For all that its pacing was horrendous– the first and last episode in particular dump metric shit-tons of explication on the viewer –I really enjoyed the Hatenkou Yuugi anime, mostly for the sharp dialogue and good voice acting which made for awesome banter.

BUT! The anime was only 10 episodes long. And it just ended. With a giant cliffhanger-ish thing. Surely– surely! –that means that it’ll get a sequel, even if it was overall a bit lackluster (and I’m sure downright uninteresting to many), right? RIGHT?!

If you want to blather with me about the last episode, feel free to do so in the comments. I’d love to have someone to whine with.

Okay, we’ve discussed how disappointingly clunky and QUALITY the anime adaptation of Minari Endoh’s manga Hatenkou Yuugi (aka Dazzle) is. However, I’ve found the series’ saving grace: the dialogue. Whether it’s an extended silly scene (like episode 6’s “Surname Poker” game, featuring way too many Suzuki), or in the middle of a dramatic moment, or even during a fight scene, the dialogue has some good, snappy moments (much like the manga).

Some examples from episode 7 (#1 and 2 are my faves– go Baroqueheat!):

According to Moon Phase, an anime based on MariaHolic– a gender-bending school comedy by Minari Endoh, creator of the manga-turned-anime Hatenkou Yuugi (alias Dazzle) –may see an anime adaptation soon.

Hopefully a better one than Hatenkou’s been getting. I wanted the anime to be good so I could recommend it to others, but alas, that clunky first ep had me foiled. (Second ep is better, but doesn’t explain anything more. I recommend reading the manga if you want to clarify all that jazz– seven volumes out in English to date.)

Anyway, if the rumor about Maria Holic is true, it may hit TVs in Japan in January 2009 and feature the same cast as the manga’s drama CDs.

Okay, it’s a pretty unscientific manner of gauging popularity, but I dare you to come up with something better. Hashihime has one of those reports about what anime has the most completed threads (=1000 posts) on 2channel, and the winner for winter ‘08 anime so far is Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei by a longshot– 67 to 17 for second-placer True Tears. Yatterman, surprisingly, takes third with 13. Shigofumi and Spice and Wolf round out the top five with 11 and 9, respectively.

Catch the rest of the list here. Make sure you read the added notes (like the fact that Minamike ~Okawari~ is sharing threads with its predecessor, making it hard to gauge). And try to ignore things like the fact that Hatenkou Yuugi accidentally got named Hakuten Yuugi (which is kinda funny; “Hatenkou Yuugi” would = roughly “Unprecedented Games,” “Hakuten Yuugi” would = “Infectious Games.” Like, as in a disease-type infection).

Original source: Hashihime

• Title: Hatenkou Yugi (roughly: “Novel Games” or “Unprecedented Games.” That’s novel as in unique/new, natch.)
• Studio: Deen
• Genre: Adventure

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥♥

• Animation: ♥♥½
• Characters: ♥♥♥♥
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
• Overall: ♥♥♥½ (A little clunky, but Rahzel will pull it together, because that’s just what she does.)

Thoughts:
Rahzel is a young magic-user who has been kicked out of her home by her eccentric father, who decided that she needed to go on a journey to see the world. As in, he decided it one morning, and kicked her out by that afternoon.

In short order she snags two guys to accompany her: Alzeid, a white-haired, red-eyed stoic-type (with the occasional sarcastic flair) who is seeking revenge for his father, and Baroqueheat, a flirtatious dude with a butterfly tattoo on his right hand. See, guys? Now THAT is a man who is comfortable with his sexuality.

The manga that this series is based on (released in English by TOKYOPOP as Dazzle), will feature short stories and short arcs revolving around the three adventurers and their, uh, adventures, with little overarching plot (and I’m 6 volumes in). With each tale you learn a little bit more about the three characters’ backgrounds and how they came to be who they are, why they’re traveling and why they continue to travel in this particular group.

I’m not sure if the anime will take this tack or if they’ll build up into a short arc to use as the climax, or even just make up their own thing. I hope it’s the former, though; I like the just-barely-slice-of-life feel of the manga. In that regard, it’s a little bit like Slayers TV, if you cut off the second half of any season (you know, the half that has the actual plot). A group of wanderers with interesting psychoses just making their way through their world.

Now, this anime adaptation is NOT a high-budget deal. The animation is a little stiff, and the mouth/voice sync is a little weak too. I’m also not too fond of Baroqueheat’s design; something about his face looks too small for his head. (I also think he and to a lesser extent Alzeid are a little too bulky and muscular.)

I also hate the outfit they use as Rahzel’s main clothing in the OP/ED and in this episode. I don’t usually care too much about fashion in anime, but in the manga her clothes were a very obvious outlet for mangaka Minari Endoh’s skills, and I wish that showed through a bit more in the anime…the outfits in both episodes I’ve watched so far* were lame. I especially hate those dorky little hats. Blech.

I do like the voice acting quite a bit though. Rahzel is voiced by Sanae Kobayashi (Elfen Lied’s Lucy, D.Gray-Man’s Allen Walker), who I hope is ushering in an era of female leads who don’t have super-high-pitched cutesy voices along with Shugo Chara!’s lead actress, newcomver Kanae Itou. Rahzel is an anti-moe character; she’s strong and she knows it and she’ll be damned if she depends on anyone else for help…except at the same time, she’ll send the boys to do errands if they let her. She doesn’t put up with anyone’s whiney bullshit and never seriously projects her own, which is something that I can get behind in a female anime character. (Not that she doesn’t make plenty of righteous speeches, but they usually tend to be along the “…get over your emo self!” vein.)

Alzeid is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, a.k.a. Code Geass‘ Suzaku and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children’s Cloud. Alzeid is much more like Cloud than Suzaku, both in voice and character, natch, and Sakurai does a good job of making him both somewhat monotone and NOT boring. Baroqueheat– not that you see much of him in the first ep –is voiced by Shinichiro Miki, who played Kurz Weber in Full Metal Panic! and Takumi in Initial D, among others. He does a good job with Baroqueheat’s playfulness, but I’m reserving judgment until we get some of the character’s backstory and more serious moments.

Now, here’s where I have to set aside my bias– I really like the manga –and say that in all honestly, I think most people would find this show to be a decent, but not excellent, fantasy adventure story, judging by the first ep or two. The animation quality is definitely not high, and the plot so far isn’t all that interesting. If you like the characters, they’ll propel you through the first two eps, to be sure. So I’m crossing my fingers that the show will solidify more as it goes on.

* Okay, fine, I watched two episodes. Shut up.