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.

Review: Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer (機動天使エンジェリックレイヤー)

Posted by ranpha on 8th January 2008
Posted in: anime review - reposted. Tagged: , . 2 comments


You are not an adult if I can be jailed for approaching you with a candy.

The second review for this year is also about based on a sport, albeit an artificial one. As promised, Angelic Layer is all about a sport called Angelic Layer. After this, I will complete the triple sport reviews with Capeta, another sports anime.

Story:-
Misaki Suzuhara comes to Tokyo to attend middle-school when she finds out about the Angelic Layer game, incidentally a single-player game (to know how the game is played, watch the anime). As usual, just like other sports anime you and I have watched, the protagonist works her ass off (with guts and spirits as Hiramatsu in Aoki Densetsu Shoot! have said) to achieve the aim to become a NATIONAL champion. Some romance is thrown in for good measure too.

Almost everything that I have written in Aoki Densetsu Shoot! Review still applies to this anime. The story in Angelic Layer marginally better though, and it has a better ending too. Character development is better too even if this anime only has about half the run Aoki Densetsu Shoot! did.

Generally, the anime is doing well in this section, as most sports anime out there should.

Character Design:-
Made by CLAMP, the design in this anime is good. This is easily evident on both humans and the doll’s designs. It has the occasional black hair too, which is a good thing. Surely a plus point of this anime.

 
I have always thought this kind of thing did not happen in Japan. How wrong I can be.

Voice acting:-
A definite plus point of the anime, voice acting in this anime is excellent, aided by a heavyweight roster. The main protagonist voice actress really does her job here, because her voice is outstanding. Other is not bad either.

Music:-
Another plus point for this anime. The OST and all OP/ED themes are great. Enough said.

Animation/Direction:-
The quality of the animation here is quite weird. It is average in non-battle scenes while being excellent while in battle scenes. The directing is average at best, sometimes exhibiting the inability to keep some dialogues from flowing freely. That somewhat reminds me of the Armitage III OVA, but at least Angelic Layer is not that bad compared to it.

Conclusion:-
8 out of 10. A bit better than your typical sports anime. Capeta here I come.

 
Even at the age of electronic communications, is snail mail really needed? What happened to the near-instantaneous e-mail? Or the plain-old real-time telephone call?

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