anime review – reposted

All reviews written when the blog is still at Windows Live Spaces. Usually shorter and inferior in quality. Not used anymore.

Review: CODE-E

Posted by ranpha on 15th January 2008
Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: , . Leave a Comment


The dialogue that started everything. Eventually he is able to have his way with her at the end. Persistence really pay off you know!

This time it takes me only a day to finish and able to review another 2007 anime, in face of the current title holder Nodame Cantabile. Here is my mini-review of CODE-E. If you wonder where the hell Myself Yourself review is, this is because it seems that that anime seems to suck and I will delay its review to a later date.

Story:-
A female high school student that can emit EM waves was being hounded down by a science freak who wants to ‘examine’ her body in the name of science. Throughout the series she was stalked by him, and that’s about it for the 12-episode run, as she eventually succumbed and gives way to his nasty desires.

Actually the series started very strongly for about 3 or 4 episodes before going downhill towards the end of the series. I can’t really make up the ending, whether there will be a second season or not (moving note: there is). If there is none, then the finale is really f*cked-up. If there will be a second season, then the finale seems to be hurried up. Probably the series can do with an extra episode or so.

I will also want to complain about some big plot holes too, an example will be how Saihashi Yuma tells Sonomi Kujo about Ebihara Chinami losing her powers, despite the fact Kujo do not really know Saihashi well. Plus, Kujo does not seem to suspect why Saihashi knows that fact. It seems that off-screen, these two has become closer without being explained to the audience.

 
So true. I think he is doing well with his joke attempt but those Japanese high school girls has been indoctrinated with low quality Japan TV.

Character Design:-
A positive point of the anime, the character design is best described as ‘believable’. The two main protagonists was designed in the way that fits their roles perfectly, and to a certain extent did not conform to the usual rules of the shoujo genre this anime is. Other characters are good too, especially Sonomi Kujo.

Voice Acting:-
Mixed bag overall, but I like Sonomi Kujo voice as she was outstanding. Regrettably, the two main protagonist voices are just average, even the 2 blonde antagonists is better.

Music:-
Just like Zero no Tsukaima, the OST is good but the OP/ED themes are forgettable.

Animation/Direction:-
Probably the first 2007 anime I watched that has average animation quality. Frame skips are noticeable even in average-speed scenes. With explosions being the only thing that can be described as action scenes, there are no comments about choreography. About the directing, it is decent except for the plot holes explained above.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. If only the story can keep its great start, it will score higher. Nodame can breath a sigh of relief here.

 
Quoted For Truth.

Review: Zero no Tsukaima (ゼロの使い魔) + Futatsuki no Kishi (ゼロの使い魔 ～双月の騎士～)

Posted by ranpha on 14th January 2008
Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment


Everyone is looking at the class resident idiot a.k.a. the female protagonist.

After the recent triple reviews for sports anime, we now returns to the more familiar genre of shounen with my review of the 2 seasons of Zero no Tsukaima series. This series is unique because it will simultaneously compete with Kiba the TV Animation and Nodame Cantabile for the 2006 and 2007 Anime of The Year titles. Now let’s se if this anime can even challenge those 2 distinguished series.

Story:-
A dorky wannabe magician who has a very high failure rate in magic casting failed her familiar (which is some kind of servant) summoning test and has to settle with a human as her familiar. The unfortunate human that was spirited away from modern Japan has to deal with his masochist master who likes to whip him every time she has the chance. Then some kind of plot emerges and that’s it. For 2 seasons.

Actually the background story is quite decent if you can withstand the annoying and indecisive female protagonist. It flows smoothly with great pacing. At least I think this series’ story is better than the more heralded Shakugan no Shana. This series do not have an ending yet, and I smell a third season on the horizon because there are so many thing not tied-up yet. Character developments are done well, with the likable main protagonist being the best character in the series. But the less said about the female main protagonist, the better (she is definitely one of the worst tsundere characters I have ever seen).

Character Design:-
The character design in this anime is typical of the genre. The male protagonist (and another character) incidentally has black hair, mainly because it is an important fact on the series. For the rest, black is an alien colour for them. Anyway, they are all very well done.

Voice acting:-
Voice acting in this anime is just like character design, i.e. very well done. There are no standouts though.

Music:-
The OST is excellent across the 2 seasons, but all the OP/ED themes are crap.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation is decent, and improves in the 2nd season. It did not suffer in fast-paced scenes but the choreography for them is only average. And so are for the directing, with the exception of the control of the storyline.

Conclusion:-
6 out of 10. And that’s about it. Nodame Cantabile and Kiba the TV Animation still holds their respective titles.

 
How to portray a bad-ass villain in the worst possible light.

Review: Capeta (カペタ)

Posted by ranpha on 11th January 2008
Posted in: anime review - reposted, perfect score. Tagged: . 2 comments


Quoted For Truth.

I started this blog from around the middle of 2006, and have reviewed more than 50 anime titles spanning more than 1500 episodes. Before that, I have also watched a lot of anime that I do not include in this blog. I’m saying this because the review for today is for the best ever anime I have watched since this blog was started, Capeta.


Our antagonist, Naomi Minamoto.

Story:-
Taira Kappeita a.k.a. Capeta is a 10-year old boy who was given a makeshift go-kart by his father who feels guilty for leaving him alone at home for far too long. When Capeta gives the go-kart a spin at the nearby circuit, he meets Naomi Minamoto, a professional go-kart racer who is a year older than him. From there on, their rivalry started, and throughout this series, we got to see how Capeta tried hard to catch up to his more illustrious rival. There is virtually no romance here with only some funny scenes popping-up here and there in the serious business of kart racing.

Simply put, this anime proves that you do not have to have complex stories like the ones in Seirei no Moribito or Legend of Galactic Heroes to be super awesome and super successful. In essence, the story in this anime is typical for the genre, but what this anime has that makes up for that weakness is almost everything else; from character developments, character relationships, excellent flow of the story and many more. Unlike many of the sports anime out there, this anime is more realistic and tried to mimic the real world of racing. The only thing that can be considered typical is Taira’s phenomenal abilities to adapt to the conditions he were in. All the laws and techniques that applies to go-kart racing are explained as needed.

Sports anime usually put a lot of emphasis on hard-work, grit, determination, patience or <insert any good/positive values here> but Capeta takes this plot device to another level. No, it isn’t ‘another level’, more like ‘several levels’ or so. Coupled with the realism detailed above, it makes for a potent mix of dramatic and emotional scenes that at times droves me to tears. Episode 32 and the last episode are awesome on its own. The way Capeta and his friends work hard in the face of all the adversity they have to overcome is very different from other sports anime out there.

Character development is also one of the strength of this anime, especially for Taira Kappeita, his friend Andou Nobu and also Taira’s father Shige. Despite being not the main protagonist, Andou Nobu is easily the best character in the series. Originally a foe of Taira because of jealousy over a female friend, they eventually become friends because of go-kart racing. The relationships between these three people as they supported each other with all their might is also one of the great things that makes this anime so awesome.

The review above did not really do justice to this series. You really have to watch this anime to see the awesomeness of this anime.


One of the biggest reasons why this anime is awesome.

Character Design:-
It was pretty unique I think, and brown is really the new black these days. Not the prettiest but it serves its role well.


Men’s love + bestiality.

Voice acting:-
A positive point of this anime, voice acting especially for the main characters is excellent, especially for Mr. Manager Andou Nobu. The rest are decent too.


We’re gonna get RAPED!

Music:-
Another positive point for this anime; the OST is great, while for themes, the 2nd OP and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ED themes are good.


Yaoi at its best.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation is superb, which is another positive point of this anime. Action scenes come hard and fast, after all just like Initial D, this is a racing series. Integration between 2D and CGI scenes are done very well too. Directing is also excellent, ensuring the story flows very well and also managing to portray those racing scenes with nifty camera angles that I appreciate a lot. It wasn’t that perfect though (see below).


The driver is crazy for crying with helmet on or the director has screwed-up. I think it is the latter.

Conclusion:-
10 out of 10. Fact:- This anime is better than Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Nodame Cantabile or the rest of the anime I have reviewed here to date. Capeta has now dislodged Azumanga Daioh to become the second best anime I watched in all time, just behind DNA2. This also means that from now on, sports anime genre will join the romance genre as the genre that will be judged with higher set of standard compared to other genres like comedy or slice-of-life etc.


Yet another parody of an anime Capeta has eclipsed, Initial D.

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