Category: Anime Reviews

After Twilight Q and Patlabor, I was looking forward to Mamoru Oshii’s most famous work: Ghost in the Shell. It’s probably the most well-known anime-movie of the nineties. With very detailed graphics, especially for those days, and a terrific soundtrack, I can understand why this became a classic for many people. Still, I wouldn’t really classify this among neither Mamoru Oshii’s nor Masamune Shirou’s best work.

First of all, while the movie might try to make you believe otherwise, the depth of this movie is much less than even the first Patlabor-movie (in my opinion, Mamoru’s most down-to-earth work). There’s one specific scene that feels too much like the creators just pasted in a piece of convenient philosophical dialogue, instead of cleverly inserting this in the storyline. At heart, this just remains a standard movie about catching a bad-guy. The concept has a lot of potential, but I just feel that the movie only scratched the surface of it. But yeah, this can be excused with the two movies and two television-series that followed.

What can’t be excused was the fact that a lot of things just aren’t explained. There are a few hints here and there at the characters’ backgrounds, but that’s all that we get. I would have liked to see Mamoru Oshii’s typical dialogue to explain more about both the characters and the plot, like he did so well in Twilight Q. Right now, there are a lot of holes in the stories that could have been explained just as well.

Still, Ghost in the Shell is by no means a bad movie; it just doesn’t deserve the huge hype. The characters are more likable than you would expect on first sight and despite their lack of development. The story is interesting enough to make you keep watching and the action is also quite well done: there’s not too much, it doesn’t get in the way of the story and there’s much less than I expected. One movie just isn’t enough for this concept, and I think I wasn’t the only one who got this idea.

Spriggan is basically the big action movie of Studio 4C. Unfortunately, it’s also one of their worst works. You have to give it credit for taking place in Turkey, though. The overall feel of the Turkish cities in the beginning of the movie is portrayed quite well. If only the rest of the movie wasn’t such a horrible mess.

The biggest problem lies with the main character: he’s another one of those 17-year-old brats with superhuman abilities with shallow explanation. He ends up performing one reckless act after the other without even breaking a sweat. The movie quickly ceases to be engaging, simply because you won’t feel any reason to connect to the main character because his superpowers will save him out of the situation anyway.

The plot isn’t much better off. Hardly anything is explained, so a lot of parts end up not making any sense at all. This isn’t in the way that Yukikaze was incomprehensible; for Spriggan, the writers just have been damn lazy. Characters also posses knowledge of which you’d wonder how the heck they found that out. Basically, all Spriggan cares about are action and pretty graphics.

Thankfully, the climax itself is satisfying. Well, satisfying enough when compared to the rest of the movie. It actually saves some time to give the main character some much-needed development and it was much less over-the-top as I feared. Still, it by no means made up for the mess that was the rest of the movie. The only reason why you should watch this is if you’re tired and want something that doesn’t require you to think. Spriggan is perfect for this and it’ll at least keep you entertained with its action-scenes. Thankfully, it isn’t as stupid as Giniro no Kami no Agito, there are a few good points, but don’t expect any substance from this one.

My major problem (and I guess that goes for many people as well) with mecha-shows is that these giant robots are very hard to make believable. I mean, their centre of gravity is high, they’re expensive and complicated and why would armies go through the huge trouble to create giant human-shaped robots when tanks and planes are a much easier and efficient choice? Only a select amount of stories can really justify the use of mechas, in my opinion (Bokura no is a good example and a series like FLAG also made the use of human-shaped robots believable enough). Therefore, it’s nice to see that Yukikaze for once just keeps to fighter-planes.

Right from the start it becomes clear that this is a very ambitious OVA. A lot of budget has been put into the graphics, and they look absolutely gorgeous. The storytelling is also slow-paced, to give enough time to flesh out the characters and to give the viewer the chance to connect to the cast. The setting is dark and gritty, and the military organization that it focused on has received a lot of attention to look as real as possible, with multiple ranks, a lot of staff is involved in a mission (and not just one guy who can take care of all the maintenance of an entire fleet). The potential was definitely there, but unfortunately it’s got one major flaw.

Basically, the storyline is excellent, the characters are deep, but the storytelling is very confusing, and at times it’s even too confusing. Often I found myself thinking “what the hell happened?” Entire scenes of explanation seem to have been lost on the cutting-room floor, and there’s also the matter that this series likes to delve into lots of techno-babble at times. Yukikaze consists out of five episodes, and I feel that it would have so much benefited from one more episode that explains everything, completes the background of the different characters and gives depth to the enemy (something they majorly lacked as well).

Even though this series is about fighter-planes, there’s also enough focus on the two main characters: one of the pilots of a rather special plane and his superior (and for once: no teenagers!). The different characters are surprisingly close to each other, and this series makes sure to show this. Basically, every character that gets developed feels complete and genuine, and for that I’m willing to forgive the rather botched-up storytelling.

To say that Twilight Q is different from your usual anime would be an understatement. I don’t think anyone could have expected what was shown here. Basically, two great names in anime, Tomomi Mochizuki (Kimagure Orange Road, Here is Greenwood, Ocean Waves, Seraphim Call, Yokohama Kaidasi Kikou ~Quiet Country Cafe and many, many more; he’s also the one who’s going to be directing Porfy’s Long Journey) and Mamoru Oshii (Patlabor I and II, Ghost in the Shell, Angel’s Egg) came together and both produced a 30-minute long mystery-story. And what mystery it is!

Tomomi Mochizuki is up first, and he comes up with something that starts out as your typical high-school romance, but then turns into something very different. Don’t expect to get answers about everything, and some events may feel a tad too coincidental, but overall the non-linear direction and timeline works out really well in the end.

Then it’s Oshii Mamoru’s turn, and this is where Twilight Q really sets itself apart. Remember Patlabor II? Basically, take out all the action and politics, and the result is the second episode. The entire episode (30 minutes!) is just one huge complicated monologue about a mysterious occurrence that has something to do with a strange girl and her father. I must say that Oshii Mamoru is another one of these directors with his own, distinctive style of complex dialogues and gritty settings, but for me it works out really well.

Unfortunately, it seems that when Twilight Q was originally made, there were plans to include even more episodes, but these episodes never came. It’s a real shame, because the concept screams potential. As a mystery-fan, I just loved the storytelling for both episodes. The characters unfortunately had to be sacrificed, though (they’re not as likable and well-developed as I would have liked; even taking into account the short airtime). Still, Twilight Q is a nice recommendation for if you’re looking for something different.

Mahou Shoujotai (my like, most favourite anime ever), unlike most anime, hasn’t been directed by just one person. Instead a whole bunch of people sat in the director’s seat, and each of them was responsible for his or her own episodes, which surprises me even more that the result turned out so awesome. In any case, it’s a shame but these directors weren’t involved in many other series apart from some work on key-animation for various series. There is one exception, though: Kimagure Robot. It basically consists out of ten two-minute episodes and a number of the directors were given the task to direct one or two of them. After this story, do I still need to explain why I just had to watch this after finding this out? ^^;

Now that I’ve finished watching, I know for sure: these guys are brilliant. Unlike Mahou Shoujotai, Kimagure Robot has no intention to take itself seriously and instead comes with a series of ten random comedic stories about a scientist who invents robots. Because there have been seven different directors, the stories all turn out varied, yet consistent because every director tries to give his own interpretation of the story, while paying in mind what the others have come up with. It’s the same as with Mahou Shoujotai: even though every director was responsible for a different series of episodes, you can see that they worked together very closely.

Basically, every movie turns into a spoof of some kind of television-trope, ranging from the genie in the bottle that grants you three wishes to various kinds of alien-invasions. I honestly laughed myself to tears at nearly every single one of the episodes. I especially loved the end of every episode, which basically consists out of a witty one-sentence summary of what happened inside said episode.

I’m still convinced that these guys need to direct more. Their style is fresh and engaging and definitely recommended if you’re looking for something different. It’s a shame that Kimagure Robot has no plot whatsoever, and the fact remains that you can only do so much with only two minutes per episode, but I’m glad enough that the rest turned out so well. One thing that also should be noted is that the entire short is voiced by just two voice-actors: one male and one female. They basically did all the necessary voices for the different characters.

I was quite surprised to see this one pop up on Tokyo Toshokan. It’s about a boy who meets a baby-Plesiosaurus, supposed to be extinct, and the premise sounded interesting enough for me to give it a try. Unfortunately, one thing that should be noted is that the encoding-quality was very bad. Both the video- and audio-quality are very low-quality, and to make matters worse the video started going seconds out of synch quite fast. In the end I solved it by turning off the sound and playing the same file in another different player with a few seconds delay. It was quite tedious, but worth it.

The story for Coo is just like any other environmentalist movie. A boy finds strange animal, bad guys come to take it and all scientists are evil. It’s the execution, however, that made this movie something special. The characters are well-defined and developed and they’re easily likable. The start of the movie may be quite slow, but this does make sure that both the characters and the story are fleshed out well.

When the movie then starts getting exciting, it delivers. A surprising amount of detail has been put in the plans of the bad guys to get their hands on Coo (the name of the baby Plesiosaurus) and I like how the movie kept realistic while doing this. This goes on for nearly the entire airtime, but unfortunately, the movie screws up at the final climax and ends with a cheesy blatant Deus ex Machina.

Especially environmentally aware kids will love this one, though. Coo is quite unknown, but it’s quite a capable movie. It might not bring anything new to the table, but what it does, it does quite well.

What an excellent way to close off the year! Like with Christmas, I wanted to try something special for a movie to watch at the end of 2007, so I went with one that I absolutely knew nothing about, except for an interesting-sounding premise. After having watched it, I must say that even though it’s old, it’s got one of the most memorable storylines in a movie that I’ve ever seen. This is basically Toward the Terra, minus the epic feeling.

While Toward the Terra featured characters of many different ages, They Were Eleven takes place on a much smaller scale: it’s just about the entrance-exam of one of the most prestigious schools of the universe. The universe sounds similar to Toward the Terra as well, with an elite group that stands miles above the ordinary people, but there are changes; different races from humans, for example.

An cast that consists entirely out of aspiring elites has been used more often in anime, but never has the storyline made use of this fact so much. Because every character is elite, they’re well-educated, and they all have their own reason to pass the exam. The writers use this and create a very engaging mystery-storyline that will keep you on your toes. And that’s the great part of this movie.

The characters are also not your average ones, and are easy to like. There are a few stereotypes here and there, but every single character has one trait that makes them different from the all the other ones of their kind. Regarding the flaws of this movie: it loses a bit of its spark around the end. I’m a big fan of mystery-anime, but they’re always tricky to end well without being predictable. Another point of criticism is that two or three side-characters needed more development than they received.

Still, this is an excellent example of a well-developed old-school movie. The other characters are well-enough developed for the short time that the story has, and they all turned into a memorable cast. The few moments of comedy were also quite welcome. If you’re a fan of shoujo and science-fiction series, then this is a recommended movie.

Well, that’s it for 2007. For those who are already in 2008: Happy New Year! For those like me who still have a few hours left in 2007: Happy New Year in advance!

After the Cockpit and 9 Love Stories, the obvious next step would be Robot Carnival: another collection of nine stories. Twenty years ago, some of the great names in anime came together, and were all assigned to create a short movie that has to do with robots. Basically, Robot Carnival is the Fantasia of anime, with only two movies that contain dialogue and a soundtrack that has been composed by Hisaishi Joe of Ghibli-fame. This movie shines in its diversity: every short is different from the other. Individually, the shorts may disappoint at times, but together they form quite an enjoyable ride.

Koji Morimoto (Magnetic Rose (Memories), Noiseman Sound Insect, Beyond (The Animatrix)) is up first, and he comes up with a strange, yet very entertaining short, though with the lack of any sort of plot with the short Franken’s Gears. Hidetoshi Omori (Dan Doh? O_o) is up next with Deprive, which is more like a standard action-movie, condensed into nine minutes. Yasuomi Umetsu (Kite, Mezzo Forte) then comes with one of the first highlights of the movie with his Prescence, a quiet thought-provoking romance.
Star Light Angel, well the title says it all. It’s a cheesy shoujo-love-story by Hiroyuki Kitazume (Moldiver), yet it somehow still works. Cloud, by Mao Lamdo will probably be the hardest short to like, as it’s basically nothing else than an animated piece of art, without any clear plot nor purpose. To make up for this, the next short, A Tale of Two Robots – Chapter 3: Foreign Invasion by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Golden Boy, Roujin Z (note to self: check those out)) will have you rolling on the floor laughing with its parodies of ancient mecha- and samurai-shows. To close off, Takashi Naamura (Fantastic Children, A Tree of Palme) comes with a short that combines quirky characters with a lot of imagination. You wouldn’t suspect that Fantastic Children came from the same creator.

While most of the shorts fall short in the story-department, I like how a lot of them weren’t just created to tell a story, but also to pay homage to the different genres of anime at that time. Giant Robots, shoujo-dramas, action-flicks, thought-provoking dramas, samurais. All of them are either parodied or remembered. Hisaishi Joe manages to capture the feeling of every said show perfectly as well, making sure for a terrific, yet cheesy soundtrack. Overall, this is a very good way to watch at the end of the year, as the level of nostalgia is quite high.

Kawaguchi Kaiji’s 9 Love Stories, well, I think you hardly need to know anything more to guess what this one will be about. Kawaguchi Kaiji is the same guy who wrote the original story for a Spirit of the Sun, and his nine love stories are basically what you get after you cross Human Crossing with Sentimental Journey and put the result in a 90-minute movie. If you liked any of the two, or even Seraphim Call or Rumic Theatre for that matter, then you’ll like this one.

This movie basically features nine ten-minute stories about nine different, unrelated adults and the person they love. Five or six of them work: they’re touching tales about their characters, with some nice twists at the end. Three or four of the stories feel predictable, though. They just don’t have the spark that the others have.

Still, this movie is quite a nice recommendation if you like romance, and especially if you’re sick of all the standard high-school romances like me. Even though this movie dates back from 1993, the best stories still feel fresh. The graphics will take a bit of time to get used to, though. There are a lot of broad chins and the girls aren’t busty moe-stereotypes like you usually see. Instead of coming up with an original soundtrack, the creators went with a few classic songs from artists like the Beatles. It’s a bit cheap, but it fits, and it works.

I must applaud The Cockpit for actually taking place during World War II. It’s the same here in The Netherlands: there are lots of novels and stories about our Golden Age in the seventeenth century, there are lots of stories about World War II, where we were basically the victims of the Third Reich, but you’ll never hear anything about what we did in Indonesia, where we were the bastards. The same goes for anime: there are quite a lot of series about the Japanese ages of glory, the time of the samurais. And there are very few anime about the Second World War, where the Japanese were the bastards. If only for that, this series deserves credit.

Apart from this, The Cockpit is a collection of stories about three people, fighting for Japan in the war. Slipstream is a beautiful tale about a war-veteran and a certain mission he accepts. It may not be historically accurate at times, but its message is wonderful and makes a lot of impact. It’s also got a subtle feeling of loneliness that doesn’t feel out of place in a Makoto Shinkai-movie, and it’s the definite highlight of The Cockpit for me.

Sonic Boom Squadron then comes and tackles a taboo in anime: suicide bombers. We get to look into the mind of one of them, and the ones who will accompany him in his final moments, and it works. While I would have liked to see a bit more about his background, the guy shows us something different from the stereotype that surrounded the suicide-bombers. The ending is also a great one, held back from being underdeveloped and coming from rather nowhere.

Knight of the Iron Dragon is a disappointing finale, though. It doesn’t take itself serious enough, and the themes have been overplayed a bit too much, with a low-ranked war-veteran taking care of a rookie. It has the potential, but the execution just fails.

I must admit that I didn’t think much of the Matsumoto Leiji-universe up till now, but that’s probably because the only thing I had seen from the guy was Gun Frontier, which was just bad. With The Cockpit, though I begin to see the guy’s talent: realistic war-settings about thought-provoking heroes. If his other works are more similar to The Cockpit than to Gun Frontier, then I’m willing to check out more of it somewhere in the future.