Anime 365 Challenge!

“Cooking Master Boy” was my first Chinese anime series and it was alot of fun to watch. It took a few minutes to get used to the Chinese dialogue, as it moved a little faster than I’m used to so in some cases the subtitles went a little more quickly than I could read. But once I managed to focus properly I found the show very delightful. It revolves around a young boy working in his deceased mother’s resturaunt, who finds himself in a cooking challenge to rival all cooking challenges when a master chef arrives to take over. The characters here are sweet and cheerful and an eclectic mix of archtypes. While the animation is old-school looking and a little worn out, the story more than makes up for it. Aside from wanting to watch the next 51 episodes, I also found myself hungry for Chinese food as soon as this first episode was over.

I adore Miyazaki movies. They are such a lovely mix of beautiful animation, complex and in-depth storytelling, and well-crafted characters, that each one has been a joy for me to watch. And though I had a few doubts before watching it, “Porco Rosso” did not let my love of Miyazaki films down. Here we have an ace pilot, cursed to bear the contenance of a pig because of a poor choice made during his youth. Now he lives on the edge, courting disaster, bad guys, and enemy governments at every turn, and hoping in his secret heart of hearts to one day leave his porcine curse behind. This is the first Miyazaki film that did not center around a female character, which I thought would seem strange, but it didn’t. Porco is an ingenius creation - tough but sensitive, driven but haunted. There was humor, there was romance, there was action and suspense. And there were those wonderful Miyazaki touches. I am very happy to add this film to my Miyazaki collection.

“Noir” is confusing and fast-paced and a bit disturbing. In some anime these elements would lead to a show that is nothing more than a giant mess of bad plotting and irritating characters. So far in “Noir” these elements seem to add up to a fascinating series. Two young women with different pasts seem to be set on a path for the same future, as they meet up and become a deadly assassin team. But while at first they can’t think of a reason they would be connected, as they journey together their shared relationship comes into the light. This is a dark series, as any about a pair of assassins would be. There is violence and gun play, but there are also some very moody and introspective moments as well. This is a show that sucks you in with its mysteries, and I am interested to see how well it lives up to them when it finally reveals its answers.

Of the last six shows that I watched, there was one I really didn’t care for, one I only had lukewarm feelings for, one I’m not sure about, one I was very surprised by, one that I liked quite a bit, and one that I loved. Its exhausting going through such a gamut of emotions in less than a week, but I think I have managed to survive pretty much intact.

“Descendants of Darkness: Vampire’s Lure” looked alot better than it turned out to be. The plot was confusing (it had something to do with shinegami, but not “Death Note” or “Bleach” style shinegami, and detectives looking for demons or vampires or something), the characters whiny, and the comedic elements were not funny. I had heard of this show before, or at least thought I had, so it seemed like it would be worth taking a peek at. It wasn’t. I was not amused and I will not be watching anymore of this series.

“Blood+” was the show that surprised me, as at first when I heard about it I thought it sounded awful. I’m a big fan of the original animated movie, “Blood: The Last Vampire” and so when I found out there was going to be a new series based on the main character, but that it was being done by totally different animators in a new style, I was less than thrilled. Why was it neccessary to change something that was already awesome? But when I finally allowed myself to give in and watch the series, I was surprised to discover that it was actually pretty good. In this story the main character, a powerful vampire/vampire slayer, has lost her memory of her real life and is living as a normal girl. At least until government agents and blood-thirsty demons decide that she needs to regain her memories or be eliminated. The animation is different than in the movie, it follows the more modern style, but it looks clean and well-done and it doesn’t detract from the story. I will definitly be watching more of this.

“Mushishi” is the series I’m not too sure about yet. The soundtrack is moody, the settings are rural and serene, and the story is a bit less exciting than I expected. “Mushishi” follows the exploits of a type of ghost hunter who searches out “mushi.” This quest leads him all over the world, to the doorsteps of young men with strange powers, to the forests where spirits hold dark rituals. While this seems like an interesting premise, and while the story told in the first episode wasn’t too bad, the whole thing seemed a little too slow for my taste. There were several moments that seemed to be leading up to something big and exciting, but faded out with no great climax. I might have to watch another few episodes of this show before I can make an opinion on it.

“Vandread” really didn’t effect me any sort of way. I watched the first episode all the way through, as the world populated by men and that populated by women battled against each other in a desperate (and not totally explained) urge to wipe each other out. And I watched as the main character bumbled his way through being launched into space where I’m sure he will wind up a great hero. But I had trouble caring. The characters felt flat and the storyline felt like something I had seen before.

“My Hime” is a series that popped up in the OnDemand menu of my cable service so I went ahead and took a chance on it. It turned out to be very likable. While it does have alot of the same elements as other “magical girl” stories - teenage hottie winds up in a dangerous situation, something strange happens to her, suddenly she is endowed with magical powers and saves the day - it was still alot of fun to watch. There was lost of action and a bit of suspense, and even a teeny slice of romance (though it might not really go anywhere in the end). I could have found alot worse ways to spend a half hour than watching this show.

“Noein” was a strange and wonderful delight to watch. It is another of my new fave anime. The story was bizarre and followed two (possibly) different storylines - that of a desolate future where a man seeks to jump into the past, and that of a recognizable present where a group of teenagers seek to have some fun. Nothing is what it seems in this series, however. The future and the past collide in dangerous ways that will have repercussions for the entire world. The animation here is moody and bold, the music tugs at the emotions, and the story is delightfully twisted and fun to try and figure out. As soon as possible I will be buying the boxed set for this series so I can watch it all.

“Yotsunoha” was not a great anime series. The reason I know this is because a few days after watching it, I can’t even remember what it was about. I had to look up the details just to recall what I had seen. This doesn’t speak highly of a show that is only two parts, with each episode lasting almost 40 minutes. Based on a Japanese “Visual” novel, or basically an erotic video game, this is the story of a group of teenagers who were once best friends but have drifted apart over the years. Now they are coming together for a reunion at their old school, and much talking and making eyes at each other and fighting about the past ensues. The animation was pretty to look at, but the visual elements just weren’t enough to hold my attention. I couldn’t figure out where the story was going, and felt no compulsion to try and follow it there. I won’t be making a point of seeing the other episode of this show.

Now I can remember the next anime series I watched, “Ah My Goddess!.” I have been a fan of the “Ah My Goddess!” universe for many years, having watched and very much enjoyed the original OAV series back in the day, plus having read some of the manga and LOVED the feature film. This time I watched the first episode of the 52 episode TV series, which basically tells the same story as the OAV and manga. A young college boy makes a call from his dormitory one night and it changes his entire life, as he reaches the Goddess Hotline and is soon visited by the beauitiful and delightfully sweet Belldandy. This series is romantic, funny, and very gentle. There are no huge explosions or gun battles here, there are no giant mechas or tanks, and there are no kickass cyborgs or daredevil pilots. Instead there are a group of realistic and sweet characters who muddle along through life the best they can, while surrounded by a touch of the magical and mystical.

In an alternative universe where most of the world is occuppied by an empire that thinks very highly of itself and not so much of everyone else, who has the power to defeat them? Possibly only one young teenage boy, a prince in disguise who accidently winds up with an immense and frightening power. The first episode of “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion” took me forever to watch. It seemed like every time I started to play it, something would come along to interrupt me and I’d forget to finish. Part of this stems from the fact that the first few minutes of the show are kind of boring, and part of it stems from the fact that I’m a little biased against this show because of how popular it is. I don’t always like to watch the popular anime, as I feel enough people are already watching them. But since I’m trying to really get a good variety into my viewing for the Anime 365 Challenge, I relented and decided to see “Code Geass.” Eventually I managed to watch the entire first episode, and it turned out to be much better than I had initially thought. The animation is very slick and highly stylized, the character designs are a part of the ultra-modern anime look, and the story has alot of depth to it. I’m actually curious to see what happens next here.

My new favorite series, of the ones that I watched the last few days, is “Ergo Proxy.” This is a series that looks like it fell right out of a gothic/cyberpunk nightmare. The drawings are dark and surreal, the music is electronic and a bit jarring, and the characters are morbid and interesting. It is future-times and the world is populated by humans and the robots they love. It is a dirty kind of paradise, until something sinister starts a rampage of mutilation and death right through the middle of that paradise. “Ergo Proxy” has a look and feel that is uniquely its own. The characters are not sharp and brightly dressed like they appear in so many current anime. Here they are washed out, with round almost shapeless features swathed in punk/goth threads. Scenes are drawn out and moody, or hyper-fast and violent, with little time in between to ready yourself for the sudden shift. It is fun to watch a series once in a while that strays so far from the norm. I will certainly be catching the rest of this one.

I have seen many takes on angels in both anime and manga, so when I began watching “Haibane Renmei” I wasn’t sure I would get to see anything new or different.  But this series surprised me.  It revolves around a group of angelic beings who live in a monastery like building as a type of family.  They must spend their whole lives as these beings confined within the walls of a small town where the monastery resides.  There is some mystery as to why they must stay within the walls of the city, and why they are born as angels in the first place.  The animation here is beautifully done, and the characters sweet and beguiling.  It is worth trying out the rest of the 13 episodes.   

“Ajimu Kaigen Monogatari” is another shojo romance anime series where a whole lot of nothing terribly exciting happens.  A teenage boy catches sight of a pretty teenage girl while waiting for the train one day, and immediately falls in love with her.  Thus begins a series of ridiculous situations (such as the boy accidentally brushing against the girl on the train and her calling him a “pervert”) that seem to permeate this type of show.  While the animation was nice to look at and the opening music wasn’t too bad, I don’t think I could sit through the rest of this four part show. 

“Ayakashi” was hard for me to find further information on because, as it turns out, there are two anime with the same name.  One is horror anime, centering around ghosts and samurai, while the other involves magical teenagers with super powers, and was released only on the Internet.  The “Ayakashi” that I stumbled upon is the second series.  And while I have nothing against samurai ghost stories, I’m glad I found the anime that I did.  There was ridiculous fighting, bizarre hair colors, obnoxious characters, and comedic moments that suddenly turned deadly serious without any warning.  All signs of a top notch shonen style series.  This show is only 12 episodes, but it makes the most of them.  

What would it be like to be a girl destined to destroy the world, so everyone inhabiting that world (pretty much) is out to kill you?  That is the basic story behind “Scrapped Princess.”  Here we have a spoiled but likable girl traveling with her adopted family while searching for a way to evade prophecy.  There is a nice mix here of action, magic, and comedy, without the story becoming too sentimental or silly.  This is another super short series, with only 12 episodes, and it packs alot of information into the small amount of time it is given so you have to pay attention. 

“Elfen Lied,” I realized very early on, is like no other anime series I have ever seen.  It has all the trappings of a shojo series: pink haired characters with large eyes and cutesy voices, adorable boy characters who find themselves living with an influx of women, and brightly colored scenes with sparkling beaches and sunny streets.  But to get to all this shojo goodness, you have to get past the opening first.  And what an intense, unexpected, and bloody mess that is!  The body count must be in the dozens at least during that first 10 minutes, and the carnage all stems from a pretty and very naked girl in a metal mask.  This girl is Lucy, the mutant character at the center of everything - good or bad - that occurs within “Elfen Lied’s” too-brief 13 episode + 1 OAV series.  Sometimes she is very, very bad, and sometimes she is very, very good, and it is always a toss up which version you will see in an episode.  And that is part of the charm of this series.  You never know what you will see next.   

“Boys Be” is on of those anime series that I’ve heard about alot, but never got around to watching.  And I’m not too sad about that now that I did try to sit through an episode.  I was actually so bored I had trouble paying attention to what was going on.  This is basically a high school romance anime series, with the storyline centering around male characters and their thoughts and feeling in regards to the girls they like (instead of doing it from the girls’ point of view as romance anime normally are).  To me it seemed like this anime didn’t go much of anywhere, it was just a bunch of kids talking and talking and talking.  Oh well, I guess I won’t be interested in every show I watch. 

“Agent Aika” was a nice change of pace.  Here we have a super-sexy, super-powered, deep-sea salvage worker who has a mysterious background that must include some kind of secret agent training because she sure knows how to handle a gun and martial arts moves.  This anime is fast and silly and has the most gratuitous use of panty-shots I have ever seen.  In fact when I looked up information about it after watching, I found a comment mentioning that there are over 200 panty-shots in just the first episode!  Luckily the characters are amusing and the storyline is interesting, so the show has more going for it than just fanservice. 

“B’t X” is an older series that doesn’t look its age nearly as much as “Saint Seiya,” which is made by the same people and has a very similar style.  This show centers around two brothers, one a super genius and the other - well - not so much. But what he lacks in brains he makes up for in muscle and bravado.  I liked what I saw of this series from the first episode.  The bad guys may talk about their ultimate plans a little too much, and the characters may overreact a little too much, but overall this was a very enjoyable anime. 

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.   

What do you get when you take a teenage boy, drown him in the ocean, and then have him get saved by a mermaid who is also part of a mafia family?  You get the shojo comedy “Seto no Hanayome.”  This is an extravaganza of hyper-distorted figures who scream and smack each other around and act completely ridiculous.  This anime series is loud and bizarre and follows its characters as they ramble off into yelling tangents about silly things.  I wasn’t terribly impressed with it, but I’m sure some anime viewers who love incredibly silly shows would like it for its bright colors and over-the-top characters. 

“Kyouran Kazoku Nikki” is another shojo anime that rests its story on the backs of very silly characters who run around doing very silly things.  Basically the premise is that a young government man is recruited as part of a secret operation to stop the Child of Enki from destroying the world.  In order to fulfill this mission he must marry one of the children of Enki and adopt the rest as his children.  This doesn’t really make sense when it is explained in the first episode, and I found the characters and the story too irritating to have any desire to watch further and see if it ever makes sense.  The main female character, especially, is very obnoxious and impossible to like.

Luckily I did find some anime that I could enjoy a bit in the last few days.  ”Macross Plus,” an OAV series that is somewhat a part of the larger “Macross” metaseries, revolves around three friends who were once close when they were younger, but have since grown apart since they reached adulthood.  One is a brash test pilot with too much bravura, another is a pilot who knows the right and wrong ways to do things, and the woman who has always been torn between them once had dreams of being a famous singer but has since let those dreams take a backseat to her new career as a manager for virtual pop sensation Sharon Apple.  There is much flying of planes and shooting at things and the re-animation once again of the giant Macross ship.  There is also some deeper stuff going on here, with lots of backstory and interesting twists revolving around Sharon.  But while the action is great for a while, the climax sees it just peter out.  I watched all four OAV episodes, and by the last one I just felt confused and disappointed.  This might be okay for hardcore Macross fans, but for other viewers it may be a bit of a letdown. 

Some magical girls morph into Sailor Soldiers of Justice.  Some change into Earth Elementals.  And some morph into cat girls, like the ones in “Tokyo Mew Mew.”  Here we have a group of middle school girls who become endowed with the strengths and abilities of several different endangered species.  They use these abilities to fight alien creatures that are out to cause trouble for all of the regular humans roaming around on Earth.   

The first time I saw “Tokyo Mew Mew” was during a Saturday morning cartoon block.  It was very bright and bubbly looking, with characters in pretty outfits and fighting with cutesy techniques, and reminded me alot of “Sailor Moon.”  In fact the storyline is incredibly similar to “Sailor Moon,” so much so that you have to wonder why the creators of this show even pretended they weren’t copying the older material.  The first episode I watched on American TV also fell victim to very poor dubbing (in my opinion) and I had no desire to watch anymore of it.  

With the Anime 365 Challenge! going on, I thought it might be time to give this show another try.  This time I found the first episode in Japanese with English subtitles, and this helped a little. But only a little.  The series, which is 52 episodes altogether, just feels too much like a “Sailor Moon” rip off.  It even has the main character being saved by a mysterious “knight” who turns out to be the object of her affections (much like in “Sailor Moon”).  I just couldn’t get passed that, and will not be watching more of this show if I can help it. 

Take one regular high school girl who dies suddenly, add in a resurrection that is only promised to her if she is willing to help save the world, and add in a few mystical and magical children that may or may not be good guys, and you have the basic premise of “Arjuna.”  This was a hard series to decide by only one episode if I liked it or not.  And with only 13 episodes altogether, it doesn’t give viewers a whole lot of time to make up their minds.  The animation for this series is of the sloppier variety, with thin, wavy lines and shapes that are not consistent from one scene to the next.  ”The Legend of Crystania” suffers from a similar animation style, which I’m not fond of and find hard to watch.  The story for “Arjuna” is also not what I would consider great or even unique.  It feels alot like other ‘magical girl’ anime I’ve watched.  Even the main character’s transformation sequence feels a bit done, and her new form is actually kind of silly.  While I feel there might be an interesting environmental message to this series, I’m not sure I could get passed the other stuff to find it. 

“Batman: Gotham Knight” is a interconnected group of short cartoons all set within the world of “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight.”  It is done in a way reminiscent of “The Animatrix,” with stories that are not only set in the world of Batman, but which connect to the two live-action movies and expand upon the stories they tell.  Each animated short is done by a different director and artists, so each has its own unique look and feel to it.  I really enjoyed this DVD.  The stories were well written and the animation superbly done.  I’m hoping more will be done in the future to fill out the Batman universe even more. 

“Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water” is an older animated TV series, with 39 episodes in total.  It centers around a young inventor who becomes entangled in the life of a mysterious circus performer while attending an exhibition in Paris.  The animation style here looks alot like that found in Miyazaki films, such as “Kiki’s Delivery Service” or “Spirited Away.”  The bad guys are more silly then evil, and the circumstances the main characters find themselves in are less dangerous then exciting, but the story is still pretty good.  This wouldn’t be the first thing I would watch if I was in the mood to view some anime, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last. 

“Ninja Scroll: the Series” has been around for a while now, but I never got around to watching it because someone told me once that it wasn’t anywhere near as good as the original animated movie “Ninja Scroll.”  And while this 13 episode series certainly looks different then the movie, and doesn’t have as dark and intense a feel to it, I really enjoyed watching the first episode.  Wandering ninja Jubei is just as non-commital and aloof as ever, even when asked by a village of warriors to protect their most precious commodity, a young warrior girl whose destiny has aroused the interest of some people with less than honorable intentions.  The animation is much crisper and cleaner than that from the movie, but the style hasn’t been changed so much that you can’t relate the series to the source material.  From what I’ve seen, this show is well done continuation of the film.