Review: Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：破)

Posted by ranpha on 8th June 2010
Posted in: anime movies, anime review. Tagged: , . 2 comments


This early scene in the movie is just the beginning of more deviation from the TV series by this movie.

As mentioned in my previous review, today’s post will contain my review of the second installment of the Evangelion movie titled Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. This movie is the second of four movies (if the ANN is to be believed) and my review of the first movie can be read here. This is a 2009 anime, but Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei will keep its throne for the time being.


The story in this anime has been heavily altered, and so are his role.

Story:-
An excerpt from my review of the first movie:-

A teenage kid was forced to become a child soldier pilot for a robot by his own father to fight some monsters called ‘Angels’. Things become difficult when it becomes clear that the boy has some ‘problems’ and his colleague-pilots don’t seem to be sane either. Can a trio of problematic robot pilots save the world from devastation?

While there are only 2 pilots in the first movie, there is another 2 added in the second, instead of one like what the TV version of this series portrayed. This early change in pilot numbers is just the beginning of many other changes, additions and omissions that this movie undergo through compared to what you can see in the TV version.

As I also predicted in the review of the first movie, the sequel indeed has deviated further away from the TV version, even more than I first thought. Unlike the two-gear pacing speed that the first movie has (early part of the movie has very fast pacing, the latter part is far slower), this movie’s pacing is more stable, but it is still fast. Let’s just say that the general pacing of this movie is in-between the first movie pacing in its first half and the pacing of the first movie’s second half. In general, if you want to make comparisons, the pacing of this movie is by far is the fastest compared to all the movie titles I reviewed before this movie, listed here.

Another obvious fact that you can observe in this anime is that the movie omits plenty of contents/stories/plots that is available in the TV series in their comparable time-frame, even more so than the first movie. This may not affect you if you haven’t watched the TV series, but if you do, some of the omissions may have a negative effect. For me, the complete omission of the arc where Shinji and Asuka fought the two-core Angel with synchronized movements is a bad decision made by whoever wrote the adaptation into this movie. That actual battle itself is not so important, but the training before the battle provides great value for character developments of both Shinji and Asuka (and their relationship too I suppose). The writers probably tried to compensate for this by modifying the original infected Eva Unit 3 arc plot by putting Asuka in it (Eva Unit 3) instead of Toji (as it is in the TV series), but it failed. IMO, if the aforementioned missing arc was included in the movie unaltered, before the altered infected Eva Unit 3 arc happened, the latter arc would have generated more impact that it currently does in the movie.

The fast pacing and many omissions (I think there are at least another two Angel arcs in the TV series removed from the movie, amongst other things), allows this movie to rapidly reached at least episode 22 or 23 of the TV series time-line. For comparison, the first movie spanned only the first 6 episodes of the TV series, but the second movie spanned the next 15 episodes or so. The next two movies is definitely going to be original stories not seen in the TV series. And I would also want to add that none of the reconstructed arcs in this second movie has surpassed their originals in the TV series, unlike the reconstructed 3rd Angel battle in the first movie that I think is better than the one in TV version.

Just like the first movie, there are some changes too happening in the movie, like the Asuka’s name change (why this happened, I don’t know), her lack of infatuation for Kaji, her obvious attention toward Shinji, her changed roles like the one in the aforementioned infected Eva Unit 03 arc and many more. Additions that was made in the second movie includes the extra additional pilot (also from Europe just like Asuka is), some original plots like the visit to the artificial aquarium and Shinji’s father visit to the moon and more. These changes and additions doesn’t have as much negative impact compared to the omissions mentioned a couple of paragraph above.

The good ending finished on a cliffhanger, kinda like Code Geass’ first season. Therefore, wait for the review of the third movie somewhere in 2013 or something.


Unfortunately for the main protagonist, so are his sexual preferences…

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:-
The OST has regressed in quality, and the ending theme is just another variation of the ending theme of the first movie (that I didn’t like).

Animation/Direction:-
The animation quality matches the excellent quality seen in the first movie. Choreography is one of the few things that the second movie has improved from the first, with better fighting scenes in the reconstructed Angel arc and good battles in original ones. The director has stabilized the pacing compared to the first movie, but I don’t think he made a good choice of what TV arc he has omitted compared to what he includes (and made).

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. Slightly inferior to the first movie. With this movie, the whole TV series has been rebooted, and the next two movies should have original contents. I think Gainax should have made 5 movies, with 3 for the retelling of the TV series, and 2 for whatever original contents they want to have. Too many TV series contents has been omitted for my liking, even more than the first movie.


This area has just been devastated by a nuclear bomb, but our bad-ass main protagonist simply strolled out there as if nothing has happened. Those radiations must be nothing for him.

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

Review: Märchen Awakens Romance (メルヘヴン)

Posted by ranpha on 6th June 2010
Posted in: anime review, over 100 episodes. Tagged: . Leave a Comment


The main male protagonist…

Märchen Awakens Romance is just the third anime series I reviewed here that contained 100 or more episodes, and that’s why it took me a little bit more than a month to watch the whole goddamn thing. This review would have come much earlier though if I don’t waste a week or so playing The Last Remnants, and probably even earlier if the War Game arc doesn’t suck. This is an anime released 5 years ago in 2005, therefore none of the ‘Anime of the Year’ title holders will be challenged for today.


…and this is his talking weapon who is also the best character in this anime.

Story:-
The fantasy world of MAR Heaven descends into chaos with the return of the mysterious and evil organization called Chess Piece, after 6 years of hiatus. Not knowing what to do themselves, one of the side characters summoned the unsuspecting main male protagonist from the present-day Japan so that he can help get rid of the aforementioned evil group that is hell-bent to destroy the world.


A hero must have a sidekick too…

The typical shounen-genre storyline is not that bad, but oh boy this anime is way too predictable, even when compared to its peers in the same genre. It doesn’t really help either that the storyline contained some plotholes, plus there are some unexplained issues that still remains after the last episode finished playing. The writer could have spiced up the story if he/she wasn’t too conservative in his/her writing, which makes the story conforms too much with the norms of a shounen-genre storywriting. This anime could have benefited from more usage of some common storytelling techniques such as plot twists etc.


…and some much-needed comic-relief also has to be there, or else the team will be dull. Surprisingly, she is also the main protagonist love-interest.

The presentation of this anime is mixed bag at best, and this mainly have to do with the humongous War Game arc that takes at least two-thirds of this anime’s (very long) airtime. Prior to the start of the War Game tournament, the anime has one of the best pacing and story development I have seen in an anime for quite some time, where the story simply develops nicely without any distraction whatsoever. The pacing is excellent too during that period. Then come the War Game arc, where the great start this anime has started to unravel.


The Dragonball-esque War Game tournament. The tournaments in DragonBall are much better though.

The first casualty of the War Game arc is that the story development slowed down heavily right when the tournament started. But this is still acceptable because real character developments also start happening at the same period. The pacing is still good up until the fifth round of the said tournament where filler episodes started appearing between the fifth and sixth round and also between the sixth and seventh round (the last one). These filler episodes, nearly 20 episodes of them all combined, are the primary main reason the War Game arc sinks at the end. As usual, these filler episodes are completely useless; they doesn’t advance the main storyline, actually harm characters’ developments as the main protagonist and his team prepare for the final battle, and completely destroy the great pacing that the anime has at that point. These episodes doesn’t exist at all between the earlier rounds, making them far more palatable even when very nature of the War Game itself is plagued by a couple of problems.


Quoted For Truth, uttered by the best character in this anime.

The first problem is that the War Game tournament has a very strange rule in place, where if the captain of a team loses in a match, the said team will automatically loses the round, and subsequently the tournament, even if the losing captain’s team is leading in the match count for the said round. The writer apparently doesn’t realize that by applying this kind of rule, this anime viewers will be able to easily predict the result of the tournament (hint: Team Ginta never lose a single round). Couple that with the fact that the writer only allows the main protagonist’s team to not use the captain only once (the rule allows unlimited non-usage of team captain in any given round), the only thing that viewers can anticipate is how the main protagonist’s team will won, not if they will won or not.


Proof that the writer has run out of ideas when choreographing the latter battles in the War Game tournament.

The second problem is there are a lot of fighting/battles in this arc, which, by the end of the tournament, the writer has simply runs out of ideas on how to choreograph them, especially in the latter rounds. The battles in earlier round in this tournament are excellent, helped by the fact that this anime actually has very good action choreography. But the quality of the battles in latter rounds deteriorates rapidly, and the writer has to resort to improper usage of plot devices (very obvious after the first visit to Caldea) and even a couple of deux ex machina moments. Couple that with the fact that the main protagonist’s team always win in the tournament, and we have a flawed (very big) story arc in the first place.


One of the most annoying emo character in anime history, even worse that the main protagonist of La Corda D’Oro ~primo passo~. She died at the end of this anime and WASN'T REVIVED. For that, I give this anime one extra point for the final evaluation of this anime.

Character development are done well in general, except during the portion in the War Game tournament mentioned above. The filler episodes harmed character developments in this anime during that time by obscuring any visible power-ups that the characters in the main protagonist’s team may have, especially between the penultimate sixth round and the last seventh round. It is obvious that the team has improved during the gap between sixth and seventh round, but the multiple side-stories (which is not even remotely connected to the main storyline) doesn’t indicate that any improvement has happened. There is another interesting fact that you can see from the main protagonist’s development; he should have been able to use 8 forms of his talking weapon, but at the end of the series, he only use 7 of them (running out of ideas huh). And BTW, the talking weapon of his is definitely the best character in the anime, comparable to his counterpart in Bokurano.


And here she is, being told of her proper place by the macho men in this anime.

The ending is actually very decent, a much-needed respite from the woeful War Game arc. Still very predictable though, at that point, I have abandoned any hope of the ending springing any surprises on me. Even that, there are some unanswered questions this anime left hanging, such as the true origins of Nanashi, and the relationship between the main protagonist’s mom and Queen Diana.


All those abuse took a heavy toll on her, psychologically.

Character Design:-
This shounen-genre anime has your common shounen-genre character design, with small occurrence of black hairs. Even the main protagonist, the native of present-day Japan, is a shiny blonde character. No one stands out here. Guardian designs are mixed bag, some of them are good (especially hand-drawn ones) but many others are bad (usually CGI models).


Another annoying character in this anime. She doesn't die though, which is a pity. If she died, this anime would have gotten 10 out of 10 score no matter how bad this anime is in other sections.

Voice Acting:-
Voice acting in this anime is just so-so in general, below average even. Still, there are some outstanding characters in this anime for this aspect. The talking weapon (a.k.a. the best character in this anime), the main antagonist (who used to wield him) and the annoying fairy are the three of them.


Another technique ripped straight from DragonBall and used by the main protagonist in the final battle.

Music:-
The OST in this anime is excellent, verily so. But from the many OP/ED themes this anime has, only the 2nd OP theme and 2nd ED theme is any good.


His left-hand was supposed to be chained in this scene, but a screw-up by the director ensured that this doesn't happen.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation in this anime is good, but can be jerky in fast-paced scenes. Integration between 2D animation and CGI videos are not seamless most of the time. The choreography is good as mentioned in the story section. The director has not done his/her job properly, with all those frayed ends and plotholes, and the filler episodes etc.


Epiphany – yet another literary technique that the writer misuse a lot.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. I’m somewhat proud that I can actually finish watching this anime, lesser mortals out there will definitely drop this anime somewhere during the War Game arc. Coming next: the new Evangelion movie!


Plot device – Also misused a lot in this anime.

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

Review: ONE OUTS – Nobody wins, but I! (ワンナウツ)

Posted by ranpha on 27th April 2010
Posted in: Anime of the Year 2008 title holder, anime review, perfect score, sport genre standard. Tagged: . Leave a Comment


The main protagonist, and also the best character in this anime.

The end of an era beckons, as the long-reigning ‘Anime of the Year 2008’ title holder Wolf and Spice has finally been deposed from its throne. After nearly two years, the wolf girl has finally been swatted away out from the baseball stadium by a part-time baseball anime, full-time psychological thriller titled One Outs. Read on to see how this anime tramples over the sport genre handicap like it is nothing as the anime obtained the elusive 10 out of 10 rating.


And this is why he is so awesome.

Story:-
A legendary clean-up batter from a weak minor league baseball team is training himself in the off-season to prepare for the new season. There he meets with the main protagonist in a modified 1-vs-1 baseball game called ‘One Outs’. The batter miraculously wins the game and subsequently took the main protagonist into his baseball team, aiming for the championship (not Koshien thank god).


This is the main antagonist behind the curtains that always wanted our protagonist to fail.

No matter how you look at this anime, comparisons with the likes of Akagi and Kaiji will be inevitable. Just like Akagi, the main story is basically non-existent, but the baseball games are awesome. The games in Cross Game or Ookiku Furikabutte is nowhere as brutal as the games in here. The main protagonist doesn’t have a 160km/h fastball like the protagonist in Cross Game, but the former is so dangerous with his ability to read people minds, getting his teammates or foes to do what he wants, engaging in mind games and psychological warfare. He is even better than Akagi in that he made his own luck instead of having it handed to him.


But more often than not, or actually all the time, he will have his ass handed to him by the main protagonist.

The presentation of the baseball games are done very well; there are no games that takes too many episodes, but still allows for the awesomeness of the main protagonist to be shown. The presentation is excellent and the pacing of the games are impeccable. The arc transitions, whilst not perfect, are also better than the ones in Akagi (one of the blips in that anime IMHO). The ending is probably too tight, which has the double effect of making the ending too rushed, but also open-ended. Uhmmm… can we have a second season of this anime Japan?


And this is his face as he sees his debts increased.

Character development is the only part of this anime that is markedly inferior when compared to Akagi and Kaiji. In Akagi and Kaiji, their main protagonists started each series as n00bs who will then VERY QUICKLY learns their way in their respective high-pressure environments. Here in this anime the main protagonist is actually very good from the start, and all he has to do is to plot the downfall of his foes on the opposing team (and the high-ups in his own team). The far simpler character development strategies of our main protagonist here mean that he at the end of this anime is the same character that starts at the first episode. He wasn’t really helped by his opponents who are too weak, so far.


His teammates are in awe as they watched the main protagonist trolling another opponent.

Character Design:-
While this anime is seinen just like Akagi and Kaiji, the character designs in this anime are definitely well within shounen genre territory. There are quite a lot of black hairs here too (and so are brown), even if the main protagonist is blonde (probably dyed). A positive point for this anime.


And the baseball team manager of course would want to use the best pitcher in Japan as much as he can.

Voice Acting:-
Unsurprisingly, the same voice actor for Akagi and Kaiji also voiced the main protagonist of this anime, which will automatically makes him the best voiced character in this anime. He has far more dialogues in this anime compared to Akagi too. As a whole. voice acting in this anime is flawless. A positive point for this anime.


WARNING: If he smirks, someone is going to get shafted in the ass.

Music:-
Only the OST in this anime is good, but not for any of the OP/ED themes. Definitely inferior overall to Akagi and Kaiji.


Another screenshot of him, complete with an apt description of him.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation quality in this anime is good, even in fast-paced scenes. Choreography in this anime is just average though. I have nothing to complaint about the director here.


Another picture of him, after pulling yet another miracle.

Conclusion:-
As mentioned above, 10 out of 10 despite the sport genre handicap. And of course this anime will replace Wolf and Spice as the best anime in 2008. If I were to compare this anime with Akagi and Kaiji, this anime is better than the latter but not the former. This is mainly because the mahjong games in Akagi are more intense and exhilarating plus it has better character development strategies.






More pictures of him looking down on his opponents, and you!

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

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