Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou
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D
Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai
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Descendants of Darkness
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Denpa Teki na Kanojo
Alternate Titles: Electromagnetic Girlfriend
Original Japanese Release Date: May 1st, 2009
Episode Length/Run-time: 2 OVA
Summary:
Juuzawa Juu is a typical high school delinquent. One day he is approahed by a girl, Ochibana Ame who claims to be a “knight” of his from a past life. Soon afterwards, a rash of serial killings begin occuring in Tokyo and after one of their classmates is murdered the two team up to try to unravel the mystery and catch the murderer.
Review:
What an interesting anime this is. It exists essentially as a two hour movie and because it’s so engrossing, boy does it fly by quickly. The serial killings make an excellent backdrop for the anime and creates a tense atmosphere fitting of a horror thriller.
Speaking of the murders, this anime doesn’t mess around. Between the gruesome serial killing scenes and the violent and mature content between the sstudents and throughout society, Denpa Teki na Kanojo is definately an anime intended for more mature audiences. Most of the killers victims are either stabbed or beaten to death and then strangled with wire. Juu’s classmate actually gets strung up in a back alley like a puppet.
The character Juuzawa Juu is a very believable and likable high school boy. He is realistic and the actions and reactions of him and most other characters in the anime are generally realistic and give the anime as a whole the feel of having realistic setting.
In addition, because it’s an OVA, the shows art and animation are top notch. The background detail and the fluidity of the movement is quite impressive. It may remind you at times of a Miyazaki or Shinkai film. Also, the character designs are very likeable. I loved the way that the characters looked in this anime. Even the level of detail on the movement of the facial expressions are accurate and make the characters feel more human. I wish that more shows would follow it’s eample and use the same character design style.
If I could come up with just a couple complaints about the anime it would be that there was a lot of character interaction but not enough of the “thriller” genre in the content. By that I mean I wish a few more people had been murdered and I wanted the anime to simply be a little more gritty. I suppose this is a minor complaint though as I was never bored watching this anime. Also, there wasn’t much character background given. Certain things are mentioned but all in all the character development and background history is kept to a minimum. I don’t care if the anime is a 2 hour OVA or 100 episodes, character background should always be given attention, at least for important characters.
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Desert Punk
Alternate Titles: Sunabozu
Original Japanese Release Date: 2004
Episode Length/Run-time: 24
Summary:
Desert Punk takes place in a distant future where the entire world has been turned into a wasteland due to some unnatural catastrophic event. Mankind has barely survived on and lives surrounding water holes. The primary ones of these are known as “Oasis” and are owned by the government which is a mysterious and powerful organization generally at odds with the citizens they oversee. In the Great Kanto Desert, the now wasteland Japan, there is a man called “Desert Punk.” A mercenary who will take on, and complete, any job, no matter how crazy or how difficult. Desert Punk follows the events surrounding Kanta, the man behind the “Demon of the Desert.”
Review:
Desert Punk is a “man’s man” type of anime. It has just about everything a man likes, explosions, guns, and giant tatas… Without much other thought put into it. Now don’t get me wrong, I did find it…. Amusing. But that was about it.
Each episode of Desert Punk was much like the last. Episode start, Kanta gets a job, somehow this job involves Junko Asagiri the T&A of the show. The job lasts one episode, maybe two, and then Kanta finishes the job in a near ridiculous way possible. The anime attempts to string together some key events with regards to water, a shady government, and a few reoccurring villains but don’t be fooled. Once you’ve seen the first episode you’ve seen them all. The closest thing to a plot is Kosuna who is Kanta’s self-proclaimed and later accepted apprentice. She has some kind of growth throughout the series but is otherwise a generally annoying nuisance to all characters, and the viewer.
This is a studio Gonzo anime, released back in 2004, so it’s relatively new-looking. Nothing too fancy but definitely has that shiny new anime look to it. Funimation licensed it in America and did all the dubbing. I actually watched it dubbed and the dubbing was pretty good. It likely was nowhere near the original dub considering they used phrasing like: “why is my husband such a tool?” which really enhanced the series to be completely honest. It wasn’t very good to begin with so to have well-done wording really enhanced things.
The best thing I think I can say about the show is about Kanta. He is the most perverted, generally scummy, not a good person at all. Most people in anime who start out bad have a nougat of good in them. Or they evolve as a person throughout the series. This DOES NOT happen with Kanta. He starts out as a money-hungry do anything for the tatas perv and ends that way. His lack of growth, all things considered, is charming for the anime because it means the show is not trying to turn itself into a piece with plot and meaning after having absolutely nothing for the whole show.
Overall, it’s not a god awful watch, but it’s nothing enjoyable. There are some anime who generally possess more plot in their filler than this show has in its whole 24 episodes. But if you’re in for some mindless humor, there are worse options… and likely better ones too…
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Durarara!!
Alternate Titles: DRRR!! デュラララ!! (Japanese)
Original Japanese Release Date: 2010-01-07
Episode Length/Run-time: 25 Episodes (and 1 OVA)
Summary:
From the makers who brought you Baccano! comes another twisting tale of life, love, heartache and insanity. Ryuugamine Mikado finally get the opportunity to move to the big city, his best friend Masaomi Kida there waiting for him. It’s his chance to finally get some excitement and meaning into his life. And mostly insanity. Another anime based around six degrees of separation, Durarara!! follows the lives of various people in the town of Ikebukuro and how their stories overlap, intertwine, and change one another’s.
Review:
This anime was incredibly well done, which is no surprise coming from the same great minds who put together Baccano!, and is probably one of the most character driven anime I’ve come across. While the plot is occasionally thin, the major devices and twists and subplots not really coming forth until closer to the end, the characters keep the entertainment up and the progress going. It becomes a melee of storylines and ideas and themes that couldn’t possibly have anything to do with each other, but then come together in a brilliant and fulfilling way. And each member of the cast, at that, is both well thought out and likeable, making it no wonder so many have come to love this anime and cosplay it’s ridiculous and wonderful characters. Like Baccano!, it has a way with relationships that is unbeatable.
True once again to its sister anime, the animation style in DRRR!! is fitting and well drawn, the style suiting the semi-realism of the show itself, while the music, though built more around electronic and synthed musicality, does the exact same thing. It has done the exact same thing as Baccano! while maintaining an originality and creative difference that is all that Durarara!! has to offer.
While there were still many questions that went unanswered, the ending was most certainly fulfilling, taking the most pressing questions and offering answer enough to satisfy without being cliché. The winding down of the chaos, leaving only the ties that bind each character together. Rather than continue the story, the OVA and episode 25 were a refreshing bit of filler, in which this anime had very, very little, leaving the mostly complete but still applaud worthy ending intact. It’s the few important questions left unanswered that gives this a 4/5, but if a second season should take place, it’s easy to say that Durarara!! could sneak back up to a 5/5 with no problem at all.
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Death Note
Alternate Titles: デスノート (Japanese)
Original Japanese Release Date: 2006-10-03
Episode Length/Run-time: 39 Episodes
Summary:
One rather ordinary, if not completely dull, school day, Light Yagami—a good looking, academically excelling high school student—stumbles across a notebook that seems to have fallen out of the sky. Written across the top are the words Death Note, and inside, a list of rules to follow in order to kill a person, the most basic being to simply write their name inside. After some deliberation, Light decides to use this “gift” to clean out the filth and disappointment from humanity and become the god of a new world. Of course, for every world re-ordering plan, there are those determined to fight against it.
Review:
Coming from the manga to the anime, I can say that this is one of the most direct, accurate and well done adaptations I’ve ever seen, scenes literally replicated a good 80% of the time. The most impressive aspect of the anime itself, however, can be found in moments that were created solely for the show, moments that hold either artistic influence or thematic impact. For example, the first instance of the anime shifting away from the manga offers an unseen development for Light and L—listening to the “bells chime” as they stand on the roof in the rain—as well as plays with practically literal religious symbolism—L washing Lights feet. It adds a certain amount of abstract creativity and difference that every anime adaptation can use, especially when coming from a manga that was already so plot sound and character driven.
Both the animation and the music manage to add a touch of extra flare, the art staying true to the manga’s crisp and realistic style while the music manages to embody the dark and violent atmosphere without delving too much into the realm of screaming heavy metal. It’s not an impressive orchestra score by any means, and they do have a few instances of screamo, but it handles itself well and makes an impact when necessary.
Probably the most drastic change in the transition from manga to anime was the ending. Certain moments and aspects were kept similar enough, but overall, it was a brazen move that for many, including myself, wasn’t nearly as satisfying, and possibly even a little too much. It’s easy to understand why the changes were made—an attempt to offer one last bout of drama—but it was unnecessary and seemed almost out of place after so much in depth, detail oriented, fact to fact thinking. However, despite this slight disappointment, Death Note is probably the most brilliantly done mystery/thriller anime I can recommend. The twists and turns are beyond thought out, and the characters make each moment real and powerful. If it weren’t for that ending, and some creative license I didn’t agree with, I’d be giving it more than a 4/5.
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Dragon Ball
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 1986
Episode Length/Run-time: 153 episodes ( 30 minutes ea. )
Summary:
A girl named Bulma is on a quest to find 7 magical dragonballs that when brought together will grant the wish of the person who “summoned” the Dragon. Along the way, she bumps into a boy named Goku, who owns one of the balls. Together, they set out to find the Dragonballs together and become more powerful. Along the way, they must overcome different recurring villains that constantly try to take their dragon balls away, and deal with puzzles and problems thrown at them from out of the blue.
Review:
Dragon Ball is such a fun hearted anime. From the adventuring, to the fighting, to the suspense of the dragonballs trading hands over and over again, Dragon Ball will always keep you laughing and on your toes. If your a fan of Dragon Ball Z, you definitely will enjoy watching Dragon Ball. It is filled with familiar characters, all of which have different personalities (from fun to evil), as well as villains that are always causing problems. With a whopping 153 episodes, Goku and Bulma’s adventure drags on through epic battles, which they must overcome with either brawn or brain. Plus, who doesn’t like seeing the cast of Dragon Ball progress and develop from Dragon Ball into Dragon Ball Z, and perhaps even further? Thats a lot of development!
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DOGS Bullets & Carnage
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: May 19th, 2009
Episode Length/Run-time: 4 Episode OVA
Summary:
Set in a crime ridden city, DOGS follows the story of four people as they search for their own life stories, sometimes crossing paths as the story unfolds.
Review:
There isn’t much to say about this anime other than its not very good. Seeing as its own a grand total of 60 minutes in length, the show’s plotline doesn’t really have an opportunity to be anything but bare bones and the generic characters in the series really get no development and therefore, we don’t really care if they live or die. This is quite unfortunate because all they do in this anime is kill each other. I recall a shootout in a graveyard with a bunch of mafia members. How ironic they they’re killing each other in a graveyard. The bodies won’t need to go far, or be dropped in a river in concrete galoshes. There were only a couple things that kept me from giving this anime the score of “it might as well be a hentai”. Number one, the action entertained me, just a bit. Number two, there were no hot girl characters in it and therefore, it would have to be a yaoi hentai and we all know how feel about that.
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Dance in the Vampire Bund
Alternate Titles: ダンスインザヴァンパイアバンド
Original Japanese Release Date: January 7th, 2010
Episode Length/Run-time: 12
Summary:
After centuries of battling in the underground, the vampire queen Mina Tepes seeks to create a haven off the coast of Japan where vampries and humans can coexist. The is much revolt from certain human and vampire groups about her vision and as a result her bodyguard Akira must protect her from those that would seek to do her harm.
Review:
The first thing you may think about when you hear the words Dance in the Vampire Bund is “oh yea, the lolicon anime”. Well you wouldn’t be wrong. This anime gets lumped in with Strike Witches as a show with controversial content in its depiction of minors. Of course you could argue that Mina Tepes may look twelve years old, but shes actually centuries of years old. Still it’s probably true. Mina is sexualized heavily in this series, even in the opening sequence.
Oddly though, the sexualization might be the best thing about this show because at least it added controversy. In my opinion, this anime’s plotline is painfully boring and even more so convoluted. The political aspect of this show isn’t fleshed out nearly enough for us to get a handle on what exactly is happening. It’s clear that there is some disagreement about Mina’s goals amongst the populace which eventually leads for certain groups to seek her assassination but this show just really isn’t done well at all.
Really, the bottom line is that the series has a couple novel ideas but in the end the execution is so poor that it’s not really something I would recommend to many people. I might suggest it if you are a die hard fan of vampire anime but other than that, pass on this one.
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