Sora No Woto is a series that, from the premise, attempted to unite the two feuding cults of Anime fans by combining traditional moe elements with a serious and compelling story line. The result is a story about a young girl, Kanata, who joins the army in order to learn to play music. She is assigned to a post in the most remote part of the nation and ends up living a life of leisure in a world that has been decimated by war.
Although the production values of Sora No Woto are extremely high overall the show doesn’t have a single original idea. Sora No Woto is a show crafted by committee and it shows in the most obvious places. The character designs and personality types of the main cast seem to be lifted from other popular Moe shows. The main character, Kanata, looks; acts; and has the same musical affinity as K-On!’s Yui Hirasawa and the technically inclined but soft-spoken and shy Noël Kannag is, in personality and character design, an obvious rip off of Haruhi’s Yuki Nagato. There elements give the show an artificial feel and is an obvious attempt at pandering to Moe fans.
However, the world these characters are dropped into is vibrant and quickly becomes the most compelling aspect of the show. These is a mystery fueled by allusions to a great war along with obvious clues that this seemingly fantasy world the characters inhabit is, in fact, our own. The force that drives the show forward is the question, “What happened?” and that question is explored as these characters interact with the world around them. Unfortunately this element comes to work against them before the end as information given at the start of the show is proven completely false by the finale. The rules of the world shift by the end of the show in order to give the show an ending climax, a lazy tactic that harms the absolute best element of Sora no Woto.
Even with all these problems there still is a ton of good writing and exploration of philosophy in the series. In fact, Episode 7 represents some of the best animation and storytelling to come out of Japan during the winter season. Those few good episodes are just over shadowed by the inane mindless episodes in between the building plot. The tone of the show shifts from dark and fatalistic to light and pointless from one episode to the next and the show is only good when it is exploring the darker aspects of this world. Again, this is due to Sora No Woto’s attempt to appeal to a massive audience by playing up its cute characters and Moe aimlessness. I don’t want this review to turn into Moe bashing because I do enjoy Moe when it is done right. However, Sora No Woto does it completely wrong. They play up the cuteness and flightiness of the characters in the middle of a story with real danger and serious consequences. That isn’t how Moe is supposed to work and it undermines the realism that is done well in half the episodes.
As a viewer I felt myself drifting away from the series during the episodes that featured the characters in slice of life moments. There was an episode about Kanata having to wait near a phone for headquarters to call and needing to go to the bathroom for the majority of the wait. Another featured the characters wondering aimlessly through a grassy field on a “training” exercise. Of course, that focused less on anything military and more on how they managed to learn how to fish. I would have much preferred more images of the rich world than either of those pointless adventures. A three second long frame of a half destroyed Japanese class room in the second episode had more substance than both of those episodes combined.
While Sora No Woto has the skeleton of a good show behind it the Moe aesthetic grafted onto it takes away from the serious and deep philosophical moments the show attempts to achieve. Sora No Woto works best when it is at its darkest but, unfortunately, those moments are rare and interspersed into a finely crafted marketing tool directed at Moe fans.
Good
– Finely crafted setting that adds to the plot in a passive way.
– Brief moments of brilliance when the action, characters, and theme of the show are allowed advance.
Bad
– Moe characters feel like carbon copies of characters from other popular Moe shows.
– Nonsense “K-On!” esq episodes harm the flow and tone of the series.
– Inconsistent character and world development, mismanaged plot.
Having both ADV Evangelion DVD releases, the original and the platinum release, I wanted to go back and look at how large of a change the new films really are. It has been years since I’ve watched the original raw series so watching it after seeing the Blu-Ray version of Evangelion 1.11 was almost painful.
The most noticeable element of this image from the original ADV release is the lack of detail on Evangelion Unit 01. The face detail is kind of blurred together and is difficult to make out. The mountain that Shinji landed on also lacks detail.
The image quality of the remastered platinum edition is much darker. It helps the Evangelion to stand out more but the rib cage of the Angel, barely seen in the original version, is now completely hidden. Unit 01 is much crisper and specific details stand out much more. The foreground trees, although still lacking much detail, are drawn better. The mountains in the background show no change and the shrine near the Evangelion’s arm is much easier to see in this version. The remaster seemed to focus on making the image crisper even if details were going to be lost.
How does the new movie stand up to the remastered original?
This is the same exact scene that Anno attempted to animate fifteen years ago but using the massive budget and some modern techniques the scene appears completely different. The rib cage is back and prominent. The mountains in the background and trees in the foreground are drawn with specific detail. The Evangelion itself suffers no loss of detail even with the distance and at the strange angle.
If anyone reading this hasn’t picked up Evangelion 1.11 yet… get to it. THAT is what you’re missing.
Picking up where the first film left off the angels are laying an aggressive offensive against the forces of Nerv. In order to make Nerv’s defenses more powerful the Japanese branch receives ace Pilot Asuka Langley Shikinami. But with each Angel attack draining the resources of the planet three Evangelions may not be enough to stop the angels from their ultimate goal, Earth’s total destruction.
Hideaki Anno’s Evangelion is an iconic anime series that shook the entire world when it was released back in 1995. Now, fifteen years later, Evangelion’s modern reboot has the potential of doing exactly the same thing. But can this condensed version of the classic series stand up to the hype?
I avoided reviewing Evangelion 1.11 because there wasn’t much to say about the movie except that it was the same material with much better animation and being a massive Evangelion fan I felt my review would have been biased. But being that this film takes Evangelion and attempts to reinvent it I felt more comfortable approaching it as a new entity.
After watching the first movie I came into this one believing that I wasn’t going to see much new material. I’ve been hearing the fact that this movie strays drastically away from the original since it opened in Japan last year. But, when compared to the first Evangelion movie, changing anything could be considered a “massive change.”
That isn’t the case. Where the first film’s beginning is a shot for shot remake of the television series to capture the feeling that this is Evangelion, You Can (Not) Advance starts off with completely new material as if to tell the audience that this experience is going to be something completely new. That opening scene showed so much new that it blew any thought in my mind that this film would simply be a remake of the television series. The HD animation is stunning, it takes place in a different NERV base with a never-before-seen commander, it features a new Evangelion unit using a combat mode never before seen, it introduces Mari Illustrious Makinami the film’s new character, and it features a fight with a redesigned Angel. There was no better way they could have started the film.
The film constantly moves back and forth between classic scenes and new material which shows how much Anno has improved as a director and animator over the past fifteen years. The new scenes serve to shake up and reinvent the classic story. One scene in the movie shows the beginning of the day in Tokyo-3 and presents the city as a fusion of nature and technology. With only thirty seconds of animation he shows the city that was awe-inspiring in You Are (Not) Alone as a place that people take for granted, a place where people live out their lives normally. Those beautiful scenes of daily life and the stunningly animated and choreographed battle scenes make Evangelion 2.22 a visual treat.
The largest improvement in You Can (Not) Advance from You Are (Not) Alone is the pacing. The first Evangelion remake at times felt like a chopped up rehash of the original. Anno was able to get rid of that feeling by not only altering the story but by creating new enemies, the addition of the new character, and other visual elements that enabled this film to distance itself from the source material but still maintain the core elements of the original.
The biggest challenge in taking ten episodes of a television series and turning it into a two hour movie are the characters. It was hard to believe the Anno could fit the entire story into the film and develop the characters as well as he did in the original. But again Anno proves his ability by deeply fleshing out the characters with a subtle grace that the original lacked. In fact, some of the choices he made in the film helped to understand the characters much better. The television series relied on a slow reveal to develop the characters and establish their flaws. Due to the limitation of time Anno leaves the character flaws out in the open instead of covering them up and digging for them. Because of that fact the film enables the audience to identify and sympathize with the characters far more than the original series did. The unfortunate result of this is that the minor characters of the series are ignored left to serve only as background imagery and noise. The friendships Shinji developed in the first film are shown briefly but never in any real depth. The audience is left to take those relationships as static fact as characters they came to know in the first film simply hang around uselessly.
Hideaki Anno has done something that is rarely pulled off well in media. He has taken his original property and updated it to modern version while keeping the spirit of the original alive. Not only that, but he improved on his creation as well by eliminating non-crucial elements of the plot to build a tighter, more well-crafted story with powerful characters, and breath-taking animation. This film is an improvement of an already classic piece of Japanese animation.
Good
Main characters are well deeply developed, especially in comparison to the source material.
Animation is breath-taking. Everything from battle scenes to the elements of daily life are well crafted pieces of art.
Pacing is much improved from the original Evangelion film, which at times could feel like a chopped up re-hash of the television series.
Bad
Minor characters are almost entirely ignored, even characters that played a large role in You Are (Not) Alone.
Tenchi Muyo! GXP follows the adventure of Seina Yamada who is the most unlucky boy in the universe. When visiting his friend Tenchi’s house he runs into Amane Kaunaq who, mistaking him for a member of the Misaki household, recruits him for the Galaxy police. Seina decides to join and the GP command quickly recognizes that Seina’s bad luck can be used to distract Pirates from valuable targets. He is helped though his training and duty by two beautiful women, a beautiful space pirate, and a young priestess. Yup, this is a Tenchi series.
I wanted to avoid reviewing this series by comparing it to the past installments in the franchise. However the show is trying extremely hard to copy and rehash the Tenchi formula. In fact, that the majority of its failings come from an attempt to be Tenchi Muyo and not a work that stands alone. I tried extremely hard to like the characters in the show. Especially the three female leads because the show cannot work if you don’t believe these girls are in love with a 17 year old boy from Earth. Most of the development is shallow and the characters fall in love with Seina for no reason other than he is the star of the show. The protagonist, Yamada Seina, is a likable character but suffers from a lack of motivation. Starting from Episode One I found my suspension of disbelief failing apart because the character doesn’t blink at the idea that aliens exist and he has been recruited by a galaxy police force. He takes the fact that he is plucked from his home, family, and friends behind forever as the most normal thing that could happen. It is ridiculous.
The most difficult aspect of the show to stomach in the first few episodes is the music. There is a track that kicks in whenever Seina is having a large amount of bad luck that is completely out of place with the tone of the show. It’s meant to set a comical mood but the effect comes off as an obnoxious cue for the audience to start laughing. The ending theme, Anata ga Saitei, has this same tone.
The show has a constant fear that the audience will not understand that Seina has “cosmic bad luck” and feels the need to remind the audience with obnoxious audio cues and an awkward ending theme.
The animation, while not terrible, is not representative of the time period. By 2002 the shift from hand drawn animation to computer aided animation changed the way the medium looked. So in the same year that the gorgeously animated Chobits was released Tenchi Muyo! GXP winds up being unimpressive. Not only is the quality of the art and animation lackluster but the character designs are also bland. Seina looks almost like a carbon copy of Tenchi Misaki. When attempting to establish and new character and story line in the same universe as the original Tecnhi OVA it makes no sense to make your new protagonist look exactly like the old one especially when they meet and interact during the series. The background characters have much more interesting character designs than any of the main characters. In fact the entire world around Seina and gang is beautiful. The intricate building and ship design of Juri are all represented wonderfully and most of the worlds and ships they encounter all have the unique, colorful sudo-japanese style that belongs to the franchise. The elements carried over from the original Tenchi Muyo! OVA are all represented in fantastic detail and quality. In fact in an episode around the middle of the show that features the return of the original OVA cast the animation is breathtaking. Clearly they blew a large portion of their budget to make sure they get the ten minutes where the classic characters are on screen correct.
The show is, essentially, a comedy. There are some moments that are funny and there are others that are just insane. Many more, mostly involving the robot NB, are embarrassing. Because of the tone of the show all of the villains completely fail. I never once felt that any of these people were a threat. The arc when former Galaxy Police instructor and bumbling fool Seiryō Tennan became a pirate captain and vowed to eliminate Seina from the universe felt untrue to what had already been established about the character. But, surprisingly, that arc was the only exciting and suspenseful moments of the series and it also where the series was at its funniest. When the show it trying to be serious, even by a little bit, it fails.
Years after the last Tenchi series ended Tenchi Muyo! GXP emerged and captured the hope of millions of fans. The expectations were held even higher by the fact that Tenchi Muyo! GXP is the only of the many television series that shares it’s canon with the original OVA. However like most of the series that came after the original, Tenchi Muyo! GXP is only a pale shadow of the original. Tenchi Muyo! GXP suffers from a lack of direction. It takes the colorful universe created in the original OVA and fills it with all of the worst elements of the Tenchi franchise without bringing in any of the redeeming qualities. As a fan of Tenchi I’m just going to pretend this tragedy never happened.
Good
The original OVA cast appear for one episode!
Bad
Poor character design and development
Animation and music are terrible
Inconsistent characters, tone, and plots
Feels like a poor attempt to copy elements from the original Tenchi and place them into a new show.
I have yet to go to a convention and be disappointed and that fact continues after my weekend spent at ConnectiCon 2010. The only disappointing aspect about conventions is that there is never enough time to do everything that I want to do. ConnectiCon is unique for an Anime fan because it is not primarily an Anime convention. Anime is only one of the many subjects that convention covers. If anything, I’d call ConnectiCon a gaming convention because of the massive amount of space dedicated to games of all types: Board games, video games, Table top RPGs, LARP, Minitures, and CCGs. ConnectiCon is also unique in that it attracts a large number of webcomic guests from all over the world with names as large as Brian Clevenger , Mohammad Hawqe , Jeph Jacques, Scott Ramsoomair, and (in 2006) Greg Dean.
If you are looking for just an Anime Convention with anime programming ConnectiCon might disappoint you. Not that there is a lack of Anime programming, I’ll go into more detail about it below, but it is more of a celebration of all things geeky. It’s like a large gathering of friends where some wanted to play Magic and others just wanted to watch Anime… blown up to an impossible scale.
For more on ConnectiCon 2010 please listen to Episode 23 of the podcast
Star Wars Steampunk
This was a strange panel where a group of hardcore steampunk fans (they were all dressed in full steampunk attire) asking the question “Is Star Wars Steampunk?” approaching from the aesthetic side they had a point… but it is far more likely that the elements that are similar, like Han Solo’s outfit, were inspired by Star Wars. I was a bit irritating they didn’t mention the possibility that Steampunk took elements from Star Wars but just went with the theme “Star Wars IS steampunk.”
Anime you should watch
I caught the tail end of the Anime You Should Watch panel but walking into a room filled with people watching Daicon IV was amazing. The list of shows, and the way the GeekNights crew sold them to the crowded, was very impressive. A few notables were Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, They were eleven, and Master Keaton. Check out the PDF of their presentation here.
Anime and Kawaii Culture
This panel was a big deal at the convention because former anime producer Minoru Ohno (I’m gonna be an Angel, Minky Momo in Tabidachi no Eki) and University professor Marie Aizawa Phelan set out to explore the concept of Kawaii. While the presentation was interesting I don’t know how the findings were anything new. It seemed to follow along the normal established concept of Kawaii. The presentation also jumped back and forth between Ohno’s career and the findings of the study, which became tiring as it went along. Overall it was good but nothing ground breaking was discussed. I recorded the majority of the panel and it can be viewed on the live page:
For the first time I was able to catch an entire standup skit from Uncle Yo and it was surprisingly funny. I’ve heard a lot of negative things about him and I can certainly see why; he panders to the fan girl crowded. But I can’t blame him for taking advantage of such a rapid and eager group of fans, and he probably has no choice if he wants to succeed as the “Otaku Comedian”. But, despite that, he has a huge amount of talent and executed all of his material well. Check out the set on the Otaku in Review Live page, I was a able to record most of it.
After the Uncle Yo show I was able to catch the tail end of a panel about Hatsune Miku, the virtual idol. I’ve been a fan of Miku since her original viral video but the panel, given by GeekNights, attempted to put her in perspective with the history of animation and the conclusion that all animation has attempted to merge live action into it, and Miku is the ultimate realization of goal as she continues to break into the real world. It is pretty incredible that technology has been able to take a 2D character with a computer generated voice and place her on a live stage. It’ll be shocking what we’ll see ten years from now.
Update 7/18/10
Scott Rubin contacted me and wanted to make sure that I didn’t misrepresent the panel. The most interesting fact that I took from the panel was Miku seems to be the end result of a long attempt to marry live action and animation but Scott didn’t want the message of creativity to be overlooked. The reason he showed Daicon IV was in order to show what a group of geeks were capable of with inspiration and hard work. The group that made Daicon IV, who would later go on to form Gainax, didn’t even have a computer when they compiled would would become one of the most important short pieces of animation ever made. Instead of playing World of Warcraft go out and make Miku dance and sing. The power of the Volcaloid 2 software has made creation amazingly simple and with it even you can one day create a hit with Hatsune Miku leading the way.
Dealer’s room
The dealers room in my greatest weakness and while the ConnectiCon dealers room is nothing compared with Anime Boston (and I’m sure Otakon and AX) the vendors had some amazing things. Here are some notable items that I left with:
I stumbled across this in the back of someone’s booth late on Sunday. It was marked as $50 but he immediately took $20 off the price. I have never seen anything quite like it before and after doing a quick google search found it sold out with a price of $120! This is such an interesting piece that after I bought it someone who walked into the booth after me and saw it offered me $50 for it. Perhaps the dealer isn’t going to hide things in his booth anymore.
An Evangelion 2.0 era Asuka figure beautifully sculpted with an interested transparent effect on her hair. This was the most expensive figure I picked up over the weekend and well worth the price. Now if I could only see the movie…
Minorin! I love Minorin! I love most anime girls with red hair (which will be a trend on all the figures I bought). After missing out on the Angelic Taiga figure at Anime Boston I needed to get some Toradora! love in my figure collection. Of course now I’m going to have to hunt down bunny suit Taiga in order to complete the set.
A small, yet large headed Bunny girl Kallen which I couldn’t resist and a set of K-On! beach figures which I haven’t had a chance to put together yet.
Yes, I know. This pretty much completes the “generic Otaku room” theme I’ve been building for the last few years. But I couldn’t resist because it is so damn comfortable! Also, Haruhi.
Hayate the Combat Butler manga volumes 2 through 15 piled on high. Trust me, I got a great deal.
Finally I had Applegeeks volumes 1 and 2 signed by the authors. This is a painful story but I brought both books for them to sign but with the dealers room bag policy I couldn’t bring in my messenger bag. I grabbed a plastic bag and put them in just for convenience and it turns out the inside of the bag was wet which ruined my Volume 2, forcing me to buy another one. I raged, but it was worth it.
Cosplay
All of the pictures I took over the weekend are up on the live page and I’ll post the links after the images. These are a few of my favorites from the weekend. There was lots of Team Fortress 2, remember there is a large gaming section at ConnectiCon, and it seems that Durarara!! is very popular among the con attending crowded with Cross play being a huge trend.
The Sacred Blacksmith focuses on a young girl from a family that has a long tradition of knighthood. She joins the Town Guard in an attempt to equal the status held by her family but finds her growth as a knight slow and intolerable until she meets a young blacksmith who has the ability to forge a powerful and near indestructible sword, the Katana.
Sacred Blacksmith starts out strong with a cast of characters that the potential to grow and foster some interesting stories. At least, I want to like the characters. They do fall into some stereotypical anime patterns just tossed into a fantasy setting but the character relationships are written well and to see some of those arcs resolved were the only reason why I stuck around to see the show to its end. There are some tragic twists that if they had been in a more finely crafted show would have been soul crushing but wrapped in the world of The Sacred Blacksmith they ultimately fall flat because the action isn’t up to par, the music doesn’t stand out, and the animation slides as the series goes on. The entire show, from a technical view, is poor and forces me to believe the show was tossed together to take advantage of the success of the light novel. The above average character arcs aren’t enough to overlook all those other factors.
The characters are tossed into a world so unoriginal and uninteresting that it might as well have been dreamed up during a first-run Dungeons and Dragons gaming session. There is a city-state that attempts to be independent from an evil Empire, a resistance who wants to overthrow said Empire, and a mysterious figure in the shadows who is tossing Demons into the mix. All elements that one would expect to find on a template for writing a first fantasy novel.
The one interesting hook the show has is the existence of Demon Swords. These are swords that contain great magical power and of incalculable wealth that give the user a special ability and sometimes has the ability to transform into a human being. This is the source of much of the conflict of the series is Aria, the demon sword of wind. She is used as a vehicle to explore what it means to be a demon, a tool of destruction, and has no control over how her own powers are used. Really, the demon swords just serve as a plot device to improve Cecily’s fighting skill in a realistic way so she can actually hold her own in battle.
There are very few interesting fights in the series. A few demons are fought, a couple demon swords, but most of them end up about the same. Especially when Aria takes part in the combat since the only ability the Demon sword of Wind has is a powerful gust of wind and it doesn’t always lend itself to innovative and exciting battle scenes. There are also those moments where enemies stand around and wait for the heroes to finish arguing or conjuring a spell. Luke, the Blacksmith, has the ability to take a hilt and some metal and make a sword through some complicated magical spells. But enemies, be them demons or other knights, stand around and give him plenty of time to finish his incantation. During the final battle scene I was so frustrated with this trope that I wished the villain would just kill them before he had a chance to finish his spell. Moments where action stops so the animators can create a cool looking set piece just take the viewer out of the action, especially when they don’t show Sailor Moon style silhouettes.
The series is just a stepping stone towards a larger epic in the universe. The idea of the Sacred Blacksmith is that he is supposed to forge a sword to contain the demon king. But despite hints that start at the first episode this Demon King never arrives and the ending is left unresolved. Had there been some hint that a sequel might be coming soon this wouldn’t be an issue but using the promise of an epic monster and not delivering on that promise is just a tease, and a bad tease because now that I lack the resolve to sit through another thirteen episodes to wait to see the epic monster.
Sacred Blacksmith had the potential to be something better. The characters are interesting and have well developed relationships and arcs where the viewer gets to know and have some genuine feelings for them. But everything around the characters; including their designs; are dull, uninspired, and poorly executed.
Good
Interesting characters with well-rounded character arcs
Bad
Dull, uninteresting fights scenes.
Narrative goes nowhere and doesn’t pay off on promises established in the first episode.
Generic and uninteresting fantasy world with clichés in abundance.
It’s tough going to an Anime convention for a single day especially one as large as Anime Boston. Describing the experience, the rush, the thrill of walking into a giant hall filled with people who you know you could connect with that, in fact, you are connecting with due to the fact that you are in the same place at the same time. It’s overwhelming and almost impossible to absorb during a single day. It maybe impossible to come to terms with if you had the entire weekend!
Here are my highlights from the convention:
Nobuo Uematsu
The main reason why I wanted to go to Anime Boston this year was to met the composer for the first ten Final Fantasy games Nobuo Uematsu . But I think it was clear that the Anime Boston organizers completely underestimated how large a draw the musician would bring. I waited in line for an hour and ten minutes before the staff finally came by and told everyone still waiting in line, and there was probably a hundred people in front of me, that there was no chance of getting an autograph. Disappointed and angry from waiting in line for so long with no result I moved on to the dealer’s room.
Later when attempting to get into the Uematsu Q&A I made the same mistake and arrived much too late. The line was far too long and one of the staff told me that I’d probably not get in. Fail.
Character design panel
I sat in on this panel, actually meant for artists, on character creation. The panelist did a good job of describing the main differences between Japanese and Western character design and then showed slides detailing what factors make up a good character design and what makes up a boring, ordinary character design.
Masquerade
Most Masquerade’s at conventions are fairly dull but the quality of the Anime Boston Masquerade was outstanding. The hosts were hilarious, the skits were creative and well executed, and the sound quality and visibility was great. They hit a home run with this event, one that I normally prefer to avoid. Out of Time Productions should have the entire show up on their Youtube channel soon if not already.
Funimation Industry Panel
Finally made it to a Funimation panel. It was fun to see the people behind the largest licencing company in the United States, get the trailers, and be on hand for the announcements. Unfortunately all the announced shows were fairly obvious. Chobits had to be rescued since that was a big money maker for Pioneer (Geneon), Spice and Wolf Season 2 was a given, and if they weren’t going to get the Eden of the East movies there was no point in releasing the series.
They also announced that they have acquired the music rights to the Eden of the East opening theme. I didn’t even know that was a problem and it highlighted my ignorance of the licensing process.
Plan ahead
Don’t be like me. I was completely unprepared for the size of this convention and lacked the skills needed to get around and make it to the panels and events that I really wanted to do. Plan ahead if you are going to any big convention. Read the schedule before you go, show up early to panels you want to see, and most importantly go all three days. The artists gallery and dealers room require so much time, especially if you are as crazy as I am, that you end up missing out on a lot. Friday should be Dealer’s room day because it’s a much slower day than Saturday and all the dealers will be fully stocked. Don’t hesitate if you really want something, like the Yoko body pillow I missed out on, because it will be gone. Remember, there are 17,000 people just like you who will swoop in and take it away.
Now to the best part of any convention: Merch!
Dealer’s Room
I went nuts in the Dealer’s Room. Overwhelmed is the only word I can use to describe how I felt when I walked into the massive hall that held the seemingly endless number of vendors. Jumping from booth to booth I was absolutely frozen when I reached for my wallet. How could I buy something at this booth when there might be something I want MORE three booths down? It was incredible. Being the most indecisive person in the world I spent hours in the dealers room looking for figures, checking prices, and trying to talk myself into spending $110 on a Toradora figure.
In the end I did walk away with some merch but no, not the $110 figure I lusted after.
Alicia from Valkyria Chronicles.
Probably the best PS3 game before the release of Final Fantasy XIII Valkyria Chronicles is a fantastic experience and the games heroine makes a fantastic figure for sitting next to the game console.
Minorin with a flower out of her head
The cheaper alternative to the $110 Taiga figure is this adorable little Minorin. But she still didn’t come cheap at $15. How could I resist that smile, though?
Tenchi mini figures
This is probably the only Washu and Kagato figures I’m ever going to find so I had to pick them up at a cheap $10.
Mio plushie
Moe moe!
Artist Alley
The artist alley was just as overwhelming as the Dealers room. There was all types of art from prints to key chains and custom made plushies. The aisles were so crowded that it was difficult to move. IT was good to see some independent artists get to sell their work.
Art Prints
Kefka and Terra
Being a very Final Fantasy heavy year so far how could I miss this piece featuring the series greatest hero being tormented by the series greatest villain?
Karen
Karen from Code Geass looking very hot and very awesome.
Moe Kallen and Mio
This artist basically turns any anime character into a moe character. Mio and Karen were among my favorites but I was also very tempted by her Asuka.
Cosplay
I never take as many pictures as I want. After a few hours I’m normally weighted down by too many bads to handle my Camera. Here are some cosplay highlights:
Cat Bus!
Kefka crossplay
Kenpachi
Kallen (Karen)
Washu (FTW!)
Overall
The event was a blast and highly recommended. Now that Anime Boston is the sixth largest Anime convention in the country, and growing every year, they will continue to get top guests and put on an amazing show. I suggest going for the entire weekend if you can as one day is no where near enough time to see and experience everything. Hell, one day isn’t enough to see the entire dealers room in full. The convention is well organized, the venue is next to a ton of hotels and inside a mall (cheap food is not far away), and the fans involved do a great job to put on many fantastic panels and a perfectly executed Masquerade. I look forward to next year.
Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini (Twins of the Meteor) is the squeal to the 2007 hit series Darker Than Black. It picks up two years later with Hei now on the run from the now weakened Syndicate and working for the CIA in Russia. But the Syndicate wants revenge for his betrayal. Hei is ordered to capture a Meteor Core from a scientist but instead ends up protecting his young daughter from the Syndicate who are desperately searching for her Contractor twin brother.
When I started watching Darker Than Black Ryūsei no Gemini I quickly realized that I probably should go back and re-watch the original. Two years is a long time between series and it’s hard to pick up because the show drops you into the world. Very much like the original there are a half dozen organizations fighting each other with endless amounts of contractors and the narrative never slows down long enough to actually explain why these things are happening. Luckily, the two saving graces of the original Darker Than Black once again save its sequel.
The characters in Darker Than Black are always interesting if not always the most developed. Even some of the side characters have interesting personalities, from the mostly silent April to the completely stoic July, their characters aren’t explored in much depth but they remain somewhat compelling. But the main characters are wonderful. Hei is as complex as he ever has been. Now that he is on the run and taking even shadier jobs he has been completely destroyed by life as a contractor. Suou, the young girl, comes in and forces Hei to deal with some of his deeper issues while dealing with her own crippling problems. I love these characters and I cheered for them as they grow and become able to deal with their problems.
The action is also top notch. While the battles are sometimes short the variety of powers the contractors use always make the combat interesting. The key element that makes them compelling is that Hei has to learn what his new foes power is and how to counter it. The majority of the fun of the show is watching Hei develop methods of defeating the seemingly endless variety of contractors that appear. My favorite was The Magician who was able to create a field around his body to make it seem like anything tossed at him just passed right through.
There are two story arcs in Darker Than Black, which come together in the end, the first are the character arcs of Suou and Hei and how they deal with their individual circumstances. As I stated above, I love both these characters and their development is handled extremely well. However the other storyline, the one containing the battle between the Syndicate and the CIA, is almost impossible to follow. There are times when it is difficult to tell the difference between the two organizations let alone their goals. This might be a translation error or something actually intended by the author but either way it makes following the story difficult.
The supernatural aspect is also a bit wonky. The show handles the individual powers well but when it starts talking about their source and how those people received their powers the concept falls apart. Nothing is explained. There are just things happening. There are dolls that can observe people at long distances and they are important somehow… but nothing is ever said about their origin or exactly why they are important or how they are connected to the fact that the original stars have disparaged. All the questions left at the end of the first season are left unanswered with many more piled on top. It is as if the writers have dug themselves into a hole and the only way they can think of to get out of it is just to dig deeper and deeper.
Darker Than Black 2 is a wonderful character piece with some excellent well thought out action sequences. But the story and concept of the show suffer due to its complexity and faith in its audience. While the poorly organized plot does make the show confusing at times the characters and actions more than make up for it.
Characters of Hei and Suou are well developed and interesting
The action alone is worth watching all thirteen episodes
The writers will never run out of interesting Contractor powers
Bad
Supernatural elements are never explained, seem like nonsense
Disorganized plot which is difficult to follow
Afterward:
Most of my confusion based on the shows plot probably comes from not knowing a lot about the characters or the organizations battling it out. I will still hold that against the show because this isn’t billed as Darker Than Black 2 it’s billed as a new story in the same universe. I remember being very angry at the end of the original for many of the same problems this sequel has, at least in the supernatural elements. I remember the noir aspects of the show a bit more well constructed than the ones in the sequel. So I will be returning to Darker Than Black and attempting to make some sense out of its overarching story. But if I cannot I’ll still be able to see Hei kick some ass again. Something worth watching both shows to witness.
While there are examples of Otaku who take themselves far too seriously on the whole Otaku culture is very aware of itself. The hit Lucky Star is an example of the culture looking back on itself and having a laugh at some of the sillier aspects. Seitokai no Ichizon (The Student Council’s Discretion) sets out with this same goal and will delight hardcore anime and manga fans but may leave more casual fans scratching their head.
The show is about a Student Council who have been elected by a popularity contest. So, obviously, they are all beautiful young girls. The fifth seat, given to the student with the best exam grades, is filled by Ken Sugisaki who went from last in his class to first in order to turn the student council into his own personal harem. The majority of the time is spent inside the student council room as the characters explore their likes, dislikes, talk about the future, and pretty much, as is stated through the series, do nothing.
The major focus of the show is on the individual characters because there is no story to drive the plot forward. Each character represents a specific anime genre or trope. Kurimu Sakurano is the Loli and Tsundere, Chizuru Akaba has a sadistic and dangerous aura around her but remains very quiet and serious, Minatsu Shiina is very athletic and always attempting to get the student council to hold tournaments or fight demons, Mafuyu Shiina is an avid gamer and is obsessed with writing boys love fiction, and Ken Sugisaki plays the horny sex obsessed pig and the heroic “make girls happy” archtype all in one.
It’s probably bad form to write a character analysis into a review. But the show relays so much on these characters it is difficult to review the series without an understanding of what the show is trying to accomplish. The show uses these characters to explore those common tropes and make fun of them. There are two main methods that they do this. The first is simply coming up with a strange topic that each member comments on and the second is for the characters to collaborate to write a piece of fiction. The first becomes somewhat formulaic as the show goes on, which is bad for a series only twelve episodes long, but does allow for the jokes to keep flowing around the topic at hand. The second is far more enjoyable because it allows for the series to play out some of the tropes it’s making fun of in actions even if it’s just being imagined. Those sequences becomes a welcome break from the standard formula which features the characters sitting around a table in the Student council club room.
Seitokai no Ichizon is a satire and in order to enjoy it the audience needs to have an intimate knowledge of what they are parodying. They don’t just cover anime in general but some of the most recent anime that have aired in Japan. There were jokes tossed in during the preview where one of the characters became excited reading off names of shows airing that season, then disappointed when she gets to “Student Council.” They make a joke about Haruhi’s Endless Eight Arc, which aired over the summer. There are very few references in the show that a mainstream American anime fan will understand with the exception of a few Dragonball jokes. A general anime fan might enjoy the tropes being parodied but it takes an intimate knowledge of Anime and Manga in order to truly appreciate some of the satire.
It’s unfortunate that the jokes will appeal to such a small audience because of the quality of the writing. The writing is wonderful, which is expected considering this show was adapted from a very popular light novel, and the author manipulates the tropes in a way that explores the absurdity of the medium without being over the top. But this exploration does fall into a formula. The characters talk about the topics in turn and then the topic changes. Repeat. The writing keeps the show entertaining but if watching five people talking in a room for twenty minutes doesn’t appeal to you then you should probably pass entirely.
I don’t want the weight that I’m putting behind the ideas that these characters these representative of anime tropes to say they don’t have characteristics of their own, they don’t interact with each other with their own personalities, or that they do not grow. They are three dimensional, fairly well developed characters, but that development is restricted by the elements listed above. Even so, the moment of growth towards the end of the series comes when each character breaks, at least a bit, some part of their stereotypical roles. It is an enjoyable moment but it ultimately disappointing because shortly after the characters begin to develop the show ends.
The character animation and designs are stunning. Each character has their own unique, colorful qualities that not only fit in with visual archetypes but make for a visually interesting combination. The uniforms are one of the most distinctive part of the show specificity the men’s which mirrors the girls as a way to make fun of the idea that men always have plain uniforms while women have elaborate ones. There aren’t many times the characters leave the student council room so it isn’t surprising the animators would make sure the character designs were of exceptional quality.
The music in the series is nothing special. The opening and ending theme are ok and the background music is simple and easily forgettable.
Seitokai no Ichizon is an anime for anime fans. It has little to no mainstream appeal and can be formulaic at times. But the jokes are funny and the characters somehow become endearing despite their limitations. If the series went a little longer they may have developed beyond the confined of the gag.
Good:
Great character designs
Hilarious satire
Characters grow out of their predetermined molds
Bad:
Odd pacing
Formulaic
Casual anime fans will miss most jokes and references
I know everyone is making these kind of lists and that I’ve already stated my top anime of 2009 on the podcast. But I figured this is a good way to look back at the year and maybe help readers catch a few shows they missed before getting swamped by the upcoming Winter season. I limited the list to five because I don’t think I have seen enough shows to warrant a top ten list. Even if I watched twenty shows, it’s probably somewhere around that, picking ten is still half the shows I happened to see.
I only have one rule for this list. The anime must have finished airing or being released in Japan or United States in 2009. If I have already seen the show in fansubs it becomes ineligible for the list the year it gets an R1 release.
The reason for this is because there are certain films that I have refused to see until I can get them on blu-ray. So I don’t want to exclude them from future lists. At the same time I really want this to be a list of the year the shows were originally aired in Japan. So I’m going to try the middle ground.
On to the list:
5. Clannad After Story
I wasn’t completely in love with the original Clannad. It was a nice little series but, like all the key adaptations, it had some serious problems. There are just some elements that do not translate from visual novel to anime well. Clannad, and Kannon before it, get repetitive and predicable, not to mention melodramatic.
Clannad After Story was able to shed most of the limitations of an adapted light novel. The concept of a high school love story being carried on after graduation was unique and presented in a way that felt genuine. Things aren’t all roses and fireworks after high school. The real world has to be tackled. Bills have to be paid. Clannad After Story, despite the melancholy and strange plot devices, is a well executed love story about two people who just wanted to live a normal life. It also will destroy your soul and reconstruct it in its own image. Just saying.
4. Casshern Sins
I have never seen a Casshern property before watching this latest iteration of the ancient franchise. The quality of the animation alone should earn it a place on this list. But on top of the ascetic value the show featured an incredible sound track and a solid story about the fear of death and what it means to be mortal. The dark atmosphere of the series was balanced with characters that were able to absolutely melt your heart without being obnoxious. The action was good, if a bit repetitive, but the real value of the show comes from the well presented themes. What does it mean to be mortal? What does it mean to be immortal? What is the power of hope?
3. Canaan
Canaan is one of the best action shows that has come out in a long time. It avoids being a stoic story of bitter revenge by giving the seemingly heartless Canaan a unbelievably cheerful foil. In fact all of the dark characters have foils which gives the show a tonal balance between light and serious. The animation is spectacularly well done and the action is fast pasted and fluid.
The most illustrative scene is when the President of the United States proclaims “LOVE AND PEACE” to a gathering of diplomats before being subjected to a deadly virus. Yes, it goes back and forth like that throughout the entire 12 episode run.
2. Ride Back
Ride Back finally blends normal animation with CG mechs that enhances, not distracts, from the overall quality of a show. From the first scene, which features the heroine doing ballet, the audience is given some of the most beautiful art and animation I have ever seen in a television show. The story doesn’t disappoint either, bringing into question the nature of advancing military technology in civilian hands, the question of unlocking ones talent, and a frightening look into a powerful government based on fear of terrorism make this one hell of a loaded 12 episode near-masterpiece. The only factor holding the show back from gaining the number 1 stop is an abrupt ending that was obviously rushed due to time constraints. One more episode and this show could have been flawless.
1. Toradora!
Nothing beats a good love story. Except a good love triangle and the only thing that beats that is a love square. Toradora! is the show that I watched the second it came out and immediately demanded more. The characters were deep, including the background characters, lead by the growing friendship come relationship of Taiga and Ruiji, the two social rejects of the school who help each other to grow together to become part of the class.
The best aspect of Toradora! is that the audience is unsure which of the three female characters to root for because each has their advantages and failings. You want to love them all. The dynamic love story, the excellent sound track, and beautiful art rank this show above all others this year because it was able to balance humor and drama, elation and disappointment, love and hate with a masterful command of character.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to watch everything that came out this year. Shows that I’ve seen rated very highly like Bakemonogatari or Eden of the East could have made this list. But at this point I don’t know. If only I could devote all my time to anime.
It is interesting to note that I mainly focus on shows that have a balanced tone. I didn’t realize it at the time but each of these shows, with the exception of Casshern Sins which is 80% “I wanna cut myself” depressing, balances serious themes with periods of light hearted fun. Those are qualities to look for in any good story not limit to just Anime.
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Hollow Pursuits 