• Title: World Destruction
• Studio: Production I.G
• Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥½
• Animation: ♥♥♥½
• Characters: ♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥½
• Overall: ♥♥♥ (A little bipolar, perhaps…)

Thoughts:
I’ll say it from the get-go: I’m not sure what I expected from World Destruction, but I’m not entirely sure its creators know what to expect either.

Kyrie is a human boy living in a world where it’s a lot easier to be a Beastman, so he puts on cat ears and pretends to be one to get a job at a pub. (They must have much better fake cat ears in this fantasy land than we do.) But one day a known terrorist– an attractive woman named Morte –patronizes the pub and reveals Kyrie to be a human, then drags him into the World Destruction Committee– the name that the World Salvation Committee gave her, even though the “committee” consists of only one member at the outset of the show. Throw in some cat-people (more cat than human, unlike the more traditional anime catgirls and catboys), a two-headed monster, and the aforementioned Salvaction Committee and you’ve got a recipe for action-filled disaster.

I enjoyed the episode: it has some fun characters, an interesting and somewhat different storyline (how many shows start with the protagonist joining a terrorist organization that admits to wanting to destroy the world?), and some great visuals.

But I feel like the show is a little unsure of whether it’s a comedy or a drama. Of course many shows combine the two successfully, but it’s hard to take any of the show seriously when one of the main antagonists of the episode is a group of very cutesy, goofy-looking cats– and one of the heros is a teddy bear. Most of it feels like a recipe for a comedy, but there’s a single thread that’s serious. That thread is Morte’s goal to destroy the world– which is in and of itself a little ridiculous, which may be why the show feels slightly “off” to me.

But again, even though it felt a little wonky, it was definitely not a bad first episode, and there’s plenty to enjoy. I plan to keep at it and see where it goes.

Posted by gia in Commentary, Summer '08 Series • Comments (1)

• Title: Bounen no Xamdou (Xam’d: Lost Memories)
• Studio: BONES
• Genre: Sci-Fi

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥
• Animation: ♥♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes:♥♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥½

Thoughts:
Sorry I can’t do actual screencaps from the show, but you should hit up the official site for the trailer and other images to give you a better sense of how the show looks…and for the record, it looks pretty awesome. I elected to download the 400mb SD version instead of the 1500mb HD version, and the SD version was more than enough for my 19″ non-HD-type TV.

Some of the specs: the show is subtitled, not dubbed. I assume Sony did the localization; they have the resources and the show’s creation also involves the Sony Japan-owned Aniplex. Some of the translations are a little weird…for example, in one scene a character spaces out, and her little sister says “itterasshai” (usually translated as “have a good trip”), and the character responds with “ittekimasu” (usually “I’m heading out”). But they translated it as “Come back to earth” and “I’m back.” Clearly it’s supposed to be a sort of cute/sarcastic thing, but it felt a little odd to me.

Also, the subtitles are a little small. I didn’t have any problem reading them, but some might, especially if you have a small TV screen.

So! On with the show: the story follows Akiyuki, a boy who lives on Santen Island, a neutral zone in the midst of a major war. In order to board the bus to school you have to show your armband, proving you’re a student…but Akiyuki decides to help out a mysterious girl who he assumes is a transfer student when she doesn’t have an armband, giving her his instead.

Let’s just say that the girl has plans, and they may or may not involve explosions and/or throwing Akiyuki into the midst of the war.

The character design is kind of interesting. Some of the characters are very BONES-esque– several of them look a lot like Darker than Black characters –but some of them almost look like Ghibli characters to me. (I swear to god one of them reminds me a bit of San from Mononoke Hime.) It looks like there’ll be a fun set, though; amidst one set of military types is a guy voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi (aka Kamina), which makes me happy.

Also, I am in love with this woman:

…Ishuu Benikawa. Her design and her appearance in the OP just makes me all giddy inside.

The OP and ED themes are fantastic (although untranslated, tsk tsk Sony). The only downside to the show is that because the plot starts out with a standard “average guy gets weird powers” setup, it’s impossible to tell whether they’ll work it out into something interesting or not. Judging by the quality of the show so far though, I don’t think BONES is fooling around– so I have high hopes for how it’ll turn out.

For the record, as far as I can tell Xamdou is NOT available on the Japanese PS3– in fact, they don’t seem to have the VOD stuff set up at all. Could this be the first ever anime available in the US before Japan (that wasn’t created in large part by an American company a la Afro Samurai/FUNimation)?

If you’re interested, hit the jump for the cast list. Continue Reading »

Posted by gia in Commentary, Summer '08 Series • Comments (11)

• Title: Antique Bakery
• Studio: Synergy SP
• Genre: Slice-of-Life/Shoujo

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥
• Animation: ♥♥½
• Characters: ♥♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥½
• Overall: ♥♥♥ (Aren’t you a little…gothier than I remembered?)

Thoughts:
Let me start out this by noting, officially, for the record, once again: Antique Bakery is NOT A YAOI. It’s not. I promise. Fumi Yoshinaga has done a handful of non-BL titles. Like Flower of Life. And the as-yet-unlicensed Oooku, which is a period drama. AND ANTIQUE BAKERY.

There is, however, a gay character: the above, Ono, who is a world-class patissiere. Unfortunately, his “demonic” gay charms make it such that if he’s attracted to another man– straight or gay –that man will eventually fall for him. And Ono’s a slut, which results in all sorts of men getting all possessive and jealous and violent with each other over him…which results in him getting fired or quitting all of his baking gigs.

Enter Tachibana. Tachibana was kidnapped as a child and held by a man who forced him to eat cakes every day. He grew up, became a businessman, and then quit to start his own bakery, perhaps somewhat obsessed with his childhood tormentor. So, Tachibana interviews Ono to be his patissiere…but it turns out they’ve met before.

It DOES sound like a yaoi setup, doesn’t it? But it’s not! So if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be disappointed. And if that’s what’s scaring you off…don’t let it. Yoshinaga is a master at character building, and the anime looks to be following her lead, building things slowly– only half of the main cast even gets introduced in the first episode, really.

I do have a little bone to pick. The visuals and the music are dark and kind of gothy– I think they’re trying to be over the top, but there haven’t really been enough goofy moments to counter-balance it, especially since they opened with Tachibana’s creepy kidnapper.

Overall I think it’s going pretty well. I was worried, since Syngergy SP absolutely destroyed Kamichama Karin with QUALITY! animation, but it looks pretty good, albeit somewhat washed out, color-wise…but then, Yoshinaga’s color art for the series is also pretty pale, so I guess that’s just a choice.

All in all, definitely continuing with it, and hoping for more of the zany moments in the next episode.

Posted by gia in Commentary, Summer '08 Series • Comments (16)

• Title: Slayers Revolution
• Studio: J.C. Staff
• Genre: Fantasy/Comedy

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥♥ (Now with 100% more pirates!)

Thoughts:
So it took 11 years for Megumi Hayashibara’s schedule to finally clear up enough to do Slayers Revolution, and the first episode certainly won’t disappoint long-time fans: Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia reunite after Lina and Gourry kick some pirate ass (apparently bandits are becoming an endangered species thanks to Lina). Gourry has lost the Sword of Light somewhere along the way, and his temporary replacement keeps breaking. Aw…

But trouble, of course, follows the foursome, this time in the form of an inspector who wants to arrest Lina Inverse for the crime of being Lina Inverse. Lina is, as you might expect, a little bit perturbed, and doesn’t exactly go quietly. I’ll let you figure it out from there.

So, the long-time fans are taken care of so far (and I’m not yet worried about the addition of the mascot character Pokota, by the way). But will the series attract new fans?

For you Slayers newbies, you don’t need to worry that starting with Revolution will cause problems: all the characters are introduced pretty easily and frankly, the Slayers canon isn’t one of the most convoluted and complicated out there. References to Gourry’s sword, Lina’s “Dragon Slave” ability, and Zelgadis’ body are the only ones that might confuse you

So here you go: one of the things Lina is infamous for is being able to produce the spell “Dragon Slave,” which produces mayhem along the lines of an atom bomb or something. And Gourry is normally the wielder of the Sword of Light, which is kinda like a light saber, but apparently he no longer has it for reasons yet unrevealed. Zelgadis was cursed by his ancestor to become part-human, part-golem, and part-demon, so he has a body made essentially of rock. And that’s pretty much it.

But the humor is all still there, including the constant “flat-chest” jokes, Gourry’s stupidity (also a handy exposition tool!), and all the usual mayhem and destruction that comes as a result of slights to Lina’s pride. As in the past, it’s a solidly enjoyable comedy, and judging only from the first episode, I’d recommend it to anyone. (And if you can check out the older seasons, go for it– they’re awesome, if you can deal with old-school animation style.)

Speaking of old-school, I did want to mention the look: while the art is still classic Slayers, the animation is fully updated, for those of you who expressed concern that the designs might get “updated” or something along those lines. Also, the OP and ED are classic Hayashibara tunes, much like past Slayers themes in style– I like the ED better than the OP, personally.

Hayashibara still sounds every bit as Lina-esque as ever, and Gourry and Zel both sound great too. I kinda think Amelia’s seiyuu, Masami Suzuki, is just a touch deeper than she was in the past, but it HAS been eleven years. And she still sounds awesome, which is all that matters.

So! All in all, a resounding AWESOME for Slayers REVOLUTION so far. Now where’s my Xellos?

Posted by gia in Commentary, Summer '08 Series • Comments (7)

• Title: Chocolate Underground
• Studio: Production I.G
• Genre: Kids

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥½
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥½ (No OP)
• Overall: ♥♥½

Thoughts:
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this adaptation of a British young adult novel, and I did know in advance that it was created for mobile phones and the like, and that it wouldn’t be a full-length episode.

Nonetheless, the pacing felt off, especially at the end. Sort of like if they just played the first five and a half minutes of a full-length episode and then cut straight to the ending. (There was no OP.) The animation quality is probably more than enough for playing on a cell phone, but on a computer or TV it’ll fall flat.

As for the story, all you really pick up is the setting. The characters are, so far, pretty standard middle school students, so I can’t really offer much insight into them. But hey, there are already three episodes out, so at least you can pick it up pretty quick if you want.

All in all though, I was expecting something that felt a little fresher and more interesting than this short episode was able to present.

Posted by gia in Commentary, Summer '08 Series • Comments (1)

• Title: Telepathy Shoujo Ran
• Studio: TMS
• Genre: Kids

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥½

• Animation: ♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥½
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥½
• Overall: ♥♥½ Cute, but not amazing…though I really like the OP theme.

Thoughts:
I knew this was generally a kids’ show, but hey, I’d thought the same thing about Zettai Karen Children, which turned out to be hilarious (although I haven’t managed to keep up with it). So, I gave it a shot. The general plot is that Ran– a sweet, sunshine-in-a-bottle type high school girl who occasionally hears weird voices –is going along her happy-go-lucky middle school life with her guypal Rui until one day she hears a more insistent voice. Then she meets Midori, who turns out to be the voice that Ran heard. Oh, and Midori’s also a bully who threatens Rui with her psychic powers in order to get Ran to inadvertently display her powers.

The show is sweet, and since Midori and Ran are portrayed in trailers and the official website as being friends, I’m kinda curious to see how they develop that…but I’ll probably only watch it until other shows start up.