Tag: Kiba

Categories
Reviews

Kiba – 7 – Hollow Defeat

As insane as it may sound, the last two episodes of Kiba were actually quite good! If you then stop to consider that they also didn’t feature its main character, there is something undoubtedly wrong.
To keep me interested, a show has to have an interesting, involving and immersive story; Kiba doesn’t have that. Likeable and unpredictable characters can also help too; no such luck for Kiba here either, we gleaned some of these elements in the previous two episodes, but now we are back to Zed’s gladiatorial timeline any semblance of potential has flown out of the window.
Mindless, derivative action is about the only way I can describe this episode. As much as I wanted to see Kiba retain last week’s promising conclusion, I can’t hide from the fact that Zed and his general story is so incredibly cliche, predictable and hollow that watching Kiba is good for only one thing; reminding me how important genuinely innovative and creative anime actually is.

Categories
Reviews

Kiba – 6 – The price of freedom

It’s easy to take kids anime for granted, but compared with Western cartoons aimed at the same young viewers, the difference in conviction and themes is exceptional. Through out episode 6 of Kiba, several (old and young) characters die. It’s not gory, but the intent to kill is clear from the outset. There are no last minute resets, no brave super heroes to save the day; that’s not to say there aren’t characters with good intentions, but (as this episode suggests) sometimes good doesn’t always win out.
Frankly, I was really impressed with this episode. As cliche as Kiba has been up until now, I never expected to see the characters battle like they did here. It was shocking to see Noa envelope an entire town in flames, shocking to see old buddies like Kis and Gale impale each other with their swords.
Episode 7 promises a return to the dumb-luck of Zed and his boring face off with Dumas, but taken as their own separate story, both episode 5 and 6 represent an emotional and unpredictable high point for this series, where the ideology of short sighted adults collides with the untainted vision of youth. I’m in no doubt now that Noa will eventually turn bad and come to battle Zed, but with this kind of compelling back story, who could blame him for giving up on society?

Categories
Reviews

My long winded countdown of the top 8 spring anime

It’s been a while since I’ve watched so much anime. This spring season is quite remarkable in that not only is there an unprecedented number of new series, but also because a lot of them are actually quite good. And I’m not a fan of harem, loli or whatever other genre is “hip” right now.
My top 8 spring anime
8. Tokko
Undeniably this is a terrible series. Why I’m watching it, let alone blogging it is a mystery fit for Columbo. So yeah, big guns, big monsters, big breasts and dismembered corpses. That’s Tokko; it’s so damn badly animated too. I guess those are the reasons why I’m watching it. Approach with caution!
7. Kiba
Utterly fan pandering shounen adventure escapades, yet I’m bitterly enjoying it because despite the lead character Zed being the worst “hero” ever- the rest of the cast and the generally bright, expansive setting envelope me in a finely built universe, ripe for escapism. Given the sheer number of good shows airing this season, I’m not sure how long I’ll stick with Kiba but the fact I’m still around by episode 5 suggests there must be something I like enough to keep watching.
6. Good Witch of the West
Yet more frilly medieval melodrama featuring only pretty characters with mad hair styles; the Good Witch of the West has an interesting fantastical take on the days when teaching and explaining science was banned, but I’m not a fan of the way every character is so damn cute and as soft as a pillow. Certainly, the fairy tale premise suggests potential, though I may wait for a few more weeks and watch this in batches.
5. Witchblade
The first GONZO series since Basilisk that isn’t utterly mediocre tripe, Witchblade; starring an impossibly large cheated female avenger akin to Devilman\lady is a surprisingly heart-rending tale of a woman fighting (with strange supernatural powers) to be reunited with her lost daughter. The action and animation have so far been disappointly below average, but the story retains some strength thanks to a mysterious plot and the fractured relationship between mother and child.
4. NANA
By rights NANA should be higher on this list but I can’t hide the fact that the characters simply don’t interest me enough. Being as it is a series by and for young ladies, it’s not terribly surprising I’m not totally into it. That said, the particularly slender and stylish character designs are wonderful and the drama is very well… dramatic; lots of passionate kisses, tearful eyes and sad goodbyes.
3. Utawarerumono
So like everyone already knows, Utawarerumono (worst series title ever) is based on a porn game, but rather than having tons of fan-service (so far, there has been none, thank god), the story seems to be heavily spiritual and environmentalist- a Studio Ghibli style rural fantasy in which violent forest spirits and other mysterious apparitions exist.
2. Jyu-Oh-Sei
The fantasy and action in Jyu-Oh-Sei is deep enough to suggest an interesting story is on it’s way, though the strong homoerotic undertones are slightly detracting from what I hoped would be a completely dead pan science fiction show.
1. Black Lagoon
I watched the first episode today and I feel ashamed to have ignored Black Lagoon for so long. The action is stylish and fluid without falling into boring poses, while the characters themselves are interesting and mysterious enough to forecast some compelling drama ahead. Black Lagoon is vaguely reminiscent of Gungrave in that it stars compelling adult characters capable of pulling off some cool kick-ass moves. Very impressed.
Stuck in backlog hell

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The most hyped series since Mai-Otome, I plan on watching Haruhi sooner or later. I admit the extremely loud fan-base has put me off it for now and at the best of times I try to avoid anime based around Japanese school girls. Until the unabated praise slows itself down, I’ll be content to ignore Haruhi.
Higurashi
Apparently Higurashi is disturbing horror, but again, it looks so typically cute and “otaku” that I’m having trouble motivating myself to sit down and watch the damn thing. I had the same problem with Jigoku Shoujo; for so called horror, Enma Ai looked like such a calculated pin-up for fan culture that I eventually just lost interest.

Categories
Reviews

Kiba – 5 – Swings & Swords

At a time when Kiba was in real danger of drowning in the true depths of unsalvageable mediocrity, an episode like this comes along and suggests that the story may well have some mileage after all.
Tellingly this was an episode free of Zed; rather the story follows his bespecled old buddy Noa who also seems to be teleporting about the various lands of Kiba. He ends up in a country (Neotopia) governed by the iron fist of a militaristic government where young men are being conscripted into the army. Being as it is an honour to become a soldier, most kids end up willingly leaving, while (much to the obvious distaste of the passionate locals) others would rather stay.
This episode was surprising in the way it handled what would inevitably be a sticky situation; best friends torn apart by war, one wants to fight while the other just wants to have fun, their polar opposite choices inevitably lead to conflict and the way it’s presented here was surprisingly well done; it managed to capture both the innocence and subsequent corruption of idealistic kids. A much improved instalment of Kiba, though this arc’s ultimate success rests on it’s conclusion next week.

Categories
Reviews

Kiba – 4 – It sucks… but that's cool, because I like it!

So today I had to choose one of three episodes to watch. I could have gone with Studio BONES’ latest masterpiece Jyo-Oh-Sei, the utterly artistic new arc of Ayakashi or be content with the generic shounen delights of Kiba. If you’re reading this, you already know which episode I plumped for! I feel so dirty.
Zed hears about a joust contest and in his typically gung-oh style, decides to enter. It’s a competition that pits one shard caster against another in a gladiatorial arena, minus the death.
As if Kiba wasn’t already reminiscent of the tried and tested shounen action template, this episode sees us revisit the classic tournament format. Yawn indeed, but the thing about Kiba is that the story moves at such a brisk pace, so while this kind of set-up in Naruto would consume say 10 episodes, Zed and company remarkably battle it out in seconds. The episode ends on a cliffhanger with Zed about to unleash hell (in the final, of course) on camp pretty boy Robes and I must admit I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends, both characters could use a good kicking.
Zed’s still an abject arsehole, but Kiba remains just good fun to watch. The soundtrack is attractive and dramatic, the landscapes are vast, bright and colourful and the animation is fluid enough to cover the action with a enough adrenaline. The story and general intelligence of writing continues to leave a lot to be desired; stuff is just happening with little or no prompting, but irregardless, you can’t underrate enjoyment; that’s the most important part.

Categories
Reviews

Kiba – 1 through 3 – Cliche shounen strikes again

Stating my desire for yet more shounen escapades, today I took in the first three episodes of Kiba.
Mediocre is the word that immediately comes to mind; neither bad nor outstanding, Kiba is a by the books fantasy adventure story packing just enough intrigue to maintain my interest from episode to episode. Disappointingly (especially considering the genre Kiba slots into) the monster-on-monster and light sabre-on-light sabre action is uninspired and lacking visual punch. The characters (including the cliche brooding lead, Zed) are mostly echoes of the established shounen stereotypes; important personalities include the humourless protagonist, gutsy female (potential love interest) and overly effeminate (probably gay) best friend.
You see I have this big list of complaints about Kiba, but I guess I have a weak spot for this kind of adventure story because despite all of these problems, I’m planning to continue watching- at least for another few episodes. The universe is well set up; a kind of edgy political\civilian rebellion appears to be brewing and Zed’s shrouded past is just that, shrouded and mysterious. The soundtrack is another big plus- the horrible music in Bleach pretty much killed whatever interest I had in that show, but Kiba sounds a lot more sophisticated and dramatic than it looks.
I guess you can call me a curious viewer for now, I see some promise in Kiba but it’s going to have to pull out some serious drama soon if I’m going to hang around for much longer. I was about this impressed with the first couple episodes of Full Metal Alchemist though, so there’s still some room here for Kiba improve.