Tag: science fiction
-
Discovering Eureka Seven; subtext and pop culture
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Discovering Eureka Seven; subtext and pop cultureUnawares and unwilling, often the best anime passes me by. Deep down I think I always knew I would love Eureka Seven, but for whatever reason, like I said, it just passed me by. That is, until now. Maybe because it’s spring time; the grass is green and the leaves are greener, and I’m just…
-
Gunbuster – I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Gunbuster – I Love You But I've Chosen DarknessPutting aside the hyperbole and the fandom that seems to hold hands and religiously scream about every post-digisub series (myself included), the majority of newly crafted anime is objectively mediocre and creatively flat. Realizing this, yet still hopelessly attracted to spending an inexplicable amount of time rooted in front of the stuff, it’s about time…
-
Again the fate of the world is in the hands of 14 kids (Bokurano)
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Again the fate of the world is in the hands of 14 kids (Bokurano)Its been a while readers, 7 days to be precise, and as we all know, 7 days on internet may as well be a lifetime. I won’t labor you with the details, but suffice to say that this gradual slow down in blogging is sadly down to cliche reasons; I have found a new job…
-
Reflecting on Kemonozume – Too cool for otaku
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Reflecting on Kemonozume – Too cool for otakuIt’s fair to say that the creative staff “working on” (more like playing with) Kemonozume must have had so much fun, from flying heads and sexed up monkeys to a perverted old man shoving a pair of severed female arms down his skanky speedos – this is a show that clearly had no pretension of…
-
Giant Robo – Man-size anime
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Giant Robo – Man-size animeAbly piloting his nuclear powered giant robot (sensibly dubbed "Giant Robo"), Daisaku Kusama is a brave young kid charged with the every day fate of saving the world. We join his story with his team mates in the internationally renowned "Experts of Justice" jumping (and teleporting!) from country to country fighting off the monstrous terrorists…
-
Kemonozume – 10 – Sex-starved monkeys and eating fish with giant detectives
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 10 – Sex-starved monkeys and eating fish with giant detectivesSince we’re now hitting the final couple of episodes, Kemonozume is building up to an action packed climax. The villain, or “big boss”, has turned out to be the fat Ohba – I liken his bizarre appearance to that of a clown, and deep down, we’re all scared of clowns – their smiley made-up faces…
-
Kemonozume – 9 – Old habits die hard
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 9 – Old habits die hardStill on the run from the Kifuuken, we join the love birds Yuka and Toshihiko aimlessly wandering down vast and empty roads when they are offered a lift by an old married couple. Their journey (squeezed inside a white van) is a chance for them to reflect on their young relationship, inspired by the beautiful…
-
Kemonozume – 8 – Hard violence, hard sex, hard feelings
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 8 – Hard violence, hard sex, hard feelingsAt the beginning of this episode a boy student is excitedly kissing his innocent girlfriend for the first time. They hold each other in an emotional embrace, it is a pivotal moment in their lives, “Ah the day has finally come, Takako-Chan’s warm, soft, slippery thing is in my mouth…”. But the boy gets too…
-
Sci-Fi Harry – Does exactly what it says on the tin
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Sci-Fi Harry – Does exactly what it says on the tinUneducated and ignorant, my first taste of this most leafy of seasons is the earnestly dubbed “Sci-Fi Harry”. I knew absolutely nothing of this show before today and the only reason I figured I’d give it a try is because of the wonderfully unprentious name. It is literally what it says on the tin –…
-
Elfen Lied – 8 through 10 – Subverting the cute
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Elfen Lied – 8 through 10 – Subverting the cuteAgain Elfen Lied defies it’s pretty style and delivers a trio of episodes that are anything but. Subverting the look of its cute characters, it clearly delights in extreme mental and physical abuse — the disgusting bludgeoning of a helpless young puppy aptly symbolises how innocence and weakness is exploited in Elfen Lied, and that’s…
-
Night Head Genesis – Psychic bishounen, brotherly love
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Night Head Genesis – Psychic bishounen, brotherly lovePsychic bishounen, brotherly love – Night Head Genesis is quite clearly aimed at the yaoi fan girls, yet an over abundance of melodrama and an almost laughably over the top collection of villains fails to render this completely unwatchable. It’s trashy, homo-erotic and somewhat dull, but for now I do intend to watch more of…
-
Kemonozume – 1 – Delicious gut-munching innovation
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 1 – Delicious gut-munching innovationThe moment I clapped eyes on its highly evocative promo art, I knew I’d love Kemonozume. It just looks so damn cool, completely in another league to the typical “doll face” anime style; here characters look and move like real people, the fluidity of movement and facial expression oddly fascinating. Forget following the narrative- simply…
-
Noein – And so we reach the end
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Noein – And so we reach the endI feel like I’ve been watching Noein for years now and writing this entry is daunting. Complex multi dimensional time travel, heart breaking tragedy and gut wrenching friendships. Here is a series bursting with ideas and without breaking into an essay length review, it’s hard to do justice to the sheer narrative majesty of Noein.…
-
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Why is it classic anime?
/
Read More →: Neon Genesis Evangelion – Why is it classic anime?Neon Genesis Evangelion is considered by many critics to be a “classic” anime series. Loved and loathed in equal measure, its polarising reputation for invoking a distinct reaction from its viewers endures (inside and outside fandom) even today- an impressive feat being as it is a decade on from its Japanese TV debut. But what…
-
Coyote Ragtime Show: Superficial entertainment primed for mass consumption
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Coyote Ragtime Show: Superficial entertainment primed for mass consumptionCoyote Ragtime Show is everything I expected it to be. This first episode is generic, “cute” and painfully uninspiring. I’m sick of seeing cute girls dressed up in colourful, frilly dresses jumping around wielding impossible strength. It’s so formulaic, cold and calculated; you can imagine the money men sitting around in their leather boardrooms, smoking…
-
First look at: Legend of the Galactic Heroes
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: First look at: Legend of the Galactic HeroesIn a universe far, far away from Earth, an intergalactic war between two political systems has enveloped its peoples for centuries. The Free Planets Alliance (democratic) and the Galactic Empire (imperial) regularly clash in battles that claim millions of victims. Leading the Galactic Empire ever onwards is Reinhard von Lohengramm, a relatively young admiral (20…
-
Jyu-Oh-Sei – 10 to 11 – Die, Die My Darling
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Jyu-Oh-Sei – 10 to 11 – Die, Die My DarlingBy becoming the Jyu-Oh, Thor transcends the planet of Chimera in search of the bloody truth hidden beneath the bodies of his murdered parents; after years of waiting, he gets his answers, though it’s not the happy ending he had wished for, and with the thin veil of reality now utterly torn from his shattered…
-
Jyu-Oh-Sei – 7 to 9 – Blinded from the truth
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Jyu-Oh-Sei – 7 to 9 – Blinded from the truthIt’s taken a while, but I’m finally starting to twig that Jyu-Oh-Sei has an absolutely stellar voice cast. Young Thor was played by Minami Takayama, whose best work comes in the form of the insane, eccentric Dilandau of Escaflowne. Thor’s love interest Karin is handled by none other than Romi Paku- in other words, the…
-
The Third – 1 to 3 – Far-reaching Fantasy
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: The Third – 1 to 3 – Far-reaching FantasyI’m not usually one to bother with such knowingly cute anime, but for whatever reason, I today found myself taking in the first three episodes of The Third. Of course, it turned out to be (much) better than expected. In a world torn apart by war, our saviour would appear to be a talented young…
-
Ergo Proxy – 9 & 10 – Behemoth of confusion
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Ergo Proxy – 9 & 10 – Behemoth of confusionScience fiction and confusion often go hand in hand, but Ergo Proxy is close to reaching the kinds of befuddling heights scaled only by behemoths like Mamoru Oshii. The dialogue, the action and even the damn visuals are so frustratingly cryptic and symbolic that only vaguely am I able to follow what is going on…
-
Angel Cop – Repulsive, Uncomfortable, Anti-Semitic
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Angel Cop – Repulsive, Uncomfortable, Anti-SemiticGrowing up as an impressionable teenager in the mid-90s meant that my first taste of anime came through Manga Entertainment’s infamous VHS releases; sex, violence and science fiction were the orders of the day and as cheap and nasty as this kind of anime often was, I must admit I still think back on that…
-
Jyu-Oh-Sei – 5 through 6 – Lost Love
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Jyu-Oh-Sei – 5 through 6 – Lost LoveTo my frank and utter bemusement, we are now over half way through the 11 episodes of Jyu-Oh-Sei and although a part of me is glad to see every episode crammed full with so much story and character development, I can’t help but lament a narrative which is clearly moving a bit too fast for…
-
Tokko – 3 – When Phantoms from Hades attack!
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Tokko – 3 – When Phantoms from Hades attack!The mysteries behind Tokko are slowly starting to unravel amidst yet more greasy siscon innuendo and extreme blood letting. As blunt as Tokko often is, it makes a refreshing change to watch such a traditional horror show for once. It is said that the monsters (or as they will now be known; phantoms) have “literally…
-
Jyu-Oh-Sei – 3 through 4 – Nature bites back
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Jyu-Oh-Sei – 3 through 4 – Nature bites backAgain I get my hit of Jyu-Oh-Sei in double dosage, and again I’m left feeling completely intoxicated by it. It’s the story that I love; so thick with detail, almost every scene contributes something new or shocking, continuously building on the already heavy narrative with yet more helpings of tribal politics, social commentary and romantic…
-
Ergo Proxy – 8 – Larger than life
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Ergo Proxy – 8 – Larger than lifeI read a few weeks ago that somewhere along the line, Ergo Proxy gets a bit like X-Men; mutants against mutants and all that. I guess episode 8 is where it started. This episode was just weird. The people Vincent meets, the way the monstrous finale plays out- it was just utterly inexplicable in places.…
-
Tokko – 2 – Guns forever
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Tokko – 2 – Guns foreverIn many ways, TOKKO is the worst anime series I’ve seen for a while now; the animation (if we can call it that) is cheap and tacky and the characters are about as cookie cutter as they come, but it’s violent, has demons and pulls no punches when the time is nigh to combine the…
-
Studio BONES' Jyu-Oh-Sei: First impressions
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Studio BONES' Jyu-Oh-Sei: First impressionsOf all the new anime debuting this season, the one I was most anticipating was always Jyu-Oh-Sei. I’m basically a massive fan of Studio BONES, and despite a few less than stellar exceptions (Ouran, Kenran); I’m worryingly in love everything they churn out. I could cite Full Metal Alchemist or Wolf’s Rain as my favourite…
-
Ergo Proxy – 7 – All is full of love
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Ergo Proxy – 7 – All is full of loveFinally friends, this is the episode where we get some answers. Real’s life is saved by Daedalus. Once recovered they chat about everything, and to my absolute glee, light is shed on the mysteries of Romdeau, Proxy and even the outside world. About a quarter of this episode is also devoted to Vincent’s flight to…
-
Ergo Proxy – 6 – Learning about death
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Ergo Proxy – 6 – Learning about deathI’ll warn you now this entry contains (literally) life-and-death spoilers, so if you haven’t seen episode 6 of Ergo Proxy yet you may want to look away. Hude and Queen get it in the neck this time, though it didn’t leave me with much of an emotional impact. Perhaps it’s because I expect everyone in…
-
Tokko – 1 – Horror, gore and siscon (in that order, repeat)
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Tokko – 1 – Horror, gore and siscon (in that order, repeat)I’m a horror fan, have been all my life and aside from the claret soaked GANTZ, I’ve seen nothing lately that’s been up to quenching my thirst for such sheer bloody antics. That is until I saw the first episode of TOKKO. Before launching into horror fan hyperbole, I’ll state right now that TOKKO isn’t…
-
Pale Cocoon: Apathetic sci-fi short
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Pale Cocoon: Apathetic sci-fi shortDescribed in some parts as a spiritual follow-up to the much lauded sci-fi short Voices of a Distant Star, Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s Pale Cocoon is another 22 minute OVA that attempts to express a wistful charm by means of an isolated space setting. The story is that (for some undefined reason) mankind has migrated to the…
-
Ergo Proxy – 5 – Revolution is in the air
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Ergo Proxy – 5 – Revolution is in the airWe’ve had to sit through five episodes, but it’s only now starting to feel like Ergo Proxy is settling down into a proper flow of story-telling and I’m enjoying it a lot more; on a level beyond what previously amounted to a purely superficial attraction. I suspect I preferred this episode to it’s predecessors because…
-
Early impressions of Ergo Proxy
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Early impressions of Ergo ProxyAs a means of grasping the story of Ergo Proxy, I decided to hold off on watching the first four episodes and marathoned my way through them earlier today; in terms of understanding the plot, I can’t say this approach ended up benefiting me. Ergo Proxy has a very fractured narrative flow, there are no…
-
Yokohama Shopping Trip – 2
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Yokohama Shopping Trip – 2Despite clearly being the better of the original two Yokohama Shopping Trip OVAs, episode two serves up an unsettling mood of desolation and loneliness. During a five minute period in which Alpha simply brews a cup of coffee, there is no music, no dialogue, only the sounds of a creeky old house to keep her…
-
Yokohama Shopping Trip – 1
/
/ ReviewsRead More →: Yokohama Shopping Trip – 1My fascination with the weird, coupled with an obtuse interest in searching out the obscure has led me down the path of downloading the kind of anime people forgot about many moons ago- and so here I am to introduce you to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou; talked up a wandering traveller anime in the spirit of…