anime movies

Anime movies reviewed in this blog.

Review: Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:Q)

Posted by ranpha on 6th June 2013
Posted in: anime movies, anime review. Tagged: , . Leave a Comment

The main male protagonist, now 28 years old, asking questions I also wanted to be answered.
The main male protagonist, now 28 years old, asking questions I also wanted to be answered.

As mentioned in the previous entry of this blog, today’s review is for the third Evangelion reboot movie titled Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, which in hindsight, really fits the plot of the movie. While this movie is a 2012 title, it will not replace the current ‘Anime of the Year 2012’ title holder, Another, mainly because this third movie of the series isn’t exactly much better than its two predecessors. Going past what you can see in the original TV series and End of Evangelion, is the new materials will finally reveal why on Earth Asuka’s name was changed in the second movie?

Story:-
Fourteen years after the world was destroyed by the Third Impact mega-explosion, the now-adult Ikari Shinji-kun (28-years old) broke free from the prison he is trapped in by his former NERV colleagues. But less than a month later, after mastering the piano, he destroyed the ravaged world again by causing the Fourth Impact mega-explosion. And that’s about it about this movie: piano playing, and the Fourth Impact.

An uncomfortable amount of air time is spent on Shinji's struggles with the piano.
An uncomfortable amount of air time is spent on Shinji's struggles with the piano.

As you can see in the paragraph above, this third movie of the reboot series has the thinnest plot between all the movies. I think this is because the writer doesn’t have any TV series plot to adapt anymore. Therefore, the third movie also has the slowest pacing when compared to its two predecessors, it is as if you are watching a typical mecha anime TV series, an example would be the currently airing Kakumeiki Valvrave which I have personally previewed for a few episodes. The flow of the original story is also actually the best of the three movies, mainly because the writer doesn’t have to do adaptation of the TV series anymore. So, in other words, the presentation aspect for this movie is definitely the best amongst all titles in the reboot series.

As for the original plot itself, unfortunately to say that the quality doesn’t measure to what seen in the original TV series at all, and to a lesser extent, the plots in the first two movies too. Personally I think the plot in first few episodes of the aforementioned Kakumeiki Valvrave is better than the one in this movie. And I have already taken into consideration the fact that the writer of the former has already commits one major cock-up story-wise in that first 4 episodes I have watched. I will elaborate on this one once I get to review it in the future. With this movie, the reboot practically reverts to your average cookie-cutter mecha title like Valvrave is.

But there is still one movie left for the writer to salvage the plot of the reboot series, just like how Kakumeiki Valvrave still have more episodes to repair the damage done by the cock-up I have mentioned above. Maybe after the Fifth Impact splits the planet in half, I will then can decide whether the original portion of whole reboot package is worth it or not.

Another good thing the third movie do have is that I like the Nagisa Kaworu of this movie is much better than the version in the TV series. Maybe it is because of the piano tutelage, but he is more forthcoming than he is in the TV series. Due to limited length of his character appearance in the movie, his character development is pretty much non-existent though, as if he is there only as a breathing plot device than a normal character. I hope he will appear again in the final movie just like what he says at the end of this one.

As expected, Asuka’s name change has not been explained, yet, in this movie, and by the time the movie ends, her character is worse than the one in TV series. I say this because considering the way the story goes so far, I don’t think her past will be touched the way it was done in the TV series, and this is a shame just like how the second movie omits the battle where she and Shinji fought the Angel with two cores. Only Rei managed to keep her character comparable with her TV series version. As of now, Shinji of this movie is a bit better than the one in the TV series, although he tried hard in this movie to reverse the situation.

The ending of this movie is less intense than the second movie’s, but still enticing enough to make me wait for the final movie slated for review in 2016.

Character Design:-
My comment from the review of the first movie still applies.

Voice Acting:-
My comment from the review of the first movie still applies.

Music:-
Finally, the ED theme of this movie is the best from all 3 movies to date. A definite improvement if you ask me. The OST has stagnated since the second movie though.

Animation/Direction:-
The third movie still retains the excellent animation quality seen in its two predecessors. Choreography of action scenes in this movie is up to par with the ones in the second movie too, which in turn is better than the ones in the first movie. The directing has been markedly improved, as mentioned above, mainly because of the original plot.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. The original story is inferior to the TV series material, but this movie’s Kaworu do mitigate some of that weakness, and so are the improvements in the story’s presentation. The Fifth Impact movie hopefully will see him rise up like a phoenix, and hopefully also raise its final rating with him.

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-BI

Review: REDLINE (レドライン)

Posted by ranpha on 19th August 2011
Posted in: anime movies, anime review, sport genre standard. Tagged: . 1 comment


The main male protagonist.

Just like I have mentioned in my previous blog post just a couple of days ago, today’s review is going to be for the long-awaited feature-length anime movie titled REDLINE.  Seven years in the making, with all frames being hand-drawn, this 2009 title will then challenge the ‘Anime of the Year 2009’ incumbent Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Not being saddled with the blurry animation technique penalty but has the sport genre handicap being applied to it instead, will this movie actually matches the hype I have heard about it and take the title?

Story:-
Set up far away in the futuristic future, REDLINE is an illegal racing tournament that takes place every 5 years at a random location, and watched by fans across the universe. The main male protagonist managed to get into the race after a couple of the original finalists withdrew from the race and he has to dodge missiles from competitors and the army while trying to win the race and getting the woman.

Storywise, this movie is no different really than the anime I reviewed here before Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou; the plot has very little substance. Basically this movie shows some racing at the start, then shows some preparations before the big race, and of course, the REDLINE itself. The pacing of the thin storyline is thick and fast (a good thing I guess), even during the part when there is no racing. But unlike Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou and just like the Ponyo movie, the flow of the storyline in this movie is excellent from the start until the end, despite its lack of substance.

Character developments in this movie is pretty minimal, mainly consists of some well-placed flashbacks. And only certain characters benefits from this, and they are the main male protagonist and his mechanic. I don’t think the main female protagonist get the same privileges that those two has. The ending (the REDLINE race itself) is predictable but is still a very good watch, if you like action.

Character Design:-
Character designs in this movie is excellent although not far removed from the designs seen in past titles in futuristic sci-fi shounen genre like Trigun or Cowboy Bebop. Lack of black hairs in this movie is forgivable because of the settings, I’m not even sure if the main protagonist is from Earth or not. Race car designs are also good, except for the main female protagonist’s. A positive aspect for this movie.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting in this movie is good overall. But what really stands out in this movie is the voices of the female characters, because they are much better than their male counterparts. This is not to say that the male protagonist and the rest of the male lineup in this movie are bad, it is just that the female lineup are clearly superior. The main female protagonist and the racers from Planet Supergrass are some good examples of this female superiority phenomenon in this movie. A positive aspect for this movie.

Music:-
The bass-heavy OST of this movie is excellent and is integral in this movie’s watching experience. Better crank up those subwoofers and surround speakers when watching the racing parts of this movie, this movie has the best surround effects that is comparable to the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-ray I watched recently. The ED theme is forgettable though. Despite of that, the musical part in this movie is still a positive aspect for this movie.

Don’t watch this movie with stereo speakers. You miss a big part of the experience if you don’t have at least a 5.1 speaker setup.


The awesome kaleidoscope scenery in Europass, a sample of the visual pleasure you will get from watching this movie.

Animation/Direction:-
The hype that surrounds this movie mostly has to do with the excellent animation it has, and oh boy this movie does not disappoint. Seven years in the making? With hand-drawn animations? This movie easily topped what you can see from Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo movie, by some comfortable margin. Pristine animation overall even in fast-paced scenes. This apply even in very fast ones as is common in racing sequences. It is hard to overstate how good the animation is in this movie, you will have to see it by yourself. I’ll give this movie 2 extra points to the final evaluation just because of this.

Great animation, paired with thin storyline, this movie is basically the Japan’s answer to Avatar.

Choreography in the racing scenes is quite decent too, although I feel that this movie loses some steam in this regard after the appearance of the biological weapon in  middle part of REDLINE. The directing is flawless, and I have no problems with it at all. Although maybe the director could employ some of the great camera work that can be seen in the likes of Fractale’s first episode.

Conclusion:-
9 out of 10, a respectable score considering its nature. This anime would have replaced Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei if not for the sport genre handicap. The next anime I will review here is a overly familiar one, a title that will make you go ‘oh snap’! Not very long, only 15 episodes, so expect it to come next week or so, unless it is crap.

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-rs

Review: Eden of the East TV, Eden of the East: King of Eden & Eden of the East: Paradise Lost

Posted by ranpha on 7th May 2011
Posted in: anime movies, anime review. Tagged: , , . 4 comments


The main protagonist of this anime, in one of his self-inflicted pinch.

In my last blog entry, I mentioned that I want to watch the 4 whole seasons (201 episodes) of the Gintama series. But because of a certain reason that I will make known during the review of the said series, I stopped watching it continuously and will instead watch other anime titles while still watching Gintama intermittently until it ends. Currently I have watched about 110 episodes of what I have, so it will be quite some time before I actually go to review the series.

Therefore here it is, my review of the long-awaited (at least for me) Eden of the East series. What I have watched is the Eden of the East TV series that has 11 episodes, and also the two follow-up movies titled The King of Eden and Paradise Lost. I won’t watch the third movie because I have learned that it is just a big full-length recap movie (why on earth Japan wants to do this I don’t know). The TV series started airing in 2009, therefore it will also challenge Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei for the ‘Anime of the Year 2009’ title.


I am watching the Blu-ray version of the anime. Surely there is no need to censor anything right?

Story:-
A Japanese female university student is visiting Washington D.C. for her graduation ceremony, and she finally fulfill her longtime dream of seeing the White House with her own eyes. She then tried to hurl a coin into the North Lawn’s fountain but failed, and is about to get arrested for her troubles. But just before the authorities shipped her to Guantanamo Bay, our nudist hero appeared and saved her bacon. From there on, she become deeply involved in a deadly reality game of which her savior is a participant, as Japan started to be rained with Tomahawk missiles.

This anime is basically a cross between the manga Mirai Nikki and the Bourne trilogy movies (referenced in this anime – movie references are abound here), but not as thrilling like the former and not as intense like the latter (I only watched the first 2 Bourne movies though). Still FWIW, the storyline is quite good for a shounen title. The pacing in TV series is quite slow though for the kind of the storyline it has (a similar anime series titled Speed Grapher has better pacing than this one) but when the movies comes in, the pacing picks up considerably.

This is why I’m glad that I waited for the movies to come out first before watching the series. The TV series by itself are written to set up the stage where most of the actions will be played in the movies. If I were to watch only the TV version, the scoring for this anime would have been lower. If you plan to watch this series, you should do so by having all the TV episodes and the two movies too; the experience would have been more complete that way. Despite the discrepancies of pacing between the TV episodes and the movies, the flow of the story develops nicely and smoothly, and was capped with a decent ending that doesn’t really permit an extension.

Character developments were mostly done during the TV series phase, and as expected, the forgetful main male protagonist is the best character in this series. The main female protagonist only become more useful in the movie phase. The only blot in this series is how some of the Seleção members only has peripheral roles in the series; it made me feel that the anime’s settings are not exploited to its fullest potential.


This scene is epic yet hilarious if you ask me.

Character Design:-
The character designs in this anime is more realistically seinen than shounen, and is good in general. The designs of the main male and female protagonists in this anime reminds me a lot of the designs of the main protagonists of The Sky Crawlers and Spirited Away, respectively. Black hairs are common in this modern Japan, which can only be a good thing. A positive aspect for this anime.

But for god’s sake, that was some futuristic handphones that the Seleção members have, even if you ignore the concierge access and the 10 billion yen credited into it. Not even the white iPhone 4 can be compared to it. The phones really shows that the flip form-factor phones can be awesome, and how touch-screens isn’t always desirable.


Quoted For Truth. I have 2 myself.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting in this anime is flawless, yet largely uninteresting overall. Nearly all the voice actors has done their job well, but no one stands out from the rest.

Music:-
The OST is sparse but is excellent. But none of the OP/ED themes in the movies or the TV series  are any good though, even for the Oasis track.


This scene is one of the places where 2D and CGI doesn’t really mesh well.

Animation/Direction:-
The quality of the animation in this anime is great, even in fast-paced scenes. There are surprisingly very little choreography in this anime though, unlike in the Bourne movies or in Speed Grapher. Sometimes the integration between traditional animation and CGI videos are not done seamlessly though, but you can see some stunning scenes in this anime especially in the movies. The directing is competent to say the least, at least I don’t see any problems except for the writing that doesn’t take advantage of the situation.


But this anime sure have some stunning scenes in it, comparable to what you can see in Makoto Shinkai’s works.

Conclusion:-
9 out of 10. Not good enough to dethrone Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, but it is still a recommended watch for anyone who like some thrillers in their lives.

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-nS

Pages:  1 2 3 4 5 6