John's Viewing Journal - Page 13

**John** · March 28th, 2003, 06:20 AM

Made it to Dragon's Roost Island.

Maho Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto episode 4 didn't have any significant revelations or really move the plot forward, but it was a nice, soothing, tranquil episode.

**John** · March 31st, 2003, 04:24 PM

My tiny anime club had its meeting this past Saturday. All 3 of us. Ended up watching Hero and Returner for the second time each.

It took 3 years, but I finally got my hands on the first episode of Miami Guns. It was worth the wait. Even in untranslated Japanese the episode was just outrageously funny.

GPM episode 7 finally lived up to the expectations for the show I'd had all along. In this episode, for the first time, we see the cast acting like a team, with a unified mind and purpose. And there's also an awareness of circumstances that's been missing before. I can see now that the earlier episodes were necessary, but I think the show could have gotten to this point faster than it did. And the revelation about the nature of the phantom beast's aggression is also quite interesting. I don't know yet if the show's going to make anything out of it, but it definitely has some interesting potential, particularly in showing why Hayami is an important character after all.

Sentou Yousei Yukikaze OAV 2 was also quite pleasing. Expanding on the themes from the finale of the first OAV, the show looks like it could develop into a very interesting GitS style philosophical story. This episode sets up a division between the forces that want to remove the human factor from the war, and Rei Fukai, who trusts a machine more than he trusts his own eyes. The interesting part comes from the idea of the intelligent machines that choose to sacrifice themselves to protect the human who shares his soul and fate and self with them. I really hope that I'm not reading too much into this, and I hope it continues to go where I think it's going.

**John** · April 2nd, 2003, 07:26 AM

Catching up on my gore/horror quota, last night I watched the new Media Blasters DVD release of Ruggero Deodato's House by the Edge of the Park. I'd heard mixed reviews of the film before, and I can see why. As an exploitive and nudity filled case study of class distinction and character type, it's not too bad. As a suspense film it's just not really compelling because there's never a strong sense of threat or fear even though there should be. As a gore or repulsive splatter film, it just never goes far enough to really get under the skin. When it comes to Itallian shock cinema, I've definitely seen worse, and I've also seen better.

The first episode of the E's Otherwise TV series in raw Japanese was a bit of a mixed bag. The action filled opening reminded me of Studio Peirrot's previous show, Tokyo Underground. The concept of psychic kids in a police organization reminded me of Scryed. The co-workers at odds with each other reminded me of Ordian. But the show doesn't seem to directly rip-off anything I've seen before, so I have hopes that it will develop into something interesting. It's often difficult to judge a show based on one episode in untranslated Japanese, so I won't even try with this show. But nothing about it really struck me as terribly bad, nor did anything about it really blow me away.

**John** · April 3rd, 2003, 07:42 AM

.hack//DUSK episode 10 was again very entertaining, although I don't understand exactly the point of Ouka training kata by herself in a PC game, beside it simply looking cool.

Maho Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto episode 5 was also a peaceful and nice episode with not much exceptional about it to discuss.

I stayed up later than I wanted to in order to have time to watch the first episode of Uchu no Stellvia. I'm glad that I did. The show seems to be a school in space series similar to Battle Athletes without the sports or Ryvius without the heavy drama. Judging by the first episode, it doesn't really look like I should expect a lot of story development, but that may be fine. The show looks simply fantastic. The CG is intergrated well, and I'm pretty sure that the traditional art is actual traditional cel animation because it doesn't have the crispness and color definition that usually give away digital animation. And the animation quality is simply outstanding. Small details like the bouncing of a backpack, hair that expands then bounces back into place after taking off a hat, and the flow of tears and the subtle changes in facial expression when a character is sobbing during a tearful farewell are the small details that usually don't get animated becuase they're non-essential. It's really gratifing to notice them in a new TV animation production.

**John** · April 4th, 2003, 09:03 AM

I managed to finish another series by watching .hack//DUSK episodes 11 & 12 last night. I enjoyed this series much more than the first series, and I think this series did what it did much more effectively than .hack//SIGN did.

**John** · April 7th, 2003, 11:37 AM

The legendary Chrono Trigger anime does exist after all! As a rabid Chrono Trigger fan, "Time & Space Adventures Nuumamonjaa" was like a dream come true. From the opening that matched the game opening, to the parodies like the pendulum and "A button barrage" to all the monster appearances to the great ending credits scroll... And the music! I was simply in bliss while watching it.

.hack//SIGN epiosde 27 seemed to be heavily influenced by the recent .hack//DUSK series because, for the first time in this episode, .hack//SIGN finally actually felt like it was an MMORPG. I can appreciate the fact that the whole series wasn't like this one episode, but I would have like the first series much, much more if it had included a handful of episodes like this one, or at least some of the characteristics of this action oriented episode.

DigiGirl Pop episode 1 (parts 1-5) turned out to actually look just like its website. In other words, it's got the quality of very good internet Flash animation. It certainly has style, and seeing the "robot maid" genre mixed with kogals was a bit fun, but I don't think I'll be keeping up with this one on a regular basis.

I also don't know if I'll keep up with D.N.Angel after giving it a bit more of a chance. Judging by episode 1, it has nice animation and chara design. The occasional 3D backgrounds are rendered very well, but still sometimes look strange or out of place. This seems to be a "Kaitou" (mysterious thief) series, which I don't mind, but this one seems to be a bishonen version. I actually really like both St. Tail and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, which were both intended for girls. This show is also intended for girls, but not in the same way. While Jeanne and St. Tail are shoujo, D.N.Angel seems to be a show intended to give female viewers delicious looking young boys to idolize and fall in love with. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not really my thing.

Narue no Sekai episode 1 seemed to have a little bit of everything, from FLCL to Mahoromatic to Tetsuwan Birdy to even Invader Zim (a classmate determined to prove that Narue is an alien). So far, the series style reminds me a lot of Mahoromatic, which may be a good thing. It seems like a very sweet and fun show, but it may be too early to really draw conclusions.

It's been a while since I watched any H. Shuryousha OAV 1 turned out to be another "big brother takes advantage of younger sister" story exactly identical to dozens of others. A very average and forgettable OAV.

And in Zelda I'm now up to the beginning of the mysterious castle underneath the Tower of the Gods. Man, it took me forever to figure out how to beat that boss with the floating head and two floating hands.

**John** · April 8th, 2003, 07:22 AM

Had a friend visit, so I didn't have much viewing time. I caught up on Galaxy Angel Z episode 7 (story 13 and story 14) and episode 10 (story 19 and story 20). It seems that by its third season Galaxy Angel really understands what makes humor- babies and monkeys.

**John** · April 9th, 2003, 08:15 AM

After too many hours of Zelda last night I finally got around to watching the untranslated first episode of Last Exile last night at 1:30 in the morning. My first impression is, "Wow!" A simple description probably won't do justice to this show, as nothing will prepare you for seeing it yourself because there's nothing else that looks quite like it. I'm struck by relatively how little this anime actually looks like anime. It seems to have a bit of a European animation feel to it, especially by its theme of smooth shapes and round contours throughout. This could almost pass as exceptional animation originating from anywhere in the world. I also notice that as CG quality improves, I find myself less annoyed by it. This is a show that simply could not have been produced in full cel animation and still have the same impact that it does. The sheer amount of effort and attention to detail that looks like went into this production is very impressive. Last Exile certainly looks very promising so far.

**John** · April 10th, 2003, 09:16 AM

There's already been a few negative comments about Air Master in the Coming Anime Forum. I have to say that I absolutely loved the first episode. It's been years since there's been a true fantasy fighting anime. The last one was probably Flame of Recca. (Grappler Baki doesn't count because it was really closer to being a sports anime than a fantasy fighting anime.) For me, this was the kind of show that reminded me of anime's abilty to simply take your breath away and make you rewind and watch scenes again. This is true fun anime that really makes use of anime's ability to do and show what we can only imagine. I guess some people that have gotten too used to dramatic or serious anime like Cowboy Bebop and Chobits and even Full Metal Panic may not like this show, but to them I'd say that they may be forgetting what anime is really about. Anime is about seeing something wonderful and fun and entertaining stories. It's fine to take anime very seriously, but when you forget to lighten up and remember that anime is fundimentally just supposed to be entertaining, you're missing the point of anime. Especially as a Street Fighter fan, Air Master might be my favorite show of the new batch. I love the characterizations, the subtle facial expressions, and the great "only in anime" action.

I've only been looking forward to Air Master for a few weeks now. I've been looking forward to Scrapped Princess for a few months now, but the first episode wasn't really what I was expecting. The original character designs are stunning, but they don't come through as clearly in the animation. I'd also heard that Scrapped Princess was a bit light hearted, so I was expecting something fun. The first episode certainly wasn't dark or heavy, but I found it very restrained and maudlin. I was hoping for a fun take on swords and sorcery not as slap-stick oriented as Slayers, but still playful. The first episode turned out to be quite mundane and straightforward. What you see is what you get. Certainly not bad, but it's not what I was hoping for.

After the second episode of E's Otherwise, the stylistic similarities to Scryed seem even more apparant to me. I really wasn't a fan of Scryed, so I don't know if I'm going to stick with this show either.

If Kaleidostar had been another life-sim style drama like Chance! Triangle Session I don't think I'd have liked it very much. I was really pleased to see a very evident Akitaro Daichi influence in this show. I don't know if Daichi is involved or not, but his trademark humor is definitely there. Sora herself also looks a lot like Daichi's Kuromi-chan. Sora's cheerful personality especially helped elevate what could clearly have been a mediocre, mundane drama to a slightly higher level of entertainment value. I still see a few too many cliche character types to really consider this show anything special after only one episode, but at least this does look like a show that I'll try to keep up to date on (and probably fail, as many of you will notice that I'm pretty far behind on most of the shows I've begun watching.)

**John** · April 11th, 2003, 10:50 AM

There are some perks to working at AnimeNation. Yesterday half the company took a long lunch break to catch Spirited Away, and the company even paid for it! The dub is actually not too bad at all. At times the changes to the American dialogue actually help the film's clarity, making it easier to follow. At other times the dub is unnecessarily over-obvious. In either case, the theatrical presentation really makes a vast difference in expressing the scope of the film. After seeing it on a big screen I realize how little the DVD version does the film justice.

Last night I watched Asagiri no Miko episodes 8-12. Most of the time I'm satisfied with short episode shows. This is one of the few instances, though, in which I really wish the episodes were a full 25 minutes long instead of 12 minutes long.

**John** · April 24th, 2003, 07:34 AM

This covers the past couple days.

Hare Nochi Guu OAV 5 wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as some of the episodes, but it did actually have a bit of character development to it. Still a great show.

The first epsiode of the Jubei Ninpucho TV series wasn't quite what I'd expected. It's simply sort of light and happy and bright, with none of the suspense and tension and sense of danger that was so ominous in the original movie. In fact, even Samurai Deeper Kyo had a harder edge to it than this new Jubei Ninpucho anime does. The first episode was enjoyable enough to watch, and I'll reserve final judgement until I see more of it.

After watching the Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road TV movie I can see why the show was as popular as it was. The boxing animation was simply incredible, doing a fantastic job of expressing the motion and fluidity and power of the movements and punches. Even in untranslated Japanese it's also easy to tell that the characters are well rounded and human and easy to get along with and enjoy watching.

I had to jump up to Air Master episode 4. Hopefully I'll go backward to episodes 2 & 3 tonight. I simply love this show! It's not really special to look at, but it has a livliness and energy and kineticism that's missing out of most anime nowadays. It's simply so fun to watch.

I've been interested in Konjiki no Gash Bell since seeing a brief animated TV commercial for the manga. A naked little puppet boy flying through a window hanging onto a fish is pretty memorable. It's nice to see that the second episode seems to be entirely traditional cel animation. And there's definitely some humor in the show, but in raw Japanese, episode 2 was a bit slow, and I'm guessing that I missed some of the jokes in the dialogue.

Technolyze was pretty amazing. My first inpression is that I'm stunned that the entire series actually seems to be in the animation style that it is. This sort of animation seems acceptable for an opening animation, but seems too obtuse and challenging to actually be feasible for an entire show. If nothing else, the series gets my respect for being revolutionary. And even though the big names in the staff aren't traditional Madhouse artists, this series looks more like a Madhouse production than anything I've seen in quite some time, which I also quite enjoyed. With only a few minutes of spoken dialogue that doesn't even begin until nearly 10 minutes into the episode, I don't know where this show is going and I don't know if it'll be able to last, but I've very interested in it just because it's totally different from everything I've ever seen before.

Gunparade March episode 8 was surprisingly fun and genuine. If this is the direction the show is going in, it's a shame that it took half the series before it started getting good.

**John** · April 25th, 2003, 07:32 AM

Last night I watched an untranslated copy of Air Master episode 2. It was really neat to see some character development, and a darker side to Maki. Again, I have to say that I really enjoy this show immensely.

**John** · April 28th, 2003, 08:12 AM

My local anime club had it's meeting this Saturday night- the biggest one in a while with 7 people in attendance including myself. Anyway, I watched Air Master 1, Technolyze 1, and the Chrono Trigger OAV again. Beside that:

I've been eagerly anticipating the Early Reigns OAV for months now, ever since the first preliminary design sketches got printed in Newtype Magazine (Japanese version). The 45 minute OAV was really a throw-back to early 90s style anime- decent production quality and slim story. Nothing really outstanding, but entertaining enough.

I watched a sub of Air Master episode 2, and episode 3 untranslated. Still loving it.

Maybe I'm just slow, but Ghost in the Shell TV episode 13 just didn't make much sense to me. Nice action, though. In episode 14 Motoko changed clothes again! Episode 14 was fairly disposeable, but entertaining enough.

I took in a subbed version of Last Exile episode 1, then subs of episodes 2 & 3. Wow, this show is incredible. The animation quality and excitment of the race in episode 3 is the best I've seen since the pod race in Star Wars Episode 1. With the end of episode 3, it looks like the main storyline is just beginning, so I'm eager to see where it will go.

E's Otherwise episode 3 wasn't very affecting, but it was dramatic. I'm still not sold on this show, but episode 3 was good enough to make me stick around a little longer.

Gunparade March episode 9 had the sort of strong, subtle characterization I'd been hoping for in the show all along. Although there was no action in the episode, this was a really well designed and directed episode. The subtelties expressed through Nonomi are the sort that the show could use more of. I'm becomming much more happy with GPM. I just wish it had started out this strong.

Gonzo's new show Gad Guard had in spades the groovy, funky style Pioneer's L/R so dearly wishes it had. This new shows just shouts out to me as being Gonzo's "classic style" show in the vein of Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori. I went into it with few expectations. And it took me a while to get over the distinctive and unsual character designs and whole visual look of the show. By the end of the episode I was totally hooked. I really can't wait to see more of this show!

The first episode of Di-Gi-Charat Nyo in untranslated Japanese was just like the first TV series, just longer.

The first episode of Tantei Gakuen Q in untranslated Japanese seemed to have just a few too many coincidences to seem plausible for me. It's a teen-age detective show, not much different from ones I've seen before, except that it's difficult to believe in an ordinary kid with seemingly no more training or experience than watching detective shows on TV being able to not only deduce that an apparant accident/suicide is actually a murder, but figure out exactly who the murderer is and how he did it with only the slimmest clues. On the whole, this seemed like a really average show which I probably won't go to great lengths to stay current on.

**John** · April 29th, 2003, 07:00 AM

Human Scramble episode 1 wasn't, in and of itself, particularly thrilling, but it's the kind of anime that I'm very glad exists. The first episode was the story of a professional boxer who mentally fights through his life-long resentment of his mother. It wasn't animated all that well, and wasn't really very nice to look at, and wasn't really exceptionally affecting. But it's the fact that mainstream anime like this exist that make anime what it is. We can say that shows like Cowboy Bebop and Gundam have greater maturity than typical cartoons, but they're still escapist fantasies, easily dismissed as anti-intellectual commercialism. The fact that mainstream anime focusing on mature, real-life emotional drama without any fantasy elements like outer space or giant robots or interstellar bounty hunters exist allows fans to legitimately argue that anime is more than just disposable fantasy entertainment. The fact that shows like Human Scramble exist, even though this show itself isn't outstanding, elevates the calibur of the anime medium itself to a higher artistic plane.

With a title like Dear Boys and a cast of bishonen, I thought this show would be a romance for girls. I'm very happy to report that this is another example of me being glad that I don't pre-judge anime. Based on the first episode, this show could be to basketball what Initial D was to car racing. The character design is gorgeous, the Initial D style hip-hop and Eurobeat music is back, and the characterizations are surprising and interesting. Of all the new April anime, this is the show that has caught me off guard (no pun intended) and pleasantly surprised me the most so far. I really wanted to watch the second episode, but after hours of playing Zelda: Wind Waker, it was nearly 3 AM when I finished episode 1. Episode 2 tonight, hopefully.

**John** · April 30th, 2003, 12:23 PM

After a couple more hours of Zelda I watched fansubbed copies of Scrapped Princess episodes 1 & 2. The series moves faster with the dialogue translated. I also find it still a bit more straight, hard fantasy than I expected. It's still too early for me to have much of an opinion on the show, but it looks like it may be promising.

I also watched an untranslated copy of the hentai Daraku OAV 2 and the first bit of OAV 3 before falling asleep. NuTech has released the first episode in America as "Depravity." The first OAV didn't seem very interesting to me. The second, and what I've watched of the third episode, take the mysogeny to an even farther extreme. The end of the second episode and beginning of the third also up the violence level significantly. Since this is an all-ages forum, I won't go into detailed descriptions except to say that the anime includes a sharp, pointed object in the eye, lots of blood, and every man's worst fear about oral sex. Nasty stuff!

March 28th, 2003, 06:20 AM	#181
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	Made it to Dragon's Roost Island. Maho Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto episode 4 didn't have any significant revelations or really move the plot forward, but it was a nice, soothing, tranquil episode.

March 31st, 2003, 04:24 PM	#182
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	My tiny anime club had its meeting this past Saturday. All 3 of us. Ended up watching Hero and Returner for the second time each. It took 3 years, but I finally got my hands on the first episode of Miami Guns. It was worth the wait. Even in untranslated Japanese the episode was just outrageously funny. GPM episode 7 finally lived up to the expectations for the show I'd had all along. In this episode, for the first time, we see the cast acting like a team, with a unified mind and purpose. And there's also an awareness of circumstances that's been missing before. I can see now that the earlier episodes were necessary, but I think the show could have gotten to this point faster than it did. And the revelation about the nature of the phantom beast's aggression is also quite interesting. I don't know yet if the show's going to make anything out of it, but it definitely has some interesting potential, particularly in showing why Hayami is an important character after all. Sentou Yousei Yukikaze OAV 2 was also quite pleasing. Expanding on the themes from the finale of the first OAV, the show looks like it could develop into a very interesting GitS style philosophical story. This episode sets up a division between the forces that want to remove the human factor from the war, and Rei Fukai, who trusts a machine more than he trusts his own eyes. The interesting part comes from the idea of the intelligent machines that choose to sacrifice themselves to protect the human who shares his soul and fate and self with them. I really hope that I'm not reading too much into this, and I hope it continues to go where I think it's going.

April 2nd, 2003, 07:26 AM	#183
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	Catching up on my gore/horror quota, last night I watched the new Media Blasters DVD release of Ruggero Deodato's House by the Edge of the Park. I'd heard mixed reviews of the film before, and I can see why. As an exploitive and nudity filled case study of class distinction and character type, it's not too bad. As a suspense film it's just not really compelling because there's never a strong sense of threat or fear even though there should be. As a gore or repulsive splatter film, it just never goes far enough to really get under the skin. When it comes to Itallian shock cinema, I've definitely seen worse, and I've also seen better. The first episode of the E's Otherwise TV series in raw Japanese was a bit of a mixed bag. The action filled opening reminded me of Studio Peirrot's previous show, Tokyo Underground. The concept of psychic kids in a police organization reminded me of Scryed. The co-workers at odds with each other reminded me of Ordian. But the show doesn't seem to directly rip-off anything I've seen before, so I have hopes that it will develop into something interesting. It's often difficult to judge a show based on one episode in untranslated Japanese, so I won't even try with this show. But nothing about it really struck me as terribly bad, nor did anything about it really blow me away.

April 3rd, 2003, 07:42 AM	#184
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	.hack//DUSK episode 10 was again very entertaining, although I don't understand exactly the point of Ouka training kata by herself in a PC game, beside it simply looking cool. Maho Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto episode 5 was also a peaceful and nice episode with not much exceptional about it to discuss. I stayed up later than I wanted to in order to have time to watch the first episode of Uchu no Stellvia. I'm glad that I did. The show seems to be a school in space series similar to Battle Athletes without the sports or Ryvius without the heavy drama. Judging by the first episode, it doesn't really look like I should expect a lot of story development, but that may be fine. The show looks simply fantastic. The CG is intergrated well, and I'm pretty sure that the traditional art is actual traditional cel animation because it doesn't have the crispness and color definition that usually give away digital animation. And the animation quality is simply outstanding. Small details like the bouncing of a backpack, hair that expands then bounces back into place after taking off a hat, and the flow of tears and the subtle changes in facial expression when a character is sobbing during a tearful farewell are the small details that usually don't get animated becuase they're non-essential. It's really gratifing to notice them in a new TV animation production.

April 4th, 2003, 09:03 AM	#185
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	I managed to finish another series by watching .hack//DUSK episodes 11 & 12 last night. I enjoyed this series much more than the first series, and I think this series did what it did much more effectively than .hack//SIGN did.

April 7th, 2003, 11:37 AM	#186
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	The legendary Chrono Trigger anime does exist after all! As a rabid Chrono Trigger fan, "Time & Space Adventures Nuumamonjaa" was like a dream come true. From the opening that matched the game opening, to the parodies like the pendulum and "A button barrage" to all the monster appearances to the great ending credits scroll... And the music! I was simply in bliss while watching it. .hack//SIGN epiosde 27 seemed to be heavily influenced by the recent .hack//DUSK series because, for the first time in this episode, .hack//SIGN finally actually felt like it was an MMORPG. I can appreciate the fact that the whole series wasn't like this one episode, but I would have like the first series much, much more if it had included a handful of episodes like this one, or at least some of the characteristics of this action oriented episode. DigiGirl Pop episode 1 (parts 1-5) turned out to actually look just like its website. In other words, it's got the quality of very good internet Flash animation. It certainly has style, and seeing the "robot maid" genre mixed with kogals was a bit fun, but I don't think I'll be keeping up with this one on a regular basis. I also don't know if I'll keep up with D.N.Angel after giving it a bit more of a chance. Judging by episode 1, it has nice animation and chara design. The occasional 3D backgrounds are rendered very well, but still sometimes look strange or out of place. This seems to be a "Kaitou" (mysterious thief) series, which I don't mind, but this one seems to be a bishonen version. I actually really like both St. Tail and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, which were both intended for girls. This show is also intended for girls, but not in the same way. While Jeanne and St. Tail are shoujo, D.N.Angel seems to be a show intended to give female viewers delicious looking young boys to idolize and fall in love with. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not really my thing. Narue no Sekai episode 1 seemed to have a little bit of everything, from FLCL to Mahoromatic to Tetsuwan Birdy to even Invader Zim (a classmate determined to prove that Narue is an alien). So far, the series style reminds me a lot of Mahoromatic, which may be a good thing. It seems like a very sweet and fun show, but it may be too early to really draw conclusions. It's been a while since I watched any H. Shuryousha OAV 1 turned out to be another "big brother takes advantage of younger sister" story exactly identical to dozens of others. A very average and forgettable OAV. And in Zelda I'm now up to the beginning of the mysterious castle underneath the Tower of the Gods. Man, it took me forever to figure out how to beat that boss with the floating head and two floating hands.

April 8th, 2003, 07:22 AM	#187
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	Had a friend visit, so I didn't have much viewing time. I caught up on Galaxy Angel Z episode 7 (story 13 and story 14) and episode 10 (story 19 and story 20). It seems that by its third season Galaxy Angel really understands what makes humor- babies and monkeys.

April 9th, 2003, 08:15 AM	#188
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	After too many hours of Zelda last night I finally got around to watching the untranslated first episode of Last Exile last night at 1:30 in the morning. My first impression is, "Wow!" A simple description probably won't do justice to this show, as nothing will prepare you for seeing it yourself because there's nothing else that looks quite like it. I'm struck by relatively how little this anime actually looks like anime. It seems to have a bit of a European animation feel to it, especially by its theme of smooth shapes and round contours throughout. This could almost pass as exceptional animation originating from anywhere in the world. I also notice that as CG quality improves, I find myself less annoyed by it. This is a show that simply could not have been produced in full cel animation and still have the same impact that it does. The sheer amount of effort and attention to detail that looks like went into this production is very impressive. Last Exile certainly looks very promising so far.

April 10th, 2003, 09:16 AM	#189
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	There's already been a few negative comments about Air Master in the Coming Anime Forum. I have to say that I absolutely loved the first episode. It's been years since there's been a true fantasy fighting anime. The last one was probably Flame of Recca. (Grappler Baki doesn't count because it was really closer to being a sports anime than a fantasy fighting anime.) For me, this was the kind of show that reminded me of anime's abilty to simply take your breath away and make you rewind and watch scenes again. This is true fun anime that really makes use of anime's ability to do and show what we can only imagine. I guess some people that have gotten too used to dramatic or serious anime like Cowboy Bebop and Chobits and even Full Metal Panic may not like this show, but to them I'd say that they may be forgetting what anime is really about. Anime is about seeing something wonderful and fun and entertaining stories. It's fine to take anime very seriously, but when you forget to lighten up and remember that anime is fundimentally just supposed to be entertaining, you're missing the point of anime. Especially as a Street Fighter fan, Air Master might be my favorite show of the new batch. I love the characterizations, the subtle facial expressions, and the great "only in anime" action. I've only been looking forward to Air Master for a few weeks now. I've been looking forward to Scrapped Princess for a few months now, but the first episode wasn't really what I was expecting. The original character designs are stunning, but they don't come through as clearly in the animation. I'd also heard that Scrapped Princess was a bit light hearted, so I was expecting something fun. The first episode certainly wasn't dark or heavy, but I found it very restrained and maudlin. I was hoping for a fun take on swords and sorcery not as slap-stick oriented as Slayers, but still playful. The first episode turned out to be quite mundane and straightforward. What you see is what you get. Certainly not bad, but it's not what I was hoping for. After the second episode of E's Otherwise, the stylistic similarities to Scryed seem even more apparant to me. I really wasn't a fan of Scryed, so I don't know if I'm going to stick with this show either. If Kaleidostar had been another life-sim style drama like Chance! Triangle Session I don't think I'd have liked it very much. I was really pleased to see a very evident Akitaro Daichi influence in this show. I don't know if Daichi is involved or not, but his trademark humor is definitely there. Sora herself also looks a lot like Daichi's Kuromi-chan. Sora's cheerful personality especially helped elevate what could clearly have been a mediocre, mundane drama to a slightly higher level of entertainment value. I still see a few too many cliche character types to really consider this show anything special after only one episode, but at least this does look like a show that I'll try to keep up to date on (and probably fail, as many of you will notice that I'm pretty far behind on most of the shows I've begun watching.)

April 11th, 2003, 10:50 AM	#190
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	There are some perks to working at AnimeNation. Yesterday half the company took a long lunch break to catch Spirited Away, and the company even paid for it! The dub is actually not too bad at all. At times the changes to the American dialogue actually help the film's clarity, making it easier to follow. At other times the dub is unnecessarily over-obvious. In either case, the theatrical presentation really makes a vast difference in expressing the scope of the film. After seeing it on a big screen I realize how little the DVD version does the film justice. Last night I watched Asagiri no Miko episodes 8-12. Most of the time I'm satisfied with short episode shows. This is one of the few instances, though, in which I really wish the episodes were a full 25 minutes long instead of 12 minutes long.

April 24th, 2003, 07:34 AM	#191
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	This covers the past couple days. Hare Nochi Guu OAV 5 wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as some of the episodes, but it did actually have a bit of character development to it. Still a great show. The first epsiode of the Jubei Ninpucho TV series wasn't quite what I'd expected. It's simply sort of light and happy and bright, with none of the suspense and tension and sense of danger that was so ominous in the original movie. In fact, even Samurai Deeper Kyo had a harder edge to it than this new Jubei Ninpucho anime does. The first episode was enjoyable enough to watch, and I'll reserve final judgement until I see more of it. After watching the Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road TV movie I can see why the show was as popular as it was. The boxing animation was simply incredible, doing a fantastic job of expressing the motion and fluidity and power of the movements and punches. Even in untranslated Japanese it's also easy to tell that the characters are well rounded and human and easy to get along with and enjoy watching. I had to jump up to Air Master episode 4. Hopefully I'll go backward to episodes 2 & 3 tonight. I simply love this show! It's not really special to look at, but it has a livliness and energy and kineticism that's missing out of most anime nowadays. It's simply so fun to watch. I've been interested in Konjiki no Gash Bell since seeing a brief animated TV commercial for the manga. A naked little puppet boy flying through a window hanging onto a fish is pretty memorable. It's nice to see that the second episode seems to be entirely traditional cel animation. And there's definitely some humor in the show, but in raw Japanese, episode 2 was a bit slow, and I'm guessing that I missed some of the jokes in the dialogue. Technolyze was pretty amazing. My first inpression is that I'm stunned that the entire series actually seems to be in the animation style that it is. This sort of animation seems acceptable for an opening animation, but seems too obtuse and challenging to actually be feasible for an entire show. If nothing else, the series gets my respect for being revolutionary. And even though the big names in the staff aren't traditional Madhouse artists, this series looks more like a Madhouse production than anything I've seen in quite some time, which I also quite enjoyed. With only a few minutes of spoken dialogue that doesn't even begin until nearly 10 minutes into the episode, I don't know where this show is going and I don't know if it'll be able to last, but I've very interested in it just because it's totally different from everything I've ever seen before. Gunparade March episode 8 was surprisingly fun and genuine. If this is the direction the show is going in, it's a shame that it took half the series before it started getting good.

April 25th, 2003, 07:32 AM	#192
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	Last night I watched an untranslated copy of Air Master episode 2. It was really neat to see some character development, and a darker side to Maki. Again, I have to say that I really enjoy this show immensely.

April 28th, 2003, 08:12 AM	#193
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	My local anime club had it's meeting this Saturday night- the biggest one in a while with 7 people in attendance including myself. Anyway, I watched Air Master 1, Technolyze 1, and the Chrono Trigger OAV again. Beside that: I've been eagerly anticipating the Early Reigns OAV for months now, ever since the first preliminary design sketches got printed in Newtype Magazine (Japanese version). The 45 minute OAV was really a throw-back to early 90s style anime- decent production quality and slim story. Nothing really outstanding, but entertaining enough. I watched a sub of Air Master episode 2, and episode 3 untranslated. Still loving it. Maybe I'm just slow, but Ghost in the Shell TV episode 13 just didn't make much sense to me. Nice action, though. In episode 14 Motoko changed clothes again! Episode 14 was fairly disposeable, but entertaining enough. I took in a subbed version of Last Exile episode 1, then subs of episodes 2 & 3. Wow, this show is incredible. The animation quality and excitment of the race in episode 3 is the best I've seen since the pod race in Star Wars Episode 1. With the end of episode 3, it looks like the main storyline is just beginning, so I'm eager to see where it will go. E's Otherwise episode 3 wasn't very affecting, but it was dramatic. I'm still not sold on this show, but episode 3 was good enough to make me stick around a little longer. Gunparade March episode 9 had the sort of strong, subtle characterization I'd been hoping for in the show all along. Although there was no action in the episode, this was a really well designed and directed episode. The subtelties expressed through Nonomi are the sort that the show could use more of. I'm becomming much more happy with GPM. I just wish it had started out this strong. Gonzo's new show Gad Guard had in spades the groovy, funky style Pioneer's L/R so dearly wishes it had. This new shows just shouts out to me as being Gonzo's "classic style" show in the vein of Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori. I went into it with few expectations. And it took me a while to get over the distinctive and unsual character designs and whole visual look of the show. By the end of the episode I was totally hooked. I really can't wait to see more of this show! The first episode of Di-Gi-Charat Nyo in untranslated Japanese was just like the first TV series, just longer. The first episode of Tantei Gakuen Q in untranslated Japanese seemed to have just a few too many coincidences to seem plausible for me. It's a teen-age detective show, not much different from ones I've seen before, except that it's difficult to believe in an ordinary kid with seemingly no more training or experience than watching detective shows on TV being able to not only deduce that an apparant accident/suicide is actually a murder, but figure out exactly who the murderer is and how he did it with only the slimmest clues. On the whole, this seemed like a really average show which I probably won't go to great lengths to stay current on.

April 29th, 2003, 07:00 AM	#194
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	Human Scramble episode 1 wasn't, in and of itself, particularly thrilling, but it's the kind of anime that I'm very glad exists. The first episode was the story of a professional boxer who mentally fights through his life-long resentment of his mother. It wasn't animated all that well, and wasn't really very nice to look at, and wasn't really exceptionally affecting. But it's the fact that mainstream anime like this exist that make anime what it is. We can say that shows like Cowboy Bebop and Gundam have greater maturity than typical cartoons, but they're still escapist fantasies, easily dismissed as anti-intellectual commercialism. The fact that mainstream anime focusing on mature, real-life emotional drama without any fantasy elements like outer space or giant robots or interstellar bounty hunters exist allows fans to legitimately argue that anime is more than just disposable fantasy entertainment. The fact that shows like Human Scramble exist, even though this show itself isn't outstanding, elevates the calibur of the anime medium itself to a higher artistic plane. With a title like Dear Boys and a cast of bishonen, I thought this show would be a romance for girls. I'm very happy to report that this is another example of me being glad that I don't pre-judge anime. Based on the first episode, this show could be to basketball what Initial D was to car racing. The character design is gorgeous, the Initial D style hip-hop and Eurobeat music is back, and the characterizations are surprising and interesting. Of all the new April anime, this is the show that has caught me off guard (no pun intended) and pleasantly surprised me the most so far. I really wanted to watch the second episode, but after hours of playing Zelda: Wind Waker, it was nearly 3 AM when I finished episode 1. Episode 2 tonight, hopefully.

April 30th, 2003, 12:23 PM	#195
John Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,107	After a couple more hours of Zelda I watched fansubbed copies of Scrapped Princess episodes 1 & 2. The series moves faster with the dialogue translated. I also find it still a bit more straight, hard fantasy than I expected. It's still too early for me to have much of an opinion on the show, but it looks like it may be promising. I also watched an untranslated copy of the hentai Daraku OAV 2 and the first bit of OAV 3 before falling asleep. NuTech has released the first episode in America as "Depravity." The first OAV didn't seem very interesting to me. The second, and what I've watched of the third episode, take the mysogeny to an even farther extreme. The end of the second episode and beginning of the third also up the violence level significantly. Since this is an all-ages forum, I won't go into detailed descriptions except to say that the anime includes a sharp, pointed object in the eye, lots of blood, and every man's worst fear about oral sex. Nasty stuff!