T5W#131-Top 5 Favorite Anime Couples

Well it’s Valentine’s Day.  You know what that means: love is in the air, people are confessing their feelings or celebrating long time relationships.  Love is an essential part of most Anime series.  It can either be a Romeo and Juliet style tragedy (i.e. Zeta Gundam) or just played for laughs before high amounts of unnecessary drama (Love Hina, Ouran High School Host Club).  What we also get out of these are “ships” that we support and defend well past their resolution points.  While I’m not talking about my own personal ships (not that I think I have any atm really save for one you’ll see below), today I am talking about my Top 5 Favorite Anime Couples.  Most of these are official pairings but I have slipped in at least one that I think is going somewhere (especially considering this series hasn’t really wrapped and will hopefully return one day).  They can either be filled with glittery eyed love or the toughest of challenges to overcome.  These couples all prove that “Love Actually is…all around” (yes I went there).




#5-Priss and Leon (Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040)

I kept wishing right until the end that hard rocker Priss and cute office assistant Lenna would end up getting together.  Alas, hopes were dashed but Priss still found a nice guy to end up with after all.  Leon may look like your stereotypical muscle bearing cop but deep down he’s a softy when it comes to beautiful women.  Enter Priss, the rock star and secret Knight Saber, who cannot be won no matter how hard he tries.  Suffice to say, Priss looks past the cop and sees the guy who is willing to give it all for her.  And she doesn’t even have to wear her sexy leather outfits (or her equally sexy battle armor) to impress him.  Leon sees the good beneath the bad ass and that’s enough to melt Priss’s hard exterior.  Also, I cant overlook they both share names with two Blade Runner Replicants (though Priss was with Batty and it’s implied Leon and Zhora were a thing…still cool though).

#4-Rock and Revy (Black Lagoon)

Frak yes, this is clearly going on and it will be recognized should Black Lagoon return one day.  Rock and Revy didn’t start off on the best of terms: Rock’s a brilliant, but whimpy newbie to the pirate life and Revy is a hot chick with two guns and a penchant for violence. Yet some of the series’ best episodes have come from these two confronting their different ideologies and finding some common ground.  Rock helps Revy recover some of her lost humanity and, in return, Revy ends up putting her life on the line for him, “I could protect you through the f***ing Alamo,” she even says at one point.  Their little peacemaking moment of Revy using Rock’s cigarette to light her own features facial experessions that make it clear one or both are interested in something a bit more down the line.  It’ll get there, if it hasn’t already, God that would be awesome.

#3-Kaname and Sosuke (Full Metal Panic)

Through it’s rough times and its better ones, one thing you could always rely on with Full Metal Panic is the pairing of Kaname Chidori and Sousuke Sagara.  While Kaname does spend a lot of time whaling on poor Sousuke for his military antics on school grounds, this bond of theirs does grow over the course of the shows (current) three seasons.  We see Kaname go from irritated with Sousuke’s odd quirks (and penchants for constantly blowing stuff up) to seeing her show concern for him in battle.  Likewise, Sousuke, the battle hardened soldier from a young age, begins to see Kaname as more than just a someone to protect for Mithril, she’s someone he wants to protect for his own heart.  It doesn’t get any clearer how these two really feel than when Sousuke and Kaname are separated during the second half of Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid.  Kaname becomes terrified, Sousuke questions his order and loses his confidence.  Seeing the trials they both go through to find their way back together sells that this coupling is destined for greater things down the line.  Will Kaname and Sousuke officially be dating come Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory? Only time will tell.

#2-Haruka (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru (Sailor Neptune) (Sailor Moon S)

The only thing better than seeing two cute girls in love is being able to look past censorship BS and see that “they’re not really cousins are they?”  Uranus and Neptune share a bond that most of the Sailor Senshi wish they could share with each other.  The depth of their love and trust and each other is infinite and it shows in their teamwork on and off the battlefield.  Michiru clearly keeps the more hotheaded Haruka in line with her soft spoken wisdom.  But that doesn’t mean that Michiru wont get a little reckless to protect her love either.  This was the romance that defined a generation of Anime fans for a really long time.  From antagonistic towards the other Senshi to becoming their most powerful allies, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune were the true Guardians of Love and Justice everyone wanted to (and still wants to) be.

#1-Inuyasha and Kagome (Inuyasha)

This was one of the first big Anime romances I ever took full stock in.  Sure id seen occasional romance pop up in Robotech or Tenchi Muyo.  Inuyasha and Kagome were a different story.  Their romance was front and center through every single bit of the series (that didn’t focus on how OP Naraku was or how Miroku would never give up on Sango).  A lot of the usual romance tropes came up in this relationship: bickering, Kagome causing Inuyasha random pain with “Sit Boy”, arguing in the middle of a battle.  And yet, when Inuyasha was at its lowest points, you could always count on the true and emerging romance between these two to get you through it.  Not to mention, Kaoru Wada’s beautiful soundtrack that plays during Inuyasha and Kagome’s more tender moments is worthy of a tear.  I always wanted to root for Inuyasha and Kagome, no matter what.  Even though I never finished the show, I know my stock paid off.  They are my definitive Anime couple.

 

Pilot Candidate Part 3 Episode 7-9

Zero and his classmates enter a Pro-Ing Mach battle with upper classmen as the next stage of their training.  As Zero bonds with his pacifistic senior, Erts, he begins to find a new source of strength and inspiration.  However, tragedy strikes when the Goddess team loses one of their own in battle.  A replacement must be chosen, but who will it be?  Will Zero finally get the chance to live his dream or will another surpass him?  And what trauma will this loss deal to the rest of the current roster?  The unexpected advance to the next level and those who thought themselves invincible will learn there is no such standing.

By the time we get to the middle of this weeks set, we lose a main character, a Goddess pilot no less.  And yet there’s both no time to take it all in or any reason to grieve cause its for a character we hardly knew or cared about.  Let me make a comparison.  Gundam 00 had two good examples of handling an important characters death.  In Season 1, we lost Neil Delandy, the first Lockon, who died heroically trying to kill the man who killed his family.  Celestial Being lost not just a teammate, but a brother, someone who could get through to everyone like no one else could.  Through him, Setsuna and especially Tierria changed totally and became more human through his loss.  In Season 2 we got a more interesting example.  Anew Returner wasn’t the best character of the bunch, hell I was wondering why no one ever figured out she was an Innovate well before it was revealed.  And yet her death had weight and good drama to it, mostly through the good character moments with Lyle, the second Lockon, and Setsuna.  Lyle’s agonizing moment of loss is highlighted when Setsuna lets Lyle beat the crap out of him for killing his love just to save the life of his teammate, something they all knew had to happen.  Even for a character as unmemorable as Anew was, even she got an amazing send off.

By comparison, the death of Goddess pilot Ernest feels so empty and without reason other than to shake up the story a bit.  We have spent barely any time with the main Goddess team as we need to spend most of our waking hours watching Zero make an embarrassing ass out of himself.  Had this show done a sort of staggered episode run, where one group is the focus of one episode and then it switches to another team for the next, and we’d spent time getting to know the Goddess pilots outside of their bland and forgettable character designs AND had let this death happen much later in the series…then maybe idve felt a shred of emotion.  But no I felt nothing and the show hardly gives time to let it sink in.  It’s one of the reasons the character of Teela has begun to piss me off.  She loses a teammate but hardly acknowledges it and just moves on…after she’d spent most of the battle that got said teammate killed just hovering around and doing nothing when her Goddess alone could have saved the day in one big attack like she has in every other battle.  But no, time to jettison some dead weight and move on, no muss, no fuss.  Well there is fuss but its quickly forgotten about.  A new pilot is chosen and it isn’t Zero, Galoo (who seriously I cant hear his name without thinking “Baloo the Bear”) cries for Ernest for five seconds…and that’s it.  All in all, yes something finally happened this week on Pilot Candidate but it hardly feels relevant…you could sum up the whole series with that thought.

Ugh, all that explaining and ranting, did anything else happen this week…that actually stood out?  In a good way, no.  In a bad way, absolutely.  Zero got paired up with Kwaoru…ugh sorry Erts (who also happens to be Ernest’s younger brother but you’ll gloss over that because the show just forgets about it after its quick mention) and the two hit it off much like you’d expect.  I should really just call Erts Kwaoru because he feels like a lesser breed of everyones favorite tennis shoe wearing Evangelion Angel.  He doesn’t want to fight and sees a bright future inside Zero…or with Zero it’s hard to tell.  Yet in battle he’s…ferocious?  Idk it’s hard to tell how good he is in an Ingrid because the CG continues to suck and now looks like bad, bad pre viz animatics for Real Steel with Hugh Jackman.  The other upperclassmen paired with and against Zero’s class was kind of just a footnote.  I couldn’t even tell you if I remember the one that Hiead challenged at the end of this set.  Most of that is because I don’t care.  I was done with this series after week one and the only reason im still with it now is because there’s one more part to go.

Speaking of Evangelion references, Zero had a pointless inner dream episode where he tried to find out why he was losing his memories of home and starting to replace them with images of his new friends.  Did this go anywhere? I don’t know, I was tuned out by this point.  Youd expect two episodes with plenty of drama (decent drama for once mind you) to have some lasting impact in the following episode.  Nope, life goes on and Zero ignores the death of his new friends brother because “I WANNA BE A PILOT YAYYYY!!!!”…god what an inconsiderate asshole.  Also, why is Teela reaching out to Zero all of a sudden and why is she trying to be this shows version of Rei Ayanami in a skimpier outfit?  Here’s a better question: DO I EVEN CARE?!! The answer is no.

Wow, three weeks in and this show is shattering my psyche with how bad it really is.  So far only the first couple of episodes have been the most memorable as a proof of concept/nostalgia trip down memory lane.  Everything else just sucks and is beyond half assed.  So, can I make it through one more week of horrible badness?  Well…I actually get a week to breathe from the horribleness of Pilot Candidate.  Yep, next week is a week off as im heading to Katsucon this weekend.  In two weeks you guys can join me again and watch as this already crashed ship plummets through one planet and into another one…man I knew this might be bad but THIS BAD!?  Pilot Candidate might end up getting a lower score than Silent Mobius.  But is it 0/10 worthy?  I don’t know but it’s getting awful close.

T5W#130-Top 5 Titles I (Probably) Wont Review on the Gundam Anime Corner

I try to keep an open mind about the titles I pick and choose to review here on this blog.  However, there are certain titles I see that I just cant bring myself to put in the time to do full on reviews.  Im not saying they wont get mentioned or even be part of a Top 5 (like today) or even a bonus article down the line.  Full length series reviews, however, that’s not always a garuntee.  Been thinking about this for a bit and I think I narrowed it down.  Today’s Top 5 is dedicated to the Top 5 Titles I (Probably) Wont Review on the Gundam Anime Corner (note the “Probably”, my mind could change on one or two of these but only time will tell).

 

#5-Digimon Adventure Tri

Been thinking about this title a bit lately, and watching an abridged version which is pretty funny.  But the more I think about it, and think back to the first impression I did on the first half of the first movie so long ago, the more I realize…I don’t think I’m the right guy to review this one.  As I said in my FIF feature, I did love Digimon at one point, a lot.  But those days are long behind me and I don’t know if I could rediscover that enjoyment unless I went back and rewatched all of Digimon Adventure 1 & 2.  Plus from what little I have seen…I feel like Tri is just depressing, like it’s trying to be reflective on the past while looking to the future but also robbing Digimon of the fun it had in earlier seasons.  Am I wrong?  Should I shut up cause im not a hardcore fan?  This is one of the two titles, however, I’ll say is still probable and I might wait until the entire six film series wraps up this year.  For now, I’ll stick to the abridged series…cause it is freaking hilarious.

 

#4-Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex-The Laughing Man & Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2^nd Gig-Individual Eleven

By this point I think I have reviewed just about every piece of Ghost in the Shell Anime there is: The movies, the entire SAC series, the SAC movie-Solid State Society, Arise and The New Movie…that’s a lot.  But there’s a reason I haven’t reviewed the two compilation OVA features that sum up the two main plots of the SAC TV series…there’s nothing new at all.  I feel like I could lump most compilation film features under this one (or make it a separate Top 5 all together) but there are exceptions.  Macross Plus: The Movie and RahXephon: The Motion Picture both contained new footage and different spins on their central plots (especially in RahXephon’s case).  The SAC OVA’s literally just splice the central plotted episodes together for almost three hours that’s the equivalent of a weekend binge…when really you could just watch Stand Alone Complex and Stand Alone Complex 2^nd Gig and get in all of the goodness they leave out from the occasionally superior Stand Alone episodes.

 

#3-Berserk

The nightmares ive heard about this one, the small bits ive seen, honestly I just want to sleep better at night without thinking about a Band of the Hawk slaughterfest.  Sure Berserk is a popular title, well the 90’s series anyway (no way in hell im touching the CG continuation abomination).  It’s the darkest fantasy story ive ever heard of and even with some cool action and blood all across its landscapes, I cant bring myself to check it out.  Need further proof: At a Horror themed panel at Otakon in 2016, the host held off until the very end to show everyone the infamous Eclipse scene that contains the aforementioned “slaughterfest”…I properly excused myself before it even popped up on the screen.  Call me a coward, like I said, id rather have better dreams.  Plus I learned my lesson from watching “everybody dies” before bed with The End of Evangelion (God will that fill you head with crap if you watch it after dark).

 

#2-Most Shonen Anime (Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece etc.)

 

Shonen Anime are a very common entryway into the Anime genre.  In the 90’s it was Dragon Ball Z.  In the early 2000’s it was Naruto, Bleach and One Piece.  In the 2010’s it kind of varies (I guess Boruto and Dragon Ball Super now?).  So what do those shows and more have in common?  They are really, really, REALLY LONNNNNNNNNG!!!!  As much as id love to try reviewing Dragon Ball Z, the show is 291 episodes long.  Naruto is twice as long (not counting Boruto).  And One Piece…Dear God in Heaven that’ll probably reach 1000 episodes before it kicks the bucket…or gets to its final act, it could go either way.  I just don’t have the time to commit to such an undertaking with any of those shows.  NOW, I would do some movie marathoning if the number of films for a series was right.  I already did that with Dragon Ball Z a couple of years back, reviewing all of the films from Dead Zone to Resurrection F.  And I could definitely do the Bleach Movies since there’s only 4 of them.  The longest kind of series ive ever covered on this blog hasn’t gone above 50 or so episodes.  And that’s only if im doing a big summer project or splitting them up by series like I did with Full Metal Panic (and that ended up being in the 50 range after 3 collective seasons).  Shonen titles will def poke their heads in from time to time but never as a full length review, ever.

 

#1-G Savior

There is only one way anyone will ever get me to review the blackest mark on the Gundam Legacy.  Well no there are a couple of ways: 1. Pay me…a lot of money; 2. Buy the movie (cause I’m not buying it); 3…be a really, really, really good friend I wouldn’t mind making this kind of a sacrifice for.  This movie is bad, really bad, like Mystery Science Theater 3000 needs to parody the s*** out of t his bad.  Horrific CG, terrible Mecha designs, a non Japanese cast.  You know it’s almost a good thing the G-Savior is never called a Gundam cause it isn’t worthy of it.  Cause of trash like this we may never get a proper live action film for my favorite legendary Mobile Suit…thanks G-Savior.

Pilot Candidate Part 2 Episodes 4-6

With their introductory cirriculum’s completed, Zero and his classmates are now introduced to their partners, the Repairers.  These girls will follow their Pilots to hell and back…if they can get along.  How will Zero react when he discovers his partners peculiar feature?  And who is this strange ace pilot named Erts, who feels a kinship with Zero?  Meanwhile, the current roster of Goddess pilots find themselves up against tougher Victim, some that can even withstand their most powerful weapons.  Have the Goddess’ reached their limit or are the pilots beginning to falter?

Well before I reached the now halfway point of this series, ive begun to realize why this show failed to find an audience and eventually become forgotten by time.  Even though one or two things might find a way to make me go “ok this isn’t bad”, the rest of Pilot Candidate continues to be uninteresting, unoriginal or unnecessary.  And sometimes, it’s just plain annoying.

 

This week, the Candidates met their Repairers, all girls who will serve as their support crews in battle.  Of the five introduced, only three get significant screentime and even then TWO are the central focus, and you get two guesses as to why that is.  That’s because Kizna and Ikhny are the Repairers of Zero and Hiead respecitvley and yeah, neither seem like a good fit (even if Zero and Kizna do make some progress).  For starters, Zero’s annoyance hits new levels when he basically ignores Kizna and insists on continuing to call every girl he sees “WOMAN!!!” at the top of his lungs.  I mean sure he and Kizna do lighten up but more of that is because Kizna’s probably the most interesting character introduced so far…mostly cause she’s cute and is a cat girl but is also good at her job.  And there is a bit where Zero and Kizna both take responsibility for being tardy and share punishments…still this isn’t moving me any closer to liking Zero.  His partner on the other hand, eh she’s ok.  Ikhny worries me.  Hiead at one point physically slams the poor girl against a wall and tells her to stay out of his way before walking off.  Come on guys, girls are not the monsters you make them out to be in this series.  Even worse, Ikhny says nothing to anyone, not even Hijikata about this and decides to just stay close to Hiead’s side, trying to hope he’ll just automatically be ok with her.  Oh Ikhny, Hiead is a silent brooding punk with no respect for anyone, good luck getting through that iron wall of stereotype.  The only other repairer who gets screetime is Saki, Clay’s partner…not much on her really, she’s just there to confirm Clay’s “Press Start Button for Info” commentary.  Also, ive gotta say, what the hell says a non skinny person cant be a pilot?  Have they met Ryu Jose from Mobile Suit Gundam?  Or Hunk from Voltron?  To say an overweight individual cant be a pilot is pretty insulting…it’s just surprising it didn’t come out of the mouth of Zero or Hiead but the former overweight Sawamura’s Repairer, Wrecka.

 

Most of this week dealt with the Pilots and their Repairers getting to know each other and bicker back and forth during simulations.  It’s here that I ask…is there a point to dragging this all out?  We spend two episodes on intros and rides in the simulator and it feels like things have barely progressed storywise.  I feel like by the time I get to the last episode, nothing of value is going to be accomplished for the story.  Again, this is why Pilot Candidate feels like a Shonen title.  Well, to give Shonen Anime a bit more credit, even if they have a super lengthy episode run, the pacing is a helluva lot better.  Pilot Candidate seems to be playing the waiting game, knowing its never going to pay off.  Im betting right now that when we get to the finale, someone’s going to say “now it begins” before cutting to black or “to be continued…”

 

It isn’t helping that the CG animation isn’t really getting any better. I dare say it’s actually getting worse.  This is beginning to look like animation from a half assed Anime you’d find randomly in a promo catalogue without much heart or fanfare behind it, a title churned out to make a quick buck.  The Pro-Ing Ingrids move more clunky than the Goddesses, it doesn’t matter if theyre being piloted by rookies or not.  To see that the CG ever got approved is almost unforgivable and embarrassing.  This goes double when trying to mix the 2D and 3D art styles as they did during Zero’s second test run, where it all just looked rushed and unfinished.

 

Oh and there’s a whole subplot with some of the the current Goddess pilots actually showing fear for their lives when Victims kick the crap out of one or two of them in battle.  But truth be told, I don’t care.  The show wants to be about Zero or Hiead and hardly ever wants to focus on anyone else.  So why the heck should I care about the current roster of pretty people piloting the pretty mecha who are more bland and forgettable than…well anyone else in this show.

 

The good news is, I’m halfway done with this snooze fest.  The bad news is…ugh im only half way done and not all the way done.  Could I at least re-edit the last seven episodes so it’s just Hijikata punching Zero or Kizna kicking him repeatedly for…well lets face it for being a total little asshole? (it’s about time someone finally did.)

End of Year 4 Announcements

Hey everyone it’s quick announcement time.

We’re slowly approaching the 4^th Anniversary of my time working on this blog.  For those who don’t know, I was actually writing as far back as 2014 but never started posting til 2015 here…so technically it’s 3 years according to the blogger timeline but I say 4 so there.  Each year I try to pick one special title to review on March 31, the day I did my first review of Eden of the East.  FLCL closed out Year One.  Golden Boy closed out Year 2.  And Ghost in the Shell (The Live Action Movie) closed out Year 3 on the exact day (go figure).  To close out Year 4, ive made a decision…I’m going to do the live action Fullmetal Alchemist movie from 2017 which drops on Netflix later in February.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever do a full series review of either Fullmetal Alchemist series due to their lengthy episode runs.  I might do the two movies but for now, this is as close as ill get to reviewing this beloved series…actually I could do bonus reviews of The Conqueror of Shamballa and The Sacred Star of Milos leading to it just like I did reviews of the two Ghost in the Shell movies leading to the live action films review…might do that.

So yeah, Fullmetal Alchemist 2017 will be posted on March 31, 2018 but there’s still time to go before then.  Right now im dragging myself through Pilot Candidate, which will conclude at the end of February.  I’m hoping I can get to RWBY Vol.5 before I get to Katsucon in a couple of weeks (I would have reviewed it last week but I other commitments sprung up on me).  That leaves March a bit empty right now…just kidding.  Now that it is FINALLY on Netflix, I’m happy to announce that starting March 5^th im going to review last summers Anime smash hit, Kakegurui.  Will I be able to comprehend all the rules of the game?  Will Yumeko Jabami’s special brand of crazy creep me out too much despite her hotness?  Only time will tell.

That’s the game plan leading to the end of March, which now includes potential Fullmetal Alchemist movie reviews but we’ll see.  Hopefully by the time I get to the 4^th Anniversary I’ll know what I’m doing for reviews in the Spring.  Hope everyones having a good start to the weekend and hope KatsuCrunch isn’t claiming anyones sanity.  See ya next week with more reviews.