Monthly Archives: March 2008

Anime Review - Five Centimeters Per Second: 97.2%

Friday, March 21, 2008 – 2:35 pm

The Essentials

Five Centimeters Per SecondName: Five Centimeters per Second
Genre: Drama
Episodes: N/A
Released: March 3, 2007
Based On: N/A
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Produced By: CoMix Wave
US Distribution By: ADV Films

Major Japanese Cast

Takaki Tono: Kenji Mizuhashi
Akari Shinohara (young): Yoshimi Kondou
Akari Shinohara (old): Ayaka Onoue
Kanae Sumita: Satomi Hanamura

Major English Cast

Takaki Tono: David Matranga
Akari Shinohara: Hilary Haag
Kanae Sumita: Serena Varghese

Scores

Animation: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: N/A
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 10/10 (x 5 = 50 pts)

Total: 175/180 (97.2%)

Review

Five Centimeters Per Second is trio of stories centering around a boy, Takaki Tono, as he struggles with his feelings for his childhood friend Akari as time and distance continue to separate them further and further.

The first story deals with Takaki trying to visit Akari by train after Akari has moved to Tochigi Prefecture, which is about 50 miles to north from Tokyo, and before Takaki moves to southern Japan - essentially making it impossible for the two to see each other again. Takaki must mull over his feelings for Akari as a couple hour train ride turns into a multi-hour train ride riddled by delays, also fearing that Akari may not wait for him to arrive.

The second story is deals with Kanae, a girl who likes Takaki, who is still in Southern Japan and now attending high school. However, Kanae is extremely indecisive, unable to decide what she wants to do in the future, nor how she’ll confess to Takaki. She soon sees Takaki as someone that has someone else in his heart, and thus decides not to confess, but also as someone who appears to see where he’s going, which gives her the confidence to look forward herself.

The final story deals with Takaki, now old enough to work, as he passes a familiar face at a train crossing, which causes him to think back on his life and his feelings.

While one may be tempted to label Five Centimeters per Second a romance, it’s hard to label such a thoroughly depressing movie as such, as all three stories end on a such a melancholy tone. While some movies may exist to show that love can endure reality, this is, at it’s core, a realization that love is just sometimes crushed by the realities of life, and that when it is, one just has to move on and try to live life to the fullest that you can.

On technical aspects, I kind of battled whether to give this a 9 or 10 on animation. The lines may not have been as sharp as they could have been, but the attention to detail is amazing, and I think the sharpness was such a minor quibble that it wasn’t enough to knock it down a point. As usual, Tenmon’s soundtrack is amazing.

Overall, my recommendation is, regardless of the genre you usually prefer, go watch this. I doubt you’ll come away unaffected somehow.

First Watched: July 2007
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (1)

Anime Credits - Blue Drop & ef - a tale of memories OPs

Friday, March 21, 2008 – 1:07 pm

I’m shocked I didn’t show either of these before. A blast from the fall season:

By Josh | Posted in Anime Credits, Blue Drop, ef tales | Comments (0)

Anime Review - Ouran High School Host Club: 86.3%

Thursday, March 20, 2008 – 2:00 pm

The Essentials

Ouran High School Host ClubName: Ouran High School Host Club
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 26
Released: April 5, 2006 - September 26, 2006
Based On: Ouran High School Host Club manga by Bisco Hatori
Director: Takuya Igarashi
Produced By: BONES
US Distribution By: Funimation

Major Japanese Cast

Haruhi Fujioka: Maaya Sakamoto
Tamaki Suou: Mamoru Miyano
Kyoya Ohtori: Masaya Matsukaze
Hikaru Hitachiin: Kenichi Suzumura
Kaoru Hitachiin: Yoshinori Fujita
Mitsukuni Haninozuka: Ayaka Saito
Takashi Morinozuka: Daisuke Kirii

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 164/190 (86.3%)

Review

Ouran High School Host Club is about a high school girl - Haruhi Fujioka - who attends the super-affluent private Ouran High School as a scholarship student. However, due to her short hair and how she dresses, she’s easily mistaken as a boy. One day, Haruhi looks around the school looking for a quiet place to study when she stumbles upon the Third Music Room and there meets the Host Club - a club meant to allow “these handsome guys that have time, to give hospitality to these lovely ladies who also have time, and profit off of it.”

However, after being picked on for a while by the club’s president and founder, Tamaki Suou, Haruhi backs into a pedestal with a vase on it, tipping it over and sending the vase to the floor, shattering it. Kyoya, the very shrewd vice president of the club, tells Haruhi that the vase was valued at ¥8,000,000 (or about $80,000) and that she will have to work the debt off by being the Host Club’s “dog.” However,Tamaki (who believes Haruhi is a boy) suddenly sees how beautiful Haruhi is and immediately promotes her to be a host. However, Tamaki soon discovers that Haruhi is a girl, but they decide to allow her to keep working as a host, provided that she keep her gender hidden.

What results is a pretty funny series about the exploits of the Host Club and it’s members. This includes taking different archtypes of shojo series and lampooning them relentlessly, both by making fun of the archtypes themselves, but by revealing that how the characters actually behave outside of club activities are often quite different from the archtype they portray within the club.

The series also frequently makes jokes about the class difference between Haruhi and the other members of the Host Club, both with Haruhi being annoyed at amazingly high-class things being seen as every-day things by the members of the host club, as well as the club member’s - especially Tamaki’s and the Hitachiin twins’ - fascination with how “those in poverty” live, such as being amazed with a package of instant coffee that Haruhi brings to the club one day.

All this comedy doesn’t mean that there aren’t story lines, however. While there isn’t necessarily a central story that runs through the entire series, other than Haruhi’s working off her debt by being in the Host Club, one does discover, over the course of the series, the background of all the major characters and how they all ended up in the Host Club. Haruhi also eventually learns about how being in a wealthy family isn’t necessarily as easy as she may have thought, either.

The technical aspects of the show shine as well. The animation is executed pretty well, despite the show sometimes switching from one animation style to another, depending on the mood in the scene. However, these transitions appear to be pretty seamless, and actually add to the show, I think. The music is also pretty good all-around. While the series has been licensed by Funimation, it hasn’t been released yet, and thus there is no dub to score yet.

Overall, if you’re looking for a good, quality laugh, Ouran High School Host Club is definitely a series you should look at checking out.

First Watched: July - August 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (0)

Spring 2008 Anime Preview

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – 5:30 pm

It’s that time again: It’s time to look at what anime is airing in the Spring 2008 season. Shows are listed in alphabetical order.

There are 7 possible levels of ratings that I’ll give a show:

  • Will definitely blog it
  • May blog it
  • Will definitely watch it
  • May watch it
  • May watch it if I hear good things about it
  • Probably Won’t Watch it
  • Won’t watch it

As usual, I’m leaving out sequels to series that I haven’t seen yet (which I think is all of them this season), as well as anything that seems to obviously be a children’s show. As usual, thanks to the Fansub Wiki for keeping a great list of upcoming shows.

When you’re finished reading this, feel free to go over and take my poll asking which series you’d like to see blogged.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way…here we go!

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By Josh | Posted in 2008 Anime, Candy Boy, Maid Guy, Nijuu Mensou no Musume, Special A | Tagged , , , | Comments (7)

Poll: Which Series Should I Blog?

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – 5:30 pm

In response to the Spring 2007 Anime Preview, I wanted to see what anime series people thought I should blog. These results are non-binding, of course, but maybe it will give me an idea. You can choose up to 3 series.

What Series Should I Blog? (can pick 3)

  • Special A (15%, 6 Votes)
  • Real Drive (13%, 5 Votes)
  • Allison and Lillia (10%, 4 Votes)
  • Nijuu Menzou no Musume (10%, 4 Votes)
  • Candy Boy (10%, 4 Votes)
  • Kamen no Maid Guy (8%, 3 Votes)
  • Himitsu -Top Secret- (8%, 3 Votes)
  • Penguin Musume Heart (5%, 2 Votes)
  • Kure-nai (5%, 2 Votes)
  • Amatsuki (5%, 2 Votes)
  • The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of URUK (5%, 2 Votes)
  • Nabari no Ou (3%, 1 Votes)
  • Other (please explain) (3%, 1 Votes)
  • Wagaya no Oinari-sama (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 39

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By Josh | Posted in 2008 Anime, Polls | Comments (4)

Anime Review - Genshiken (Season 1): 83.5%

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – 10:00 am

The Essentials

GenshikenName: Genshiken (Season 1), The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 12
Released: October 10, 2004 - December 26, 2004
Based On: Genshiken manga by Shimoku Kio
Director: Takashi Ikehata
Produced By: Palm Studio, Media Factory
US Distribution By: Media Blasters

Major Japanese Cast

Kanji Sasahara: Takanori Ohyama
Saki Kasukabe: Satsuki Yukino
Makoto Kohsaka: Mitsuki Saiga
Harunobu Madarame: Nobuyuki Hiyama
Soichiro Tanaka: Tomokazu Seki
Mitsunori Kugayama: Kenji Nomura
Kanako Ohno: Ayako Kawasumi
Genshiken chairman: Yuji Ueda

Major English Cast

Kanji Sasahara: Michael Perreca
Saki Kasukabe: Carol Jacobanis
Makoto Kohsaka: Kenneth Robert Marlo
Harunobu Madarame: Billy Regan
Soichiro Tanaka: Bill Rogers
Mitsunori Kugayama: Rome Elliot
Kanako Ohno: Rachael Lillis
Genshiken chairman: Tobb Garbeil

Scores

Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: 7/10 (x 1 = 7 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 168/200 (83.5%)

Review

Genshiken is about a group of otaku college students who spend most of their non-class time hanging out at their otaku-related club Genshiken, which is short for The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture. Genshiken mainly focuses on Kanji Sasahara, a new arrival at Shiiou University, as he ends up deciding to join Genshiken since it looks like it will be a club he will enjoy. Once he joins he meets a variety of different club members, each with their own interests and quirks.

As the series goes on, interpersonal relationships between the characters start, grow, and change over time, all largely centered around the otaku lifestyle that most of the characters are deeply involved in.

While she may not be the focus of the show, Saki, someone who could be best described as the anti-Otaku of the show, even though she’s forced to hang out with Genshiken to be with her boyfriend Makoto, ends up being a strong motivational force to several members of Genshiken. Her motivation may be, for the most part, unintended and done in roughly, if not cruelly, at times, though. However, her interaction with all the otaku around her certainly creates many humorous moments in the show.

In the end, the series turns up being a mostly comedic slice-of-life show about the otaku culture. Despite this simplistic sounding basis for the series, Genshiken ends up being a fairly entertaining show which shows both depth and quality, with all around character development and growth for nearly all the major characters in the show.

My biggest beef for this series runs directly from the type of series it is: an otaku-centric series. As a result, many of the jokes in the series are otaku in-jokes, often heavily relying on references to other series which one may not get unless you watched, or at least were aware of, those series. That can start to become frustrating as the number of jokes that one just doesn’t get starts to pile up. However, Genshiken is hardly completely based around these types of jokes, with humor that any viewer can laugh at still being the bulk of the laughs (at least…I think it is the bulk).

Genshiken excels in it’s technical aspects as well, having good animation, music, though it only has what I thought was an average dub.

If you’re a hardcore otaku, you’ll probably end up loving this series, and if you aren’t one, then this series still has enough in it to make it a worthwhile watch.

First Watched: July - August 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (1)

Shakugan no Shana II - Episode 22

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 – 5:39 pm

It’s episode 22, and…what? Sabrac didn’t actually die!? WTF! Meanwhile, Yuji learns why his mother got sick. Also, Shana and Yoshida decide to force Yuji’s decision on who he likes, but Hecate decides that she wants Yuji for herself (well, sort of).

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He's Aliiiiivveeee! Te hehe!

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By Josh | Posted in Shakugan no Shana | Comments (2)

Anime Review - Kannazuki no Miko: 76%

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 – 10:00 am

The Essentials

Kannazuki no MikoName: Kannazuki no Miko, Destiny of Shrine Maiden
Genre: Drama, Action, Romance
Episodes: 12
Released: October 2, 2004 - December 18, 2004
Based On: Kannazuki no Miko manga by Kaishaku
Director: Tetsuya Yanagisawa
Produced By: TNK, Rondo Robe
US Distribution By: Geneon

Major Japanese Cast

Himeko Kurusegawa: Noriko Shitaya
Chikane Himemiya: Ayako Kawasumi
Souma Oogami: Junji Majima
Kazuki Oogami: Moichi Saito
Miyako: Ikue Ohtani
Tsubasa: Yasunori Matsumoto
Otoha Kisaragi: Chinami Nishimura

Major English Cast

Himeko Kurusegawa: Jennifer Sekiguchi
Chikane Himemiya: Michelle Ruff
Souma Oogami: Steve Cannon
Kazuki Oogami: Lex Lang
Miyako: Heather Lee Joelson
Tsubasa: Liam O’Brien
Otoha Kisaragi: Kate Higgins

Scores

Animation: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Story: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 9/10 (x 2 = 18 pts)
English Dubs: 7/10 (x 1 = 7 pts)
Gut Score: 7/10 (x 5 = 35 pts)

Total: 152/200 (76%)

Review

Kannazuki no Miko is about two girls - Himeko and Chikane - who are chosen to become the Solar Priestess and the Lunar Priestess respectively so that they may fight against the Orochi. Orochi is an evil god who takes 7 people - presumably all who live life in despair - under his employ in order to fulfill his will of the destruction of the Priestesses and end of the world.  Each of Orochi’s followers are given a giant mecha in order to find, fight, and kill the priestesses.

Himeko is liked by both Chikane as well as Souma, a boy who attends their high school. However, when Orochi appears, Souma is selected as one of his followers, but is able to resist Orochi’s power and is able to use the mecha granted to him to protect the Priestesses from the other Orochi followers. This gives the Priestesses time to attempt to summon the Ame no Murakumo, whose shrine is on the Moon, to defeat Orochi. However, as time goes on, both Souma and Chikane - the two people Himeko holds most dear - both start being lured more and more towards Orochi’s power.

One would think that Kannazuki no Miko would the perfect anime fan-boy combination: yuri action combined with giant mechas. It’s just like Evangelion with Rei and Asuka making out with each other! (OK, not really.)

However, this dream combination doesn’t exactly pan out as planned. The start of the series ends up being almost silly as the mecha battle sequences can be a little rough around the edges, and as the plot switches between mecha fighting and Himeko-dating-Souma mode with a predictability that even a watch could appreciate (How many times can the Orochi ruin Himeko and Souma’s dates, for example?).

The series is almost painful to watch as the first 6 episodes roll along. Then a funny thing happens. The series suddenly throws in a couple of plot twists and things start improving dramatically in the final half of the series The final few episodes especially are actually good enough to hold it’s own against most shows, with a final shocking plot twist that left even my mouth gaping.

Unfortunately in the end, the first half of the series is just too much of a burden on the finally-improving second half - especially since you have to bear through the bad half to get to the good half. The scores - especially the story and “gut score” scores almost end up being average of the first half of the series with the second half. Animation is only about average, though the soundtrack seemed pretty good. The dubbing was also OK.

Overall, whether one likes Kannazuki no Miko may depend on your tastes in anime and how much early badness you are able to put up with. Your mileage may definitely vary.

First Watched: July - September 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: If you’re willing to resist boring your eyes out for the first half of the series to get to the second half

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (0)

Anime DVD and Manga Releases for March 18 - 24

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 – 8:50 am

Anime DVDs

Black CatMarch 18, 2008
Black Cat - Box Set
Bleach - Volume 9
Flag - Volume 3
MoonPhase - Box Set
Project Blue Earth SOS - Volume 2
School Rumble - Volume 6
Solty Rei - Box Set
Tweeny Witches - Volume 1
Venus Versus Virus - Volume 3

Manga

ESMarch 18, 2008
Case Closed - Volume 22
ES - Volume 8
Fullmetal Alchemist - Volume 16
Gacha Gacha: The Next Revolution - Volume 6
Nodame Cantabile - Volume 12
Phoenix - Volume 12
Suzuka - Volume 7
Vagabond - Volume 27

March 19, 2008
Color of Rage - Single
Oh My Goddess! - Volume 8
Path of the Assassin - Volume 10

By Josh | Posted in Anime & Manga Releases | Comments (0)

Anime Review - Kurau Phantom Memory: 92%

Monday, March 17, 2008 – 10:00 am

The Essentials

Kurau: Phantom MemoryName: Kurau: Phantom Memory
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Drama
Episodes: 24
Released: June 24, 2004 - December 15, 2004
Based On: N/A
Director: Yasuhiro Irie
Produced By: BONES, Media Factory
US Distribution By: ADV Films

Major Japanese Cast

Kurau Amami: Ayako Kawasumi
Christmas: Misa Kobayashi
Doug: Tomoyuki Shimura
Ayaka Stieger: Yuko Kaida
Dr. Hajime Amami: Mitsuru Ogata
Inspector Wong: Tohru Furusawa

Major English Cast

Kurau Amami: Monica Rial
Christmas: Jessica Boone
Doug: Jason Douglas
Ayaka Stieger: Tiffany Grant
Dr. Hajime Amami: John Gremillion
Inspector Wong: Illich Guardiola

Scores

Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 9/10 (x 2 = 18 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 9/10 (x 5 = 45 pts)

Total: 184/200 (92%)

Review

100 Years in the future, the human race has been able to survive several wars over natural resources and have eventually been able to research several new, amazing energy sources. One of the new ground-breaking energy sources is called Rynax, which Dr. Amami is researching. Dr. Amami brings his daughter, Kurau, to his lab on her birthday to watch his experiments when one of the experiments go horribly wrong: a bright yellow light hits Kurau, disintegrating her, only to reassemble her soon afterwards.

However, instead of his daughter, the body is inhabited by the Rynax, who turn out being living organisms and not just a source of energy. On top of this, a second Rynax resides within Kurau, severely injured by the incident. This leaves the Rynax who controls Kurau sad since Rynax always live in pairs - with one half of the pair becoming highly distressed if the other half isn’t present. The Rynax which controls Kurau starts acting more and more like the real Kurau, however, and pledges to Dr. Amami to give him back his real daughter unharmed if they can find out a way to safety extract the Rynax from her.

Move into the future 10 years and Kurau is employed as a private special agent, using super-human abilities that she’s gained by being a Rynax to easily complete tasks that others might find impossible. However, soon Kurau’s view on life suddenly changes when her Rynax pair is suddenly well enough to leave Kurau and forms it’s own body - a copy of a younger version of Kurau, and Kurau feels that she has the duty to protect her.

Kurau then suddenly finds herself and her pair, who she names Christmas, on the run from the GPO - the global police force - who wants to capture Kurau and Christmas in order to study them and their Rynax energy. This ultimately leads to Kurau uncovering a conspiracy that goes to the very heart of the GPO and it’s research into and plans for the Rynax.

Kurau: Phantom Memory is very impressive in many ways. The story stays compelling through the entire 24 episodes as Kurau and Christmas weave and bob through plot twists and arcs in their search, both for the mystery of the Rynax, but also into why the GPO is after them. This includes Kurau getting in contact with her father, Dr. Amami, again - who has by now been sold out by one of his power-hungry underlings who wants to use the power of the Rynax for his own, and in extension, the GPO’s gain.

Even though Kurau is primary an action/adventure show, there is almost a kind of slice-of-life or otherwise personal aspect to the show in how many of the characters interact with each other, especially, but limited to, the interaction between Kurau and Christmas. There is also Doug, who keeps in contact with his son Ted. There is Ayako, who still has the mystery of her parent’s murder when she was younger on her mind.  There is the relationship between Kurau and her father, and even between some minor characters who only show up for an episode or two. That’s not to say the action elements aren’t also impressively well done throughout the series either. The action sequences vary quite widely, never leaving one feeling that you’ve seen the same thing before in the series.

On the technical aspects, the animation and music are excellent and the dubbing is on the better side of things as well. Perhaps the only real negative thing I can think of is that it sometimes started getting a bit monotonous with Kurau and Christmas in “run away from the GPO” mode for probably at least 2 volumes solid, but there were still enough interesting stories within this stretch that it wasn’t anything big.

Overall, Kurau: Phantom Memory is a series which quite a few anime fans could and probably will enjoy.

First Watched: June 2007 - March 2008
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (0)