Category: Anime Reviews

Yeah, this is it. Macross Plus has without a doubt turned into my favourite installment of the Macross Franchise. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, it turned into an amazing character-study of its three lead characters. It’s much less chaotic and whimsical than your average Macross series, and instead it is a very focused story about fully grown adults and the relationship between them.

These three lead characters are the ones who make this series, but what also supports them is a rock-solid sense of storytelling, who knows exactly how to use its airtime to the fullest, giving a great balance between action, drama and build-up. Especially the final episode, in which everything comes together, is an amazing episode that allows the best of these characters to rise.

If I had to mention a flaw, then it’s that some of the side characters just seem… shallow. And I mean that in the way that they only seem to exist or do stuff, for the sake of advancing the plot. Sharon’s executive, for example. His actions had great result, but the guy himself was just a stereotypical evil villain who was evil for the sake of being evil. And while the ending itself is amazing, I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of an actual epilogue to wrap everything up.

For a Macross Series, the animation is perhaps not the most impressive out there, but still very good and fluid, especially considering the year in which this was produced. The animation is very smooth and the artistic direction is also very powerful. The soundtrack is an awesome one as well.

So yeah, now I finally understand why the Macross Franchise is held with such a high regard. The other Macross series I’ve seen had their charms here and there, but for me they mostly stood out through their eye-candy, not their substance. I’d probably rank them in the following way, from least favourite to most:
5). Do You Remember Love? (Lacks the charms of the series it recapped)
4). Macross Zero (Great visual direction but a chaotic story)
3). Macross Frontier (Great middle part but disappointing beginning and finale)
2). Original Macross (Great insight on the Zentradi)
1). Macross Plus (Great character-study and storytelling all around)

Storytelling:	9/10 – Focused and powerful.
Characters:	9/10 – Very well detailed and fleshed out lead characters with an excellent chemistry.
Production-Values:	9/10 – Very smooth animation, great soundtrack.
Setting:	8/10 – Some things exist just to forward the plot, but otherwise a good addition to the Macross Universe.

The Macross Franchise has always been one of eye candy, and Macross Zero does not disappoint in the slightest. As the first Macross of the new Millennium, the graphics are utterly gorgeous. The CG is a bit unrefined at times, but the way it’s animated and contrasts with the background; the huge explosions and vivid and detailed animation. If anything, you should be watching this OVA for its amazing visuals. The audio? Again, beautiful. The best of the Macross franchise that I’ve seen (meaning the Original Macross and Macross Frontier).

But what about the rest of the OVA? Um… yeah.

I think it’s best described as “chaos”. Macross Zero is typical of Shouji Kawamori; both the good parts and the bad parts. The story has some interesting parts; there are a number of interesting characters, but at the same time it just feels so incomplete. I found it very confusing to try and figure out what everyone’s motives and ideals were throughout these five episodes. The creators like to introduce things without any build-up whatsoever and overall the storytelling feels very unbalanced.

As for the characters: I loved native side-characters. It’s just too bad that they hardly got any airtime. The lead characters didn’t impress me too much. The male lead is yet another bland teenager who somehow is authorized to fly a jet fighter. The female lead character is just way too naive. Their whining often gets in the way of the story and especially that female lead just keeps going on and on about her ideals and how you shouldn’t mess with nature and stuff.

I admit that at times she has interesting points about war versus nature, but at others we just see Kawamori taking another chance to shove his enviromentalistic ideals down your throat. On the other side, the main villains are also pretty shallow. There was just nothing that made me interested in them.

So no; as substance, this OVA rather failed. However, as entertainment it more than succeeded, it only because of the beautiful visuals and its amazing visual direction. Especially in the final episode this stands out like no other: the story becomes just ludicrous at that point, but oh, did it look pretty.

Storytelling:	8/10 – The story is poorly balanced, but the visual and technical direction rocks.
Characters:	7/10 – Unappealing teen-aged lead characters whose whining often gets annoying.
Production-Values:	9/10 – CG looks a bit out of place, but other than beautiful.
Setting:	7/10 – Way too little back-story and too preachy at times.

This is a bit of an experiment. All these three titles are pretty short and I don’t have much to say about them individually, but I might as well make a combined entry that talks a bit about all of them.

Bungaku Shoujo

This one’s a strange 15-minute special about a girl who loves books so much that she eats them. Seriously, she imagines the stories she reads very vividly and compares them to food, only to eat the paper the stories are written on literally. While I liked some of the food analogies, I overall fail to see the point of this release. To me it just seems like a really long commercial for the manga, light novel or whatever this story is based on. There is potential if it can get itself a proper TV-series: if they can make this into a sort-of story about stories, and put more emphasis on the latter than the former unlike what was done here, it might become interesting enough to warrant a watch. But even then it’s going to have to really put work in making its characters interesting. This OVA though… I can only imagine recommending it to someone who already is interested in the source material to have a quick look on what it is about.
Rating: 70/100

The Two Walnuts

This has to be one of the lazier premises of a World War II movie I’ve seen. Instead of just taking a person who actually lived through the hellish period, and expanding upon his or her life, the creators just had to take a kid who lives in 2007 and magically transport her back to a few days before the bombing of Tokyo. The rest of the antics are predictable: while the creators did well in showing the hardships of those times (especially the cruelty to animals is a major theme) it’s just all too easy for the lead character. At the end the creators try to create sympathy by going Tomino, but the melodramatic way in which these deaths are acted out is just a mockery of the real Tokyo Bombings. Stay away from this one, if you want WW2-movies: instead go with those from the eighties and nineties.
Rating: 65/100

Kowarekake no Orgol
Again, this is just a random commercial for whatever manga or visual novel it’s based on. The problem is that it was unbelievably boring, and what impressed me the most was how it kept dodging any sort of explanation of what’s going on. Seriously, every time that it’s about to explain something, it quickly cuts to some sort of boring slice of life scene. That doesn’t really work in a one-shot OVA. At this point we have some sort of story about a guy who finds a broken down android, who dies and wakes up again a couple of times, but how and why are never explained. And on top of that, the characters themselves are boring and cliched, especially their back-stories (or whatever this episode dared to show of them, anyways). It’s obviously a slice of life OVA, so if you like that then be my guest and ignore this mini-review, but for me I only find slice of life around characters I don’t care about boring.
Rating: 60/100

Okay, so usually I don’t write reviews for OVAs that are based on a series, because often they’re just too similar to the series they’re based on, or just random side-stories that aren’t meant to be judged as standalone products. There are exceptions of course, when an OVA goes into completely its own direction, and improves significantly on the series it’s based on, I do want to promote it a bit and say a few things about it.

And an excellent example of this is King of Bandits Jing’s OVA. The TV-series itself was all over the place; some episodes were awesome, though most of them were very simplistic and unimpressive. Now here the OVA comes, and it takes the best parts of the series, and just goes all out into an awesome mindscrew.

The visual direction really is amazing. It takes place in a semi-dreamworld, and just about every shot is creative, and beautifully drawn. There’s so much creativity put into just three episodes. If you finished the TV-series and liked its weird stuff, then you owe it to yourself to take a look at it, because it’s entertainment at its finest.

The three episodes are also completely different from each other. The first is chock-full of visual comedy and uses its creativity and unique direction to create a very entertaining adventure through a dreamlike world. The second episode is more serious, and actually tells about Jing’s past. While he doesn’t exactly gain much depth, it’s still very interesting to watch. The third episode in its turn is a character-study of the major villain, which was very interesting and well scripted.

Thanks to Jing’s tongue-in-cheek personality this OVA has a unique feel, but it’s not to the point where the style gets in the way of what’s important. The characters’ antics and the visuals are just as important and the animation is actually really good. Add to that that one of the best character-designers out there has worked on this, and you’ve got something consistently entertaining.

Storytelling:	9/10 – Tongue-in-cheek execution with tons and tons of creativity.
Characters:	8/10 – Great emphasis on character background despite the weirdness.
Production-Values:	9/10 – Absolutely stunning designs.
Setting:	8/10 – Tons of nice and neat ideas, though the concept of the series remains questionable.

The Brilliant Heretic OVA was made in 1994. It never actually got subbed, but a raw version is available, so I decided to check out its content. It’s set about 30 years after the end of the television series and so it’s the only OVA so far to be a sequel to the series, rather than a prequel. As a series from the Votoms Franchise, it just isn’t as refined as Ryousuke Takahashi’s other works, however it’s still an interesting watch.

One thing that will be hard to swallow in this OVA is that the main focus doesn’t fall on any of the lead characters. Instead, we have Chirico doing what he does best (fighting), Vanilla providing support, Gotho has degraded in some sort of a mad old man, and Fyana really has gotten the short end of the straw because she’s nothing more than a damsel in distress throughout the entire OVA. A role that she avoided so well in the TV-series! The rest of the cast doesn’t appear at all, and instead the depth in this series comes from the setting, and in particular one new female character.

This new character is actually pretty interesting, in the way that she fits in the political system of the setting, but she’s not perfect. She’s quite a bit cliched and her *sigh* romantic feelings fail to make any impact. The relationship with her father is very interesting, though. I think my favourite part were the ones that focused on the politics: at first sight they’re simple but they’re actually quite interesting.

The animation is very inconsistent: it ranges from very stiff to really good, though most of the animation edges to the former. There are a number of scenes that have the same kind really smooth animation that Ryousuke Takahashi would later perfect in Gasaraki.

However, because of one final twist this really is a must-watch for any Votoms Fan. I’m not going to spoil exactly what’s going to happen, but while this series doesn’t live up to Ryousuke Takahashi’s usual high standard, and the new characters while they have their times of depth also have their times of shallowness, it really doesn’t deserve that it’s not gotten subbed.

Storytelling:	8/10 – A bit disjointed, but interesting politics, the same dark atmosphere as Votoms.
Characters:	7/10 – A bit of a mixed bag.
Production-Values:	7/10 – Again: mixed bag.
Setting:	9/10 – Interesting setting that tries out many new and different things.

Okay, so I got interested in the rest of the Gag Manga Biyori after watching the first episode of its fourth season, so I tracked down the first season (unfortunately, the complete second and third season are nowhere to be found). I’m glad I did, because it really is an awesome comedy. Good luck finding a series with more energy than this one.

To give a bit of an indication of the chaos of this show: imagine one of the fast paced episodes of Gintama. Make that pace twice as fast, and you’ve got your average episode of Sexy Commando Gaiden. Double the pacing yet again, and you’ve got an average episode of Gag Manga Biyori. It’s just insane in every single way. After watching this series, I actually tried watching an episode of Hetalia Axis Powers in between. While that usually was an energetic comedy, it suddenly became incredibly boring and slow paced in comparison.

Every episode is five minutes long and shows a standalone story that shows a bunch of random people doing something random. About half of them take place in the past and show famous historic people, while the other half takes place in modern times and parodies something to the extreme. Every episode is funny in its own way, and three in particular were absolute classics for me (the sticker, the end of the world and the death episode). There are a few episodes that drag on a bit too much, but the set of brilliant episodes more than make up for it.

This type of humour of course isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but if you liked Sexy Commando Gaiden then you’ll also like this, because it’s taken its randomness much, much further. I really urge people to at least not ignore the fourth season that’s currently airing. Somehow get it subbed, because it’s a unique comedy. I also loved how every episode has a different ED, where only the… um… lyrics… remain the same. I really wonder what mindset the performers were in when they recorded them…

Storytelling:	9/10 – Insane. Just insane.
Characters:	8/10 – Nearly every episode has completely new and unrelated characters.
Production-Values:	8/10 – Looks simple, but the animation is surprisingly fluid for a comedy.
Setting:	8/10 – Instead of taking the more obvious historical figures, this chronicles the people that most western anime fans have never even heard of.

I now see that it’s not exactly right to call Maria-Sama ga Miteru a shoujo ai series. If you want lesbians, there’s Aoi Hana, Sasameki Koto, Blue Drop or Candy Boy. Instead, it’s more like a relation-focused drama series that just hardly has any male characters in it. The second season continues pretty much where the first one left off, but it focuses more on drama than on the slice of life.

And it’s really the same typical drama of this series, that tends to make an elephant out of a mosquito. Because of how elegant the culture inside the school and especially the “student council” that this series focuses on is, the creators can really make the simplest things seem like huge problems, without overdoing it and delving into melodrama. Though granted, the second season seemed to be edging for that line a bit more than the first season did.

However, it also continues developing its terrific set of characters, who still remain the selling point of this series. What’s special about this season is that various characters come and leave, and so the main cast at the end of the series looks quite a bit different from what it looked like in the beginning. There’s a ton of background, extra depth and character-development in this season, which makes it worth watching if you enjoyed the first season.

I still think that my favourite episodes are in the first season (the Sei episode), however on average the second season is superior: it’s more consistent and overall more interesting development, although the final arc may have taken things a bit too much overboard. The graduation arc however rocked. It was subtle yet touching, and so many characters were developed in that arc alone.

Storytelling:	8/10 – Elegant atmosphere, subtle drama.
Characters:	9/10 – Tons of extra development, background and depth for the cast of characters.
Production-Values:	8/10 – Great character-designs, gentle music.
Setting:	8/10 – An unique portrayal of a catholic school, unlike most stereotypical portrayals of the elite you see in your average anime.

You know these really good athletes, performers or artists? And how they make what they do, whether it’s sports, acting, acrobatics, painting or whatever, look so incredibly easy? Well, that’s this movie. I mean seriously, I can wind a long story around it, but it’s just a brilliant movie. In fact, the Uchuu-hen and Houou-hen have a very good chance of becoming my favourite movies of the seventies and eighties!

It was a real eye-opener: to see how good the story of a movie can be if it’s small enough to fit into such a small time-frame without being rushed. This is exactly the example of how you should tell a story in a movie right, and I’ve only seen a select other movies that had such a solid storyline as the Hi no Tori movies.

The Uchuu-chapter of Hi no Tori takes, like its title makes you suspect, place in space. Where the Houou-hen focused on folklore, the Yamato-hen focused on romance, the Uchuu-hen is a full fledged mystery story. There’s a lot of emphasis on the past and backgrounds, with the eventual answers turning out very imaginative, like you’d expect from Osamu Tezuka. Again, Rintaro did an awesome job in building up the tension, and slowly revealing this backstory. It’s an excellent example of mystery done right.

This movie has the same elements that made me such a big fan of the Hi no tori franchise in the first place: lots of emphasis on character-development, characters with huge flaws, themes of betrayals and punishments and the celebration of life and progression also is prevalent in this movie. The creators yet again manage to weave them into a gripping science-fiction story. Even though it doesn’t exactly have a big budget to work with, it’s a terrific example of how to correctly write a movie.

Storytelling:	9/10 – Truly excellent mystery and build-up.
Characters:	9/10 – Lots of terrific character-development.
Production-Values:	9/10 – Good animation; awesome soundtrack.
Setting:	9/10 – Tons of nice ideas and details thrown into the setting.

Anyway, this concludes my movie spree, and it’s probably going to be the last one I’ll be having in a long time. It’s been a great way to close off the decade and start a new one, especially considering how I’m getting less and less confident to find eight bloggable shows for the new season.

The Yamato-hen is a bit of a step back from the Houou-hen, but really: who cares. With such a brilliant franchise as Hi no Tori, it’s still a very good and enjoyable movie!

I think that the biggest flaw for this one is that it becomes a bit too preachy in the end, the morals and values it tries to push on in the end are a bit too obvious, and the love story between the lead male and female just doesn’t live up to some of the other stories of Hi no Tori. It just misses something.

However, it has plenty of good stuff to boast. Like all of the Hi no Tori stories: it’s a great celebration of human evolution and progression. It tells of conflicting ideals, difficult choices that have to be made, betrayal and tragedy. It again puts a huge emphasis on character-development (something that a whole lot more movies should do!), which is powerful and creative.

I have a lot of respect for Osamu Tezuka, but that’s mostly because of his creativity, and his will to go with things that nobody else would think of. With Hi no Tori, however, he established himself as a truly brilliant storyteller, and Rintaro again did justice to this story, even though it’s not as good as the Houou chapter.

Storytelling:	9/10 – Tons of creative twists, despite the simple story.
Characters:	8/10 – Well developed, but some of them are a bit preachy at times.
Production-Values:	8/10 – Good art, animation and music.
Setting:	8/10 – One of the very few stories that tells about Japan’s tribal age.

One thing that I’ve noticed with movies is that they’re often too short: they just don’t have the luxury of TV-series, which can take their time in building up their story. It’s much harder to create an awesome movie than an awesome TV-series because of this. I think that Movies tend to be a bit too ambitious for their own good at times. They should be excellent mediums to adapt short stories, but instead I’ve seen tons of them that try stuff much larger stories into their airtime than what’s good for them.

Now, this may just be me who has a bias for folklore, but holy crap, this movie is really amazing. The Houou chapter of Hi no Tori is THE example of how a movie can be done right.

This movie doesn’t exactly have the best animation (though it’s pretty good nonetheless), and even the setting isn’t that big, the action also isn’t why you should watch this, but on the other hand: it really is storytelling at its finest. Osamu Tezuka wrote a brilliant original story, and Rintaro did an awesome attempt in putting the story into an hour-long movie.

It basically follows two men, with completely different backgrounds, around the 7th century AD. What makes their stories awesome is the way its told, and the excellent characterization of these two. It plays around with tons of morals and values, and both these lead characters go through some very powerful developments. They’re complete anti-heroes, and yet you can see the reasons for their actions and their development.

The pacing is slow, but through one of the best soundtracks I have heard of any movie from the 70s and 80s it really gets the best out of the characters. It’s one of those rare movies that just “works”, thanks to its excellent source material. You also don’t have to worry about overlap with the TV-series of Hi no Tori, which was produced in 2004: apparently Osamu Tezuka wrote so many awesome stories for his Hi no Tori manga that there was plenty to choose from from the anime creators. And here I thought that there couldn’t possibly anymore brilliant stories aside from the ones that the TV-series adapted!

Storytelling:	10/10 – Clever, powerful, excellent pacing. Just about everything went right here.
Characters:	9/10 – For a movie they’re really impressive, and shine in their character-development.
Production-Values:	9/10 – Beautiful art, good animation, fantastic soundtrack.
Setting:	8/10 – In what other anime do you get to see the rise of Buddhism in Japan?