Comedy, echii’ness (perverted’ness), romance, comedy, exaggerated action sequences and mechas: if this had been the way someone described any anime to me, I would say that that misture is certainly a recipe for failure. A lot of the current, or recently past, Animes all used a few of those ingredients, and the results were mildly amusing poor Anime shows.
Zero no Tsukaima, To Love Ru, Rosario Vampire are all good examples of what I meant by my previous statement. They all took a few of those ingredients, and they all made me lose the interest in them after a few episodes. Had it not been how tired I was at the time from watching good Animes with “complicated” storylines I probably wouldn’t have watched more than their first episode.
In the midst of those mediocre Animes, and in the middle of my boredom from watching some high-quality but slow-paced Animes, like Bouken no Xamdou (which I definitely recommend) a friend of mine lent me Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, which I’ll call Gurren Lagann from here on. His description of the anime was more or less the recipe I gave in the first paragraph. I thought to myself “well, as long as it’s very lively it will probably be more entertaining than the other Animes I tried”.
With these low expectations in mind, Gurren Lagann came out to be surprisingly good. Despite having a very straightforward storyline, it showed excelent character development, a surprisingly “mature” story which was anything but funny many times, and never showed me a dull moment thanks to it’s clever funny scenes or the well animated fighting sequences.
The following paragraph will have a few spoilers, so jump to the end of the article if you do not want to see them.
Gurren Lagann borrows heavilly from many Animes that came before it and failed miserably, and it had more than enough oportunities to become one of them, and it never did.
It didn’t have the “happy” colorful storyline I thought it would, it didn’t have a happy ending like one would expect, and it provided all of the characters with excellent character development (except, of course, for the comedy relief ones) and it taught a very valuable lesson that many shonen (action) Animes fail to give: strong will and power isn’t enough to achieve anything.
I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys Anime. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is, to me, a modern classic.
Although the title of this article will certainly spur some controversy, that’s alright. RahXephon is one of those series that friends would always tell me was “ok”, but imitated Evangelion too much, and if you’re not paying attention to the story, it’s easy to understand why:
the story revolves around a mysterious religion
the hero pilots a giant “God” and fights against other God-like creatures
the plot revolves around a small city with a powerful defensive military structure
In fact, most die-hard Evangelion fans will probably feel somewhat “offended” by all the direct references to their lovable Anime that they’ll probably forsake this one, and miss out on a great story, and one that they would surely enjoy.
One of the things that made Evangelion so bad and great, at the same time, were it’s plot holes. There are so many unanswered questions that one can speculate on any of them and drive the story in an entirely different direction. And that explains why it has such a huge following of fans, who write their own versions of the story and keep it fresh, even after all these years.
In RahXephon, you won’t find many plot holes. Sure, one may speculate about the emergence of the Mulians, which are the “enemies” of this story, or about the possible relationships or love interests between the various characters in the story, but all in all, RahXephon has an ending. A complex one, similar to the one seen in “The End of Evangelion”, but a good ending nonetheless.
If you do not wish to be spoiled of any part of the story, please refrain from reading the following paragraphs and skip to the conclusion.
The story starts off with a young high school student, Ayato Kamina, who discovers that the world as he knows it might not be as he seems. While he lives under the illusion that he is on an island, secluded from the rest of the world, and it’s inhabitants are the only living people on earth, it appears that the truth is far from being so, and after a short while he discovers that he has a destiny to fulfill, although he doesn’t know it yet.
With the aid of a mysterious girl, and a special operative, Ayato discovers a giant egg in which a God-like creature called Rah slumbers, and awakens it. Confused and scared inside the Rah, Ayato escapes from his hometown, and then discovers that he had been living on an alternative dimension secluded from the rest of the world, though that dimension was limited to just his home town: Tokyo.
After returning to the special operative’s base, he is asked to pilot the Rah in order to protect humanity from the attacks of the Mulians, and Ayato goes into an inner struggle where he must fight against the people who raised him. To further increase his indecisive mind, he begins to grow attached to the special operative who had rescued him, and begins to appreciate some simple pleasures, like watching a cargo ship set sail, which is something he couldn’t see where he lived in.
A lot of episodes feel like a normal Shonen: a new enemy arrives, the pilot rushes out to fight him, defeats it and comes back. But like in Evangelion, the main character sometimes has inner struggles, and a lot of events around him make him battle with himself. As the plot thickens, we learn about the past of all relevant characters and all of the relationships between them, and at the end, Ayato is faced with his biggest challenge, and sacrifices his human form in order to protect those he loves.
Fortunately, at the end, rather than being, or feeling, unclear, like in the “End of Evangelion”, we see him living a normal life with his loved one, and then we see a flashback that answers that most revolving question throughout the show, that is: who is the yellow dress girl?
Conclusion: Although some might accuse it of stealing some elements from Evangelion, I don’t think that it’s that similar. The story is much more romantic than Evangelion, and explores human relationships much more, while Evangelion simply focuses on religion and the human psyche.
It succeeds as an action story, for all the battles, and the animation, are great. It succeeds as a love story, for there are a few love triangles, love interests, and special interests between most of the characters, even the secondary ones. It succeeds in it’s soundtrack, which is reminiscent of Evangelion’s excellent orchestrated pieces.
Last but not least, it succeeds as a great Anime in general. Surely you won’t need to watch the show two or three times to grasp most of the story, but if you disliked the way Evangelion left many of the story elements hanging, then you’ll love RahXephon.
It’s been a while since I wrote about Anime, and it’s not because I haven’t felt like writing, it’s just because I haven’t really been watching Anime. I could bore you with “tedious” details of what I’ve learned from a few Web Design books I’ve been reading, but since some of you come here to know what I think of the latest Anime fixes, I will tell you about the new Gundam series called “double-O Gundam” that follows the current trend for God-based animes.
If you’ve followed the 2 most popular God Anime shows, Death Note and Code Geass, Double-O Gundam is the obvious choice for those who enjoyed the genre.
The story kicks off with a young boy, who we guess is the main character of the show in the middle of a battlefield, carrying a machine gun and running away and shooting at giant mechs killing everyone in the ruined city. A scenery very similar to the one found in Metal Gear Solid 4.
Rather than describing the rest of the two episodes, I’d rather just tell you what I thought of them. I think this Gundam got off to a good start. It has a nice, and rather calm, song for it’s intro and an ending that is well, a bit weird, for the theme of the Anime.
The character design is great, although one of the characters from the main team looks like a girl, in fact, if he was mute I’d say he was a girl, although I still have my doubts. The other characters seem a bit generic, though well suited to the type of Gundams they pilot. Oh! There’s a character called Hallelujah Baptism… I kid you not. And the name of the organization that our heroes belong to is called Celestial Being, and their aim is to bring “holy judgment” upon those who wage war. That’s where the “God theme” comes from.
The team consists mostly of teenagers, and the leader is a red-head woman (though she looks like a teenager) with very voluptuous curves. Personally I think that the show got off on a good start and has managed to bring something new to the franchise without losing some of the characteristics of it’s predecessors. You can expect me to follow this show on the blog as often as I watch it.
A couple of months back, a friend of mine recommended a show called Nana. He isn’t the type of anime fan to settle for conventional series like Naruto or Bleach, although he enjoyed the first seasons of the first. When I got home that day, I plugged the USB disk and watched the first episode. My first impression was: “Great… a show about a completely shallow innocent girl, and the emo rockstar,oposite of the other”.
After watching 47 episodes of Nana, in only three days, I’m certain that it marked me far more than any other Anime previously did. I greatly enjoyed Honey and Clover, it’s a well thought Anime. I also enjoyed Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien more than any other. But those two stories are somewhat distant from the real world. Although the things that afflict them are real, the situation that the cast is in is simply unconventional, and there’s this haze of fiction around it. Nana has none of it.
The characters are all flawed, in one way or another. They all deal with their issues in their own manners. They are all different, yet, they’re also incredibly similar in some ways.
If you’re looking for a sugar-coated love story, you’ll find none of that here, although the first episodes might misslead you to think so.
The show is about two girls, with the same first name (I’ll let you guess what that name is). The dream of the first one, who is nicknamed “Hachiko”, is simply to find happiness and become independent. The second one, is much more ambitious, and aims to become a famous singer with her hometown punk-rock group.
Although they don’t acknowledge it at first, the times that they spend together become the happiest in their lives. But fate eventually takes it’s toll, and destiny drives them apart from each other. Despite being separated, I love how they always silently talk to each other during the beginning and ending of each episode.
Usually every episode will start with “Hey Nana…” followed by a thought about the past, or with a rhetorical question on how to make a decision.
The music in the story is simply perfect. There are many dramatic moments during the story, and although one of the characters is very emotional and sensible, the music that accompanies the scene is always incredibly adequate. It’s great to see the difference between the style of their music, and their personalities. The contrast is almost as good as Black and White.
An interesting thought came across while I was writing this review: Who should watch Nana?
And after giving it a bit of thought, I realized that everyone should watch it. Even if they don’t like Anime. The story puts all soap operas, and even great American series to shame. Young teenagers and grownups alike could certainly enjoy this story, and learn something from it. Specially older people that sometimes have trouble understanding what’s going through a young person’s mind.
In any case, I’ve said enough. If there’s one Anime I’d recommend anyone and everyone to watch, Nana would be it. And yes, I loved it that much.
Although I haven’t watched some of the best classic Anime series, like Trigun and Cowboy Bebop, I have watched enough shows I guess to determine my favorites of all time.
Honey and Clover was an Anime that marked me deeply, and make me think a bit more about my future. But there was never an Anime, movie or story that scarred me (yes, scar) as much as this one: Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (The Eternity you desire).
It starts off as any other romantic Anime show with teenagers. And then things go horribly wrong, and we are driven into the middle of the most painful dilemas and grow to love and hate all of the characters, for various reasons.
This show had all the reasons to go wrong. It was based on an adult video game, that should have been reason enough. Instead, this show had a storyline so great that even some people I know, who had never touched Anime, not even with a long stick, watched it until the end, as fast as they could, and loved every second of it.
This is also, by far, the most depressing story I have ever seen. The characters aren’t immaculate, saints, or just pure evil. They are normal people, like you and me, who happen to be in the middle of a very difficult situation and they deal with it in the best and worst ways they can.
I guess you could call it a dramatic masterpiece. Which is why I’ll probably never watch this Anime again, unless I’m certain I can cope with all of the emotions that go through the story.
I don’t really know how to complement the title better. If you’re a fan of the Naruto, or at least the first arc of the story (the Zabuza storyline), then you’ll also love this. Actually, I think that anyone who’s into anime will enjoy this…
The flashback is over, and we are now brought back again to the current stage of the story. In this episode we discover a few things which make the story interesting. So if you still haven’t seen this episode, then refrain from reading any further, unless you want to be spoiled.
The episode begins with young Clare (from the past), walking down a street holding Teresa’s head, after the man from the organization, to ask him to make her a Claymore, and to blend her body with Teresa’s. When we return to the present, we find Clare joining a team of 3 to battle against an Awakened.
Under the leadership of Miria, ranked as the 6th strongest Claymore in the organization, and two others, Helen (#22 in the rank), Deneve (#15). But what’s really surprising is that Clare’s rank is #47, meaning that, supposedly, she is the weakest Claymore of all. Even though her body has parts of the former #1, Teresa.
After leaving their rendezvous point, they move towards their location and choose a place to camp. Miria then decides to test Clare’s skills, by challenging her to a spar. Obviously, Clare is quickly defeated, and even mocked by her two other partners. But Miria, the leader, still things that there is an undiscovered strength in Clare, that she hasn’t even discovered yet.
When the group moves out, and approaches the location, they are met by a young man, who then turns into the Awakened one, and the whole party is surprised by the fact that a man can reach that state.
Even though the story isn’t very cryptic, it’s very enjoyable to watch, and although it’s an action show, somehow there are some elements that make it unique. In some ways, it reminds me of Berserk, but on the other hand, this story feels more realistic than that. And I remind you readers that I’m talking about a story with women that carry huge claymores and slay demons.
Next week, will continue this small arc, with the second part of the Slashers, and hopefully we’ll be able to witness a bit more of Clare’s potential.
Just like Za_Paper told me in the previous article, these episodes are the ones that help separate Claymore from all the other action Animes. What’s also surprising about them is that they let the story speak for itself, rather than “forcing” the facts onto you.
Episode five begins with a completely new character. One which you may remember from the intro, Teresa of the faint smile.
If you watched the first four episodes, you will probably get a deja-vu feeling from watching these. Although the story is different, there are small aspects which you may remember from them.
Teresa is considered the strongest Claymore among all of them. One curious thing about her, is that she never unleashes her powers when fighting the Youma. She slays them with a serene expression upon her face.
On one of the towns Teresa visited, she found a small girl, who after being saved from the clutches of a Youma, decides to follow her, despite Teresa clearly saying that she doesn’t to be followed. After a while, Teresa finally succumbs to her human side, and decides to let the girl follow her. Eventually they become close, and even the cold Claymore starts feeling care and warmth for the girl.
Those feelings that Teresa gains eventually become her undoing, as she disobeys the most important rule of being a Claymore, which is: To never kill a human.
The episodes that follow that act are very dramatic and end up with an excellent, yet heartfelt conclusion and we are finally introduce to what appears to be the main enemy of the story. For obvious reasons I won’t tell you who she is, but at least you can have an idea of what she looks like (and you may even recall her from the intro).
In the next episode we will see the beginning of Clare’s story as a Claymore, and, possibly, what happened to the other characters featured in this small arc.
Ever since my ISP problems, which still aren’t solved, my ability to get new Anime episodes is limited to how good the connection is in the university, or on how often I visit my friend’s house to get new episodes. Therefore, it’s quite hard for me to keep up with the latest things.
But those are not all the reasons. Some of the Animes I stopped writing about because of the lack of interest I grew. I stopped Death Note because I had the final volumes of the first “season” of the manga, so I read them, stopped when the second season started, and right now I think until it’s near the end until I resume it. I haven’t been downloading it either.
Kanon 2006 is an anime I want to catch up with again, and one that I was enjoying a lot. Unfortunately, the only friend that I know that is watching it usually takes a long time to share stuff with. So I will have to find a way to download it myself.
Naruto Shippuuden had a great start, but right now I find the pace incredibly slow. They are trying to stretch the story as much as they can, so they won’t catch up to the manga very soon. If they had done that like Bleach or One Piece did I wouldn’t have any complains, but they don’t. I think I’ll wait out until the “cool part” begins before I start watching it again. But I hope that the artists stop what they’re doing to the show right now, because it’s slowly killing it.
The last Anime I watched was Ouran High Host Club (yes, I know I promised the readers a review), and although I haven’t written about it yet, it was a brilliant show. Great story, great character development, great comedy and great animation. It’s an Anime that seems strange at first, but then becomes incredibly addictive. Since the type of episodes drift from drama, to comedy, it’s very hard to grow tired of it.
But now I’ll tell you a bit about Claymore.
It’s not your typical Shonen action anime. There is action, but there is much more violence, and so far, the character development has been great. Which makes me wonder if the show will be very short, or if it will grow stale after a bit.
Last, but not least, I watched today the first four episodes of Claymore. A strange and violent, but very interesting Anime. The concept of the story reminded me of Chrno Crusade a bit, except that this time the story is set in a medieval time.
There are demons in this world called Youma, and in order to fight them, an organization was formed that creates hybrid humans, which are basically normal humans embedded with Youma blood and “skin”, in order to fight with the Youma on equal ground. For some unknown reason, so far only women have survived this transformation, and they are known as the silver-eyed witches, or as Claymores, due to the huge Claymore swords they all carry.
The main character of the story, is one of those said Claymores, and from the very first episode, we see her struggling, and on all of the episodes so far, it seems like the show is just about to end. I was guessing I’d get used to it, but so far I haven’t, and this Anime manages to keep me captivated. The artwork is brilliant, not just the first episode (unlike Naruto and many other series), but throughout all of the episodes so far.
The music is a bit awkward, but so is the story, therefore they complement each other quite nicely.
If you liked Berserk and Chrno Crusade, then I think that this Anime is right up your alley. It’s certainly one to be on the lookout for.
