Reviews - by Ian - January 12, 2010 - 11:13 UTC - 4 Comments
Ouran High School Host Club is a school for the rich, famous and beautiful and in the case of Haruhi Fujioka a scholarship student who is unfortunate enough to break a several million yen vase and end up being forced to work as a man in a Host Club. This is not a hard-hitting exposé of the life of cross-dressing hosts, but a lighter than life comedy about an unfortunate girl who stumbles across more than fortunate boys.
Part 1 of this acclaimed anime series left us on a high, Haruhi had just been through a vision roughly based around Alice in Wonderland where she was being tried for various crimes before she realised that she was in a dream. We catch up with the unlikely group of people back at school and the school newspaper is suffering from a decline in readership and need the Host Club to help them get back on their feet.
The next twelve episodes of Ouran High School Host Club mange to continue with the high quality that was experienced throughout Part 1, with fun being poked at class, gender and many facts of life for “normal people” as well as expanding into areas of emotion and divide whilst maintaining the easy going flow of the show. There is hints of a complicated storyline being developed by the latter episodes of Part 1 and Part 2 only go to expand upon that. Whereas many animes attempt to have multiple plots running at the same time end up being a mess of random episodes tied together, Host Club effectively manage these plots and subplots throughout the entire series. There are some references that only the “otaku” culture may understand, such as growing mushrooms in a dark corner, but for the most part the universal humour that was seen in Part 1 has translated through to the remainder of the show.
Granted Host Club is entirely unbelievable in almost every aspect – super rich kids essentially enslaving a poor person at a school where apparently no work is done and teachers allow half naked boys running around empty music rooms. But the character development is strong, for the entire cast, not just the two lead characters. This is a rare occurrence in any form of media, let alone anime. Based on the first volume of this series it would be easy to believe the characters to only be 2.5 dimensional, a bit flat with a tiny bit of history. This volume really fleshes the characters out from the twin’s insecurity, Kyoa’s inferiority complex, Honey and Mori’s extensive history to Tamaki’s less than pleasant relatives. These issues are also all dealt with, but in a manner that leaves other issues open for the characters to inhabit and dwell in, of course this is a comedy show and all issues are dealt with in amusing ways. Fake feuds, exaggerated worry and various other techniques are used to keep the viewers attention but keep the emotional undertones in full view.
To maintain this level of detail the script needs to be next to perfect and fortunately the same high quality writing has managed to be marinated throughout the entire series. This has led to no filler episodes and even fewer duds. As this is only a 26 episode series with nothing on the horizons for a Series 2 the writing and plot has had to be very tight and this attention to detail shines through.
The animation quality also remains very high, with every character being bright, distinct and easily recognisable. There are a few scenes where characters are doing fiddly jobs and the animation is smooth – the temptation to simply have music playing the background whilst there’s a freeze-frame on the character has fortunately been ignored.
In terms of voice acting, the Japanese cast is best; however, the US voice actors have done a superb job at getting much of the maniacal laughter and emotion across. All of the characters match their voices and it’s all performed very well – just unfortunately they’re not as good as their Japanese counterparts.
In terms of extras, well last time I managed to get a copy of the US disc and there were some amazing specials that didn’t fly across to the UK release which is a huge shame. Those extras really made the DVD super special. Unfortunately the extras again have been missed off of the second volume for the most part. Maybe next time eh?
» Final Score
10/10
With a gentle storyline that helps the character’s development and engages with the viewer, Host Club manages to achieve what many anime attempt and miss: an engaging, personal experience.
Reviews - by Ian - January 10, 2010 - 22:44 UTC - Be first to Comment!
In a world surrounded by heat, sand and hate, one man stands alone. His wish is simply to be the best, the very best at what he does; which is anything – so long as it pays well enough. Desert Punk is a missionary, but not in the religious sense and in the post apocalyptic world he inhabits just trying to meet ends and survive is a daily challenge. With his new apprentice Kosuna in tow he’s starting to try and mend his battered reputation.
Various people sent his once perfect reputation into ruins, but in his mind the lead perpetrator of his downfall was Junko. With her ample assets and her ability to manipulate she’s managed to appear back on the scene with another job for Kanta. However, for the briefest of moment’s he’d learnt his lesson, until the figure for the job came into conversation. Within a few seconds he was on hand with his apprentice to help Junko help the richest man in the desert find some more hidden treasure.
This storyline manages to run across two episodes and is crucial to the storyline of Desert Punk, not only does it confirm that the world was once somewhat habitable but it also confirms that there was some form of huge disaster. Additionally it also manages to show that there are people who still want this new world, which is less than ideal, to have the same mistakes repeated – war. Of course there is double-dealing throughout these episodes and they only go to highlight the lengths that some people will go to survive. If this were a more serious anime it would be easy to discuss the morality of humanity; however the “right” thing is done and next episode puts Desert Punk back on crass humour track.
In the next episode involves the Desert Punk decides that Junko’s initial betrayal was far too much and manages to capture her and put her in an adult “Big Brother” style house. She wakes up to find that she has next to no clothes on, but is in an ample sized, but completely secure, apartment of sorts. The one thing she doesn’t know for certain, but suspects, is that Kanta is not only behind this but is actually watching her. Before long the episode takes a somewhat expected twist but leaves the viewer wanting more at the very end.
With kidnapping, implied masturbation and sexual scenes throughout the episode is so close to the verge of hentai it’s embarrassing this episode manages to take the show to an entirely new level. Of course, there is a degree of humour involved and Junko certainly gets her “just deserts” on Kanta but the actual content is more than simply risqué.
Kanta is left battered, in a physical sense and his reputation as well. After not really succeeding with Junko’s job, or with Junko everyone thinks that he’s a bit of a joke and money’s tight. A job appears to rescue a rich little girl from some kidnappers – he thinks this is a perfect job. Unfortunately Kanta and Kosuna don’t realise that this little girl is beyond demanding and arrogantly stupid. The kidnappers are far more advanced than he expected and the little girl doesn’t take too kindly to being rescued by an inept team or kidnapped either.
Throughout the episode Kanta is abused by this little girl and is pushed to his limits by her behaviour and the kidnappers. This episode is easily the most forgettable on the disc as it’s very bland. “Nasty rich girl wants to be rescued but doesn’t want to do anything” has been used in anime and in films from all over the world and it does very little to inspire enjoyment from a viewer. Not only that but the episode is easily the darkest in terms of palette and strange compression artefacts appear far too frequently. Fortunately the majority of the episodes are relatively free of these and the episode being so dark only highlights these further.
Not forgetting the extras, this time around there are some noteworthy extras to speak of, although for the most part they are irrelevant to the disc they are being placed on. A 19 minute feature called The Survival Game Course Part 1 which sees Misa Kikoden and Yamaken heading to a shop with Kanta not far behind to get some equipment for survival games and a short animated manga side-story that shows Sunabozu story with Japanese text and subtitles below. It’s only five minutes and lacking in content. But it’s great that we see some decent extras for once.
» Final Score
8/10
After a very poor outing from the second volume, Desert Punk has managed to not only redeem itself but lace itself in crude and dirty humour that is only suited for certain tastes.
Reviews - by Ian - October 13, 2009 - 21:02 UTC - Be first to Comment!
In the post apocalyptic wastelands that remain after a huge disaster on the planet Earth, most of the population has been wiped out. With only the few people who remain living in deserts and ruins trying to forge out a new life with what little they have, it doesn’t take long before people try and make money in and way that they can. Although greenery might be a thing of the past, the ruthless thrill of money making is a strong as ever.
We find our anti-hero after a series of unfortunate events in Volume 1 trying to restore his battered reputation. Desert Punk was once the very best missionary that money could buy, but unfortunately for him a number of bad jobs has left that once shining reputation in tatters. To try and get some cash together to try and repay his lost jobs, Desert Punk takes on an easy job – looking after villagers. This episode is a vague and frankly somewhat poor attempt at a parody of The Magnificent Seven and the Seven Samurai rolled into one. Although this would’ve been better if it had not tried to pay homage to these over done stories.
Fortunately the successive episodes take the rest of this volume to better places. Kanta is forced to take on an apprentice, although he would rather of had an older women with plenty of cleavage for him to admire. His apprentice is actually the apprentice of the sniper who tried to kill him in an earlier episode. Fortunately for this apprentice, she is a clever being and blackmails Kanta into accepting her by what she’ll look like when she grows up. Of course this superficial attitude is not something that a parent may want to promote to their children, but in all fairness a good parent wouldn’t be letting their young children watch this type of show.
Desert Punk then kicks the humour up a gear with the next episode. Kanta and his lovely apprentice Taiko are tasked with trying to clear a cursed rock from a prominent businessman’s land. This rock has claimed the life of many-a-missionary in the past and to reclaim his once amazing reputation Kanta is determined that he will be the one to rid this businessman of this irritating cursed rock. Throughout this episode Kanta has vision of what he would love to happen and also a couple of nightmares as well. These crude dreams are well placed and are in direct contrast to the horror that Taiko is experiencing from her rational mindset.
Desert Punk Volume 2 is certainly a release of two halves. The first half of this DVD is a step away from what one might expect from the action packed first volume. Of course, the second volume of any anime is a hard one, just like that second novel is often scrutinised far more harshly than the first. However, in this case the first two episodes really do take Desert Punk in a direction that’s not necessarily where the second half was taking it.
The voice acting remains as consistent in English and it does in Japanese and although there are a few generic moments from some of the supporting cast, the main cast do a great job in English and they match the Japanese voice cast brilliantly. The animation remains as smooth and consistent as before and the washed out colours are no longer present. One big qualm is with sound quality though, be prepared to turn the volume button right up as it’s a very quiet release.
The first half of this DVD was droll, with the entire Seven Samurai plot; it makes the show feel tired and old. Of course the Seven Samurai legend is amazing, but it’s been done to death and with a basic premise (world destruction after an implied nuclear war) that’s also clichéd and overused the actual content of the show needs to be not only well above average, but delivered brilliantly to merely be passable. This is something the first two episodes do not do under any circumstance.
Fortunately the latter two episodes turn the entire DVD around and take Desert Punk back in the direction that is expected from Gonzo. They are action packed, humour inserted and appropriate and often random moments and a script quality that’s not paying homage or taking overused plots and working them into something nearly new. If it had not been for these two episodes, many would not continue with this series.
» Final Score
6
From what was a great first volume, the second volume of Desert Punk is unfortunately a bit of a let down. The last two episodes are very good, but do not make up for the first two mediocre episodes.
Reviews - by Ian - September 30, 2009 - 21:14 UTC - 2 Comments
Every day we wake up, go to work or to school, have a busy day, go home, eat some food and go to bed. The world is a peaceful and enjoyable place, although it can be a little on the dull side. This was the life of Sakaki Yuuji until one day on his way to school he witnesses the world suddenly freeze around him. Everywhere he turns people are engulfed in blue flames, and it soon becomes apparent that there’s another world besides his own that’s in a constant battle. Just as Yuuji is about to suffer the same blue frozen fate as the rest of the people around him, a red haired youth appears calling herself Flame Haze. Unfortunately for Yuuji she’s incredibly blunt and lets him know that he’s dead and he is now Torch. Rather than sulking or becoming distressed Yuuji accepts this fact and Flame Haze becomes Shana, his friend and their whole new world begins.
The first episode sets the scene for what would be a very typical anime, with a bland lead character, a random character who comes to shake everything up and turns out to be incredibly arrogant and a world that needs saving. Nothing new and certainly not worth even switching the DVD player on for. Fortunately the second episode starts to move the plot forward a bit and throughout this episode the character develop and the show becomes a bit more than the standard “normal boy meets not so normal girl”.
From the second episode onward the show starts to take a different twist, as it soon becomes clear that Shana, although an arrogant character, is one with clear moral guidelines and is prepared to upset others to get what she wants. Although throughout the entire series she is very bratty and will demand her own way when it’s not always the best course of action. Yuuji follows at first the usual male lead role, he does deviate a fair bit from this clichéd personality, which makes him more likeable and bearable as a character.
Although a lot of the character’s personalities are a little overused, the plot fortunately takes a different course of action in comparison to the majority of the shows in its class. Unlike Naruto or Bleach the plot isn’t just one fight and adventure directly followed by another, there is character development and whereas characters in shows of it’s class seem to simply change in one sitting, characters in Shana change over time. Not forgetting the very open ended ending.
Although the characters themselves are trying to deviate from the norm, the animation style hasn’t changed a bit from any other generic anime that’s out on the market at the moment. The character designs themselves, although unique to this show, still follow the same basic trends as the rest of the genre and a lot of the supporting cast are hard to distinguish without being named by the other characters. The animation itself is of a good quality, with smooth movements and distinct characters from the background. The colours are vibrant and look good, although not outstanding.
The voice acting is of a good standard as well, the Japanese actors have clearly put effort into their vocal and on the whole each voice suits the characters very well. The same can be said for the English cast, although some of the voices do sound a little typical but overall it’s of a solid standard. Just like the music, likeable and enjoyable.
» Final Score
7/10
Shakugan no Shana deviates a little from the other titles in this genre and is much better than a lot of the alternatives around. For early teenage viewer this is a perfect title.
Reviews - by Ian - July 27, 2009 - 09:00 UTC - Be first to Comment!
In a world where people are harmed, murdered, mugged and probably pillaged on a daily basis it’s one of the modern moral dilemmas what to do. Is it safe to stop and try and help the poor soul, just to end up going to prison or being sued because of the criminals “human rights” or does walking on by sound like the best option. Either way it’s highly unlikely that anything really, really bad would happen.
Unlike poor Shibuya, the protagonist in Kyo Kain MAOH! He was casually riding his bike one day when he saw someone being mugged, someone he knew, and felt morally obliged to go and help him. Unfortunately the other person did a runner and left Shibuya to face the wrath of the two muggers/bullies who were attacking him. After only offering them a pitiful 2,000 yen they decided that a good, old-fashioned “bog-washing” was in order.
Much to Shibuya’s surprise he found himself not just in the pan of a woman’s toilet, but being sucked into this chasm and after a flashback, suddenly in some new world. After a lot of confusion, and assumptions that the poor lad had fallen into a cosplaying European theme park he quickly learnt that he was not just average Shibuya. Shibuya was actually royalty from another dimension. If that’s not enough for him to comprehend, he was also a demon and was now faced with the difficult challenge of killing all humans and burning their land to a crisp in this new and strange world.
However it would appear that not all in Shibuya’s new kingdom agree with killing all of the humans, regardless of how scared some of the children may be of them. Shibuya himself has trouble coming to terms with this statement as well; after all, it is genocide. Yet the manga is not serious enough for the moral issue of genocide and just glosses over the issue for the most part.
It’s clear that this manga is meant to be humorous and it takes itself very lightly as the protagonist falling into their new kingdom via a toilet is certainly a way of keeping the atmosphere of the manga light. Although it does have an element of internal conflict, magic, training and various other themes that are expected in a fantasy manga.
Fortunately all of the characters in Kyo Kain MAOH! are very distinct, with a character design that is brilliant. Although following all industry conventions each of the characters are easily distinguished, especially as they are well drawn and attempt to go for the semi-realistic route that a lot of manga has been doing recently. Additionally the characters often find themselves in situations that they have never known before, especially the lead character. This could easily be mishandled making the characters spew over used clichés and other painful expressions; luckily, these do not occur at any point.
» Final Score
8
Kyo Kain MAOH! is an interesting opening to a series that is going to be dealing with various issues from the word go. Falling through into the world through at toilet sets the light tone throughout the entire manga, although it touches on issues that are much darker. With magic, strength, battles and humour, Kyo Kain MAOH! ticks many of the boxes that people want in a manga.
Reviews - by Ian - July 24, 2009 - 09:00 UTC - Be first to Comment!
The anime industry is no different from any other in the world; it exists solely to make money. So when an executive in random anime company decides it’s time the legendary Seven Samurai needs retelling, the company gets to it. To quote the unused World War II propaganda: “Keep Calm, Carry On”. This is exactly what has happened with Samurai 7, the retelling of this already overused story has a slight twist as it’s set in an alternate future.
Many years after the Great War the young priestess, Kirara, is sent from her village to hire a samurai to protect their homes from the constant onslaught of attack that they suffer from cyborg bandits displaced after the long war. Kirara heads to the city with her sister Komachi to try and find someone to help them. Relying on the special amulet in Kirara’s possession they manage to stumble upon three samurai within minutes of arriving in the city.
Before long the Imperial Envoy is found dead with a bloody katana by his body and in an effort to find the murderer the magistrate’s decide to arrest every samurai in the town so the new heroes decide to escape the town and head back to Kirara’s village. The samurai’s make their way back to the village and find themselves up against a huge onslaught of cyborg bandits and they have to get to work immediately to try and save the village from destruction.
Throughout Samurai 7 there is an inordinate amount of sword fighting. Naturally with the show being about futuristic samurai types it’s to be expected to a degree, but the sheer number and length of these sequences leaves the viewer feeling a little dazed and frankly bored. There’s only so many times metal on metal can sound interesting, not to mention the fact that characters drawing close and then flying backwards from the sheer “force” of it can only be thrilling so many times. These extended action scenes appear throughout the entire show, and although some volumes have only a little sword fighting action, they are normally replaced with equally bizarre sci-fi affects.
Throughout there are cyborgs appearing in the towns, in the village and pretty much everywhere. They seem to contribute fairly little to the actual premise of the show and although it’s clear that they are meant to be the villains, they appear far too frequently and just look entirely out of place with the rest of the cast. Although suspension of disbelief is required in most anime, there’s only so far the viewer is able to go and unfortunately Samurai 7, with seemingly little logic to its expansive characters, goes beyond this.
We then face the weird spaceships that have been modelled on Edo architecture, which in a comedy anime would make perfect sense. Imagine seeing a flying Edo Castle in Lucky Star, or in The Legend of the Mystical Ninja – which makes perfect sense. In this seemingly serious anime it feels out of place and a little contrived.
That’s not it though; the English voice cast is awful. The character lack any form of conveying emotions and almost sound like robots themselves. In comparison the Japanese cast has managed to put on the performance of their lives with emotion ebbing through every spoken and unspoken word. So if Samurai 7 is to be watched, it requires watching in Japanese not the English dub.
The animation itself is good, the character designs are distinct and all of the characters are clearly modelled individually. The colours are brilliant and the costumes all look and feel in place. Even the out of place cyborgs and flying castles look brilliant, at no point can fault be placed on the character designs and execution as it’s first class.
» Final Score
5
Unfortunately this is one adaptation too far. Throughout Samurai 7 the plot feels clichéd, over used and in an attempt to try and be different by revisualising an already brilliant story the plot feels out of place and lacks any consistency.
Reviews - by Ian - July 23, 2009 - 09:00 UTC - 1 Comment
Wizards, magic, demons, anti-demons and just general magery is a fad that died off after the final release of The Lord of the Rings a few years ago – especially in the anime world. In recent times there’s been a larger focus on fabulous titles such as Lucky Star, Haruhi, Host Club, Naturo, Welcome to the NHK, Death Note and really anything that doesn’t involve magic directly. This was slowly turned around recently and another show bucking this tread is Claymore.
The world is being devastated by a demonic beast that is able to carefully disguise itself as a human, so well that the humans around this demon are unable to detect them. The only reason these beasts; called Yoma prey on humans is due to their taste for the delicate flavours of human flesh. However, all is not lost, there’s a sect in humanity called Claymore who alone can sense Yoma and their altered physiology allows them to survive from wounds that would otherwise kill other humans.
The Claymore’s are feared almost as much as the Yoma’s by the general population, as they tend to bring disaster with them everywhere they go. When they go to fight a Yoma they transform and become similar to those of which they hunt. The more they fight, the more they become those creatures.
Following a young Claymore, Clare is one such warrior who is accepting missions to kill Yoma and defend everyone, who in turn despise her for her work. However, after she rescues a young Raki her life begins to change for the better. Raki attempts to learn as much as he can about the Claymore as possible, which for a normal “human” is very rare.
Along with this Clare is entasked to find and protect various villages, kill friends and meet up with the best Claymore to ever exist. Yet during these trying times it becomes apparent that the Claymore Organisation has anything but their best interests in heart with a human is killed involving an incident with Clare. Unfortunately Clare is the worst Claymore on the continent and can do very little about this; however a startling revelation shocks the entire Claymore people when they find a Claymore gone bad, but not just gone bad but something a little more than that as well.
Claymore could easily have turned into the cookie-cutter anime standard, where the women all have huge breasts, they all talk cutesy and there’s some bad humour on the side to keep everything jovial. Fortunately Claymore has managed to use its substantial backstory and create a show that’s different in many ways. Aside from the first, which is the nearly all female cast, of course there are many shows out there with female casts, but rarely are they so dominant, powerful and confident.
Claymore has a rich storyline, with it’s own mythology and philosophy. This is normally the cue for people to stop caring and just wish the show would get on with it. Fortunately Claymore manages to explain it’s extensive storyline throughout the plot with the characters having to deal with the turmoil of being ranked against other’s who are like them, but knowing that at some point they will turn into what they kill. Along with being despised by everyone they meet. It also deals with corruption as the very organisation that looks after the Claymore are hiding information not only from the general public, but from their own members which is discovered in a unique and strange way towards the end of the double disc set.
Throughout this fast paced show information is delivered in an easy to understand and enjoyable way. This in turn makes the viewer connect with the show on a comfortable level; it’s no art-house anime – even if it looks like one. This connection is one of the primary reasons to enjoy Claymore, as the show is walking a fine line between being interesting and being over-indulgent and data-dumpish.
Fortunately the casting is spot on between all of the characters and the English dub is enjoyable, although the Japanese cast have a slight edge over the English characters. There is emotion expressed from the entire cast and there is subtlety too, which is rare these days. The subtitles are done well as always.
The animation itself is good, the colouring looks a little washed out from time to time, but for the most part this benefits the show adding a touch of edginess to it. The character designs are good, but not brilliant. Unfortunately some of the characters do look a little samey and this is a huge shame as this show is worth of much more.
» Final Score
9
Claymore manages to mix magic and drama brilliantly. With subtle touches from the cast and a great storyline it’s a must for any collection. It’s just a shame that the character designs and the general washed out feel of the colouring lets it down.
Reviews - by Ian - July 22, 2009 - 17:14 UTC - 1 Comment
The Holy Grail in history is something that many searched for and no one has ever found. Wars were fought for the supposedly holy land of Jerusalem and thousands of people have died in wars for the holy land and the many artefacts that have been left over from Jesus Christ’s time on the world.
However, in Fate Stay Night the Holy Grail War is something entirely different, it’s a time when seven Masters summon seven Servants to fight for the right to obtain the Holy Grail so that their wishes can be granted.
Our main protagonist, Shirou Emiya, is the sole survivor of a great fire, the incident that managed to kill his entire family and leave Shirou as an orphaned boy. He was lucky enough to be saved that fateful night by his adopted father, Kiritsugu Emiya. Since that day Shirou has done everything in his power to become a Hero of Justice and has tried to live every day the best he could. This budding engineer and high school student had no idea that his father was already a Hero of Justice. However, unlike his adopted dad, he had none of the skill or the power that led to Kiritsugu becoming a Hero of Justice and a Magus. A Magus is a powerful Master who is able to summon a Servant to fight in the Holy Grail Wars so that they are able to have their wishes fulfilled by the Holy Grail.
One day on his way home from school Shirou stumbles across two men who are fighting in the street, unsure as what to do, fear takes hold of him and Shirou tries to run away from these two battling men. Unfortunately as he turns to run he is fatally struck down by one of the combatants and much to his own surprise rather than simply dieing he manages to live and is approached by Saber, an armour clad woman, who tells him that he is now a Master and has been chosen to participate in the Holy Grail War. He has no interest in participating in this War, but he discovers that it was his wish to become a Hero of Justice that caused the Wars to start again. Upon this realisation he decides to take full responsibility and actively participates in the War.
There’s an indepth storyline in Fate Stay Night and this expensive story is explained bit by bit throughout the first volume of the manga. Where characters that are introduced in the opening pages that have a much more critical role in later stages in the manga. With a large number of characters it can become a little confusing as to who is who, and the dialogue can confuse the reader a little as it doesn’t appear that there’s much direction to which character is speaking in the early pages.
Throughout the story there are flashbacks to Shirou’s childhood, when Kiritsugu is adopting him and when he passes away. These flashbacks, which are vital to the plot, seem to be littered around the manga and do not appear to have a direct trail in this volume. This isn’t helped by the rapid character development and the occasional data dump to actually explain what’s going on.
Fortunately though these data dumps actually enlighten the reader and bring a strong sense of clarity to the book, which is to be expected with an indepth storyline such as this.
» Final Score
7
Fate Stay Night is a strong opening to a manga with magic, mages, death and destruction. The main problem is the rapid character development and all too often data dumps; however, these are small prices to pay considering where this could go.
Reviews - by Ian - July 22, 2009 - 10:51 UTC - 3 Comments
Videogames becoming films is an increasingly popular phenomenon that was once shied away from by all major film makers after the disaster that the majority of the early adaptations, such as the Mario Brother’s film. However, it’s become apparent that with the success of Tomb Raider and the Resident Evil films that this trend is reversing, so with that in mind many companies are starting about moving impossibly popular videogames into the anime genre.
Blue Dragon is one such anime, based off of the incredibly popular Blue Dragon videogame on the Xbox 360. So for many of the fans of the videogame this anime is a must, just like Final Fantasy VII Advent of Children was for the Final Fantasy fans of the world. Yet there are many who have never played Blue Dragon and with shows being born from videogames, there’s a strong possibility that it will be nothing more than a loose storyline strung around shallow characters.
Fortunately Blue Dragon was placed into a very capable studio – Studio Peirrot of Naruto and Bleach fame. In a similar style the protagonist Shu lives in the peaceful village of Talta with his friends and dreams of becoming a Knight Master and having many adventures. During one of his many games with his friends in an attempt to battle his boredom is wanders into some travellers and accuses someone who’s significantly more powerful than him of being weak. Within minutes of this occurring Shu’s peaceful little village is being attacked by the army of Lord Nene.
Shu then goes to find these powerful travellers to help defeat this army who are simply indifferent towards him – after all, it’s not their battle. Disgusted with them Shu attempts to battle the army himself and unleashes an incredible power that he has no control of (think Ash Ketchup trying to control Charizard in early Pokémon episodes). Those travellers see that he has the incredible power and recruit him and his friends to go across the world to find a secret power to help defeat the evil King.
Shu’s group of friends then continue throughout the show with new characters being brought in and dropped off at various points and he has to do a lot of training to hone his skills to control his new power. There is clearly a good backstory to this anime and the storyline itself has been thought out pretty well. Unfortunately the execution of this anime is a little lacklustre. The characters themselves are all clichéd and very run of the mill, even the more interesting ones are just slight variants on the rest of the cast.
This is mostly due to the demographic that Blue Dragon is being aimed at; after all, it was made by those who make Naruto. Squarely targeting the young teenage male market makes it a little stale for those who have long since grown out of people powering up and lots of training scenes. This is mostly due to the videogame itself, as a RPG there’s going to be an inordinate amount of levelling grinding to perform before the characters are actually able to defeat half of the enemies and this needs to be reflected in the anime itself.
Aside from the demographic being aimed at the younger and of the market, Blue Dragon itself has been created well. The animation style is good and feels like a mix between Pokémon and Bleach or Naruto that gives it a familiar yet different feel. The colouring has been done well and the characters are all distinct with their own personalities, which do shine through.
The voice acting has been done well as well, after listening to both the Japanese and English dub there’s little to choose from so it’s just down to personal preference as it is becoming standard in many modern animes.
» Final Score
6
Blue Dragon really is just anime by numbers; however, there are many worse animes on the market. Blue Dragon is squarely aimed at the early teenage boy market and to say that it is poor is unfair. This anime clearly isn’t being aimed at adults and any 12 year old boy would enjoy this anime for what it is; but it’s certainly not revolutionary.
Reviews - by Ian - June 29, 2009 - 21:16 UTC - 1 Comment
There are few successful videogame to movie adaptations, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and that Mario film from years ago. Fortunately it would appear that videogame to anime films are far more successful as the Street Fighter 5 Disc Movie Collection features all of the anime films from this iconic series in one boxset.
In total there are three films, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha Generations and Street Fighter II, along with Street Fighter The Digital Comic. Street Fighter Alpha is the first film of the box set, although much like Star Wars it’s actually Street Fighter Alpha Generations that’s chronologically first in the Street Fighter timeline.
In Street Fighter Alpha Ken returns home to pay his respects to his late master and crops into Ryu. This reunion is better sweet as the pair have not seen each other in many years and they must together overcome a great evil that’s slowly taking over Ryu as well as the land. Ryu’s younger brother, Shun appears from no where and yet no one has any memory of him, whilst Ryu, Ken and Shun get to know one another the demonic power that lies dormant inside of Ryu starts to bubble at the surface and it’s soon apparent that Shun has the ability to utilise this power as well.
Street Fighter Alpha has decent voice acting in English and the Japanese voice cast is very well acted. Fortunately good casting and decent translating have managed to keep Street Fighter Alpha fighting back the easy trap that videogame to film adaptations usually fall into. The animation is very well done, there are a lot of muted tones throughout and the demonic scenes are dark and very distinct at all times. Unfortunately the storyline itself isn’t exactly amazing and for the most part is somewhat clichéd; however, the ending is very impressive.
The second film to be made is actually the first film in the series and Street Fighter Alpha Generations tells the story of Gouki’s defeat of Ryu’s master, leaving the village and falling into a very dark and evil life. Ryu returns to the village and dojo to pay his respects to his master. Ryu is plagued by nightmares of Gouki. He soon finds that his dojo has been left to ruin and starts training again to find the man who killed his former master.
Street Fighter Alpha Generations also has a strong voice-acting cast in both English and Japanese and for the most part is well acted. With some dodgy phases in the film it doesn’t sound as good as the first but the artwork is far more impressive. The character designs have changed a lot from the first film and although look more blocky and less impressive, are actually far more fluid with more impressive backgrounds. The muted tones of the backgrounds are strong contrasts to the much brighter, although still faded in comparison to the likes of Lucky Star; leave more of a lasting impression on the viewer.
Street Fighter 2 begins with Ryu and Sagat fighter at full strength whilst Cammie White, a former street fighter and a hired assassin are targeting Albert Sellers. The Interpol officer Chung Lee, manage to arrest Cammie White, unfortunately the Shadow Law managed to recruit many of the normal street fighters to act as assassins to destroy the Albert Sellers in London. Bison, the leader of the Shadow Law is planning on taking over the world and must be stopped and the person to do this is Ryu.
Along with the other films, the animation quality is very good, as is the voice acting and the translations a little hit and miss. This is the uncut version, therefore there’s the extended scenes of Chung Lee and all of the controversy that in modern society appears to be far minor than when it was first released.
Along with these films there’s a digital comic in the style of manga. This comic expands upon various aspects of the series and is well done, with brilliant drawing quality and is well scripted.
» Final Score
8
Ultimately Street Fighter – 5 Disc Movie Collection panders to Street Fighter fans wants and needs. For the most part the films are of a decent quality; however, they can be a little samey for non-Street Fighter fans. Yet overall these films are of a good quality and would be a good addition to anime collections, especially for £30.
Reviews - by Ian - June 22, 2009 - 08:00 UTC - Be first to Comment!
A mysterious event that took place twelve years ago devastated the city, over a decade on the affects can still be seen with people who are part cyborg-part human. The government body tasked to oversee this transformation of people into robo-humans are the RUC, the Reestablishment Universe Committee, who are not only making sure that the world is a clean place from deranged robot-humans but also to make sure that the city’s infrastructure and general appearance is back on track. However, this is not the case and the RUC is unable to keep track with the Resembles who have gone bad.
Our anti-hero Roy Revant works in the city as a bounty hunter for the Maverick Hunter’s Company, as his wife and daughter both died at the hands of the mysterious event known as the Blast Fall. This good-guy-gone-bad has a self destructive streak that is only being kept in check by the owner of the company who used to be friend’s with this widower’s wife. That is, until his salvation falls from the sky.
This salvation comes in the way of a Resemble who’s not part human and part robot, but entirely robot and has the power to save Roy from a number of sticky situations he manages to get himself in. This Resemble decides to call herself Solty Rei and lives with Roy, much to his disgust. Throughout this volume of the show we see their characters start to expand and we see more opinions on simple things like theft, morals and strangely décor.
Yet it’s not as simple as that as Solty has to decide whether to become a thief to potentially save someone’s life, or let them suffer. This decision is clearly hard for Solty and Roy to make and this decision they make may not bode well for the future. Fortunately these decisions lead the team to the Old City where they can see the remaining devastation of the Blast Fall first hand. As they delve deeper into the city they end up being trapped with only moments left due to another horrible event in the area.
Of course there’s a level of cliché in these episodes, as the characters are starting to try and define themselves a little to the audience. Rather than being the two dimensional anti-hero who’s lost it all, Roy’s heart is starting to open up to new possibilities and going to the edge of town where his partner and child potentially died is a great moment for a lot of character development to occur – unfortunately this moment was not utilised brilliantly. Fortunately though this could be rectified in the next episodes as there’s lot of nuggets of mystery and general humour that have been laid in these early episodes.
It’s more clear that although the anime is titled Solty Rei, the show does not centre just on this one character, or even the development and relationship between Solty and Roy Revant but more so on what is normally considered the supporting cast and especially Rose. She seems especially determined to try and recruit Solty into the RUC cause, and this simply annoys the rest of the cast and it’s quickly up to Roy and Solty to try and protect Rose from her own sense of unprofessionalism and fanaticism of a completed job.
As ever with Gonzo is would appear that there are multiple themes and various storylines trying to be told at the same time. Fortunately in this case they are working well as they all seem to be somewhat interlinked at the moment, mostly surrounding Solty and the very fact that the team are all at the Blast Fall point is clearly important for the forthcoming volumes.
As with the first volume the colours are good, but this volume’s colours are not only brighter but they feel more vibrant and distinct. The animation quality itself has changed very little, some of the backgrounds to the cities look the same and a lot of the “occasional characters” leave no lasting impression. Although the main cast are all well designed and each of them are easily recognised and equally easy to remember.
The voice acting has been done to a great standard, both the Japanese and the English cast portray emotion very well and there’s a clear effort gone into the English casting as the characters match their profiles very well. Fortunately this isn’t just done by trying to match the tone of voice to the Japanese cast, but to the actual character itself.
» Final Score
7
Solty Rei is an action packed, fun loving anime that although isn’t in itself anything brand new to the world of anime, it’s something fun and lighthearted with high production values and good acting. A good choice for any anime fan.
Reviews - by Ian - June 21, 2009 - 16:07 UTC - Be first to Comment!
It has long been thought that the days of the coliseum were over, where people paid to see humans battle each other to the death; however, this is commonplace in the underground city of Lukuss. Yet, it’s not just the fact that there are coliseum that makes Lukuss a ruthless place, but the punishments that are handed out for stepping out of line by the current gang in power. These punishments are seen almost immediately and there’s clearly a level of masochism in the city that isn’t matched anywhere else in the world. Or so it could be thought initially.
In Lukuss, where rival gangs are constantly killing each other, members of there own gang and civilians in the street. The ultimate form of power is to become Texhnolyzed, which means that status and power is bestowed upon the Texhnolyzed. It also means that they are not scared of handing out brutal punishments to those who deserve it. Ichise is one of these people; however, unlike many he did not have to pay for this, nor does he hold power or status. After having an affair with a fight promoter’s wife, he finds that his punishment is to have one full arm and one full leg removed and them be left to fend for himself in blind agony and with blood pouring out. He was found wandering the dilapidated city by a rich doctor who forces him to become Texhnolyzed against his will, by stealing the last few cells of Ichise’s dead mother.
Lukuss is a city that’s deep under the earth, many of the cities inhabitants have never seen the sun, have never known fresh air and the people on the world outside have rarely been to Lukuss – except one person who’s walked down the thousands of steps to see Lukuss with his own eyes. Kazuho Yoshii decided to take the four or five day walk down the stairs to see what’s happening in the semi-Texhnolyzed world of Lukuss and runs into the mysterious prophet Ran. The pair set off to Lukuss and starts to cause difficulties for people who clearly deserve it.
With Yoshii at the helm of the destruction, there’s problems being created left right and centre with a new wave of destruction from a single gang that destroys all of the known infrastructure in the corrupt political world of Lukuss and Ran leaves the city to suffer.
This incredibly dark and thought-provoking anime is the next piece of work from the genius that is Yoshitoshi ABe. After his work with Serial Experiments Lain, ABe become known worldwide for creating an anime that feels slow moving, but is so action packed and intricate that it requires several watchings for understanding to flourish. His next step with Haibane Renmei was equally as touching, although marginally less dark. In Texhnolyze ABe has used the darkness of Lain and the touching elements of Renmei to create his obfuscous work yet.
For someone who has never seen this show before, the first few episodes of this thin-pack boxset is absolutely amazing. The animation is stunningly distinct and the level of detail on the painstakingly created world is apparent from the word go. With the washed out pallets and the destruction of the world around them it’s hardly surprising that the inhabitants of this city turn to crime. However, the first two episodes show that mutilation of the body isn’t something that really bothers the people of Lukuss. In many a lesser anime swearing and overdramatised screams would have been abundant; however, ABe knows how to create a subtle yet memorable anime by simply fading the scream to silence.
Throughout Texhnolyze there is very little dialogue, this is clear attempt to encourage the viewer to listen to the soundtrack rather than the characters, due to the subtle and enticing soundtrack this is done well and Texhnolyze in surround sound, or at the cinema, is an experience as the footsteps of a character, the explosion of a factory or simply the wind through the streets of Lukuss is creating the ambiance of the entire show. The characters’ dialogue is merely there to push the story further quicker, it’s a shame that there’s not an entire episode where not a single word is said – although Epsiode 1 isn’t far from this. Fortunately the voice acting cast is brilliant, to display little emotion and indifference to a fellow living being without being or sounding like a robot is a difficult task that both the English and the Japanese voice acting cast manage to achieve.
Unfortunately the general pace and feel of the show isn’t for everyone. This is a very serious anime that is questioning what it is to be a human, society and the general makeup of the world. With the slow paced feel, the lack of dialogue and the very sick and depressive feel of the anime it’s certainly something that only refined tastes will enjoy.
The visuals on this show are simply stunning. Not in the standard anime fashion where everything is in a high contrast, where half naked girls are running around and the backgrounds simply outshine half of the main cast, but in the sense that the entire show has this grim, almost not caring attitude. This highly stylised sense of vision is certainly one that’s done no harm to the show and has improved the look and feel of Texhnolyze.
» Final Score
9
Texhnolyze is simply stunning, a must for every anime collection. Few animes require being owned, but Texhnolyze is one of them, for the simple reason that it’s just a masterpiece that’s been left alone for far too long. The rerelease of this anime in the thin-pack boxset is a brilliant move.
Reviews - by Ian - June 14, 2009 - 22:51 UTC - Be first to Comment!
As the mornings start earlier and are brighter and the evenings are starting to be light until gone 9 o’clock the Spring and Summer specials will start to slip into the release schedule. Light hearted, quick paced and full of sunshine frolicking, these specials are simply there to entertain and not to fit into the continuity of the series or even to make any sense half of the time. We face this exact situation with an already very complicated series – Negima.
As with the Tenchi Muyo series, there are various iterations of the series created by different people and distributed by different companies. The Spring and Summer Special fits into this weird and confusing series perfectly, and to worry about who made it and the continuity to the series would simply make the mind boil from the anger and confusion it would generate (but for those of you who want to know Negima?! Spring and Summer Special was made by SHAFT who made the OVAs).
Ayaka has decided that Spring is a great time to take Negi to her family’s exclusive resort, unfortunately for her, the rest of Class 2-C tag along as well and it ends up being a class field trip. Of course, this means that there’s plenty of fun on the beach and a whole lot of semi-naked teenagers and situations where the 10-year-old Negi has no idea what to do. Unfortunately for the rest of the class Negi and Ayaka have ended up in an argument and the class do their best to fix their flagging friendship before both of their depressions bring the entire class down.
Of course, in the attempt to lighten the pair’s mood the class manage to actually put more distance between the two. This is mostly due to Ayaka’s behaviour towards Negi who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time the majority of the time. At no point does Ayaka notice this until they manage to find themselves sharing a balcony and making up.
To counter this, during Summer Nodoka has read of the legend of the red string. This string appears throughout many episodes of anime and in Japanese folklore throughout time. This red string is meant to link true lovers together forever; however, love doesn’t necessarily mean lust and this is something that Nodoka has to find out the hard way – just like Ryoko in Tenchi in Tokyo. Unlike Tenchi, this happens in a private spa and the teenage girls everywhere are in swimsuits, towels or just plain naked in public; which apparently happens all the time in Japan.
Throughout Negi is dragged through various spas due to this string, of course Ayaka gets grumpy by his new found interest in Nodoka, as she can’t see this red string. Throughout the entire episode there are plenty of risqué moments and half naked teenagers are abundant and the fan service is too. Naturally this is to be expected as this is the Spring and Summer Special, and due to the very nature of Negima the boob-shots are without a doubt a crucial element to the humour of the show.
There is very little storyline to the Special and makes very little attempt to reference the school, the reason for the magic or pretty much anything else from the main show. This is why it’s important to look at the DVD as something that’s separate to the show, almost like the garlic bread that’s ordered as a side – it’s an added bonus. Unlike the main show itself there’s very little mystery or suspense it is a comedy addon through and through.
The animation is fairly solid, the characters are all somewhat distinct, but all have the same busty impossibleness about them. Fortunately the backgrounds are well drawn and with the decent characters it creates an impressive blend that makes the show easy watching. The English cast is brilliant and the characters suit one another incredibly well, especially when compared against the Japanese cast.
For the English version of the show the humour has been toned down somewhat and some of the subplots have been altered to the point where they are no longer the same as the Japanese. In the same way as what happened to Love Hina, except the English dub is decent. The very experiences are different, but they are both enjoyable ones that are worth watching.
» Final Score
7
Negima?! Spring and Summer Special is a good way of easing into the Negima?! world without really being told anything. Although the storylines are vastly different to the main show, which is much more spooky and story led, this humour filled, fun packed anime is perfect viewing for a spring and summer time break.
Reviews - by Ian - June 7, 2009 - 16:42 UTC - 4 Comments
Ouran High School Host Club is handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain ladies also with way too much time on their hands. This group of immaculately dressed with pristine skin boys spend their spare time allowing women who also attend the school faun over them whilst they make the girls feel like they are the centre of the world at all times – even though there are literally dozens of other people in the room having the exact same thing done to them.
The Ouran Academy is a prestigious school that’s exclusively for the elite of Japan; these children are rich, powerful and are going to be the crème of the world in the future. Naturally, for these children the best of the best is considered average, so the Academy itself has it’s own “Big Ben” and could easily pass for a cathedral in architecture, with expansive rooms, expensive decorations and exclusive clubs, this school is completely out of this world. Then Haruhi turns up. Haruhi is a “pauper” who has managed to secure an elusive scholarship to this exclusive Academy. This in itself automatically means that Haruhi is out of place, with tatty hair, old clothes and thick glasses Haruhi is the exact opposite of what Ouran Academy is – perfection in beauty.
Within a few days Haruhi is desperate to escape the luxuries of the school and start studying – after all, she’s earned a scholarship at the Academy. Unfortunately for her she enters Music Room #3, which is meant to be unused. However, she stumbles across the Host Club. This club exists purely to keep the girls of the school happy, and is a very pure and innocent Host Club and consists of the host King, Tamaki Suou, the male loli Mitsukini Haninozuka (Honey-chan), Takasahi Morinozuka (Mori), the mischievous, brotherly love, twins Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin and the club Queen (and not in a drag sense) Kyoya Ootori. These boys manage to not only stun Haruhi but manage to make this pauper knock over an 8 million yen statue. Naturally Haruhi is unable to pay this and is forced into joining the club.
One problem though, Haruhi is a girl. Throughout the first few episodes the members of the club recognise this, unfortunately the Club’s King, Tamaki, fails to realise this until it’s too late and walks in on Haruhi changing. Of course they try and hide this so that she is able to pay her debts off, and she ends up taking off her glasses, exposing her beauty and becomes a full club member, which in itself causes problems.
Throughout this 13 episode double DVD volume there is hilarity throughout. Haruhi manages to capture the attention of boys and girls alike, and unlike many shows like this there is very little fanservice and at no point does it become too risqué, this show is pretty clean and is not here to service the satisfaction of certain sects of the community it’s pure comedy through and through.
From the very first episode it’s clear that there’s a complicated and long storyline that’s not only going to be somewhat complicated but will also have a lot of room for character development and more than one storyline to be played out. First and foremost this show is like a sitcom, whereas most sitcoms are somewhat clichéd, have bad backing tracks and are acted poorly this one is in a league of it’s own.
As this is a Japanese shows much of the Japanese comedy has been left in through the translation, and fortunately most of it’s universal and is laugh-out-loud funny and the pure addictive nature of the show will keep many people watching the entire thing in one or two sittings. With the twins being declared homosexual support characters, the club treasuring actually being in control, a mad otaku manager and a few dark characters who curse people along the way Ouran High School Host Club is the epitome of how to do an anime well.
Poking fun at the class divide, gender, incest, the way people actually work as a whole, cross dressing, love, fear, anger and regret Host Club deals with a mountain of issues and treats all of them sensitively but with equal good measure of humour to make nothing too much of a pain to watch. There’s no cringe worthy moments due to bad scripting and throughout the comic mayhem the tender dramatic moments are played out brilliantly. This brilliant acting and scripting allows the audience to really understand the motives behind the actions and excess of the wealthy.
Having watched this show when it was first aired in Japan many years ago, the English dubbing has been done brilliantly. If one is able to bare the absolutely hideous introduction and ending songs, that in Japanese were amazing, the actual voice acting itself is first class. The casting has been done well, and the voices all sound very close to the Japanese cast and the emotion and humour conveyed in the voices are clear to hear. The Japanese track is just as brilliant and the opening and ending songs are brilliant, especially the introduction song, which is, sang by the voice actor of Haruhi.
It was the US version of the show that was reviewed due to time constraints by the publishers, so the extras that end up on the UK version I can’t vouch for. However, the US features were plentiful and brilliant. There are the usual textless introductions, but the highlight of the extras was the bloopers. The voice actors mucking up their lines are brilliant and it’s clear that they were really enjoying what they were doing.
Final Score
10
Ouran High School Host Club is simply stunning. With care and love in each episode, this beautifully animated, brilliant voice acted and fabulously scripted show not only deserves a place on all anime shelves but also demands the right to enjoy the masses.
Reviews - by Ian - June 7, 2009 - 15:31 UTC - Be first to Comment!
The polar icecaps have melted, the world is a very different place and the new earth has recently celebrated its anniversary of the ascent from the depths of the ocean. With this ascent comes secrets, secrets and lies that have been told to the entire world and they are constantly being hidden by the Ocean Agency. Finally the story starts to really come into it’s own with Volume 6 for Daphne in the Brilliant Blue and our heroes, the girls from the Nereids Agency are one step closer to discovering what this secret is and the mystery that surrounds Maia’s dreams.
After Maia successfully landed the airship, even though she had next to no experience convinced the Ocean Agency into allowing her to take her exams again; however, Maia’s dreams have been so persistent that she’s starting to lose perspective. She manages to fail her Ocean Agency exams by deleting all of her answers instead of submitting them. She also manages to get Shizuka injured by her lack of attention and Rena ends up sacking her due to this huge error. As a result, Maia is homeless and jobless and is attacked on the street just to top it off. Fortunately her friend Millie and the mysterious grey haired man successfully attempt to rescue her from almost certain death.
The grey haired man is vital in keeping this story flowing and Maia speaking with him and this attack really is the turning point in this volume and keeps everything moving forward at record pace. With Maia’s memory returning to her at full speed, there are those who would rather her memory stays forgotten, as she is the only person who remembers the truth. As Maia remembers more the Ocean Agency become twitchy and arrest Maia and attempt to do a memory wipe, but not before the Nereids team come along to rescue her and take her to where she needs to go. Fortunately the team run into their old rivals who help them along the way.
It’s quite clear that Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is a series of two halves. The first three volumes, although entertaining, are clear fanservice with good humour but no real extended plotlines and using as many of the typical clichés and problems that we are used to seeing. From Volume 4 onwards, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue becomes an entirely different show; it uses extended plotlines with character development, interwoven plotlines and a twist that is amazing.
Upon reviewing the entire series it’s clear that from the very start the creators knew exactly where the series was going and although the first few volumes are somewhat droll it’s the clichés and the throwaway points that derive from these clichés that cause a lot of what happens in the final show to occur. The very fact that all of the lose points are tied up in the final episodes is impressive, what’s more impressive is that none of these knots feel forced and weak. Everything falls nicely into place and this “run of the mill” anime really manages to hit an emotional punch with the final episodes.
A fair amount of the final episodes are shot underwater, and throughout the entire series the background scenes have all been visually stunning, and even in the deepest, darkest parts of the sea the mountain ranges of the sea and the ocean are easily spotted apart and the various depths which could easily be poorly done are crafted amazingly. The character art may be a little lacklustre, with some of the characters almost feeling like they are identical.
The voice acting in itself is top notch in this volume, although some of the castings still feel off in comparison to the Japanese volume, and the “Big Brother” sequences are just as painful as always the emotion conveyed in the voices are clear.
With next to no features throughout the entire show, we are then hit with two extra episodes that each run at 24 minutes a piece to keep the show flowing along for just a little longer.
» Final Score
9
Volume 6 of Daphne in the Brilliant Blue manages to capture the emotion of a lost memory, the elation of remembering it and then the utter horror of what these memories mean to Maia and the world. Daphne in the Brilliant Blue ends on a high leaving you wanting more.
The next twelve episodes of Ouran High School Host Club mange to continue with the high quality that was experienced throughout Part 1, with fun being poked at class, gender and many facts of life for “normal people” as well as expanding into areas of emotion and divide whilst maintaining the easy going flow of the show. There is hints of a complicated storyline being developed by the latter episodes of Part 1 and Part 2 only go to expand upon that. Whereas many animes attempt to have multiple plots running at the same time end up being a mess of random episodes tied together, Host Club effectively manage these plots and subplots throughout the entire series. There are some references that only the “otaku” culture may understand, such as growing mushrooms in a dark corner, but for the most part the universal humour that was seen in Part 1 has translated through to the remainder of the show.
To maintain this level of detail the script needs to be next to perfect and fortunately the same high quality writing has managed to be marinated throughout the entire series. This has led to no filler episodes and even fewer duds. As this is only a 26 episode series with nothing on the horizons for a Series 2 the writing and plot has had to be very tight and this attention to detail shines through.
In terms of voice acting, the Japanese cast is best; however, the US voice actors have done a superb job at getting much of the maniacal laughter and emotion across. All of the characters match their voices and it’s all performed very well – just unfortunately they’re not as good as their Japanese counterparts.
