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: Kaiji (逆境無頼カイジ)

Posted by ranpha on 27th April 2008

Posted in: anime review - reposted, perfect score. Tagged: Kaiji (逆境無頼カイジ). Leave a Comment

More crying than 1 Litre of Tears.

Oh well, for the fourth review in less than a week, I’ve chosen Kaiji instead of Clannad (which I have slightly regretted downloading). Clannad will come after this, but now I present my mini-review of an anime that has a lot of crying involved.

A not-so-obvious rip-off of a certain TV show across the Pacific.

Story:-
Our hero that cries a lot, Kaiji was left in debt after the borrower he is co-signing for defaulted and goes missing. Unable to pay the exorbitant interest, he is forced to board a mysterious ship where he was told he can wipe out all his debt in one night by winning a strange card game that is held there…

Brilliant is the appropriate word that can be used to describe the story of this anime. It is definitely much better than any of the anime reviewed here in this current wave of reviews (take note to whoever wrote Hayate no Gotoku). The mind games and the psychological warfares that are abundant in this anime can easily be compared to those kinds of detective stories like Meitantei Conan or even other thrillers like Death Note. And if you ask me, Kaiji is better than those two mentioned when it comes to intricate and complex stories and plot twists. The ending is done very well too, and I hope this anime will have a richly-deserved second season.

Another aspect where this anime really shines is the presentation, which is one of the best for quite some time. Portrayals of human emotions; sadness in defeats, elation of winning and also the anger after being scammed is a major essence of this anime and contributes greatly to the quality of this anime. Characters development is also a good point of this anime, although with that small number of characters and most of them are not a recurring character, this is probably inevitable. Although, with most of the episodes happened only on two different nights, this is very commendable.

This anime has no weakness whatsoever in this section.

One of the key cliff-hanger scenes in this anime. Have to be seen to be believed.

Character Design:-
This anime seems to be aimed to older audiences just like Nodame Cantabile did, and the character design reflects that fact. It wasn’t exactly realistic, just different than those in titles aimed to younger demographic. Has plenty of black hair too, which is as realistic as it can be. Definitely a positive point of this anime.

Having to put with 2 retarded teammates can be fatal.

Voice acting:-
Another positive point of this anime, the voice acting for the relatively small cast for this anime is decent, but the main protagonist takes the cake. He is so immense and also one of the major reasons why this anime is that damn good. This dialogue-heavy title succeeded because the voice actor has done a very fine job, he is not far behind Ayako Kawasumi’s Noda Megumi.

There are no abuse of children here.

Music:-
This anime has good OST and OP theme, but unfortunately the ED theme is falling behind. It is very unfortunate that this happened, and you will know why later below.

Some of the violence in this anime, you may want to keep your children away from this title.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation is good as usual for a 2007 anime. There are little fast-paced scenes in this psychological thriller, but when it comes it does not disappoint. Choreography is almost non-existent due to the nature of the anime so no comment for me here. The directing is superb, with some clever camera tricks and angles and also what I have described in the Story section.

An ample explanation of the main protagonist.

Conclusion:-
A definite 10 out of 10. That is how good this anime is if you enjoy this kind of stories (and I do). But just like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Kaiji failed to capture the Best Anime of The Year 2007 title from Nodame Cantabile, mainly because little things like inferior ED themes. When you got a perfect score, I will start to compare little things like this to see who is ahead and who will be left behind, and for now a slightly retarded pianist still managed to hold off a poor bum who cries a lot from getting the greatest prize of all. Hmm… somehow this reminds me about the ending of this anime. Clannad has a tough time following Kaiji’s footsteps here.

Still wondering why he loses to a pianist.

List of 10 out of 10 anime in this blog: Kaiji, Capeta, Nodame Cantabile, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Chocotto Sister and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

I forgot what caption should be put here.

Review: Gosyusho-sama Ninomiya-kun (ご愁傷さま二ノ宮くん)

Posted by ranpha on 25th April 2008

Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: Gosyusho-sama Ninomiya-kun (ご愁傷さま二ノ宮くん). Leave a Comment

This anime did has some problems with the characters animations, that’s for sure.

Today, Nodame Cantabile will be challenged by Gosyusho-sama Ninomiya-kun, the third anime in this current wave of end-of-month anime reviews. Significantly shorter than the first two at 12 episodes, will this harem anime that I suspect is an adaptation of yet another dating simulation game (I’m lazy to check) be victorious, or will it join Hayate no Gotoku and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 together at that mountain of victims that Noda Megumi had slain? Read on to find out!

Story:-
Ninomiya Shungo, a normal high-school student that knows a little-bit of martial arts has to play doctor because he has been tasked to cure Tsukimura Mayu, a beautiful and well-endowed naïve girl of her fear of men or androphobia. This series consists of him struggling to control himself from doing ‘this’ or ‘that’ on her while fending off the advances of a couple of other girls from his high-school.

Frankly speaking, the essence of the story is surprisingly good, but it was ruined by bad presentation. The director (I will put my criticism of the director here instead of the relevant section below) just about managed to mangle the story which were haphazardly presented. Disjointed plots, rough switches between scenes and inability to stitch the chunks of the story into one coherent piece are just some of the weaknesses that this anime’s presentation has. This weakness is amplified at the ending, which under any other random director would have been good, but instead the last episode failed to invoke the feelings that were supposed to be there as the storyline wanted it.

What a waste of a good and decent story, if you ask me.

One of the good things about this anime is the fan-service, being gratuitous and not overly-excessive at the same time. Characters development is done very well too despite the episode low count, probably what the only good thing the director has done. There are no outstanding or powerful characters here, which is understandable considering the content of the episodes this anime has.

Character Design:-
Coming straight out of a typical dating simulation game or even a hentai movie. All the stereotypes you can think off exist here; big eyes, humongous breasts, impossible body shapes, hair colours that is not black etc. and all the male characters looks like the unassuming types that you can only see from those games/movies. But make no mistake, unlike other titles that does this kind of designs that are reviewed here, this anime actually does this very well if the context of this anime is taken into account. Definitely a positive point of this anime.

Voice acting:-
The voice acting here is pretty decent, with that blue-haired girl with split personality being the best. Well, nothing more to be said here.

Music:-
This anime has good OST but none of the OP/ED themes makes the cut.

Animation/Direction:-
It is hard to judge the quality of the animation in this anime. If I were to ignore every other factor applicable here, the animation is not exactly fluid and stuttered in some certain scenes, especially in the latter episodes in this series. But I think that this problem is caused by the fansub [m.3.3.w] encoder who did not do their job properly. Choreography of the action scenes is mixed; some of them are good while others is simply meh. My view of the directing has already been expressed above, but I should say that the directing is not as bad as the one in Armitage III.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. The woeful directing cost this anime at least 2 points. I am still deciding whether to watch Kaiji or Clannad next, but anyway you will know which one will come next when the review comes up. Ah, and one last thing I want you to know, at the end of this wave I will finish it with Myself, Yourself. Really need to get that out of my way as soon as possible for the peace of my mind.

Parody of some certain famous anime/manga titles here.

Review: Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダム00 <ダブルオー>)

Posted by ranpha on 23rd April 2008

Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: Gundam (series), Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダム00 ). Leave a Comment

BBC should consider suing for this blatant rip-off of their website design.

The second anime in this current wave of mini-reviews is Gundam 00, just as I wrote in the last (and disastrous) review of Hayate no Gotoku. And yeah, this anime is so much better it wasn’t even funny. Now let’s see if Nodame Cantabile‘s throne will be threatened here.

Story:-
In a future where oil that costs $100 per barrel is just a bad dream, a bunch of “meisters” try to strong-arm the rest of the world into ceasing all wars and conflicts. Being true to their roots, humanity did not just stand-still and started to retaliate against god-like Gundam mobile suits whose shadows started to spread all over the world.

The story is pretty decent, and a masterpiece even when compared to Hayate no Gotoku. I do still think that Gundam SEED (not Destiny) is better though, mainly because the first two-third of the story involve many lop-sided battles (even if the battles are mostly won by the protagonists). The flow of the story is fluid, with no unnecessary flashbacks and minimal fillers. Unlike SEED and SEED Destiny, it also cuts down those clichés-laden dialogues/issues too, which is a good thing. Although I would have not watched this anime if I know that there will be a second season (I prefer to collect them all first), the ending is very well done with just enough teasers for a second season (of which I will definitely watch).

For the second season, I hope that the producers will never, ever repeat the numerous mistakes in SEED Destiny. The ending of the first season provides ample opportunities for another decent story in second season (which probably what Gundam SEED does not have) and I am hopeful that it will be seized. And please cut down those lop-sided battles, it just drags the anime down.

Characters development is where this anime shines. It is very clear that they were done under the assumption that there will be a second season coming up. They makes me look forward to what will certain characters will do in the second season after what happened in the first one; Saji Crossroad and Marina Ismail being the two most interesting characters that comes to mind. No dead characters coming back to life please under obscure circumstances (this one is one of the biggest factors why SEED Destiny is a failure).

Make him the main protagonist in the second season and tell him to destroy the Celestial Being, and we will be on to something….

Character Design:-
One of the things I do not like about the SEED series is that some of the characters look very alike (my sister complains about this too), but fortunately this one do not have that problem. Character design in this anime is good, but no one stands out from the rest. Considering the setting of this anime, the little amount of black hair apart from the Kurds’ main protagonist will be forgiven.

Mecha design does not really improve from the SEED series if you ask me. No incentive for you and me to go out and buy the toys.

Voice acting:-
Unfortunately, the voice acting in this anime is just average. Mamoru Miyano who voiced the main protagonist did not repeat his stellar performances in el cazador de la bruja and Dragonaut – The Resonance. I personally thinks he is more suitable at voicing the evil and insane antagonists instead of a moody (and slightly emo) Gundam meister pilot that acts first before thinking. His performance is simply uninspiring in this anime and failed to give the needed life into the character he is voicing for.

Music:-
Only the 2^nd ED theme is of any good here. The OST and the rest of the themes are not exactly noticeable or appealing to my ears.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation is top notch, even in fast-paced scenes. Some of the scenery seems to come out from Makoto Shinkai playbook, which makes it doubly impressive. Choreography of action scenes does not really shine, mainly because of all those lop-sided battles this anime has. The directing is superb at marshalling the storyline, character development, scene transitions etc. into one very good package. These factors really are a positive point for the scoring of this anime.

Conclusion:-
9 out of 10. A great improvement from Hayate no Gotoku, although not good enough to take the Best Anime of 2007 title away from Nodame Cantabile. Note to Japan: Do not screw up the 2^nd season please, kthxbai! The third anime in the pipeline in this wave of mini-reviews will be Gosyusho-sama, Ninomiya-kun.

A beautiful shot in 720p that is simply awesome.