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Review: Kino no Tabi (キノの旅 – the Beautiful World)

Posted by ranpha on 8th September 2007

Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: Kino no Tabi (series), Kino no Tabi (キノの旅 – the Beautiful World). Leave a Comment

No animals were harmed in the making of this anime.

A random anime I downloaded from KAA website, today will be a review of Kino no Tabi.

Story:-
This anime is similar with Eatman 98 in plenty of ways, only that this anime’s protagonist isn’t as cool as Bolt Crank and the stories isn’t as good. This anime has some witty one liners and humorous questions and answers though. There are no elaborate plots with many of the episodes are just different chapters of Kino’s journey.

Character Design:-
The characters here are designed with more mature audiences in mind, almost the way Nodame Cantabile is. But they are wholly average at best.

Voice acting:-
IMO Kino and Hermes has pretty good voice actors and fits the characters very well. Nothing really to complain here with almost all of the other characters doing well.

Music:-
The OP theme is decent but the ED is not while the OST is almost non-existant.

Animation/Direction:-
The good point of the series. Animation is fluid even in action scenes and were choreographed very well. The directing is faultless but average.

Conclusion:-
6 out of 10. Same score as Eatman 98.

Even the heroine was rendered speechless after she was asked a brain-dead question.

Review: Popotan (ぽぽたん)

Posted by ranpha on 23rd August 2007

Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: Popotan (ぽぽたん). Leave a Comment

The maid looking at something she could never wear.

Today is a review of another game-based anime with overloads of fan-service that is Popotan. Actually do not really expect much from this one.

Story:-
3 sisters alongside their devious maid travels though time aimlessly as they search for ‘The One”, briefly meeting with plenty of people before leaving for the future. They hits some snags as they meets ‘The One’ before eventually moving on at the end.

This is the kind of anime that relies on character strengths instead of a good storyline to carry it forward. The story is pretty decent but lacking in substance, takes little bit too long to take shape just like Jigoku Shoujo did. As I watched the anime, I mostly looked forward to what the characters will do in any given episode, especially Mii and Mea the maid than enjoying the story. In fact, this is what made the series watchable in the first place.

Oh, about the fan-service, there are plenty of them. IMO, this is not exactly a good thing but YMMV.

Character Design:-
Average, except maybe the maid. Even some of the minor characters has better design. And yeah, no black hair here for this game-based anime.

A minor character with better design than the major characters.

Voice acting:-
Just like character design, there is nothing to rave here. The voices did match the characters perfectly though. Especially the maid.

Music:-
Definitely the good point of this anime. The OP theme is decent, the OST is outstanding and the super sweet and catchy ED theme is something else. Definitely one of the best ED themes I have ever heard, easily rivaling the likes of Horoscope Rhapsody etc.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation is good although did slack off in some scenes near the end of the series. The directing is superb, managed to portray the characters in a positive light in the absence of any sensible story, helped by the great OST.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. Good musical gives plenty of points to offset the crappy story.

That minor character wearing the maid’s costume. Looks even better than the owner of the suit.

Review: Rocket Girls (ロケットガール)

Posted by ranpha on 16th August 2007

Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: Rocket Girls (ロケットガール). Leave a Comment

The title image of the anime, has nothing better to do screenshots with.

This is my review of another anime shown in Japan in this year, titled Rocket Girls after Nodame Cantabile. Similar to Stratos 4, read on if this series has the guts to kick Nodame off its perch.

Story:-
A typical high-school girl went to the Solomon Islands to find her long-lost father but she was recruited as an astronaut instead. She trains as she searched for her father (found relatively quickly) and she was joined by a couple of young girls who also becomes astronauts. She eventually does a couple of (impossible) gigs, one heroically.

The story is similar in certain aspects with Stratos 4, only more realistic and watered down. Not much action but more emphasis on human virtues such hard work, friendships, family values and things like that. The story itself is decent but not as good as Stratos 4. Still, lack of romance and airtime wasted on fillers are great.

Character Design:-
Pretty decent I think. Nothing too spectacular here.

Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The only place where you can have full-bar signal on your mobile in the middle of nowhere.

Voice acting:-
Just average for almost all of the characters, although the voice of Matsuri is quite good.

Music:-
The OP theme and also the OST is good, but not the ED or the insert songs.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation is superb, probably the strongest point of this anime. The direction could do without some glaring errors, such as the cockpit bridge that was still in place even in mere 3 seconds before launch.

Conclusion:-
6 out of 10. Nodame Cantabile still sit comfortably on the throne.

How to eat potato chips Japanese way.