T5W#30-Top 5 Classic Adult Swim Anime

Last week, we took a look at the Anime Block for the younger generation.  This week, I’m taking a look at the shows that kickstarted the late night, uncut Anime goodness for those of us who craved it.  Now as a guideline I set for myself, I’m only picking Anime from the first five or so years of Adult Swim’s existence.  Some background: Adult Swim debuted back in 2001 as a late night comedy/action/adult cartoon block for Cartoon Network.  With the monstrous success of their first Anime airing, Cowboy Bebop, Adult Swim branched off their Anime into a whole separate night, at the start Saturdays.  This would go on to become a hugely successful endevour and today, Adult Swim’s Anime has merged with a newly resurrected Toonami (though I still consider it Adult Swim).  So yeah, the block’s come a long way.  So I’m looking back at the shows that signaled for all kids to get out of the pool.

 

#5-Blue Gender

It’s Starship Troopers with a darker, scarier psychological edge.  The adventures of Yuji and Marlene in this post apocalyptic, bug infested planet Earth both excited and genuinely terrified me when I first watched it.  I suppose it turned out a lot like The Walking Dead, when the real problem ended up not being the giant bugs roaming the Earth, but Humanity itself becoming one of the worst evils on the planet.  Adult Swim never did a lot of horror based Anime back then.  Blue Gender was a fine test into this genre backed with the addition of action and mecha scifi story telling.  And wouldn’t you know it, some of the images seen were just down right haunting.  No wonder I couldn’t get to sleep after watching an episode.

 

#4-Inuyasha

While I did lose a little interest later in, the first few seasons of this show were great.  A half human/half dog demon hybrid teaming up with a cute school girl from the present was a match made in destiny.  Inuyasha was an arrogant but loveable guy and Kagome was too pretty to ignore.  Factor in a smooth talking monk named Miroku and a sexy demon slayer in black and pink named Sango and I was ready to watch more and more adventures every week.  The romance worked as well as the action.  Inuyasha and Kagome still stand as one of my favorite couples in all of Anime and their relationship is pretty well explored come series end.  I don’t think Inuyasha was my first fantasy Anime (I think I might’ve seen Record of Lodoss War right before or after this, I don’t remember really), but it’s still one of my favorites, if only for the cast.

 

#3-Fullmetal Alchemist

It was a tough call between this one and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (both debuted on Adult Swim at the same time).  While GITS will always be a hit with me, no matter the incarnation, there was something most special about FMA when it first debuted.  I once heard someone tell me this show was the successor to Dragon Ball Z here in the States.  He was right but not in the way I expected.  The action on FMA was great but it wasn’t the main focus of the show.  The tightly knit brotherhood between metallic limbed Edward and his soul armored brother, Alphonse, really drove home with me and many others.  You cheered when they won and cried when they lost…especially when they lost big (oh Hughes).  So in a way, that stranger was right.  Fullmetal Alchemist became just as big a name in Anime as Dragon Ball Z and would become one of the big flagship titles of Adult Swim.

 

#2-Cowboy Bebop

The Anime that nursed me into my high school years.  I had heard of Bebop thanks to the sneak peak trailers on the Gundam Wing VHS tapes that I owned.  I mustve watched those trailers a million times.  So I knew what the show was when Adult Swim was first announced.  Boy was I not prepared for its brilliance.  The characters, the action, the music, the storytelling, the genuine feel of cool.  It was like Cowboy Bebop was the title I was always heading for when I got to a certain age.  Like Dragon Ball Z or Code Geass after it, Bebop practically got me to love Anime in a new way.  And it wasn’t just an effect had on me.  Cowboy Bebop became Adult Swim’s first big Anime hit and soon stood as the blocks flagship title, staying in regular rotation almost ten years after it debuted in 2001.  You cant really say any other Anime has had such a success on this block or Toonami.  The legend of the Space Cowboy will never die.

 

#1-FLCL

Bebop got topped?  How?  Well as much as I love it, Cowboy Bebop is not my all time favorite Anime, FLCL is.  It’s so good that I chose it for my one year anniversary review here on Anime Corner (see here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/flcl-special-one-year-anniversary-review.html).  A guitar sword wielding hottie, robots vs monsters, the best quotes to ever use in life (Ukulele No Good) and the greatest soundtrack ever conceived on a guitar and drum set.  FLCL isn’t just an Anime you can dive into as your first taste of the genre.  No, this is a show meant for long time fans of the Anime, call it a coming of age, graduation test.  In any case, when I first saw this on Adult Swim, I was curious.  When I watched it over again, sad it was only 6 episodes, I was in love.  And thanks to Adult Swim, I know which Anime is my all time favorite.  Challenged often (by good titles too) but never dethroned, Long Live FLCL.

Bamboo Blade Part 1 Episodes 1-4

Kojiro is a man with a dream…the dream of a years worth of free sushi to sate his never ending hunger.  In order to attain this dream, he must assemble a team of the best Kendo Warriors at Muroe High.  He already has two veteran members: Kirino and Saya.  And he has three fresh recruits: expert Yuji, small but valiant Danny and his girlfriend Miyako.  But there’s one person Kojiro wants more than all of them combined: the tiny but powerful Tamaki Kawazoe.  Only thing is, Tama may be an elite Kendo practitioner.  But she doesn’t want to practice at school, seeing as how she’s practiced her whole life.  For honor, for redemption, but most importantly FOR SUSHI, Kojiro must do the impossible and convince this little Kendo Goddess to sign up with his team.

Well I said this year I was going to try something new.  I know this blog tends to get a lot of time dedicated to mecha, action and general shows where everything goes boom.  So as promised, I’m dialing it back with a series that has action, but no mecha and nothing going boom…unless you count emotional meltdowns of hilarity, in which case we’re good on that front, so no mecha…that’s 1/3 right?

Kendo, one of the hallmark sports of Japanese high schools.  It only makes sense that there might be several Anime dedicated to putting it front and center.  It is a sport of honor, strength, mental fitness and above all else, it’s about having fun.  And if the opening episodes of Bamboo Blade are any indication then it looks like we’ll be having a lot of fun indeed.

There’s something about Bamboo Blade that sucks me in.  It looks cute enough, animation wise.  But there’s something more…I don’t know, zen I guess, about it.  The show just seems like a good relaxer, able to help you unwind while also getting you excited about something.  There’s an energy amongst this team of idealistic Kendo trainees that just gets to you.  There’s something to take away from each of these first few episodes from Kendo lessons to lessons about life to the quirks of each member of the main cast.  I’m actually happy that some of the basics of Kendo are discussed a little.  I wouldn’t call Bamboo Blade the perfect demo tape for trying out Kendo.  It will pique interest though to learn more about the sport.

Ah Tama-Chan.  She’s so adorably cute and yet so bad ass at the same time.  But what I love most about her is…she’s an ANIME FAN!!!! Yes, the main character of this series is a Sentai loving swordswoman with dreams of being a hero of justice.  It brings a tear to my inner otaku when Anime can have a character that reflects, in some way, love for the genre.  Tama may be quiet.  But when she speaks or does anything, it easily steals the show.  Plus her Chibi designs, both in comedic moments and in flashbacks are just too freaking cute.  The rest of the cast shines in their own way.  Kirino’s optimism, Saya’s melodrama, Kojiro’s quest for sushi, Yuji’s calmness around all this crazy energy and Danny’s…well tiny form, each character stands out in their own way.  A close runner up to Tama would be Miya.  She may look cute and friendly (and WAYYYYYYY out of Danny’s league).  But cross her and her black energy will flare up and scare the hell out of you.  I love how every character can see it except the blissfully oblivious Danny.

The opening episodes do have their serious moments.  This is mostly around team bullies Toyama and Iwasa.  Toyama is a sadist who loves beating on team members, especially women apparently.  There’s always an air of dread when he’s around.  Iwasa isn’t much better since he just stands back and tolerates Toyama’s sick nature.  It’s darkness like this that makes the light of Tama shine brighter when she kicks the crap out of him in a match.  Not sure if we’ll see these two bullies again. But Tama left an impression on Toyama he will never forget.  Good riddance.

Still not sure if we’re going to see a fifth team member for Kojiro’s all girl line up for his match against his sempai.  With the actual match apparently set for the next episode, will we see our “green” member of the team (yeah did I mention Kojiro took a Super Sentai approach to his team by assigning all of the girls colors?)?  We’ll just have to wait and see.  But overall, I’m happy to be checking out Bamboo Blade and hope everyone is ready for a couple weeks of Kendo comedy coverage.  It’s new and fresh right (for this blog anyway)? 

See ya next week.

FiF#2-Fate/Stay Night (2006 Series)

Ten years after surviving a disaster in Fuyuki City, Shiro Emiya is about to learn the secret behind that tragedy.  Without warning, Shiro is drawn into a seven way battle royale.  Seven mages, each with their own heroic spirit servant, match wits, weapons and tactics for a powerful, wish granting artifact called the Holy Grail.  Shiro’s servant is the beautiful swordswoman Saber.  His only other ally is the beautiful prodigy Rin Toshaka and her servant Archer.  Shiro may be the most inexperienced mage in this fight.  But he’ll have to drawn upon sources of power he never knew he had if he’s going to survive the deadliest match up of his time. 

Around mid 2015 I finally sat down to watch Fate/Zero on Netflix and ended up loving it.  Upon finishing it, I couldn’t wait to watch Fate/Stay Night and see what I was now calling “The Children’s Crusade” as the next generation took over the Holy Grail War.  Trouble was, the only series available was the ongoing Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, not the original Fate/Stay Night series.  I’ll get to UBW down the line more than likely.  But I did manage to track down the 2006 Studio Dean Fate/Stay Night series and was excited to start it.  Figured I’d dedicate the second week of my First Impression Friday’s to my thoughts on this series I’ve longed to see.

I should also say right away that I’m coming into this series having watched two prior Fate/Stay Night entires: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and it’s prequel, Fate/Zero.  Both of those series and the UBW movie were animated by Studio Ufotable (how the hell do you pronounce that, if anyone knows please tell me.  Otherwise I’m just going to call it U-Fo-Table).  This studio seems to be one to take a budget for a movie project and hand it off to a TV series.  Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night UBW The Series are two of the best damn looking Anime I have ever seen, even if the subject matter of both are hit and miss.  So, going back to this series, one disadvantage right off the bat is the animation quality.  There is no competition.  This animation for this series pales in comparison to Ufotable’s works.  The Fate/Stay Night series looks like an Anime of the 00’s and doesn’t really stand out from say Peacemaker or Maburaho.  Those expecting to see the awesomely polished and well choreographed fights will be disappointed as well.  The pace of how the action unfolds just isn’t as great as UBW or Fate/Zero.

I guess im being a little bit harsh on Fate/Stay Night.  On it’s own…right now it’s just ok.  I’m not disappointed but I find myself throwing in the production card a lot.  Plus, it’s a much more light hearted take on the story.  That’s not to say it doesn’t have it’s moments of intensity, oh they’re there alright.  There’s a lot more humor this time around though.  I often thought back to Tenchi Muyo seeing Shiro have to balance talking with Saber, Rin, Sakura and Fujimura all in the same scene at times.  How does one so…well Shiro, get the attention of this collection of beauties?  It definitely detracts from the seriousness that was present in other Fate entries.  It can be cute sometimes and I am curious how Shiro’s relationships with Saber and Rin will differ from what ive seen before.  Though it will be tough to top Shiro and Rin’s relationship from the UBW series, which is one of the most genuine and entertaining romances I’ve seen since Inuyasha and Kagome. 

All of the usual suspects are here: Shiro, Rin, Saber, the servants and masters.  Once again, Rin steals much of the early episodes just because she’s Rin and she’s awesome.  Saber also impressed me a bit more here, cant say why.  Shiro…I didn’t think he could get more aggravating than in Unlimited Blade Works.  Instead of monologing about his beliefs every five seconds, he’s keeping Saber from doing virtually anything after her first fight.  Granted Saber giving him fuel for his argument isn’t helping.  I was groaning a lot.  There are times I wonder if Shiro could just be exorcised from this series entirely.  It could very well survive on the strength of Rin and Saber as a team.  I’m also curious to see if Sakrua’s role will be expanded.  Fate/Zero hinted at some dark destiny in store for her and that was more or less pushed far away in UBW (along with her secret sibling relation to Rin) for the sake of developing Rin and Shiro’s romance (didn’t have a problem with that). 

So will I continue with this series?  Definitely.  Flaws and all, I am a fan of this franchise and I will see Fate/Stay Night to it’s conclusion.  Whether or not it gets better…I don’t have a good feeling.  But I’m not going to let that stop me.  So long as Rin and Saber can kick some serious ass and make up for Shiro’s lack of everything, I think I’ll be pretty content.  Take heart Fate fans, I’m in this for the long run.

T5W#29-Top 5 Classic Toonami Anime

For a lot of Anime fans, myself included, our love for Anime was sparked by a little galaxy of television awesomeness known as Toonami.  Toonami first debuted as an action oriented block on Cartoon Network and featured several classic action hits like Thundercats, Voltron and Johnny Quest.  But not long after, it began to delve into the realm of Anime.  More and more shows began to trickle in and by the summers of 2000 and 2001, Toonami was almost entirely made up of Anime that were massive hits with viewers everywhere.  I reveled in those summer days from 4-7pm when they had arguably their best block of shows.  Toonami was aimed at teens and in 2001 a more adult centered block was formed for late night tv viewing (but we’ll get to that next week).  This was on my mind a bit the last few days.  So figured id do a top 5 of my most cherished Toonami shows from that era.

 

#5-Robotech

Before Toonami got real Anime heavy, we were treated to some of the Americanized 80’s classics like Voltron.  Robotech was something different though.  The action was more fast paced. The Veritech fighters were incredible.  And the characters were something else I hadn’t seen before.  I think this was the first Anime I watched where a main character bought it and didn’t come back (at least not in a so so English dub where references of DEATH had to be omitted).  Wont say who, but it’s in the infamous Macross Saga and it involves Pineapple Salad…sniff.  The second and third sagas of Robotech were hit and miss but the Macross Saga is the one everyone remembers fondly.  This was one of the biggest gateways into the Giant Robot Anime Genre for me.  And that opening theme was my alarm ringtone for about a year…best wake up music ever.

 

#4-Ronin Warriors

I got super excited when I saw the promo for this one.  I actually first saw Ronin Warriors a few years prior, one summer when it ran in rare syndication and then vanished.  I never thought of it as Power Rangers Samurai, but rather as a whole other level of cool.  The adventures of Ryo, Rowen, Sage, Cye and Kento are still near and dear to me and I long for the day I can find the English Dub (the original Samurai Warriors Japanese Dub is out there if you can find it).  I can say though that I knew about Ronin Warriors before it was cool.  And I cant wait for the announcement of any studio picking it up to share with us all once again.

 

#3-Sailor Moon

Yes, this one was, and still is, a favorite of mine.  In a time dominated by dudes who kicked ass, what was there to not love about a quintet of pretty girls with super powers and skirts battling space demons?  Even better was when the S and Super S seasons debuted and introduced us to everyones favorite “affectionate cousins” Uranus and Neptune.  Yeah even in a heavily edited dub for kids, it was obvious to anyone that Haruka and Michuru were more than just “cousins”.  Thankfully the new dubs coming out rectify this little outrage.  Still, the Sailor Senshi were just as cool as the Gundam Pilots and Z-Fighters and gave girls an in to the Anime genre.  Nothing wrong with that at all.

 

#2-Dragon Ball Z

Does this one need any explanation?  Dragon Ball Z still remains today Toonami’s biggest show and has one of it’s longest running stretches of episodes.  So many big moments in every kids Anime childhood came from Dragon Ball Z: Goku vs Vegeta, Frieza, Super Saiyan Goku, the Androids and Trunks, Cell, Majinn Buu, the Fusions.  I’m sure you can find at least one moment in this series that was your defining moment as a blossoming anime fan.  For me, it may very well be the day when, after nearly a year and a half of running the same 53 episodes over and over again, Toonami held Z-Day: The long awaited arrival of new episodes that would see Goku battle the Ginyu Force and, FINALLY, Frieza.  You were not a cool kid if you never watched Dragon Ball Z.  And even if you weren’t, there was always another one waiting to introduce you to it.  Books of information, binders of pictures printed from the next, VHS tape trades by the week.  Many attribute the boom of Anime in the US to Akira.  But for me and many others, it will always be Dragon Ball Z.

 

#1-Gundam Wing

It all started with one 15 second trailer: battle cries, transformations, robots shooting bullets from chest placed guns and the cryptic, “Those who have laid eyes on a Gundam shall not live to tell about it”.  Who would have thought how big of an impact this show would have on me?  Gundam Wing is probably the only show besides Sailor Moon to rival Dragon Ball Z in popularity on Toonami.  And for me, it holds more than a special place in my heart.  This is the series that convinced me to become a writer.  I know Wing isn’t the most beloved entry by die hard Gundam fans.  But me? I am a die hard Gundam fan because of this show.  I loved the characters (especially Heero and Duo).  I loved the mechs.  I loved the twists and turns.  I wanted to write a story like this one day.  And now I spend my time reviewing Anime, not a bad trade off if I do say so myself.  And no one need look no further for the impact of Gundam Wing on my life than my online handle…Gundam.  Dragon Ball Z may have gotten me into Anime.  But Gundam Wing taught me how to fall in love with it.

Next Wednesday we’ll take a look at Toonami’s older brother, who Toonami also shares a slot with now, Adult Swim.

Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo

For Shinji Ikari, the last thing he remembers is diving into a void to save his friend Rei.  And he saved her…or so he thought.  Suddenly back on Earth, Shinji discovers that 14 years have passed and the game has changed.  NERV is now the enemy and therefore, so is he.  Targeted by his former allies, Shinji finds refuge in the ruins of Tokyo 3.  Here, he befriends Kwaoru, a gentle young man with a talent for the piano and a fondness for Shinji.  Together, they undertake a mission to set things right and restore the world. 

The end of Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance left me in a strange state.  I was rooting for Shinji to save Rei.  I was excited for all the changes our characters had gone through.  I was looking forward to one of the mothers of all cliffhangers being continued.  Kwaoru arrived and severed Third Impact.  Shinji was trapped with Rei inside Eva Unit 01.  The new additions to this take on the mythos were working and I was so hyped to see how it would all play out.

Then we got to Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo.

In the mother of all twists, we get virtually nothing from the preview included at the end of 2.22.  Instead we get a bold move to change the world of Evangelion all together to kick off the second half of the Rebuild of Evangelion saga.  Now I would be ok with this.  This is a brand new take on the story.  And while we’ve seen many nods to the original telling (especially in 1.11) Rebuild has taken on a life of its own with new twists, new characters and (as of the end of 2.22) a whole new direction.  I’m fine with all of that.

What I’m not ok with is being thrown into this brand new world…WITH NO EXPLANATIONS WHAT SO EVER!!!  I’m serious, from the moment Shinji wakes up, it’s all scowls and “You’re the enemy now Shinji, HMPH”.  Well…why?  Last I saw, Third Impact was averted and things looked ok.  Was it restarted?  Was it paused?  Misato is a boat load of zero info, probably given the worst downgrade of the cast (besides Ritsuko and her bad haircut).  If this is the be the new status quo of the saga, I would have at least liked a bit more discussion as to why any of this is.  What’s worse?  You actually sympathize with Shinji a bit.  He has a right to complain and whine.  He has no clue what the hell is going on.  It’s not because he’s stubborn or a crybaby (at least in the beginning) it’s because he’s just as freaking lost as we are. 

What time could have been spent on world building and exploration is given to Kwaoru and Shinji.  And here is where the Yaoi fan fiction kicks itself into overdrive.  Now let me be clear: LOVE WHO YOU WANT TO LOVE.  Cant be anymore clearer than that.  But Shinji and Kwaoru’s time together induces more giggles than feels.  This is mostly because we spend a good chunk of the film watching them play piano together in an over the top, hallucinogen esque animated sequence that is more head shaking funny than probably intended.  I’d rather have more time spent on talking about how Asuka got back in the game or getting to know Mari a bit better, cause God knows she’s still just as much an enigma as she was in 2.22.

This all builds to a jumbled, action filled finale that, again, takes no time to spell out what the hell Gendo’s endgame is or what anyones stake in this confusion is.  Eva Unit 02 even turns into a four legged beast at one point to battle Rei’s sythe wielding Eva.  I think I can sum up my thoughts on Evangelion 3.33 when this sequence ends with one popular Ed Helms quote, “WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON!!!!????”  Why is everyone at each others throats?  How did NERV get this way?  How did Mari join up and where the hell does she even come from?  What’s Gendo’s goal?  Does Shinji have a right to be a mess by the end?  The answer to that last one is “yes” by the way.

I will give credit where it is due.  This series keeps looking better and better.  Even when the animation goes wonky in the final battle with berserk Eva 02 turning into a Ralph Bashki creation, it’s still cool to look at.  The opening battle in space is FREAKING AWESOME!!!  Watching Asuka and Mari duke it out with an Angel in low orbit is way over the top but it’s a good attention grabber.  I loved having Asuka back.  Her new plug suit and eye patch suit her and it’s good to see that events haven’t dulled her bad ass temper.  Rei’s arc is a bit stale compared to 2.22.  She does at least question her orders and herself a lot faster than previous Rei’s, which I guess is progress.  And yeah, her new plug suit is pretty cool too.  For all of her mystery, with still one movie to explore that btw, Mari still gets some of the best lines and moments.  I love how chill she is around the end of the world.  She and Asuka make a pretty good team.  Lastly, is it me, or is it bizzare to see a co piloted Evangelion and a mere few months after this film came out in Japan, Pacific Rim came out with a similar piloting system for giant robots?

I’d say after such great hype built up over two movies that Evangelion 3.33 is ultimately a let down.  The world is not explored or explained enough.  The characters, for the most part, are the worst they have ever been before.  Events move so quick it’s hard to keep up, especially when matters aren’t made clear.  I feel a lot like Asuka at the end, having to drag Shinji away to find a way to make things right.  I can only hope now that Evangelion 4.44 salvages the mistakes made here and finishes this series off right.  I still have faith in the Rebuild of Evangelion series…but this chapter tested that faith quite a bit.  The title is right, you can’t redo this one…you can only move on and hope it gets better from here…pressures on though, there’s only one more film left to make this all right.

5.5/10