More anime reviews
Okay, after a brief breather it’s back to the reviews! After this one there should be a medium sized cyberpunk/futuristic/steampunk anime review, another one in mid April probably (at the rate I watch anime these days anyway) and one in mid May to cover all the fall shows (which, let me say, have really let me down). So, on with it!
Moribito
ANN page
The Good: Since fantasy is one of the greatest loves in my life I can get very picky as to how it’s handled (original enough? Did they base it on existing mythology? Overuse of plot devices? Did I see the ending coming (which is usually a resounding YES)?). Moribito was a very well crafted novel (it may be children’s lit, more like YA actually, but how many YAs do you come across that have politics that aren’t in a traditional European setting?!?!) and with such amazing source material the anime works well. It’s true that they deviate around the middle of the story, but that isn’t completely a bad thing. The anime could be called slice-of-life with those middle episodes and the extra screen time is spread over all the important characters so they end up being more interesting than the novel at times. Shuga in particular got a much more active role which was nice to see and Chagum’s character development was even more obvious and it makes me excited for the later novels that focus on him.
Also, there are man, MANY stories where our protagonist is “the best at something-or-other.” Usually it elicits an eyebrow quirk and a “really, prove it” statement, Moribito manages to avoid this entirely. Possibly since it’s never claimed about Balse but shown that she can take down some of the best swordsman in the world with a stomach wound, a spear, and a few rocks, while guarding a kid. Impressed? It’s even elaborated on more in the second book, but this is one of the few times I’ve actually believed that someone is as good as they say, the power of show don’t tell! Finally, even the original author seemed very happy with the series and had some input to it. The DVDs included a few interviews that had Nahoko Uehash talking about the book and it didn’t sound like standard Japanese politeness, it sounded like a woman who loved her work and was thrilled to see how well it was being treated in other forms.
The Bad: But, did we really need those extra middle episodes? No, and then the series could’ve been wrapped up in just 13 and that would’ve given it a stronger shot at having more books animated (as it stands apparently this show bombed hard in Japan, then again, it seems that everything doesn’t fit a stereotype bombs in Japan and is regarded as a cult classic everywhere else, .02). And there were a few times where I went “Okay, you guys HAVE the book, heck, you guys have at least 8 out of the 10 books in the entire series, so why so sloppy on the details?” There were a few parts (especially in Balsa’s back story which are in the very next book) that were changed and for no reason. I hate those changes more than any other kind, no apparent reason but the details were shuffled around, contradicted, or simply omitted. It didn’t keep me from enjoying the story, but it was irksome and confused me in parts.
The Art: Alright, Production IG, you are AMAZING. I’m actually rather unimpressed with other anime right now that also go for more realism and details since nothing can surpass the backgrounds of Moribito. And the fight scenes! While all were good, the one at the very end of episode 3 had to be the best I’ve ever seen animated (and a lot of people agree that it’s one of the best in all anime). The quality of art is on par with a Studio Ghilbi film, ON A TELEVSION BUDGET. Seriously IG, how you pulled this off is now a question for the ages.
The Music: While the Engrish in the opening theme cracked me up and the ED was a tad too slow for me when I was racing through the episodes, they were both good songs and I wouldn’t mind having them on my ipod. Background music was suitable as well, but this is one show where I switched between the English and Japanese (I saw a bit of this on AS first) and I honestly like the Japanese much better. The English voices sounded forced and it probably helped the Japanese that they had an actual 12 year old doing Chagum’s voice (I had even been wondering if that was the case since the voice was so convincing).
Overall: 9.5/10, it doesn’t get much better than this. So, would I get this on DVD? Well, *looks at evil Walmart stackpack* I already have it. Walmart has an exclusive all 8 DVDs for $30 deal, it just comes in the ugliest stack pack to man (Media Blasters, would it kill ya to put more episodes per disk? You could’ve cut this down to six easily, maybe even five, for the complete set and even saved money form manufacturing less DVDs!). So, it’s a good deal for your money, just have some spare DVD cases on hand (I might even snag the art box off of TRSI and get empty DVD cases and print out the cover art to save myself peace of mind later, this is a seriously ugly case). So, go try it out if you can! It’s a very satisfying anime, and the books are more than half good too! Now Scholastic, can we have a bit of word on the next one? It’s been months and I’m getting a little worried, especially considering how well done all the other releases were….
Nabri no Ou
ANN page
The Good: Thank goodness, a modern take on ninjas in a modern setting with modern tactics! I’m always annoyed when characters regress to earlier technology (I don’t care if it looks cool or if you can only kill demons with swords, those are copouts and nothing else). Here the ninjas (okay, only some of them, I keep forgetting that Japan apparently doesn’t have truancy officers) go to school, have to work around parents/grandparents to a degree, and they’re never away from home for more than a few days. The setting is well grounded in that respect.
The Bad: Oh thank the powers that be that I’m not the only one who thinks that NnO is a love triangle between Miharu, his teacher, and Yoite. Just, thank goodness it’s not just me thinking that, and that’s where the story really starts to bother me. Actually, Yoite started really pissing me off halfway through the anime and I’ll admit that I think the manga got tons better after he had a lot less screen time (unfortunately the manga must not have reached that point when the anime aired, that shift would’ve come probably during the anime so it had to go for an anime original ending). And that’s the real problem with this series, the manga didn’t “grow the beard” until the equivalent of the anime climax and it came off being much weaker (although, this is turning out to be another case like VK where a plot point that hadn’t yet been revealed yet is perfectly predicted by the anime, although I suspect the manga-ka had told them about Banten’s book just to make it easier). And the end of the anime, boy did that get convoluted, messy, and I became apathetic myself while watching it.
The Art: There are times when I look at the character design and wonder if they wre trying to copy CLAMPs (current) style of super lanky characters. They probably didn’t, but it’s hard to look at Yoite and not think so (and black always makes people look thinner/taller anyway, boy does not need any help in this regard). But the art wasn’t horrible, the characters outfits did change (I liked a few of Reimei’s in particular, in the I-want-to-wear-this-around-town sort of way, nothing was fancy enough to justify cosplaying).
The Music: The music isn’t sticking out in my head now, but I seem to recall disliking both of the EDs. The OPs were fine, but the extra “Emo! Forbidden gay ninja love!” bits in the ED just made me roll my eyes. Previews now please!
Overall: 7.5/10 and I don’t really feel like buying the anime. The manga is another question however, and that’s a maybe. Like I said, after the manga finally grows the beard I’m loving it more and more. But, not only does that take it’s own sweet time, I’m having trouble finding scanlations for this series now. Maybe the scanners have the opposite taste in mine, but it’s getting harder to follow and who knows if I’ll even remember it by the time YP gets to those volumes.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
ANN page
The Good: Going to be honest here, I’m having a tough time thinking of something good for this series. I’ve seen better magical girl shows and it didn’t really stand out to me. I guess the good thing is that, even though this was aimed at the middle aged male demographic, you can like magical girl shows and still enjoy it. And you don’t need to know the original game the characters were in either, so it’s accessible for most people.
The Bad: Well, this shows proves that, even though I do consider myself an otaku and can pick up on most references in shows, that I haven’t reached quite this level of nerdiness yet. Whew. For those who don’t know, even though it’s a magical girl show, Nanoha was aimed at middle aged men threw in tons of references (dialogue, artistic elements, even the way it was animated pandered to the hardcore otaku, not that the rest of us noticed it most of the time) so the plot was left in the dust. Some people make the argument that Fate’s back story makes the show “edgier”, but in my experience edgy usually means “tries too hard for it’s own good to be cool,” not “well done.” Maybe it was because I accidently marathoned this in a day, but I was really unimpressed with the plot and couldn’t bring myself to like any of the characters. There was nothing in this for me and it didn’t leave me with a burning desire to see the other two seasons.
The Art: Apparently the art style (or was it the animation style? I’m not well versed in the area of animation yet, Eastern or Western) changed from episode to episode, but unless you’re used to spotting such details it’s not really noticeable. There were one or two points in the fight scenes where things looked different/off, but that was only for a few seconds. And the CG really didn’t impress me, probably because it was a few years old but the animators needed to touch up their shading on the metals in particular.
The Music: I am at a complete loss for what the OP and ED sounded like (and this was about 2, 2.5 months ago and it usually takes me longer than that to forget) so that should say enough in and of itself.
Overall: 6.5/10 and no interest in owning or even seeing the other seasons. If I have a chance and nothing else to do, sure I’ll watch them, but I am NEVER going to marathon this show again. Oh my god, the headache that resulted from this was not particularly pleasant and I would like to avoid a repeat experience. If you know someone whose in the age range for magical girl shows or a hardcore otaku, you probably would enjoy this. But for the rest of us, not much to see and even less to think about.
Pandora Hearts
ANN page
The Good: Pandora Hearts is a show where the twists keep coming and if you can’t prove something then you shouldn’t assume it. Even when you realize what a plot twist must be it’s still hard to figure out how it happened and the reveals are quite satisfying. Also, despite that a baker’s dozen shows draw influences from Alice in Wonderland, PH does so in a much more subtle manner than most and makes it more of a game for the viewers to spot the references than a drag to line compare the stories.
The Bad: The last three episodes, my word, THE LAST THREE EPISODES. Before that point PH was remarkably faithful to the manga and the fans were expecting an anime original ending. But nobody expected that the last arc would diverge so much that it is impossible for a second season now. I mean, they destroyed the setting of the next arc! And contradicted half a dozen things that were learned in it! I think that Xebec would have been better off putting a few filler episodes in between the arcs and then ending on the Barma arc.
The Art: For reasons unknown to the fans, animation studio XEBEC decided to use an older style in the art of PH. So a number of newcomers were thrown off in the 90s esque first episode (and the character designs are very post-2000, it was matters of shading that nagged at everyone) which certainly lost a number of potential viewers. Once you got used to it the art seemed fine (and even made the anime creepier at points) but Xebec did themselves no favors here.
The Music: I loved the music in this show, partially because the other fans were quick to point out the good pieces and were fans of the composer. I really like the OP and the first ED but not the second as much, and I liked the insert songs as well. So perhaps the art was bad to pay for the composer?
Overall: 9/10, ignoring the last three episodes or it would go down a little more (I’m really trying to forget those actually). As for would I buy? Heck yeah! I believe PH should be coming out this year(and there is no legal streaming for this sadly) so fingers crossed for a good release!
Spice and Wolf II
ANN page
The Good: While the economics still went way over my head half the time, I was understanding it the other half which was better than the first season (having taken an economic class between the two is the likely reason for this).
The Bad: I just didn’t like this season as much as the first one. Maybe I was watching bad subs so the romance came off odd to me or maybe it was convoluted (but since I haven’t heard anyone else complain in that area I suspect that’s just me). And I have found the economic haggling part of S&W comes off much better in the original novels (possibly because I can pause and then reread sections or just having a direct translation) and I was still confused at multiple points. Are half the things Lawerence or Horo do even possible in a modern market? I have a sneaking suspicion that this is why stocks don’t make sense to me since the price of silver part seemed to be very similar, but this is a show where going with the flow isn’t enough if you want to enjoy it. So be prepared to pause and do a quick Google search when the financial-babble starts flying!
The Art: The art in Spice and Wolf fits in between the good and the so-so, it’s not memorable and the character designs aren’t very special either. So it’s not a bonus or a minus on the series, it’s just there.
The Music: Aw, no Engrish ED songs this time around? It’s been a while since I heard them but I liked the first seasons OP and ED more than the two here.
Overall:8/10 and I’m stuck on buying or not. Funi has licensed and released the first 13 episodes so more are bound to follow in a year or so, but I just don’t feel the urge to re-watch this series. I’m buying the novels as Yen Press puts them out but I probably won’t get the DVDs unless I have a large amount of money and a pretty good sale.
Wow, I think all the Moribito post is twice as long as PH's (which I liked just as much) and three times as long as S&W (which I thought was alright). I guess it's better to be super good or super bad than mediocre, makes people remember you longer anyway. So, next review should be up around next Sunday and then that's it for a while!
Moribito
ANN page
The Good: Since fantasy is one of the greatest loves in my life I can get very picky as to how it’s handled (original enough? Did they base it on existing mythology? Overuse of plot devices? Did I see the ending coming (which is usually a resounding YES)?). Moribito was a very well crafted novel (it may be children’s lit, more like YA actually, but how many YAs do you come across that have politics that aren’t in a traditional European setting?!?!) and with such amazing source material the anime works well. It’s true that they deviate around the middle of the story, but that isn’t completely a bad thing. The anime could be called slice-of-life with those middle episodes and the extra screen time is spread over all the important characters so they end up being more interesting than the novel at times. Shuga in particular got a much more active role which was nice to see and Chagum’s character development was even more obvious and it makes me excited for the later novels that focus on him.
Also, there are man, MANY stories where our protagonist is “the best at something-or-other.” Usually it elicits an eyebrow quirk and a “really, prove it” statement, Moribito manages to avoid this entirely. Possibly since it’s never claimed about Balse but shown that she can take down some of the best swordsman in the world with a stomach wound, a spear, and a few rocks, while guarding a kid. Impressed? It’s even elaborated on more in the second book, but this is one of the few times I’ve actually believed that someone is as good as they say, the power of show don’t tell! Finally, even the original author seemed very happy with the series and had some input to it. The DVDs included a few interviews that had Nahoko Uehash talking about the book and it didn’t sound like standard Japanese politeness, it sounded like a woman who loved her work and was thrilled to see how well it was being treated in other forms.
The Bad: But, did we really need those extra middle episodes? No, and then the series could’ve been wrapped up in just 13 and that would’ve given it a stronger shot at having more books animated (as it stands apparently this show bombed hard in Japan, then again, it seems that everything doesn’t fit a stereotype bombs in Japan and is regarded as a cult classic everywhere else, .02). And there were a few times where I went “Okay, you guys HAVE the book, heck, you guys have at least 8 out of the 10 books in the entire series, so why so sloppy on the details?” There were a few parts (especially in Balsa’s back story which are in the very next book) that were changed and for no reason. I hate those changes more than any other kind, no apparent reason but the details were shuffled around, contradicted, or simply omitted. It didn’t keep me from enjoying the story, but it was irksome and confused me in parts.
The Art: Alright, Production IG, you are AMAZING. I’m actually rather unimpressed with other anime right now that also go for more realism and details since nothing can surpass the backgrounds of Moribito. And the fight scenes! While all were good, the one at the very end of episode 3 had to be the best I’ve ever seen animated (and a lot of people agree that it’s one of the best in all anime). The quality of art is on par with a Studio Ghilbi film, ON A TELEVSION BUDGET. Seriously IG, how you pulled this off is now a question for the ages.
The Music: While the Engrish in the opening theme cracked me up and the ED was a tad too slow for me when I was racing through the episodes, they were both good songs and I wouldn’t mind having them on my ipod. Background music was suitable as well, but this is one show where I switched between the English and Japanese (I saw a bit of this on AS first) and I honestly like the Japanese much better. The English voices sounded forced and it probably helped the Japanese that they had an actual 12 year old doing Chagum’s voice (I had even been wondering if that was the case since the voice was so convincing).
Overall: 9.5/10, it doesn’t get much better than this. So, would I get this on DVD? Well, *looks at evil Walmart stackpack* I already have it. Walmart has an exclusive all 8 DVDs for $30 deal, it just comes in the ugliest stack pack to man (Media Blasters, would it kill ya to put more episodes per disk? You could’ve cut this down to six easily, maybe even five, for the complete set and even saved money form manufacturing less DVDs!). So, it’s a good deal for your money, just have some spare DVD cases on hand (I might even snag the art box off of TRSI and get empty DVD cases and print out the cover art to save myself peace of mind later, this is a seriously ugly case). So, go try it out if you can! It’s a very satisfying anime, and the books are more than half good too! Now Scholastic, can we have a bit of word on the next one? It’s been months and I’m getting a little worried, especially considering how well done all the other releases were….
Nabri no Ou
ANN page
The Good: Thank goodness, a modern take on ninjas in a modern setting with modern tactics! I’m always annoyed when characters regress to earlier technology (I don’t care if it looks cool or if you can only kill demons with swords, those are copouts and nothing else). Here the ninjas (okay, only some of them, I keep forgetting that Japan apparently doesn’t have truancy officers) go to school, have to work around parents/grandparents to a degree, and they’re never away from home for more than a few days. The setting is well grounded in that respect.
The Bad: Oh thank the powers that be that I’m not the only one who thinks that NnO is a love triangle between Miharu, his teacher, and Yoite. Just, thank goodness it’s not just me thinking that, and that’s where the story really starts to bother me. Actually, Yoite started really pissing me off halfway through the anime and I’ll admit that I think the manga got tons better after he had a lot less screen time (unfortunately the manga must not have reached that point when the anime aired, that shift would’ve come probably during the anime so it had to go for an anime original ending). And that’s the real problem with this series, the manga didn’t “grow the beard” until the equivalent of the anime climax and it came off being much weaker (although, this is turning out to be another case like VK where a plot point that hadn’t yet been revealed yet is perfectly predicted by the anime, although I suspect the manga-ka had told them about Banten’s book just to make it easier). And the end of the anime, boy did that get convoluted, messy, and I became apathetic myself while watching it.
The Art: There are times when I look at the character design and wonder if they wre trying to copy CLAMPs (current) style of super lanky characters. They probably didn’t, but it’s hard to look at Yoite and not think so (and black always makes people look thinner/taller anyway, boy does not need any help in this regard). But the art wasn’t horrible, the characters outfits did change (I liked a few of Reimei’s in particular, in the I-want-to-wear-this-around-town sort of way, nothing was fancy enough to justify cosplaying).
The Music: The music isn’t sticking out in my head now, but I seem to recall disliking both of the EDs. The OPs were fine, but the extra “Emo! Forbidden gay ninja love!” bits in the ED just made me roll my eyes. Previews now please!
Overall: 7.5/10 and I don’t really feel like buying the anime. The manga is another question however, and that’s a maybe. Like I said, after the manga finally grows the beard I’m loving it more and more. But, not only does that take it’s own sweet time, I’m having trouble finding scanlations for this series now. Maybe the scanners have the opposite taste in mine, but it’s getting harder to follow and who knows if I’ll even remember it by the time YP gets to those volumes.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
ANN page
The Good: Going to be honest here, I’m having a tough time thinking of something good for this series. I’ve seen better magical girl shows and it didn’t really stand out to me. I guess the good thing is that, even though this was aimed at the middle aged male demographic, you can like magical girl shows and still enjoy it. And you don’t need to know the original game the characters were in either, so it’s accessible for most people.
The Bad: Well, this shows proves that, even though I do consider myself an otaku and can pick up on most references in shows, that I haven’t reached quite this level of nerdiness yet. Whew. For those who don’t know, even though it’s a magical girl show, Nanoha was aimed at middle aged men threw in tons of references (dialogue, artistic elements, even the way it was animated pandered to the hardcore otaku, not that the rest of us noticed it most of the time) so the plot was left in the dust. Some people make the argument that Fate’s back story makes the show “edgier”, but in my experience edgy usually means “tries too hard for it’s own good to be cool,” not “well done.” Maybe it was because I accidently marathoned this in a day, but I was really unimpressed with the plot and couldn’t bring myself to like any of the characters. There was nothing in this for me and it didn’t leave me with a burning desire to see the other two seasons.
The Art: Apparently the art style (or was it the animation style? I’m not well versed in the area of animation yet, Eastern or Western) changed from episode to episode, but unless you’re used to spotting such details it’s not really noticeable. There were one or two points in the fight scenes where things looked different/off, but that was only for a few seconds. And the CG really didn’t impress me, probably because it was a few years old but the animators needed to touch up their shading on the metals in particular.
The Music: I am at a complete loss for what the OP and ED sounded like (and this was about 2, 2.5 months ago and it usually takes me longer than that to forget) so that should say enough in and of itself.
Overall: 6.5/10 and no interest in owning or even seeing the other seasons. If I have a chance and nothing else to do, sure I’ll watch them, but I am NEVER going to marathon this show again. Oh my god, the headache that resulted from this was not particularly pleasant and I would like to avoid a repeat experience. If you know someone whose in the age range for magical girl shows or a hardcore otaku, you probably would enjoy this. But for the rest of us, not much to see and even less to think about.
Pandora Hearts
ANN page
The Good: Pandora Hearts is a show where the twists keep coming and if you can’t prove something then you shouldn’t assume it. Even when you realize what a plot twist must be it’s still hard to figure out how it happened and the reveals are quite satisfying. Also, despite that a baker’s dozen shows draw influences from Alice in Wonderland, PH does so in a much more subtle manner than most and makes it more of a game for the viewers to spot the references than a drag to line compare the stories.
The Bad: The last three episodes, my word, THE LAST THREE EPISODES. Before that point PH was remarkably faithful to the manga and the fans were expecting an anime original ending. But nobody expected that the last arc would diverge so much that it is impossible for a second season now. I mean, they destroyed the setting of the next arc! And contradicted half a dozen things that were learned in it! I think that Xebec would have been better off putting a few filler episodes in between the arcs and then ending on the Barma arc.
The Art: For reasons unknown to the fans, animation studio XEBEC decided to use an older style in the art of PH. So a number of newcomers were thrown off in the 90s esque first episode (and the character designs are very post-2000, it was matters of shading that nagged at everyone) which certainly lost a number of potential viewers. Once you got used to it the art seemed fine (and even made the anime creepier at points) but Xebec did themselves no favors here.
The Music: I loved the music in this show, partially because the other fans were quick to point out the good pieces and were fans of the composer. I really like the OP and the first ED but not the second as much, and I liked the insert songs as well. So perhaps the art was bad to pay for the composer?
Overall: 9/10, ignoring the last three episodes or it would go down a little more (I’m really trying to forget those actually). As for would I buy? Heck yeah! I believe PH should be coming out this year(and there is no legal streaming for this sadly) so fingers crossed for a good release!
Spice and Wolf II
ANN page
The Good: While the economics still went way over my head half the time, I was understanding it the other half which was better than the first season (having taken an economic class between the two is the likely reason for this).
The Bad: I just didn’t like this season as much as the first one. Maybe I was watching bad subs so the romance came off odd to me or maybe it was convoluted (but since I haven’t heard anyone else complain in that area I suspect that’s just me). And I have found the economic haggling part of S&W comes off much better in the original novels (possibly because I can pause and then reread sections or just having a direct translation) and I was still confused at multiple points. Are half the things Lawerence or Horo do even possible in a modern market? I have a sneaking suspicion that this is why stocks don’t make sense to me since the price of silver part seemed to be very similar, but this is a show where going with the flow isn’t enough if you want to enjoy it. So be prepared to pause and do a quick Google search when the financial-babble starts flying!
The Art: The art in Spice and Wolf fits in between the good and the so-so, it’s not memorable and the character designs aren’t very special either. So it’s not a bonus or a minus on the series, it’s just there.
The Music: Aw, no Engrish ED songs this time around? It’s been a while since I heard them but I liked the first seasons OP and ED more than the two here.
Overall:8/10 and I’m stuck on buying or not. Funi has licensed and released the first 13 episodes so more are bound to follow in a year or so, but I just don’t feel the urge to re-watch this series. I’m buying the novels as Yen Press puts them out but I probably won’t get the DVDs unless I have a large amount of money and a pretty good sale.
Wow, I think all the Moribito post is twice as long as PH's (which I liked just as much) and three times as long as S&W (which I thought was alright). I guess it's better to be super good or super bad than mediocre, makes people remember you longer anyway. So, next review should be up around next Sunday and then that's it for a while!