Review: Rail Wars – Episode 1

When I hear alternate time line my interest is instantly piqued no matter the story. With Rail Wars, I may have been piqued too soon. As the name implies the story revolves around trains and the alternate time line involves the national railway system never being privatized in Japan. What that does that mean? How is it different from now? I haven’t a fucking clue. Sorry but my understanding and knowledge of the history of Japan’s railways is limited to Wikipedia and that didn’t prove to be too informative either. Did it hurt the story? No, it’s anime and they get to carry guns on rail cars and chase down purse snatchers so who really cares. The story follows four characters as they enter a trade school of sorts to work on the rail cars. They take the shit very seriously and after about a month they form a tight bond and are constantly paired together in group work including their final exam which is a live field test.

The series is narrated by the character Naoto Takayama who is essentially the main character though he shares a lot of the story time with the other characters. On the first day he falls for Haruka Komi who is the bashful beauty that is well endowed. Frankly it goes a little harem comedy there as he’s easily distracted and borderline perverted about her boobs. Haruka is actually portrayed to be very smart which was a nice change of pace for her character type.

The other main character is Aoi Sakurai who constantly gives Naoto hell for being even a little pervy and seems to really hate perverts. In the opening they’re asked what the proper procedure for handling a pervert on the train and she says to shoot them on sight. The teacher doesn’t disagree with her, but it’s not the correct answer. She’s a bit of a mystery in this first episode. I get the impression that she’s the tsundere type of character and that she secretly likes Naoto. I could be wrong, but some of her actions lean more towards this way. The fourth character is just kind of there to round them out, but I’m sure he’ll have that one episode that explains his motivation and stops him from being completely useless.

The animation on the show is solid. With there being moving trains and several models of trains, there is actually a lot of detail put into them. Since they’re detailed and realistic the quality of the rest of the show has to match and it does. It looks good even if the character designs are pretty standard. One nuance I liked was the fact that all of the students wear their old high school uniforms during training. This made them all stand out, but also show how diverse they all could potentially be.

The story is okay. I would watch the second episode, but I don’t have a character I like above all the others. I think that Aoi is pushed too heavily to be that character and since she’s really just stock standard tsundere she doesn’t actually stand out. Tsundere characters are great, but they need to bring their own quirks to the role and Aoi has none. The main character wasn’t a guy I could back. There was just something about the way he interacted with Haruka that didn’t win me over. It’s not that I don’t think he’ll be the solid nice guy throughout the show, but I think the creator was going for a harem type guy and missed the mark completely. It makes him more socially stupid around women than awkward.

One thing that annoyed me about the first episode was that all of the characters commented on how it was strange that they were paired with each other over and over. I’ll give you one, but then after that just shut up about it. I’ve never seen an anime go out of its way to say “I’m not going to attempt a logical explanation here so let’s just address that it’s weird.” Listen it’s a story taking place on an alternate time line and about railways… I’m buying in enough as it is so when you say once “they’re stuck together” I’m already sold and really the audience has already assumed as much. It was honestly quite strange to me the amount of non-effort they were putting into it.

As I said I’ll check out the second episode, but I don’t know if it has the legs to hold my attention the entire season. From the premise it seems they’ll be fighting a group of extremists eventually which seems like the second episode will in a way also be a first episode as it establishes the norm.  It really boils down to the fact that it was average. Everything about it was stock standard and with so many new shows this summer I don’t know if it can get over the hump.

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Score: 3/5

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Director: Yoshifumi Matsuda Studio: Passione Distributor: Sentai Filmworks

Review: Sabagebu! Survival Game Club! – Episode 1

Perhaps with a title like “Survival Game Club” my hopes were too high. It sounds like an awesome idea and if was comical and yet serious it may have been wonderful. Instead it was kind of boring and strangely apologetic. It wasn’t exactly violent, but what little violence there was, was constantly explained and the fact that it was fake was reiterated whenever possible. It strange because I’ve seen far more violent animes and when you add the fact that fake guns are being used… well it doesn’t translate I guess. The concept is that Momoka Sonokawa is starting at a new school yet again because of her father’s job. She’s doing a nice girl act so that life is easier for her. After a chance encounter with a third year student on a train, she followers her to discover a bunch of beautiful girls playing with guns in what they call a Survival Game Club. They’re pellet guns as Momoka quickly discovers. She asks what the point is and the leader that she met on the train shows her how to fire a gun. After that she is relentless in making her join the club. Finally Momoka is drugged and ends up joining.

The characters were nothing new and that’s what really breaks the story. It could be funny or charming even, but the characters aren’t strong enough to support it. They’re cookie cutter characters, but towards the end of the dough when it’s thin and breaks too easily from being rolled too many times.

The narration starts off funny, but then it never lets up which kills the effect of the humor it’s supposed to bring. Momoka in particular is annoying. She intentionally puts on a good girl act, but then when it’s found out and she has the opportunity for revenge she goes bat shit crazy. I didn’t find it funny I just thought that she kind of sucked. The story asks you to feel sorry for her and respect that she goes through it all without breaking and then when the switch is flipped and she shows how terrible she can be I had to wonder if she was a character I wanted to invest time in.

I might, and it’s a big might, give the second episode a shot. It was a letdown for sure and what wasn’t a letdown was average at best. I totally understand that formulas are used for certain genres and they usually work on me, but when it’s bad it’s just bad and no formula can save it.

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Score: 2/5

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Director: Masahiko Ota Writer: Takashi Aoshima Studio: Pierrot+ Distributor: Sentai Filmworks

Review: Re: Hamatora 2.1

Did you watch the first series of this? I didn’t which means that I went in pretty blind on this already established series. First and foremost I have to say that zero effort is put into explaining anything from the first series. There are a couple of throwaway lines that out of context mean nothing to new viewers so that was a pretty big turn off. The gist is that there are mutants, but they’re not called mutants because then Marvel would be all over them. No they’re called Minimum Holders and they all have different special powers. After some evil shit went down in the first season, people are less trusting of them. Almost all of them work as private detectives for some fucking reason and one of their own has seemingly died. Great way to start a second series, let me tell you.

The entire episode is about them trying to find work and eventually taking a body-guard job when an up and coming Minimum Holder’s life is threatened. He’s more pop star than detective, but again for some reason they’re all detectives.

Spoiler ahead, the main character Nice (that’s really his name) is the only with cool powers or I should say he’s the only one who actually gets to display their powers since everyone else just sits around talking about the lack of work. Oh and he’s not dead… everyone knows he’s not dead which is the really dumb part and there’s no enemy that they’re trying to fool with his death either. It’s like they were trying to fool the audience and did a terrible job at it. I spotted him instantly and it was the first time I had ever watched the show and he was wearing a disguise.Every scene has a really annoying transition to it. It can’t just cut to a new scene it actually freezes the frame, adds a filter, a graphic and makes an annoying sound while switching. This happens for every scene change and there are some pretty short and pointless scenes. Needless to say… it wore on my nerves quickly. You know how some anime’s have a scene leading into the commercial? Picture that but without ever leading into a commercial.

I get the impression that this is a show that fucks around the entire season being cute and then gets heavy and dramatic at the end of the season. It’ll sprinkle in the drama here and there as it does with the end of the episode, but only to give the viewer the impression that it’s going somewhere.

It could be a cool idea, but I just couldn’t get into it and it didn’t try to bring me up to speed. It spent a great deal of time establishing what the world is like and that they have powers, but didn’t spend anytime showing them. Hell it didn’t even spend time explaining the relationships of all the people. Are they rivals? Different divisions of the same agency? Friends? I don’t have a fucking clue and I doubt they’re going to recap any of that with the second series. When you go out of your way to make it look and come across as its own thing, then you should make sure that new viewers can jump on. I was lost and unimpressed which means I won’t be coming back for more.

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Score: 1/5

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Director: Seiji Kishi Writer: Jun Kumagi Studio: Lerche

Review: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders EP. 2: Who Will Be the Judge

It looks like it’s business as usual for JoJo, even after he’s learned that he is in possession of a powerful Stand (a ghostlike entity that kicks all kinds of ass) and he is fated to fight the most evil mofo on the planet named DIO (the man, not the band), has return and possessed his grandfather’s grandfather body…anywho it’s off to school. On the way to class JoJo is praised by six of his female classmates who all happen to think that JoJo is a hunky dreamboat. So much so they begin to bicker in a humorous fashion until JoJo shuts them up. As JoJo makes it down the stairs he suddenly receives a massive laceration on his knee from out of the blue and begins to tumble down a ridiculous amount of steps. Before he hits, he used his Stand ability to catch himself.

Then we are introduced to Noriaki Kakyoin, a man who also possesses a Stand of his own named, Heirophant Green. Who can possess people and unleash an Emerald Rain attack as his main method of attack.

Now in the nurse’s office, JoJo is having his leg tended to. As JoJo prepares himself to receive treatment the nurse starts to act strange. JoJo notices a ghostly tentacle draping down the nurse’s leg. He surveys the room and sees Noriak chilling in the window sill using his Stand’s abilities to control the nurse. The two men square off, destroying the nurse’s office in the process.

The second episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Episode entitled, “Who Will Be the Judge” slows everything down for about a second. Then it gives you the first real dose of Stand on Stand action that you’ve be waiting for. The battle between Noriaki Kakyoin and JoJo is pretty entreating and while it doesn’t blow the roof off the place it does an excellent job in easing the viewer into the physic that comes along with doing battle via a Stand.

Another take away was the color pallet changing while the two men were battling. It adds to the drama and actually put a sense of urgency into the fight. It gave a Manga type of feel that was very cool to witness. Sure you knew that JoJo was going to win with him being a novice with his Stand but how would the encounter change him? Will he improve with the Stand or will he be a slave to it almost how Noriaki was portrayed?

A running gag is how shitty JoJo treats his mother; I mean this guy is a real dick to her. Maybe he’s just an ass to women in general, he did go off on the girls at his school and he was pretty short with the nurse too. But for some reason it’s mildly amusing and does show some evolution as it put that touch of humanity to JoJo and keeps him from being an unbearable pompous bad ass that has to be cool all of the time.

Overall the second episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders is a good one, it gives you an exciting and flashy opening to get you pumped but most importantly it keeps the story moving along nicely and slowly peels back more to reveal the crazy and thrilling world of six foot diesel looking guys with ghost powers kicking each other’s ass. What more do you need?

Score: 4/5

Directed by: Naokatsu Tsuda, Kenichi Suzuki

Written by: Yasuko Kobayashi

Studio: David Production

Release Date: 4/4/14 – Ongoing

Review: Selector – Infected Wixoss - Ep. 1

Out of all the anime I’ve watched recently Selector grabbed me the least, which is a shame because the concept was what drew me to the show to begin with. The basic idea is that there is a card game called Wixoss that has become popular with young girls. Some of the girls that play the game are chosen (randomly?) to be Selectors. So what the hell is a Selector? Well in order to play the game each person that buys a starter pack and is given an Avatar card; aka their main character used in battle, but Selectors have slightly different cards. Their cards are alive (called Rulig Cards) and their avatars talk to them or grunt and meow as is the case with the main character’s Avatar Tama. Selectors seek out other Selectors to battle and if they continue to win they can have their wish granted. If they lose three in a row though, they’re avatar basically dies and they stop being a Selector.

The story goes that the main character Ruko Kominato is at a new school and has no friends. Her grandmother is worried about her so her brother (who doesn’t live with her for some reason) gives her a pack of Wixoss. At school the next day another Selector finds Ruko and challenges her knowing that she’s never played and doesn’t know any of the rules. The girl’s twin brother (who she’s in love with *siscon style) helps Ruko out and we soon discover that Tama is a fucking powerhouse that wants to battle constantly. The plan doesn’t work out and the girl’s battle is interrupted by the school bell. Of course Ruko gets a friend in the girl she battles and she learns a bit about the game from her as well.

The set up for the second episode is that Ruko meets more girls, but what doesn’t interest me is that she’s the reluctant hero. Of course her and Tama are going to win and beat all competitors, but Ruko is so concerned with friendship in order to not worry her grandma that tries to give her new friend a freebie win. Clearly this will continue or at the very least she’ll be used by these new characters as it seems to be in the preview which shows her new friend more and more reluctant to be around the other girls and Ruko.

At its core this story almost seems like commentary on card games and video games which are brought up as well. That could be interesting, but there’s too much else going on in the story for me to buy into that all the way.

It really boils down to a lackluster story with forgettable characters that failed to get its hooks on me. I might check out the second episode, but it’ll be more to see if I was right and not to continue the journey.

Score: 3/5

Director: Takuya Sato Writer: Mari Okada Studio: J.C. Staff

Review: Blade & Soul Ep. 1 & 2

It has been quite some time since I’ve found a fantasy based world that I could get interested in. I’ve gotten back into anime a lot in the past few years and there’s only one other fantasy world that I’ve enjoyed and it bounced between the “real” world and the fantasy world. Blade & Soul is grounded in fantasy through and through. The first episode is actually pretty useless. The opening is awkward and actually little for the overall series at least for now. We meet the character of Alka as she flees from pursuers. It’s not really clear why she’s running especially after she handles them with ease. Eventually she ends up in a village as a protector in the upcoming negotiations with a kingdom that Alka used to kill for. Alka is revealed to be the last of the Clan of the Sword.

The second episode is basically used to introduce the world and get Alka out and in the open. The problem is that she has a butterfly looking birthmark on her arm which has made her a target for bounty hunters. She reaches a town looking for work and the hostess of the best bar notices the mark and tells her to leave the town so that they don’t have any troubles. Alka leaves and of course runs into trouble.

Alka as a character is only interesting when she’s kicking ass because otherwise she’s just the silent type and I mean silent. When she speaks it’s really just to say her name or to acknowledge that she’s from the Clan of the Sword.

What really hooked me was the animation style. It’s gorgeous to look at and even though the character designs are on the cheesecake side of things, the characters are all really cool looking. The coloring is vibrant and rich which is probably why I’m drawn to it so much.

While this looks like a basic “last of my clan” revenge story set in a fantasy world, I’m still curious even if it’s just for the great action animation and rich coloring. It’s definitely not for everyone, but as I said it’s the first fantasy world to hook me in a long, long time.

Score: 4/5

Directors: Hiroshi Hamasaki, Hiroshi Takeuchi Studio: Gonzo (with lots of help)

Review: Haikyu Ep. 1 & 2

The sports genre in anime almost always has the same formula. It’s tried and true, but for some damn reason I’m a sucker for it when it’s executed properly. That’s the case with Haikyu which is a men’s volleyball anime. Does the character want to be the best and go all the way to nationals? You better believe it. Does he possess raw natural talent that people haven’t seen in generations? Again, you better believe it. What grabbed me about the series was the different approach with the main character and the story in general. The main character Shouyou Hinata comes from a small middle school which has no men’s volleyball team. He refuses to join the women’s team and so he becomes a one man volleyball team. We meet him at his first tournament ever as he’s finally convinced enough of his friends to be on the team. His first tournament also turns out to be the very last tournament of his middle school life.

He goes on to meet the “King of the Court” which is what Tobio Kageyama is known as; they’re to face each other in the first round which spells trouble for Shouyou as Tobio’s team is favored to win. It goes about as well as you’d expect, but of course we see a display of Shouyou’s raw talent and the problem that Tobio has as a team player.

Fast forward to the second episode and Shouyou has made it into the school that inspired his love for volleyball; only to discover Tobio is attending the same school and trying out for the Volleyball team. The team itself is in a state of rebuilding. Once viewed as a top ranked team, but now referred to as a fallen rival. Shouyou and Tobio start in with each other instantly and eventually the captain tells them that if they can’t be a team they can’t play for them. This of course will set the stage for them to stop being rivals and become friends… well friends that yell at each other and are very competitive, but friends none the less.

While there are plenty of tropes to the genre present, they’re working very well. That’s why they are almost always the same. When you do it right, it’s magical and the little touches that Haikyu adds is great. The first time “the King” is introduced we see a flash of a red rob and crown or when Shouyou sees the character he calls “Little Giant” play for the first time and we see a flash of black Crow feathers as he leaps into the sky. Little stuff like that is what will keep Haikyu from being typical and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon. I’m disappointed that I have to wait for the next episode already because with any sports series you really just want to marathon through it, but isn’t that the best kind of disappointment?

Score: 5/5

Director: Susumu Mitsunaka Writer: Taku Kishimoto Creator: Haruichi Furudate Studio: Production I.G.

Review: Ping Pong - Ep. 1

If there has been one anime I haven’t been waiting for its Ping Pong. Having never read the manga’s I only have the live action movie to go from as a previous source material. How did the anime fair? Well, it was okay. Granted my anticipation may have been too much for this series to live up to, but only having the movie to draw from may also have hurt my experience. The pacing of the first episode blazes past a lot of the intro in the movie. So much ground is covered that it makes me wonder what they’ll do to fill the rest of the series which only totals to eleven episodes. What was disappointing though was the lack of ping-pong playing itself. There was a lot of talk and quick comic book montage edits, but the actual back and forth of ping-pong didn’t captivate me.

The story for the unfamiliar follows two characters Smile and Peco. Smile never smiles which is one of those ironic nicknames, but it is actually a pivotal part of the plot. He drives the story for the most part as he is Peco’s handler. Peco is the star of the team at their high school and while he thinks he’s the shit he soon discovers otherwise when the duo go to a rival high school to watch their transfer student from China play. Peco ends up playing Hong (the transfer student) and getting *skunked .

I enjoy the animation style for the most part. Sure while I’d love to have everything be crisp and clean rather than the constantly moving lines, something about it really does fit the world and that’s important. For Ping Pong to work it needs to feel real and yet offer the magical fantasy world that Peco lives in his mind.

The other downer for me personally was Peco’s voice acting. Now I didn’t expect the actor that played the character in the movie, but I did hope for something equally as special. Instead the take on the character is really strange and personally the voice actor misses a lot of Peco’s personality. I never once found Peco to be arrogant or a crybaby. Instead he came across lacking confidence when his character should be overflowing with it.

It’s a start though and while it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it to be, it was still enjoyable even if it just made me put on the movie again. I’ll be back to see how the rest of the series turns out and at the very least I’m just glad that it’s a story that’s not forgotten since it’s one that I never have. Fun fact, my Twitter handle comes from this story… that should tell you how much I like it right there.

Score: 3/5

Director: Masaaki Yuasa Creator: Taiyo Matsumoto Studio: Tatsunoko Prodction

*Skunked = Loosing a match without scoring a point

Review: Black Bullet – Ep. 1

Black Bullet is a series that struggles with its own identity. What begins as a realistic disaster story with a hint of near future sci-fi quickly turns into a monster of the week formula, but with the obvious twist of a “chosen one” that hates the way the world is and will be the one to stop it! If that weren’t enough though the second half of the episode is more in line with a harem comedy or even a *brocon. The premise is that an epidemic has swept Japan and once someone is infected they turn into a giant insect of some kind. There’s actually some science used to explain how the insects are able to move around in giant size, but it’s really not needed since I doubt people being hunted down or killed by them stop to think, “how is it still able to jump when the weight of its own body would surely crush it!?!” As a member of the audience I didn’t think about it either until they explained it.

Our main character is an orphaned boy by the name of Satomi Rentaro. He’s the handler/chosen one that will defeat them all and is paired with Aihara Enju who is one of the Cursed Children. The insects are known as Gastrea and apparently some pregnant women were infected via their saliva and created half-human, half-Gastrea children know as… the Cursed Children. Cursed because they’re not really human and have the crazy Gastrea strength; what’s worse is that they’re only girls, which puts in place the well-worn formula of basically any show that’s done something similar (another of which I’m reviewing as well). The kids are used to fight the Gastrea and their handlers are given special bullets… black bullets. The bullets supposedly harm the Gastrea, but as we see Rentaro unloads an entire clip in a bug’s brain and it shakes it off.

The voice acting is fine, the animation is fine, the fact that there is an adult male Cursed one running around infecting people is fine, but really that’s it. The problem with Black Bullet is that everything is so familiar that nothing other than those three elements stand out and even that last one is nothing new.

Young girl in love with older boy and overplaying their relationship: pick an anime. A small and struggling agency of some kind that can’t get paid because the main character forgets or gets too wrapped up in the major plot line? Too many stories to count. A rare item in which the series gets its name from, but has as much use to the overall world as a knife cutting water; yeah I could name a few.  The lists of comparisons go on and on and the real problem is that Black Bullet isn’t half as good as the other anime’s you’ll think of while watching it. If you’re going to be familiar then you better also be better or great in comparison.

Score: 2/5

Director: Masayuki Kojima Creator: Shiden Kanzaki Studio: Kinema Citrus/Orange Animation Studio

*Brocon = A romance in which a sister loves her brother, but the feelings are (usually) not reciprocated. It’s also used in case of a sister like character loving someone she equates as a brother.

Review: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders EP. 1: A Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit

Anime and Manga is not really my thing. It has its moments and there are some very amazing stand outs. For me JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has always been one of those said titles. Enter the recent television show, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. This is going to be good. The year is 1987, off of the African Coast a boat of treasure hunters finally locate something worthwhile and pull a massive treasure chest from out of the ocean. But unfortunately for the crew they got more than they bargained for. When the boat is located, its abandon and the chest is empty.

In Japan, 17-year-old Jotaro Kujo or JoJo is a punk ass kid (though he is the most massive, jacked up, shredded kid that I have ever seen) that doesn’t take kindly in being told what to do, is sitting inside a jail cell. In the distance he can hear his mother, Holly, crying for him as the police officers inform her why her son is being kept here. JoJo tells them that he has an evil ghost like presence that inhabits his body and is making him do such wreck less things.

Holly tries to reason with her son and JoJo explains that he needs to stay in the jail cell due to the “evil spirit” lurking inside him. The cops think that he’s crazy until JoJo proves it by using the spirit to take a gun from one of the cops. He puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger. Before the bullet can hit JoJo the spirit catches; protecting its host.  The cops can’t see the entity by Holly and JoJo can.

At the airport Joseph Joestar, Holly’s father, has arrived. Holly fills in her father on the whole JoJo fiasco while taking her to her son.  Joseph reassures her that he’s got an idea about what’s going on it. Because Joseph and his homeboy, Mohammed Avdol have been on a global search for answers. He explains that there is a rise of such occurrences stemming   these spiritual powers that they have dubbed “Stands”, basically spirits that physically manifest themselves and can be controlled by its user at will.

So instead of telling JoJo what is going on with his new-found power, Joseph lets Mohammed Avdol (who also possess a Stand) demonstrate. Now a believer, the Grandpa Joestar enlightens the family about DIO (no, not the rock band) a possible decent of the Joestar family that has returned pissed off.

It had been years when I fist saw the OVA of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure which was the third volume of Stardust Crusaders. Ever since then I haven’t been following the series and I know that I’ve missed so much but the first time awesomeness has always stuck with me. The only sad part is that now I know how this particular adventure ends, which sucks but damn it, it’s all about the journey with this one.

The art style might not be for everyone, overly massive dudes eclipsing regular people who wear flashy over the top costumes *cough* superheroes *cough* but the action is pretty cool and the pseudo glam rock on the characters kind of work.

There are weird moments in the show, like when Holly meets her father at the airport, she is so happy to see him that she begins to tickle him profusely. He tries to get her to stop and he lets out this comical scream and everything shifts to a dramatic Manga panel with Japanese characters everywhere.  It was odd but very humorous for a mostly dramatic show.

Thanks to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders I’ve opened that fun and mystic door back in to the anime world. Who knows maybe I’ll get deeper and deeper into the world or maybe I’ll just go and get myself glomped.

Score: 4/5

Directed by: Naokatsu Tsuda, Kenichi Suzuki Written by: Yasuko Kobayashi Studio: David Production Release Date: 4/4/14 - Ongoing

Review: From Up On Poppy Hill

Everyone has their favorite Studio Ghilbli film. Some go all the way back to the studios roots while others enjoy their titles that made them a national phenomenon. I’ve never really had a favorite, I’ve just enjoyed them all… until now. Something about this film spoke to me. It captured and confirmed what I know of Japanese culture from animations just like this one. It became an instant classic and solidified its place as my favorite Miyazaki/Studio Ghilbli film. The story begins following a young high school girl named Umi. We follow her complex morning routine as she prepares breakfast for the entire house hold and takes care of whatever else she needs to handle that day. Her routines are choreography of perfect timing and ends with her raising two signal flags on the flag post in the front of the home. One of the ships passing by sounds its horn and we head down to the harbor were a young boy named Shun is raising the same flags on his father’s tugboat, in response to Umi’s. The tugboat docks and after another well-choreographed routine begins and ends with Shun as he leaves the ship and begins riding his bike to school.

At this point the plot is still unknown to the viewer, but we have learned quite a bit. We know our main characters and have seen their normal day. We know that this is post war society and that families are incomplete due to deaths and hardships. We can also see that the women’s role in society has changed and grown. It’s not exactly a women’s right movement, but it’s clear that due to the absence of husbands and sons they’ve adapted to a self-sufficient life and taken on other roles in society.

We travel to school and follow Umi again. As she sits down for class a friend shows her a poem in the school newspaper. It’s about a girl flying signal flags and sending her thoughts to the sky. Her friends say that the poem has to be about her and even Umi is silently sure that it is. Later that day while the students are eating lunch outside we’re shown a building that becomes a large part of the story. It’s an old clubhouse that literally houses all of the school’s clubs from newspaper to philosophy.

The dirty shutters open and a flood of students stand at the ready holding banners. They let the banners loose and it becomes clear that they’re protesting the destruction of the clubhouse. Shun and another boy stand together on the roof while other students remove a safety grate over a well. Shun and Umi’s eyes meet for a second, but Shun is giving the go ahead. Without hesitation he runs and leaps from the roof and falls into the trees below, but catches a good bounce and ends up in the well. Umi springs into action and runs over to see if Shun is okay. He pops up and again their eyes meet, but this time the entire school is watching.

The story is incredible. It shows how complex the world can be and that the pains of war are lasting. They don’t simply disappear because the war is over. For both of our characters they’re dealing with the pain of loss, but neither of them imagined that that loss would complicate their budding romance or what romance would do to their normal routines. The writing is again, incredible. The pacing of the plot and the twists and turns are simply perfect.

With any Studio Ghilbli film there is an expectation with the animation. Sometimes we entering a magical world full of fantasy while other times we’re grounded in reality. This story is grounded in reality and it’s beautiful. From the moment I saw the trailer I knew that I wanted to see this movie for the animation along. Watching it I was literally transported back to era, it’s that amazing. The characters are wonderfully animated and have fluid movements. Watching the students clean and bend over could make you sore from watching it was that realistic. The entire world’s movement resembles the real world that we live in.

For me personally, when it comes to animation what makes or breaks it is the coloring. It’s why CG animation can never replace traditional animation. This film has the best coloring I’ve ever seen. Everything from the sky to the sea comes to life due to the vivid coloring making the entire film candy for the eyes.

Part of me wishes that I had watched the film in the theater, that I had tracked down a show time and drove to who knows where to see it. The other part of me is glad that I saw it in the comfort of my own home because it made for a personal viewing experience. It’s because of that reason that this became my favorite film from Studio Ghibli. With the home release just over two weeks away, I would highly recommend pre-ordering a copy to have the day of its release. It’s an absolute treat even if you’re more accustomed to the studio’s fantasy based films. My money says that you’ll enjoy this film the same if not more.

Score: 5/5

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki

Director: Goro Miyazaki

Animation Studio: Studio Ghibli

Home Release: GKids

Price: $34.95

Format: Blu-Ray/DVD Combo

Release Date: 9/3/13

Review: My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU – Episodes 1-6

The strange thing about Anime and Manga is that it’s so self-aware at times that a story that is grouped within a genre can actually call itself out on being within that genre. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU or My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected manages to nail all of the tropes associate with the romantic comedy genre, but in a very different way. The main character constantly notes what could, should or did happen and thus compares it to the formula of the genre in a negative way. Because of this self-awareness, the main character is almost always able to make the opposite choice of what other RM’s have done before.

The story follows Hachiman Hikigaya; a loner that’s been rejected so many times that upon entering high school has separated himself from the rest of the class. He’s so mature for his age that he looks at high school the way most people only can after going through the entire experience. The catalyst of our stories events come from an essay he wrote in which he takes a simple question and finds a way to answer it with his own commentary on life, school and his classroom. His advisor Shizuka Hiratsuka becomes annoyed with him and places him in a club that only has one other student: Yukino Yukinoshita.

The thing about Hachiman’s character is that he’s quick to pick up on things and has no problem with the way people view him. For instance he detects Yukino’s disgust for him instantly and attempts to use that as his way out of the club regardless of what light that paints him in Yukino’s eyes. Unfortunately for Hachiman, Shizuka isn’t going to let him out of the club and he finds himself to be the second member of the Service Club.

The Service Club is run by Yukino who is a sharp-tongued beautiful woman. She’s the tsundere character, but without any of the sexual tension. She doesn’t outright hate Hachiman, but the two argue about practically everything in a very calm and orderly manner. They can throw verbal daggers back and forth at each other without batting an eye and so often their relationship is misunderstood. The thing about Yukino is that for as beautiful and smart as she is, she’s just as alone as Hachiman. In fact Hachiman probably has had more friends come and go than she’s had to begin with. Boiled down to their core, they’re prefect for each other… if they had any romantic feelings for each other, but neither one has any interest in that sort of thing.

The club itself functions to help people and many of the students come to get their wishes made true, but the club actually just assists people in accomplishing their own goal usually. The first person they help has a very complicated relationship with Hachiman and is even in his class. Her name is Yui Yuigahama and she asks for their help in making cookies for someone who she likes. A formula develops here as they help her, but it’s never as simple as it seems. If it was then no one would care. Hachiman uses his talents to help in the situations when Yukino is the lead on the “case” and vice-versa when he’s on the case. They’re the perfect balance to each other… if they got along.

The first six episodes have an underlining story arc, which is why I’m reviewing them together. Hachiman missed the first few days of class after being involved in a car accident; he was injured after saving a dog that got loose from its owner and rich luxury car nearly ran it over. This one event actually connects our three main characters, but it’s something that mostly plays out in the first six episodes.

The drawl of this show is that while it is a romantic comedy, it’s not. Every chance it gets to deliver a touching or romantic moment, it does the opposite and this is almost always delivered by Hachiman. His character is the biggest drawl and his realization of the world is terrific. He’s been burned so many times that he’ll basically do whatever to stay out of situations that would get him hurt or force him to drop his guard.

This show could turn into a typical romantic comedy, but for now it’s all about the different types of loners in high school. Personally, I was able to relate to numerous aspects of the series to my own experiences which made it quite enjoyable. The realization that my journey, while not as theatrical, was not so different the journey of someone else half way around the world was kind of amazing.

I’m not saying that all people who watch Anime’s are loners, but for the most part it’s still a lot like comic books in the sense that you’re in the minority of people who enjoy them. Which is why this is a great anime to check out for an anime fan. It’s available for streaming through the usual channels, but there are still several more episodes to air. It’s already completed in Japan so I’m sure someone has torrented the shit out of it, but I personally enjoy the weekly streaming experience as it makes it feel like legitimate TV watching rather than an obsession that has you searching for the best fan subs. If it sounds interesting check it out and if you’re struggling give it at least the first six and I’m sure you’ll get into it.

Score: 4/5

Director: Ai Yoshimura

Studio: Brain’s Base

Based on the light novel series created by Wataru Watari

Review: Haganai Next – Ep 3: My Little Sisters Are This Cute

I’m skipping the second episode since my overall feelings about it are about the same as the first episode of this season. Don’t get me wrong they’re both good episodes, but this third one is great. It has all the charming nuances of the first season and reignited the harem-esc plotline that is the core of the series. The best thing that it did though, was return to the two short story formats that the first season did so well. The previous two episodes were basically the same way, but the overall structure and quality was quite the same. The first half of the episode takes place just after the school has let out for a break after finals. Maria suddenly arrives at Kodaka and Kobato’s house just before dinner. It’s a great interaction as Kobato is sent to answer the door and told to say, “We don’t want any” if it’s a salesman. She says it once and Kodaka thinks nothing of it, but then she continues to scream it drawing his attention. He comes over to discover that she’s trying to push Maria back outside. He asks what she’s doing there and she in forms them that she’s a runaway. It’s later revealed that Maria’s sister, that we’ve just met, was the one that actually brought her to the house. The trio sit down for dinner and of course the girls begin to compete about everything they possibly can. As the scene continues Maria’s sister calls more and more making sure that everything that she usually does for Maria is being taken care of as well.

The next half of the show is back at the club room. After Kodaka complains about there being nothing to do just three days after school being out, they decide to hold a party to blow off stress. The problem is that two of the members didn’t even take the test and the rest of them aren’t really stressed. They hold the party anyways and eventually they end up playing Ōsama Game aka the King’s Game. I absolutely love it when a show uses this plot device and it’s pretty obvious from the interactions before the game that a kiss is going to be included. Kodaka suggests that they write out commands beforehand to prevent anyone from being able to go crazier and crazier as the game goes on. It’s a great scene that reestablishes everyone’s interest in Kodaka which was lacking in the first two episodes.

The ending to the episode is awesome and while I won’t ruin it for you I’ll say that it’s going to make future episodes interesting for sure. Any doubts I had about this series returning to its prime have been completely erased and I’m looking forward to them being out of school more since that’s when the series tends to have its best adventures. In general though, this was a fun episode that had everything that makes the show special, but without hammering you over the head with it or attempting to be the first season.

The last thing I’ll say is that I miss the old opening… both the opening and closing songs are not that good and really don’t fit the animation that they’re attached to. Okay you Otaku Bastards, until next week or whenever I review something else.

Review: Haganai - Season 1

It’s been a while since I had an Anime pick, but over the next few weeks I’ll be pumping out some stuff for everyone to check out. Up first has to be one of the best new animations from last year for sure. It’s the same studio that adapted Oreimo (My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute) and I’ve come to really appreciate their work and storytelling. The anime is based off the light novel series by Yomi Hirasaka volumes 1-3 and the beginning of volume 4. I’m hopefully that they’re will be a second season of the show that will continue the story of the next three volumes. The series is also known as Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai which translates to "I don't have many friends." The series follows the character Kodaka Hasegawa who has just transferred back to his home town after traveling all over Japan with his father. He and his sister are left alone in their house as their father has travelled to America to work on an archeology dig. Now it’s not uncommon for Japanese animations to have characters with blonde hair, but Kodaka is the first to have dirty blonde hair. His hair, clumsy nature and his voice gives everyone in the school the impression of him being a delinquent when in fact he’s a super nice kid.

At school he’s completely friendless and the other students run in fear of him wherever he goes. One day after school he returns to his classroom to gather his things when he finds a girl from his class talking to herself. After watching her for a few moments he decides to enter the room and see what’s going on. She clams up instantly, embarrassed that she was caught. Kodaka asks if she was talking to ghosts, but the girl Yozora Mikazuki professes that she was talking to her air friend (similar to an air guitar). The two begin conversing about their lack of friends and that they shouldn’t join any clubs this late into the school cycle because they would just mess up the chemistry between other people in the club. This gives Yozora an idea though as she runs off, but not before telling Kodaka that she’ll she him later.

The next day after school Yozora asks Kodaka to follow her. She leads him to an activity room in the cathedral on campus (It’s a catholic school) and along the way tells him about their new club… The Neighbor’s Club. The goal of the club is to make friends with other people and in the meantime practice what to do when they make these friends. They hang up banners with a code, “I want friends” written diagonally in the banner so that only people smart enough can decipher it. As the two sit down in the activity room they're soon greeted by the school's President’s perfect daughter wanting to join the club. Her name is Sena Kashiwazaki and even though an entourage of boys follows her around all day she desperately wants friends. Too bad Yozora instantly hates her and denies her access to the club.

I suppose that this anime would be classified as a "harem" comedy since Kodaka is consistently the only boy in the series. What’s different though is that he’s honestly just trying to make friends and never thinks of any of the girls in a romantic way. The girls on the other hand slowly develop feelings for Kodaka, but they're never that obvious about it (except for in one characters case). The other key charm of the series is that even as the club grows and the group begins to hang out more and more with each other they never acknowledge that they themselves are friends. They’re all just looking for other people to be friends with which makes the twelve episodes different and enjoyable; Kodaka’s personal story that runs more as a subplot to the main story is amazingly heartfelt and definitely the reason to watch the show.

The character interactions are very humorous and enjoyable, particularly between Yozora and Sena who is nicknamed “Meat” due in part to her large chest. They constantly squabble and until Yozora makes Sena cry and run away. Even still Sena continues to try and be her friend even if they never say it out loud. The other great interaction is between Kodaka and his little sister Kobato who dresses up as her favorite anime character that is a vampire; even to the point of wearing a color contact to look like the character from the show. Kobato is absolutely adorable and their interaction is just touching at times since you can tell that they’ve only had each other to rely upon a lot of the times in their life.

I really rank this Anime right with Oreimo which I previously said was one of my absolute favorites. I blew through this series is one night staying up incredibly late just to see the end and loved every moment of it. It has a lot of heart and soul to the story and the animation is great as well. Will everyone love this animation as much as me? Probably not, but if you’ve ever felt like you didn’t have a friend in the world or had to transfer schools and start all over again; then you’ll probably enjoy this animation as much as I did. I have no idea if the books will ever be translated and brought over, but I would love to read them after experiencing this adapted version of them.

If you’re interested in watching the series then check it out on Funimation’s website or on Hulu, hopefully they don’t drag their feet on a DVD/Bluray release so that I can watch this puppy commercial free.

Score: 5/5

Review: Is This a Zombie? Season 1

I recently ran out of good shows to talk about especially with my recent obsession with The Future Diary or as I’ve come to know and call it Mirai Nikki. Because of this I started taking recommendations from Hulu on what I should try next and low and behold Is This a Zombie came up. To be honest… I had no idea what the show was called until the really awkward opening scene. The gist is that a high school boy has been turned into a Zombie by a necromancer. He was killed by a serial killer stalking his neighborhood and now he’s on a quest of vengeance. Too bad he runs into countless female distractions along the way that constantly make him forget his quest. Mix in the fact that he’s still going to school and that no one knows he’s a zombie and hijinks ensue. The necromancer that raised him from the dead begins living at his house and only communicates by writing on paper. She doesn’t do anything for herself and basically sits and mopes all day. The main character Ayumu then runs into a Magic Garment Girl (think Sailor Moon with a chainsaw), Haruna fighting a big fucking bear in the cemetery. She very comically cuts him in half to get to the bear thinking that he’s already dead. Being that he’s a zombie… he’s not. For whatever reason (I’m probably not far along enough in the show to know), Ayumu inadvertently steals Haruna’s Magic Garment Girl powers which means he's now wearing female clothing and holding a chainsaw.

Because of the whole power stealing thing and Haruna being unable to return to her magical land, she ends up living with Ayumu. At this point you should ask where the fuck this kid’s parents are. Well they travel… and buy stuff and send it back to him. Basically whatever made up reason they needed to have him live on his own and could add female after female to the house. The second episode sees the addition of a Vampire Ninja named Seraphim. She’s the typical big boobs character and basically treats Ayumu like utter and total shit.

I enjoyed the show. It was mindless and everything it is doing is typical. I like the character of Ayumu because he’s only randomly perverted and he keeps it to himself… even then it’s pretty timid too. I don’t think that he’s really passionate about finding his killer; I think that was just the catalyst to make him a zombie. He’s the average guy with no special traits that everyone ends up really caring about because he’s the focus of the story character type... and it works. Because of that I also enjoy the countless embarrassing situations that he’s put in.

Is this the greatest show I’ve watched? No, but it’s pretty new and the entire first season is on Hulu and Crunchroll so you can check that out. The second season is set to air next month in Japan and hopefully Hulu picks it up the way they did with Guilty Crown and The Future Diary and air it just after its Japanese premiere. I’m not expecting this show to blow my mind anytime soon and it’ll probably follow the same story path as a hundred other properties, but it’s very entertaining and pretty mindless. I don’t expect a heavy ass story like with my previous picks and that’s okay for right now. If you’re interested then check it out.

Score: 3/5

Review: Sekirei - Season 1

I’ve been saving this one for you. Now, not a lot of people I know personally that watch Anime like this show, but I do. In fact I fucking love it. It is hands down one of my all-time favorites. I even like the terribly packaged second season with contain 3 DVDs and 2 Blu-rays. Why is it packaged like that? No clue and I really don’t care. The gist of the show is that a crazy scientist and his science partner find a spaceship of sorts off the coast of Japan one day. Inside are beautiful naked humanoids (98% women) that contain special powers. He reprograms them to be fighters so that he can play God. The reason to watch the show is for Minato and all his lady friends. You may recall the genre I spoke of a few weeks ago in which the male character has too many suitors, well this is that genre.

The humanoids from the ship become known as Sekirei’s and are released into the city to find their Ashikabi. The point of finding their Ashikabi is to find the person that will love them and help them fight all the other Sekirei’s. It doesn’t always work out that way as “marking” a Sekirei is easily done with a kiss… followed by cartoon nudity. There are only a certain amount of Sekirei’s and thus each of them was given a number based on when they were awoken and totaling 108. The lower the number, the more powerful the Sekirei, except for in Musubi’s situation. There is something very special about here.

Minato’s story begins with Musubi (#88) falling from the sky and landing on him; soon after she marks herself by kissing Minato. From there Minato becomes more and more sucked into the “Sekirei Plan” and acquires more than one Sekirei. This is where the too many suitors part comes in, as they all want to be loved by him and by loved by him I mean sex. Here’s the kicker though, he won’t have sex with any of them! It’s funny because his character is clearly into women… a lot, but he maintains his innocence by not sleeping with them. My personal favorite is Tsukiumi (#9), she cracks me up with her dialog and Shakespearean dialect.

I’m finding that I’m terrible at summoning up an entire TVshow, but I don’t care. I love this show. I love the characters and their interactions and really the larger plot at hand is just back drop in order to continue putting the characters in new settings. You can find this show in the usual places or on DVD. Because it’s Funimation and Aniplex that have the American rights, they’ve totally fucked up the DVD/Bluray releases. The first season is only available on DVD and the second season has this terrible hybrid of both in a giant case that’s half empty. It’s weird for sure, but I recommend it because it's uncensored, meaning no mist boobies. Check it out, leave a comment on what you thought of it, be it bad or good. Personally, I’ll still like it and wait with baited breath for the third season to make its way to our shores… sigh.

Lastly don't read into the hype on the forums of the net, especially Crunchroll. Fucking bunch of inside Baseball mother fuckers over there just pulling out different business factoids.

Score: 5/5

Review: Guilty Crown

Well, well, well… I’m back with another Anime selection for you to check out. I have no idea if anyone checked out the last one, but that’s cool. Someone will respond sooner or later and just so you know, we do read comments around here. Now on to the good stuff! It’s very rare that to find a cartoon that isn’t at least a full one or two seasons ahead in Japan, so I was very shocked to find out that Guilty Crown was actually premiering only a few weeks ahead in Japan. Imagine... a new Anime for both markets! Even so I didn’t find out until becoming hooked on the show and was forced to wait for the twelfth episode on Hulu.

The premise is that a terrible virus has struck Japan leaving it under military rule. They call the even “Lost Christmas” since it happened around the day of Christmas. The show begins with an internet popstar Inori being chased by the GHQ aka the military. She’s stolen a vile that when used gives the person access to other people’s voids. A void is an item that people keep hidden from others, but is the true reflection of them. Honestly it’s a rule that is broken often in the show and only brought up when one of the main supporting cast members have their void used.

The main character’s name is Shu Ouma and he’s the key to everything when it comes to the plot and I do mean everything. He of course ends up using the vile that Inori has and starts using people’s voids. Because of Inori and his fascination with her, he joins the Funeral Parlor. The name sucks and even though they explain the meaning it still doesn’t make any sense, but whatever. Soon enough this high school boy is training with the FP and going on missions that depend on him and his ability to take void’s out of people. The funny thing about the voids is that they’re only inside people under the age of 27, so everyone is younger than that.

The leader of the FP is named Gai. He’s basically the most bad ass of the bunch. He’s leading the crew of young adults against the military which is basically fucked up and corrupt in many different ways. Now add in mech suits that are driven Matrix style by plugging in the drivers brain and you’ve got a pretty big world.

What hooked me was Shu’s character… at first. I found it very interesting that he was basically working with the FP then quit and went back to school. Then they send Inori to keep an eye on him and that’s when it gets interesting. Later what becomes interesting is the storyline that surrounds Shu, but his character becomes kind of lame. He’s constantly yelling at Gai and never commits to any of his feelings which makes it hard to tell if he’s genuinely feeling anything at all.

I won’t say that it’s perfect and really there are several episodes that you can basically ignore. There are also some plot inconsistencies as well more than likely due to the translation. The second episode makes it seem like the infected are a new race capable of doing more than humans (mutants), but this concept is completely dropped mid-way through the story.

Even still I enjoyed it a lot. The eleventh episode is by far the best and really shows the power of the series. If only the other episodes were as strong. I get the strong impression that a lot was cut out of the Manga to meet budget and scheduling restraints. There is a kick ass opening and closing song for the show that I enjoyed so much that I never skipped them. The opening song tends to be used a lot in the episodes which started to ruin its charm, but thankfully they toned it down in later episodes.

The last thing that grabbed me was the animation style. Sure it looks like a typical Anime in design, mech robots and everything, but this is one of the best drawn Anime’s I’ve watched. The production value on the show is intense and it gives it a movie look and feel to it. I think that the art and music really kept me coming back to the show and if it continues past the twelfth episode I’ll still be watching. If this sounds interesting to you then check it out, if not… then I failed at my job, but hey I write about comic books and believe it or not summoning up twelve episodes of a show is very different.

Score: 5/5

Review: Maken-Ki Battling - Vol. 1

I've been watching a shit ton of Anime lately and thought, "you know what? I should share this info with others." That is what we do here, share info and opinions and such. With that said, I'll be picking an Anime each week that I'm either watching or have just finished watching and telling you about it. It's not a review, more of a spotlight or some crap. This week is Maken-Ki! But if you search for it in America you better add "Battling Venus" to the end of the title. Funimation apparently feels that American audiences won't understand the title if they don't add "Fight", "Samurai" or "Boobs" at the end of it. I found the program on Hulu, although I'm sure there are several Anime outlets such as Crunchroll or even the Anime Network that you can also find the show on.

The gist of the show isn't 100% original, but it made me laugh and entertained me. I call this genre, "Average boy with too many girl suitors." The story begins with a boy named Takeru attending his first day at a new school. He's enrolled at the school because it's just opened up as co-ed. He figures there won't be as many boys at the school so he'll be knee deep in pussy. He's reunited with his childhood friend who happens to be a mega-babe that wears black stockings with her school uniform. The basic trend of this show is that all of the girls skirts are too short and the camera angle is always pointed up their skirt. Takeru is the typical clueless male, his clueless nature is the viewers gateway into the world. Essentially, as he learns about the world so does the viewer.

The thing that I found different about Maken-Ki was the fact that Takeru is a major pervert. Usually in the "Average guy with too many girl suitors" genre the guy is extremely nice and never takes the opportunities present to him. With Takeru, he too doesn't take the obvious opportunities, but he chases glimpses of boobs and the magic "V" constantly. In fact he meets his first male friend while peeking at the girls taking their physicals. Sure when women throw themselves at him he does nothing, but he's throw into daily situations in which he walks in on women changing or half naked. This is of course due to the fact that he lives with three female classmates.

Yup, pretty much.

There is also a very dark side to the story that really is barely touched up on in the first twelve episodes and to be honest the comic book was much better. Even still I really liked the show and basically watched the entire thing in two days. I will say that if you watch it on Hulu, strap in for the commercials. The first six episodes I was forced to watch three commercials each break. If you're familiar with Japanese cartoons then you know that after the opening there's a break so you're basically stuck watching five commercials off the bat. Who watches the opening each time, no one.

There you have, my Anime pic of the week. Got something you think I should watch? Let me know in the comments. Until next week-- Space Cowboys.

Score: 4/5