no less. And you're complaining about the story?

The only thing that has me worried so far is the lack of Mio in the first episode (Sawa-chan is somewhat wasted in this episode as well). As long as this is alleviated in the coming episodes, I can't see K-ON!! turning sour in any way (especially now that Sawa-chan is in charge of home room). Call me biased sure, but as far as moe goes, this is top class, whatever that means.

So there you have it, my more or less pointless thoughts about my picks for the three most interesting series of the season. Oh wait, I said something about a fourth didn't I? Well I suppose I might as well continue.

Heroman

This doesn't really deserve a larger header font so I'll just go with a regular bold heading. Heroman is a meeting of east and west. BONES, one of the best anime production houses today, and Stan Lee, of Marvel fame, are collaborating in a . . . boy who becomes a superhero and something about an alien invasion series. Okay, so it's not exactly very original. But this is BONES we're talking about here, if there's any studio that can make a series like this work, it would be BONES. The westernized art design is also pretty appealing, though I find it somewhat similar to a previous BONES series, Eureka Seven. The first episode was okay, but didn't really jump out at me in any way, at least not story-wise. The animation was awesome as always and in this regard I have no doubt that BONES will excel but it remains to be seen if the story will pan out to be just a typical shounen "boy becomes a superhero" storyline or something more interesting.

Of course, returning favorites like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Durarara!! continue to put up some stiff competition for the new Spring series. Already the landscape is looking a million times better than the previous Winter season (which was for the most part a winter wasteland). And some other new series like B Gata H Kei, Working!!, GIANT KILLING, and Senkou no Night Raid look to be pretty good as well (though I haven't had the time to watching them yet). Then there's the new SHAFT joint Arakawa Under the Bridge (staring one of my favorite seiyuu, Maaya Sakamoto) which has Bakemonogatari level of potential and ecchi fun to be had in shows like kiss x sis and Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou. All in all, Spring 2010 looks to be pretty damn promising when it comes to anime. If only I have more time to actually watch it all.

So here ends my latest rendition of my still-as-pointless-as-ever blog series. I may be posting updates along the same subject matter as the season progresses but that despends on my level of boredom and how well my upcoming job interviews go.

Oh, and I swear that posting this blog has nothing at all to do with the new quest system. Honest! ;)

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