Regular Anime Reviews (Page 5)
Black Lagoon 
(Madhouse / Geneon)
The 1st and 2nd "Barrage" is not really bad. Who can say no to a
plot where crazed gunfolk reside on some island somewhere off of
Asia. There's just one of thing that ends up holding it
down. Rock, the cliche loser male lead who makes the decision to
leave a weapon alone. And while he does manage to become the 4th
member of the "jack-of-all-trade" shipping crew known as the "Black
Lagoon," I'm left with a deep exasperation from him. It's like
that old Sesame Street(?) part where "one of the four images don't
belong herein."
The saving grace is that this anime series is based on the manga,
with the attractive yet murderous psychopath Revy the eye-candy and
female lead. Other characters include Dutch, the Black Lagoon
"boss" and AWOL Vietnam War veteran; Benny-Boy, the "mechanic" and
computer expert; and Balalaika, the brutal (yet still sexy despite
being scarred) leader of a cadre of AWOL Afghan War veterans.
Other characters include Eda, the gun-wielding nun who's Revy's rival
and partner; Shensua, the Thai human quisinart with a speech
impediment; Roberta, the former FARC guerilla and maid for the
Venezuelan cliche shouta Garcia Lovelace; "Hansel & Gretel," the
murderous twin children who hail from the former dictatorship of
communist Romania, Mr. Chang, the show's cliche Cho Yun Fat; and on
down.
Give Rock a gun and some Navy / paintball skills that rival that of
Revy. And I would've given it a higher point than this.
Busou Renkin 
[Xebec / Unlicensed]
From the creator of Rurouni Kenshin: Kazuki, an affable clown who
sometimes reveal that he's "a master of XY&Z," though he was a hero
by saving a girl from some monster. In truth, he threw his life
away for nothing. But he gained a new life in the form of a
metalic pentahedron. Along with said girl who didn't need any
saving, the experienced warrior Tokiko, Kazuki would use his power to
fight against the Homunculi. The lessons on how to be a true hero
begins for this young lad who's the anti-thesis of what the typical
anime male lead's suppose to be. (Spineless, gutless, weak, and
comedic punching bags.)
Yeah. Sure; it screwed up some elements of the manga. And
sure; it wasn't as neatly animated here and there. But, as I said
before: I forgave Xebec.
I'm sorry, folks. If you're going to animate something that over
four years old in terms of introduction via manga, pick a title that's
grey. I'm talking to you over there! On the left!
(Nagasarete Airantou.) And I'm talking to you over there on the
right; you and that sneering "I'm going to be God" look on your
face! (Death Note.) There are those of use who like
watching stuff from Japan because of the great ideas that can aren't
held back by harsh censorship and copyright rules (like our own in the
US). Not because you think we're diet-doomed, hygiene-challenged
computer-chair-potatoes whose conversation is reduced to one-liners and
retarded phrases.
Chrono Crusade 
[Gonzo / ADV]
If you trust the "soundscan/scam-style" numbers, then Chrono Crusade is
probably the best anime to hit the USA; only to end up under the
shadows of Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist. However, I don't
trust numbers. All I know is that a show like this is highly
recommended.
The story follows the adventures of a young and energy filled
protestant nun named Rosette Christopher. She's aided by guypal
Chrono, a devil that became a "sinner" (by association) and is out to
set things right. Along with Rosette, he helps fight other demons
in America's "Roaring Twenties" period.
Animation is pretty good with a mixture of CG; nothing too "out-there."
And it's from GONZO. I will give credit to ADV where it is
needed; in the English Dubbing department. You just cannot beat
those accents.
Claymore 
[Madhouse /Unlicensed]
Okay. This show is in definite need of being licensed as of last
month. Forget everything you know about Death Note and that jerk
who thinks he's God just because he kills people by writing their names
in a notepad. THIS SHOW OWNZ.
Here we have the Claymore, female warriors genetically augmented in
order to fight against monsters (Youma) that live amongst them and make
their lives miserable. Unfortunately, the Claymore are like cops
of today: "We thank you for your services... But you're
also scaring the crap out of us." And with good reason as well.
This story's centered around Claire (Garbage Seed Destiny's retard
girl, Garbage Seed's slut for Jesus, Zombie-Loan's studder girl, and
Nadesico's ditzy captain who otherwise got some great muscles).
She's the first of her kind to become a Claymore at an age too late;
yet she becomes one of the more powerful fighters to date. She
gains companionship from Raki, a kid who (just live every damn near
body in this series) lost his family because of the Youma.
This show is typical "Shonen Jump" material (strong characters who do
more work and less posing). However, it's been called "gay" and
"crappy" by the pro-moe crowd. And there's not many H-doujins
about that show. Yet, this would be an awesome show to be
licensed for release in the US. Strong characters who go forwards
are always for the win. That's what America's about; and it's
saddening that the masochistic pro-moe crowd doesn't agree. :(
E's Otherwise [Sotsu Agency & TV Tokyo / ADV]
You'll have to pardon me for the references to Darwin and monkeys
here: Who's got the "flying ESPer monkeys?" Ashrum does!
Kai Kudou is Gabbage
Seed Destiny's Kira Yamato without the aimbot(tm)-ness, the "steal your
girlfriend" jokes, and the implied sex an esper who joins AESES
(the ESPer special forces of Ashrum) in the hopes of "using his powers
for good." Meanwhile he looks after her sick, younger sister
Hikaru and watches out for his rival Shen-Lon Belvedere. But it's
not until that eventful day when a mission to wipe out guerillas goes
out of hand. Afterwards; Kai ends up under the care of Yuuki and
Asuka Tokugawa, a "jack of most trades" and the cliche loli
respectively.
I gotta tell you: What this show lacks in good animation and art,
it makes up for in plot. And there are a lot of interwieving plot
paths. From the ESPer thug / trap duo; Shen-Lon's twin sister
Shin-Lu falling in love with Kai and being reprogrammed (much to
Shen-Lon's heavy disagreement); the ESPer guerillas lead by Maria and
her "grandfather," Ashrum's man-in-charge Eiji and his later experiment
Maxim, and Snoop Dogg saying "church." Okay. I lied about
Snoop Dogg. But you'll be seeing a lot of "church" later on.
I recommend this show to anybody who likes plot and wouldn't mind
bad animation and art. (Even though it's not really that
bad. But hey. You're getting this review from the same guy
who'd watch old-school Lupin III.)
Galaxy Angel Rune 
[Broccoli / Bandai Visual]
Billed as one of the top moe-moe anime of the season; GA-Rune features
a new brigade of hot female chicks. One of them is Milfeulle's
little sister, Apricot. This brigade also includes Nano-Nano
Pudding, the feline-esque loli who (like Vanilla) controls nanomachies;
Kahlua/Tequila Marjoram, the schizophrenic moe blob
magic practicer; Anise Azeat, the quota dark-skinned golddigger; and
Lily C Sherbet, the righteous sword-wielding big-sister figure.
And now comes the complaints: What the show lacked was that male
lead Kazuya Shiranami.
What's the problem I have with GA Rune? Even though I liked the
original GA? And even though I think them hot girls are
hot? Well, on top of the missing male lead (with that
crossdressing guy proving to be an utter failure), it became a sequal
that had been set too early a time. It's like, "Two years after
the end of the GA for the original Angel Brigade, in comes the new
brigade." The original characters looking still relatively "in
their age."
It would also help if GA-Rune was adult anime, finding out how the
companies behind it like to fling around the word "moe" like there's no
such thing as tomorrow...
And then Bandai Visual USA made the decision to release it to the R1
market with no English dubbed; saying that said market should be
primary instead of secondary. We Americans and English speakers
had been called a lot of things. Stupid is not something we'll
readily accept without a fight.
Grenadier 
[Kadokawa Shoten / Media Blasters]
"Rushuna is a blonde and very beautiful Senshi (gun expert) that
travels through the world with one purpose. This is to make the world a
peaceful place by instead of fighting with weapons, taking away the
people´s will to fight by giving them a smile. Although she
doesn´t want to fight, she is forced too and shows amazing gun
skills. In this journey she meets Yajiro, a Mercenary that uses a sword
to fight and joins her on her journey."
I would like to refer to that show as "Dumb
Blonde with World Peace Ambitions & Her Other Nice Piece That Is
Her
38 Revolver." This show could've been Black Lagoon if Rock picked
up a gun/sword. In fact;
watching this reminds me of how low the Japanese anime industry
had sunk in terms of plot and development. SURE. Grenadier
is an
excuse to add violence to bouncing boobs, shaking @$$, and much needed
panchira. AND OF COURSE. It's regular anime that
featured a couple
of brothel episodes and no true action Yajiro (who pretty
much defined "AWESOME," which is what current shows are lacking).
But in
the end, it's about a dog and her man.
No. In the end, it stayed true to the message of "removing the
will of your foe(s) to fight without actually killing 'em." The
"brothel episodes." Parts 5 and 6. DAMN!! And the hot
hostess who was a former warrior. EVEN MORE DAMNAGE!!
Gundam Seed Destiny 
[Sunrise / Bandai]
Note: Anybody wanting a fair-and-balanced review of this
series is in the incredibly wrong place. My mind hasn't changed
and will never change. Please have some sort of understanding
whilst reading this.
"Don't watch anime [and then go into the business of creating
it]." That is what had been said by Yoshiyuki Tomino; one of the
pioneers of anime and one of the more difficult. The Gundam Seed
series, along with its spin-off and sequal, proved what happens when
you let the high-end otaku take control of a brand-named franchise
without thinking of the consequences that came with it.
Here in this sequal, we're suppose to have one protagonist from a
working-class family. As oppose to someone who's family is based
on royalty or politics (ala Kira and Asuran). Shinn Asuka and his
family were caught within a war zone; said family of his had been dealt
the business end of a blast between Orga's Calamity Gundam and Kira's
Freedom Gundam. And Shinn had angsted loudly over his loss,
joined ZAFT, and proceeded to kick enough @$$ to allow him the
spotlight that Camille had during the old Zeta Gundam series.
Or, atleast, that was suppose to be the case until Mitsuo Fukuda and
his ball-and-chain wife Morosawa decided that Shinn wasn't good enough
to get the rating that the "usual Sunrise product" needed. So we
see more of Kira, Asuran, Cagalli, and Lax; thereby becoming the main
characters and "good guys" of the series. Meanwhile Shinn (thanks
to the lack of actual character development) and other "new characters"
had ended up becoming semi-antagonists (despite taking down the actual
evil that was Blue Cosmos and its leader Lord Djibril).
To add more injury to injury (stemming from the spotlight shift from
the new characters to old and the treatment the former lot had gotten);
the show still relied on re-used scenes and "flashback" clips which are
actually more re-used scenes. There were times when the re-used
scenes were used for different mobile suits. And while something
like this didn't raised as much of a stink during the creation of
Gundam Wing, it had been abhorred by the other side of the fan
spectrum; the so-called "UC purist" we were called.
And then there was how the show ended. Fukuda and Morosawa had
meant for the "male lead" (Shinn) to lose everything but the pretty
girl. (He already had lost all chances for character development
AND the spotlight.) At the start of the series; there was this
assumption that Shinn would fight Kira and, with some difficulty, beat
him. Unfortunately, Kira and company had came back as invincible
Gods who believe that their way is right. Complaints about Kira
and Lax being the avatars of Fukuda and Morosawa aside (or maybe even
Asuran and Cagalli), that had rubbed the rest of us the worst way.
People tell me how great the soundtrack was. They also go on
about how the old MS from the 1st and Zeta Gundam series had made their
appearance. And I find it saddening that not everyone had paid
attention to how badly written and organized the show had been.
Plot and character development is important. Or else I wouldn't
be saying "Jesus Yamato is the star of Gabbage Seed Destiny."
And finally, some more injury: After the "Final Plus" episode
that supposedly gives an ending to the series (but was unable to
address its badly-done plodding-along), Fukuda and Morosawa are
concurrently doing the "Specials" they're ususally famous for
doing. This time, from Asuran's POV. Not that new character
Shinn, but that old character. "If Shinn gets the spotlight, then
Kira becomes his enemy. If Kira gets the spotlight, then Shinn's
the enemy."
Now this is from a couple that had introduced Meer Campbell as Lax's
sexier copy. And then had re-introduced the lead singer of TM
Revolution as another highly-decorated cannon-fodder. I smell
fear, pussy, and the use of "magic bullets" from these two.
Higurashi no Naku Koroni (Kai) (When Cicadas Cry (More))
[Studio DEEN / Geneon]
"On one hot summer day in 1983, a transfer student named Maebara
Keiichi comes to a peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. There, he
befriends his classmates Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. Accepted as a
full-fledged member of the "club," Keiichi and the gang plays all sorts
of activities ranging from card and board games to hide-and-seek. But
just as Keiichi was beginning to be assimilated in simple rural life,
he stumbles upon the dark history of Hinamizawa. As Keiichi dives
deeper into the mystery, he finds that his new found friends may not be
all what they claim to be."
The show starts innocently enough: A guy beats the crap out of
two women with a bat. We, the audience, find out later that
there's something screwy about the little village known as
Hinamizawa. And then we find out that this show is basically a
"loop show" where the same thing happens every 4-6 episodes.
Important plot branches have been fleshed out, and ending had either
been good or bad.
Two problems I have with this series:
1) "Loop shows" are a good idea. Since anime is usually based on
visual novels; the plotline can be "flipped" so, instead of just fixing
up everything (and therefore leaving some otherwise great stuff out)
for one elongated plotline, most of the plot branches can be told and
entertainment can be had. My problem is where companies do it the
wrong way instead of the right way.
2) Keiichi Maebara, for the first arc, had the potential to become an
awesome character in terms of the American "Average Joe"
audience. But by then he failed at that. And he continued
to spiral downwards as he became the all-to-common "loser male lead."
And it's a real mess since, due to the American anime industry's
busting bubble, Geneon no longer has the distributer to release most of
their crap. Japan's 11:00pm-to-3:00am audience is a masochistic
lot; but that doesn't fly well in the West where you "never give up"
and "keep fighting."
Himawari! [Starchild, Arms / Unlicensed]
Out of all the shows to come out during the 2006 spring period of
Japan, this one takes the cake and eats half of it. Himawari is a
show that is more NINJA than harem. The male lead Hayato is more
"circumstance victim" than loser. Said male lead is blessed with
multiple helping-ups from the titled female lead (who, no surprise, has
a crush on him).
Sure. The looks of most of the characters are a bit too cluttered;
with a couple of them visually screaming "elf / furry." There's that
depressing "everone is a ninja except you" feeling. And some
non-traditional ninja weaponry are in use here. But this show is
a good watch. The Kappa (water demon) is pretty friendly as well.
I would also like to point out the awesomage that is the accent of
Himegi; that tanned blonde beauty with the sword. Himawari's
voice isn't suited to be an anime character voice, but she does her job
pretty well.
Himawari!! [Starchild, Arms / Unlicensed]
Himawari, her master/teacher, and her friends are back for another 13
episode worth of ninja antics. This time around the plot becomes
more sinister as Himawari's past is revealed, Hayato's friend shows his
cheating face (more or less), and the mysterious ninja with the tatoo
on the back of his neck makes his move.
Why this show had been thouroughly ignored by the moe-loving,
quality-eating masses; I do not know. It was basically the same
thing as any other anime title... With ninjas. Oh, and
Hayato had improved quite nicely as someone who can hold his own as a
team player. "The master had been the student," eh? But
yeah. If you haven't checked it out already, please do it.
It might be rough... But you'll feel much better afterwards.
Kage kara Mamoru! [Aniplex / Unlicensed]
Another notch to the age-old story of how a ninja protects somebody,
the show appears to be ripping off "Ranma 1/2." But it actually
tries to do it a little differently. Being only 12 episodes and having
a small cast is a good start. It also helps to find that the male
lead, Mamoru, has some sort of spine. AND ninja skills. Despite dealing
with the type of work he does not want to to, he's pretty good at it.
Yuna's the laid-back version of what the (San Francisco) Bay Area rap
movement is currently going through: "Going stupid & Dumb-Dumb."
She's Mamoru's double-edge sword; his troublesome princess and best
friend. Tsubaki (the same name and status of a certain person
from the MeiKing hentai) will usually break out of her stern samurai
role. Airi's the rumor-monger who's also the cliche rich girl.
Yamame's the cliche loli who's also a ninja. Hotaru's the cliche shy
girl who's also a ninja. (Mamoru's rival ninja at that.)
I feel sorry for Mamoru, though. But atleast it's not an emo angst
fest. And when you get past the cliches and the old-school
animation, you'll find a neat show to pass your time.
Mai-Otome / Mai-ZHime
[Sunrise / Bandai]
Althought it had been stiffled and ignored by people who are in
self-denial; one of the people behind the Mai-Hime and Gundam Seed
Destiny series had apologiced to anime fans and told them that what
happened in Destiny won't happen in the latest Sunrise product.
However; it only proves that a show about super-powered, reasonably
cute girls sells better than angsting guys who pilot mecha.
Enter one Arika, a super-powered klutz who's also known as an
ant. She heads toward a school in Windbloom in order to become an
"Otome," basically the ultimate body-guard / trophy wife that most
rulerships have. I might as well tell you now that this show is
set in the future and utilizes the cast from the old Mai Hime
series. So it's like another hit to that "reset button" fans of
Mai-Hime had been hating.
Arika will meet the straight, no-nonsense cutie that will be her friend
and rival; going by the name of Nina. She also meets the shy and
busty Erstin, the cliche` cute mecha nut Irina, and her "Mister" who
will have the "Mwu La Fragga" curse Sergey.
While the show is not as bad as, say, Gabbage Seed Destiny; there are a
few things I like to complain about. First of all is the couple
of Akane and Kazuya. "Nobody wants to watch a show about happy
couple; only to see their bond become ruined and the butt of jokes,"
I've been told. I wanted that couple to be happy, though.
Especially in the same episode that included Nina and Sergey doing SOMETHING naughty. Another is
the lack of Takumi, Mai's sweat little brother who (in ZHime) is a
leader / representative of a place that includes NINJA!! (Excuse
me.) He still has to take his meds for health purposes, and the
scene from Hime gets replayed with Akira, but he layed on the thick
truth about a few women with that much power: "Bad Idea," the kid
said. I wanted to see more of him. I also wanted to see a
show like this turned into porn. So it's my loss.
I didn't stick around for the final three episodes (since, you know,
the "Aka-Zuya separation joke"). And it also suffered from the
cramming of too much in the last parts. (Since, also, you had too
many characters going in during that time.) The show was good for
what it is: Cute girls with superpowers and the plot that held
them together. I'd say that it's a lot better than the original
Mai-Hime series, which I didn't get a chance to watch and wished that
it was adult anime instead of some "high school story with monsters."
Negima!? [Shaft, Gansis / Funimation]
Whatever one says about Xebec; I forgave the company since it made an
effort towards a workable adaption to the manga. The animation
wasn't very good, I'll admit. There wasn't much fanservice during
the TV season. And when we get the fanservice on DVD, it's
replaced with animation problems (having to do with a certain child
teacher / mage-in-training's magic stick).
What we got with the "!?" (after two OVA specials filled with Ze
FuANSa~BiSu) is a collective mess of cliched themes and old
jokes. Hey, Shaft! Gansis! It was cool when it was
done in Paniponi Dash. And sometimes "character-driven stories"
can be good stories. Now you're just getting on my nerves.
And I seen what you guys did with Paniponi Dash, too. The
"downgrading" from TV to DVD; when stock characters had became ugliER,
and the scene of episode five when Ichijou (who becomes Konoka in
Negima!?) didn't turn around and reacted cartoonishly when a kappa
appeared behind her and her friends.
But PLEASE stop pulling that "stupid human trick" where Ayaka calls
Makie a failure (which she isn't), Chizuru hazes Natsumi, Mana brings
guns to school, and Chisame becomes the joke character.
PLEASE. And also... That frog/kappa/thing and the "long
cat(?)..." No. Just no. Please keep your clichei and
mascots out of the anime if you want any R1 money from me.
Otome wa Onee-sama / Boku ni Koi Shiteru [Feel,
CaramelBox / Media Blasters]
Do visual novels make better anime? I wouldn't know. Last I
heard; all the talented people in Japan are heading into the video-game
industry because it pays better. (Most of what they make is crap,
BTW.) I, myself, had been railing against the idea of removing
the very reason why visual novels are so popular. Sure. Go
ahead and hand all your money to these people who create adult parodies
of your creations. You'll make tons more money off of crappy 3D
games anyway.
At any rate, Otome wa Boku (which is known as Otoboku) features Mizuho;
the male lead who has Yui Hiroe's voice, dresses up as an otherwise
convincing female, goes to an all-girls school, and proceeds to gain
their trust whilst he tries to fit in. Meanwhile, he deals with
the harsh school representative and her assistant, his flirty childhood
friend Mariya, his two dormmates, a ghost who had been waiting for his
mother for too long a while, on down the list.
There was a show on Fox long time ago, somewhere in the mid-90s, about
a guy who dressed up as a woman in order to keep his job at a newspaper
company. It didn't even last two episodes. The guy was
hideous as a crossdresser. So yeah. Every time the Japanese
media does that type of "stupid human trick," I worry about the next
generation of viewers who will basically screw anything that walks.
Ouran High School Host Club
[Bones / Funimation]
This show is about a club (at a high school for the rich) where the
guys host the girls and do/say taboo things that make them blush and
squeal. It's supposedly a comedic school drama; scaring the
allergy-strickened away with its heavy use of flowers and basing its
comedy around the use of many anime character stereotypes.
But what makes this show really click is with how the characters
interact with each other. The tomboy, the metro-sexual, the twin
pranksters, the shota, the "big and quiet," and the guy with glasses
whose ridiculous wealth (for someone who's among the ridiculously
wealthy) includes a private army.
My reason for emphasising on "character interaction" is because of my
dealings with shows that were either "panty-shot & eye-candy,"
extentions of franchise monsters, or both. A lot of so-called "popular"
shows hardly focus on developing actual plot. "Host Club" is a
refreshing change as it focuses on the guys (from the top of society)
who have fun at the expence of a boyish female lead.
Credit goes to the Japanese VA who are behind the voices of Haruhi,
one of the twins, and Takami.
Pani Poni Dash! [SHAFT / ADV]
Don't get PPD confused with Azumanga Daioh; or even Negima.
Sure the company behind PPD will do Negima next, but this show is a
monster in itself. It's overflowing with references, randomness,
cute girls, luckless animals who talk, cliches, and self-degradation.
So we start with Rebecca "Becky" Miyamoto, a 10-year-old who
graduated from (but can't even say the full wording of) M.I.T..
She becomes the homeroom science teacher for a class that's more
difficult and rowdy than what that guy in the "Principle" movie went
through. But it's not just Becky's class. It's three more
classes; as well as some of the staff.
The only complaint I have is with the two characters, Behoimi and
Shuu (Kurumi's
brother). Behoimi's "normal" form is not as
mentally uplifting as her "magical girl" from. And the lack of hot
girl(s) that Shuu should get in touch with saddens and disturbs
me. (His classmate twins and the cosplay girl are my 1st
ideas. But there are some doujin artists who seem to be okay with
"Shuu / Kurumi incest.")
But still, the show is an awesome watch. Thanks to the people in
ADV for refreshing the series with some more injokes as well as the
extra-mile effort to deal with what's on the blackboard.
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (So long, Mr. Despair) 
[SHAFT /
Unlicensed]
"Itoshiki Nozomu is the world's most
negative person. To his way of thinking, there is no hope or meaning in
this existence. Even the three kanji of his name become the two-kanji
word zetsubou, "despair", when compressed. What an ironic twist
of fate, then, that he becomes teacher to a class containing his
precise opposite, the invincibly positive-minded Fuura Kafuka."
What's So Long, Mr. Despair? Japanese citizen's fetish for
killing themselves shown in animated form. This
is yet another SHAFT crapfest that looked like it featured more of the
other crap than the actual show itself. The "writings on the
chalkboard" gag was funny. For the first episodes of Paniponi
Dash. I
get it. It's not funny anymore. In fact, I knew there was
gonna be trouble when (just like every other anime series) the "young
male students" had their airtime viciously reduced for the sake of
cheesecake. No, excuse me... Strawberry cake.
SHAFT was the company that did Mahoromatic (for GAINAX) and Ouran
High's Host Club among
other titles. Starchild did a whole lotta stuff for a whole
lot of people.
Please! I implore you! Go back to whatever you guys were
doing and
FOCUS on it! Especially if you look like you're going to do
things on
a mupkin budget.
S-cry-ed [$unrise / Bandai]
Ryuho (when he was young) had lost his mom and pet dog to an Alter;
developing his own Alter out of rage and joining an elite force
dedicated to capturing and containing rebelious Alter users.
Kazuma is part of said rebels; a handyman who uses his Alter in street
battles while he takes care of a cute little girl. The two sides
clash... Heh. I liked the show better when it was E's
Otherwise. It was riffing off of Jojo's Bizarre Adventures anyway.
As I marathoned through all 26 episodes of this series, I start to see
a pattern.
$unrise seems to always rely on re-used animation "banks" and scenes;
most of the time calling them flashbacks and such. And then there
are the fight scenes which are just so lop-sided that it's more out of
ridicule than not. There's no way someone like Unkei (the quota
black guy with an even sillier afro and a brainwashing power called
"Mad SPriCt") can beat an opponent of that much power and practice
(Ryuho). And c'mon, folks! There's gotta be some
consequence for Kazuma's rash action during his fight with Kigetsuki
and the Tokonatsu Sisters.
Maybe I'm being bias. But I had it up to here with $unrise's
childish antics. Other anime companies are either firing their
directors or having staff that's stepping down left and right. I
don't know if it's the removal of the "high-end otaku," if the
"performance issues" are true, or because of what happened after
Garbage Seed Destiny. But $unrise should take its cues before it
ends up in that rumored hole (of outsourcing, low paychecks, and talent
fleeing to the better-paying video game industry); never to be able to
crawl out.
Trinity Blood [Gonzo / FUNimation]
"The background is in the distant future after the destruction brought
about by Armageddon. The war between the vampires and the humans
continue to persist. In order to protect the humans from the vampires,
Vatican has to rely on other allies to counter the situation. The
protagonist, a priest called Peter Abel Nightroad, travels through the
countries as a representative for the Vaticans. However, he is also
part of "AX", a special operations group controlled by the Cardinal
Catherina. His encounter with a young girl called Esther will determine
the struggle and survival between the human race and the vampires."
People die.
They do.
And it won't matter: You have Troy Baker smack around Colleen
Clinkenbeard in order to square her hot nun booty away and help fight
against rebel vampires like puppetmaster Kenichi Suzumura, Chris Sabot
verbally goes Equillibrium-style gun-kata all over the place while Greg
Ayers's "Baby Pope" looks cute, Hillary Haag's unable to pronounce the
real name of "MIT," Carrie Savage is rare as the youngest voice-actor
out after "Fullmetal Alchemist." People die.
The original creator the the manga based on this show, Sunao Yoshida;
his death had turned this series from an awesome show about "Vatican
Versus Vampires" into a slow-paced, nice boat, rest in peace type of
series. I've been warned about this series, too. But that
seems to be the problem as of now. Life doesn't get
respected. Everyone thinks that having a "moral compass" is a bad
idea. Nevertheless; this show OWNS more than all of the other
"moe / gag" anime combined during their time; only because Gonzo wants
their viewers to finish watching this as human beings.
Zombie-Loan [NAS & Xebec / Unlicensed]
"Michiru Kita is a special girl who
possesses Shinigami Eyes, which allows her to see a dark ring around a
person's neck. This ring symbolizes the person's impending death; once
they are marked to die, a gray line, which is invisible to normal
people, appears on their neck, and once the ring turns completely
black, the person dies. Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, two boys in
her class, both have black rings around their necks, but to her
surprise, they are not yet dead. It is revealed that after a tragic
accident that was supposed to kill them both, the two boys made a deal
with a secret loan office called the Zombie-Loan. In return for keeping
them alive, the two have to hunt zombies for the loan office. When
Michiru gets involved with them, she finds that her life has just
become more complicated."
What is Zombie Loan? Shinn Asuka, Claymore's Claire, and
some
other guy who reeks so much coolness that what characters he did in the
past are irrevelent. A couple of shounen zombies
who recruit
"studder-chick" for her mystical gift, turn her into a zombie before
she died off, and have that nifty "standard Shounen Jump" adventures.
The show had ended too abruptly, though. Eleven episodes?!
Damn you Elevens! But atleast Yen Press had license the
manga. So I have my hopes that it will kick more @$$ than the
anime did (which kicked a fair amount of @$$). See how that
works?! The manga kicks @$$, you do whatever it takes for the
anime to kick @$$. That's how it works, people!
Sprites for Genjuro Kibagami are from ActJapan / Mugen Sharp.
Samurai Shodown / Spirits is copyrighted to SNK and its affiliates.
Everything else is copywrited to their respective, and respected,
owners. Beware of dogs with large, bloodied swords.