This could broadly be described as another of those “Girls Who Save the World” shows, but it is handled in a slightly different fashion, in that there are no transformation sequences, but their goal is not much different than “Sailor Moon” or Symphonia”.
“Coppelion” tells the story of (left to right) Taeko Nomura, Ibara Naruse and Aoi Fukasaku, who are not what they appear to be. Are they high school girls, on a class trip to Kyoto so they can look at the temples and take advantage of the cuisine there? Not hardly likely.
In 2016, a ‘incident’ at the Odaiba energy plant contaminates all of Tokyo and everyone has to leave (and they never say that it was a nuclear meltdown, although all the Hazmat suits, Geiger counters and radiation symbols plastered everywhere are enough to make it so). But not everyone leaves, for whatever reason. Twenty years later, a distress call is heard from Old Capitol and these girls are dispatched to answer the call.
So these aren’t even real girls. They are clones who have been biologically engineered to be able to withstand massive levels of radiation that would turn the rest of us into instant goo. They are to render immediate first aid and then get those people out of there. The story details their efforts, but it is more than a “Who can we save this week” approach, as that would get boring really fast. (more…)
How many of you folks know what an ‘arpeggio’ is? Sure, most of you could identify it immediately as something related to music, but the real definition is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously. This word comes from the Italian word “arpeggiare”, which means “to play on a harp.” An alternative translation of this term is “broken chord.”
Arpeggios allow monophonic instruments to play chords and harmony and help create rhythmic interest. The title is most supportive of “Arpeggio of Blue Steel (“Aoki Hagane no Arupejio”), which looks like a mere submarine anime, but it’s more than that.
In the year 2039, it’s a mess. Humanity, via global warming, has reduced a lot of their land mass. In that year, a strange alien force came down. Known as the Fog, they manifest themselves as naval vessels and successfully blockaded the oceans, so humanity was cut off from one another. 17 years after the blockade (that’s now 2056, if you are trying to do quick math), Gunzō Chihaya, a former student of the Japanese National Marine Academy, is captaining a Fog submarine that defected and joined humanity’s plight. Technically referred to as I-401, Iona is the Mental Model for the Blue Steel submarine. Chihaya and crew are pirates or renegades, or, more to the point, blockade runners. They can deal some major hurt to the Fog fleet. (more…)
As part of this onslaught of sports animes that I have recently encountered, we now segue over to “Wanna be the Strongest in the World!” (“Sekai De Ichiban Tsoyoku Naritai!”) which is as representative of women’s pro wrestling as “Hetalia” is of world history. It’s not bad, but this is more like WWF (and that’s NOT for World Wildlife Fund) than the Olympics.
We start out with the best, the biggest, the most famous, the most beloved J-Pop group to ever grace a stage in Japan, Sweet Diva! Stadiums are sold out, CDs are hotter than flapjacks and every bit of information about them is glommed up by a hungry and caring public. The Center of the group is the dulcet-toned, flowing grace, heavy-bosom, just 17 years old, Sakura Hagiwara (black-haired up there). If she went out for the Diet (the National assembly, not something from Dr. Atkins), she would be elected by a landslide. Or a spacequake.
As part of their duties as pop idols, they do these meet-and-greets. One is with the wrestling team Berserk, an all-female pro team. One of the members of Sweet Diva, Elena Miyazawa (redhead with the mic), who is also Sakura’s on-stage rival and best friend, makes an injudicious comment about wrestling and is challenged by Rio Kazama (silver-hair, far right) to a no-holds-barred match. Sakura accepts the challenge in her stead and is soundly defeated by Rio. (more…)
This is a sports anime and the second strangest one I have encountered (“Girls und Panzer” wins that race). “Walkure Romanze” takes place in Germany (they never say it, but you see enough text and print to be able to determine this) at Winford Academy where, on the agenda, is jousting. Forget metal shop here, we’re going after some really heavy metal here!
Now, it is supposedly for both male and female knights, but we only focus on the ladies. Our male hero is Takahiro Mizuno. He used to be a knight but suffered an injury to both body and mind and has now relegated himself into being a begleiter (and you pronounce it like you are trying to bum a match for your cigarette: beg lighter). His job is to offer support and guidance to whomsoever the knight is. (Much like what Burgess Meredith did in ‘Rocky’).
Mio Kisaki is at this school (the one holding the helmet), but not in the jousting section. However, she runs afoul of Celia Cumani Aintree (big busty blonde) who challenges her to a joust. This is bad, as she is a jousting prodigy, is Student council president and has never lost a round in her two years here. However, Mio does well enough to want to get into the jousting program. The series is her attempts to better herself, trying to get Takahiro back into the jousting program and all the other concerns and machinations within the jousting program. (more…)
Being a demon is tough and when you are a territory boss in the East Demon World, it’s even tougher. In “Blood Lad”, Staz Charlie Blood is the descendant of a noble vampire, and his father would go to the human world to suck blood. Not Staz. If he went to the human world, it’s off to Akihabara for the latest in video games, animes and figures. However, one day, he meets Fuyumi Yanagi, a regular old-fashioned girl who wandered into Demon World through a portal that opened in her bedroom.
His staff wants to suck her blood; he wants to impress her with his ‘knowledge’ of human things (thus the bizarre get-up he has on). Sadly, this little tryst is broken up when a neighboring demon boss is set on taking Staz’ territory and unleashes some hideous beasts. Staz manages to defeat all of them….but one, who manages to get to his apartment and devour Yanagi, turning her into a ghost. Since this is the first girl Staz has ever met and seen really close up, he vows to do whatever it takes to make her human once again. (more…)
It is rare, in my opinion, to see an anime about ordinary people. School animes are not all that ‘ordinary’ and some push it into the realm of supernatural or fantasy or fan service gone berserk. (I remember when I was in high school and I NEVER saw ladies that….uh….hefty. Yeah, that’s a good term).
“Servant x Service” takes us into the exciting world of…..public service, revolving around the daily lives of employees in a government office building in the fictional city of Mitsuba in Hokkaido.
The story starts off with the three newest members of the team, and they are, from left to right, Lucy Yamagami (more on that later), Yutaka Hasebe and Saya Miyoshi. They want to fit in and be part of the team, but it gets difficult with shenanigans both in front of and behind the counter.
Miyoshi gets teamed with Mrs. Tanaka (she is the old-fashioned lady in the center. No, she is nowhere that tall and robust, but this was the best picture I could find of all the players. She is more like four-foot-nothing, OK?). Mrs. Tanaka comes in practically every day and drones on and on and on about her life and her son-in-law and that Saya needs a good husband and that she could find one for her. (more…)
Another one of those very long titles, we have “My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU” also known as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabu Kome wa Machigatteiru. (“My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected.“). This one is a caliber of nothing show, but things do happen, just very slowly.
Hachiman Hikigaya (the sweaty one, second from left) is a caliber of loner and a pure cynic. He feels that youth is simply an illusion created by hypocrites, for hypocrites, born from the ashes of past failures. Well, he is not going to get on any popularity lists. Yukino Yukinoshita (dead center, flowing black hair) is president of the Service Club, a group that helps out people in distress. Sadly, she is the only member, so has to blackmail Hikigaya into joining, much to his irritation and distress. He doesn’t need to belong to any club. Well, he does belong to one, but it’s the going-home Club. And then he is pressed into service to do something he has never really done before: be helpful! (more…)
“My Little Monster” (“Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun”, also translated out to “The Monster Sitting Next to Me”) could potentially be described as a nothing show, as it starts off that way. It takes a little while for the plot to get moving, as we have a rather wide-ranging cast, but it is a good entry into the romantic comedy genre. Shizuku Mizutani (pencil near mouth, holding book) is focused on one thing only: studies. She studies morning, noon and night, all weekend long, around the clock and through the seasons. She has no time for frivolities if she wants to get into a prestigious university. One day, she is asked by the teacher to deliver handouts to a slacker student, Haru Yoshida, (dude with the rooster) to his house, as he has been absent a huge amount of time. Because no one has ever been this nice to him, especially a girl, he starts to come to school, much to the consternation of others. (more…)
Random Person : Do you watch anime? You : Of course!! I can’t live without that stuff Random Person : So whats your favorite anime? You : Thats a hard one, Death Note probably, although Shingeki and Mushishi are pretty good too.. How about you? Random Person : Avatar You : -.-” Avatar isn’t anime.. Random Person : Well then what is it? You :
So what is Avatar? And why is there so much confusion surrounding it? (more…)
2013 was a pretty good year for anime lovers around the world; so many new series released, so many getting started and some new releases from series’ we all loved in the past. One thing that I have particularly enjoyed this year is the number of special Christmas releases; which have been an enjoyable return to shows that I was certain were over for the year.
Other than those I happened to notice on Crunchyroll I have not watched that many of the new series, which I am a little disappointed about, having spent much of the year catching up on some of the older classics I missed, so I will instead be offering reviews on some of the few I have seen, as well as reviews of other anime I happen to have completed this year.
One Piece:
One Piece is one of the biggest shonen anime there is, the three big names in this genre are of course One Piece, Naruto and Bleach. While I have seen the others in the past One Piece had never really appealed to me in the same way, but in spring this year I decided I would start it. To be honest it took me a little while to really get in to it, the beginning didn’t go as quickly and energetically as I was expecting but it didn’t take long and soon enough I was hooked. (more…)
