Hell Girl (season 1): anime review

Title: Hell Girl (season 1)
Genre: horror, drama, supernatural
Released date: October 4, 2005 – April 4, 2006
Episode: 26
Director: Takahiro Omori
Animated by: Studio Deen
Comment: Hell Girl can be disturbingly depressing at times that I do not recommend it to anyone who has had a bad day or is having suicidal idea. Nevertheless, Hell Girl is by all means worth watching. The series markedly differ from other animes. Instead of straightly telling the story of the main character, each episode of Hell Girl tells different stories of newly introduced characters while continuously building and developing on the same issues.

Enma Ai, aka Hell Girl, had suffered when she was alive and in the afterlife she remained between the world of the living and the dead. Typically, the person who needs an immediate revenge against someone will ask Ai for help by sending the name to Ai via e-mail. Enma Ai will send the requested person to hell on one condition that the person who made the request must also go to hell but only after he or she dies. Most of the early episodes are presented in similar pattern; the obviously bad guy hurts the innocent victim, blinded by grief and anger, the victim turns to Enma Ai for quick revenge which leads to somewhat satisfying ending. It seems like those who do evil things are punished just as they deserves. But about half way into the series, many interesting things starts to surface. The story gets more complex; the characters shows more than one aspects, the themes are less black-and-white and Hell Girl’s action doesn’t look as good as it initially did. In the second half, the series try to demonstrate the flaws of Hell Girl’s idea and it is subtly done. In one episode a girl condemns a veterinarian to hell for abusing and killing many animals including her beloved dog. It is just tragic to see a naïve girl pay terrible price for something like this. There are hundreds of other ways to deal with the problem but the girl fails to see them. In the other episode a kind woman is sent to hell by a mentally disturbed man. The two recurring characters, Hajime and Tsugumi, are cleverly used to provide arguments against Enma Ai’s actions and gives the viewers some sense of continuation between each episodes.

I like this anime because it lets me see the world from many aspects and it gets my thoughts running all the time. The anime does not give conclusion about which person is right or whether Ai’s action is decent but the viewers must use their own judgments. The animation quality and original soundtrack are very well done. Some people may feel that the series lack real ending. Conclusion: Despite some repetition and extremely depressing mood, each episode of Hell Girl is great on its own and the series as a whole are powerful and thought-provoking.

Rating: B+

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Black Cat: anime review

Title: Black Cat
Genre: action, fantasy, sci-fi
Released date: 6 October 2005 – 30 March 2006
Episode: 24
Director: Shin Itagaki
Animated by: GONZO Studio
Comment:When I started watching Black Cat, I knew I could not expect anything like depth, originality or even rationality from it. The anime was supposed to give us a good time and that should be enough. Nevertheless, I was disappointed. Creating fun and exciting anime is not as easy as it sounds. Black Cat is about a group of weird people; Train Heartnet (aka Black Cat) the former ruthless assassin, Sven Vollfied the sweeper, Eve the genetically modified nano-girl and Rinslet Walker the famous thief. The anime takes us along their adventure to hunt down criminals and ultimately save the world. Before I share my opinion about the series, I must tell you that I haven’t read the manga version of Black Cat. I watched it with no prior knowledge about the characters or the story and that’s not my fault, of course. To me, the show hardly made any sense.

Train is a cold-blooded assassin for reasons never shown in the anime except for one brief flashback scene in which Zagine, Train’s trainer, appeared and that doesn’t provide any additional information about Train’s past. Later he meets Saya, the sweeper with, again, no details but that she wears yukata all the time. They converses briefly on the rooftop a few times and Train suddenly turns into a typical merciful, kind-hearted hero. I knew I have said many times that character development was always important but this miraculously swift transformation of Train just didn’t work. As for Sven, how he acquires his special ability to see into the future and his relationship as a father figure to Eve are quite interesting but, sadly, he spends most of his screen time as a mere comic relief. I think he lacks involvement to the story. The world renowned thief, Rinslet, appears to have no motive. We see her searching for some intelligent all the time and she shows up out of the blue now and then for no good reason. Ironically, Eve who is the least human of all the main characters shows most emotion and complexity of normal human. She is genetically-engineered girl who is regarded by her creator as a deadly weapon. She then learns to be loved and love others in return after she meets Sven. The other minor characters possesses various unique super powers but none of them does anything but give us occasional colorful battle scenes.

The series do have the main plots, Train’s and Eve’s, but it wanders aimlessly away too often. New insignificant people shows up all the time while the main characters hardly progress further. The worst part of the show is its climax. When Eve is turned into Eden and her conscious trapped inside, all the characters from previous episodes show up to help save the day. It is not so bad to see familiar faces again but the contexts behind these people are too thin. The viewers hardly know who they are, how do all of them come to the right place and time and why do they have to be there. Maybe they are just good people and want to save the world. I need something more than that. The redeeming qualities of the anime are the thrilling action sequences and funny moments and probably the use of opera music during battle scenes. The animation is average in general. Conclusion: Black cat may be entertaining to young viewers who are easily dazzled by flashy and energetic scenes. But to more mature viewers, it is a messy work.
Rating: D+

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Otomo Katsuhiro's Memories: anime review

Title: Otomo Katsuhiro's Memories
Genre: action, sci-fi, drama, horror, comedy
Released date: December 23, 1995
Running Time: 113 min
Director: Koji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura, Katsuhiro Otomo
Comment: Memories consists of three short stories directed by three well known directors. Magnetic Rose, directed by Koji Morimoto and written by Satoshi Kon, is a typical ghost ship tale in space and also pays homage to other classic sci-fi films such as 2001: Space Odyssey. It is the most conventional but, arguably, considered the best of the three because it provides good combination of science, suspense, horror and drama. The scene in which the pilot faces the dead opera singer is immensely haunting and sad and cleverly reveals the tragic past of both characters. It is amazing that in merely 40 minutes, Magnetic Rose is able to create a world so vivid and characters so complex and realistic. The opera theme from Madam Butterfly and the original score by Yoko Kanno is simply perfect for the anime’s atmosphere.

The second episode, Stink Bomb, is a sudden change of mood. This black comedy is about a not-so-bright bioresearch facility employee whose body releases smelly, deadly gas after he accidentally ate an under experimental pill. What’s funniest is that even after every people in the city died and the army started shooting at him, he still doesn’t know what is the cause of this catastrophe. There are strong comment on politics, the army and the Unitied states. I admire the creativity and humor of this episode and the credit goes to the script by Otomo Katsuhiro.

The final episode, Cannon Fodder, Otomo Katsuhiro takes the viewers into the world infested with war that it becomes part of daily life. Every building has cannons that shoot out across the city wall to the unseen enemy and they teach children how to operate the cannons in schools. This episode is a technical marvel; the entire episode looks like it consists of one long shot and the animation detail is a state of the art. But the problem is that Cannon Fodder has the weakest screenplay compared to Rose or Bomb. It just shows us the daily activity of one family without any significant events or developments and, as a result, doesn’t deliver a satisfying closure to this great collection of short stories. Conclusion: The first episode sets the bar really high and overshadows the last. Nevertheless, Memories is a great anime that should not be missed.
Rating: B+

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Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa: anime review

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
Genre: action, fantasy, sci-fi, historical
Released date: July 23, 2005
Run time: 105 minutes
Director: Seiji Mizushima
Animated by: Studio Bones
Comment: Conqueror of Shamballa picks the story up almost right after the end of the TV series which is already quite conclusive. So, in order to continue, new characters including the new villain and new plot must be created for this movie. Dietlinde Eckhart, Member of Thule Society, appears as new main antagonist. She tries to open the door between two parallel universes and gain the power from the world of alchemy. This evil agenda brings back all the familiar faces because only an alchemist can open this portal. The best thing about Shamballa and what it heavily relies on is the fan’s feeling of nostalgia as all the important characters from the TV series have made it back to the screen for at least a few seconds. The animation quality is on par with its TV predecessor. Despite many brilliant action scenes, Shamballa has no real new story to introduce like other individual movies and the new characters are there only to bring the Elric brothers back to action. So, I won’t recommend this anime to anyone not familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist. Conclusion: Shamballa is not solid enough to stand on its own but it is still a good and welcoming addition to the FMA saga.
Rating: C+

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Fullmetal alchemist: anime review

Title: Fullmetal alchemist
Genre: action, fantasy, sci-fi, drama
Released date: October 4, 2003 – October 2, 2004
Episode: 51
Director: Seiji Mizushima
Animated by: Studio Bones
Comment: Fullmetal alchemist is a journey of two alchemist brother, Edward and Alphonse Elric, on a quest to take back what they had lost when they committed the worst crime of trying to bring their dead mother back from death. Edward lost his arm and Alphonse would have lost his life if his older brother had not bound his soul to an empty armor. In most of the series, each episode is a separate story with many new and recurring characters. The villains appears only briefly in early episodes to provide some obscure dialogues. It is not until very late in the series that things begin to fall into places. The mystery of Hohenheim, the tragic past of Scar, the origin of the Homunculus and the identity of Dante, the true antagonist, are revealed in the last few episodes and the anime kicks into the fast paced climax. Personally, I think this 51 episode long anime strays away from the main storyline too often and would have been a more solid anime if some unnecessary episodes and characters had been cut away. My guess is that, due to its huge success, the anime is spread so that it runs longer than the usual 26 episodes. Nevertheless, Fullmetal alchemist has one exceptional quality that I rarely see in other anime. It can appeal to anyone from little children who only want to have fun to adults who prefer serious and thoughtful theme. The anime can be funny, thrilling, horrifying or touching in one episode. I am also impressed by the very imaginative ending about the parallel universe that connects the world of alchemy to ours and suddenly makes it more realistic. The animation quality is great to look at and the anime gives the viewers many good hidden messages concerning family, friendship, responsibility, greed and most importantly life and death. Conclusion: Fullmetal alchemist deserves all the success and praise given to it. I like it a lot but not entirely. The anime is like a big box full of candy, most of which taste good but some of them do not.
Rating: B

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Spirit of Wonder: anime review

Title: Spirit of Wonder
Genre: fantasy, sci-fi, historical, drama, comedy
Released date: January 25, 2001
Runtime: appx 90 min.
Director: Mitsuru Hongo, Takashi Anno
Animated by: Ajia-do Animation Works, Bandai Visual
Comment: Spirit of Wonder is a four episode OVA; The Shrinking of miss China, Scientific Boys Club part I, II and China-san: Short Stories. The Shrinking of miss China is only 15 minutes long but it is funny and smart that it easily puts a smile on my face. The next 2 episodes, Scientific Boys Club part I and II, are quite the opposite. They are about a few old men who try to fulfill their dreams of going to Mars and in the process manage to bring a young married couple along with them. These two episodes are utterly dull. The drama in the first episode is boring and the journey to Mars in the second episode is slow and uneventful that it fails to capture the viewers’ interest. The dullness probably results from the shallow and poorly detailed characters. I don’t care whether they reach the red planet or get sucked into some wormhole. I also have problems with the space ship in this anime because it is not credible from the beginning. How the ship is built is shown only briefly then it suddenly floats into space. I do not mind that it looks like anything but a space ship but it should at least be realistic. In the last episode, Miss China returns. This is a nice episode with interesting sci-fi theme but it isn’t enough to improve the overall rating. Conclusion: The anime has some good moments but after the show ends, one question springs into my mind; ‘so what?’
Rating: C

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Samurai 7: anime review

Title: Samurai 7
Genre: action, fantasy, sci-fi, mecha
Released date: June 12, 2004 – December 25, 2004
Episode: 26
Director: Toshifumi Takizawa
Animated by: GONZO Studio
Comment: Base loosely on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Samurai 7 retells the classic story of seven samurais hired by the peasants to protect and drive away the abusive authority threatening the village. Many new elements are added in and many old things are modified from the original source material. Some of which are brilliant and some are mistakes. I’ll start with the brilliant part. The animation quality is superb (I heard that each episode cost more than 300,000 USD) and the action sequences are really amazing and exciting. Every character, including those who are not the samurai, is well detailed with unique personality, motive, skill, look and development that the viewers are inevitably linked to them and I was so sad when my favorite samurai died. The political subplot is also interesting. It provides clearer picture of the society in the anime and gives the evil emperor more depth and dimension. Some comic relief is constantly added to lighten the tone of the anime. Now for the bad part, those mecha, flying ships and vehicles look totally out of place. It would be more believable if it were later revealed that they were some invading aliens from Mars. My guess is that the producers want to add something new to the story or to reduce blood and gore by putting the villains in the mecha or armors. What ever the reason is, the outcome is almost disastrous. Conclusion: Samurai 7 is incredibly fun, well characterized and visually spectacular but the unnecessary addition of the high-tech machines and mecha was a bad, bad idea.
Rating: B

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Last Exile: anime review

Title: Last Exile
Genre: steam punk, action, sci-fi, fantasy
Released date: April 8, 2003 – September 29, 2003
Episode: 26
Director: Koichi Chigira
Animated by: GONZO Studio
Comment: With steampunk and Victorian style atmosphere, Last Exile looks different from other action/adventure anime right from the beginning. It starts with large scale battle between Anatoray and Desith fleet with stunning visual effects that immediately draws viewers into this fantastic world and at the same time cleverly introduced us the two protagonists, Claus and Lavie. Then the main plot emerges when they are entrusted with an extremely dangerous mission to deliver a girl, Alvis, to the legendary ship, The Silvana. The first half of the series is simply unstoppable. There are many amazing battle scenes, great chasing sequences and exciting vanship race. The second half after Claus and Lavie becomes the Silvana's crew focuses more on the character development and their backgrounds, the game of power between the two nations and the Guild before it reachs the very memorable climax. I love Last Exile's script because it had many layers. There were the stories of the internal conflicts and struggles of individual character, the relationship between them and larger stories concerning the international warfare and politics. I especially like Alex and Sophia. At first there relationships seems simple enough as the captain and first officer. But as the series progresses, the viewers learn that Sophia is Anatoray's spy and princess and the only reason she remains loyal to Alex is because she loves him. While Alex is so consumed in his tragic past and vengence that he overlooks everyone's feeling and he barely seems alive. The conclusion of their relationship in final episode is both sad and touching. You must see it yourself.

The anime are full of details as the main plot and subplots are effectively and simultaneously told that it can be wearing if one watches more than four or five episodes continuously. The animation quality are great. The mixture of 2D and 3D images workes very well and the original soundtrack by Dolce Triad is one of the best, in my opinion. To put it simply. Last Exile has complex and interesting characters, imaginative script, grand battle scenes, heart stopping action, tragic love stories, intense political issues. This anime has everything and succeeds in every aspect. Conclusion: This is a perfect anime and one of my all-time favorites.
Rating: A+

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Saikano (She, the Ultimate Weapon): anime review

Title: Saikano (She, the Ultimate Weapon)
Genre: romance, fantasy, drama, sci-fi, mecha
Released date: July 2, 2002 – September 24, 2002
Episode: 13
Director: Mitsuko Kase
Animated by: GONZO Studio
Comment: I’ve been watching anime for years and I can’t help wonder why the government always entrusted the future of mankind in the hands of some high school kids. ‘They are destined or they are genetically chosen to be the savior of mankind’ is a familiar excuse. In Saikano, there is no effort to explain clearly why Chize who is very young, weak and emotionally unstable is modified into The Ultimate Weapon, the last hope of Japan in this futuristic world war. Actually, the war only serves as the anime’s background and provides various obstacles and challenges to the two protagonists. Chize, a normal high school girl who is far from being the brightest, strongest, most courageous or most beautiful, is half human half killing machine. She and Shuji, her boyfriend with nothing so special as well, try to carry their relationship through the cruel world raged with wars and natural disasters and at the same time try to overcome their inner conflicts. Chize feels guilty and is afraid of herself every time she fights and slaughters her enemies in battle fields and she fears that one day shuji will see the monster she has become and abandon her. Shuji does love Chize but he is also afraid of her as she gradually gains more destructive power as a weapon and consequently he feels ashamed of himself for feeling that way. The other supporting characters also suffer from various disasters, misfortunes and lost loves. The drawing style of the anime is quite unique and all the characters seem to be flushing all the time. Personally, I love the complexity and development of the two leading characters but the anime is really impossibly depressing that it is frustrating at times. In each episode, there must be at least two people who cry. Conclusion: Saikano may be the love-it-or-hate-it type of anime. For me, this anime has both the good and the annoying parts but the former out weights the latter.
Rating: B

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