Hellsing: anime review

Title: Hellsing
Genre: action, horror, supernatural
Released date: October 10, 2001 – January 16, 2002
Episodes: 13
Director: Umanosuke Iida
Animated by: Gonzo studio
Comment: Hellsing started brilliantly with haunting dark atmosphere, cool fight scenes, well introduced characters and engaging storyline. Seras Victoria was severely wounded by a vampire and was on a verge of death. She would have died if Alucard hadn't save her by turning her into vampire. After that, Seras served under Alucard in several mission which were mostly eliminating evil vampires and demons.

The characters were nicely established; Seras must deal with the fact that she was no longer human, she was scared and confused; Integra and Alucards' past and relationahip were well introduced by using flash backs. The story in most episodes were fun and intrigung. I was so confident that this series was going to be great until it ended so abruptly at the thirteenth episode as if the producers had just decided that they had better things to do and threw in some big action sequences and ending credits. The villains, Alexander and Incognito, suddenly seemed purposeless. The mystery about the chips that turned human into vampire was left in darkness and Seras Victoria character developed no further. The animation was great and the soundtracks which used rock music extensively was really cool. Conclusion: Hellsing was a very good anime that lacked its ssecond half. It was painful to watch bad anime but I’ve just realized that it was equally painful to watch an incomplete good anime.
Rating: C+

Read more...

Read or Die (OVA): anime review

Title: Read or Die (OVA)
Genre: action, fantasy
Released date: 23 May 2001
Episodes: 3
Director: Koji Masunari
Animated by: Studio Deen
Comment: R.O.D. was a fast-paced and action-packed anime about a book worm with ability to control papers that kept me at the edge of my seat for full 90 minutes. The story began after the US Library of Congress was attacked. The British Library sent a team to investigate the secret agenda behind the attack. The team consisted of Yomiko Readman, Nancy and Drake Anderson. The story of this OVA was like another episode of the series only longer and involved greater number of characters so it mainly concentrated on action not character development but the eye-popping action scenes, the characters' extra-ordinary powers and many funny moments were woven together so well that they could make up for all that and were the strong points of this anime. The animation was very well done and the music effectively added the energy to the anime's fast pace. The joke about the USA president was hilarious. Conclusion: well directed and a nonstop fun, R.O.D was an extremely enjoyable anime for everyone, even those who were no fans of anime.
Rating: B+

Read more...

X/1999: anime review

Title: X/1999
Genre: action, supernatural, fantasy
Released date: August 3, 1996
Director: Rintaro
Animated by: Madhouse Studio
Comment: X the movie, based on CLAMP’s manga of the same title, was a big disappointment especially for CLAMP’s fans. In the manga, the stories of the fourteen characters were the most memorable part and were what actually pushed the whole manga forward. But in this movie all the details of the manga were blindly cramped into a 100 minute-long movie. All the characters practically appeared but they had at most a few lines of dialogue and they were all card board characters killing each other for no reasons. Even the main plot about Kamui and Fuma were incoherently told. The only redeeming quality of the anime was its visuals but that didn't change the fact that X/1999 was a disaster. Conclusion: This is my advice; to the viewers, read the manga or watch the TV series instead; to the producers and the director, sometimes doing nothing is a wise decision.
Rating: D

Read more...

Paprika: anime review

Title: Paprika
Genre: sci-fi,fantasy
Released date: November 25, 2006
Director: Satoshi Kon
Animated by: Madhouse Studio
Comment: Like other Kon’s anime, the story was quite simple. The main idea was nothing new in sci-fi genre. The usual dark aspect of technology and humen’s mind was discussed. What made this anime special were the stunning visuals and how the story was told. The vision of dreams and reality were melted together which resulted in a dream-like experience for viewers. It won’t be wise trying to make a sense of every detail in the plot line because this anime was one giant dream and dreams weren’t supposed to make any sense. Paprika gave the viewers a very new experience. Kon deliberately put in crazy and colorful things scenes after scenes and with the exceptional original score succeeded in creating a totally out standing work. But despite all these crazy stuffs, there were also familiar elements hidden in the story such as the unlikely love between Dr. Atsuko and Tokita and the villain who only wanted power. Conclusion: Paprika was another impressive work by Satoshi Kon and it was a must see for anyone who loved new and imaginative ideas.
Rating: A

Read more...