One Piece: Season 1

Synopsis: Before he was executed, the legendary Pirate King Gold Roger revealed that he had hidden the treasure One Piece somewhere in the Grand Line. Now, many pirates are off looking for this legendary treasure to claim the title Pirate King. One aspiring pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, is a boy who had eaten the Devil Fruit, a fruit that gives the consumer superhuman powers at the expense of losing their ability to swim forever.  The specific Devil Fruit Luffy ate, the Gum Gum Fruit, turned his body into rubber and gave him the ability to stretch, deflect bullets, and do many other amazing things! Now he is off to recruit a worthy crew and find the legendary One Piece, while battling enemies and making new friends along the way.
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Sorry, everyone! I have been putting this review off a bit.

When One Piece was first requested, I was honestly tempted to answer with, "Sorry, but I'm allergic to bad anime."  I could not say that, though, since I had just finished telling that same person that I review anime whether it is good or bad.  That is the point of reviewing.  So, I agreed to review Season 1...reluctantly.  I usually avoid anything that Shonen Jump puts out.  I also am not a pirate enthusiast (maybe it was the craze over Pirates of the Caribbean or something, but I just want to gag when I hear people talking about how awesome pirates are all the time).  Boy, was I surprised!  It sure took its time getting good, but by episode 36, I was hooked like an old lady on a bad soap opera.  That is why I have been putting the review off--I was having so much fun watching it!

Probably the most difficult thing I had to get past when I initially started watching One Piece was the art style.  I could not figure out if I found its simplicity charmingly old-school or repulsively lazy.  Now, I am more used to it, though I usually have a thing for more detailed and pretty art.  Character designs struck me as being rather ridiculous at first, especially villains.  (For example, there is a hypnotist at one point who is a very obvious Michael Jackson clone.  He even does the moonwalk instead of walking forward.)  That having been said, though the art style is not exactly detailed and beautiful, many of the islands are very creative beautiful places that took a lot of imagination to come up with.

The second thing I had to get past was the waiting period.  Shonen Jump is rather notorious for putting out anime that take a long time to pick up and get interesting, but I assure you, after around 23 episodes of bearing with One Piece, it definitely gets better.  A lot better.  By episode 36, the weak character development does a complete 180.  I found myself tearing up over Nami's background story and actually starting to love the characters.  The humor improves, as well.  At first, I thought it was overdone and silly, but once the story started to pick up, the funny moments were a lot more hilarious.  I have actually laughed out loud on numerous occasions (and it is rather difficult to get me to laugh out loud when viewing anime--or any other tv shows...usually I just laugh inwardly).

As far as voice acting is concerned, I initially wrote in my notes that both the Japanese and English dubbed versions were irritating.  Now, I like the English dub better than the Japanese, and I am not quite sure what I found so annoying about the voices.  I suppose pretty much everything about this anime grew on me.

Everything except for the theme songs, that is.  I would advise just skipping them altogether.  I really have not heard a single theme song that did not make me want to sadly shake my head.  The background music, for the most part, is nothing amazing, but it fits the series.  I do love the song Overtaken, though.  Every time I hear it I get a bit excited, knowing that some awesome fight is about to go down.

So there you have it.  A short review (I apologize that my reviews have been so short lately.  I swear I am going to start taking better notes again and stop procrastinating on writing these.), but in my opinion, enough said.  Bottom line, One Piece definitely lives up to all its hype, and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a fun adventure!  Even if you have a bias against Shonen Jump and pirates like I did, I urge you to give it a chance.  A good long chance, not just the first few episodes--remember, it takes quite a while to get good.  Patience is a virtue, and it will be rewarded with this anime, which definitely makes for addictive viewing.  I might add that Season 1 ends on an interesting cliff hanger! Betcha can't watch just 1!

I will rate One Piece Season 1 an 8 out of 10.  If it had not wasted so many episodes in the beginning and started out as good as it ended, it might have made it to a 9 or 10.


Up next is Air Master!


Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts, questions, or just telling me you read this.  You don't need an account to do so.

Air Gear

Synopsis: Minami “Ikki” Itsuki, is a student and a delinquent. Also known as the “Unbeatable Babyface,” Ikki is the leader of the youth gang by the name of “East Side Gunz.” Upon his return home after being humiliated by a street gang of Storm Riders called the Skull Saders, Ikki discovers a secret hidden from him by his benefactors, the Noyamano sisters. The sisters belong to a group of Storm Riders who go by the team name of Sleeping Forest. Keen on helping Ikki to regain his confidence and pride, they supply him with a pair of Air Trecks (abbreviated as “AT”). Ikki eventually settles his grudge with the Skull Saders, but in the process he receives more than the simple satisfaction of revenge. Determined to experience the sensation of “flight” for as long as he can, our headstrong protagonist is quickly sucked into the mysterious, yet irresistible world of Air Treck.
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Sorry to disappoint, but this time I do not really plan to dazzle anyone with my awesome review on this anime.  See, I wound up taking a bit of a break from all the note-taking and reviewing stuff to just enjoy leisurely watching this series.  I am sure if I really tried, I could put together something nice and spiffy and word-packed.  Instead, I am just going to give a few comments and an out-of-10 rating.

I really was not expecting to enjoy Air Gear at all.  Sports-themed shonen (shonen =  genre of anime based on action that targets mostly a male audience) is not exactly my thing, and gangs riding around on high-tech rollerblades struck me as pretty lame.  In addition to that, a lot of this anime seems to have been a rip-off of Jet Set Radio with a typical, formulaic shonen anime plot with typical characters.

Having said all of that, the art was nice.  The character designs were interesting.  The tricks were fun to watch.  For once, I preferred to watch the dub, as the use of slang actually added to the series without veering away from the original script.  The soundtrack was mostly really great.  In conclusion,I had way more fun watching this than I thought I would, and I am quite disappointed that the anime was canceled after only the first season.  I will be reading the manga, which is still ongoing, but it is a shame I will not get to see the tricks in motion in color.

I'm giving Air Gear a 7.5 out of 10.  Above average, and a lot of fun to watch, despite its copying of JSR and other flaws.

Up next, by request, is One Piece, Season 1!


Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts, questions, or just telling me you read this.  You don't need an account to do so.

Agent Aika (and AIka R-16: Virgin Mission and AIka ZERO)

Synopsis: A catastrophic earthquake has left Tokyo, and most of the Earth for that matter, under the sea. Aika is a salvager who retrieves various remains from the watery ruins. When Aika accepts the dangerous mission of locating and obtaining the mysterious Lagu, she discovers that she's not the only one after it.
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This is the first ecchi anime I have reviewed, as well as the first I have seen (as far as I can remember anyway).  For those of you who do not know what ecchi is, it is anime that has vague sexual context, but at the same time does not show outright sex/pornography.  I have seen a few hentai anime (yes, anime porn), so, thankfully, I was prepared for the ridiculousity that is ecchi.

Ah, Agent Aika, an ecchi classic.  A silly, mostly female, 007-style comedy.  Beautiful art, and great music. What can I say?  PANTIES!  Yes, hundreds of panties are what Agent Aika is most known for, and for good reason.  I mean, yes it is ecchi, and fanservice upskirt shots are quite common in anime, but seriously! Panties in the first few minutes, and a never-ending ridiculous display of them throughout the rest of the show.  If you are easily offended by upskirts and crotch shots depicting tightly fitting white panties, do not, I repeat, do NOT watch this one.

Okay, now that I have gotten that out of the way...

I suppose I will start with sound.  I was impressed with the opening theme song.  It has a catchy '80's punky metal sound with lots of electric guitar that shifts to a more uplifting rock sound near the end of the song.  The background music is also quite good, giving the anime a jazzy, spy movie feel and building up to dramatic effects at the right times.  The ending theme song is fun, something you can dance to, with an almost techno-like beat and some elements of rock.  In episode 4.5, which is pretty much stupid filler--I was glad it was so short!--, there is a different opening theme with a nice amount of dramatic tension and interesting use of trumpets to add that cool spy movie sound.  Please, do not bother putting yourself through the ending theme of this episode.  Sadly, 4.5's ending theme becomes the opening theme for the remaining episodes, this time a rock version that does not sound much better.  The ending theme for the remaining episodes was so bad I did not even want to listen to it.

I watched the English dub, since I could not find any good quality episodes with subtitles that were not fuzzy.  The dub was pretty terrible, but I expected it to be bad.  Voices do not match the characters very well, and actors often miss the intended goal in expressing certain emotions shown in the characters' facial expressions.  Also, the volume seems lower for certain characters than others, as if they were recorded in different studios and the volume was not adjusted.

The animation was beautifully executed! Lovely use of vivid colors, extremely smooth movement for 1997, an interesting array of comedic facial expressions, and creative character designs.  (The one character design I really hated was Neena, when she transforms using Alternate Metal.  She becomes entirely gray, including her hair, which I might add is styled very unattractively.  In contrast, I loved the darker-skinned version of Aika when she transforms using her Alternate Metal. Very pretty!)  Agent Aika is well-known for its creative use of camera angles to achieve maximum panty exhibition, and it certainly lived up to its reputation! I was in awe of the immense variety of creative camera angles and different perspectives used throughout the show.  Fight scenes are flowy, skillful, savvy, slick, and well planned out--well planned if girls flying through the air or falling over in the perfect way to show their panties is your thing, of course.  Girls who are knocked unconscious either wind up with their butts in the air or their skirts flipped up or their legs spread.  Every time, without fail.  The designs of the technology in the show is decent.  I did not give it too much thought, other than thinking a slapstick fight using the grappler arms of ships was completely awesome!

The story is solid enough to keep you interested, which is not a common characteristic of ecchi, as far as I have been told.  It is not an amazing story, but, then again, most people are not viewing Agent Aika for an amazing story.  If you keep in mind that it is a silly, dirty, Bond-influenced comedy, then you will probably be quite satisfied with the story.  Readers might want to be aware that this show does contain possible incest.  I say "possible" for a couple reasons.  In anime, female characters often refer to older male characters as "Onii-chan" or "Older Brother" even though they are not actually related.  Therefore, the fact that Neena calls Rudolf "Big Brother" could just be a direct translation of her nickname for him, and not something that implies they are related.  To help clear this up, out of curiosity, I consulted Wikipedia, of course.  Wikipedia says this of Neena Hagen: "She is a test tube baby like Rudolf [Hagen]. It is unknown if she is the blood sister of Rudolf."  These are the two reasons I say "possible" incest.
The final episode was alright; it brought back some characters, which was cool, but it lacked the excitement of previous episodes, which made for a somewhat disappointing finale.

If you keep in mind what Agent Aika was intended to be and are prepared for too many panties to count, an all female army, large breasts, perverted humor, nudity, latex uniforms, lingerie, etc, then Agent Aika will most certainly not disappoint you.  It was an excellent production, considering it's goals.

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AIka R-16: Virgin Mission

 

Synopsis:  Aika is a smart and athletic high school girl. She is so competent that she successfully passes the salvager's license test, obtaining a C-class license. Yet, she is young and hotheaded, so much so that Gota still treats her as a child. Due to this personality, no one is willing to hire her for salvaging jobs.

Since she had taken the trouble to get her license, she decides to post an ad in her school to attract clients. She manages to get the attention of Eri, a daughter of a rich family and the leader of the treasure hunting club. She asks Aika to salvage something from the sea and Aika delightfully accepts the request.

However, upon seeing the state-of-the-art submarine loaded onto Erika's private cruiser and discovering their destination, Aika realizes the terrible nature of her assignment. This results in a clash with a group of high school girls in the southern islands.

Who is the mysterious girl named Karen? So begins Aika's newest challenge!
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I am not going to go as in depth about R-16 as I did with the first series.  I am just going to write a few things directly from my notes.

The opening theme is good, but not spectacular.  I can listen to it with no problem, though.  Same goes for the ending theme.

Aika, as a younger girl, has much more personality.

The art is different, but I cannot say if it was better or worse.  Just different.  The animation may be slightly improved, but the original was so wonderfully animated that it would be tough to improve on.  [Also, any improvement would obviously be due to the fact that this one came out after.]

I watched the Japanese version with subtitles, and the voice acting was good.  I did not notice any flaws with it.

The story is much better than in the first series, in my opinion, and one you can take a bit more seriously.  The humor is also really funny at times! Be sure you watch the ending credits and after them for the true ending of the series.

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AIka ZERO

 

Synopsis:  Aika is now 19 years-old, 3 older than in R-16 and 7 younger than in Agent Aika. Strange phenomena have been occurring at a girls' academy. Slowly but persistently, the cutest and most beautiful girls are joining an internal club, but instead of a sing-in they just get abducted by a strange being that takes control over them by some indecent means. By coincidence Aika was flying-by in her plane when one of these abductions occurred, and she was attacked to prevent her from coming closer.  Instead of repelling her, she is intrigued about the attack's origin, and the opportunity shows up when her partners from R-16 decide to investigate the abductions.
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Just as in R-16, I am also not going extremely into detail with ZERO.  Here are my notes on it.

Opening theme was once again nice, but not special in any way.  However, the ending theme was really good!  Pretty, soft vocals and rockin' electric guitar to contrast them!

This series brings back characters from R-16, which I liked, but I was sad that Karen has her hair cut short.  She was so beautiful and almost ethereal with it long.

In ZERO, the creators get even more perverted and more bold with the usage of nudity.  It borders on the line between ecchi and hentai at times, but does not cross into hentai.  Somehow, it still does not strike me as trashy or silly, though.  The story, as in R-16, is good and one you can take more seriously.  In my opinion, better than the original.  If I had to choose which story is better out of R-16 and ZERO, I do not think I could.


This series is rather difficult to rate.  If I rated it as if it were just another anime series, I am sure the rating would be rather low.  However, I am going to rate it keeping in mind what it is: ecchi, and it was damn good, considering that.  I am going to give it an 8, as I found it to be very enjoyable, and the overall experience allowed me to overlook any flaws.


Next on the list is Air Gear!


Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts, questions, or just telling me you read this.  You don't need an account to do so.

Ai Yori Aoshi (and Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi)

Synopsis: Kaoru Hanabishi, a college student who living alone, meets a beautiful but bewildered girl dressed in kimono at a train station. He volunteers to guide her to the address she is looking for, which is near his apartment.  However, it turns out to be an empty lot. Not knowing what to do next, Kaoru invites the devastated girl to his apartment and asks for any additional clue -- a photo with two children whom Kaoru immediately identifies as himself and "Aoi-chan", his childhood friend. It turns out that the girl in front of him is Aoi Sakuraba herself, his betrothed fiancée who came all the way to Tokyo to marry him. Her revelation is not only surprising but also reminds the deepest part of Kaoru of the reason he left the Hanabishi house in the first place.
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When I first started watching Ai Yori Aoshi, I got into it really quickly.  I loved the characters!  I often find myself cringing at how cheesy and barf-worthy romance genres can be, but this anime had me literally squealing like a little girl over how cute and sweet the characters were.  However, it soon began to fade into boring plot filler, aforementioned cheesy romance, and generic harem-style characters.  Things started to pick up again in episode 12, though, and better character development and romance returned.  The anime occasionally faded back and forth from good to boring filler throughout the entire season, but I was satisfied with the ending and found myself hoping that the second season, Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi, would live up to the standard set by the first season. (Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though.)  To be fair, I think most of my boredom while watching this series stemmed from the fact that it fits into the same genre category as Ah! My Goddess, which I just finished watching and reviewing. 

As far as art goes, this series is sufficiently aesthetically pleasing, but nothing special.  Also, seeing how Aoi's family is in the kimono business, I really wish they would have changed her kimono up instead of just the pattern on the obi.  How boring to always see her wearing the same color with no pattern on it!  The animation was nice and smooth; it did not seem sub par at all to me.

Now, I shall move on to sound.  The opening theme is pretty.  I love the piano and vocals! At first, the ending theme seemed pretty average to me, and it struck me as sounding a bit like lounge music.  It did grow on me a bit, though.  I was kind of disappointed when it changed in episode 15 to a more mellow not-as-pretty song.  Luckily, the ending theme changed back to the original one for the remaining episodes.  The background music is often quite lovely, with a bit of a traditional Japanese sound to it, using instruments such as the koto.  Even sound effects were nicely done!  Voice acting is all good, except for Tina.  Her voice annoyed me, which is to be expected, since she is supposed to be an American, but still...there was just something about her voice itself that I did not like.  (Speaking of Tina being an American and voice acting, I might as well note that it is quite humorous to hear the Japanese voice actors who are supposed to be American or supposed to have spent time in England say phrases in English.  Without the subtitles, it still would have been kind of hard to make out what they said at times!)  As far as the dub goes, avoid it like the plague! I had to watch the dub for a couple episodes because I could not find the subtitled ones, and it was so bad that at first I honestly thought it was a terrible fandub.  Then I watched the ending credits, and it appeared to be a legit Pioneer English release.  What were you thinking, Pioneer? And what is with translating some suffixes to "Miss" or "Lady" or "Sir" prefixes while leaving others as Japanese suffixes?  Strange.  Also, Tina's voice is even more irritating in the English dub!

I have already said a bit about the story.  I will go on to say that it is a pretty usual strange-girl-randomly-shows-up-in-ordinary-and-shy-boy's-life-then-tons-of-girls-also-wind-up-falling-for-him harem plot, though it is different enough to keep things interesting and set it apart a little.  Some viewers may be offended at how the main female character, Aoi, is portrayed.  She is very submissive to the main male character, Kaoru, but one must keep in mind that she was raised in a very wealthy traditional Japanese household.  Also, she seems to be happy, and the two seem to truly love each other.  This anime is one of the sexier romance/harem series I have seen, but I say that in a classy way (remember, Aoi is very traditional, and Kaoru is rather shy and has a lot of respect for Aoi).  Classy, of course, with the exception of Tina's annoying breast-squeezing greeting and occasional fan service type humor that is to be expected in anime.  Make sure you do not miss the adorable flashback at the very end of the last episode, after the ending theme song! It is way too cute to miss.
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Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi

Synopsis: Two whole years after Kaoru & Aoi reunited, they are still in love with each other. Although they are still in love with each other, their relationship still must be kept a secret, despite getting the approval from Aoi’s parents, for fear it would cause controvert with the rest of the Sakurabas and the Hanabishis.
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As for the second season, Enishi, I will not go too in depth.  Not much is different from the first season, and I do believe it lived up to the standard that the first season set.

The opening theme song was bland, for lack of a better term.  The ending theme was just bad.  It was annoying.  It changed for the better to a more soft rock and almost R&B sounding song (still not great, but better) in episode 9.  However, once again, this ending theme change did not stick.  I did not even pay enough attention to the background music to take any notes on it; I suppose that means it was just average background music.

There were a few odd moments in the animation.  The one that comes to mind is a moment in episode 1 when Kaoru's voice is really flustered-sounding, but his facial expression stayed exactly the same.

Character development for Tina was really excellent toward the end of the season.  It almost completely changed my opinion of her during the last few episodes.  I actually grew to like a character that I previously could not stand.

I want to give this anime some props for being the only series I know of that has a ferret as the token cute animal.  Uzume's ferret mannerisms and movements were dead-on, too! I know from having experienced practically living with someone who had a ferret.  I have to give the animators credit for that.

The ending was a happy one.  It left a lot up to the imagination, but did give a good glimpse into everyone's near future.

There is a Christmas special for Enishi, often called episode 0, but officially titled Miyuki.  It seems to take place about two years before Ai Yori Aoshi (as in, season 1) starts.  I suppose I should have watched it before the rest of Enishi, but the truth is that I did not plan to watch it at all.  (I do not usually like Christmas specials.)  I wound up watching it simply because I was procrastinating on writing this review.  I am glad I did! This was actually a really cute special that gives a little bit of a magical, fantasy twist to the otherwise reality-based "fate" that this season is named for ("Enishi").  Watching it out of order did not make much difference, however, I would recommend that you do watch it before the rest of Enishi, so that you can keep the cute magical twist in mind for the rest of the show.

Overall, this series was pretty good!  I will grant it a 7, as it was above average, but did seem a bit like previous works and had a few flaws.


Next up is AIka, which will be followed by AIka R-16 and AIka: Zero!  Hooray for a genre change! Get ready for some ecchi, comedy, action/adventure, and sci-fi!


Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts, questions, or just telling me you read this.  You don't need an account to do so.

Ah My Goddess: Everyone Has Wings

Synopsis: One year after goddess Belldandy emerged from Keiichi Morisato's mirror and promised to stay with him forever, a new threat to their happiness emerges, one that could end the contract between Belldandy and Keiichi.

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If you are looking for a good in-depth review for this one, you will not find it here.  As with the first season of AMG, I did not jot down many notes, as I did not feel very compelled to.

Season two, also called Everyone Has Wings or Flights of Fancy, was improved when compared to season one, I will give it that.

The animation was smoother, and the art had more definition and detail.  The character designs were beautiful.

The plot was strange and often boring. Sadly, Belldandy and Keiichi do not seem to have made much progress in a year's time.  They are both so shy and naive that is almost nauseating at times.  At least there is more (and better) humor.

The theme music is much better for this season! I liked the opening theme; it was fitting for the series, yet still interesting.  The addition of bagpipes was beautiful.  The ending theme was much less annoying than in the first season, and in episode 12 the ending theme changes.  The second ending theme is definitely the best song I have heard in this series.

Yes, that is pretty much it.  I was not impressed.  My overall opinion is cute and sometimes interesting, but not as great as everyone makes it out to be.  Not even close.

I think I am going to rate this a 6 out of 10.

Originally I had planned to also review the OVA as well as Mini Goddess, but I think I will pass.  I might go back to them some day, or I may review them if someone is really interested.  However, I was pretty bored with this series.  Next up on my list is Ai Shite Night! Stay tuned! Next up will be Ai Yori Aoshi instead, since only episodes 1-3 of Aishite Night have been subtitled so far (out of 42).


Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts, questions, or just telling me you read this.  You don't need an account to do so. 

Ah My Goddess

Synopsis: Keiichi Morisato is looking forward to university life. But in reality, he has no luck in anything, and he has trouble with clubs, love, etc. The truth is that he has an unlucky star above his head. One day, Keiichi is stuck watching the dorm while his sempai are away, and has a mountain of chores to do to boot. But Keiichi is a good-natured person, and is set about doing his duties. As he is about to finish his final chore, he makes a phone call to his sempai. But the words that came through the receiver are, 'Goddess Help Line.' Shortly afterwards, a beautiful goddess named Belldandy appears in front of him from the mirror of his room.

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I am going to start out by explaining a bit about why this review may be shorter and a little less in depth than my other two. I have heard so much hype about Ah My Goddess over the years, and I was really excited to finally watch this series. However, I was really pretty disappointed, as is the case with most of the anime I have seen that are really hyped up. Usually, while watching an anime to review, I jot down a lot of notes to help me remember everything I want to write about when I review the series. This time, I did not take many notes at all. Part of it was just me being lazy, but part of it was the fact that nothing really struck me as worth writing down most of the time. It seemed like a really mediocre harem anime with very typical characters for the majority of the show. The episodes did finally become much more interesting near the end, however, so I have hope for Ah My Goddess: Everyone Has Wings (technically, this is the second season, not a separate series, but I am reviewing the show in two parts, since it was released with two names).

As far as the art and animation, it was nothing special, but decent. However, we'll keep in mind that this series is fairly old, as it is from the late '90's. I like the character designs of the goddesses. They're actually really interesting. They have facial markings that remind me of tribal tattoos, hairstyles with the cute gravity-defying antennae, and pretty clothing...I can't really place the influence on the the clothes, but I am fairly sure their outfits had some kind of cultural influence.

The music is nothing special, either, but it fits with the series. I do skip these theme songs, that's for sure.

Moving on...

The storyline is not out of the ordinary for this genre of anime, and the characters all annoyed me at first. Yes, every single one of them. When Skuld appeared, she was the only one I remotely liked, though she also annoyed me. (But, hey, I can't completely hate on a kid who builds robots and has crazy schemes, can I?) In the last few episodes, the story gets more interesting, and there is more character development. I really started to like Urd a lot, and I liked Skuld even more, too. The other characters became less annoying.

Voice acting is pretty bad. At first, I thought it was just a bad dub, so I switched to the sub for the next episode. I was wrong, though. Actually, it turns out that it was a great dub, in that the voices were really cast to sound just like the originals. They were pretty much identical. So, I switched back over to the dub for a little while. Then, when Skuld appeared, I started watching the sub again, since her voice is a bit worse in the dub (as are all anime kids' voices). Her voice actress in Japanese is quite talented at crying, I must say, which is a good talent to have when playing Skuld.

I am not sure whether to rate this anime a 5 or 6 overall, so I am going to give it a 5.5. The site I use as reference when trying to decide what to rate shows describes a 5 and a 6 as follows:

"5 - OK.
A production that doesn't stand out besides some of its flaws. It was barely worth your time, and you wouldn't want to watch it again.

6 - Average.
Solid production, but doesn't really stand out. The anime was good to pass time, but isn't memorable in any fashion. Worth watching once, because you didn't have anything else to do."


Next up is Ah My Goddess: Everyone Has Wings!

Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts, questions, or just telling me you read this.  You don't need an account to do so.

Samurai Champloo

Synopsis: Mugen's a buck wild warrior - violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin - mysterious, traditional, well-mannered and very strong as well. These two fiercely independent warriors can`t be any more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed when they are arrested after a violent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." And their journey begins. This is a story about love, friendship and courage... NOT!

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Wow! This anime was excellent! I don't know if my reviewing skills can even do it justice. It was completely filled with win and awesome.

As many of you probably already know, Shinchiro Watanabe, who is famous for Cowboy Bebop, created and directed Samurai Champloo. The style the characters are drawn in is a little different, but it is still reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop. The background art and animation is excellent. Fight scenes are well "choreographed", and I love Mugen's fighting style, with dance moves thrown in to add to the hip hop influence Watanabe experimented with. If I could have any fictional character teach me to fight, it would be Mugen! (Or Hit Girl from Kick-Ass, or Chun Li from Street Fighter, or Talim from Soul Calibur, but that's all beside the point.) Jin's fighting style is very polished and traditional, in contrast. Their fighting styles reflect their personalities, showing how they are different, yet still very alike. The animation of the fight scenes is very fluid. After the ending credits, there are gorgeous drawings of the characters in a style influenced by traditional Japanese artwork.

Just as Watanabe blended jazz music culture and elements of the "Wild West" with a futuristic space setting in Cowboy Bebop, he used an interesting blend of hip hop culture with this anime set in the Edo Period. This is most evident in the soundtrack, composed by Nujabes (may his soul rest in peace; he will be missed). The opening theme is great! Not only does it sound good, but it is one of the few theme songs with lyrics that actually relate to the anime. I almost always skip theme songs, but I can't skip this one! Shiki No Uta, the usual ending theme song, is beautiful. At first, I didn't like it so much, but then they changed where they cropped it a little bit, which made all the difference in the world. Animation throughout the series seems to be well-timed to fit background music beats. In addition to using hip hop music, there are some very nice traditional pieces used. Obokuri Eeumi sung by Ikue Asazuki is a painfully sorrowful Okinawan song about the hardships the people of that time faced, and it will forever haunt my memories (in a good way). Pekambe Uk is traditional Ainu music, using vocals by Umeko Ando posthumously. Episode 17 is dedicated in her memory, and the ending theme song is changed and lengthened for this episode. Kuzunoha no Kowakare, also known as Sara's Song, is another traditional piece sung by Tsukioka Yukiko.

The voice acting was cast well; the only voices I found annoying were those that were supposed to be. I watched the Japanese version with subtitles.

The story is just the right mix of drama and comedy. The dialogue can be so hilarious at times, but you can still take the anime seriously. I love the interesting bits of history about the Edo Period, as well as the fictitious bits of hip hop culture showcasing Watanabe's signature use of anachronism (mixed up chronology). Several episodes brought tears to my eyes. It has been a long time since an anime has triggered such an emotional response in me. Character development is perfect; I found myself getting attached to even minor characters. Fuu is often described as annoying or ditsy, but I loved her just as much as Mugen and Jin. Although she is a bit naive and often finds herself in bad situations, she is strong, bold, and caring.

There are a few episodes that can be considered filler. Episode 12 was pretty much just a recap from the perspective of Fuu's diary. The ending theme song to this episode was different, as well. It was good, but not as good as the usual ending theme. Episodes 22 and 23 did not really further the plot, were mostly comedy, and could therefore be considered filler also. (Note: If you watch episode 23, watch it with an open mind and allow yourself to be amused by the way the Americans are portrayed instead of being offended.) However, Watanabe did do something similar in Bebop, having comedy right before the serious finale...perhaps it is part of his style.

The events leading up to the ending are a dramatic, action-filled, suspenseful, emotional roller coaster that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. As far as the ending goes, I will only say that it was bittersweet and could have been a bit more conclusive. That having been said, I am still satisfied enough with the ending to give this series the rare rating of a 10.

Feel free to leave comments with your opinions or a request for me to review a certain series; you don't need an account.

Next up is Ah My Goddess!

Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple

My anime review debut! Hooray!

Synopsis: Young Mabel West is the daughter of mystery writer Raymond West, who wants her to lead a normal life. Rebelling against this, Mabel wants to be a great detective, and sets out for London to become assistant to none other than Hercule Poirot, the great Belgian detective who resides there. She finally wins the reluctant approval of her father, and embarks on an exciting life of mystery and suspense - his only demand being that she occasionally spend some time with her great-aunt, Jane Marple, in the small village of St. Mary Mead.

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First, I will start off by stating that I have not read Agatha Christie's works, myself. I will therefore be reviewing this series on its own, without comparing it to the novels it was based on.

The stories are old-fashioned mysteries which may seem boring compared to usual silly comedies, magical fantasies, action-packed shonen, etc.  However, there is something enjoyable and relaxing--even refreshingly different--about the classic literature feeling this anime presents the viewer with.

After the first few stories, I predicted that this 39-episodes-long(!) anime might wind up having the same effect on me that CSI did after a while. When CSI first started, it was interesting, but then I began to feel as if I'd seen every single episode, even when watching new ones. Indeed, the episodes started to get a bit dull around episode 9.  Until about halfway through the series, I was sure my prediction was accurate, but then the stories became a bit more interesting after that.

Overall, the mysteries seemed quite predictable to me, though I believe this anime was intended to introduce a younger audience to these classic stories.  It may have been that the creators deliberately made the clues easy to catch onto and connect.

These stories take place in Europe, mostly in England, with the occasional visit to France, etc.  The scenes (especially outdoors) are often quite beautiful, though I wouldn't go so far as to say the art is a total masterpiece.  Still, it is good enough to make you want to visit these places on your next vacation.  As for the people, they are drawn in a slightly old-school, very simplified style that reminds me a bit of Pokemon; not quite enough detail in my opinion, since most of them are dressed in very simple clothes to portray the time period (1930's).  Also, Mabel's pet duck Oliver looks very much like something out of an old Disney cartoon.  In my book, this causes him to fail spectacularly at fulfulling his simple role of being cute.

The music would fall into the classical genre, and is fitting for the anime, though nothing spectacular.  It usually gives a calm, peaceful feeling to the anime.  I could not stand either the opening or ending theme songs.  I'm not even going to bother commenting more on those.

The character development is a bit lacking in depth.  Once again, this might be because it was intended for a younger audience.  Mabel was not originally in the novels, and her purpose is mainly to link the two detectives' stories.  My first impression of her was that she was rather impulsive and did not think things through much--I mean, she had great determination, but hopping on a train and going to another town to beg Detective Poirot to let her be his assistant without thinking about a place to stay or anything seems a little stupid for an aspiring detective, even though she's young and inexperienced.  (Also, I noticed that we never see her carrying a suitcase or anything, though once she does find a place to stay, she changes outfits. Hmm...)  As time goes on, she seems to get a little smarter, but never really strikes me as potential detective material.  The other characters all seem toned-down and bland, even though I haven't read the novels.  I'm guessing they must have had more depth and personality to them if the stories became such classics.  Also, minor characters introduced during each mystery often wind up looking a lot like each other or even main characters.  I often got other male characters confused with Hercule Poirot's assistant Hastings.  The first example of this occured to me during episode 9 when the Minister of Internal Affairs looked almost identical to Chief Inspector Sharp.  It made the dialogue a bit hard to follow.

I watched the Japanese version with subtitles (I'm not even sure if there is a dub for this one).  The voice actors were all cast well.  No complaints here.  I didn't hear a single annoying voice the entire time, or one that didn't seem to fit the character.

Overall, I'm going to give this anime a 5 out of 10.  In my opinion, it is average, and nothing more.  The idea was wonderful, but it could have been executed much better.  Had the art and animation been more detailed, the characters been given more depth, and the music been a little more beautiful (and, OH GOD, PLEASE, better theme songs!)--even less-obvious clues and more drama in the mysteries--well, it had potential for something great.  I'd say it's worth watching if you're bored and like classic detective stories.  Otherwise, spare yourself the time it would take to watch these 39 episodes.

Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, questions, etc.  Or even just to let me know you read this.  I set the comments up so that anyone can leave one; you don't need an account.


Next up, by request, is Samurai Champloo.  Then I'll be resuming my alphabetical list with Ah My Goddess.

What is this blog all about?

Last summer, I decided out of boredom that I would go through an alphabetical list of anime on one of my favorite anime streaming sites as if it were a checklist.  I'm still trying to accomplish this goal now, for no real reason other than my own entertainment.  However, I realized that I might as well write reviews of all the anime as I watch it.  At least then I have a somewhat decent excuse when people ask me why I'm trying to watch every single series on this super-long list.  Before the actual alphabet begins, this particular list had the numbers and symbols section.  Unfortunately, I had already made it through that section, as well as three of the A's before I decided to start reviewing.  So, unless I decide to go back and review these series, you will not see reviews of the following:

• All .hack// series
• 009-1
• 07-Ghost
• 11eyes
• 12 Kingdoms
• 2x2 Shinobuden
• 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother
• 3x3 Eyes
• 801 T.T.S. Airbats
• A Little Snow Fairy Sugar
• Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai
• Afro Samurai

(I'm also skipping After War Gundam X for now, as I plan on watching all of the Gundam series in chronological order at once.)

If anyone wants me to review one of the above series extremely badly, feel free to request.  No promises, though.

I'm currently watching Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, so that will be my first review.  However, it is 39 episodes long, and I am currently only on episode 14.  It might take me a while to get that review posted.  I'll have it done as quickly as possible.

--Candy