Pseudo-Elf Princess Speaks:
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 04:38 p.m. So much!
It would be impossible to deliver a good review for all of the stuff I've watched over Christmas break, but let's try for blurbs!
Anime
Berserk seems to be about mercenaries fighting bloody battles and naked peoples and long flashbacks, but it doesn't seem like a bad show. I'm intrigued. Anyway, the music (mostly the in-show music) rocks, and Akira Ishida voices Judeau, who is automatically my favorite character ^_^
S-Cry-Ed involves psycho people. I mean, psychic people. But I'm sure if I left it the other way, no one would mind ^_^ I like it, too.
Excel Saga is crazy. That's all ^_^
Sentimental Journey is something I sort of regret buying. 12 one-shots, some really good, some really stupid. Ah, well. It was cheap ^^;; (and I really love a few of the stories).
Bleach [eps. -11] Yay for Ishida-kun and his mad Schexy sewing power! I forgot 12 was out, so I haven't gotten it yet *sweatdrops* Anyway, Ishida's my favorite character, so even if anime Ichigo is screwed up, Ishida is there to make me happy!
Gakuen Alice is still very funny. I like it. The manga is good, too.
GS Destiny [eps. -12] is wonderful beyond words. I was right about the Lux-chan clone. Actually, her name is Mia, and she's an impersonator. I really don't like her. She's majorly messing with Athrun's feelings, even though he loves Cagalli. Wah, but I love Athrun! *weeps* He's so cool....
Harukanaru [eps. 1-6] is pretty good. Akane is starting to grow on me, and I like all of the bishies ^_^ Of course, Yasuaki is my favorite. Automatic Akira Ishida points. That lady in episode 6 was really ugly though (that lipstick! *gags*). I didn't like her.
Meine Liebe [eps. 5-6] had more character stuff. Which is interesting, but the lack of an actual plot is starting to annoy me some. Ah, well. They're all still hot. And there's still Akira Ishida/Naoji.
Wow. That's five shows with Akira Ishida. *dies of happiness* On to some manga!
Manga
Please Save My Earth is the really long, wonderful series I tackled during break. Yes, all 300 pages/volume 12 volumes. Sci-fi, reincarnation, environmental concerns, relationships. Lots of complexity. Good stuff ^_^
Global Garden is by the same person as PSmE. It's good, too. The manga-ka's art is much improved ^^ This one involves Einstein's sorrow over the atomic bomb and what he did to atone for it--sending two boys (injected with a growth retardation to make them live long) to find a girl who will open the global garden.
Bleach ROCKS! Um, yeah. So much @_@ So good.
Fullmetal Alchemist also rocks! Savor the Mustang/Hawkeye goodness ^_^
Full Moon wo Sagashite continues to be excellent. Interesting. Um, I only read a few more chapters, so I don't have that much to say ;_;
Love Love Shock is really cute. A girl confessed to a cute boy months back, but he thought she was a boy x.x (and so she was rejected). She's been striving to become a singer, and at the latest contest, she finds out that her crush is in a popular band! But he doesn't remember her (she looks more girlish now). She ends up joining his company, and ... so on. Like I said, just really really cute ^_^
Mucha Kucha Daisuki is something I finished. It was REALLY funny and cute and I loved it. Until the girl suddenly got sick and the story turned serious and icky. Still worth it for the first half and the one-shot side stories.
Pump Up is a cute one volume shoujo about a girl who likes a girlish boy who she thinks has a crush on a manly guy x.x Ah, but it ends very cutely.
Ghost Hunt was one I read before break, and only one chapter of it, but the story comes from the lady behind 12 Kingdoms, and it's very interesting so far. Nice art, too ^_^
Rokutousei Supika is the most recent thing I read. I *heart* it. Tis about a girl learning magic at a school which discriminates--girls can only rise to the third of six ranks. Supika works her butt off and is determined to get this policy changed. Amano is an annoying guy who looks down on her. Iori is her supportive friend. Yazaki is a mysterious boy who steals an important magical object. The story is interesting so far, and the art is *great*
*phew* I think that's all of importance *sweatdrops* I was very busy.... Now I'm going to watch episode 4 of Gakuen Alice, because it just finished downloading. Yay! Peace out :P
Sunday, December 12, 2004 12:29 p.m. Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED Destiny
Wah. I don't even remember when I started watching them (was it only a week or two ago? Or more?) but I've caught up with the fansubbers on Gundam Seed Destiny. Oh, my. Though I love the original, I think the sequel may be better.
Gundam Seed Destiny: [eps. 1-8] Okay. How do I describe 8 episodes of a sequel when most of you aren't too familiar with the original? Hmm. I never saw the ending of Seed, so it's a little bit difficult for me, too. In any case, most of the characters from Seed who survived (no telling who all is dead, but I have my guesses) now live in Orb, an island nation on Earth. Cagalli is the Representative (they also call her princess, and she seems to wield some power, but there's a prime minister, too...), Athrun (now under the pseudonym Alex Dino, because... well, yeah) is her bodyguard. Obviously, they're very close ^_~ (but not in a disgusting way. It's a sweet, understated relationship). Kira and Lux-chan are living at an orphanage with a bunch of orphans and a blind priest (I think he's a priest).
Anyway, it starts out with some freaky teens (blue-haired boy, psycho chick and the other guy) stealing mobile suits from Zaft/Plant/whatever. Cagalli is around to talk to Plant leader Dullindal and she and Athrun hop into a Zaku and end up on the new Zaft ship, the Minerva, where new main character Shinn works as a mobile suit pilot. Coordinator terrorists send abandoned space colony Junius 7 (same colony whose near destruction caused the first war) crashing toward Earth, and these events push Earth and Plant back into the direction of conflict. Yes, there's a lot more to it than that, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Anyway, by ep. 8, Cagalli and the Minerva are back in Orb, Athrun has just left for Plant (very sweet goodbyes), Kira and Shinn have just met, and many parts of the Earth have been destroyed from the fragments of Junius 7.
There are many, many threads to this story. The purpose of the MS-stealing weirdos has not been revealed (but it's obvious from the opening that the psycho chick and Shinn will have some sort of relationship). Some annoying guy from Orb seems interested in Cagalli (who hates him, I think). Athrun and Kira are finally able to talk as friends again, which was really sweet, too. Lux-chan seems to have an evil twin . . . okay, I swear. There was a scene where 'the bad guys' (for lack of a better name at the moment) are talking, and they show the silhouette of a girl. Her silhouette looks an awful lot like Lux-chan's, but Lux is in a bomb shelter, so it's not her. This would explain the different dresses in the opening, and the 'Lux-chan' looking evil and hanging off Athrun (which doesn't make any sense anyway, though, because Athrun obviously loves Cagalli). Anyway . . . a lot of stuff is happening and a lot of the characters are gone, but it really is fascinating. I'm not doing it justice here.
Of course, it takes a little bit to get the ball rolling, and you probably won't enjoy it nearly as much if you haven't seen the first one. One of the things I like best about Destiny is that it builds beautifully on the relationships and characters established in Seed. The new characters are okay (Shinn is slightly annoying; Zaku pilots Ray and Lunamaria interest me more), but Athrun has been my favorite for a while, and it's lovely to see his character in the spotlight (he's about as main as Shinn is). Anyway, I like it a lot, and I can't wait for the next episode.
Gakuen Alice: [eps. 2-3] This continues to be highly amusing and weirdly cute. Mikan has an Alice (like magic, sort of), but who knows what it is? Bad boy Natsumi decides to test her, supposedly because she's annoys him, but really because he senses something in her. Ah, but that makes things sound way too serious ^^ The quality of the animation and music and writing is top notch, and it shows. There's a definite similarity to Kodocha, but the different setting (that of a school for magically gifted students), motivations (secretive at this point), and plot points keep Gakuen Alice from being a clone. I think this is destined to be a favorite for me ^^
Meine Liebe: [eps. 3-4] ML continues with two more character episodes (Camus and Naoji's, who is my favorite ^^), and I continue to be amused by it, though it seems to have more substance than I expected. Not too much more, but enough that my brain doesn't rot ^^ Yeah, I like it.
Full Moon wo Sagashite: [eps. 29?-30] Ah, yes. There continue to be a lot of things that I like and a lot of things that I don't like about FMwS. I like the music and the innocence of main character Mitsuki. I don't like what's happened to the plot. They finally brought in Izumi, another shinigami come to supervise Mitsuki and one of my favorite characters, but they continue to blantantly spit in the face of one of the manga's most important turning points. Eichi is dead, and Mitsuki knows it. She's doing way too much looking for someone who she knows is no longer alive. This might be okay if they strayed completely from the manga's dark plot, but I heard that it follows the same course later. I'm really worried about how they'll manage that. Other than that, FMwS the anime is nice pink fluffiness. Yup.
Bleach: [-ep. 9] I purposely haven't been reviewing Bleach, because I would probably end up ragging on the little things that I thought the manga did better. I'll always think the manga is a little bit better, so that's not the point. The anime is wonderful, and I like it a lot when I'm not being a purist. I just don't have that much to say plot-wise because it's following the basic path of the manga very well, so there's nothing big to comment on. I'm curious about what will happen when, but other than that I just look forward to new episodes.
I think that's it. There's lots of old stuff (like some Melody of Oblivion eps.) floating around on my computer, but I love so many of the new shows that I don't have time for both. I only wish the episodes could be released faster! Ah, but it's hard to release more episodes when they haven't been shown on t.v. . . . heh. Peace out : P
Saturday, November 27, 2004 11:35 a.m. BISHIES!
Been a while, ne? But here I am, finally having watched a few of the many fansubs I'm backlogged on. Ah, glorious fun ^_____^
Meine Leibe: [eps. 1-2] SQUEE!! It's the next Weiss Kreuz/Saiyuki/whatever bishounen anime. And this one is GREAT fun.
Plot: PWP? Kind of. So the premise is that there's this country called Kuchen with an intelligent king and a group of advisors called the Strahl. Rosenstolz Academy trains candidates for the Strahl, and Meine Leibe (which is German for "My Love") focuses on five of the candidates for Strahl (more than one can be accepted at a time). But really, let's not kid ourselves, this is about bishounen prancing around in pretty clothes with swords and doing heroic and bishounen-y things. Fine by me ^_^ It's hilarious. Actually, there does seem to be a villain, but he hasn't appeared quite yet.
Characters: Hee hee.
Orpherus: [voiced by Takahiro Sakurai--adult Loki, etc.] Hee hee. He's blond and noble and serious and angsty and the main character. A beautiful example of a bishounen, "Orphe" wants a world where everyone can be safe and happy.
Tragic past? Check. Older sister, Robertine, mysteriously murdered. Orphe still has her necklace (which he talks to in the first episode. He also apologizes to a flower o.o).
Eduard: [voiced by Tomokazu Seki--Ken, Shuichi, Van-sama, Yzak, etc, etc.] Dark-skinned and red-headed (sort of), "Ed" is Orphe's good-natured best friend. He doesn't think himself up to becoming a Strahl, but he'll support Orphe. He also plays the piano.
Tragic past? Definitely. Ed was apparently an illegitimate child (this is fuzzy) who received the title of heir anyway, which his stepmother despises him for. He's also searching for his little sister, who was placed elsewhere so as to be protected from the stepmother. I'm a little confused, though, because Ed calls the older girls in his family his 'stepsisters,' so I guess they're not his father's children (otherwise they would be his halfsisters). Oh, well.
Ludwig: [voiced by Toshihiko Seki--Sanzo, Watari, Duo, Makoto Isshiki, etc.] Long, long bluish hair, a cold demeanor, narrow, brooding eyes... yup, this is Orphe's 'rival.' Orphe thinks "Lui" is too harsh in his decisions and they end up dueling in the first episode. But Lui isn't evil by any means. After all, he's one of the main characters!
Tragic past? Probably. The opening of his past is hard to see, but he seems to be a very wide-eyed child, as if he's just seen something angsty. I guess it'll be saved for later.
Camus: [voiced by Souichiro Hoshi--Goku in Saiyuki, Kira in SEED, etc.] Awww. Camus is the short and sweet, big-eyed Omi of the bunch. He's Ludwig's cousin (he says he knows Ludwig is "gentle" and caring on the inside. Right) and Orphe's supporter. Oh, he just admires everybody! Camus spends his time with the flowers in the greenhouse (others hang out there, too, giving me major Weiss deja vu).
Tragic past? The opening short of Camus' past shows a wide-eyed little boy looking out a window. So, yeah, probably.
Naoji [voiced by Akira Ishida--Chrno, Athrun, Hakkai, Xelloss, need I go on?] Whee! Well, you know that if Akira Ishida is voicing someone, then that's probably going to be my favorite character. Naoji is the mysterious one (I guess). He's Lui's main supporter, but also deeply respects Orpherus, who is very confident in Naoji's humble eyes. Naoji is from Japan and practices kendo.
Tragic past? Hmm. There's gotta be *some* reason for Naoji leaving Japan, and it's likely to be angsty.
Sir Isaac: [voiced by Takehito Koyasu--Aya, Frey, Zechs, Keiki, etc.] Sir Isaac looks like Dryden. I guess it's the little glasses.... Anyway, Isaac is the only non-Strahl candidate. He's sort of mysterious right now--he mentioned to the waitress (he's always at some cafe) that he's a writer (possibly?) but that's about it. He helped out Ed and Orphe with some thugs, though.
Tragic past? Well, considering he has a spot in the opening, probably yes.
Art: Loverly! This *is* a bishounen anime, after all, and you know who did the original character design? KAORI YUKI!! That's right, I though the beautiful bishie Orpherus had an uncanny resemblance to a blond Cain. Ed and Lui's eyes are a little bit funky, and one guy (some teacher) totally looks disturbingly like Muraki (he has a rather nasally voice, too...), but I like it overall.
Music: Quite good. can/goo (op/ed of Ultra Maniac) does the opening and ending, which are, like UM's, odd, but somehow extremely likable and singable. They're sort of... like carnival music o.o. The incidental music is actually pretty good-- I liked both Ed's piano playing and the lovely violin piece. Love, woah, woah! Love, woah, woah!
Conclusion: Meine Leibe is giggly and great fun. Overly serious bishies prancing around in one of the best clothing eras (clothing resembles that in Count Cain) ever? I'm there. Angst abounds, and there just *might* be a plot around the corner. Even without the plot, I'm staying with this one.
Wow, that was ever so long. I guess I'll keep my other stuff brief.
Beck: [ep. 1] Basically, boy and girl (his old friend) meet up with Japanese rocker who hung out in America. I think they start a band and go to the U.S. again. Watch it for the awesome Engrish (in music, on walls, spoken...)
Gankutsuou: I never finished episode one, but I heard this gets interesting in the second or third episode. It's based on the Count of Monte Cristo story (betrayal and revenge ^^) from the son's point of view. They've certainly done some interesting stuff with color and texture on this one, and I'd like to see more when I get the chance.
Gakuen Alice: [ep. 1] I am thoroughly charmed by this silly but sweet show. Hyper Mikan and cold Hotaru were best friends until Hotaru was transferred to the mysterious Alice Academy. Mikan followed after and was also accepted into the school of students with mysterious gifts. The animation is smooth and colorful, the music is cute, and there's a definite current of hilarity running through (like a teddy bear with an ax??)--that and Mikan's pigtails brought to mind Kodocha. Oh, yeah, and the super-sparkle-bishounen teacher is voiced by Akira Ishida. *hopes the fansubbers continue with this one*
So in short, this is a good season for getting fansubs. There's lots of other stuff around too, so check it out ^_~ Peace out :P
Thursday, October 7, 2004 04:13 p.m. Bleachy
So I took some time off from my busy schedule to watch and review Bleach. . . . Despite what I first wrote on Megan's tagboard, I half agree with her. Ah, but I adore the manga, and we all know how picky I am ^^;;
STORY: The plot of the first episode is almost identical to the manga. Ichigo meets Rukia the shinigami, Hollow comes crashing in, Rukia lends her shinigami powers to Ichigo, Ichigo defeats the Hollow. But there were some odd changes, the biggest of which (in my mind) was the Hollow crashing through the town in the morning (that and the stupid ghost girl getting all that screen time for no apparent reason). In the manga, the Hollow comes through at night, and doesn't do damage to anything but Ichigo's house (I think...). Though it was nice to see Rukia kicking butt, I didn't really like the change. It makes the switch between day and night feel odd and . . . come on, with all the hollows around, if a small fry like that one made such a mess . . . anyway, it's just my pickiness. Overall, fine.
VOICES: Hmm. I think I can get used to them, but it's really strange for me right now. I don't like Ichigo's voice much. Rukia's voice sounds strange, but it's all right. I totally *cracked* up when Kon came on the preview, voiced by Kubotite. Yay! Anyway, it was fine.
OP/END: I *loved* the opening animation. The song, so-so. I'll talk about music later. But the retro, colorful kind of thing was very in line with the manga, and most everyone looked really good in it. For the ending, I liked the Rukia parts. The rest was so-so. I wished they had chosen a different part of the song, though.
MUSIC: I know I wasn't the only one who screamed in horror when that awful promo song came back in the show (I think during the fight scene? It was horrible x.x). The music was a very mixed bag for me. Some songs, like the ending and the funky boogiepop-esque bgm that popped up when Rukia came, I absolutely love. Others made me want to cover my ears. The opening music was fine, but it wasn't really what I was expecting. Then again, Kubotite picked such good (already available) music to represent his characters (in the pages of the manga, the songs were listed) that I was expecting as good of taste in the anime. Oh, well. I still *adore* the ending.
ANIMATION: It could've been better. Overall, fine. Most of the characters look pretty close to their manga incarnations except . . . I think Ichigo looks pretty awful. There's something wrong. I don't know what it is. But he doesn't look like Ichigo. In fact, I don't like anime Ichigo nearly as much as I like manga Ichigo. He's too . . . I don't know. Tall? Not skinny enough? Not orange-haired enough? Something of his coolness is missing, and he just seemed sort of bland, which the character design didn't help. Anyway, it could've been worse, so . . . I guess I'll take what I can get.
CONCLUSION: Way back before there were any plans for an anime, I saw Bleach as something that should stay a manga. The art was too stylized and the format too perfect in being flat on a page that I thought it could never be a good anime. The art of the anime does not look nearly as good as the manga's, so I was right in that respect. But the Bleach anime is good in its own way. It'll take more than the first episode for me to see if the emotion in the story was kept intact, but I'm hopeful. For as much as I love Bleach the manga, I don't know if the anime can ever reach my high expectations, but I'm trying to keep myself from pointing out everything the manga is better in. Wah, so go watch it if you haven't (and stick with it Megan, cause *hopefully* it will get better ._.) Peace out : P
Friday, September 24, 2004 08:49 p.m. STELLVIA!
Soooo...I know it's been a while. Can you guess what I'm going to review? It should be pretty obvious....
Stellvia of the Universe: [vol. 1, eps. 1-4] Shima "Shipon" Katase has always dreamed of going into space and seeing a clear sky like her ancestors did, as opposed to the one filled with green gas that occupies the solar system in 2356. In just a few months the wave that caused this green gas 189 years ago will be followed by another, even more deadly than the first. But the people of Earth are ready. They've been training out in space and formulating protection for the Earth. Now Shima will finally get into space, because she's been accepted to the training ship known as "Stellvia"....
If you've been listening to me for the past few weeks, you know that I'm obsessed with Stellvia and am very happy about its release, though I haven't yet seen all of it. The summary above gives the basic premise; Stellvia is, in fact, a character driven show. As such, viewing it after you know some of the secrets (as I did today) it a very enlightening experience. You notice things happening in relationships, and clues to characters' pasts, personalities, and the secrets that they hide, some dark, some mundane. Because the plot takes a back seat to character (the first volume is merely a bit of character developement mixed with exposition and filler), I'll put up some profiles for the main characters. I'm putting the dub actors up because the Japanese are all wonderful and you probably wouldn't recognize them anyway ^^;;
Shima "Shipon" Katase: Shima is the overly apologetic, clumsy/accident-prone type. She worries a lot and has a very sweet personality. Though her piloting skills are inhibited by her worries, she's a brilliant programmer. Sometimes you might want to shake her out of her shyness, but she gets better as the series goes on. Shipon (the nickname Arisa gave her, which almost everyone uses) is voiced by Carrie Savage. Savage does an all right job, though Shipon's sweet voice seems hard to manage for the English actor.
Arisa Glennorth: Arisa is Shipon's over-energetic best friend and roommate. She's not very good at piloting or programming, but her energy keeps everyone's spirits up. Okay, Arisa annoyed the heck out of me in the fansubs, until she developed a little bit more depth toward the middle of the series, so she's okay now. Arisa is voiced ... well, the credits said someone else, but I am 99% sure that it's Kari Wahlgren, because she sounds exactly like Lavie from Last Exile (and even sounded like Robin from WHR for just a moment). I prefer Wahlgren's more subdued roles, but she does a better energetic voice than many VAs would, so I appreciate her work.
Kouta Otoyama: Kouta is Shipon's love interest. Erm, not yet, of course; right now they're just aquaintances ^^ Ah, but it's cute. Anyway, Kouta's sort of a loner--a friendly loner, to be sure--who gets dragged into Pierre, Jojo, and Dai-chan's schemes. But Kouta is a lot more than he seems. He's good-natured, level-headed and polite, but he also holds many secrets (okay, I don't know exactly what's up with him, but there's definitely SOMETHING--this is more obvious later on). I like Kouta's mysteriousness, especially since he's so nice and simple on the surface. Kouta is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch (another one not listed by that name, but I KNOW that voice o_o They can't trick me--Vash, Sakaki, Kiba). Bosch does just fine here--though Kouta hasn't had many lines yet (he's not a big talker).
Yayoi Fujisawa: Yayoi gets pulled (not unwillingly) into Shipon's group by way of Arisa's friendliness. She is extremely polite, seems to know everything about the Stellvia, and pilots her Bianca very well--except, it's not her first time in space. The fourth episode reveals that Yayoi went to Stellvia two years before but was injured in an accident and forced home. I don't want to give too much away, but her past is very compelling. I noticed just how much she tries to get Ayaka Machida's attention from the beginning, and it puts pangs in my heart because I know about what happened between them. Anyway, Yayoi is probably my favorite character. She is voiced by Michelle Ruff (Doujima from WHR, Tatiana from Last Exile), who does a decent job. But I don't like it, because I always think of Dojima, and Dojima and Yayoi are very different.
Ayaka Machida: Ayaka is one of the "Big Four," the best student pilots on Stellvia. She is very proud of her status and works extremely hard to maintain it. She has high standards and a drive to succeed. She's also an insensitive bitch. She seems to take a certain interest in Shipon then later reams her out for her mistakes. Something strange flickers across her eyes when she sees Yayoi, though, who she knew back when Yayoi first came to Stellvia, and she seems a little bit cooler toward Yayoi than others (though she will respond when Yayoi speaks to her). Ayaka is voiced by Julie Anne Taylor (Sophia in Last Exile), who does a decent job in this role (she hasn't had many lines, either).
A few other supporting characters are Akira (female), Yayoi's scary but maybe not so bad roommate; Jojo (male), one of the trio of silly boys; Pierre (male--voiced by Richard Hayworth, I swear, Kenshin o.o;;), a silly lady's man and the second in the trio; and Dai-chan (male--voiced by Dave Wittenburg, Michael in WHR), the third in the trio. There are more, of course--instructors, Rinna (who isn't in these eps.), the rest of the 'Big Four,' Shima's family, etc.--but these are the main ones right now.
Yeah, that was long.... By the way, I ADORE the box. It's metal and lovely *heart* I can't wait for the next volume *hops up and down* Even though it's only the Astro Bowl, which isn't very exciting, but . . . URGH! Peace out : P
Saturday, September 4, 2004 02:35 p.m. At the end of the journey
Archived.
Infinite Ryvius: [vol. 6, end] I admit my doubts that things would be hard pressed for resolution after the mind-grating chaos of volume five. It was losing some of its flavor, but the final volume brought that back with a comfortable if somewhat improbable end.
At this point, things were more than just tense on the Ryvius. Almost everyone had changed indescribably, for the better or for the worse. Kouji and Aoi found strength in themselves and each other; Ikumi and Kozue both snapped for different reasons; Juli and Blue found perhaps uncertainty and perhaps hope (and an obsession in Juli's case ^^); Charlie found courage, Criff found substance; Heiger found he could be (just maybe) wrong; Faina found she couldn't erase her past; Yuki didn't change as much, but his reasoning was revealed (and I ended up begrudgingly liking him ^_^); Lucson found he wasn't the best; Neya found a personality.
The big payoff, at the end, is comparing the end characters to how they were at the beginning and marvelling at that. True, most of them became psychos, but analyzing why and how they did is fascinating. (Anyway, they were somewhat back to normal at the very end.) The plotline of the Ryvius' significance (and why they were being attacked and so on) was a little bit shallow. But to say that the show is about this instead of the children's personalities, ideologies, and politics would be a vast misunderstanding. It's less about circumstance than reaction to circumstance--emotions turning to actions and then how they affect others. It walks the line between space soap opera and political allegory (seriously o.o lots of philosopies and ways of ruling represented).
So, yeah, in the end it was good. I had some definite doubts now and then, but the payoff was in the characters and the end gave just enough clues about the future to be satisfying instead of frustrating. Not my very favorite, but good enough that I don't mind the money I spend on it. Now if I could only find the second volume.... ^^;;
Melody of Oblivion: [ep. 2] More wackiness, more good music. I forgot to mention the bus that grew horns and legs and chased people o_o Really, what were the writers ON when they wrote this?!
Full Moon wo Sagashite: [ep. 21-24] Though I've heard future episodes gain the darkness of the manga, at the moment FMwS is about as sweet and substance filled as cotton candy. And there are vital spoilers that are completely being gone against in this, so I don't know what they're going to do about that (Eichi. Eichi. Eichi. I know they didn't know, but his state of being is kind of important o_o). The Ooshige-san/Wakaouji-sensei thing bugs me, too, since it's not vital to the storyline, but it was one of the things that I liked--Ooshige used to be in the music biz herself and she was one of Wakaouji's undying fangirls. The manga even has her saying hello to a poster of him in her apartment ^^ (Wakaouji was there, too--Ooshige was drunk o.o). Their interaction in the anime is too easy and indifferent for this to come into the plot now >< Also, they're majorly ruining Madoka ... Bah. It's not that FMwS is a bad show, because it is sweet and enjoyable as shoujo by itself. It's just when you take a purist fan of the manga like me that it turns sour. Ah, well. I can wait for it to get better.
Soukyuu no Fafner: [ep. 5-6] So there was this chick and she liked Kazuki and then she said she would protect the island and then she died. I think her name was Shouko ... SnF is driving me half-mad. The animation is gorgeous, the music is nice, but the plot is really really slow. And I still barely know the character's names. Kazuki (the main boy), Shouko (the now dead girl), and Soushi Minashiro, my favorite because he's easily distinguishable and almost has a personality. There are lots of others and I can see their faces, but who are they?!
It's one thing to be mysterious, like RahXephon. It's another to leave plotholes everywhere. Nothing has been explained adequately. Why are those things attacking the island? Why do they keep saying "Are you there?" Why does the island have that kind of defense? Why haven't they joined up with the rest of humanity? What's with the 'mysterious girl'? What makes any of the children qualified to pilot mechas? Excuse me if I missed something large, but where's the plot in all of this? *sighs* I'm trudging on because I really want to like this show. There have been a few very good moments of emotion from some characters, but others have shown absolutely nothing other than the bare minimum. I really hope this will be 26 episodes, because they're going no where right now.
Umm . . . I actually haven't been watching very many fansubs since school started. Almost all of the above was left over from earlier weeks of summer. Of course, there's not been much grabbing my attention in any series, so . . . just makes me look forward to Bleach all the more! (It better be good for all the anticipation I've built up...) Peace out : P
