T5W#11-Top 5 Scariest Characters in Anime

I’ll admit, the horror genre isn’t really my cup of tea and I tend to steer clear of it.  Every once in a while though, some bits of it will filter into shows I watch that out flat out horror like Hellsing.  And since Halloween is coming up, I figured id take a look back at some of the characters who flat right terrify the hell out of me.

#5-Kyubey (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

At first glance, Kyubey looks like your typical Anime mascot plushie.  But that’s where its true terror lies, in it’s innocence and it’s voice.  Kyubey is a key example of the “stranger danger” lessons your parents tried to teach you as a child.  It promises you good things and amazing wonders but never what the price is.  In most stranger cases it usually means kidnapping or worse.  Kyubey just jumps right to the worse, keeping the true fate of Magical Girls a secret just cause it doesn’t care about what those who contract with it think in the end.  Emotionless and cold to a fault, this plushie deserves to be nuked at the sight from orbit…just to be sure.  And yeah that image above? Hard enough to handle in the manga but if I had seen that in the Anime, I would not be sleeping well.

 

#4-Testuo (Akira)

Tetsuo may be one of the most sympathetic villains in Anime.  He had a rough childhood which isn’t made much better by the big brotherly belittling he gets from his best friend Kaneda.  So when he develops crazy psychic powers and goes Carrie X 9000 (!!!) on Neo Tokyo, you can kinda feel for him.  That doesn’t stop him from looking his damned scariest when he goes full overload.  One scene from Akira that stands out with me is the creepy, cackling, pill popping Testuo sitting atop a pile of rubble looking like an Imp from hell just before he kills some of his former biker friends.  And let’s not forget that…whatever the hell it is he turns into at the end of the movie.  With great power comes great responsibility…or in Tetsuo’s case, rampaging until you become a giant vomit produced slob that’s nigh unstoppable

 

#3-Jun (Gundam Build Fighters Try)

Ive spoken at great length about my hatred for Gundam Build Fighters Try.  But one of the final straws came with the introduction of Jun, Sekai’s former training friend under Domon Kashuu.  He gave off an eriee vibe on first appearance.  But once he got in the ring with his Gunpla, he became something else entirely.  He became a bloodthirsty demon (not really) who wanted nothing more than to push Sekai to the point of death (over exaggeration).  And every time he spoke the animators went at great lengths to make him look as f***ing scary as possible.  I was already chiding Build Fighter Try for being too serious, but this was just beyond crazy having a character like this in this series.  Jun was scary and one of my final death knells for this series.

 

#2-The God Hand (Berserk)

A group of monsters responsible for an act so horrendously remembered in Berserk that I have purposefully kept myself from watching the finale in its entirety.  Comprised of four oddly crafter demons, this group is possible the most powerful evil in all of Anime.  And they manage to feed the inner lust of a broken mans dream: Make him a king IF he sacrifices his loyal troops and friends in exchange.  What follows next is the God Hand at work, in one of the most nightmarish bloodbaths in all of Anime.

 

#1-Alucard (Hellsing Ultimate)

This is a bit of a cheat.  Does he scare me?  As a whole, no not really.  I think Alucard is one of the most bad ass anti heroes in all of Anime.  Why he falls on this list then?  Well because he is very, VERY good at his job.  When Alucard sheds his trenchcoat and guns and transforms into his ultimate demon form, he is the stuff of nightmares.  Bugs, hell hounds, eye aplenty, if youre on the wrong side of this Vampire and need to be stomped out by his full power…it will never be a pleasant experience.  And that is why he takes the top spot on my list: scary protector, even scarier eliminator.

 

Happy (Upcoming) Halloween everyone

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Two years after Meteor was stopped by the Lifestream, Midgar struggles to return to its former glory.  A new sickness known as Geosigma, begins to infect children everywhere.  At the same time, three young men, their leader Kadaj who bears a scary resemblance to Sephiroth, arrive with a plan they simply refer to as “reunion”.  The world needs its heroes again.  But Cloud Strife is still haunted by the final battle with Sephiroth, a battle that cost him someone close.  Yet once again, he takes up his sword to put the past to rest one final time.  The saga of the legendary JRPG Final Fantasy VII continues…

You’dve thought everyone should have learned from The Spirits Within.  But the announcement of a new Final Fantasy animated movie surprised everyone when it was revealed that it would not only be based off a game…it would be based off Final Fantasy VII.  The trailers all looked stellar with great action, awesome character designs and the presence of Nobuo Uematu’s “Sephiroth Theme” playing in each one.  So many questions were possed: What had Cloud and company been up to since the end of the game (which they survived apparently)?  Who were these three Sephiroth looking clones and would they herald the return of everyone’s favorite big bad?  Would the action be even better in the finished film? 

Well Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children arrived with a lot of hype behind it…and only managed to meet maybe half of it.

The film is way more gorgeous than the Spirits Within.  I think it definitely has a more Anime feel to it than the Live Action Sci Fi style of TSW.  But Advent Children is definitely a good demo of what a solid Final Fantasy Anime could look like should it ever come to pass.  The characters  look amazing and since it’s been two years since the end of the game, a nice touch of age has been added to them.  Cloud, Tifa and their allies don’t look like sprites in the slightest.  Tifa was easily my favorite character design of the film.  Given a nice new outfit and attention to her hair that would make Aki Ross jealous, plus she had way more emotion than Cloud, I wished that this story would’ve focused more on her as the lead heroine. 

Tifa easily gets some good moments early on, especially in a one on one fight scene with Loz which leads to my next point.  The action is simply amazing.  Tifa’s Church battle, the eight on one showdown with Bahamut leading to Cloud’s one V one fight with it, the final battle with Sephiroth, all evidence of where the real love for this movie lies in, making it look cool and stylish as possible.  Some of the action does tend to drag or feel unnecessary: the forest duel.  But some scenes like the chase on the highway are saved by an awesome score from Final Fantasy veteran Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu takes his Final Fantasy music to the next level, showcasing the return of many fan favorites like Tifa and Aerith’s themes.  But he also applies some nice remixes and rock enthused updates to Sephiroth’s theme that make the final battle feel more epic.

But good animation, music and action can only get you so far.  What about the story?  To be honest, I never really saw much of a story in Advent Children.  I only saw lines of dialogue spouted out to get viewers from one fight scene to the next.  It doesn’t really help that the hero and villain are both less than great.  Cloud sure can handle himself in a fight but he mopes and mopes and mopes whenever he isn’t hacking away with a sword.  On the opposite end, Kadaj is just a poser with big words and no real clue how to escape Sephiroth’s shadow.  His brothers, Loz and Yazoo don’t offer much more either and are kind of just there for the fight; Yazoo only brings a bit more cause he has a Final Fantasy VIII style gunblade.  There’s no real development for anyone and mood changes come based on how far we are into the movie.  By the time I got to the Bahamut fight, I had turned my mind off from the would be story and just let the action take over…that’s not a good thing.

As I said above, the movie feels like a demo for a much bigger project somewhere down the line…and at this point we we’re only just starting to hear rumors about an HD remake of VII on the PS3 (now it’s officially confirmed for PS4).  The story, however is a mess.  And the project seems to know that but want to hide that as much as possible under some flashy fights and good animation.  If I had to choose between which Final Fantasy film project was better, I’d say Advent Children overall just barely edges out The Spirits Within.  For all of it’s flaws, Advent Children at least focuses on a Final Fantasy world and has all of the elements needed to make it work: familiar characters, materia and summons, the music, etc.  It’s a good second draft (the first being The Spirits Within).  Let’s just hope that the next Final Fantasy film attempt is more successful all across the board rather than just about half of it.

6.5/10

Holy crap it’s November next week.  And I’m kicking it off with a film trilogy I’ve wanted to review for a while and managed to finally fit into the schedule.  See ya next Monday (on my birthday no less) for Mamoru Oshii’s Patlabor Film Trilogy, starting with Patlabor The Movie.

T5W#10-Top 5 F*** YEAH Anime Moments

You see these moments everywhere in any media: moments of pure joy that make you want to stand up and scream F*** YEAH!!! Well you bet there’s a ton in Anime and these are my personal favs.

 (Oh just for the heck of it, SPOILER ALERT!!!)

#5-Matsuda Shoots Light (Death Note)

The Death Note series finale is one of the best finales of all time.  It’s all about Light’s plans and dream world crashing down around him.  He’s caught, in denial about it and still trying to justify every action he’s taken since the beginning of the series when he found the Death Note.  And everyone who’s trusted him his pissed.  But no one’s more pissed than Matsuda, who has for the most part stupidedly followed Light’s leadership believing in him no matter what.  So when Light makes one final attempt to kill everyone with the Death Note, it’s Matsuda who pulls his guns and shoots him.  Shot by the last person you’d expect?  Yeah no wonder Light snapped right after this.  Good on ya Matsuda, good on ya.

 

#4-Vegeta Becomes a Super Saiyan (Dragon Ball Z)

For me, I think the height of DBZ’s popularity in school was right around the time of the Androids.  These were the fights we were looking forward to more than Frieza.  But more so, I’ll never forget when the saga came out on video.  It was the one time Suncoast actually played Dragon Ball Z on their screens and the store was packed.  The Goku vs #19 fight was fine but it was when Vegeta showed up that we all got hyped.  We knew what was about to happen next.  Cue the music, cue Vegeta’s “Let me ask you something, does an Android like yourself ever experience fear?” cue the power up, cue…THE SUPER SAYIAN…cue the cheer.  The most arrogant but lovable bad ass in Anime finally achieved his goal and it was glorious.

 

#3-Fall of the Innovates (Mobile Suit Gundam 00)

Wont delve too much into this one (you can take a look at my grand series review of Gundam 00 that started back in June).  This scene still makes me grin as we see the arrogant Innovates finally get their asses handed to them by Celestial Being.  For me, it’s Alleluia’s one line that makes me say “F*** Yeah”, “You’re all so dependent on VEDA.  YOU DON’T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT US ANYMORE!!!”  Awesome line to start delivering some killing blows to some otherwise meh villains.  But still a bad ass moment nonetheless.

 

#2-Gilgamesh Finally Dies (Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works)

You have nooooooo idea how long I had been waiting for Gilgamesh to get what was coming to him.  This smug and arrogant “heroic” spirt was the closest thing Fate/Stay Night got to a god mode cheat besides Berserker.  Everytime he showed up on screen I got made.  He was always going to lecture and show off and prove more that he couldn’t be taken out.  And right when it looks like Shiro has won the final battle against him, Gilgamesh still plays the sore loser, trying to drag Shiro into the abyss with him.  Then it happened…Archer returns and launches one last arrow into Gilgamesh’s skull…F******** YEAH!!!! I cheered, I hollered, I went nuts.  I had been waiting for this a** hat to get what was coming to him since Fate/Zero.  And though Unlimited Blade Works was a bit uneven, it was worth it all to get to that moment of pure, unadulterated triumph.

 

#1-Goku Becomes a Super Saiyan (Dragon Ball Z)

From the moment Vegeta first dropped the name when Goku got to Namek and started laying out the Ginyu Force, our interest was piqued.  What exactly was a Super Saiyan and was Goku really one of them?  And then came a near year and a half long wait from when it aired in syndication before Cartoon Network’s Toonami block finally brought over Dragon Ball Z with a new dub and all new episodes.  From then it was only a matter of time.  We knew it was coming.  And day after day we tuned in to see when it would happen.  And then Krillin died…and Goku snapped.  KA-BOOM!!! Goku ascended to Super Saiyan and American fans (who hadn’t seen it in Japanese yet) went nuts.  We saw it, we finally saw it and Dragon Ball Z got hyped to a whole new level.  It was a good time to be a fan of Dragon Ball Z and of Anime in general.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Earth 2065 AD.  Almost 35 years have passed since a meteorite crashed into the planet, unleashing an army of ghost like entities which have widdled down humanity to it’s fewest numbers.  The survivors struggle to endure within domed cites, cut off from the rest of the planet.  Dr. Aki Ross may have a solution to the conflict.  Experiencing dreams brought on a by a Phantom spirit infecting her body, Aki has been trying to piece a mysterious puzzle together.  But there are those who have had enough of waiting, who have lost much to the Phantoms and wish to see them ended no matter the cost to the planet.  It’s up to Aki, her mentor Dr. Sid and a team of specialist marines to win the race to end this supposed war. 

The announcement of a Final Fantasy movie in the early 2000’s was a pretty big deal.  Not only was it based on one of the biggest and most beloved video game franchises of all time, but it was also coming out alongside another video game adaptation, Tomb Raider, that same summer of 2001.  While Tomb Raider went on to become a modest money making if not really great movie overall hit, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within took home the award for one of the biggest box office bombs in movie history.  It was such a bad turn out that it took another Final Fantasy game release, it’s long awaited PS2 debut Final Fantasy X and a merger with once rival Enix to save Square from a bad financial future. 

But the big question is: Was Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within really that bad to garner such a negative legacy?  Well…

I should start out by saying that I don’t outright dislike this movie.  It definitely doesn’t hold up well against time and I can definitely see why fans of the series kind of discount it.  I still thing TSW has some good ideas and boasts great production quality on the animation side that could’ve made for a really amazing Final Fantasy movie.  The animation was ahead of its time and boasted by some nice performances almost felt like a live action movie at times rather than a straight up high budget cartoon.  Lead character Aki Ross, shines on both an animated and deep character level.  She’s beautiful, tough, take charge and rarely ever not willing to go the distance to save humanity and stop the Phantom invasion.  Not to mention they weren’t kidding about the detail put into her character model, her hair alone is astounding.  Aki could’ve made a really good central character in a Final Fantasy story: driven, determined, a little at battle with her own beliefs but not willing to let that stop her.

But really, after rewatching it, that’s where my praise for the movie kind of stops.  Everything else about TSW is so cliché and done better in other films that it takes a lot of the enjoyment out of the film.  The film has an amazing voice cast including Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Donald Sutherland and James Woods but their voice precense cant hide how unoriginal and depth-less their characters are.  Nothing really makes any of them stand out save for Baldwin’s Gray and Sutherland’s Cid (see there’s one FF staple that made it in, a character named Cid).  Gray and Aki make a cute couple and part of me wanted to see them make it.  Cid, well he’s a Donald Sutherland voiced mentor it’s hard not to like him.  James Woods’s General Hein is much less successful.  Even with his tragic backstory, his methods are so dumb and pointless that you cant sympathize with him or not shake your head at his actions.  It’s pretty funny when Hein pulls his biggest mistake just moments after we the audience find out what the Phantoms really are.  It’s hard not to think , “Wow it’s funny we found out what we know now just a few seconds before things went to hell”.

And honestly, it’s just boring after a while.  The action is pretty standard fare, with only the aircraft chase through the canyon really standing out.  But still this is nothing we haven’t seen done already and much better in other movies.  Even the awesome CG cant mask it. 

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was built up as an epic game changer and it really could have been.  If it had tried to be more like the games than inspired it than a generic American scifi film, it could’ve been the start of something really big and revolutionary for video game adaptations.  But sadly it will just go down in history as a very pretty but less than stellar film. 

6/10

But can a return to one of the actual Final Fantasy game realms bring about the film fans of the franchise have wanted to see?  That depends.  Do you like Cloud mopping for 2/3 of a movie?  Plot points that don’t get resolved?  Do you think Tifa looks better in black leather instead of shorts?  Yeah we’re doing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children next week, hang on everyone.

T5W#9-Top 5 Most Accessible Anime

As an Anime fan, I’m always looking to find shows that I know people who don’t like or care for Anime can get behind.  And that’s a helluva lot of work trust me.  Even if a premise is amazing, you still need to get them past the “it’s Anime” hurdle.  But in truth, you can find some very relatable, everyday TV show elements in several shows.  Like a good CSI or NCIS, there’s a show for ya.  Like a good Game of Thrones or Sopranos, probably something out there too.  So today we’re looking at 5 personal favs of mine that I think more than just Otaku can get behind.

 

#5-Eden of the East

This was the first show I ever covered on this blog way back when.  Now that I look back on it, Eden definitely has a mystery wrapped in a race against time kind of vibe to it that I think most TV audiences would enjoy.  The mystery of the endgame keeps viewers coming back.  And Takizawa’s quest to reclaim his lost memory is pretty relatable as well.  Throw in a team to support him, some shady villains, and a “love interest” (those who remember my reviews know I use that term with Saki very lightly) and you’ve got a mix of Homeland and the Bourne Identity rolled into one enjoyable Anime for all package.

 

#4-Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

With CSI moving into the realm of cyber, aka the only realm the once mighty franchise has left, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has a better chance than ever to hook casual viewers who enjoy a good cop prodecural.  Sure the sight of the sexy dressed Motoko Kusinagi might be a bit much to get used to…mostly for those who don’t appreciate a good woman, but the first season offers a good mix of tales from homicides to espionage to in depth conversations about the blurring line between man and machine.  It’s the crime drama of the future…well one of them anyway.

 

#3-Death Note

A killer notebook?  A student who wants to save the world but develops a God Complex?  A brilliant but unorthodox detective who has to stop him?  A world held at gunpoint by an omnipotent savior?  Seriously, this is the kind of drama network shows would die (no pun intended) to get their hands on and air.  It’s the real world with a hint of otherworldly juju so it doesn’t take a lot to get used to it.  Plus watching Light Yagami descend further into his mad, mad, would be savior state is just so much fun to watch.  The finale is well worth the price of checking this out, even with your grandparents.

 

#2-Psycho Pass

Remember when I said Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex was one of the crime dramas of the future?  Well Psycho Pass is the other and arguably it’s probably the more successful of the two.  If GITS is CSI then Psycho Pass definitely has a Criminal Minds vibe to it and that show is still pretty huge.  Hence many of the cases taken on by Kogami, Akane and their unit don’t seem so unordinary despite taking place in the far future.  You may have to get past the overall level of gore a Dominator blast can produce but overall, Psycho Pass is one of the most recent but overall really solid entries in the realm of Anime anyone can enjoy.

 

#1-Cowboy Bebop

The king of this category.  There’s a reason Bebop had a nearly uninterrupted continuous run on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block for more than a decade.  Cool characters, short but fun scifi action tales, some of the best music out there that doesn’t even sound like a typical Anime’s soundtrack.  It’s smart, addicting and worthy of several watches.  What more is there to say that I haven’t said about it at length already?  Cowboy Bebop is hailed as the best for a lot of reasons but chief is that it can bring together casual viewers and Otaku as one.

Blue Submarine No.6 Part 2 Episodes 3 & 4

Following a devastating attack from Zorndyke and his Phantom Ship, what’s left of the Blue Fleet struggles to continue ahead with their counterattack.  Stranded in the middle of the Pacific, Hayame finds himself rescued by female mutant whose life he sparred once before.  As he races to rejoin Blue Six and his comrades, Hayame begins to ask the right questions: about Zorndyke, about the war and about where this conflict may be heading, and it’s not in a good direction.  All eyes head towards Antarctica, where the final clash begins.  What will Hayame and Kino find when they breach Zorndyke’s inner sanctum and meet the madman who killed the world?

Well after such a noisy and violent cliffhanger, I expected things to calm down at the start of the second half of Blue Submarine No.6.  And really, this episode is both the series best episode as well as an example of everything wrong with it. Sure it’s no secret Blue Six and her crew survived the destruction of Blue Dome (would make a final battle a bit difficult).  But this was Hayame’s time to shine and we got some good backstory on him.  It also gave us some time to hear him think out why things have gotten so bad and why that may be.  Hayame’s conversation with the Musica (one of Zorndyke’s weaponized whales) is interesting stuff.   I feel like this would be a good two part arc in and of itself but sadly this is still a four part OVA.  And that means if a series hasn’t done a lot of explaining of giving us adequate chance to warm up to or care about its cast, it’s time to lob it all into the last episode.

And again, im left with more “why” than an actual answers: why does Kino give a crap about Hayame given how he’s treated her during the start of the series, there’s no real likeability established between them and it feels forced?  Was Zorndykes endgame really a test or was he really a lot like that hacker in Bebop who had a plan and got so old he forgot why he started it in the first place?  Besides not nuking the Antarctic and inadvertently starting another apocalypse, was anything really solved in the end?  And actually, since Zorndyke heart was literally hooked up to a doomsday machine, shouldn’t it have gone off when Hayame killed him in the end?  Like I said, more questions than answers and it all feels so horribly rushed and just thrown out there.  I get some endings to stories can be ambiguous but at the same time, you get enough info before hand to support it.  Sigh, let’s face it.  Storytelling wise, Blue Sub Six fell pretty flat.

It’s partly saved by some really nice CG animation.  We really got to see the titular sub really cut loose and we got some more fun Grampus action with Kino and Hayame at the helm.  I do have to say though, the uncut version which I watched actually has a line that I thought should’ve been replaced by the line they used in the Toonami edit.  When BS6 emerges above the Phantom Ship and Captain Iga shouts, “BURN IN HELL!!!”, sorry it’s not nearly as bad ass as “CHOKE ON THIS!!!” before his sub unleashes every torpedo it has downward and right into a wailing Velg’s command ship.  That aside, it was the finest hour of Blue Submarine No.6 (the moment, not the episode).

In the end though, good animation can only get a series so far, even an OVA.  In an OVA and a Movie, you need to do in 2 hours to 4 30-45 minute features what every TV series has 26-50 episodes of time to devote to: establishing world, characters, plot, conflict and pushing them to an endgame well worth the journey.  Macross Plus did this in spades and you didn’t really have to watch any Macross work prior to it to enjoy the hell out of it.  Blue Submarine No.6 feels like the final four episodes of an Anime who’s prior 8-22 episodes never got made.  The crew of the sub looks fun but we don’t get to spend time with em.  Katsuma and Hayame’s shared back story was begging for some extra time.  Hell I would’ve liked more of a prologue to before the planet became Waterworld.  There’s a lot to be desired and if you came to watch this OVA based on the cool visual and action scenes, you wouldn’t know you were in for a disappointment.  Even for an action Anime, it needed more. 

It was a good trip down nostalgia lane but it’s not enough to hide that Blue Submarine No.6 had problems that keep it deep beneath the bottom of the sea and nowhere near treasure.

5/10

Next week though, we’re taking a look at a supposed underrated classic.  Not exactly an anime, in fact im not sure it knew what it wanted to be.  The first and ONLY film from Square Pictures is the start of a two-part Final Fantasy movie feature to close out October.  See you next week for FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN.

The AMV Friday Cancellation

Hey everyone,

So when I logged on to blogger the other day, I got a notice that sounded very much like a warning about me using certain content for my blog.  Long story short, I’m going to have to discontinue AMV Friday’s for the time being.  It’s hard for me to find places to put up my AMVs and not get flack because of permission, rights and all that and everyone else gets to post with almost no problem.  In any case, I love this blog and don’t want to see it taken down for reasons.  Ergo, the AMV Friday feature is no more for now.  I’ll keep the other entries up unless im told to remove them but last weeks Death Note AMV will be the last one for now.

I’ll try to think of a new sub feature for Friday so I can keep content regular throughout the week.

I need a sad farewell song….how about this

 Until then, see you Monday with the conclusion of Blue Submarine No.6

T5W#8-My Sister’s Top 5 Anime Squee Moments

As the title might indicate, this weeks list was a suggestion from the little sister herself.  My sister and I have been watching Anime as far back as Dragon Ball Z on Saturday mornings.  But much like it was for me, greater love for Anime didn’t hit her until Gundam Wing.  We bonded over that show immensely and today she’s sometimes finding me new shows and movies (Soul Eater, Psycho Pass) to enjoy and occasionally I can talk her into one as well (Gundam 00).  This may have seemed like a joke at the time but I fully intended to take it seriously.  So shout out to the sis, these are her Top 5 Anime Squee Moments

 

#5-Ryo-Ohki Arrives

Throw in as much cuteness as you can and my sister will be sold on most series.  Tenchi Muyo was an odd one to see she enjoyed.  Did she really get a lot out of a warrior in training surrounded by six beautiful women, some competing for his attention?  Not sure tbh.  But she did get extremely googly eyed over the arrival of the tiny furball that was Ryo-Ohki.  A Cabit (it looks like a whiskered bunny and says MEOW) of unparalled cuteness and capable of transforming into a spaceship at will, it’s the perfect fuzzball package any girl would want.  You could snuggle with it overnight then use it to get to work the next day…just so long as it gets its carrots, like I said, part bunny.

 

#4-Ein Arrives

Anyone can love Cowboy Bebop for it simply being a totally awesome, accessible Anime for everyone.  But again, the cuteness was a draw in one regard: the data dog Welsh Korgi Ein.  His first appearance in Episode 2 upped the AWWW factor to an otherwise fun but dark series.  Ein put Korgi’s back on the map big time and im sure if my sister wanted a pet dog, that’s the one she’d go for.  Hell, she’d probably name him Ein as well.

 

#3-First Transformation of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune

Everyone loved Sailor Moon growing up, myself included.  But it was the first appearance of everyones favorite Senshi In Love Duo that threw the shows popularity into overdrive.  Not only were Uranus and Neptune the epitome of bad ass in my sisters book but they also had the best transformation sequences.  I mean just listen to that music alongside them, so fierce and elegant and a full blown announcement of plenty of ass just waiting to be kicked?  My sis is a fan of girls in Anime who can kick ass and these two set a high bar to follow.

 

#2-First Appearance of Deathsythe Hell (SPOILERS!!!)

So remember when I said my sister and I really got our Anime bonding in with Gundam Wing?  Imagine how we both felt when our favorite tool of destruction, the Gundam Deathsythe was finally destroyed by the enemy.  We were gutted to say the least.  But our sorrow didn’t last long.  My sister was practically cheering when the Gundam Deathsythe Hell was rolled out for the first time.  With a cloak of invisibility that deflected beams and a kick ass twin beam sythe, her bad boy Gundam was reborn and better than ever.  It’s taken some effort to get my sister into more Gundam and I partly blame this suit for stealing her heart.

 

#1-First Appearance of Duo Maxwell

Well if the Gundam was #2, of course the pilot is #1.  Duo Maxwell, bringer of death, destruction and a joke on the fly.  I know my sis was a fan of most of the core five pilots but I really think she would be alright if only Duo made it to the end ok.  How could you not love when this guy first appeared on the scene and unleashed his quote of bad assery, “You’ll all die.  Anyone who sees me has got a date with his maker.”  Tack on the excellent voice work of Scott McNeil and you’ve got the ponytailed pilot who makes girls swoon and thus has an eternal spot in my sisters heart.

Lots of hugs to ya little sis, keep watching Anime and sharing em with me :)

Blue Submarine No.6 Part 1 Episodes 1 & 2

In the future, one man’s disillusion with humantity has led to a global catastrophe.  The Earth is mostly underwater, with what little of humanity is left struggling to survive.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, mutant creations of the man who doomed humanity are seeking to finish what the flooding started.  The Blue Fleet, an alliance of Navy from across the globe, are all that stand between humanities salvation and annihilation.  Their flagship, Blue Submarine No.6, is at the head of the charge but it cant win without a little extra help.  Will a jaded mercenary and an idealistic rookie be what humanity needs to begin a new future? 

I can still remember when the ads first aired for Blue Submarine No.6 on Toonami ages ago.  It looked like anything unlike what I’d seen before.  The animation looked amazing, the mood felt darker than what was being aired.  It was edgy, new and waiting for me to watch it.  So how does it hold up now compared to then?

Right off the bat, the animation impresses.  Unlike some of the other titles ive covered which have featured an unbalanced mix of 3D and 2D animation (COUGH COUGH ESCAFLOWNE COUGH), Blue Sub 6 has no real problem with this.  In fact it doesn’t surprise me if the animation of this OVA was the example other future Anime followed when making the transition from hand drawn animation to digital.  The 3D scenes are a lot of fun to watch unfold.  Underwater combat is something I haven’t seen too much of in Anime, at least when it comes to submarines.  There wasn’t too much of it in these first too much but man you could feel the pounding and intensity of the missile impacts and cannon fire.  The designs of the Grampus and Blue Submarine No.6 itself aren’t too shabby either.  I love the look of the Zorndyke Phantom Ship best though.  It’s look matches it’s name.  Complete with a shroud of  spooky mist, this thing instills proper terros could easily wipe out a fleet single handidly.  In fact, why doesn’t it just do that?  It seemed to be doing just a fine job tearing through Blue Fleet’s defenses in Episode 2 with no problem.  Why does it need backup from weaponized whales (Aquaman’s crying right now?)

Cool mecha designs and impressive animation can only get a show so far.  From the get go, one thing that bothered me about the story is one burning question, Why?  Why does Blue Submarine No.6 need Hayame, why makes him so special?  What makes Blue Submarine No.6 so special to be flagship (Hayme does offer a good point that if it’s important they should lock the ship away in a vault)?  Why the hell did no one notice that Blue Sub 6 was trailing green lights right back to it’s base?  And why hasn’t Zorndyke tried that before?  Nothing is really explained in these first two episodes beyond the plan of attack for the next chapter and a little bit of Zorndyke’s displaced faith in humanity, yet he doesn’t call himself God.  And that would be ok, except for one tiny problem: this is a 4 episode OVA.  Which means if anything is going to be explained properly, it will have to be potentially frontloaded into the finale and that could be messy.  This is a far cry from the last 4 part story I tackled (Macross Plus, which ended up with a rare 10/10 from me if you’ll recall).  The story needs a Hail Mary next week to sell me on a possible solid finale.

And with Blue Fleet apparently destroyed in a “surprise” (come on, no one does a sweep for lights?)  attack from the Phantom Ship, it does beg one further question, maybe 2.  One: are we even going to get a slam bang finale of epic battleship proportions?  And Two: If Hayme is the only survivor, what the hell is he gonna do now stranded at the bottom of the ocean?  Not a bad cliffhanger, now let’s see if the show can bring it back next week. 

AMV Friday #8- The Death Note Code

Video: Death Note/Death Note 2: The Last Name

Audio: The DaVinci Code Trailer 1

(The following video is a fan based production.  All titles are property of their respective owners, please support the official release.)

It was announced recently at the end of the Death Note Live Action TV Series that a sequel was in the works to the 2006 Death Note Live Action Duology.  Do I think this is necessary? Not really but I wont judge until I see more.  In any case, figured that was a good excuse to break this one out of the vault.

 

The idea for this one was simple: The DaVinci Code is a popular novel adapted into a movie, Death Note is a popular manga adapted into two feature films…and The Da Vinci Code, which was an ok movie, has an amazing teaser trailer.  Plus, I had wanted to do a live action Death Note video for a while now.  I think that while the audio is a bit of a stretch (though Ian McKellen as L makes it work IMHO) it does a good job establishing the mystery of the Death Note and the boat loads of terror it will unleash on the world in Light Yagami’s hands.  I also think this kind of trailer should have been done long ago to set up the two film direction much like the teaser for The Matrix sequels or Kill Bill.