What movie would be a better a better choice after Unico than Vampire Hunter D – Bloodlust? ^^; Anyway, the sequel of the movie Vampire Hunter D, produced sixteen years after the original, is indeed much better than the first one. The graphics look a lot better, and especially the music took a turn for the better, delivering a soundtrack that may not contain some of the best tunes ever, but succeeds in producing an effective atmosphere to capture the viewer.
But what about the story? Well, there’s one added element that convinced me that Bloodlust is superior to its predecessor: the romance. Not with D, but the affair the main antagonist has been having. The relationship between him and his loved one, combined with the fact that the vampires are a dying race definitely made the movie worth watching.
I wish I could say the same about the action, though. It takes up most of the airtime, and even though the amount of blatant Deus ex Machina has been reduced to only one, it’s just too unimpressive. The fights suffer especially because of their predictability. You’ll be able to easily to predict who’ll survive in the end, after only one tenth of the airtime, and the action itself isn’t really that good for a movie.
Especially the side-characters, Layla’s henchmen, are a major problem in this movie. They’re just there to fill time. We never get to see their intentions, background or anything. We never see how they got together, and they get killed as easily as two donuts in a police-station. The main characters may have been interesting to watch, all gets ruined when the movie starts focusing on the obnoxious side-characters again. The minor antagonists aren’t exactly gripping either.
Still, this movie is a nice enough watch, though there are better choices. The first half disappointed a bit, though things got better in the second half, when the major characters got some development. The ending is a bit cheesy, though you wouldn’t expect anything else, considering the predictability. I found the last line of the movie to be really amusing, though. :P]]>
El Cazador de la Bruja – 21
This was another one of those typical Bee-Train episodes. Nearly nothing happens, and the entire episode just builds up for one major event. There’s no action, just one huge chunk of atmosphere. While others may hate it, I loved it. Basically, the entire thing is about one of the lesser interesting members of the cast: Blue Eyes. At the end of the episode, though, I liked her a whole lot more, despite the fact that the twist at the end of the episode had it coming: Blue-Eyes deserts her mission.
She was supposed to personally kill Ellis and Nadie, who are meanwhile busy with vulture-hunting for a local vulture-dealer. While listening to their conversation, waiting to get a good shot of either of them, she decides to leave. Freedom is a huge theme in this episode, and it was overall carried out very well. But yeah, apart from that, nothing really happened. Oh, except for LA. He actually helped a random girl he ran into.
5 episodes left! The finale is about to begin! The only thing I’m afraid of is Rozenberg. Every character has been developed really well, with especially Ellis, Nadie and LA standing out. And yet Rozenberg remains stale and dull. Get off your lazy ass and start doing something, Dagu!!!]]>
Fantastic Adventures of Unico Review – 66/100
This is one for the children out there. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico tells about a little unicorn with an amazing talent: to make everyone he runs into happy. Its storyline and themes (in this case, friendship) are simple and easy to understand, as the movie follows the adventures of the incredibly cute Unico and his friends. If you’ve got a little brother or sister, this would be the perfect thing to show them. Especially the kids in kindergarten will love it.
But still, the question remains whether older viewers will enjoy it. If I were to judge the story in the way I do with other anime, this movie would fail horribly. Characters lack background, and Unico is surprisingly mature and brave for his age. The movie starts out nicely, though, when the gods try to get rid of Unico, but these gods play an unfortunate small role for the rest of the airtime. Halfway through the movie, a more clichéd villain gets introduced, who gets to be the big boss who needs to be defeated in the end. This end turns out to be a Disney-ending, so don’t expect much of it.
Still, the characters are interesting to watch; if you like cute stuff, at least. I do admit that Unico gets more annoying as the movie goes on, but the other characters are definitely fun to watch. Everyone has a clear role to play in this movie, and a lot of symbolism is used to flesh them out. There are quite a few adorable moments throughout the movie, and despite the fact that the storyline doesn’t always work, the themes are always spot-on.
This is one of these movies that you need to watch on a brain-dead afternoon, when you don’t want to think much. For me, this definitely wasn’t Osamu Tezuka’s best work. But then again, I’m not exactly part of the target audience. ^^;]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 33
Yes! The first contact has been made! In the second half of this episode, Marius and Cosette finally managed to meet again, and they actually talked to each other! Let the romance finally begin!
*ahem* Now that that’s out, I obviously liked this episode because of that scene. Eponine has now officially lost, and I can’t wait for her reaction when she finds out. The rest of the episode spent its time building up; both for this, and the general plot as well. Les Amis return again, helping Marius overcome his worries, and they propose to write a love letter to Cosette.
Another pair that returns is Shushu and Gavroche. Cosette actualy sees Shushu at one point, though fails to recognize it. At least she did get a déja-vu feeling. Jean, meanwhile, digs up the last bits of his money, with the intention of using it to pay for Cosette’s university, so that she can keep learning. He’s also scared by a random chimney, mistaking it for Javert’s head. ^^;
Eponine, meanwhile, is getting worse. That idiot of a Montparnasse keeps bugging her into helping him, and now he’s starting to offer bread, a tempting option to someone who’ll probably never find a job again. Especially since her only other alternative would be Cosette. Things are promising to become even worse for her, seeing as the end of the episode features one of Thenardier’s henchmen escaping from prison. She’ll be in really deep troubles if she’s still seeing Montparnasse when Thenardier himself escapes, because he can, and something tells me that he will force her to become involved in his shady businesses!]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 33
Now this was an intriguing episode. It still spends its time building up, though this arc is indeed promising to become really special. Especially Rena was awesome. 🙂
The episode starts with Keiichi, Shion, Satoko, Rena and Rika, polishing up old rubbish, which they plan to sell during the village festival in an auction. Mion enters the room, with the message that there’s even more stuff coming in, which doesn’t fall well with Keiichi, who has been labelled as the leader of the auction.
Mion then shows a couple of Ohagi. When Rena gives one to Keiichi, he seems to believe that she’s made one before, while in fact, she never has. This triggers Rika to force Keiichi to tell about this “dream” he’s been having, about what happened in the first arc. Of course, it’s no dream at all, but parts of his memory from previous timelines.
A bit later, when they’re dusting off the furniture that Mion brought in, it’s Rena’s turn: she tels about her memories from the sixth arc, where she killed her father’s mistress. Interestingly enough, in this timeline, her father has again relationships with that woman. The same murder was avoided, though, when Rena told her story to Mion, instead of keeping it to herself. Mion managed to convince Rena to change her father’s ways.
Shion also hints that she was having the same thing, where she remembered what she did in the fifth arc. Again, she told this to Mion. That night, Rika evaluates this with Hanyuu. Everyone seems to be instinctively avoiding actions that would have caused a tragedy. Rika has become really confident because of this, though Hanyuu has her doubts.
They then discuss Rika’s recurring death; Rika seems to believe that it comes from someone outside of the village. They come with an interesting deduction: Tomitake and Takano’s death indirectly leads to Rika’s death. For Takano and her companions (Irie? Tomitake?), Rika and Satoko are valuable for research, so she will take effort to protect them. With Takano gone, the protection is also gone. Interestingly enough, they’ve got the power to do so as well. Rika reckons that if Tomitake and Takano survive, she will too.
The next day, Rika visits the hospital. According to Irie, she seems to have gone out with Tomitake. Rika just knows that they’ve gone to the equipment chamber, for making an inspection before they break in at the Watanagashi. Tomitake’s first name seems to be Jirou, by the way. Rika manages to reach the two of them while they’re still messing with the locks, and she offers them a look inside. Interestingly enough, Takano starts fangirling; something she didn’t do in the second and fifth arc. ^^;
There is just one condition: Tomitake and Takano have to increase protection, since they’ll be killed. At least, according to Rika. When Takano starts to describe the rituals that were used to praise Oyashiro-sama, Hanyuu starts getting angry at her, suggesting that a lot of the rumours about him are just urban legends.
We then switch to a very interesting conversation between Tomitake, Takano and Irie. Irie speculates that Rika may be suffering from paranoia, though Takano reckons that there was some truth in her eyes. Tomitake says that Rika wants more bodyguards around, and he can do that much, but he wonders how he’s going to explain this to Tokyo. Takano then finally describes the guys in uniform: the Yamainu.
And fair enough, when Rika tests it out on the unfortunate street punks, the Yamainu indeed come to protect her. But first we switch to the next day, where Keiichi and the others are back at the toy store, searching for more junk to sell. Oishi is there too; apparently he has a day off. He makes a small bet, promising some rare dice if Mion succeeds to throw 3 1’s, three times in a row. Mion succeeds, after Oishi tells her how to do it, and the dice are hers. Oishi suggests that she’d do well in a gambling parlour.
Rika comments on how strange it is that Oishi is getting along with everyone, when yet another unexpected guest arrives: Akasaka. Interestingly enough, in this time, he did listen to Rika, and he managed to save his wife. The reason he’s in Hinamizawa is because he’s on vacation with his wife and daughter, who are now perfectly fine. With this, Rika has gained another ally, since Akasaka really believes that Rika saved his family. Rika is now full of confidence, though Hanyuu is still pessimistic. Who will turn out to be right in the end?
Well, then. The most important scene for the plot was definitely the conversation between Tomitake, Takano and Irie. It confirmed that the three of them are indeed allied with each other, and that they’ve all got the ability to command the Yamainu, just like the head of the Sonozaki-family. I first believed that these guys worked directly under the Sonozaki-family, but they seem to be stationed in Tokyo. This scene also increases the change that it was indeed Irie who came to save Keiichi in the first arc.
Interestingly enough though, Irie doesn’t die in every arc, unlike Tomitake and Takano. We know the guy died in the third and seventh arc, and I suspect that he died in quite a few other arcs, but there were arcs in which he survived. This seems to suggest that his death is handy, but not vital for the killer to carry out its plan of capturing Rika’s intestines.
This episode also confirmed a theory I’ve been having ever since the sixth arc: with every arc, Keiichi and the other do get closer together. This episode really showed that they start to trust each other more and more, and they tell each other more and more things that they would have kept secret in the first arc. They may not remember things directly, but something tells me that indirectly, they keep getting better at avoiding tragedies that were caused by them.
I also wonder about one thing: does Rika know about the Hinamizawa-tragedy? I’d say no, because she’s been dead every time before it happened. But I wonder whether Hanyuu witnessed it and told Rika. I’m going to make a prediction about that one: what if Rika will indeed succeed in not to get killed during this arc? That does mean that she’ll witness the Hinamizawa-tragedy. Obviously, that’ll cause her mission to fail and reset for the final arc, the Matsuribayashi one, where the story can finally be resolved, since Rika will finally know the truth with it.
I also loved the emphasis on the characters that was featured in this episode. I especially loved Rena (hence why she’s one of my favourite characters ^^;) and Takano definitely surprised me when she started fangirling.]]>
Giant Robo Review – 80/100
Recommended by Roastedpekingduck. Some of you may remember the first episode of the tv-series Giant Robo that was released at the beginning of the year. I have no idea what happened to the rest of the series (I’d love to see it though), but it’s based on the OVA of Giant Robo, that came out ten years ago. The OVA is sort-of like a prequel, as Daisaku is only twelve years old. The premise revolves all around the Shizuma drives: a miraculous new form of energy that has no effect on pollution whatsoever. The story starts ten years after they’ve been discovered, when they’ve become just as ordinary as air and water.
This OVA is about two things: action and manliness. It’s one big spectacle, from beginning to end, and it’s of course full of grand action scenes. Thankfully, it’s got a good enough plot to back this up, as it tries to reach an as large spectacle as possible, combining plot twists and storytelling with its action.
This turned into a mixed bag. Some parts are epic, and definitely worth the watch; others just didn’t get enough development, and feel like they were included just to make the scenes more spectacular. Overall, the plot works, but there are just a bit too many plot-holes left open. 50% of the characters that die turns out to be alive at one point (of course, all do this, just when they’re needed the most), and some vital parts about the things that happened in the past go unexplained. Especially Daisaku’s past is guilty of this. A few scenes also like to screw physics at times, performing feats that can’t even be explained if you take the superpowers of the characters (who are never really explained in the first place) into account. Also don’t expect the ending to wrap everything up.
Despite this, though, the OVA turned out really nice to watch. Okay, it’s no masterpiece, but the better parts are definitely worth watching. A huge emphasis is also put on battle ethics, which work especially well with Daisaku, despite his brattiness. Everyone’s basically protecting him with their lives, simply because he’s the only one who can pilot Giant Robo. My favourite episodes were 1, 5 and 7.
The graphics do look old-fashioned, since this OVA has been made more than ten years ago. The animation looks excellent, though, especially when lots of explosions are featured (which happens a lot). The graphics, however, bleak against the music, because the soundtrack for Giant Robo turned out truly epic. The operatic influences work perfectly.]]>
Toward the Terra – 20
Interesting, yet another episode without Jomie. This one basically is the calm-before-the-storm episode, and its major purpose is to bring Keith to Terra with an army that can beat the Myu. He’s turned into quite a celebrity, by the way, and he now really is one of the highest ranked officials out there.
What’s interesting is Grand Mother’s interference. Am I the only one who thinks that she’s a bit too keen on helping Keith? I mean, she basically used her power to overrule any objection against Keith’s proposal of wiping out the Moby Dick. The eye she shows while doing that suggests that she actually has a human form. Is that in the same way as Mother Eliza, or is she a real woman, who controls everything behind the scenes?
Anyway, people have managed to make a weapon that can break through the shields of the Myu, and they’ve been testing them throughout the episode. Tony and his companions are going to have to face them, so the odds are starting to move against them. And what about Matsuka? I mean, his secret will come out, that’s inevitable. What’ll happen to him and Keith after this?
An interesting twist came when the episode started focusing at the girl we saw in the previous episode. I first thought that she was Swena’s daughter, but she turns out to be the new child of Jomie’s parents. I loved it when they started to compare humans and Myu with wolves and rabbits. Interestingly enough, the girl yet again turned out to be a Myu. The question remains: how will they contribute in the finale?]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 20
This definitely is an unconventional and unique anime! Seriously, no other anime feels more like a novel than this one. Here I thought that the hunters would stir up trouble in this episode, and instead, they leave after hearing about Rarunga. They’ll return when spring comes, and Rarunga has been defeated.
It looks like it’s now just time to wait for Rarunga to come. It’s not the most complex and twisted storyline, but definitely the most realistic one. In the next episode, we’ll finally get to know about Barsa’s past, which will be something to look forward to. This episode basically shows us how the foursome reaches the secret place, where they plan to spend the winter. They spend the rest of the episode, stocking up food like moose and fish.
I’m really curious whether such a climax will work. Basically, at one point (I predict episode 23) Rarunga will come, try to kill Chaggumu and Barsa and Torogai will protect Chaggumu. How were they planning to do that? Will it benefit from the huge amount of time that was spent on building up the story and characters? Or would this series have been better off with only 13 episodes?
There’s one thing I do know, though: even though the episode wasn’t anything special, I really liked it.]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 20
Awesome; an Emly/Elizabeth episode, and quite an important one as well: Emily, Teddy, Perry and Ilse have finished their current school, and are ready to move towards the next one. Ilse and Perry’s parents are really enthusiastic, and happily allow them to go to Shrewsberry School in a nearby city. Emily and Teddy have problems, though. Teddy believes that his mother will never allow him to part with her, since they’ll be staying in dormitories at their new school. Surprisingly, though, she lets him go and study. 🙂
Emily’s problems are worse, though. Elizabeth still doesn’t approve of Emily, studying things like literature. She still believes that things like these are useless. To make thing even worse, she finds and reads Emily’s diary, where Emily liked to complain about how evil Elizabeth was. Of course, she wasn’t 100% serious when she wrote it, though Elizabeth does take it seriously, and the two of them get into a fight.
I must say, that seeing the two of them fighting, and eventually making up again was really adorable. And it shows exactly why I love this series so much. This series is in for an interesting finale, by the way. Now that Emily has gotten permission to go and study further as well, it really looks like the last six episodes will be taking place on Shrewsberry School, without Elizabeth, Jimmy and the other adults. I wonder how the creators will decide to go from there. I’m definitely hoping for more time for Emily, Ilse, Teddy and Perry to be together and develop.]]>
Metropolis Review – 90/100
Now this is a movie! Most of you probably figured out by now that I’m on a movie spree, but most of the movies tend to be lots of style and not a lot of substance. While these are perfectly fine to watch, I’d rather watch a movie that’s good in every aspect. Unfortunately, these are quite hard to find, though Metropolis definitely belongs in that category.
For those of you who don’t know about Osamu Tezuka, this link should give you a fairly good impression of why people call him the “God of Manga”. Without him, anime wouldn’t be what it is today, and even now remakes of his works are still being made, and his stories prove to be very good to age. First Hi no Tori baffled me, and now it’s the turn for Metropolis.
Due to the fact that this movie really received a great budget, it has been really detailed, up to the point where it can be seen as on par with Ghibli-movies. The sceneries we see throughout the movie are filled with life and people, who actually react to the things around them. On frequent occasions, you can find different things happening at once. Characters who stand in the background discussing things, for example. When compared to usual anime, where characters don’t move unless they really have to, it felt really refreshing.
Not only does this movie spend a great amount of effort on its details, they’re also used really well in combination with its story and characters. Both of them are really given the time to develop throughout the movie, and if you combine this with the details, you get some pretty interesting character-development, which comes together perfectly in the climaxes, later in the movie. Especially the ending must be one of the most brilliant ideas for an ending in a anime-movie ever; you’ll either absolutely love it, or you’ll absolutely hate it. ^_^;; (you’ll understand when you see it).
Like Hi no Tori, Metropolis also is quite thought-provoking. Even though the themes introduced are nothing I haven’t seen before (they may have been new when the story was first published, I’m not sure about that one), where the setting is a city, fully controlled by the government, where Robots take over most of the dirtier tasks, the movie uses its characters to ask enough interesting questions about morality.
It’s hard to point out any flaws in this one as well. The characters all fit well into the movie, and each of them has a good enough reason to be involved in the events. The main character and especially his father really start out like normal people, and yet it seems perfectly logical why they became the main characters. Each of the important characters is fleshed out well, and the story flows from one event to the other in quite a logical way. I guess the biggest flaw is that this remains a movie. I still like Hi no Tori better than this one, simply because it had 13 episodes. Metropolis used its time well, though there’s only so much you can do in an hour and a half. Because of this, the ending did turn into a collection of clichés, despite the brilliant part.]]>