Category Archives: Anime Reviews

Kannazuki no Miko – Anime Review

By | March 18, 2008 at 10:00 am | 2 comments

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

Kurau Phantom Memory – Anime Review

By | March 17, 2008 at 10:00 am | No Comments

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

Idolmaster Xenoglossia – Anime Review

By | March 14, 2008 at 10:14 pm | No Comments

The Essentials

Idolmaster XenoglossiaName: Idolmaster Xenoglossia
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy
Episodes: 26
Released: April 2, 2007 – September 24, 2007
Based On: Inspired by The Idolmaster Playstation game
Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
Produced By: Sunrise, Bandai Visual
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Haruka Amami: Yuka Iguchi
Yukiho Hagiwara: Yui Horie
Iori Minase: Yukari Tamura
Yayoi Takatsuki: Ami Koshimizu
Makoto Kikuchi: Eri Kitamura
Ami Futami: Kaori Nazuka
Mami Futami: Momoko Saito
Azusa Miura: Tomo Sakurai
Chihaya Kisaragi: Kaori Shimizu
Ritsuko Akizuki: Mai Nakahara
R.I.F.F.A.: Yukana
Joseph Shingetsu: Kazuhiro Nakata
Hibiki Saku: Takuma Takewaka

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: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 160/190 (84.2%)

Review

Idolmaster Xenoglossia is about a girl – Haruka – who travels to Tokyo under the impression that she was selected to become an idol after attending an audition. However, upon arriving in Tokyo, a giant mecha breaks out of the ground and, through the help of gravitational control, plops Haruka down in it’s cockpit. After this event, Haruka learns that the company that recruited her is actually a multinational organization named Mondenkind, who is looking for girl to pilot giant mechas – called iDOLS – in order to help protect the earth from falling meteors. These meteors are left over from the mysterious destruction of the Moon 107 years prior – an event known as Lost Artemis. On top of this, the iDOL which Haruka encountered upon arriving in Tokyo – whose name is Imber – will only operate if Haruka is it’s pilot, and rejects anyone else who tries to pilot it.

Soon Haruka discovers that, beyond protecting the earth from falling meteors, they also must protect the earth from a secret organization named Turiavita which has an iDOL if it’s own and whose goal is to collect all 5 iDOLS (Mondenkind has 2, and 2 are M.I.A.) in order to trigger an event called Auryn, which is feared will bring about the end of the world. Haruka ultimately has to balance her friendship with a real entertainment idol, Yayoi, her relationship with Imber, her relationship with her new friend at Mondenkind, Yukiho, her battle with Chihaya, a member of Turiavita who despretly wants to be able to pilot Imber, as well as the internal struggles and battles within Mondenkind, including an ongoing fued between the two girls who rotate as pilots on Mondenkind’s other iDOL, Nebula.

One of the things I’ve found out about this series is that it is very difficult to exactly pin down my thoughts about it. There are several good things about Idolmaster. To start off, it is entertaining. There are aspects of the show that are, I think, rather unique, including the whole deal with Lost Artemis and Auryn. I also think there is ultimately quite a bit of depth, both for many of the characters and the in the backstory. I also think the shows is able to mix different genres together pretty successfully as well.

However, there are some aspects which I didn’t necessarily like. Some aspects of the show have already been beaten to death: mechas which only girls can pilot, and which also choose their own pilots, rejecting anyone else. The mecha battles get pretty old pretty fast. There seems to be only so much these mechas can do to battle, so they just do it over and over. The basis of Mondenkind – flying up into space and blowing up meteors – seems kind of lame. Not that it’s an important job, but at the start of the series, you’re sitting there like “so this is a show about blowing up rocks in space?” Also, the show seemed to give the animators an excuse to perhaps go a little overboard in the fan service category, though it wasn’t anything too terribly excessive.

I think, as a whole, the story works pretty well. I think it ultimately has more positive points than negative points, and the fact that I found it overall entertaining is a key. Flying through this series in 4 nights and not really becoming bored or tired of it seems to be a good sign that it can at least hold my interest pretty good.

As far as technical aspects. I think the animation, overall, was pretty good, which sharp character designs and good animation quality, though I think some things could be a little better. I also thought the music was pretty good as well.

Overall, I think this is a show that quite a people could enjoy, though it may be a little hit-or-miss.

First Watched: May – November 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

Seto no Hanayome – Anime Review

By | March 13, 2008 at 10:00 am | 1 comment

The Essentials

Seto no HanayomeName: Seto no Hanayome
Genre: Comedy, Action, Romance
Episodes: 26
Released: April 1, 2007 – September 30, 2007
Based On: Seto no Hanayome manga by Tahiko Kimura
Director: Seiji Kishi
Produced By: avex, AIC, Gonzo
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Nagasumi: Takahiro Mizushima
San: Halko Momoi
Luna: Sakura Nogawa
Gouzaburou: Kenta Miyake
Maki: Natsuko Kuwatani
Mawari: Rika Morinaga
Saru: Masashi Yabe
Kai: Daisuke Ono
Masa: Katsuki Murase
Luna’s father: Tesshô Genda
Ren: Makiko Nabei

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Story: 6/10 (x 4 = 24 pts)
Music: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 7/10 (x 2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 4/10 (x 5 = 20 pts)

Total: 118/190 (62.1%)

Review

Seto no Hanayome is about a boy, Nagasumi, who gets saved from drowning by a mermaid named San Seto during his vacation to the beach. However, mermaid law dictates that if a human ever sees a mermaid, either both must be killed or the two must marry. Obviously, Nagasumi and San chose the marriage route. Unfortunately for Nagasumi, San is the daughter of the boss of the Seto group – a very powerful and ruthless mermaid organization. On top of this, San’s father hardly approves of San’s and Nagasumi’s engagement.

Soon it’s time for Nagasumi to go home, and San decides to go with him. However, San’s father is able to pull some strings with the Ministry of Education and is able to replace all the teachers at Nagasumi’s school with members of the Seto Group. On top of this, San’s childhood friend and rival, Luna, who is now a pop idol, decides to show up to make Nagasumi her servant in order to “beat” San. Also, Kai, the richest boy in the mermaid world, shows up to try to convince San to take his hand in marriage instead of Nagasumi’s. All of this entangles Nagasumi in the mermaid world, much to his disadvantage.

When an anime series has me face-palming through 2/3 of the episodes instead of laughing, you know that the show isn’t going very well, but unfortunately that’s exactly what happened when I watched Seto no Hanayome.  The premise of the show isn’t necessarily all that bad, but the execution of that premise certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

The biggest issue I had with Seto no Hanayome was the fact that the episodes seemed to be consistently over the top – and not just a little but often way, way, WAY over the top – which just made the series feel more stupid than funny to me. Watching Seto no Hanayome is probably the closest I have ever gotten to actually dropping a series half-way through – something which I pretty much never do. All of this isn’t a good sign for a series which otherwise has little to no central plot that is being followed other than the repetitious exploits of Luna, Kai, and San’s father.  The series also has issues with episodes having dues ex machina endings usually involving some previously unknown mermaid power.

The entire series can probably be personified by one of it’s most ridiculous characters – Saru – who spends the entire series looking like, and largely acting like, a monkey, but who occasionally appears dressed as some master sage delving out largely nonsense advice to Nagasumi, while one of the characters summed up my feelings for this series in the final episode by crying out “This is absurd!”

The animation style (or styles, really, in this case) didn’t really impress me overall.  While switching between style can work if you pull it off well, I think Seto does it to an almost excessive degree which was more distracting that funny to me, and eventually got on my nerves.  The music also seemed about average, though the credit songs and some insert songs were OK.

If you like completely random and (way) over the top humor, then you might enjoy Seto no Hanayome. However, if you like your humor to be even marginally grounded and/or want a show with any sort of plot, you’d be better to pass on this.

First Watched: May – September 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: No

Lucky Star – Anime Review

By | March 12, 2008 at 10:00 am | 3 comments

The Essentials

Lucky StarName: Lucky Star
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 24
Released: April 8, 2007 – September 16, 2007
Based On: Lucky Star 4koma by Kagami Yoshimizu
Director: Yutaka Yamamoto (1-4) and Yasuhiro Takemoto (5-24)
Produced By: Kyoto Animation
US Distribution By: Bandai Entertainment

Major Japanese Cast

Konata: Aya Hirano
Kagami: Emiri Katou
Tsukasa: Kaori Fukuhara
Miyuki: Aya Endo
Akira: Hiromi Konno
Minoru Shiraishi: Minoru Shiraishi

Major English Cast

Konata: Wendee Lee
Kagami: Kari Wahlgren
Tsukasa: Michelle Ruff
Miyuki: Karen Strassman
Akira: Stephanie Sheh
Minoru Shiraishi: Sam Regal

Scores

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

Total: 163/200 (81.5%)

Review

Lucky Star is story of four girls – Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki – as they make their way through high school life. The four girls all enjoy their friendship, even though all of them each exhibit their own weird quirks.

Konata is athletic, yet isn’t in the sports club and generally doesn’t like sports.  However, she does enjoy watching anime and playing online video games above all else, and is an overall a hardcore otaku.

Kagami and Tsukasa are twins, though they don’t have that much in common. Kagami is hard working and is near the top of her class in grades. However, this, on top of her overall stiffness as compared to the other characters makes her easy prey for Konata’s jabs. Tsukasa doesn’t do as well academically and is more of an airhead and laid back than her sister.

Finally, Miyuki is at the top of the class, yet is an airhead as well. However, Konata sees many of Miyuki’s traits as being major turn ons for guys, at least based on her observations from watching anime and playing dating sim games.

Lucky Star is almost entirely based around comedy, revolving around showing the life the four girls lead instead of having a central plot line. This, on top of the fact that the humor and gags used may not be for everyone makes Lucky Star potentially a very hit-or-miss series for some people.

Lucky Star does seem to make a habit of not necessarily using the same joke twice, or at least not in the same exact way, which keeps an element of freshness to the show. Also, each episode wraps up with the “Lucky Channel” which features star idol Akira and her newbie sidekick Minoru which adds it’s own humorous element to the show.

Lucky Star’s animation style may need a little getting used to as it is animated in more of comic strip style rather than a more “traditional” anime style. However, despite this the show still seems to be pretty well animated. The music also fits well with the show, if not being a bit repetitious at times. I haven’t watched the whole show dubbed yet, but what I have watch seems to indicate that the dubbing has been done compentently.

Overall, I think there is a pretty good chance that people will find Lucky Star a humorous and worthy series

First Watched: May – September 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

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