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

Read more...

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+

Read more...

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

Read more...

Haibane Renmei: anime review

Title: Haibane Renmei
Genre: fantasy, drama
Released date: 9 October 2002 – 18 December 2002
Episode: 13
Director: Tomokazu Tokoro
Animated by: Radix Studio
Comment: Created by Yoshitoshi Abe whose other works include Serial Experiment Lain, Haibane Renmei is one of those anime that reminds me how much I love anime and why I keep watching them. Haibane Renmei sets in a totally fictional world where the Haibanes, humanoid creature with wings and halo, live among human in a town surrounded by impenetrable wall. The Haibanes’ life cycles are different from humans’; they are born, fully grown and with no memory of their past lives, from cocoons which fall from the sky. Soon, they grow wings and receives their hand made halos. They live and work with human until the day of flight comes and they fly away, beyond the walls. The anime tells the stories of this imagined world as if it is something completely normal and therefore most of the symbols and riddles are, without clear explanation, continually piled up in the viewer’s heads. The viewers have to interpret all these symbols by themselves which makes this anime even more interesting. In my opinion, I think the Haibanes are people who committed suicide and sent to this enclosed world to realize their sins. The intense drama is another highlight of Haibane Renmei. It is mostly about rediscovering and forgiving oneself. The animation and backgroud are beautiful and serene. The original score which is mostly piano is really beautiful and easing. Conclusion: Except action sequence, Haibane Renmei has everything that makes one great anime: heart, brain and imagination.
Rating: A

Read more...

Noir: anime review

Title: Noir
Genre: action, drama
Released date: April 6, 2001 – September 27, 2001
Episode: 26
Director: Koichi Mashimo
Animated by: Bee Train Studio
Comment: Who doesn’t like pretty girls with guns and lots of actions? Noir is the code name of the most feared two female assassins with exceptional talents, Mireille and Kirika. They travels all over the world on many dangerous missions and later learn that their lives are manipulated by the secret figure, Athena, who holds the key to their pasts. Every episode provides more than enough action sequences to satisfy any fans of this genre. Thanks to many smart action scenes, great variety of interesting supporting characters and villains, the viewers are constantly entertained and the slow main plot can be easily forgotten. The art direction of Noir is outstanding as the scenery of Europe is beautifully and realistically portrayed. The original soundtrack was probably the most memorable part of this anime. The main theme ‘Salvanos’ kept ringing in my ears for weeks. Certain scenes and flashbacks such as the scene in which Mireille witnesses her parents’ murder are repeated over and over that they are annoying. The animation is slightly below my standard. There are too many still images and the characters’ movements are not very smooth. The producers clearly try to make the anime more children-friendly by showing no blood when the villains are shot or stab but the violence is still obvious since the two protagonist is a merciless killers. Conclusion: Despite some weaknesses, Noir is greatly entertaining with interesting story, well developed characters and beautiful music and scenery.
Rating: B

Read more...