Category Archives: Anime Reviews

Mokke – Anime Review

By | July 22, 2008 at 10:00 am | No Comments

The Essentials

Name: Mokke
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Episodes: 24
Released: October 2, 2007 – March 25, 2008
Based On: Mokke manga by Takatoshi Kumakura
Director: Masayoshi Nishida
Produced By: Madhouse, Tezuka
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Mizuki Hibara: Nana Mizuki
Shizuru Hibara: Ayako Kawasumi
Ojii-chan: Katsunosuke Hori
Obaa-chan: Hisako Kyouda
Kazama: Chiwa Saito
Hisako: Mai Hashimoto
Takatsu: Rie Kugimiya

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 7/10 (x 2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 154/190 (81.1%)

Review

Mokke is about two sisters – Shizuru and Mizuki Hibara – and their tale of trying to deal with the supernatural world around them. Shizuru, who attends high school and is the older of the two sisters, has the ability to see or otherwise sense spirits and other things from the “other side,” while Mizuki can’t sense the spirits, but can become easily possessed by them.

From this premise, the series sets off to be an episodic tale of how the two sisters deal with different supernatural phenomenon and how each of them grows in response. Mizuki is naturally insecure due to her nature of easily being possessed, but this insecurity extends into other areas as well. Meanwhile, Shizuru usually feels like she has to be responsible for Mizuki, but often finds that her knowledge and ability just aren’t up to the level that she would like. She also has a somewhat rocky relationship with her classmates due to her ability to see much more of what surrounds them.

Mokke is interesting in the sense that there isn’t really anything noticeably spectacular to this series, yet it remains for the most part entertaining throughout. The individual stories in each episode usually tend to be an interesting watch, each usually coming with it’s own “moral of the story” or something like it.

On the technical front, like I said, there isn’t necessarily anything spectacular about the series. The animation is probably around normal, as is the music.

If you’re looking for a good wholesome slice-of-life/supernatural series, then you’d like Mokke.

First Watched: October 2007 – April 2008
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings – Anime Review

By | July 21, 2008 at 10:00 am | 4 comments

The Essentials

Name: Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings, Aa Megami-sama: Tatakau Tsubasa
Genre: Fantasy
Episodes: 2
Released: December 8, 2007
Based On: Oh! My Goddess manga by Kosuke Fujishima, Ah! My Goddess TV series
Director: Hiroaki Gohda
Produced By: AIC
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Belldandy: Kikuko Inoue
Keiichi Morisato: Masami Kikuchi
Urd: Yumi Touma
Skuld: Aya Hisakawa
Peorth: Rei Sakuma
Lind: Miki Itou
Hild: Gara Takashima
Marller: Urara Takano

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: N/A
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 136/170 (80.0%)

Review

Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings is a story that largely centers around the Valkyrie Lind, who has been tapped to protect the four Goddesses on earth and to search for the “Angel Eater,” a mysterious being which has been eating all of the goddess’ angels, debilitating them.

This was a pretty entertaining 2-episode TV special meant to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ah! My Goddess franchise. This special isn’t really for someone who is trying to introduce themselves to the franchise, as an understanding of the world is assumed in this special. Otherwise, however, if you are familiar with the franchise, the quality and entertainment value from this special is comparable to that of the TV series which has aired previously. This includes a good mix of drama and comedy, as is the norm in most of the action-based story arcs in the series.

If you like the Ah! My Goddess franchise and enjoyed the TV series, I’m sure that you would enjoy this short special as well.

First Watched: January 2008
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes (if you’re familiar with the franchise)

Shakugan no Shana: The Movie – Anime Review

By | July 19, 2008 at 10:00 am | No Comments

The Essentials

Name: Shakugan no Shana: The Movie
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Episodes: N/A
Released: April 21, 2007
Based On: Shakugan no Shana light novels by Yashichiro Takahashi
Director: Takashi Watanabe
Produced By: J.C. Staff
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Yuji Sakai: Satoshi Hino
Shana: Rie Kugimiya
Yukari Hirai: Masumi Asano
Margery Daw: Hitomi Nabatame
Alastor: Masashi Ebara
Marchosias: Mitsuo Iwata
Friagne: Junichi Suwabe
Chigusa: Tomo Sakurai

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Story: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: N/A
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 144/170 (84.7%)

Review

Shakugan no Shana: The Movie is about a boy, Yuji Sakai, after he “dies” when he has his existence eaten by Crimson Denizens – members of a parallel universe. At the same time, one of his classmates, Yukari, who has a crush on Yuji’s best friend Ike, “dies” as well. However, both of their existences are replaced by Shana, a Flame Haze, and they both become Torches.

After the ordeal, Yukari clearly isn’t herself, and Yuji demands to know what happened. Shana informs him that he has died and has been turned into a Torch so that their disappearance won’t disrupt the world as much. However, since they are only replacements, torches eventually run out and then really will completely disappear.

However, Yuji appears to be different in that he’s realized what’s happened and Shana, and the Crimson Lord to whom she is bound, Alastor, deduce that he must be a Mystes – a special type of torch with a “treasure” in mind. With this in mind, Shana decides to use Yuji as bait to catch the Crimson Denizen who ate his existence, since Crimson Denizens have a penchant for collecting such treasures.

Shakugan no Shana is effectively a retelling of the first story arc of the first season of the TV series, though some things are notably different, such as the climax of the movie. As a result, while the movie does a good job getting one familiar with the franchise if one is going to go ahead and watch the TV series, it doesn’t do as good of a job as a stand-alone movie.

Even so, it still tells a rather interesting story competently. The animation is excellent and the music is also pretty good as well.

If you’re looking for a quick intro to the Shakugan no Shana universe, or just want a fun movie to watch, then you might want to check this one out.

First Watched: October 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes, if you want the quick review of the Shana universe

MoonPhase – Anime Review

By | July 18, 2008 at 10:00 am | 1 comment

The Essentials

Name: MoonPhase
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Episodes: 26
Released: October 4, 2004 – March 23, 2005
Based On: Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase manga by Keitaro Arima
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
Produced By: Victor Entertainment, SHAFT
US Distribution By: Funimation

Major Japanese Cast

Hazuki/Luna: Chiwa Saito
Kohei Morioka: Hiroshi Kamiya
Ryuhei Mido: Mugihito
Seiji Mido: Takahiro Sakurai
Elfriede: Yumi Kakazu
Hiromi Anzai: Michiko Neya
Haiji: Vanilla Yamazaki
Kaoru Mido: Miyu Matsuki
Hikaru Mido: Mai Kadowaki

Major English Cast

Hazuki/Luna: Monica Rial
Kohei Morioka: Jason Liebrecht
Ryuhei Mido: Randy Tallman
Seiji Mido: Sonny Strait
Elfriede: Stephanie Young
Hiromi Anzai: Laura Bailey
Haiji, Hikaru Mido: Luci Christian
Kaoru Mido: Brina Palencia

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: 9/10 (x 2 = 18 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 9/10 (x 5 = 45 pts)

Total: 176/200 (88%)

Review

MoonPhase is about a young female vampire, Hazuki, who is being held in a castle in Germany by her father and by his servant Vigo. One day, Kohei, who has an amazing ability to photograph supernatural phenomena despite the fact that he can’t sense them at all himself, spots Hazuki and her alter-ego Luna as he is taking pictures of the castle. Kohei goes back to the castle along with Seiji, who knows how to use ancient magic, to take more pictures when Hazuki. However, when Kohei finally meets Hazuki, she bites him, under the belief that biting him will put him under her control and help her escape the castle. However, supernatural things having absolutely no affect on Kohei, the bite has no such result. In the end, Kohei helps Hazuki escape the castle anyway, and she ends up coming to Japan to live with Kohei and his grandfather Ryuhei.

From there, Hazuki gets help from Kohei to try to find out what happened to her mother, while at the same time forces of Hazuki’s father marshal up in order to try to return Hazuki to the castle. The reason for this being that Hazuki has a secret: she is a true day walker – a vampire who can walk in daylight. If other vampires found out about this ability, they would rush to Hazuki to take that power for themselves. However, minions attempting to recapture Hazuki find another important reason to succeed: Kohei himself is revealed to be the mythical vampire lover – a human whom, if a vampire bites them, will free that vampire from any blood bonds which they may be constrained by (such as by being bitten and turned into a vampire by another vampire).

However, despite the pretty hefty-sounding description, MoonPhase still has a pretty good amount of comedy in it, with the continuing interaction between Kohei and Hazuki, as well as between Kohei and Ryuhei almost always ending in laughs. However, on top of the comedy, this series also contains several drama and action-intensive stints as well, which I have to say are usually very well done as well. Some of the sub-plots may get a little drawn out at times, but the story still moves as a pretty reasonable pace.

As for technical aspects, the animation is probably above average, and the music is pretty good, if not unusual for an anime series. The dubbing is also very good as far as I could tell.

In the end, if you’re looking for a very well made supernatural/vampire series or an otherwise character-driven series, I think you should definitely give MoonPhase a shot.

First Watched: August 2007 – January 2008
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes

Wind: A Breath of Heart (TV) – Anime Review

By | July 17, 2008 at 10:00 am | 2 comments

The Essentials

Name: Wind: A Breath of Heart (TV)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 13 + 4 OVAs
Released: June 30, 2004 – September 22, 2004
Based On: Wind: A Breath of Heart visual novel by Minori
Director: Mitsuhiro Tougou
Produced By: Radix, Rondo Robe
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Makoto Okano: Hisayoshi Suganuma
Minamo Narukaze: Miwa Kouzuki
Hinata Okano: Ritsuko Kasai
Nozomi Fujimiya: Junko Okada
Tsutomu Tachibana: Akio Suyama
Hikari Tsukishiro: Riko Hirai
Akihito Narukaze: Jin Horikawa
Wakaba Fujimiya: Sayaka Aoki
Kasumi Shikouin: Satomi Kodama

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 9/10 (x 5 = 45 pts)

Total: 165/190 (86.8%)

Review

Wind: A Breath of Heart is about two high school students, Makoto Okano and Minamo Narukaze, who are reunited in their hometown of Kazune City after the two both moved out of the city two years prior. Makoto has moved back to the town with his sister Hinata after their mother mysteriously disappeared while Minamo moved back due to her father wanting to investigate the mystery behind the magic in the town.

Makoto soon starts hanging out with other people in the town, including two waitresses, Nozomi and Wakaba, who work at a resturant he frequents, as well as Hikari, who runs a shop and keeps very much to herself, leaving Minamo confused as to how Makoto feels about her.

Also, veryone born in the city is gifted with a certain power, save, seemingly, Makoto. However, everyone’s powers start to come and go and soon Wakaba is suddenly attacked. This starts Makoto down a road where he learns the truth about the magic powers granted to those in the city and what really happened to his mother.

Wind has one of the better written stories that I’ve seen in a while, I think. The show starts off innocently enough, looking like it may just be a regular harem show. Then suddenly all of these mysteries pop up, such as the history behind the magical power in the city. However, instead of the show answering “what,” it’s more about answering “why” and what can be done about it, since the “what” is answered pretty early on.

The one weakness in the story, however, is that while the plot, generally, is pretty well formed, there are some things which I didn’t think were really explained (such as what determined against whom and, especially, how often the “what” above occured). However, I’m not sure that really negatively impacted the show too much.

I’ll just add a couple notes about the show, however. First, the episodes are half-episodes. Second, make sure you watch the 4 OVAs where they are supposed to fit in the story, as it will explain things better. I think the show can be watched with just the 13 TV episodes, but it’s better with the 4 OVAs included.

In the technical aspects, the animation was very good I thought, and the music was also good.

Overall, if you’re looking for a show with a little different story to it, and you’re not afraid of either mystery or some harem-ish storylines, then I think that Wind is a show that should definitely check out.

First Watched: July 2008
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

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