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Review: Nodame Cantabile Pari-Hen (のだめカンタービレ巴里編)

Posted by ranpha on 25th February 2009

Posted in: anime review. Tagged: Nodame Cantabile, Nodame Cantabile Pari-Hen (のだめカンタービレ巴里編). 2 comments

Our beloved main protagonists.

Nodame Cantabile Pari-hen, the second season of the outstanding Anime of The Year 2007, Nodame Cantabile, has arrived in this blog. Can this anime repeat the performance of its illustrious predecessor who managed to beat off the challenge of many anime series to keep the Anime of the Year 2007 award? Or can it even unseat the current incumbent for 2008 version, Wolf and Spice? Read on to find out what will happen.

What an excellent stereotyping!

Story:-
Continuing from the end of first season, our main protagonist now has moved to Paris, France as Nodame continued her study at a conservatory while Chiaki is entering a conducting competition. Meanwhile, we will be able to see the whirling relationship between the protagonists taken even further as they juggle between their heavy commitments and relationship.

One of the first things that concern me about this anime is that it only has 11 episodes, and my biggest fear was confirmed 10 minutes into the first episode of Pari-Hen. Unlike the first season, the second season has hurried presentation and pacing that is so fast, you're thinking that you are watching that Evangelion movie. My heart sinks when 3 volumes of manga materials were covered in a mere 2 episodes (if this anime is Naruto, you will see 50 episodes WITHOUT FILLERS just to cover the same material). While the pacing slowed down considerably in the second half of the anime, the damage has been done, and Wolf and Spice will still keep the Anime of the Year 2008 title.

The story by itself is excellent, although it has more alterations compared to the first season's adaptation of the manga. More minor scenes have been omitted, but the major plots are still there and largely untouched. Pity about the pacing though, and maybe the omissions and alterations (mostly the former) is what made the flow of the story being paced so fast? The ending is very well done too, probably done even better than the first season and managed to prepare the series for the next season.

Excellent character development is another thing that the second season has managed to retain from the first, although the horrid pacing tried to ruin this for the new characters. The new characters are interesting in their own right, especially with some of the dwellers in the apartment that Nodame and Chiaki shared.

I will still look forward to the new season, and I hope it will have more episodes so that the mistakes with pacing can be eliminated.

Some of the funny scenes in the anime.

Character Design:-
Basically, there are no changes from the first season. Change is not always good, despite what a certain black president wants you to believe, and this is definitely a positive point for this anime. New characters (and old too) are created wonderfully.

Nodame and on her the faces she made in the course of the anime.

Voice Acting:-
There are also no changes from the first excellent season. In fact, I think Nodame has improved, especially with her attempts to learn French and also when she does her 'Chiaki's wife' impersonations. Ayako Kawasumi is truly brilliant in this anime, just like she does in the first season. Of course, Chiaki is still his usual self while Tanya also has done very well.

The flowery scene that are used to describe classical music performances are still here, and are very helpful to explain the context and mood of any given performance.

Music:-
The second season has regressed a little from the first in this aspect. While this anime has good OST and ED theme, the same thing cannot be said about the OP theme. As usual, the classical pieces are pleasant to listen to, adapting perfectly to the storyline instead of being the storyline (looking at you Macross 7).

The fluid animations is still there…

Animation/Direction:-
Watching this anime in HD is truly a pleasant experience; the animation is fluid and smooth. There are no fast-paced scenes (ironic considering that the story is fast-paced) and choreography for this slice-of-life romantic comedy is non-existant. The directing failed for the aforementioned pacing problems above, but has done everything else well.

…although playing violin without the bow touching the string is somewhat not very logical do you think?

Conclusion:-
8 out of 10. The pacing problem kills this anime's chances of reaching the same height that was attained by its predecessor. I hope this series don't pull a Macross (remember, the first installment get a perfect score, then the second one has slightly lower score before tanking in the third installment) and hope that the third season improves with more episode count and more Nodame! Blassreiter will come next!

My car has the same surname as our main protagonist is.

Review: Macross 7 (マクロス７)

Posted by ranpha on 21st February 2009

Posted in: anime review. Tagged: Macross (series), Macross 7 (マクロス７). 5 comments

The general public was stunned at how crappy Nekki Basara singing is.

This review is late because I have plenty to do during the Lunar New Year holidays, then I moved this blog off wordpress to a self-hosted version (I did not finish customizing it yet, probably I will switch the theme in the future), but here it is, the third Macross title reviewed in this blog, Macross 7. I don't want to pull any punches, so I will make it clear that this anime is the worst anime I have ever reviewed in this blog. In fact, the score I give to this anime is 3 out of 10, the same as Hani-Hani Operation Sanctuary. But even Hani-Hani Operation Sanctuary is better than this pile of steaming crap, at least it has a better story (hahahahahahahaha) and I can feast my eyes at its unrealistic female character designs, which you won't get with this anime.

One of the nicknames for Nekki Basara….

Story:-
Macross 7 is a huge space-faring fleet that is looking for a new planet to colonize (want to know why? Watch the excellent first installment of Macross), and it houses many civilians (human and Zentradi) aboard many flying spaceships. While going towards the center of the Milky Way, the fleet was stalked by some mysterious aliens who prefer to suck spiritual energy off the fleet's inhabitants rather than killing them. Our Lynn Minmay-wannabe Nekki 'Karaoke Ninja' Basara then flies out with his mecha and play crappy rock songs to fight against these aliens that even the Zentradi are afraid of.

...and another one that is more apt, considering Basaras singing skill level.
…and another one that is more apt, considering Basaras singing skill level.

This anime is the second title that uses 'songs as weapons against alien invaders' plot device that I have watched, after Kachou Ouji which I have watched in AXN a few years ago. Both of them also have their stories to revolve around this particular plot device. But while Kachou Ouji has a decent (although unspectacular) seinen-type story behind it, Macross 7 story is truly fucked up. By itself, the story isn't really that bad, but there is one huge factor that sinks this anime to oblivion: the excessive amount of music this anime has.

Recalling the original Macross and Macross Plus, during the course of both anime, I have seen (or hear) a lot of songs been sung by Lynn Minmay (Macross) or the renegade AI (Macross Plus), but mainly the songs/music are performed because of the said characters' job description. That in turn ensures that the musical elements did not infest the storyline like a plague, but acts as a complement of the main story. In Macross 7, the musical element overwhelms the story entirely. This does not happen with Kachou Ouji that did not let the music disrupt the sexual tensions between its two main protagonists.

A facepalm moment that I consider as one of the most stupid scenes in mecha anime history.

There are so many music in this anime, it resembles a musical or a Bollywood movie than a typical Japanese anime. Another factor that impacted the story negatively is that it (the story) has a very slow pacing, even slower than Powerpuff Girls Z. The slow pacing caused the early episodes to become very similar in structure (battle broke out, hero went out with his mecha and started singing, the Diamond Squad becomes angry, the enemy is puzzled at the Spiritia abnormal reading, enemy commander ordered a retreat and the episode ends), which do not advance the storyline or do character development. I think this anime can be slashed by 20 episodes and still be somewhat coherent. And this hold really true in light of the filler episodes in the second half of the anime.

Another complaint that I have for this anime's story is the plots in this anime are easily predictable, I can easily anticipate events that will happen in the future. This is actually not this anime fault, but more likely that I have watched so many shounen anime, it allows me to superimpose their plot flow over the ones in this anime and it makes the story appear ordinary by the bias of my mind. Yet another complaint is that the story become worse as the episodes went by. Song Energy hahahaha! That's one of the worst concepts in mecha anime history. Chasing aliens away by using bad singing that has been weaponized IS MADE OF FAIL! At least with Kachou Ouji, I can enjoy heavy metal music performed by experienced musicians compared to the clearly manufactured j-rock/j-pop tracks in Macross 7.

A problem inherited from the original Macross is the scene transition problems; a good example is when the two main protagonists are chased by the vampires during episode 4. The chain of events in that scene is so convulted with characters that appears out of nowhere, you need to rewatch the scene to understand what really happened. This is a regression because Macross Plus does not have it. Another inherited flaw from the original Macross is the ending. Despite a lot of episodes, the ending for Macross 7 is compressed into the last two episodes only, and it can do better with more. But at least the ending for Macross is decent, while the one for this anime is a predictable cliché-laden POS.

And thats why he is the best character in this anime.

The other good character in this anime.

The only saving grace of this anime is the decent character development, with Gigil and Miria (she appears in original Macross too, which is why you need to watch all of them) being the best amongst them all. These two characters are the reason why I managed to watch this anime to the end, because they are interesting and entertaining enough to not making me drop this anime. The first of the 3 points that this anime has is because of this.

Basically what is happening in this anime as a whole.

Character Design:-
The same comments that I have in Macross Plus also applies here, because there are no improvements, positively or negatively. The second of the three points this anime has was contributed by this section.

The pointless flower girl that appears fequently in this anime, and has decent character design too.

Voice Acting:-
The voice acting in this anime is just average, with Mylene being the outstanding character in this anime. Actually I think she is a better singer than Basara too. See more in the next section.

Mylene is a better singer than Basara, thats for sure.

Music:-
The OST sucks, and so are the OP theme (only 1 of them for the whole series) and the 2^nd ED theme. Only the first ED theme titled 'My Friend', sung by Mylene is excellent. For the insert songs (in concerts or battle), only My Friend and another j-rock song (the one where Basara screams first before singing) is any good, and only if the Mylene sings the song. If Basara sings it, not so much. Mylene' songs alone is worth 1 point.

The antagonist wonder why he has to listen to bad j-rock…
...and the reason is outlined above.
…and the reason is outlined above.

Animation/Direction:-
While the animation is not that smooth (I have no expectation really due to the age of the anime), at least it doesn't suffer in fast-paced scenes. Choreography regressed from what you can see in Macross Plus, with no adrenalin-pumping dogfights etc. While there are plenty of actions in this anime compared to the romantic Macross Plus, almost all of them are pretty generic, mainly caused by design by the musically-infested storyline.

The directing is average at best, and I do not want to spew more hate about this anime.

"Our best character trying his hands on performing evil j-rock songs.

Conclusion:-
3 out of 10. I'm skipping Macross Dynamite, do not want to see Nekki Basara again. Nodame Cantabile second season is coming next!

Why Hani-Hani Operation Sancutary is better than Macross 7"

Review: Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu (ジャングルはいつもハレのちグゥ) TV + 2 OAVs

Posted by ranpha on 17th January 2009

Posted in: anime review. Tagged: Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu (ジャングルはいつもハレのちグゥ). Leave a Comment

A sample of the crazy antics of the main female protagonist.

The first review for the new year is for another anime I have always wanted to watch, the three seasons of Jungle wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu. The review is late because between 2nd and 3rd OVA, I am playing the new Persona 4 (which frankly is not that good). I should return to continue watching the Macross franchise, although Blassreiter looks yummy to me. Decisions, decisions…

A sample of the big cast of characters this anime has. Guu and Hale is in the middle row, from second to right.

Story:-
A slice-of-life comedy, our main protagonist Hale lives with his single mother Weda in a South American jungle (Japan do not have those kind of equator tropical jungles), when out of the blue, his mother brings the mysterious Guu out from nowhere to live with them. Hale then has to withstand her various weird antics, such as her man-eating feats which are ignored by practically everyone else. He has to work very hard at keeping her out from trouble while keeping his family running smoothly.

My main complaint about this series is that the story is badly positioned, with the main storyline revolving around Hale’s mother instead of the two main title protagonists. This has two negative effects on the anime; first it pushes the focus of the anime away from the main protagonists at key scenes and plots, and secondly it stunted Guu’s character developments, causing it to not reach it highest potential (mainly because Hale and Guu have different character development strategies). The storyline also flows relatively slowly compared to what I would have liked for a three-season series. Free-wheeling independent episodes that have nothing to do with the story are excellent mainly because it allows the two main protagonists to shine, but not so for the ones that actually important story wise. And it is just me that feels that the ending of the 3rd OVA seems unfinished?

Now with my complaint about the story out of the way, I now want to rave about the mega-positive point this series has, which is the humor. Stand aside Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, Excel Saga and Cromartie Koukou etc., this anime is the best comedy series I have reviewed in this blog since Galaxy Angel. The jokes, slapstick humors and excellent one-liners in this anime are almost at the same level as Azumanga Daioh and the second season of Galaxy Angel (these two anime’s hilarity is why they are on my top 5 list). The only drawback this anime has is the lack of an iconic character like Ayumu ‘Osaka’ Kasuga, which Guu could have become if her character development is not impeded by the storyline misconfiguration. The missteps of what Guu could have become is the main reason that prevents this excellent anime from becoming a masterpiece, regardless of the storyline (it is not that Azumanga Daioh or Galaxy Angel has great stories either).

Skuld from Ah! My Goddess, one of the most blatant copyright infringement seen in an anime.

This anime has many similarities with Cromartie Koukou; it has a big cast of characters that is unique and strange in their own ways, abusive usage of facial expressions (this series depends a lot on this for presentation purposes), and constant references towards other manga/anime/games. They even have a parody of Dragon Quest here for an episode, and the anime references is one of the most blatant copyright infringement I have ever seen. See screenshot above for an example.

Character developments are done very well, although in the case of Guu, could have been a lot better. The best characters are Hale, Guu, Dr. Clive and the very pushy and melodramatic Marie. The combination of the latter two in the first season is superb with their brilliant banters, and can easily eclipse the two main protagonists themselves. It is unfortunate that at the second season her appearance started to decrease.

The conversations between Marie and Dr. Clive in the nurse office are one of the highlights of this anime. You really have to watch them to see what I mean.

Character Design:-
The character designs in this anime are excellent, and it reminds me a lot of Cromartie Koukou’s seinen-like designs. Marie, Guu’s overgrown form and the school doctor Dr. Clive are great examples of them. Definitely a positive point of this anime.

Just like Cromartie Koukou, this anime also has DiGi Charat references.

Voice Acting:-
Yet another positive point for this anime, the voice acting in this series is great in general. Outstanding performers are Hale and Marie. This factor really make Hale into a great character he is in the anime, because this anime is dialogue-heavy (not as heavy as Lucky Star though).

A succinct description of Guu, said by Hale himself.

Music:-
While the OST is great across all three seasons, only the 1st season OP theme and ED themes for the 2nd and 3rd seasons are of any good.

Another scene of Marie – Dr. Clive banters.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation in this series is good, with no stuttering in fast-paced scenes. Choreography is decent too, especially at the end of the 2nd season. The screw-up about the Guu’s character development marred the otherwise spotless directing of this anime.

Guu doing her usual cannibalistic routine.

Conclusion:-
9 out of 10. An excellent slice-of-life comedy, despite the average story. Macross 7 is next, if I am not tempted to watch Blassreiter already.

A parody of a JRPG more famous than Final Fantasy itself.