Category: Anime Reviews

Reideen is another tough anime to review: it’s done a lot of things right, but it had an equal amount of flaws. It’s a nice watch, but there are so many things that could have been improved on it. The story is like this: Saiga Junki becomes a pilot of a giant robot called Reideen, and he basically has to take care of enemy giant robots that are sent by enemy aliens. While this indeed couldn’t be cheesier, luckily a few details make this not a total waste of time. The enemies are smart too, and don’t let themselves get destroyed that easily, unlike countless other giant robot-shows. The military also quite early becomes involved with Reideen, and soon Junki is going to have to deal with people who try to exploit him. The things that really made Reideen watchable, though, were the atmosphere it creates and the characters. A tense soundtrack and some great budged make up for the cheesiness of the fights, and combined with the storytelling, they become quite interesting to watch. The characters, while they aren’t top-notch, work great with this and through the course of the anime, they’re fleshed out pretty nicely. I liked, for example, how Junki never explicitly tells us why he just doesn’t hand Reideen over to others, but the way he acts throughout the episodes gives enough hints about what the reasons might be. But yeah, the anime could have been so much better if the writers spent a bit more time on the concept. The interesting fights are often ruined by Deus ex Machina-endings, the aliens receive no development at all, we never know where they came from and the final episode is another one of those bad and lazy endings that ruins the entire continuity the anime has been building up to. Blood+, another Production IG anime suffered from the same problem. Like I mentioned above though: it’s a nice watch despite being perfect. If you like mecha-shows with a bit of cheese, you should enjoy Reideen as well, but I can imagine that people who dislike slow plot-development will hate this one.]]>

For Spring 2007, Bee-Train came with two new productions: El Cazador and Murder Princess. It was clear that El Cazador would be their main anime, with Murder Princess staying mostly in the backgrounds in the format of a 6-episode-OVA. Still, how did it go? Well, for starters, the plot isn’t that impressive. The creators went with a fantasy-kingdom, under the attack of supernatural monsters. In the end, some of the superpowers were explained, but the story remains incredibly basic. The bad guys with connections to the main characters have to be beaten, and that’s about it. There are a few plot-holes here and there, the bad guys have rather bad reasons for their actions, and overall it’s not really that good. The reasons why you’d want to watch this: the good guys and the music. Where the plot falters, the main characters are the ones who manage to save it. They almost never feel annoying, they’ve all got interesting and varying personalities, and the relationship that develops throughout the six episodes between the two main characters is quite charming to watch. I’ve got no real criticism for them, and while they aren’t the best, they were really fun to watch and never even once bored me. But the real highlight of Murder Princess is the soundtrack that came accompanied with it. Bee-Train always had a knack for soundtracks, and they et again prove this here when the entire soundtrack consists of fast-paced rock and punk-tunes. The music especially shines during the major action-scenes, which would have become horribly dull without the music and addictive characters mentioned above. While it doesn’t hit any heights, it’s not particularly innovative, nor is it an OVA that will be remembered by many, it’s perfect as light entertainment. If you’re a rock/metal-fan and like fantasy, you should definitely check this one out, because this OVA manages to become both tense, fun to watch and charming.]]>

Before I start with this review, I wanted to make a small announcement: today is my last day of holidays. What does this mean for this blog? Well, there will probably be no changes in the series I’m currently blogging, apart from a few delays here and there, perhaps. However, I sure as hell won’t be able to watch one movie every evening anymore. I’m not sure how frequently I’ll be able to post a movie-review; that’ll depend on how busy I’ll be with my studies, and I can’t really make any predictions about that yet. Don’t worry, though: I’m not inclined to quit watching different anime-movies. I haven’t even reached the good ones yet. 🙂 Anyway, about the review. I wanted to finish my holidays with something special, and then Urarochi Diamond, a production by Studio 4C, suddenly popped up on Tokyo Toshokan. It turns out that I got something entirely different from what I expected, when not only did this turn out to be a wrongly-labelled raw movie, but it’s also one of the most unorthodox ones out there. Basically, Urarochi Diamond is a minimalist movie: the production-values can’t be smaller than what we see here. There is no animation, and the entire movie consists out of minute-long gray-scale pictures of random people, living their lives in modern ghetto Japan through voices in the background. Basically, if you bought a text-less picture-book and turned on a drama-cd, you’d achieve the same effect. Amateurs with the right tools could have made this just as well. Regarding the different stories: they’re basically minutes of the life of random unrelated people. There is no plot, no recurring characters, nothing that connects these together. Still, I can’t say I was edging for Alt-F4 throughout the entire movie. There’s one thing these shorts all benefit from, and that is realism. The entire thing is simple, yet believable. Still, I can’t really recommend this movie, unless you’re into artistic stuff. It’s an interesting production by Studio 4C, but it’s not exactly straightforward entertainment.]]>

Steamboy is the most expensive anime-project that has ever been made, with a budget of roughly 20 million dollars; according to AniDB, at least. But then again, a high budget doesn’t always equal a good production; let’s not forget Afro Samurai and its budget of $1 million per episode. Still, Steamboy does pretty well. The graphics and action-scenes look excellent, and they’re accompanied by a great soundtrack, making this into a tense action-series. But what about the plot? Well, this movie suffers from the so-called “bad main character”-syndrome. It’s a boy, who ends up as the centre of struggles between adults, and I don’t think I need to say more than this. He’s always right, the adults are all too busy trying to kill each other with big weapons, he’s a genius, and he never does anything wrong. It’s the side-characters you need to look out for. They’ve all got their flaws, and it’s definitely fun to see them struggle with each other and develop throughout the movie (yes, the main character is the only flawless character, and also one of the less versatile ones, ironically). The side-characters have all got their own motives to act, and they were the ones who saved this movie from becoming a flop with eye-candy. I like how the female lead stayed away from all the clichés that plague most other shounen-adventures, and she actually became one of the most enjoyable members of the cast. There’s one thing about the side-characters I didn’t like, though. The minor ones tend to disappear from the screen, without any trace. I would have loved to see them develop through the movie, but instead time had to be spent on the main character. Fortunately, he got better when the climax arrived, when he stopped being the centre of everything. This made the action-scenes quite tense to watch. But yeah, like most other action-movies, Steamboy has trouble staying within the laws of physics. In most cases, this doesn’t really distract from viewing, but there’s one major exception: the main character’s (yes, him again) inventions. Especially his jetpack was just too ridiculous. I mean, how does he ever manage to both steer and cling on to it when it’s got that much thrust? If you’re looking for action, though: look no further. This movie manages to deliver lots of it, with a fairly decent plot and interesting side-characters. Just be sure to ignore that main one.]]>

Just like Oseam and Wonderful Days, My Beautiful Girl Mari, or Mari Iyagi is a Korean production. It came to me, recommended by Chris, and while it isn’t as emotionally strong and sad as Oseam, or as beautifully rendered as Wonderful Days, it still remains a nice watch. Mari Iyagi is more about nostalgia, about the final year of elementary school (or whatever school you’re on around the age of eleven. I’m still not sure how this is done in other countries), when the world still seems so simple. This movie benefits greatly from its realism. This probably is the only anime that focuses on the culture of modern Korea, so it’s an interesting watch when compared to usual anime, who often take place in Japan. The differences are subtle, but they’re there. The characters also are drawn with a priority on realism, and not prettiness, so that we’re left with a bunch of real characters, and not a few future photo-models. Still, there’s one major problem with Mari Iyagi. This may have been because I was tired when watching it, but it really feels like entire scenes have been lost on the cutting-room floor. Some scenes feel disjointed and confusing, and the fantasy-world where our main character is drawn in may be full of imagination, but it’s never really explained or really developed. Mari, even though her name appears in the title, gets hardly any development for herself. I’m also still not sure whether one minor character died near the ending or not… Still, there’s one reason to keep watching this: the ending. Mari Iyagi is actually one of the few movies where the ending is part of its highlights. It keeps the same level of realism, where not everything can be resolved in a happy way, and life goes on, and it really feels like the entire movie comes together. Don’t expect any brilliant plot-twists, but it just “feels good”.]]>

Makoto Shinkai is a very strange director. With this, I’ve seen all of his major works now, She and her Cat included, but only The Place Promised in our Early Days gave me enough inspiration to write a review about it. It doesn’t happen often, but some movies just aren’t fit for my review-system, and She and Her Cat, Byousoku 5cm/second and Voices of a Distant Star are examples of this. I could be nitpicky, and pick out lots of flaws, like where did these aliens come from, or the lack of a proper aftermath, but that’s not what this movie’s about. All Makoto Shinkai is interested in is pretty graphics and romance, and he definitely delivers on these points. While this isn’t going to be a fully fledged review, I do want to grab this chance to say a few things about it. Makoto Shinkai is a master in creating subtle feelings, mostly about loneliness, and being away from your loved one. All his works share this similarity. The setting he places it in often doesn’t really matter, and often only is used as a means of creating this feeling. The Place Promised in our Early Days is, in my opinion, his weakest production. I think that this is because 1) it was too long, 2) it tried too much to be a standard movie and 3) the ending was his only happy end, in which everything was unrealistically resolved in the end (this is because of 2) as well). My main gripe with Makoto is the following. It’s not really a problem, it’s not really a flaw, but it seems that he’s only good at one specific style. Am I the only one who noticed that his male leads are practically the same everywhere? Okay, the cat may be different, but the male leads in Voices, Place and Byousoku could very well have been the exact same person. Nevertheless, his particular style can be watched over and over, and I’m looking forward to his next movie. He’s also going to be involved in ef in the next Season, isn’t he? Is this as the writer, or is he just going to do the backgrounds?]]>

This movie was recommended to me by Cos, also more than a year ago. Finally we see another anime that shows that mecha have more uses than warfare. Engineers and construction-workers also love to use them in the setting for this movie, as it follows local policemen on mechas. The key part of the story is the operating system they run on. Their creator left a nice-farewell-present with it, before killing himself. There are three major plusses in this movie. First of all: the mystery. It’s fun to gradually learn what the creator of these operating systems was up to, and some of the revelations make quite a nice impact. Even though the guy is dead, he turned into one of the most interesting characters of the movie because of this. The second good point: it’s refreshing. While the movie has the basic ingredients of a regular thriller, it manages to add enough extra to improve the realism of it all. Especially the female lead profits from this, as she manages to avoid the pitfall that strikes almost all other similar characters. While she starts out as an ordinary support character, just there as a plot-device to develop the main lead, she changes drastically as the climax approaches, and in the end, she really has her time to shine. It’s also not like our main characters are the only ones in the world who realize the complot. Other parties also take actions to solve it once in a while. This realism sets Patlabor apart from all those other mecha and police-shows out there. The third good point is the interaction between the characters. They’re not 100% serious all the time, and need a break once in a while, their conversations are quite realistic, they know exactly when to use comedy and some of their banter is quite fun to watch. Especially the chief of the police-unit was interesting, with his stoic yet involved attitude. So, the bad points? Some side-characters aren’t fleshed out well enough, and only a few of the characters are lucky enough to have a bit of background. It’s a pity, because the characters could have worked out even better if we knew something about them, but this movie doesn’t even attempt to bother with it. One of the reasons why the creator of the operating system turned into one of the best characters was because he is the only one with a well-fleshed out background. The climax also raises one plot-hole that it never answers. I won’t mention it, for the sake of spoilers (I already feel I used a bit too many of them for this review), but you should be able to recognize it for yourself. The ending also is good, due to an added twist, but the aftermath is a bit lazy and too short. Still, if you’re looking for a more realistic and down-to-earth movie that’s more than just flashy-action scenes and still involves mechas and conflict, this is a pretty good choice.]]>

Oh my god… this one’s a real tear-jerker. Anga was the one, who recommended this movie to me, more than a year ago, and I finally had the chance to watch it, and I’m SO glad that I gave this one a chance. This movie is THE proof that the Koreans can do more than just produce pretty graphics á la Wonderful Days. Basically, any slice-of-life fan will enjoy this. It tells the story of two orphans: a blind girl and her younger brother. There are other characters as well, like a couple of monks, who end up taking care of the pair of them, but they’re nowhere as interesting as the two main characters. The boy was only one year old when their mother died in a fire, and they’ve been taking care of each other ever since. And boy, does it end up awesome. The creators were really successful in creating a sad story which left me crying for many times in a row. The two main characters are fleshed out into really likable characters, and you’ll really end up feeling sorry for the things both of them had to endure, and the beauty of all is that it manages to stay realistic while doing so. I’ve got only two complaints for this movie. The two children may be fleshed out, and they’ve got background, but I would have liked to see a bit more of it, like how the girl was able to take care of her brother after becoming blind, and how the two of them managed to survive until they reached the Buddhist Monastery. The second point of critique is the ending: it’s an anticlimax. The mood is built up perfectly, and the boy reaches a really pitiful state, and then the suddenly introduces supernatural elements from out of nowhere. It’s here where the religious undertones of the movie went completely out of control. Still, don’t let that flaw ruin this excellent production. It’s obviously not for those who need action, but this is a great example of a successful slice-of-life movie. Be warned, though: the boy might be a bit annoying with his antics in the beginning, but he quickly becomes too adorable for this to really matter. If you’re looking for something to make you cry, this is a pretty good suggestion. P.S. For those who are interested: Guriguri has translated an interview with the movie’s director into English. Quite insightful.]]>

Ah, I’ve been anticipating this one. It’s a TV-special, but it could as well be considered a movie, with a length of one hour and forty minutes. The storyline is nothing special. Evil construction-workers are planning to destroy a forest, somewhere in the Japanese mountains by building a dam, and the forest and the local children fight back to stop them. It was quickly clear that the success of this anime would depend on its characters. Luckily, Miyori proved to be more than able to carry this TV-special. She’s a great example of a well-developed tomboy, and she easily goes beyond this stereotype. Throughout the airtime, it was awesome to see her get used to her new surroundings, including the highly imaginative creatures of the forest. Her voice-actress also shines, giving off an excellent performance. The only downside to this is that there are quite a few side-characters who do lack development, especially the bad guys are a bunch of stereotypes; they just bleak when compared to Miyori herself. Another major plus in this production is the graphics-department. While the animation is plain and simple, the art itself is incredibly detailed, both for the character-designs and the background art. Especially Miyori’s got some excellent character-designs, while she still looks like an ordinary girl. The forest itself is brightly coloured, and a real feast for the senses. While the soundtrack isn’t among the best, it definitely contributes to the overall scenes. Especially the tune that was played during the climax was excellent. Despite the flaws, I’d recommend this series to any slice-of-life fan, just because of Miyori. She’s a great character, who totally made this TV-special worth the watch.]]>

The Diary of Tortov Roddle is another one of those travelling anime. It’s an OVA, consisting out of six episodes of about two to three minutes. Each of them shows a thing happening to Tortov, as he travels with his strange, long-legged pig. There are no voices at all. All dialogue we see is in the form of Tortov’s diary, which appears at the beginning and end of each “episode”. The major plus about this OVA is that it’s so incredibly close to Tortov himself, since everything is seen through his diary. Take this in contrast with Kino’s Journey, for example. Kino always maintains a distance from both the viewer and the places she visits, in order to protect herself from not getting too attached to her surroundings. Still, don’t go out of your way to watch this movie. It’s a nice idea, I admit, but it’s just too short to really make an impact. Tortov also majorly lacks in background. We never even know why Tortov travels. One of the episodes also has a romantic subplot, but with only 2 minutes, that one went nowhere. The production-values also won’t save this one. The music, albeit nothing special, is nice enough to create a fairy-tale-like mood, the character-designs are unique, but the animation is as simple as possible and rather unimpressive. I know that the creators wanted to create a certain mood, but they could have tried better for this one. Travelling is a great subject for anime, and they just didn’t use it well enough.]]>