Category: Anime Reviews

The Place Promised in our Early Days is a 90-minute long drama/romance. It features three middle-school kids (two boys and a girl). The boys are building their own airplane, in order to fly to a huge tower. This tower raises from the earth, into the sky with no apparent end. They’re planning to take the girl, who they just met and got interested, along with them. One day, she disappears. The two boys then quit building the plane, go to different high schools and split apart. Three years later, the story continues.

The story has been well written. The key parts always return, keeping this anime on track. It could basically have been done in 30 minutes as well, though this anime chooses for a slow pacing, giving enough space to show characters interacting, and doing the things they usually do. Because the show takes its time, no really rushed scenes appear, and strangely enough, no scenes really drag on, as plenty enough happens on the screen.

The characters also are likable. They receive a healthy dose of character development during the progress of the movie, and the 3-year time-leap shows quite some changes in both of the boys. The approach of and climax itself felt very sincere, ending in a rather predictable, yet somewhat touching ending.

Still, there are a couple of things wrong with this movie. In the end, this movie remains a damsel-in-distress, who has to be saved by the knight. While it has thrown in some creative events which give this concept a couple of twists, I couldn’t help but get annoyed at this fact. At some scenes, it features some annoying technobabble. We see a couple of screens and graphs, which don’t mean anything at all. Some events in the movie also don’t make any sense (why didn’t the tower explode when the girl was still awake?) and the movie leaves an awful lot of things behind unexplained.

The graphics are interesting. Despite being produced in 2005, the creators decided to keep the character art simple. If you combine this with fluid and natural animation, creative and stunning backgrounds and details, the result becomes quite interesting to watch. Overall, the graphics for this movie were very enjoyable to see. Except for one little detail. The creators liked to heavily abuse the lens flares. Every time when the sun goes down, one appears, asking way too much attention by being overly bright, big and centred. The musical score stays original, though consistent through the entire movie. You never really know it’s there, but it does give this movie something extra. When the music stops, it contributes surprisingly well to the scenes.

Overall, this was a good movie, with some flaws. Still, while it was a good watch, it’s nothing really special. Nothing really is outstanding in this movie. In the end, this movie kept me from getting bored, but it also kept me from getting excited.

This was probably one of the most neglected shows to air in the fall 2005-season. It’s imaginable why. After all, it’s a shounen-series featuring dogs battle each other. Most people wouldn’t even bother checking out such a stupid concept. Still, this anime definitely didn’t deserve this incredible lack of attention. Because yes, believe it or not, but it’s actually quite good. Some of the scenes it featured were amazing.

I have to admit, I laughed myself through the first couple of episodes. I just kept comparing it to Excel Saga, with hilarious results. The scenes were just too incredibly overdramatic to be taken seriously. We’ve got the son of the legendary leader of a pack of dogs, who’s been living with his mother ever since their homeplace was invaded by a huge bear. Now, one year later, Weed, our main character (appropriately named after a patch of weed), must go back to this homeplace, as another huge monster has invaded it. It indeed seemed like the standard pattern of a shounen-series, in which our main character would fight enemy by enemy.

But then I suddenly caught myself actually enjoying some of the scenes which were shown. The prediction at the previous paragraph was smattered as the series progressed. You see, this is an anime about fighting a war, with our main character as leader. Weed actually assembles an entire army of dogs, creating a huge cast of side-characters. All with their different story and motivation. We get to see some very interesting war tactics, which show that it isn’t that simple to just win a war. The creators also managed to create a number of very interesting bad guys. Who not only have interesting backgrounds, but also look scary at certain times.

There is one aspect in which Ginga Densetsu Weed really shines. Whenever a character dies, this anime is just incredible. The scenes are turned into an incredible spectacle, all dedicated to give the end of this protagonist or antagonist an as large impact as possible, and it works perfectly. At times, these really make you think about war ethics. If you combine this with the fact that this show’s got lots of characters, and lots of them die, then you’re in for something special.

Like I said, this anime has lots of characters. Surprisingly, most of them are just adults. Weed is one of the few kids among them. Another interesting fact it that the story likes to focus on characters other than Weed. There are plenty of chances in which he takes a step back, so that the story can focus at some of the interesting side-characters. Because of the huge quantity of diverse side-characters, this works great.

Still, this anime remains a shounen-series. Even though it breaks away from some clichés, it still follows others. We’ve got a young male in the lead. He’s got superpowers. He survives. Characters fight each other for too long. Weed’s whining and desire not to kill anyone can also get annoying at times, just like other parts of episodes, in which the characters are just having some fun.

The creators have tried an attempt to try and draw the dogs at a serious way, though it’s clear that they never tried to be realistic. After all, dogs would never do what was being shown in this anime. Dogs also don’t pant or do other things which is typical for dogs to do. When characters talk, their mouths don’t exactly move synchronic with the voices. Still, the background music does deliver. It contributes greatly to the overall mood.

Overall, the show’s got bad points, though the good and creative points totally make up for it. If you like anime centred around wars, you’ll probably like this, though you have to get used to the fact that the main characters are a bunch of dogs. ^^

A while ago, when I was browsing through AniDB, I ran into a this anime: Haru no Ashioto The Movie – Ourin Dakkan. It was supposed to air at March 31, but absolutely nobody talked about it. It made me curious. Judging by the artwork, you’d think that people would want to see this. After all, it looked very cute. Still, nobody even mentioned a bit of it. I became interested in it, and after a bit of searching, I found an online raw version. A long time of downloading later (very sloooow torrent), I finally got the chance to find out whether this anime deserved this much neglect.

First of all, let’s face it, this movie isn’t going to win any contests. The low budget really becomes clear after the first minute watching, especially when you look at the character designs. The story isn’t very special either: the setting is an all-girls middle-school. One of the teachers, along with some other students have taken over the school, and beaten up the principal. This movie follows three schoolgirls, trying to free the school. Basically, it’s just a couple of cute girls, fighting each other.

Still, I have to admit. It was actually kindof fun watching this. The girls are surprisingly cute, especially in their antics. The movie also featured some pretty funny moments, because of the fact that either the girls keep either screwing up, get distracted or act just plain random. The fight scenes also were very creative. The creators somehow had to find a way to display fight scenes on a small budget. Somehow, they solved this in a very interesting and amusing way.

Overall, this anime needs to get subbed. The characters are interesting to see. Especially in their cute and funny moments. It’s perfect if you’re in the mood for a light watch.

Apart from the amazing Mahou Shoujotai, Studio 4C has produced much more material. The Animatrix, for example. And Eikyuu Kazoku. I just saw it, and it only proves the awesomeness of Studio 4C. This movie just is so incredibly nuts, it actually scares me.

Okay, the concept: take several people, mostly dumped by society, brainwash them and make them think they’re each other’s family. Broadcast their actions on TV, and make money. The members of the family range from a sadistic baby equipped with scissors (and who isn’t afraid to use them) to a daughter who gets obsessive over fire and from a silent girl who uses her puppet to speak for her to a son who likes to play with machine guns. There are also two pets, a chicken and a dog, who only become the victims of the sadistic ideas of each of the family members. They especially don’t like the baby. At the halfmark of the movie, the family actually escapes, and splits up. And even then the fun doesn’t stop.

Eikyuu Kazoku consists out of a large number of small clips, all pasted after each other to form 30 minutes. Because these clips are incredibly small, the pacing in this series is enormous. So many things succeed each other in such a fast pacing. But then again, when there is a quiet moment, you really notice it. That’s one of the few bad parts of this anime.

Another major good part of this anime is that the creators can’t seem to run out of their incredible amount of creativity. So many original elements have been put in this series. The characters remain quirky throughout the entire movie, and new situations just kept amazing me. Also, despite its length, each character also got a healthy dose of character development.

The character art looks different from most anime. I can understand what people mean by the special style of Studio 4C. It reminded me of Mahou Shoujotai, which is always a good thing. The characters indeed look really interesting. The way they’re drawn really makes them unique. The animation also is very interesting, not to mention the choreography of the different action scenes.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this movie. It really confirmed that Studio 4C is my favourite anime studio. It had me laughing at so many times. Especially the characters were something else. If you manage to locate this movie, I certainly recommend you to watch it. It will be a very interesting watch.

Wolf’s Rain is quite an interesting anime. It’s an action-adventure series, with an overall dark and grey mood. Some parts of the story are very creative and original. A world in which wolves are thought to have been extinct for 200 years. The wolves still being alive because they can take the appearance of a human. A religion which believe that humans have evolved from wolves. A quest for the wolves to paradise. Quite interesting, isn’t it? The anime also features some interesting-sounding side-stories, which seem really good on paper. However.

This could have become a good show, weren’t for the fact that the plot was so badly written, to the point it actually becomes laughable. The largest problem was that it seemed that the creators were trying to test the boundaries of coincidences. People conveniently run into each other for no reason at all, at exactly the right time. Twenty times. Per episode. It really becomes funny if this happens so many times in one anime.

That, however, isn’t the only thing wrong with the plot of this show. The creators seemed to have thrown in certain events which don’t make any friggin’ sense at all. For example, wolves who travel for about a month through harsh, snowy terrain, making several pitstops at towns as well make as much progress as a hypermodern spacecraft. piloted by the bad guy. People also get hit by gunshots, and just keep walking around like nothing happened and it’s also nowhere explained why the wolves are so incredibly strong other than give the main characters an excuse to stand out.

And I haven’t even started to talk about the predictability of some of the scenes yet. It was quite funny to see the show take a predictable turn each and every time. The creators’ attempts at romance also totally backfired, as these were the most predictable and hilarious of the entire show. Especially when two lovers were portrayed happily dancing and running in a field full of flowers, and were actually serious about it.

The main characters also were a collection of clichés: tough, impulsive silent guy, annoying brat, carefree dude and hardened streetpunk. Especially the main character likes to go into fights without a reason at all. And these characters are also stupid enough to take a flower girl who needs only sunlight and water to survive into a forest so thick that sunlight and water don’t come through. Still, I have to admit. The side-characters definitely were interesting, when they weren’t entangled by the show’s predictability.

This show really surpasses every other show at episode 15, when it comes with not one, not two, but actually four friggin’ recap episodes. All these episodes do is tell the exact same thing, compressed in four episodes. It was really annoying, trying to get through these episodes. Then the show continues again, with it’s mildly interesting pacing, like nothing ever happened.

Then, at episode 26, this anime actually takes a turn for the better, and the final five episodes actually were surprisingly good and well-written. That is, until you realize the kind of ending the creators were going for, after which the thing turns predictable again. Still, I have to admit. Especially the first half of these final five episodes was worth seeing. But perhaps that was because they focused more at the side-characters than the main characters… hmmm…. In any case, the ending itself was rather dull. Still, the final bad guy was quite interesting to see.

And yes, I have to admit. This show’s got a big budget, which means pretty graphics and music. There’s nothing wrong with the art, and especially near the end, the music really contributes to the series. The art, animation and sounds are one thing not messed up in this anime.

Overall, I still enjoyed watching this anime. This really is a good example of an anime which is so bad, that it actually becomes good. If you really like to mock anime, I definitely recommend this anime, as it’s got so many flaws up to the point that it becomes laughable. Still, if you combine this with the good points, the result ends up being quite entertaining.

Pani Poni Dash certainly is one of the better comedy-anime out there. Every single episode just had me cracked up, time and time again. Its huge cast of interesting and unique characters combined with the huge waves of parodies and references came together into a brilliant piece of awesomeness.

The situation’s like this: Rebecca Miyamoto, or Becky, is a child prodigy. At the age of ten, she already graduated from the MIT (supposedly the best university in the United States, correct me if I’m wrong). She then goes to work as a teacher on a high-school. Still, she remains a ten-year-old child, and the creators did an extremely good job in portraying her brattiness.

The class Becky has to teach also is full of interesting characters, ranging from the idiot to the sarcastic, evil person and the bookworm to the plain girl. These character bring the perfect combination between serious and whacky personages, which get turned into some really funny moments.

If the main characters are out of the picture, the side-characters have enough material to show. The incredibly huge cast of unique characters worked out really great. There’s bound to be a character fit for everyone.

This anime also is extremely well coordinated. Every second of screen time, multiple things are happening at once. Whenever a character’s talking, something whacky is happening in the background. The creators manage to stuff so many in just one episode. They try to give enough room for each of the side-characters, even if it is just one second in an episode.

I also seriously recommend listening to the OP. The show’s got three different ones of them, and all of them are extremely high-quality, though don’t expect the lyrics to make sense. The creators also spent a huge load of time on the art and character design, with Becky appearing in a different outfit each episode, complete with a different haircut. Most of the characters look too cute as well, though Becky is by far the cutest. Do beware, though. While this definitely isn’t a harem or fanservice show, the creators aren’t scared to show some fanservice-y shots of the different characters at times.

Overall, if you want to see a comedy-show, I seriously recommend this anime. It really is one of the better comedies out there. While it isn’t perfect and some moments may miss the mark, it certainly gives a good shot.

I decided to check out this anime, which aired in 2004, as it’s another one of Ghibli’s works. I have to say, it was pretty interesting and unique. Though, unfortunately, not memorable.

The movie is mostly a love story, between an ordinary young woman who makes hats as her profession and a strange, evil wizard. While this may sound cheesy, about ten minutes in the movie a twist happens you so wouldn’t expect. Starting from that point, the “woman” gets to live with the evil wizard, she gets to know him, she gets to know his dark secret and in the end, she attempts to save him.

This movie is a massive two hours long, and manages to fill this time perfectly. There are almost no chances to get bored, as there’s always something happening on the screen. Each of the characters also acts very naturally, nothing seems to feel rushed. The world in which the movie plays also looks amazing and full of imagination.

Still, despite its originality, the movie does remain cheesy in the end. The minor plot sequences are very imaginative, though the major plotline has a lot of bugs. A lot of things also don’t make any sense at all. The two main characters’ cases also don’t get explained at all. Especially the ending left me with a bad feeling.

The graphics also are an interesting issue. While they do look amazing, Spirited Away, which was produced three years earlier, looked much better for some reason. You would expect the opposite, as both movies come from the same studio. The music, while not memorable, remains very fitting and enjoyable.

Overall, I’ve always wanted to watch Howl’s Moving Castle, though I never knew what to expect. I’m pretty happy with the outcome, though it could have been done much better. If you want to see a good movie, I’d suggest to check out Nausicaa or Spirited Away first.