Review Un Go

Seductive stuffed animals

It has been a while since the war but Japan is still feeling the aftereffects. Shinjurou Yuuki is known as either the last great detective or the defeated detective depending on who you ask. Even though he does have a formidable wit he also has a secret weapon, his partner, Inga who can force anybody to answer just one question.

 

sorry but no real yuri in this show

Un Go is a eleven episode mystery show with a science fiction twist. As with most shows of the genre it is quite episodic although it does have some lingering plot threads. There is also the theme of how society is affected by terror threats and how a government can subtly undermine people's freedom and thoughts through fear.

 

The main character and his deus ex machina

As interesting as a show like this seems there is also some serious problems with Un Go which keeps it from being a great show. First and foremost is Inga who often derails mystery plots by using her power in a deus ex machina fashion. There is also the deal that Inga (as well as one other character which appears later) is rather out of place in a science fiction setting, and this incongruity isn't even really central to the show's themes.

Overall Un Go is a show that really tries to be thought provoking but feels like it trips over it’s own feet half the time in doing so.

Rating the bronze Hayate (Hayate the combat butler) for having way too many supernatural elements in a genre that needs or even suggessts (if you go by knoxs rules) none.

Memoirs of watching a One piece marathon

In an effort to do something else with my anime watching than to view an endless stream of thirteen or so episode long shows and review them one after another I decided to watch a big block of One Piece. Namely the first one hundred and thirty episodes or the first two major arcs in terms of plot progression. I did this over the course of four weekends watching about twenty six episodes the first two weekends comprising the East blue arc of the story and thirty nine episodes the second two weeks covering the Baroque Works arc. The following is my experiences with this experiment.

I noticed that trying to marathon one show to such an extent created sort of an anime burn out with me watching other shows. Even when I had the free time to watch other shows I had little desire to do so. Hopefully I will recover by the time that the season ends and I will have a decent amount of season end reviews. If not you now understand why.

I watched the episodes in English from the Funimation dub. Even though I usually watch my anime subtitled I found that it is easier to marathon a show if I am watching it in English.

I have already read the One Piece Manga to the end of the Water Seven Arc (which would probably require me to watching another four or five weeks of One Piece anime at the same pace I had been watching to reach) so the anime contained almost no plot suprises for me as I have consumed all of the material before in another format a couple of years ago. However One Piece is a show that depends on emotional appeal more than intelligent plotting so It is worth reviewing every so often.

The one plot addition that the anime had over the manga was the Apis arc which is something just confirms my distaste for anime filler be they single episodes or entire plot arcs. If you haven't had the misfortune of watching this particular group of episodes it is about a little girl and her old dragon friend. The dragon is supposed to be sympathetic but fails to be so probably because it sits there for the most of the time it's on screen like a lump on inanimate matter.

Even with it's bad points One Piece is a good show overall. A couple days after the Apis arc I managed to make it to the Drum island arc and watch it in one night. The result is that One piece is now of the shows that has made me cry.

About the Alabasta arc I think it is one of those high points that every shonen manga aspires to and usually hits maybe once in it's run. It has a bunch of the shonen tropes including one I think that everyone who at least tolerates the genre loves, the part where everyone in the main cast pairs off when a corresponding antagonist and there is a series of fights. The other main point that I would like to make about this story arc is the amount of denouement that it had, as it had three episodes between the defeat of the main villain until the time that the characters left for their next adventure. It is almost as if One piece is not a single anime of manga but a series of such shows with a good leaving off point every so often. The end of Alabasta is one such point so I feel fulfilled in my watching experience even if I decide to take the show up again at a future point.

Review Dream eater Merry

Powerless before donuts

Yumeji was a boy who could see the auras of people's dreams. He was also haunted by nightmares about being hunted by dream demon in the shape of a cat. Fortunately he was saved by Merry, a girl who could enter people's dreams. The reason is that she comes from the dream world and enters into a contract with Yumeji so they could fight dream demons and find a way for Merry to get home.

 

Don't hurt the black mage

Dream Eater Merry is a thirteen episode shonen show that seems to be a hybrid of a magical girlfriend type of show and a more action oriented shonen show. This causes it to be a bit pale as both genres are concerned. While it doesn't lose itself in fan service or harem antics the show's relationships are a bit thin. On the other hand there are no tournament arcs or an ungodly amount of characters to remember but the action scenes are rather mediocre.

In fact serviceable but not outstanding is pretty much a fitting description for almost any facet of this show. It is a decent show with decent characters and a decent plot that you can't really put your finger on but makes you feel like you watched something just like it before.

Overall Dream eater merry might have a picture of it next to the word mediocre but at least it is somewhat entertaining.

Rating the bronze Jewel shard (Inu Yasha) for being a decent but unremarkable monster hunting shonen show.

Review Sengoku Basara

Too manly for one horse

The era of the warring states was a chaotic time when many great warlords fought over who would become the new ruler of Japan. Yet even this bloodshed pales in comparison to the depredations of the devil king Oda Nobunaga. Can the other warriors of the realm muster up the courage and power to overcome the monumental threat of Nobunaga?

 

Samurai snickt

Sengoku Basara is an anime show based on a video game of the same name. From what I gather the game was a 3D beat em up game with super powered versions of people from 16^th century Japan fighting armies and each other and that translates well into the anime show. So this means this show is mostly an action series with any other genre being secondary at most.

 

With link not appearing in this show the forces of Hyrule were quickly routed

The characters in Sengoku Basara act in a generally exaggerated manner which could be slightly funny to some viewers. Personally I found most of the cast to be decent and somewhat interesting although not especially compelling. Think of this show as light entertainment and little of anything else. Needless to say using this show as a history primer is an easy way to get an F.

Overall Sengoku Basara a fun turn your brain off action show but don't go in expecting too much out of it.

Rating The bronze gunmen (Gurren Laggan) For being an average but crazy and over the top action show

Review Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth

My name is Yune. Look upon my works ye mighty and know adorable.

Sometime in the late 19^th century a small girl named Yune traveled all the way to Paris from her home in Japan. She came to live in a blacksmith shop in a shopping arcade with a young man named Claude and his grandfather Oscar. France is a very different country from Japan and Yune has a lot to learn in her new home. Just how will she adapt and learn from her experience?

much huggles upon you

Croisee in the Foreign Labyrinth is a twelve episode (plus one Oav episode) long slice of life show that doubles as a period piece. As slice of life shows go this show is far more of an Iyashikei (soothing feeling) show than an idle comedy show. There is also a fair amount of character drama but overall this show is mostly positive.

Yune fan girl number one

The story centers around Yune and does so to the point that the viewer's opinion of the show probably matches their opinion of Yune. Being that the show takes place in nineteenth century and this show takes good use of the scenery for the viewer's visual pleasure.

Paris is pretty in this show as well

Overall Croisee is good show if you are looking for something that is calming of the nerves but it is a show with a limited appeal to it.

rating the bronze teacup (K On) for being a decent slice of life show that revels in being cute. 

Review World Conquest Zvezda Plot

Don't drop the show, you will make her mad

When Jimon Asuta decided to run away from home he quickly found out he had no place to turn to. That was until he happened upon a little girl named Kate Hoshimiya. Kate has plans to rule the world and as it turns out her plans are a lot more credible than anyone would expect. So Asuta finds his new

 place in life as Dva one of the soldiers of Zvezda under the leadership of Venera, Kate’s alter ego.

After school special meets brutal crackdown

World conquest Zvezda Plot is a thirteen episode long show that mostly a rather zany comedy although it can be a bit more introspective at times. It comes across as a parody of the usual black and white morality action shows and when it is more thoughtful the show can be a rather insightful commentary. This show might feel somewhat random at points but all the loose ends tie themselves up in the end.

the tsundere minion

The characters in Zvezda plot are rather endearing and quirky and become rather well developed as the show progresses. There might be some concern about fan service given some of outfits some of the characters have, especially Kate's, but after watching the show I have found the show doesn't try to sell itself on sexual exploitation and there is little else to be concerned about.

A little girl fighting a giant robot

Overall I found World Conquest Zvezda Plot to be a quirky and somewhat unique show that has been kind of overlooked.

Rating the silver menchi (Excel Saga) for being such a wonderfully crazy show

Review Touka Gettan

There is the standard school festival episode

There is a land in Japan called Kamitsumihara where demons and gods are present. There are a few presences that keep the land in some sort of order and they incarnate throughout the centuries. There are two people who live in the Kamiazuma household who has some of those destinies. Their names are Touka and Momoka and Touka Gettan is the story of a year in the lives as they go to high school.

And the standard cross-dressing conversation between deities

If I were to explain Touka Gettan in one curious would be the world I would use. Not only is this show interweave a conspiracy of the supernatural and reincarnation into a slice of life show the pacing of this show is unique in that the episodes occur in reverse order with episode one occurring after episode two which occurs before episode three and so on and so forth.

And of course the standard catgirl licking someone's ass

The episodes are quite uneven as there are episodes with decent character development and then there are episodes that a bland slice of life stuff. There is an element of of fan service that appears in certain scenes and then sort of disappears that can be rather distracting when it does appear, as opposed to many echi shows which have a more steady level of sexiness. This show is rather chaotic in nature although it appears to be going in a definite direction at times.

Confused yet? Oh ho ho ho ho ho!

Overall In all honesty I cannot call Touka Gettan a really good show it is simply unique enough and has enough internal energy to it that I bring myself to hate the show.

Rating the bronze (Pani Poni Dash) for being a show where just about anything can happen.