Jan 19 2009
#21-23, “Tekkaman Blade,” “Romeo x Juliet,” “Hikaru no Go”
I was really excited to watch the first episode of “Tekkaman Blade.” One of my favorite anime from years ago when I first began really watching was the OAV series, “Tekkaman Blade II.” So to see where it all began has always been a dream of mine. And while I was expecting the animation style to look a bit dated (it is from the 80’s, after all) I wasn’t expecting it to look quite as bad as it did. The animation is very old school, and it doesn’t look like it has held up well in the decades since it first aired. The story also didn’t make alot of sense. Two humans find a wounded man on a barren planet and take him back to their science lab, only to have him wake up and start making demands on them. And they seem surprised at this. If I didn’t know details about what happens next in the story, after episode 1 which felt like it went on forever, I don’t know that I would have had any interest in this series at all.
“Romeo x Juliet” is a much more recent series and so benefits from new techniques in animation as well as a clean, brightly colored style. In this version of the popular story, Juliet’s family has been murdered by Romeo’s father, and as the last surviving Capulet she is in hiding as a boy. But she is no sweet damsel in distress, waiting for someone to save her and restore her to her rightful throne. This Juliet disguises herself as a vigilante for the people, trying to right the wrongs that the Montague family has done. While I really enjoyed this new take on the old story, I don’t know that I could continue watching much further into the series because I’m pretty sure of how it all ends. And the more I like the characters, the more it is going to upset me when that ending happens.
I have heard of the game Go before, but I’ve never played it, so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy the series “Hikaru no Go.” It centers around a young boy who becomes possessed by the spirit of a famous Go player from hundreds of years ago. This spirit does not want to hurt or kill people, and is far from filled with the malice most anime ghosts contain. Instead he just wants to play Go again. This is a very sweet, very gentle anime series (so far) where nothing much happens except that a boy and his spirit pal play a game. While it wasn’t the most exciting anime I’ve ever seen, it was kind of nice to just watch a series where nothing terrible or crazy happened.
