[Anime #3] The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Title: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu
Director: Tatsuya Ishihara
Original Creator: Nagaru Tanigawa
Number of Episodes: 14 (complete)
Plot Summary: On the first day of high school a beautiful girl named Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself as having "no interest in ordinary humans". She asks for any aliens, time travelers, sliders or espers to join her. Watching her weird behaviour is Kyon who sits in front of Haruhi and is the only person who talks to her. When Kyon comments about Haruhi's joining every club in school and then quitting he unwittingly gives Haruhi an idea to start her own after school club. Thereafter Kyon and several others find themselves dragged, literally, into the Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade (the S.O.S. Brigade for short).

REVIEW: Alright! I will be completely honest and say that I said that I would never ever like this anime. I thought it was nothing more than a mindless anime about yuri induced fan-service-ness.

But I was proven wrong... dead wrong.

AnimeExpo 2007 came and went over the six days that I worked there last week/weekend. And this year, there were many musical talents present for the annual gathering of otaku nerdy-ness. Amongst the talents was none other than the amazing SOS Brigade themselves (which consisted of Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, & Yuko Goto).

My sister had been talking about this anime for months on end and have tried to get me to watch the series. (A couple of times, she actually convinced me to actually sit threw an episode; thus making the already slightly confusing series even more confusing as I only watched bits and pieces plus one episode.) Then when it was the final day of Expo, I was walking by the Bandai Booth and saw my beloved Johnny Yong Bosch signing autographs for the series' poster. That was enough of a reason for me to check it out!

So here I am Tuesday/Wednesday watching the entire series between doing house chores and unpacking. FINALLY, I finished the series and here are my thoughts:

It was good. Well, at least better than I gave it credit for. The animation, many times, reminded me of the Japanese PC hentai RPG games. The story was very engaging as it was confusing. By the end of the series, I was happy to see that amits all the confusion and such, I actually enjoyed the series. With it's quirky subtle jokes and it's constant slapstick fan-service humor.

The music was so DAMN catchy! How could you not like the songs for this series?! I fell in love with the opening theme as I wasn't so partial to the ending theme (as all during AX I heard that song a 100 times T_T). But I think by the end of the series it really grew on me. ^_^

Characters throughout the series suprised me. I liked the character development as well as the nice aray of different personalities (complete with a heroine whose not your typical damsel in distress).

If I had to make one stipulation, it would have to say that the fan-service was a bit overboard. I know a little here and there is understandable... but come one now. A bit overkill, don'tcha' think?

Overall: For actually getting me to watch the entire series in 2 days I give it a lot of props! If I day that I didn't want to get into a series most likely it'll never happen. Yet with this one I ate up an entire 14 episodes in the time span of 24 hours. So that deserves a bit of recognition. Of course, if Haruhi was here, she would not be hearing just me and my modest praises for this slightly "off" anime series, she would would be hearing a standing ovation for her ultra cool, quirky, musically talented, mysterious anime filled with LOTS of Suzumiya Haruhi fun! Won't you join the brigade? (Restrictions for joining: you must be an esper, time traveler, slider, or alien.)

Overall (dub) : B
Overall (sub) : A-
Story : B/B+
Animation : B+/A-
Art : B+
Music : B+

[Anime #2] Peacemaker Kurogane

Title: Peacemaker Kurogane
Director: Tomohiro Hirata
Original Creator: Nanae Chrono
Number of Episodes: 24 (complete)
Plot Summary: Tetsunosuke Ichimura had always been updet about his short stature. After he sees his parents being murdered by a Choushuu assasin right in front of him, he vows with all his heart to become strong enough to take revenge on their killer. It is now 1864, the first year of the Genji era. Tetsunosuke, now 15 years of age, heads to the headquarters of the Shinsengumi with his older brother Tatsunosuke, looking to join the historical group to fulfill his dreams of getting stronger. Little does he relize what he is about to experience by doing so, for in order to join this army, one must forego his humanity and become a demon.

REVIEW: I had always been a samurai fan; I have watched almost eveybig named samurai anime out there from Samurai X to Samurai Champloo to Samurai 7 to... Bakumatsu Blah Blah Blah BLAH (Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto)! ^_^ And in the long line of samurai anime that left me breathless was Peacemaker Kurogane.

This one was definately a Shounen anime from the very beginning. Lots of blood, flying guts, foul languages, sparring matches of brut strength, mysteries, loud brash little boys, and little to no sparkles & flowers to cover a romantic kiss scene! >_< Yet it still kept me coming back for more with it's heart pounding fight scenes and explosively beautiful animation.

The characters, for this series, are all more or less well developed. Yet at time it seemed as though the anime was looking for opportunites to place these 'well developed characters' in. The story itself might have been just a tad less intersting had it not been for those "forced" character appearances, yet at times one could not help but welcome such awkwardness.

The story is rich in history but in comparison to say Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto or Samurai X for that matter, Peacemaker pales in it's accuracy in depicting the historical figures of the past.

The animation was very pleasing to watch as it blended a mix of soft and jagged lines onto the scene making the series constantly intersting to watch.

Overall: And yet through all the critisism, one could not help but love the story more and more with each episode as you watch a boy begin his journey of life by finding himself on the path inwhich he had choosen to embark on. A path filled with deadly assasins, demon-like Vice Captians, an annoying crossdressing spy, a super sweet mute girl, a pig with a serious additude problem, and a mission that will turn into the grandest adventure in the eyes of a 15 year old boy growing up during the heat of a Revolution.

Overall (dub) : B
Overall (sub) : B+
Story : B+
Animation : B
Art : B+
Music : B

[Anime #1] Kino's Journey

Title: Kino's Journey
Director: Ryutaro Nakamura
Original Creator: Keiichi Sigsawa
Number of Episodes: 13 (complete)
Plot Summary: The story follows the travels of Kino, a young adventurer who rides a talking motorcycle named Hermes. They explore the people and cultures of different places throughout their adventures, spending only three days at each location.

REVIEW: I remember the very first time that I saw the series sitting idly on the anime shelf at Best Buy, I thought to myself, 'That anime series will one day be mine. Kami-sama, the artwork is sooo beautiful.' But for over 2 and a half years I always placed the series back on the shelf everytime that I picked it up. It seemed it was as if Fate believed that I was not yet mentally prepared to appreciate such a series. And it was true...

I recently bought Kino's Journey and found that it was fascinating just by looking at the BOX! >_< Oddly enough, I wasn't thrilled the every first time that I heard/watched the opening theme on youtube just because it looked so obscure and depressing, it prolonged my inevitable purchase of this anime. Eventually, I suppose I was sick of being bored and bombarded with irrelevant things since one one random Thursday, I bought the series (knowing that I could have gotten it for cheaper online) right off the shelf of my local anime store.

The package was beautiful in it's sweet and sleek thinpack packaging. Would make a great collection to anyone's collection. The thinpack has it's advantages as it's a lot cheaper than the original distributing package but because of the smaller price (I suppose) that that is the reason that it didn't have any extras except a few trailers but that was it.

The animation was fascinating! It blew me away from episode one. It was a more flowing (less ragged edged) animation. It made the whole series very pleasing to the eyes.

The story itself was confusing at times but there were definitely no questions that were left unanswered by the end of the anime. What a complex and fascinatingly simplistic story. Filled with contemporary issues that many modern day countries struggle with as it is played out on more exaggerated and larger scale. Each and every story brought me to a more intellectual state of mind as I was being unintentionally educated of the world in which I live in.

The characters were all very interesting in their own way. Kino and partner Hermes were the ones to steal the show with their witty remarks and chill way of life.

I think the only thing that I would critique on is the ending. It felt very abrupt and open-ended. If that was Nakamura-san's intention, then he definitely achieved that aspect of the anime.

Overall: This was a beautifully crafted anime that will leave you breathless from it's animation to its heart wrenching stories of a traveler who knows not where the road will lead to nor how long it would take them to get there. The greatest of adventures lie solely on the open road... won't you drift along for a ride?

Overall (dub) : B+
Overall (sub) : B+/A-
Story : A-
Animation : B+
Art : A-/B+
Music : B

A desicion

Well then... it seems as though this would be my first entry here at Blogger. I've never actually had a blog that I updated eveyday... but it's fun to give it a try since my xanga account died on me awhile back (2 years ago to be exact) and my LJ account? Well, that one is picking up some speed but then again I have no clue how long that will last me...

I haven't truly deside what I'm actually going to do with this blog... I suppose I've always wanted a blog to rant about my lastest anime obsessions and do some reviews here and there for the anime series that I watch. ^_^

Yea, that sounds pretty good.

I think I'll do just that... AS OF TODAY... THIS BLOG WILL BECOME THE BASIS OF ALL MY ANIME REVEIWS/RANTS/FANGIRL~SQUEALS!







Consider yourself warned. *_*v