Category: Anime

Special Edition

I’m a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being unhappy with your work when it isn’t. Sometimes you have to ignore that impulse and just release your creation to the world. Sometimes though, you get a second chance. George Lucas epitomises this phenomena. Audiences didn’t appreciate it when Lucas revised Star Wars. Long time fans lashed out at him when he released the special edition movies. Japanese fans of Dragon Ball Z had a similar reaction when the special edition version of the show, called Dragon Ball Z Kai came out. I haven’t watched the Japanese subtitled version of the shows so I can’t judge that version of Kai. But I did watch the English dub. And it is the best Dragon Ball Z to date.

Tags bleach, dragon ball z, dragon ball z kai, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, george lucas, Naruto, star wars

Anime Editorials Reviews

Allison's Journey

Allison & Lillia: Generation 1 had potential. The show was set in a fictional Germanic country and was based on the light novels of a noted author. The two main characters, Allison and Will, explore a pastoral world with WW1 era propeller planes. Their country is in a constant state of conflict with a neighboring country, but the characters never seem seriously at risk. The setting is so happy and carefree that it’s hard to imagine that this series is based on a novel by Keiichi Sigsawa, the author of Kino’s Journey. The connection to Kino’s Journey and the possibility that behind the ordinary adventure story lay a deeper plot is what made this show so alluring to me. At the end of 13 episodes I’m still waiting.

Tags Allison & Lillia, Germany, Keiichi Sigsawa, Kino's Journey, WW1

Anime Reviews

Adieu, my beloved Oscar: The Rose of Versailles anime review

Post author By bateszi
Post date 12th June 2011
18 Comments on Adieu, my beloved Oscar: The Rose of Versailles anime review

Watching anime is like connecting the dots of a picture; one leads to another, forever changing the picture’s shape. Some dots are out on their own, but others are connected to everything else, making the overall picture that much clearer in my eyes. One obvious example here is Mobile Suit Gundam, the first real-robot anime, another is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Anime such as these I’m proud to say I’ve seen, because they forever shape my understanding of the medium today. I realise what I’m doing here is advocating watching anime for educational purposes, which might not seem fun (I mean, this stuff is supposed to be fun, right?), but if a series is as revered today as it was in 1980, I find it’s safe to assume that it’s also pretty good.

In October of 2009, I started watching Revolutionary Girl Utena. One year later, almost to the day, I started watching Star Driver. In my mind, these two are connected. Although Star Driver is a much less serious (and, if truth be told, inferior) series to Utena, there are some obvious similarities. By way of the process described above, then, in April of this year, I also started watching 1979’s The Rose of Versailles. Utena led me forwards to Star Driver, but also backwards, to The Rose of Versailles. Such is the journey of an anime fan.

Tags historical, Osamu Dezaki, political, romance, Rose of Versailles, war

Anime Reviews

June 2011: What we're watching

Post author By Celeste
Post date 5th June 2011
21 Comments on June 2011: What we're watching

bateszi: The hope is that this post will be the first in a new monthly feature. I say ‘new’ as if we’re bursting with regular features here, but no, this is more like our first attempt to do anything that isn’t a one-off blog post. Awkward introductions aside, then, welcome to the rare sight of another (and long-overdue) group post on this here blog, which collects our varied thoughts on Blue Exorcist, Toriko, AnoHana and Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.

Tags AnoHana, Ao no Exorcist, Blue Exorcist, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, noitamina, Toradora!, Toriko, what we're watching

Anime Reviews

Welcome to the Financial District

Post author By dengar (Phil)
Post date 16th May 2011
2 Comments on Welcome to the Financial District

The Japanese economy is currently in the middle of a huge transformation. A generation ago, a Japanese person could finish school and seamlessly transition into a company job. The job might have grueling hours, but in return it offered lifetime employment at a good wage. Japanese men sacrificed their time with their families so that they could reliably provide for their families. Fast forward to today: production has shifted to China, Japan has endured a period of low economic growth and few jobs promising lifetime employment exist. Young people in Japan face an uncertain future as they fight for jobs that promise temporary employment at best. [C] Control styles itself as a show about economics that focuses on the big issues of the economic future for Japanese youth. Whether it can address those questions successfully, even as it spends much of its time on fights between monsters, remains to be seen.

Tags [C]- Control, Battle Royale, digimon, Eden of the East

Anime Reviews

Middle-aged men drinking tea

Post author By bateszi
Post date 3rd May 2011
18 Comments on Middle-aged men drinking tea

Hyouge Mono, who would’ve known? Koichi Mashimo is regarded about as highly for his directing prowess as Bee Train are for their animation. Which is to say, not very highly at all, so I can’t really blame you for glazing over a late-to-the-party series like this, but as any right thinking English gentlemen will tell you, tea is what our great British Empire was built upon and, well, most of what I knew about Hyouge Mono before it aired was that it somehow involved tea. Colour me curious, then, and lo and behold, word begins to trickle down that Hyouge Mono might actually be worth watching after all.
Firstly what’s important to note is that this is a series produced and broadcast by Japan’s BBC-equivalent NHK, bringing with it a higher profile than Bee Train’s typical fare and, therefore, probably more money for animation. It shows, as this is easily the best animated series I’ve seen from them.

Tags art, bee train, culture, historical, Hyouge Mono, Koichi Mashimo, war

Anime Reviews

Puella Magi Madoka Abstract Subversion Nyanyan Death

Post author By bateszi
Post date 22nd April 2011
16 Comments on Puella Magi Madoka Abstract Subversion Nyanyan Death

In 12 episodes, Puella Magi Madoka Magica convinced me that there’s more to Akiyuki Shinbo than otaku-pandering. The director has increasingly been held in high regard, but until Madoka, I’d not taken any substantial steps into his oeuvre. Not even Bakemonogatari coaxed me in, but post-Madoka, I’ve found a lot of new respect for the man.
Experimental and fearless is how I’d describe the series, as not only does it impose a very specific, artsy aesthetic on a subject matter reserved for the hardcore, it also takes a hard-line with its young characters. Much like Bokurano, it never backs down, or allows for an easy way out.

Tags Akiyuki Shinbo, magical girl, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, science fiction

Anime Reviews

This isn't how I imagined it; Hanasaku Iroha

Post author By Celeste
Post date 14th April 2011
10 Comments on This isn't how I imagined it; Hanasaku Iroha

Teenage girls are a tricky thing to do well in anime. Anime about (and often aimed at) teenage girls is a continually saturated market, making it hard to improve upon. That said, I liked Hanasaku Iroha. In particular, the portrayal of Ohana was intriguing.

Tags first impressions, Hanasaku Iroha, high-school, moe, P.A. Works, slice of life

Anime Editorials Reviews

Anime after Madoka

Like most everyone else, I’ve enjoyed watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. I haven’t seen many other series directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, but I’m well aware he’s earned a reputation for weirdness. Even still, I’m sometimes taken aback by how abstract and artsy Madoka can get, and yet, in contrast to fellow auteurs like Masaaki Yuasa and his Kaiba, Shinbo’s eclectic style actually appeals to a broader range of anime fans than elitists like me.

Tags Akiyuki Shinbo, Fractale, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica