Category Archives: Anime Reviews

Blue Drop – Anime Review

By | August 3, 2008 at 10:00 am | 5 comments

The Essentials

Name: Blue Drop: Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku
Genre: Sci-fi, Romance
Episodes: 13
Released: October 2, 2007 – December 25, 2007
Based On: Blue Drop manga by Akihito Yoshitomi
Director: Masahiko Ohkura
Produced By: Asahi Production, BeSTACK
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Mari Wakatake: Akiko Yajima
Hagino Senkoji: Miyuki Sawashiro
Michiko Kozuki: Satsuki Yukino
Tsubael: Yuko Goto
Azanael: Ai Orikasa
Yuko Sugawara: Miho Yamada
Akane Kawashima: Akeno Watanabe
Hiroko Funatsumaru: Kimiko Saito
Shivariel: Youko Asagami

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 10/10 (x 2 = 20 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 9/10 (x 5 = 45 pts)

Total: 165/190 (86.8%)

Review

Blue Drop is about girl, Mari, who lost both of her parents in a mysterious island disaster when she was younger – an incident where Mari was the only survivor. She now lives with her grandmother, who decides that she should attend an actual school when Mari enters high school of being home schooled like she had been up to that point. However, Mari sees this as her grandmother dumping her off because she’s tired of taking care of her (which isn’t the case).

On her way to the school, Mari sees a mysterious girl standing out in the harbor. Mari soon finds out that the girl is her roommate in the dorm. However, when the girl, whose name is Hagino, touches Mari, she goes temporarily crazy, trying to strangle Mari. This obviously doesn’t start their relationship off on a good foot, and it doesn’t get any better when Mari finds out that Hagino is actually an alien who is on the Earth to do observation.

As Hagino tries to improve her relationship with Mari, Mari eventually learns about the truth of the disaster which killed her parents, how Hagino is involved, and why Hagino is on Earth observing in the first place.

I found Blue Drop a rather slow-paced but still excellently written anime series about the relationship between Hagino and Mari. While this is technically a yuri series, it’s more about the buildup of the two’s relationship than about the relationship itself, which really only lasts very briefly at the end of the series due to certain events.

Even though Mari is the lead character in the series, Blue Drop is about Hagino and her past and regrets as much as it is about Mari. Hagino also has to deal with the commander of the fleet in which Hagino’s ship, the Blue, is included, as well as the commander’s sidekick, who has a grudge against Hagino as well.

In the end, all of these dramatic elements wrap together to make a pretty good put together show.

On the technical aspects, the animation is probably the show’s weakest point, though it isn’t too bad, and is marked more by a “softer” sort of coloring in contrast to the sharper animation one might see in other series. However, the music is excellent I thought.

I you’re open to a good sci-fi drama series, and don’t mind the yuri aspect, I’d suggest checking out Blue Drop.

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

Murder Princess – Anime Review

By | August 2, 2008 at 10:00 am | No Comments

The Essentials

Name: Murder Princess
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Comedy
Episodes: 6
Released: March 28, 2007 – August 29, 2007
Based On: Murder Princess manga by Sekihiko Inui
Director: Tomoyuki Kurokawa
Produced By: Bee Train, Marvelous Entertainment
US Distribution By: Funimation

Major Japanese Cast

Falis (real): Romi Paku
Alita Forland (real): Ami Koshimizu
Dominikov: Kazuki Yao
Pete Armstrong: Akimitsu Takase
Jodu Entolasia: Takkou Ishimori
Ana / Yuna: Chiwa Saito
Akamashi: Hiroshi Tsuchida
Cecilia: Megumi Toyoguchi
Dark Knight: Daisuke Namikawa

Major English Cast

N/A

Scores

Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 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: 140/170 (82.4%)

Review

Murder Princess is about Princess Alita Forland, who is sent into exile by her family so that she can escape a coup d’etat attempt against the royal family by a former scientist of the government, who has used his knowledge to create futuristic weapons.

Alita escapes, but is soon chased through a nearby forest by the forest’s guardian beast and runs into the bounty hunter Falis, sending them both off a cliff. They both survive, but due to the near-death experience, their souls have exchanged bodies. Impressed with Falis’ fighting ability, Alita-as-Falis begs Falis-as-Alita, and her two sidekicks Dominikov and Pete Armstrong, to help defend the kingdom until Alita’s brother comes back from a foreign trip. Falis ultimatley agrees, taking on the role of Princess. However, this doesn’t stop her from personally fighting enemies of the state, earning her the name Murder Princess.

I thought for a short series like this, it was written an executed very well. One problem with short series can sometimes be a thin plot or the tendency to move either really fast or really slow, but I think Murder Princess finds the right balance all around.

The primary basis for this series is definitely action, as Falis and Alita have to fight off all of their foes – and it does have some pretty good action scenes. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lack of comedy, mostly centered around the very unrefined Falis having to learn how to behave like a princess.

Perhaps the only real negative with the series is that the ultimate plot point – the switching of Alita and Falis’ bodies – is never resolved, though I wouldn’t be shocked at all if this ended up getting a sequel at some point. Also, I should note that this series may not be for the blood-shy.

Most of the technical aspects appeared to be pretty good for this series, but I’m not sure there is anything particularly notable either.

Overall, if you’re looking for a good action series with a good mix of comedy in it, then Murder Princess may be a good, short series that you can check out.

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

Ballad of a Shinigami – Anime Review

By | July 31, 2008 at 10:00 am | No Comments

The Essentials

Name: Ballad of a Shinigami, Momo the girl god of death
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Episodes: 6
Released: March 2, 2006 – April 6, 2006
Based On: Shinigami no Ballad light novels by K-Ske Hasegawa
Director: Tomomi Mochizuki
Produced By: Pony Canyon, Group TAC, Ginga-ya
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Momo: Akiko Kobayashi
Daniel: Ai Shimizu
Kōta Seto: Akiyo Kanada
Mai Makihara: Chiwa Saito
Mitsuki Asano: Yuki Kaida
Yutaka Fujishima: Kana Ueda
Kantaro Ichihara: Toshiyuki Toyonaga
Tomato Fujiwara: Kanako Mitsuhashi
Chiaki Kazama: Tomoko Sadohara
Fuyuki Kazama: Ryoko Shiraishi
Eko Miyazaki: Fuyuka Oura
Sakura Kosakai: Nobuyuki Kobushi

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: N/A
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 140/170 (82.4%)

Review

Ballad of a Shinigami is about Momo, a Shinigami – basically the Japanese version of the grim reaper except cuter in this case – and her cat companion Daniel. The series addresses six different stories which deal with death in one way or another, with Momo playing a critical role each time.

These stories range from a young girl eventually succumbing to an illness, to pushing someone to live his life to the fullest since “you’ll eventually die someday,” to not being able to say “sorry” for things you said to a love one just before they died.

I think each of the six stories are interesting in their own right, and I like how each of the six stories were able to address the issue of death in unique ways. Of course the main negative to having six stories in six episodes is that none of the stories necessarily have time to really stand out or leave a lasting impression, but I’m not sure how important this is with a series this short (there is a reason why I have a minimum episode count before I give a coherence score, after all).

I’d say if you’re interested in a well written set of stories about an unusual topic (how many series deal with the issue of death this head on), I’d recommend Ballad of a Shinigami, especially since it is easy to watch in a single sitting.

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

Minami-ke – Anime Review

By | July 30, 2008 at 10:00 am | 1 comment

The Essentials

Name: Miname-ke
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 26 (13 episodes in both seasons 1 and 2)
Released: October 7, 2007 – March 30, 2008
Based On: Miname-ke manga by Coharu Sakuraba
Director: Masahiko Ohta (season 1), Naoto Hosoda (season 2)
Produced By: Starchild (both seasons), Doumu (season 1), asread (season 2)
US Distribution By: N/A

Major Japanese Cast

Haruka Minami: Rina Satou
Chiaki Minami: Minori Chihara
Kana Minami: Marina Inoue
Makoto: Rika Morinaga
Toma Minami: Nana Mizuki
Fujioka: Tetsuya Kakihara
Yoshino: Aki Toyosaki
Yuka Uchida: Eri Kitamura
Keiko: Saori Goto
Maki: Reiko Takagi
Atsuko: Ryoko Ono
Hosaka: Daisuke Ono
Hayami: Saeko Chiba

Major English Cast

N/A

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: 7/10 (x 2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 9/10 (x 5 = 45 pts)

Total: 163/190 (85.8%)

Review

Minami-ke is show about the lives of the three Minami sisters: Haruka, who attends high school and is the caretaker of the other two sisters; Kana, who attends middle school and who is rather clueless, lazy, and impulsive; and Chiaki who attends elementary school and who is intelligent and precocious, but rather rude as well.

There’s not much else I can say to describe the series since it basically is about the random things that the three girls and their friends do in life. However, one thing this series does to exceptionally well, especially in the first season, is be absolutely hilarious. The fact that the three girl’s personalities don’t mesh at all – especially Kana’s and Chikai’s – just adds to how great this series is. Add into the fix each of the girls’ friends and their own quirks, and you have a show with a rather consistent supply of hilarity.

The one thing I should note is that the first season, which consists of the first 13 episodes, is a bit funnier than the 2nd season, and that is really the only thing keeping the score down for this series, as the story and gut scores are largely an average between the first and second seasons (with the first season getting an easy 10 while the second season kind of splits between a 7/8). Even so, the second season is still a respectable watch, but may pale somewhat in comparison to the first season.

The animation and music for both seasons are pretty good, even though both seasons were handled by different production companies.

If you’re looking for a series with a lot of random laughs, and don’t care much about a central story line, then definitely check out Minami-ke.

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

Baccano! – Anime Review

By | July 29, 2008 at 10:00 am | 1 comment

The Essentials

Name: Baccano
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Episodes: 13 + 3 OVAs
Released: July 26, 2007 – November 1, 2007
Based On: Baccano light novels by Ryohgo Narita
Director: Takahiro Omori
Produced By: Brains Base, MediaWorks
US Distribution By: Funimation

Major Japanese Cast

Isaac Dian: Masaya Onosaka
Miria Harvent: Sayaka Aoki
Firo Prochainezo: Hiroyuki Yoshino
Szilard Quates: Kinryuu Arimoto
Ennis: Sanae Kobayashi
Maiza Avaro: Mitsuru Miyamoto
Ladd Russo: Keiji Fujiwara
Lua Klein: Eri Yasui
Jacuzzi Splot: Daisuke Sakaguchi
Nice Holystone: Yu Kobayashi
Claire Stanfield: Masakazu Morita
Dallas Genoard: Atsushi Imaruoka
Eve Genoard: Marina Inoue
Chane Laforet: Ryou Hirohashi
Czeslaw Meyer: Akemi Kanda
Carol: Chiwa Saito

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: 9/10 (x 2 = 18 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 162/190 (85.3%)

Review

Baccano, at it’s simplest, boiled down form, is about the exploits and adventures of a set of alchemists in 1930s America who were able to summon a demon in the 18th century so that they could become immortal.

The story is largely told between two story lines taking place at two different times. The most visible storyline is about how, in late 1930, three different groups – the Russo group, the Lumeres, and Jacuzzi’s gang – all have different plans for the trans-continental train the Flying Pussyfoot in it’s run from Chicago to New York.

The Russo group, led by Ladd Russo, decides to kill many of the passengers on the train while holding the rest ransom in order to get a large ransom payment from the railroad company. The Lumeres decide to take the train passengers ransom so that they can demand the release of their group’s leader, Huey Laforet, from jail. Meanwhile, Jazuzzi and his gang plan on trying to rob some important cargo off of the train. The melee that ensues results in a lot of blood and a lot of fighting between the three groups, as well as the arrival of the Rail Tracer – a mythical monster which causes trains and the people on them to disappear.

The other story being told at the same time occurs earlier in 1930, and deals with the quest of one of the original immortals, Szilard Quates, to discover the formula for the elixir which allows immortality. However, while his researcher, Barnes, discovers the secret, his lab is destroyed in a fire, and he is able to salvage two bottles of the elixir. However, the elixir is soon stolen by a gang and starts rapidly changing hands.

Baccano certainly has an interesting and well written story, and it’s rare to see a story which has a good balance of action and story elements to it. However, my main problem with this story is how much it jumps around between the two stories, and to and from even other smaller sub-stories. While it is an interesting story-telling device, I think all the switching sometimes makes it unclear what is happening when and where and what is happening first and last and in between.

Despite this, I think it is still a pretty good watch, though I should note that it has a considerable amount of violence, and especially blood.

The animation quality is pretty good for this show, as is the music as they appear to do a pretty good representation of 1930s America, at least for one who doesn’t know any better like myself.

Overall, while how the story is told may be confusing, it’s still a good enough show to take a look at, if you don’t mind some blood.

First Watched: August 2007 – July 2008
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes, if you don’t mind blood and violence

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