anime review

All reviews written since I moved the blog to the wordpress platform. Default category.

Review: Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season (機動戦士ガンダム00 セカンドシーズン)

Posted by ranpha on 23rd August 2009

Posted in: anime review. Tagged: Gundam (series), Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season (機動戦士ガンダム00 セカンドシーズン). Leave a Comment

The super-elite A-Law mecha pilot who is the bane of the Gundam Meisters.

It has been a few months since my last entry in this blog (blame it on my Left 4 Dead addiction), but I can somewhat wean myself off my addiction to that game just like I did with flyff to wrote the review for .hack//Roots way back then in 1997. I do not really watch the secret anime title I have mentioned in my previous post because my HDD that contains that anime (and a couple of others) gone bad and I cannot recover the data in it. I may redownload the anime in the future. Nevertheless the random anime I have chosen from my huge anime back-log is the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. While it is a 2008 anime, current holder Wolf and Spice will still retain the Anime of the Year 2008 title because of some issues I will explain below.

Story:-
4 years after the events in the last episode in the first season, the New World Order united Federation government is establishing the independent elite army called A-Team A-Law. This new organization happens to be trigger-happy a little too much, so the bunch of Gundam Meisters has to reappear again to do their jobs. With new mechas (thus, more miniature replica toys to be sold – what else this series is created for) but with not many new characters (no new gashapon toys?), the sequel may become the prequel of the upcoming movie.

The first season actually has done very well in my book, earning a score of 9 out of 10, but I have a feeling that the second season has regressed. The story in this sequel are just natural continuations of the first season, and they started well for the first half of the series. It was in the second half of this anime where negatives that wasn’t in the first season such as awful cliché-laden dialogues started to appear, accompanying the tired cliché-laden plots about justice and stuff. Not only that, about 7 or 8 episodes from the end, I can already see how the anime will end (read: predictable, safe ending that will not offend anyone). There is also a time where I feared that Princess Marina Ismail is going to become a Lynn Minmay (or god forbid, Nekki Basara), but thankfully, she doesn’t. Well, as a whole, Gundam 00 series is still better than the Gundam SEED series though.

The pacing of the story is excellent, and it flows very well. Character developments are also done very well, continuing from where the first season ends. From the two characters that interests me in the first season, which is Saji Crossroad and Princess Maria Ismail, only the latter has exceeded my expectations. For Saji Crossroad, he embodies what went wrong with the story in the second season. The ending did not tie up some loose ends, but I guess that’s what the movie is for.

Character Design:-
No change from what I have said in the review for the first season.

Voice acting:-
Also no change from what I have said in the review for the first season.

Music:-
Ridiculously, the same comment from me for the first season still applies. Only the 2nd ED theme is of any good, while the OST and other themes are of no importance. Nice insert by Princess Maria Ismail though.

Animation/Direction:-
Just like the first season, the second season, shown in high definition, has great animation quality even in fast-paced scenes. Choreography in this anime, especially in mecha battles has improved a lot compared from the first season. The directing has taken a hit from Momento Mori though, from the looks of this season.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. A great opportunity to create a great series is lost. If only Saji Crossroad are used as well as Princess Maria Ismail is. There are no worthy successor for the venerable Gundam Wing yet. Now, when will the next review come?

A horny soldier is eavesdropping at a couple making hot steam love in their barrack.

Review: Tytania (タイタニア)

Posted by ranpha on 16th April 2009

Posted in: anime review. Tagged: Tytania (タイタニア). 2 comments

Battle scenes here is more like the ones in Heroic Age than Legend of Galactic Heroes.

Tytania takes longer than I thought (some unexpected task been given my way without warning and with tight deadlines) but here is the review as promised in the last post. This anime is a 2008 title, so Tytania will challenge Wolf and Spice for the Anime of the Year 2008 title.

Story:-
The noble family of Tytania is a clan that dominates the whole universe for a couple of centuries. But when one of the four Dukes of Tytania loses the Battle of Cerberus against a no-name Admiral called Fan Hyulick, cracks started to show up within the supposedly invincible family as the rebels across the universe started to be encouraged by the result of that battle. Being hunted by the Tytania clan across the universe, Fan Hyulick then started to mass up a rebellion movement of his own as he faced up with the might of the most powerful family in the universe.

Written by the same person who also does Legend of Galactic Heroes (thus comparison will be inevitable), the story as a whole is excellent, but for now I think it wasn’t as complex or intense as Legend of Galactic Heroes (LoGH) is. If you have watched LoGH, Fan Hyulick can be likened to Yang Wen Li while the Four Dukes and the Clan Lord of Tytania can be likened to Kaiser Reinhard, but then again neither sides (Fan Hyulick or the Tytania lords) has the brilliance of the two LoGH main characters as of yet. Even the Battle of Cerberus is not an exception, because if you superimposed the Kaiser Reinhard and Yang Wen Li in that battle, neither one will do or be tricked by such cheap tricks Fan Hyulick uses in that said battle. In other words, the first weakness of this anime is the same one that plagued Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion, which is the usage of lame tactics and mind tricks when compared to other thrillers like LoGH itself, Kaiji or Death Note.

The second weakness this anime has is the usage of romance element as the plot device to advance the story and develop Fan Hyulick’s character at the middle of the series. This is worse than the first weakness mentioned above because this will be hard to mitigate in subsequent seasons of this anime (while the first weakness above can still be fixed later). Using the death of Fan Hyulick’s love interest Lira Florenz to turn him against Tytania seems, well, too ordinary. I can even see that supposed plot-twist coming from several miles ahead. Compared to Yang Wen Li who fought for Free Planet Alliance purely because of his patriotism and idealogy for democracy, this makes Fan Hyulick seems ordinary indeed. Oh, by the way, the paragraph about Lira Florenz is a spoiler. If you haven’t watched the anime, you can always unread this paragraph later.

Character development for the massive amount of characters here are done very well and will prepare them for the future seasons that will come in the future (can I expect 100+ episodes here?). Fan Hyulick, the Four Dukes of Tytania, Tytania Clan Lord Ajman and Princess Lydia are just some outstanding and exciting characters that have been introduced to us first season viewers with plenty of promise in the future. I think there will be more major characters that will be introduced into this epic series in both sides in the future.

The ending is also done well and has smoothly paved the way into the second season (and third season and fourth season if the 26-episode schedule is used). I’ll definitely wait for it, unlike the recently started second season of Hayate no Gotoku that I will never watch (unless of course you pay me to do it).

One of the best voiced characters in this series.

Character Design:-
Character design in this anime is completely different than the one in LoGH, but that isn’t necessarily bad. The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is that the characters in this anime are too shounen-like and very colorful. The designs in this anime will be at home in titles like Kyou Kara Maou, La Corda D’oro ~Primo Passo~ (also has second season that I will not watch unless you pay me) and Gravitation. This fact alone is the reason why my yaoi/shounen-ai loving sister likes this series when she will not even touch the more mature-looking LoGH. Lack of black hair in this futuristic anime is forgiven and this factor is definitely a positive point of this anime.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting quality in this anime is uneven, some voice actors/actresses does their job well while others doesn’t. Fan Hyulick, Duke Idris Tytania and Princess Lydia are outstanding performers in this anime while the other three dukes and the Clan Lord, not so much.

Music:-
This anime excels greatly in this section. Great OST and OP/ED themes too, although it would be nice if we have more classical music like the ones performed in LoGH. Definitely a positive point of this anime.

Animation/Direction:-
For a 2008 anime, the animation in this anime can be atrocious sometimes. I can’t help but notice jerky animations even in normal scenes. CGI animations are done very well and far more fluid, but integration between 2D and 3D scenes is far from seamless, and can easily be seen in the space battles where the CGI is usually used.

The directing is flawless, but not spectacular. I expect improvements in this aspect in the future.

Conclusion:-
8 out of 10. Wolf and Spice still reigns as the Anime of the Year 2008. The next installments of this anime should promise better thing though. Now I will proceed to watch this secret anime I have been talking about before…

Silly hologram kissing by one of the characters. No wonder why both of her sons will…

Review: Blade of the Immortal (無限の住人)

Posted by ranpha on 4th April 2009

Posted in: anime review. Tagged: Blade of the Immortal (無限の住人). 3 comments

Our main male protagonist is still kicking ass even when his brain is busted.

At first, I planned to watch an older but immensely popular anime series that was aired last century (title withheld to create the air of suspense), but the last subbed episode of Blade of the Immortal comes out and I know right away that I have to watch it. Then midway of watching that anime, Tytania (a series I heard people say is similar to Legend of Galactic Heroes) also finished being subbed. Therefore, I will watch these two anime first before I start watching this mysterious anime title after them. Blade of the Immortal is a 2008 anime; therefore it will compete with Wolf and Spice for Anime of the Year 2008 title.

Story:-
Manji, a samurai that is immortal because of a certain encounter, is enlisted by a damsel-in-distress who wants to take revenge for the death of her parents. The not-so-dynamic duo then embarks into a journey to find the killers of her parents so that Manji can hack them to death.

The 13 episodes covers only maybe one-third of the manga storyline (which I read), in a slightly watered-down version. While the story itself is very good, its presentation is not exactly outstanding and surprisingly ordinary (the presentation in the manga version is better IMO). The presentation become worse as the series progressed, and the premature ending mercifully puts an end to this. Nevertheless, this anime has a good pacing, although I think it may have slowed slightly towards the end too.

Character developments are also done well, but I can help but think that this aspect could have become much better if the series has more episodes (The lack of episodes is probably the only weakness this anime has). It (character developments) revolves around the two main protagonists this time around, but I know the other characters will also have their own upgrades when the story develops further as it is in the manga. There are no strong characters in this anime though, because in essence Blade of the Immortal (manga or anime) is strongly story-driven instead of being powered by immense characters the way titles like Urusei Yatsura did.

The ending is decent and paved the way for a second season that I will definitely watch. Although I have not heard any news about a new season yet, unlike Nodame Cantabile series that will have a third season later this year.

Our hero also like to put women in their place in this chauvinistic Japan.

Character Design:-
Character designs in this anime is excellent (a trademark of this series really), with diverse types of characters. Almost all the important characters are imported from the manga very well. This anime is more seinen-like like Nodame Cantabile is, although I have issues with the hair colors of some of the characters. Definitely a positive point for this anime.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting in this anime is also great, with Manji the main male protagonist being outstanding. Others have done a decent job too, although it will be hard for me to judge based on low airtime that some characters has. Also a positive point of this anime.

Music:-
The OST in this anime is great, with some nice insert songs too. The OP theme is also decent but not so for the ED theme. Another positive point of this anime.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation in this anime is fluid even in fast-paced scenes. The choreography in this samurai series is excellent and more down-to-earth compared to similar series like Rurouni Kenshin or Samurai Deeper Kyo that put a lot of emphasis on overelaborate techniques. The director has done well except for the presentation issues I have mentioned in the story section.

Conclusion:-
8 out of 10. I am looking forward for a possible second season of this excellent series. Still, Wolf and Spice’s reign as the holder of Anime of the Year 2008 title continues. Tytania is the next anime that will be reviewed in this blog later.

Some of the sick and sadistic things that happened in this anime.