Sword of the Stranger
Alternative title:
Mukō Hadan (Japanese)
Stranger – Mukō Hadan (Japanese)
[starrater]
Action
Black Cat
[starrater]
Kara no Kyoukai
Alternative title:
Kara no Kyōkai – the Garden of sinners (Japanese)
空の境界 (Japanese)
[starrater]
Super Robot Wars OAV
Alternate Titles: Super Robot Wars: Original Generation – The Animation, 超級機器人大戰O.G.
Original Japanese Release Date: May 2005
Episode Length/Run-time: 3 Episodes
Summary:
A new model of super robot has come out and everyone’s excitement suddenly turns to fear and chaos as these new robots become the enemy and start attacking everyone and everything around their inaugural celebration. Upon thwarting the enemy there was a mysterious lack of casualties. The ATX and SRX teams must discover the reasoning behind the attack and what happened to their friends.
Review:
This anime delivers on its title, it has a lot of super robot wars. Wasting no time, as it shouldn’t being only 3 episodes long they quickly establish the world and characters with a few scenes and simple dialogue and move right into the initial attack. The fight scenes are pretty sweet, despite some of the characters corny lines and jokes to”lighten the mood.”
The mystery about the new robots is just enough to keep you, as the viewer, engaged in them. At the end of the first episode a rather graphic image of a naked woman suspended painfully with clips throughout her body in a strange fluid drops out and you learn of the perhaps sinister ODE system.
One thing I really have to tip my hat to in this OAV is how they give the information about the world and characters. Its on a need to know basis which works well. In three episodes they don’t have time to elaborate on everything or go into every last little thing and they don’t. They also don’t make the common mistake of bombarding you upfront with all the information either, which works well.
The animation is nothing impressive, given the animation look and style I actually thought it was about 5 years older than what it was. Now that’s not all bad, I like the look of the old style, but for 2005 its lacking in a few scenes I think, particularly the action scenes. The music is decent, nothing astounding either but they seemed to have a fair amount of pieces for such a short series and it fits the mood and fight scenes well to create the mood. Plus, the opening is pretty good!
Overall, for three episodes they do a good job of packing a story with some suspense and desperation along with some good action scenes in there. It wont change your life and the originality is nothing astounding, but I would say it’d be a good way for someone who isn’t sure about the mech genre to try things on and see if they like it. The time investment to enjoyment for this series I’d say is pretty high. Overall it is is pleasantly average series.
[starrater]
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos
Alternate Titles: Fullmetal Alchemist: Milos no Sei-Naru Hoshi
Original Japanese Release Date: Jul 2011
Episode Length/Run-time: 110 Minutes
Summary:
The Elric brothers are back and they are sent out to a boarder city known as tower city persuing a fugitive who escaped from prison with only a few months left on his sentence using strange alchemy. When they arrive they learn there’s more going on that meets the eye as they learn of the people who have been stripped of their ancestral lands and now live in the valley floor at the boarder of the two cities, struggling to regain their homeland by any means.
Review:
I think Kimiko said it best when she said movies like this are basically official fanfiction. This movie has no real place in the FMA saga and it is basically a mini vignette where everything returns to how it was when its done. But, that doesn’t mean it was a bad movie. The movie had excellent pacing, between the engaging characters, interesting story, and top-notch fight scenes you will not be bored. Fans of the series will be pleased in how all the fan favorites have been placed in the movie, sometimes a little forced – Winry did not need to be in there – but not bad. The original characters for the movie are also surprisingly deep and loveable for only knowing them a short time,you quickly find yourself invested in their plight and cheering for them in their struggles. One of the main criticisms is the animation in some of the fight scenes seems a little rough for an anime movie, normally the budget is so high everything is flawless. Its not bad though, just not as good as one would expect. But it is overall a very enjoyable watch no matter if you are an FMA fan or total noob.
[starrater]
Code Geass
Alternate Titles: Code Geass – Hangyaku no Lelouch, Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion
Original Japanese Release Date: 2006
Episode Length/Run-time: 25 Episodes
Summary:
With the aid of gigantic robotic robots known as Knightmare Frames colonialism has taken new meaning and the Empire of Britannia has invaded Japan and placed it under colonial rule. Lelouch a Britannian living in Area 11 (Japan’s new name) vows to free Japan and overthrow the Empire. One day after school he stumbles upon a military secret which happens to be a young girl named C.C. She gives him the power of Geass which can be used on any person only once to make them obey any order. With this weapon Lelouch’s rebellion begins.
Review:
Code Geass, reviewed here in full (both first and second season) is a very well done anime. While plots of overthrowing governments, coup de etats and war is nothing new to anime Code Geass brings lively characters and it’s own interesting spins to the rehashed themes in such a way that it feels fresh and new. One of the fantastic things about this anime is the pacing. It moves at near breakneck speed wasting no time to get to the meat of the show. From there on they don’t dally with stupid antics (okay, they do very rarely) and focus on progressing what they set out.
The mech battles in this show are really well executed and Lelouch’s character as the ringleader is perfect. Possible best friend to Light Yagami Lelouch is calculating, careful, cunning, and slightly cocky in just the right ways. While we’re on the subject of characters they are just the right mix for everyone watching. Enough bishonen to go around, cute girls ranging from well endowed sexy to loli and your stereotypical characters thrown in there to round out the mix nicely. Sometimes the stereotyping is taken a little too far and the acting could be seen as borderline corny. But generally speaking it’s done at the right times and I feel it’s presented in such a way that works for the series overall.
The one thing that really docks this series overall is the fights in the second season. Throughout the whole series there is gray area moral dilemmas argued and a clever cat and mouse both on and off the battlefield between Lelouch and Suzaku. However, in the second season Suzaku, apparently, closes the mental gap rather quickly on Lelouch. All of a sudden he, quite annoyingly, shows up out of the blue at just the right moment to squah Lelouch’s plans and win or thwart the battle. As a viewer it not only screams unrealistic, but it screams annoying.
Despite this, the series is very well executed and has something for everyone. The animation is clean and crisp and the music does not disappoint either. With the characters and engaging plot I’d easily classify this anime as a gateway drug into the world of mecha for any fan or fan-to-be.
[starrater]
.hack//Roots
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: April 5th, 2006
Episode Length/Run-time: 26
Summary:
.hack//Roots is the prequel to the .hack//G.U. videogames. It follows the story of Haseo, a Multi-Weapon and member of the Twilight Brigade guild. In the year 2015, CC Corp. Building burnt down, and with it, most of its data for The World. By splicing data from what would have potentially been another game, CC Corp. created The World R:2 and released it in 2016.
Review:
Set six months before .hack//G.U., Haseo logs into The World R:2 for the first time and falls victim to the PKs that reside within The World R:2. Pking has apparently become a big problem. He is saved by Ovan and Shino, which prompts him to join the Twilight Brigade. The Twilight Brigade members are on a mission to find the Key of the Twilight, however, the TAN guild opposes this because they want Ovan’s character data due to the device in his left arm and will stop at nothing to keep the Twilight Brigade from their goal. The twist is when Tri-Edge shows up. Things briefly pick up in the series when he turns up, making for a short run of episodes that were actually fun to watch. Makes for some good drama and some action scenes.
If you plan to watch the series, without playing the game, don’t. You need to play the games to finish the story and let me tell you, the game suck. Badly. You may go insane playing them. But without playing the games:
- Many unexplainable events
- Characters aren’t fleshed out enough you miss out on a LOT of character background. things just happen without any reason for this being given
- The ending leaves SO many questions unanswered
This anime has extremely large periods of nothing happening. What the hell is the director thinking? Everything happens very slowly. Long periods of characters just starring off into space at the sky or at something in particular. Really weird. It’s a bit how you’ll notice in an anime how sometimes they will just be like a really long still image. Also it takes characters a long time to decide to do something and then an even longer time to execute. It makes things ever so boring.
The anime totally abandons the “MMO inside an anime” theme. .hack//Sign had scenes that would show the person using the computer or would have very video game like character traits for the in-game avatars. .hack//Roots totally dumps this trait. You never see the out of game players and the characters in the series are just way too emotion filled and “real” to be ingame avatars. As a result, it doesn’t really feel like you’re watching an MMO. Many of the characters are pretty unlikeable in the end as well. They don’t get background and they really don’t feel that vibrant. Even the main character Haseo is just a shitty emo character.
The visuals and music are very nice the animation and the overall art is very nice. The character designs for .hack are always very interesting, and the artwork in general is of an excellent standard. This is a good thing, because you are forced to stare at pretty visuals in which very little happens for a long, long time. The music is fantastic as well. The theme song and was played at the start of tonights podcast, “Silly Go Round” Is quite awesome and even the BGM features famous melodies such as the “Queen of the Knight” Aria from Mozart’s “Magic Flute”.
[starrater]
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s
Alternate Titles: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s
Original Japanese Release Date: October 1st, 2005
Episode Length/Run-time: 13
Summary:
Nanoha and Fate must battle against a group of Velka Knights, who seek to fill the pages of the Book of Darkness, a Lost Logia, with stolen magic powers. The story begins when the Velka Knights attempt to steal Nanoha’s power to write the pages of the Book of Darkness.
Review:
Nanoha A’s takes place a few months after the events of the original Nanoha series. I wouldn’t say that you cannot watch Nanoha A’s without seeing the first season, because other than the characters, they are barely connected, but you might enjoy it more. Fate Festarossa, a magical girl, once foe, turned friend of Nanoha’s is being put up for trial by the Space/Time Administration for the crimes she committed in the first series. Fate sought to collect the Lost Logia, which are lost artifacts of horrible power that are very dangerous.
She is reunited with Nanoha after she is locked in battle against a group of “Velka-Type Knights”. Fate and Yuuno, and others rush to Nanoha’s side just as she is about to get killed by Vita, one of the Knights. In the end a giant battle royale occurs which makes the first two episodes of this series rather epic.
The knights seek to capture the power of Nanoha in their “Book of Darkness”, another Lost Logia. This book has the power to steal magical essence and the knights want to fill it’s pages with magic. Because Nanoha is so powerful, they seek her specifically becasue they feel she will feel a lot of pages. Of course, the Space/Time Bureau knows about the book as well and they want to seal it away.
This is kind of the DBZ of Magical girl anime. A lot of magical girl anime has romance and drama spilled in there (sailor moon) but this series is more about badass shounen style fight scenes, only with magical girls. For example, Nanoha’s Divine Buster is more like a massive KameHameHa than anything else. The battles are so much better. Those of you that have seen the first series will recall that the final battle between Nanoha and Fate is the best battle from the first series. Most of the battles from A’s are better than that one. The Vita-Knights all have a unique fighting style and it makes for incredible action. Some of the best or maybe THE best from the magical girl genre.
All of the magical characters, have weapons that are somewhat sentient. they can, to a limited extent be talked to and typically announce their attacks when they use them. When Nanoha uses her Divine Buster, or when Vita loads a “Cartridge” it’s typically announced by the weapon.
Aesthetically, the battles are better. The animation and colors appear more appealing and crisp. The soundtrack is still filled with amazing songs by Mizuki Nana, you’ve been hearing the music all throughout this review.
As is the case with many magical girl anime, there is a bit of a lolicon aspect to the show. Nanoha is only around nine years old in this series and in her magical girl transformation, she does get kinda naked, however there is no real explicit nudity. The same is true for Fate, however these are the only two magical transformations you see in the series and you only see them once each, unlike other series such as Star Driver, which make you watch the same boring transformation, four minutes an episode, you see a total of 3 minutes of transformations for the entire series.
[starrater]
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Alternate Titles: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Gurren Lagann, TTGL
Original Japanese Release Date: 2007
Episode Length/Run-time: 27 Episodes
Summary:
The world is oppressed by monsters ruled over by the Spiral King, Lordgenome. Humans are forced to live underground and any found disobeying will be killed. One day the meek Simon the digger comes across a drill key and a Gunman mecha while expanding his home city further below. With this and the gun-ho bravery of his friend and older brother figure Kamina they venture to the surface to defeat the spiral king. But they soon learn there’s more to the Spiral power that both the king and Simon harness and how it plays into the fate of humanity.
Review:
This anime is a fan favorite by a huge portion of the anime community. It’s hard to argue against the fact that it has become a near instant classic simply for the fandom which it has earned.
Gurren Lagann is a rare breed. The anime is the original source of the story. All light novels, mangas, games, and movies came after. A good way to describe the series is mecha for the masses. While it is a mech series with REALLY over the top robots (we’re talking movers of worlds here) it’s not so steeped in sci-fi that the average viewer can’t relate to it.
The series is divided into three main arcs. The first arc, where most of the main cast is introduced focuses on defeating the Spiral King. You meet the busty Yoko, the fabulous Leon, and the vicious enemy yet friend Viral. This arc focuses more on evolving the characters and having the viewer fall in love with them over progressing the main plot.
The second arc is where the real story begins to fall into play. (This is spoiler free, so I won’t tell you what happens to the Spiral King, you’ll just have to watch for yourself). You begin to learn there are more forces at work than previously suspected and the final piece of the main cast joins the crew, Nia, daughter of the Spiral King.
Then, IT happens. I won’t ruin what IT is, those of you who have watched the series already know. But it is one of the most heart-breaking tear-jerking moments in anime. Congrats though, you’re only about halfway done.
The final arc has a time-skip into the future. The characters are older and they face an evolved threat.
This anime is great at that 14 episode halfway point (with the whole IT) thing. The only criticism of the second half/final arc is that it gets a little too over the top. One thing keeps outdoing the next until you literally have mechs the size of planets. It’s not an awful setup, and there are much worse over the top anime out there. But for a serious viewer it can detract just slightly. The positive side is that its, for the most part, right at the end. So you’re likely so engrossed that you can forgive this aspect.
This anime is a fantastic watch for just about any anime fan because it tickles the palette in all the right places. Full of action, sexy men and women, relationships, fighting, sci-fi, a touch of fantasy, great characters and more there’s little wonder of why it’s so well loved. Form a critical standpoint it does stray a bit, knocking it down from a five, but that hardly ruins the experience for the average viewer.
[starrater]
Magic Knight Rayearth
Alternate Titles: Rayearth
Original Japanese Release Date: 1994
Episode Length/Run-time: 20 Episodes
Summary:
Three junior high girls: Shidou Hikaru, Ryuuzaki Umi, and Hououji Fuu, meet at a school trip to Tokyo Tower. Suddenly, a bright light envelops them and they find themselves transported to the fantasy land of Cephiro. Princess Emeraude brought them there to save the land from the evil High Priest Zagato. With the guidance of Guru Clef, and the help of their new mascot the bouncy, rabbit-like, uber-cute Mokona, they are sent on a journey to become the Magic Knights in order to save the princess, and the land.
Review:
Alright, as always it’s time to get the specifics out of the way. Magic Knight Rayearth is a 20 episode series which came out in Fall of 1994 and ran through to 1995. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha based off an original manga by CLAMP which was three volumes running from 1993-1995. There IS a follow-up manga and series to Magic Knight Rayearth, aptly titled Magic Knight Rayearth 2, but I am not reviewing that because I have not seen it. Makes sense, right? Both the manga and the series have been licensed in America, so if you want to get your hands on it, it should be pretty easy.
This series is hailed for following the first arc of the manga relatively closely. Which should be pleasing to many manga fans out there.
This anime feels like an RPG come to life on a screen. If Lodos war was D&D Rayearth is the spitting image of every JRPG fans game. Cephiro is a fantasy world full of large crystals, flying fish (literally, flying), gryphons, mages, and of course magical girls. The characters are as equally cliché as the world. Fuu is the quiet shy girl with glasses, Umi the entitled rich girl who seems to initially care only about getting home in time for her fencing tournament, and the spunky tomboy Hikaru.
So, yeah, the series starts out exactly as it looks. The girls learn of their powers, get into some battles, and fall into some clichés along the way. But it becomes significantly more than that. As is CLAMP’s style often times the series is full of forlorn love, taboo relationships and heartache. If you’re a girl, this addition really helps make the series IMHO.
The major con of this series is the animation. Where the character designs seem enchanting and different in the manga they just seem jarring and odd. Their faces are angular and odd looking and their eyes take the “big eyed anime character” to a whole new extreme. The animation is also poor, even by 1990s standards, the low frame rate makes the action sequences (something many Shojo series lack) clunky and odd. This is barely excusable just because these action series serve more to provide a catalyst for the emotional storm brewing in the series than a flashy soiree. Music is average, about what you’d expect.
What is best about this series is the ending. Magic Knight has a fantastic, unexpected, and emotional ending that you REALLY do not see coming. This series is the exact opposite of what we normally talk about, good series that end up bad. This series starts out with you expecting a little, and it ends up giving you a lot.
Overall, it’s a shojo magical girl anime, so there’s really so much you can expect . But generally people looking for the high-budget action sequences are going to stay away from this anyways. On a magical girl show scale, I’d give it a 4+. But this isn’t a magical girl only review site, so overall it gets a 3.5, slightly above average.
[starrater]