Steamboy
Mitsugi / 4.5, Action, Adventure, S, Sci Fi / steamboy / 0 Comments
4.5
Guardian of the Sacred Spirit
Alternative titles:
Moribito – Guardian of the Sacred Spirit
Seirei no Moribito (Japanese)
精霊の守り人 (Japanese)
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Sailor Moon
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Tari Tari
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Chouyaku Hyakunin Uta Koi
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Uchuu Kyoudai
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Kaleido Star
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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.
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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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Onanie Master Kurosawa
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 2005
Episode Length/Run-time: 31 Chapters
Summary:
This manga is about a high school boy, Kurosawa, who likes to imagine the girls in his class and “punish” them while he masterbates in the girl’s bathroom stall. He keeps up his “daily activities” until one day he is caught…
Review:
Kakeru Kurosawa is a boy that likes to masterbate in the girls bathroom. He calls this activity his “daily meal” or “daily activities”. He recalls things that occured during the day that irritated him during class he “punishes” the people involved in the bathroom and relieves his stress. Kurosawa learns that a girl in the class, Kitahara is horribly bullied by the girls in the class. He gets back at one of the girls by gizzing on her clothes. Later, one day Kitahara finds out that he is doing this and she decides to blackmail him into helping her repay the bullies that torment her. She forces him to gizz on peoples gym clothes, text books, or other stuff.
Some people have drawn connections between this manga and deathnote; the “outside in the society attitude” which stems from the fact that Kurosawa is kind of a loner, the kind of person you might think is a serial killer. In addition, he deals “justice” inside the fantasies in his head. He does this while jerking it instead of writing names in a notebook. Also, lots of inner monologues for Kurosawa. However, Kurosawa is a more believeable more mentally stable version of Kira from Death Note.
The plotline of the story takes several phases. There is phase one where Kurosawa is doing a lot of his secret “daily activities” . The story gets very dark after his secret is discovered as the things that the girl, Kitahara, wants him to do get progressively worse and worse. Kurosawa eventually confesses to his deeds and becomes a pariah in his class. Still, taking responsibility actually helps him find friendship and leads to him acting much more socially open. This actually making him a much more decent character. As you might suspect of a manga with so many inner monologues, the development is, believe it or not, actually done suprisingly well, because you do start to sympathize with Kurosawa and he eventually becomes a likeable character. At this point, he is also drawn much more wide-eyed and friendlier looking, which is a nice touch. Then there is the love story aspect to the show. Kurosawa recovers, finds love in an unexpected place and also becomes a hero figure.
This is a great manga. Do not be turned off by the seemingly perverted storyline. The story is much deeper than this and at only 31 chapters is an easy, quick read.
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