Tigerkinney's Anime Reviews

Infernalmiko · December 26, 2013

More Higurashi spoilers.

I'm up to ep 20 of Higurashi and well into the WTF section of the anime. VERY creepy and disturbing. The storyarc with Arasaka and the kid being kidnapped was different, apparently part of the Keiichi kills everyone arc. A government agent is sent to Hinamizawa to look for a kidnapped kid. This is a fairly tame arc that reveals a few additional clues to what is going on. But also introduces us to creepy Rika. There are points where she seems to be predicting the future while talking like an adult instead of her usual kawaii "ni pai" way of talking. So, possibly possessed or something more sinister.

The next arc is the answer arc to Mion/Shion going crazy and killing everyone. So we see a little more of the why of who went missing/dead and understand a little more what drove Mion/Shion over the edge (even further). But there is a ton of crazy in this arc and not just from M/S. We see Rika again suddenly talking like an adult briefly in a scene just before more bloody violence. I'm also starting to wonder about Rena. In the question arc of this I thought it was strange she was more or less guessing what happened to Rika and Satoko, right down to the dialogue used to lure Satoko. And now we see she was pretty much correct. Combine this with what she had to say about the spirit of the village following victims and even standing over their beds when they sleep and I'm curious what sort of crazy we'll see from Rena.

The strangest thoughts pop into my mind sometimes watching this anime. In the question arc of this when the camera zoomed in on the table of Rika and Satoko my first thought was "They're out of soy sauce, that would suck." As it turns out that's an important point.

I'm still enjoying the anime but it's given me some interesting dreams. We're starting to see a little of what's going on behind the scenes to drive the horror. I still don't know who's really behind the killings, I have plenty of suspects though.

Rickymex · December 26, 2013

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Infernalmiko" data-cite="Infernalmiko" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I still don't know who's really behind the killings, I have plenty of suspects though.</div></blockquote> It was Beatrice <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />or was it!!!

Infernalmiko · December 30, 2013

Random thoughts as I finish Higurashi, Season 1 at least.

Holy crap, the Mion/Shion story arc was messed up. Getting all teary eyed over Satoko. So much insanity and needless cruelty. This is also the first answer arc and it still leaves me questions. Mion went into the well. Shion fell from high up. So who got Keiichi? Is the demon something real or was he infected by the insanity? After the confrontation with Shion and Rika, I'm not sure. I like Rika but she's creepy at times. I keep wondering the significance of her wearing the mask in the opening credits, if any.

Next episode is apparently a new Question Arc, Atonement. And finally they are focusing some on Rena. Hm, it's interesting how they start developing the Sonozaki family. View from the inside first it's not as scary. From Rena's side of things you get a much greater impression of how scary they are.

Yes, the machete! It's about time it got some use.

Awww, that's so adorbs. the rest of the club rallying around Rena. It's like a cute schoolkids anime gone horribly wrong. You know the type, one of the kids does something a little bad and feels the need to hide it from their friends, only to learn they didn't need to worry and they should have trusted the power of friendship. Except in this case the little bad thing was murder. I'm just waiting to see where this goes horribly wrong.

And instead we move on to a totally different plotline. Ano.... I suspect it'll all come together again somehow. Especially since Teppei is Satoko's uncle. He's been killed by three people now I think. Instead, we start to get the possible truth about Hinamizawa. A parasite? Aliens? I'm not buying it yet.

Holy crap, the very first storyline just crossed over into this one. Keiichi remembered something from a story arc and freaked me. Me too, a little. Getting teary again. Adult sounding Rika is back again as well, but she's not sounding possessed this time. It's more like she understands what he's going through. So, the same thing happened to her at some point?

Almost to the end and Rena's really gone off the deep end. But Satoko the Trap Master can save the day! Except I can't help but remember the last time she thought she could trick Rena, she was wrong...

And they mess with my expectations again. Rika, sounding adult and slightly possessed, is back, facing off with Rena and her machete. And she's done this before? Yep, she must remember something from past events.

Confirmed. Rika is aware of the Groundhod Day effect. This story arc actually has a happy ending, relatively speaking. Almost no one died. But it didn't solve the mystery or break the circle, apparently. Takano's notebooks may or may n ot be the key. Apparently they all have different theories about what is going on, so they are not an answer.

Ah well. Higurashi Kai is next!

Tigerkinney · January 3, 2014

Had the niece staying with us over the Xmas break, so didn't get to see much 'new' anime. Mostly been re-watching K-On!- have actually come away appreciating it even more, watching it alongside my niece. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Meanwhile, I did an experiment to see how much I rate some anime studio's in relation to my reviews thus far. To be eligible for assessment I would have had to review at least 5 of their shows. Below are my findings, with comments on whether or not they actually match my perception of each studio (next post)

Only 10 made the cut, so I think this is something I will re-assess in say six months time.

Tigerkinney · January 3, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">Anime Studio Performance Index

</div>

Rank 10- AIC (Anime International Company)

62% from 7 shows

Best: Humanity Has Declined

Worst: Tokko (Co produced with Group TAC)

Out of all the studio's that made the cut to be assessed, I'm not too surprised AIC came bottom of the pile. Not a bad studio, but for me they just look as though they churn out a lot of average anime and that's reflective in the grades I've given the majority of their shows thus far.

Rank 9- Manglobe

65% from 5 Shows

Best: Samurai Champloo

Worst: The Sacred Blacksmith

I would predict that if this was say a list of 20 studio's be compared to one another, rather than just 10- Manglobe would probably be somewhere in the bottom half but not right down the bottom. For me they are one of those middle tier studio's, capable of doing good stuff (Samurai Champloo) but just as likely to churn out mediocrity (Sacred Blacksmith).

Rank 8- Gonzo

67 % from 11 Shows

Best: Last Exile

Worst: Tower of Druaga

Gonzo- The studio that tried to run before it could walk. Outside of major studio's like Toei, Madhouse or Sunrise, there was perhaps no more productive studio between 2002 and 2007 (and a fair few of the shows weren't low budget affairs), but they over-stretched themselves and went bankrupt- they've since been resurrected (and just had their most productive year prior to their financial troubles) but the Gonzo of today is a still a shell of it's former self.

Visit a few anime message boards around the net, and well Gonzo are either often heralded as the greatest studio ever and that their collapse was like the anime apocalypse or their the drizzling shits with shows packed full of shitty CGI. Though their crown for most tediously divisive studio amongst anime fandom, has been taken by someone else (I'll get to them later in my top 10).

Truth be told they're someone between the two extremes- they always had the potential to pull of some excellent shows (Last Exile) but a lot of the time the potential wasn't quite reached (Trinity Blood, Burst Angel and Kiddy Grade are all examples of decent shows, that perhaps could have been even better).

It also has to be pointed out that the worst I've seen from Gonzo (Strike Witches, Tower of Druaga) came after what I consider to be the studio's 'golden' period (2002-2007).

Rank 7- J.C Staff

69% from 8 Shows

Best: Excel Saga, R.O.D The TV

Worst: La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia

J.C Staff are another one of those studio's that seem to get some anime fans up in arms. The majority of the stuff they do is from adapted material (be it manga, light novels or Visual Novel games), and the general complaint is that a lot of the time, they botched the adaptation.

Now I'm not really an avid manga reader (I've dabbled, but I wouldn't say I'm into reading manga like I am watching anime), so the whole source material adaptation thing doesn't concern me, all I go on most of the time- is whether or not the anime is enjoyable regardless of adaptation accuracy.

What I will say is that whilst I've enjoyed quite a few anime from J.C Staff, with the exception of Excel Saga they rarely make me feel as though the series couldn't have ended up even better, if done by another studio.

Rank 6- Brains Base

71 % from 5 Shows

Best: Baccano!

Worst: Sengoku Collection

I guess that's a fair reflection of Brains Base, a studio that rarely fills me with amazement but are consistently good. They even managed to turn something as preposterous as Sengoku Collection into a decent show (comparing each studio's worst show, it's the least worst),something that perhaps shows off their steady reliability even more than their best shows (Baccano!/Spice and Wolf II)

Rank 5- Bones

73 % from 5 shows

Best: Darker Than Black

Worst: Jyu-Oh-Sei

My impressions of Bones, is that they are really great studio, especially capable of churning out good quality action series. I pretty much enjoyed the whole of Darker Than Black, Soul Eater was also very good until it lost it's way towards the end, and I have high hopes that FMA: Brotherhood will live up to the hype, when I get round to reviewing it.

Sure they've churned out a dud (every studio has them) in Jyu-Oh-Sei but I have the feeling that's more of the exception rather than the rule with this studio.

Rank 4- Madhouse

73% from 15 shows

Best: Death Note, Black Lagoon

Worst: Casshern Sins

Madhouse are one of the giants of the anime industry, but one whose success isn't built upon never ending Shonen (Toei Animation)- the amount of anime Madhouse has produced over the years, it's no surprise that they are the studio I've ended up reviewing most anime for.

And for a studio that churns out as much as they do, there are going to be some duds (Looking at you Casshern zzzZZZZZZ) , but in comparison they've produced more good to great shows, than duff ones. 7 out of of the 15 shows thus far rated at a B Grade or higher, whilst a further 6 rated a C or higher.

Unlike some other popular studios, you will also rarely see any widespread derision for Madhouse, something that probably stems from the fact that they tend to stay away from so called 'Otaku Pandering' titles.

Rank 3- Production I.G

77% from 6 Shows

Best: Ghost In The Shell- Stand Alone Complex

Worst: Ghost In The Shell (Movie)

I know it's something of a sacred cow, but I stick by my opinion that the Ghost In The Shell Movie is one of the most over-rated things in the history of anime. I can't fault the production values (especially for the time) and I appreciate it's historical importance; but sorry about 80% of the film bored me.

Stand Alone Complex on the other hand is fantastic, and most of the time Production I.G are a studio that does impress me and manage to justify their reputation as one of the most respected anime studio's around*.

* I'm sure there are some people out there who don't care for Production I.G, but I get the impression they are in the minority.

Rank 2- Kyoto Animation

77% from 9 shows

Best: Haruhi Suzumiya

Worst: Tamako Market

And now we come to the studio that seems to get a lot of folks into a frenzy. Go to various anime message boards, and you're bound to come across some thread where some Kyo-Ani hater is calling them the Devilspawn of anime and responsible for the deluge of 'Moe-Blob' shows, whilst some fanboy is defending them as the almighty god of anime. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Now I will admit that whilst I probably lean towards the latter (as evidenced by the fact that I like a fair amount of their shows) I'm not some blind fan of Kyo-Ani who can't see any fault in them. The Endless Eight debacle admittedly did end up hurting Season 2 of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and since the success of K-On! they have become over-reliant on the moe/slice of life formula. I do wish they would do another Full Metal Panic! or something similar, just to silence the increasingly tedious deluge of 'haters'.

What I will say to Kyo-Ani's harshest critics is this- It's fine to dislike the type of anime they tend to put out (everyone's entitled to their opinion) but to band them about as the worst anime studio around is rather churlish. Even you aren't a great fan of their tendency to gravitate towards slice of life/moe, only a blind person would say that their production values are not amongst the most consistently impressive of any studio.

Try watching an anime from Zexcs or some other obscure low budget studio, they're the real contenders for worst studio.

Rank 1- Sunrise

78% from 6 Shows

Best: Code Geass, Cowboy BeBop

Worst: The Big O

Now whilst I like and respect Sunrise, I wouldn't necessarily view them as being amongst my favourite studios. Sure Code Geass (I'm one of the few people to love R2 even more than the first season) and Cowboy BeBop are amongst the best anime of all time, but I kind of get the impression that they are the cream of Sunrise's crop.

Whilst I don't necessarily think that the double greatness of Geass and BeBop are the only good things Sunrise have ever done, I suspect that right now where I have Sunrise on this list, is a bit inflated by their presence and were I to watch more of Sunrise catalogue, they would be a little lower than this.

Studios that should be ready for assessment next time I decide to do this are: Gainax, Satelight, Shaft

OctoberRaven · January 3, 2014

I'd be interested to see how Madhouse would rank if Kick Things And Brood: The Animation (aka Casshern Sins) was discounted.

Actually, seeing the groups with their best and worst discounted in general might be interesting, and possibly might be a better indicator of the quality of their average product.

The Final Countdown · January 3, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I do wish they would do another Full Metal Panic! </div></blockquote> YES. NEED MORE! Though I don't think the story is completed. Maybe they're just waiting until the story is finished so they don't have to invent their own ending. It's far more likely that I'm just deluding myself, though. <img alt=":(" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Rickymex · January 3, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Tigerkinney" data-cite="Tigerkinney" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Now whilst I like and respect Sunrise, I wouldn't necessarily view them as being amongst my favourite studios. Sure Code Geass (I'm one of the few people to love R2 even more than the first season) and Cowboy BeBop are amongst the best anime of all time, but I kind of getting the impression that they are the cream of Sunrise's crop.</div></blockquote> We have that in common apparently <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

OctoberRaven · January 3, 2014

Oh, TK, are you going to review the Black Lagoon OVA?

It's really really good. You might not like it as much as I did because you didn't seem to like how Black Lagoon gives in to "Rule of Cool", but to me that's kind of part of Black Lagoon's appeal, rejoicing in and subverting action tropes, sometimes at the same time.

Oh, and Rotten The Wizard's in it.

Tigerkinney · January 3, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="OctoberRaven" data-cite="OctoberRaven" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Oh, TK, are you going to review the Black Lagoon OVA? It's really really good. You might not like it as much as I did because you didn't seem to like how Black Lagoon gives in to "Rule of Cool", but to me that's kind of part of Black Lagoon's appeal, rejoicing in and subverting action tropes, sometimes at the same time. Oh, and Rotten The Wizard's in it.</div></blockquote> Coincidentally this will be my next review, should have it up either later today or tomorrow. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> I've actually decided to just go with the whole 'rule of cool' thing more when it comes to Black Lagoon, it was like I was looking for an excuse to pick at something. I still don't think it's a perfect series (Round about a 9/10, as opposed to 10/10), but it's faults are minor and harder to define, than simply some of the action being OTT. I've come to find the OTT action to be pretty cool and entertaining. As you said part of the series appeal is rejoicing in action tropes. <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Tigerkinney · January 4, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">Black Lagoon- Roberta's Blood Trail

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Genre: Action, Crime Fiction

Studio: Madhouse Director: Sunao Katabuchi Source: Manga by Rei Hiroe

Original Release: July 2010- July 2011 Episodes: 5 Episode OVA

Synopsis: The assassination of Diego Lovelace an influential figure in South American politics, sends his faithful maid Roberta (a former Guerrilla trained assassin) into a revenge fueled rage. Her thirst for bloody justice against those responsible for her masters demise, sends her to the corrupt hell that is Roanapur.

While various groups are caught up in Roberta's trail of destruction, the heir to the Lovelace family Garcia has come to Roanapur to enlist the help of the Lagoon Company, with understudy maid Fabiola in tow, to track Roberta down and bring her home. Whilst Lagoon Company leader Dutch is reluctant to take on the job, newest member, former Japanese Salaryman Rock see's at another chance to overcome the odds and finally 'beat' Roanapur.

Recommended Viewing Age: Adult's Only- For Pretty much the same reason's as the T.V Series- Gratuitious violence, earthy language and some sexual content.

Action Level: Action Lover's Wet Dream- <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum...&postcount=157" rel="external nofollow">Black Lagoon </a>was packed to the rafters with bombastic, 80's action flick style action. So should we expect more of the same from this follow up OVA series- Oh hell yes!, It's time to strap yourself in for more explosive thrills and watch the inhabitants of Roanapur tear it up with whatever weapon they can get their hands on.

Moe/Kawaii Level: Almost Non Existent- Fabiola's kind of cute, if you want to be clutching at straws for moe content.

Animation Quality/Art Style: What I wrote for the original Black Lagoon ), can still be applied to this 5 episode OVA. Whilst it's slightly disappointing that they didn't push the boat out even more for any improvements to be noticeable, truth is in terms of the art and animation Black Lagoon didn't really need much improvement to begin with.

Music: The opening theme is a remix of Mell's Red Fraction, whilst the closing theme see's Edison cover military standard 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' a rather leftfield choice for a closing theme but one that manages to capture Garcia's wish for Roberta to end her struggle and return home.

The rest of the soundtrack is pretty much a rehash from the full series (again not necessarily a bad thing) and features the ending theme from that 'Don't Look Behind' as part of the BGM soundtrack.

Plot and Characters: The plot for this OVA is triggered by the assassination of Roberta's master, but the story ends up once again being primarily from the perspective of Rock, the Japanese national, who has left behind his life as a salaryman.

Over the course of it's five episodes three plot lines converge, the aforementioned Roberta's quest for revenge, Garcia's desire and desperation to bring his servant home and Rock's hope of finally getting one over on the criminal lords that run Roanapur.

Whilst most of the cast has stayed the same (Revy is still her same twitchy, trigger happy self), both Roberta and Rock have had noticeable character development since the end of the TV series and Blood Trail. Roberta always was freakishly strong, but she was a disciplined stoic- almost a robot, but in Blood Trail she has become an unhinged psychopath- something that makes her both more dangerous but also more vulnerable for the enemies, that she is hunting yet are also hunting her.

However it's Rock that has perhaps gone under the most noticeable change. He always straddled the grey-area throughout the TV series...slowly getting sucked into Roanapur's hopeless 'survival of the fittest' cycle. In Blood Trail, Rock appears to have fully embraced his existence as a Roanapur resident, and seems prepared to gamble with people's life's with little thought of the consequences, just so that he can get one over on the crime bosses that run the city.

The Rock/Revy relationship, central to the TV series is still pretty much where it was- with Revy still somewhat of a tsundere towards the former salaryman. There's a clash of ideologies between Revy and Roberta's understudy maid Fabiola (who coincidentally has been trained in more than serving tea), with the former Colombian barrio orphan, trying to open up Revy's eyes to the fact that Rock is not the 'innocent bystander' she perceives him to be.

Analysis: Whilst the Roberta character in the original TV series was a lot of fun, I must admit that seeing the title of this OVA follow up, I was a little concerned that this would just be over the top action, with the terminator-esque Roberta escaping near-death a zillion times.

Not that the over the top action in Black Lagoon was never fun, it's part of the series charm and Blood Trail continues in the same vein, but thankfully the OVA continues with Rock as the main viewpoint character. I needn't of worried about this being a poorly conceived tacked on OVA, because with Blood Trail they still manage to get that balance right between the thrilling action, compelling storyline and character study. Black Lagoon always managed to translate across the desolation and desperation of it's characters amidst all the chaos and Blood Trail does not fail to deliver on that regard.

At the heart of the plot is a volatile game of cat and mouse, that see's the titular Roberta as both hunter and prey of her pursuers. Roberta's development from virtual robot to unhinged psychopath, added an unpredictable edginess throughout and there was only so much you could do with Roberta in her previous state- the subtle 'Terminator' parody was done in the TV series, and it's refreshing not to see the creative team behind his milk that further and put a fresh spin on the character, and despite making her crazier, in some regards they also manage to make Roberta more vulnerable, more human.

Meanwhile Rock is no longer straddling that grey area, between being the innocent bystander and being fully engulfed by a life of crime. In Blood Trail, he's fully embraced it, reviling in the 'game' that is Roanapur and so focused in achieving his own goals, that he seems desensitized to the fact that he is playing with people's lives. There are times that he appears to be spiraling further out of control, that he's like some Roanapur version of <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum...6&postcount=51" rel="external nofollow">Light Yagami </a>(even developing a maniacal grin at one point) and that character change can be a little jarring. But as with Roberta, his character had to develop- the events at the end of the TV series would either had to toughen him up to the life that he now found himself in or made him a gibbering wreck, and the latter would have rendered him useless to this story.

It's actually a little disappointing that Revy on the other hand has not changed one iota, from the TV series and is still her over-defensive self, and failing to admit that she actually likes and respects Rock. Credit again though to the writers, they give enough glimpses to Revy's past, that what happened in her childhood screwed up so bad, that there is little wonder that she puts up an emotional wall against any one she comes into contact with.

Dutch and Benny get short-thrift here, sinking further into the background, but they always were more the supporting characters next to Rock and Revy and the sacrificed screen time does not actually hurt this OVA story.

The new characters are well though out, the Lovelace's junior maid Fabiola provides a nice counterpoint to Revy, with her values of loyalty and respect, as opposed to Revy's more self centred mercenary attitude, whilst the leader of the U.S Armed forces squad, responsible for the death of Diego Lovelace (the event that triggers this OVA story) are thankfully not displayed as an evil psychopath, but as an efficient trained killer who is just doing his job.

Meanwhile there are fun cameo's from several Roanapur residents throughout, Balalaika is still that disciplined psychopath she always was, whilst Chang, the Hong Kong Triad leader still straddles that line between cool and smug. Rotten The Wizard- one of the coolest minor characters in the history of anime, also re-appears....need I say more! (Who'd be up for a Rotten The Wizard spin off?)

All in all Roberta's Blood Trail, continues the Black Lagoon tale with a fresh and exciting story. The only thing here is that whilst the story for the OVA concluded well enough, it still left me somewhat dissatisfied and wanting more....perhaps I'm just being greedy, who wouldn't want more Black Lagoon?!

Closing Verdict: Roberta's Blood Trail is a fine addition to the Black Lagoon story, delivering more of the same but with enough subtle changes not to feel like a sub-par rehash or a tacked on OVA. It's just kind of shame that this was just an OVA, because it still feels like there are plenty of stories to be told and lots of character development to be explored amongst the flying bullets and explosions of Roanapur.

Highly Recommended

Is the Dub Any Good?: There was concern that after Funimation picked up the license for this that they would re-cast this (something they often do, when rescuing the licence for a series, due to the previous holder going out of business). As much as I generally like Funimation dubs (for me they are the most consistent dubbing company), they thankfully did not go with the decision of re-casting this, because the original Black Lagoon dub was amongst one of the best English dubs in the history of anime, to the level that I would say that the English is the superior option.

The dubbing talents based in the now sadly underutilized Vancouver dubbing community, when on top of their game can be as good as anyone and with Roberta's Blood Trail, they continue their stellar work, that was laid down with the TV series.

Minarin · January 4, 2014

Black Lagoon is one of those few works of geniuses. One of the best of all time.

Seen the subbed but do prefer the dubbed version. One of the few animes I prefer dubbed.

OctoberRaven · January 6, 2014

Tiger: The best part about Funimation keeping the original English cast is that Brad Swalie gets to play a master manipulator again.

Also, a Rotten spinoff would be awesome. It'd also be an excuse to make anime versions of the manga omakes.

EDIT- Also, I haven't read all the manga yet, but I think there's at least one story arc they haven't done in the anime yet, so you never know, another OVA may come.

Tigerkinney · January 7, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">Canaan

http://www.anime-planet.com/images/anime/screenshots/canaan1.jpg

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/data:image/jpeg;base64,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<img 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http://www.anime-planet.com/images/anime/screenshots/canaan2.jpghttp://www.anime-planet.com/images/anime/screenshots/canaan15.jpg</div>

Genre: Action, Thriller

Studio: P.A Works Director: Masahiro Ando, Writer: Mari Okada Source: Anime Original*

Original Broadcast: July- September 2009 Episodes: 13

* The anime is a sequel of sorts to the Nintendo Wii Visual Novel 428: Fusa Sareta Shibuya de by Type Moon. The events of Canaan take place 2 years after the visual novel.

Synopsis: It has been two years since Shibuya was victim of a Biological terrorist attack from the UA virus, one of the survivors Maria Ozawa is now a freelance photographer and has been dispatched to Shanghai with journalist Minoru. Whilst in Shanghai Maria meets up with her friend Canaan.

Canaan however is no ordinary human, she is a deadly assassin with synethesia (the ability to combine and focus all her senses) and there is more than just friendship to her bond with Maria, Canaan's arch-nemesis is the leader of 'SNAKE' the terrorist group responsible for the deadly UA virus

Recommended Viewing Age: Approx 15 and up- Whilst I wouldn't call Canaan rampant with fanservice (and it disappears more as the plot becomes more and more serious), it does have it's fare share of it to be noticeable. The primary fanservice characters are Ling Qui (who is naked in her first scene) and Hakko (who wears a cosplay cat outfit, that shows off her large rack).

The often bloody violence, the psychological break down of characters (one that includes a somewhat squicky scene, that involves the character lying naked with her deceased beloved), added to the fanservice, means that Canaan should only really be suitable for older teens and above.

Action Level: Fairly High- Canaan has it's fair share of flying bullets, big explosions and Jason Bourne-esque action sequences, with the titular protagonist being an ultra-athletic assassin. Some of the antagonist's however are her equal in these fighting skills, which gives the hand to hand combat sequences throughout more of an unpredictable edge.

Moe/Kawaii Level: Medium- Not overtly a 'moe' series but one that has a few characters that can be viewed to have 'moe' traits.

Animation Quality/Art Style: Canaan is a visually slick series with attractive, detailed background art and smoothly animated action sequences. The series really draws the viewers into it's locations, whether it's the hustle and bustle of Shanghai's streets or a deserted village. The only slight criticism you can level at the visuals (if you really want to be picky) is that the character designs are a little generic, but they are far from unattractive nor badly rendered.

Music: Opener 'Mind As Judgement' sung by Faylan, is a frantic rock number, that builds up the viewers excitement for the action ahead, whilst Annabel's ethereal ballad 'My Heaven' taps into the shows more reflective and emotional side.

The show features a pop idol singer as a minor character and her songs weave in and out of the background, and used to particular creative effect during a car chase. Otherwise the soundtrack is the generic but non intrusive orchestral ambience, that is par for the course with these kind of series.

Plot and Characters: The plot of Canaan revolves around the deadly virus. However despite killing most people, there are some called 'Borners' that have survived the virus and have developed mutated powers and are identifiable by a mark that manifests itself in the form of a tribal tattoo. The titular character is one of these 'Borners' with Canaan's mutated power being her synethesia.

We also meet other Borners along the way both sympathetic and antagonistic and often straddling the line between both. The most affecting of these is Hakko, a young woman that has been forced to become mute.

Meanwhile 'Alphard' the leader of the group that released the UA virus, has connections with Canaan- they were both trained by the same mentor, a man known as Siam, whom Alphard betrayed, an act that Canaan wants to avenge. Someone who desires to remove Canaan more than Alphard however is Ling Qui, her psychopathic second in command who idolizes her 'older sister' but no matter how she tries to impress Alphard, she is primarily ignored.

Lower down the 'SNAKE' food chain a man called Cummings is in love with Ling Qui, despite taking a shed load of physical abuse from her.

The relationship most central though to the story, is the one between Canaan and Maria. Canaan will do anything to keep her friend out of danger, whilst Maria somewhat idolizes her mysterious friend. However as the story progresses, Maria seems keen to stand on her own two feet and become less reliant on Canaan's help.

Other key role players include Yun Yun a girl that works various jobs over the city (she seems like comic relief at first but becomes more important as a character, as the story progresses), Minoru the reporter that comes to Shanghai with Maria (At first it seems like he is just looking for a scoop, but he gets more personally affected by those involved in the story that gradually unfolds around him), Santana a Karoake bar owner in love with Hakko, who knows much more about the UA virus than being a mere bystander and Yuri Natsume, Canaan's scientist boss (She strongly dislikes Canaan, to the point that she always seems primed to turn on Canaan at some point). In addition to the more inter-personal drama,'Canaan's' plot also contains political intrigue and cover-ups, and that SNAKE may not be the sole organisation responsible for the affects of the UA virus.

With a plot built around biological terrorism the show's tone in mostly dark and serious, especially towards the end of the series. However the show does manage to weave in some lighter moments- as previously said Yun Yun primarily starts off as comic relief character (with much of the comedy based around her attempting to fool people that she has bigger breasts, such as stuffing steamed buns down her top). There is also a crazy Taxi Driver, that loves to sing along to J-Pop songs and seems to be the only Taxi in the city, whilst Ling Qui's abuse of her beleagured but devoted assistant 'Cummings' is often played for laughs.

Analysis: When watching this series, the first thing that came to mind is that I had seen this central relationship before. A white haired action girl with a mysterious 'tattoo', who keeps saving her slightly air-headed but feisty friend from danger, with plenty of subtle 'Shoujo-Ai' hints towards them being more than just friends?

<a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum...&postcount=383" rel="external nofollow">Canaan/Maria sound rather similar to Jo/Meg from Burst Angel</a>.

That being said the scenario's surrounding the central relationship are much different to one another, that in the end no one can really accuse Canaan of being a Burst Angel clone. There's no mecha's here, it's in a contemporary modern day setting rather than a futuristic one, and the relationship between Canaan and her arch-nemesis Alphard is just as important to the plot if not more so.

In Alphard, the story has a coolly dangerous adversary to the titular character and one that constantly seems to be a step ahead of Canaan. Even though Alphard at times can seem quite affable at times (certainly in comparison to her psychotic number two Ling Qui), there is little doubt that she is a merciless villain, who the audience will want to see get her comeuppance but will admire her strength and belief towards her cause, even if what she believes in his misguided.

Canaan's main strength is the well paced character development, for a series that is only 13 episodes long, the characters showed plenty of growth, but growth that never seemed forced- whilst the Canaan/Maria and Canaan/Alphard relationships were the glue that held the plot together and drove the story, it's the subplot involving Hakko, Santana and Minoru that ends up being the most emotionally compelling.

The strong visuals make the set-piece action sequences stand out, whilst vulnerability of the titular protagonist (certainly in comparison to facing off with her adversary Alphard), adds captivating tension to many of those sequences.

However as enthralling as the action is, and as well realised as the character development, there were times where the series failed to fully hold my attention. One could argue the case that sometimes the series more naval-gazing reflective moments got in the way of the thrilling action. But 'Canaan's' biggest weakness had to be the holes in the plot, or more to the point intricacies that would only fully make sense if you had played the visual novel game, that this is a sequel to.

It's only research for this series, and finding out that it's a sequel to a VN game (add to that the game has a completely different title and is only available in Japan) that some parts of the plot made any kind of sense. Whilst admittedly this isn't going to be of concern to fans of the game, many viewers will have come in cold and 'Canaan' fails to substantially explain the back story and unfortunately it ends up hurting a series, that has many other elements in place.

Closing Verdict: Striking visuals, enthralling action, strong character development, 'Canaan' has a lot going for it, it's just a shame that the plot has more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese. In the end what could have been a great series ends up frustrating as much as it delights.

Mildly Recommended

Is the Dub Any Good?: Sentai filmworks took on the dub for this one. Whilst I generally find their dubs the weaker of the two Texas based companies (Funimation being the other), despite sharing some of the same voice talent- they actually do a solid job here. Hilary Haag (Maria), Shelley Calene-Black (Canaan) and Lesley Pedersen (Alphard) are all decent in the key roles, whilst Jessica Boone puts in a fantastic 'scenery chewing' performance as the unhinged Ling Qui.

The only gripe someone should have with Sentai's English dub, is that original Japanese dub, has several lines in Chinese (to go with the fact that the series is set in Shanghai) but Sentai chose to completelty ignore this and put everything into English (with no distinction between the Japanese and Chinese characters). Whilst this doesn't ruin things, it would have been nice to seem them find someway to distinguish between the two, even it meant giving the Chinese characters a unique accent.

Tigerkinney · January 11, 2014

Squid Girl

(AKA- Shinryaku! Ika Musume)

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Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life

Studio: Diomedea Director: Tsutomu Mizushima Writer: Michiko Yokote Source: Manga by Mashiro Anbe

Original Broadcast: Season 1: October- December 2010, Season 2: September- December 2011 Episodes: 12 + 12 (+ 2 OVA)

Note: I've decided to combine both season's into the review, because not enough changes between the two seasons, to warrant separate reviews.

Synopsis: Ika Musume (Squid Girl) has come onto land to take over the world and avenge the pollution of the seas by humankind, planning to use the Lemon Tree (a beachside restaurant in Japan) as her base of operations.

Accept things don't go to plan and she ends up working for the owners of the restaurant the Aizawa sisters, to work off a repair bill after damaging a wall and instead of being seen as a threat to the human race, Ika's cute appearance,unique abilities and naive nature endear her to the locals.

Recommended Viewing Age: Suitable for Most Ages- The show takes place on a beach, so naturally there are swimsuits, but in comparison to a lot of shows, the fanservice on offer is very light to the point of it not really being at all noticeable.

Obsessive stalker Sanae's creepy/masochistic behaviour would be the main point of concern, in showing this to younger viewers, though in all honesty the conotations of Sanae's disturbed state of mind would go completely over the heads of the very young and they'd just laugh at the slapstick. Kid's like sadistic slapstick, it's just the concerned parents/guardians that don't.

Action Level: Medium/Comedic- There's no serious action here, but there is a fair bit of comedy/slapstick violence, such as Ika whacking someone with her tentacles (usually the obsessive Sanae) or the older Aizawa sister Chizuru going into her superhuman fighting mode.

Moe/Kawaii Level: High- A real life human/squid hybrid would of course look rather scary and everyone would be reacting like Nagisa, to Ika but within the world of Squid Girl, Ika couldn't be any cuter if she tried.

And Ika perhaps becomes even more cuter, within several 'dream segments' that have characters dreaming of her as a mini (chibi) version. If you are seriously adverse to cute things, then you probably won't enjoy this show, because along with the comedic situations, Ika's impossible to ignore cuteness is central to Squid Girl's premise.

Animation Quality/Art Style: The art in Squid Girl isn't going to blow anyone away, but it's suitably functional for this type of series. The background art is relatively simplistic but is clean and colourful enough to get across the light hearted tone that the series is shooting for.

Ika Musume (I'll continue to refer to the character in this way to separate from the series English title throughout the review), the series central and titular character with her Blue Hair/Tentacles, and her white dress and hat has a simple but iconic design that suitably makes her standout amongst the crowd. The 'crowd' however (everyone else in this anime) does suffer from looking all rather bland and generic in terms of character design, but in some ways it helps draw the viewers to the fact that Ika- IS the star of the show.

One unique touch I did like with the animation, was during the ending sequences in each season, which would subtly vary with references to an event/character featuring in that episode.

Music: Season 1's opener 'Shinrakyu No Susume' (Lets Invade) sung by the seiyuu for Ika (Hisako Kanemoto) is one of those high energy J-Pop numbers that straddles the line between endearingly catchy and infuriatingly annoying- it captures the mood of the show, but it's like being whacked in the face over and over again by a bag of sweets. Season 2's opener 'High Powered' by Sphere continues with the J-Pop, what it loses in being less memorable and even more generic, it gains in being less aggravating.

Hisako Kanemoto returns to sing both season's ending themes, Ika Aisu Tabe Na Ika? (Won't You Eat Squid Ice Cream?)- S1 and Kimi O Shiru Koto (Learning About You) both of which are the typical sweetly sung but ultimately forgettable seiyuu sung ballad.

Plot and Characters: here is nothing deep or complex about Squid Girl's plot nor is there much drama, development when it comes to the cast of the show. Each of the characters is primarily there to drive along a variety of comedic situations (primarily in interacting with Ika), whilst the format of the show see's it divided into three separate segments per episode each built around a comedic situation.

There really is nothing else to the plot other than Ika's plans for 'invasion' never coming to fruition, because everyone reacts to her in the way she didn't originally envision, though it could be said that her invasion succeeds in a different way, due to the fact that Ika becomes the center of attention within the beachside community she calls home on land.

The closest the show ever comes to real drama, is at the end of each season- at the end of the first season Ika has adapted too much to living on land and she begins to lose her squid abilities, whilst the second season see's her fall out with Eiko (the younger of the Aizawa sisters). There is also the odd environmental message hidden amongst the comedy, given a reminder now and again that sea pollution was the trigger for Ika's invasion.

Ika, has all these bold idea's about invading the land, but they get hamstrung by the fact that she is incredibly naive and ends up fearing the human's more (especially older sister Chizuru) than they do her. She also loves eating shrimp to the point of addiction, and this becomes a running gag throughout the series, with her shrimp addiction placing her in comedic trouble. Throughout we learn that Ika has the capabilities both physical and mental to be more successful with her invasion plans, but she's too much of a ditz to make good on them.

Another recurring feature with Ika is her squid talk. In the original Japanese this manifests itself as a pun on the formal way of speaking (adding de geso to the end of sentences). Normally the suffix would be desu, as a play on words it is changed to de geso due to geso translating as squid tentacles. In the English translation (both within the dub and with subtitles) this is represented by a stream of squid/marine life based puns (Such as I think, becoming I Ink)

The rest of the cast is primarily there to play off Ika. Eiko the youngest sister serves the 'Only sane man' role and though she often shows the most frustration towards Ika's behaviour, she becomes the one who ends up making the closest bond with Ika.

Whilst older sister Chizuru is the one person that Ika fears the most, behind her docile nice girl facade (represented by her eyes constantly being shut), is someone who emits a dangerous aura whenever someone crosses her and seems to have superhuman abilities of her own.

Rounding out the Aizawa family is Takeru, the sisters elementary school brother, and the first to encounter Ika. It's his reaction to being picked up by Ika's tentacles and being slammed against a wall (proclaiming it to be fun, rather than fearing for his life) that puts the initial kibosh on Ika's invasion plans and he ends up treating Ika like a playmate- though the main gag when it comes to Takeru is the fact that he's the 'generic guy' (something lamp shaded when Ika draws portraits of the Aizawa clan).

It's the supporting cast beyond the Aizawa clan though that provide many of the comedic situations throughout both seasons, these include lifeguard Goro (who has a crush on Chizuru and sometimes clashes, comes to misunderstandings with Ika in regards to 'keeping the sea safe'), Cindy Campbell (an American scientist who believes Ika is an alien) and her three assistants Harris, Clark and Martin (three M.I.T graduates who waste their abilities on useless contraptions), Mr Tokita (the manager of a rival beach restaurant, who makes creepy kirugumi based on Ika, seeing it as a way to win back some business from the Lemon Tree, due to Ika's popularity) and his painfully shy daughter Ayumo, who ends up wearing the kirugumi that his father has made.

Rounding out the cast are surfer girl and part time worker Nagisa (who is the only one to actually fear Ika, being scared of the fact that Ika is a girl with squid abilities) Kiyomi (a nice middle school girl that befriends Ika, and becomes her second in command) and finally Sanae (a girl that has an obsessive crush on Ika, much to Ika's annoyance, usually manifesting itself in Sanae being whacked by Ika, only to enjoy brush it off and continue in her pursuit to be physically close with Ika).

Analysis: A comedy focused show like Squid Girl, succeeds on the comedic situations that are presented throughout, and overall Squid Girl succeeds in being a fun and enjoyable slice of comedic fluff.

Of course comedy is a subjective thing, but Squid Girl succeeds in presenting a good supporting cast of characters for Squid Girl to play off and place them into a good mix of situations, where the show's humour rarely feels repetitive.

Admittedly the show does begin to lose steam by the end of season 2, and it's hard to see how much more they could mine from this should a season 3 ever materialize, whilst the squid puns can get tiresome after a while (though that's more down to the script translation than with the show itself).

Had Squid Girl, been a one note comedy, such as Ika constantly fending over Sanae's unwanted attention, or various ways to show off Ika's love of eating shrimp, it would have become tiresome a lot quicker but it's a testament to the way the supporting cast is utilized and the various situations are mixed throughout, means that Squid Girl remains an enjoyable watch throughout it's two seasons.

The supporting characters are admittedly all one-dimensional, but they all serve their purpose and provide enough comedy variations for the central star Ika to play both the comedian and the straight man. The likes of Eiko and Takeru, introduce the naive Ika to new situations that often end up with her Ika making a fool of herself, whilst more delusional characters such as Sanae (with her obsessive crush) and Cindy (with her unsavoury urges for experimentation) allow for Ika to be frustrated voice of sanity. It's these variations and everything else in between that keeps Squid Girl's humour as fresh as the first mornings catch.

Squid Girl tends to fall apart more, when it shoots for something other than comedy, with the forced drama at the end of both seasons failing to add anything to the story. The characters are enjoyable enough as comedy archetypes but they're not strong enough to make you care about them beyond that. Though the show is wise enough to limit it's attempts at drama, whilst a segment that features chibi Squid Girl interacting with Eiko (with virtually no dialogue) provided the show with it's most surprisingly heartfelt moment and most successful attempt to move away from pure comedy.

The first season felt more consistent, but it's the second season building upon the interactions of the characters that hit's more high notes, before admittedly running out of steam by season's end. As I said comedy is a subjective thing, and none more so will that be apparent than with Sanae, who's behaviour will be construed as annoyingly creepy by some. But for those who just take her for the delusional comedy character she is written to be, she plays a strong part in two of Squid Girl's strongest sketches, both which occur in season 2.

The first of these high points, sees Sanae becomes Ika's personal protection, and she ends up fighting with her own urges to get physically intimate with the impossibly cute anthropod, whilst the second comedy tour de force, involves a little girl that has clearly been exposed to too many afternoon soap opera's playing 'house', and predictably (and delightfully) things become even more off-kilter when Sanae gets dragged into the game.

Closing Verdict: At the end of the day Squid Girl is little more than a series of comedic scenarios, built around a cute mascot character but it's successful in delivering on it's limited premise. It's not the most Inkredible thing ever, but for sweet natured (and at times hilarious) fluff, you cannot go far wrong.

Mildly Recommended for Both seasons

* Season 1 is more consistent, but Season 2 contains some of the series best moments.

Is the Dub Any Good?: Media Blasters took on the license for the English dub, though only for the first season, apparently U.S sales were not strong enough for them to continue with licensing the series.

Apart from the over-used squid puns, the English dub isn't all that bad, with Christine Marie Cabanos actually doing a pretty decent job in the lead role as Ika. Though as always with these kind of series the Japanese original feels the more natural fit.

Timber · January 12, 2014

Good stuff TK. I've seen Squid Girl on Netflix and it just seems like a silly and funny show. Every so often i watch the cute stuff just to get all that blood and guts out of my system. I might take a look at it. The Cute girls doing cute things genre is a guilty pleasure. <img alt="

" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Tigerkinney · January 12, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Timber" data-cite="Timber" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Good stuff TK. I've seen Squid Girl on Netflix and it just seems like a silly and funny show. Every so often i watch the cute stuff just to get all that blood and guts out of my system. I might take a look at it. The Cute girls doing cute things genre is a guilty pleasure. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote> Squid Girl is very much the ideal thing to watch after more 'heavy' shows, whether they be complex in plot or full of blood and guts. Sometimes people wonder why I can like stuff such as Ghost In The Shell- Stand Alone Complex etc and then also be in to cute/moe stuff- well there's the answer for you, sometimes it's just nice to have some relief from serious and/or complex. It's healthy to have a balanced diet.

Tigerkinney · January 15, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">Galilei Donna

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Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi

Studio: A-1 Pictures Director: Yasuomi Umetsu Source: Anime Original

Original Broadcast: October- December 2013 Episodes: 11

Synopsis: In a future where the world is suffering from an energy shortage, three half Italian/half Japanese sisters, who are descendents of the 16th Century scientist Galileo are simultaneously attacked on the same day. Both Sky Pirates and a powerful corporation are after something called the Galileo Tesoro, a powerful treasure, believed to be a powerful energy source said to be left behind by Galileo.

With help from a keen admirer of Galileo, the three sisters escape aboard the mecha built by youngest sister Hozuki, the sisters then embark an adventure to find the Galileo Tesoro before it ends up in the hands of their rivals. But can the sisters who have wildly different personalities be able to work together?

Recommended Viewing Age: Mid Teens (approx 14+) and up- There really isn't much fanservice, if at all with the series...the closest we get is Hozuki wearing dungarees that show some sideboob in the end credits, which is well kind of ill-advised given that she's the youngest sister.

Despite often having a cute and fluffy tone, the show can get quite dark, with a villain that at one point massacres several people by shooting them at point blank range, and they dont' shy away from showing the heinous act being committed. In my opinion I'd be more wary of exposing younger viewers to sudden shocking acts of violence such as that, than swimsuit level fanservice.

Action Level: Medium- I would call Galilei Donna more of an adventure than an action series, but as with most adventure stories it does feature it's share of action sequences, the majority of which here are mecha related, with the major battles involving the sisters fish like mecha, the pirates ship and the large and powerful mecha deployed by the Adni-Moon company.

Moe/Kawaii Level: Fairly High- Despite being an adventure series with a fair amount of action, there is little doubting that Galilei Donna has it's moe elements, the youngest sister and main protagonist Hozuki can certainly considered to have moe appeal.

Animation Quality/Art Style: Character designs are similar to Sword Art Online, another A-1 pictures anime and one I believe worked on by the same team of animators- so the same nothing groundbreaking but easy on the eye observation, I made there applies to Galilei Donna.

Much like Sword Art, the series also features plenty of 'scenery porn', has a colourful palette and whilst the Mecha is obviously CGI it's incorporated fairly well. A-1 Pictures, or more specifically this team of animators are showing themselves to be highly capable of producing quality work that is both pleasing to the eye and consistent.

Music: Opening song Sychromanika by NEGOTO is one of those quirky but infectious songs, it's light rock/J-Pop but the arrangement feels fairly original all the way to the rather abrupt ending. Combined with a great opening sequence, the opening actually made me keen to watch the next episode, even if the next episode wasn't necessarily going to be all that great.

Ending song 'Innocent' by Earthmind is a more conventional pop-rock track, upbeat, kind of catchy after a while but more forgettable than the opener.

Plot and Characters: Galilei Donnna revolves around the Ferrari sisters, ancestors of Galileo, who are believed to know where the Galileo Tesoro is, which apparently contains something so powerful that a big and (you've already guessed it) corrupt corporation, want really badly so that they can control the world's energy supply. There are also Sky Pirates, who wan't the Galileo Tesoro for their own means, and though you could hardly call them good guys, end up getting painted in a more favorable light than the corrupt corporation.

The sisters, are all very different from one another and because of this tend to clash with one another, something probably not helped by the fact that their parents, Japanese father Geshio and Italian mother Syliva are divorced from one another.

Hozuki, the youngest sister and main protagonist, is a genius inventor who creates the goldfish shaped mecha that carries the sisters throughout her adventures. Hozuki is quiet and reserved, and sometimes has difficulty communicating with her sisters, though she has a surpising amount of determination in face of the difficult situations the sisters are put into. Hozuki's fondness for goldfishes is also brought to the fore by the fact that she has created an AI called Grande Rosso, that has an avatar in the form of a goldfish, with her little A.I companion able to convey emotions.

Middle sister Kazuki, hides her insecure inner self behind a cool and aloof persona. Despite being the most physically strong of all the sisters, she is the most weak-willed in face of the relentless pursuit by Adni-Moon and has something of an inferiority complex, in comparison to her technical genius of a younger sister.

Hazuki the oldest sister, is a student studying law, that has a very strong sense of 'justice' and is not afraid to speak her mind, however as the sisters journey progresses she has her believes in justice challenged and she learns that things in this world aren't so black and white.

Accompanying the sisters on their journey, is Anna Hendrix a 'fan of Galileo' that seems a bit too keen for the sisters to find the Moon Sketches that will lead them to find out more about the Galileo Tesoro, and just so happens to conveniently navigate them to the next spot, whilst also constantly placing them in sight of the big bad.

The Big Bad of the series is headed by Roberto, a social darwinist, who believes that the world should be purged of the weak and will stop at nothing to eliminate those who get in his way or simply feels should be dispensed with.

Meanwhile the Sky Pirates are also after the Gallileo Tesoro- headed by their charismatic leader Cicinho, who develops a crush on the eldest sister Hazuki, who he calls 'Bamina'. Though a leader of a feared gang of ruthless pirates, he does have a sense of gallantry and is only be prepared to do battle with his rivals, when they are not weakened.

Analysis: A-1 Pictures, Gonzo have just called from a decade ago- they want their gimmick back!

Following on from the previous year's Sword Art Online, A-1 pictures have produced yet another series that is gorgeous to look at, starts off with lot's of promise that it could be pretty awesome and then frustratingly falls away to end up a massive disappointment by the end of it's run. I jokingly made the Gonzo comparison, because making potentially awesome but ultimately disappointing shows was something they were consistent at doing a decade earlier.

The whole concept with the three sisters being descendents was a bit hokey to begin with, but that does not mean that this series could not have worked because of that. The first few episodes are actually really good, the attractive art immediately catches your attention, and the story moves along at a brisk pace, with plenty of action but giving you enough insight into the plot and characters, to suggest that the story is all action and no plot. What's refreshing is that the first few episodes, give significant screen time to the girls parents (most of the time parents are pushed to the background or simply don't exist), but then after about the third episode they are 'put on the proverbial bus'- one of them is even saddled with that classic cop-out....Amnesia!

The first part of the series is to be honest like having a tasty appetizer, where as the rest of the series is like a disappointing main course. Unfortunately when Galilei Donna does get into the main plot, it falls apart- meandering along as the sisters go from location to location (predictably they end up going to Japan at some point), finding the next scroll- before the rushed 'Deus Ex Machina' ending that ends up involving time travel and some cheesy courtroom drama.

Galilei Donna is infinitely better whenever the charismatic rogue Cicinho is on screen, but unfortunately he gets less screen time than the one-dimensional Roberto, whose back story just makes you think 'get over it' rather than making you sympathise one iota with the reasoning behind his mindset. Add to that the middle sister Kazuki being a crybaby for much of the series and a woman that's in love with a jerk and well you've got your fair share of irritating characters. Now I am aware that some characters are designed to be irritating and antagonize their audience, but the thing with some of the characters in Galilei, they were just annoying in a sense of being poorly written.

Hozuki, is admittedly the most likeable of the sisters and it's impossible not to find her cute, she's the epitome of badass adorable, but in some ways she's also one of the problems with this show. That's because when I watch an action/adventure type anime, I don't immediately think what this type of show needs is a heavy dose of cute. Now I'm not saying the idea of combining moe with action shouldn't ever exist, but there is an increasing amount of cute/moe characters for the sake of being cute/moe across all genres and not just where you would expect them to be.

The whole thing about Galilei Donna is that it's not all that bad, it remains watchable throughout despite the fact that I've just done character assassinations on about half the cast and also taken a pot-shot at it's rushed deus ex-machina ending. Now admittedly it's watchability is helped along by the high quality art and animation but that is something the series does right and as much as I've taken away in regards to the series fudging up the plot, I shall give credit for the fine job done by the animators.

To be fair to Galilei Donna, it feels like a series that was meant to go longer and that the production team was shafted with having to condense it down to a shorter run. It was aired as part of Fuji TV's Noitimin-A block, which airs original story anime and it seems like they only had enough faith in this to have it run during one season, rather than give it two seasons to run over. It's speculation, whether or not this would have worked out better but the 11 episode run, did not give Galilei Donna the room it needed to develop.

Closing Verdict: Despite the preposterous concept, Galilei Donna could have been a good anime. Unfortunately it just falls apart from about the third episode on. An anime can have all the impressive art and animation it likes but if the plot and characters aren't solid then that anime has to be considered a failure. I wouldn't go quite as far as using a phrase involving the words polish and turd to describe Galilei Donna but unfortunately it is heading that way.

Mediocre

Is the Dub Any Good?: Galilei Donna received a thus far sub only U.S distribution license from Florida based Discotek Media, a distributor that primarily focuses on acquiring licenses for retro title's from the 1990's and earlier. They have expanded into non-retro anime but their acquisitions tend to be sub only, as is the case here.

Rickymex · January 15, 2014

Good thing I skipped it. I've been skipping any anime having to do with mecha for over a year.

Tigerkinney · January 16, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Rickymex" data-cite="Rickymex" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Good thing I skipped it. I've been skipping any anime having to do with mecha for over a year.</div></blockquote> Why you giving mecha the cold shoulder? <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> As for Galilei Donna, it started out pretty good but progressively got worse, and well I'm much more forgiving to show's that are the other way round. Not an exact counter example, but for me Steins;Gate started out kind of slow but then turned into something really awesome. I'm re-watching it at the moment on DVD (English Dub), so that's why the example comes to mind. I'm enjoying it more the second time round, even the early episodes I thought were a bit meandering and directionless, but I think that's because I'm aware of how awesome/intense it gets in the second half.

Rickymex · January 16, 2014

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Tigerkinney" data-cite="Tigerkinney" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="33970" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Why you giving mecha the cold shoulder? <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote> I just got tired of the concept of people losing and winning not because of their skills but because they have a more awesome/advanced/longer named robot. Occasionally there's a few characters who could win with a mook mecha but those old or sickly guys never fight. The last one I saw would be Code Geass but the robots where mostly there in order for Suzaku not just spin kick all the soldiers to death and give a fighting chance to others.

Tigerkinney · January 16, 2014

I just got tired of the concept of people losing and winning not because of their skills but because they have a more awesome/advanced/longer named robot. Occasionally there's a few characters who could win with a mook mecha but those old or sickly guys never fight.

The last one I saw would be Code Geass but the robots where mostly there in order for Suzaku not just spin kick all the soldiers to death and give a fighting chance to others.

Do you mean stuff like this

' BWAHAHAHA!! You are no match for my SUPER PELVIC THRUST 3000'

'Oh Yeah well my HARDON COLLIDER ZX-SPECTRUM INFINITY is gonna take you down'

'Really?! You'll NEVER BEAT ME, I AM A GOD OF THE SKIES!'

'AARGGGHHHH!! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER, YOU ARE NO GOD!'

'YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME DOWN'

'AAAARGHHHHH!! RZWIPE DESTROYER CANNON POWER UPPPPP!'

To be honest, my perception of mecha was that they were all like that

To be fair to Galilei Donna though, it's failings aren't because of the usual mecha cliches.

____________________________________________________

Anyway I have re-indexed the index into an Alphabetical order, with a section that keeps track of the last 5 reviews (so people can still see what the latest reviews are, if they click on the opening page, rather than the last page).

Tigerkinney · January 19, 2014

<div style="text-align:center;">Good Luck Ninomiya Kun

(aka Goshusho-sama Ninomiya Kun)

http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/data:image/jpeg;base64,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Genre: Fanservice, Comedy, Harem, Supernatural

Studio: AIC Spirits Director: Koji Yoshikawa Source: Light Novels by Daisuke Suzuki

Original Broadcast: October- December 2007 Episodes: 12

Synopsis: Apart from being trained in martial arts by his sister (a top mercenary soldier), Shungo Ninomiya is just your average high school student.

However when Shungo's sister Ryouko arrives with the Tsukimura siblings life in the Ninomiya household gets a whole lot more interesting. The Tsukimura siblings have the power of a succubus, however the sister Mayu also suffers from androphobia.

Shungo is tasked with helping Mayu overcome her androphobia, whilst also protecting her from the men that are naturally drawn to her through her succubus powers. Shungo's task at hand is not made any easier, by his sisters 'social experiments', the growing popularity of Mayu at his school and the attention of the student council president Reika Houjo, who seems determined to have Shungo all for herself.

Recommended Viewing Age: Approx 15 and up- I've seen considerably more brazen stuff than this but the amount of boob cleavage, partial nudity, fondling etc is consistent throughout, that some may consider 'Ninomiya-Kun' to be an ecchi, albeit a pretty 'soft' entry level boobfest of a show.

Action Level: Medium- 'Ninomiya-Kun' is primarily a harem fanservice comedy series, but it does also contain a surprising amount of action, with martial arts style hand to hand combat and explosions. Suffice to say most of it is done very tongue in cheek, but action is there.

Moe/Kawaii Level: High- Mayu is of course written to be the typical nice but clumsy airhead, whilst Reika fits the mold of a typical Tsundere, so both of the main girls here are classic moe archetypes.

Animation Quality/Art Style: Character designs are typical for this kind of show the girls have the big-eyed 'Bishojo' look, and more attention has obviously been spent on them, whilst for the most part the male characters look bland and unmemorable in comparison.

The background art is actually pretty decent, having a little more detail than a lot of other harem comedies, with a bright but not over garish colour scheme, whilst the animation quality was consistent- which is all you're really asking for when it comes to a series like this

Music: Both the opening (Yubikiri) and ending (Fure Fure Pon Pon) are sung by the seiyuu's for Mayu (Mai Kadowaki) and Reika (Miyuki Sawashiro). Both songs are your typical high energy J-Pop number...which does suit the mood of the series, but are utterly forgettable and to be honest interchangeable with one another.

The incidental music, was a bit more noticeable that it usually would be for a series within the harem comedy genre, though not always for the right reasons. There's one particular piece during flashback sequences, that would sound like someone playing the recorder. The bleeding recorder, that irritating instrument they give to kids as an introduction to playing music!

Plot and Characters: The plot revolves around Mayu a succubus, who is also afraid of men. Shungo has been tasked (as he's the only one who has some level of resistance to her succubus powers) with helping her through her problem without getting so close, that he ends up getting all romantic with Mayu, where he puts his own life in danger. That's made more difficult when Shungo's sister and Mayu's brother, keep hatching up tests, that would make it hard for any man to resist not having certain urges.

Things are spiced up a bit more with the appearance of Reika Houjo, student council president and heiress to a corporate empire. She has a thing for Shungo (but is the classic Tsundere and doesn't always show her true feelings), however she wants to keep Shungo apart from Mayu. With her fiercely loyal assistant Hosaka beside her, Reika does manage to get closer to Shungo but at the cost of her dignity.

Throughout there are also flashbacks, which suggest that Shungo has a connection to at least one of the main girls (Reika or Mayu), and it's in these flashbacks we learn the true connection between the three main protagonists of the story.

As expected with this kind of anime, 'Ninomiya-Kun' features plenty of comedy based around sexual situations. Primarily they are triggered by Mayu accidentally being a temptress to Shungo, without realising it or Ryoko placing the primary couple into situations that would likely encourage that type of behaviour. There is also Shungo's horny classmates both male and female, which only adds to the plethora of sex comedy situations throughout the series.

However the comedy isn't all based around Shungo trying to keep it in his pants, 'Ninomiya-Kun' also revels in sending up various branches of the action genre in a utterly over the top fashion. There's even an episode where Mayu's ditzy clumsiness gets turned into a deadly weapon!

Analysis: Good Luck Ninomiya-Kun is a non stop boobfest, with a ridiculous convoluted plot, that at times looks like is taking the series in a more serious direction on several occasions, but then whips back to being silly, quite often in the same episode. Now at this point, you might expect me to say that 'Ninomiya-Kun' is yet another tired, cliched boobfest with lame comedy and even lamer characters.

Well the series is chock full of cliches, but 'Ninomiya-Kun' revels in them. It knows it's stupid, and it gloriously turns the stupidity up to 11. It knows exactly what it is, it's not pretending to be anything other than over the top sillyness, even when the story does appear to be getting more serious, it's just a set up for a ridiculous conclusion to an arc. In that sense 'Ninomiya-Kun' trolls it's audience throughout, which will be irritating to some but once you're in tune with how this series works, the mood whiplash is what makes this standout from other harem comedies.

That being said 'Ninomiya-Kun' is much more enjoyable when it's revelling in it's over the top silliness, rather than when it's pretending to be serious. The action spoofs are very funny, and Shungo's, top mercenary sister Ryoko is such an enjoyable supporting character (her personality is in essence the spirit of the entire show).

The more typical sex based comedy that these shows are based on does admittedly get a bit cliched and tired at times, but the succubus angle with Shungo trying his best to resist Mayu's charms, because it could put his life in danger, is more refreshing than the accidental perv or the virgin that doesn't have the gumption to run past second base.

The fact that several of the characters (protagonist Shungo) included are total badasses, only serves to add to Ninomiya-Kun's fun factor. Mayu's cry-cute persona can grate at times, but on the whole there wasn't really any characters I found to be irritating or detracted from my enjoyment of the series. The only possible exception, would be Irori a green-haired girl that interferes with Shungo towards the end of the series, but I wouldn't say she's a bad character, as she's intended to be antagonistic.

Closing Verdict: In a nut-shell Good Luck Ninomiya-Kun is a ridiculous boobfest, but as silly harem comedies go this one's pretty enjoyable. It's no masterpiece and is the epitome of being a 'guilty pleasure', but it knows what it is, by embracing the harem genre's stupidity. <a href="http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1044" rel="external nofollow">In all honesty only prudes or someone who takes things far too seriously, would dismiss this as being completely worthless</a>. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/rolleyes.png.4b097f4fbbe99ce5bcd5efbc1b773ed6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Mildly Recommended

Is the Dub Any Good?: There is no dub for this series, which doesn't entirely surprise me, because the series is part of a genre that does better in Japan than with the western market

Infernalmiko · January 20, 2014

I finally finished up Higurashi Kai. Yay!

I will agree with Tiger's review, the first season is more horror and the second season more suspense but it worked for me. The first season helps you care about the characters and asks alot of questions. Season two answers all the questions. A large part of the horror was not knowing what exactly was happening and why. Once those questions are answered the tension comes from the need to find who is the bad guy and how can they be stopped. anmd for me the tension in the final story arc was pretty intense. I cheered out loud a couple of times, especially Akasana's big entrance in episode 22. I rate Higurashi and Higurashi Kai higher than some people precisely because it got me so emotionally involved. And because the ending was pretty much all I was hoping for. There have been quite a few anime with weak or non-existent endings but Higurashi Kai delivers a very satisfying climax.

And for the record, if I'm ever forced to babysit a group of kids I'm totes teaching them zombie tag.

Dragonmack · January 21, 2014

been checking out the new animes on Crunchyroll this quarter.

Some decent ones out there, across a variety of genres.

So far Witch Craft Works , World Conquest Zvezda Plot and Hamatora are my favorites of the group.

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