Spoilers for Code Geass and R2 throughout.

I’m going to be predictable and blog about my ever high hopes for the upcoming installment for Code Geass ;). There is much talk about Lelouch still being alive, and it gets confusing. I’m pretty sure the director himself has declared Lelouch is indeed dead, but don’t quote me on that. However, the fact that Lelouch is stabbed by his best friend, would pretty much be enough proof that Lelouch is dead. Then again, every fan of the show knows the very last scene leaves us with room for speculation. It also makes people like me crazy because I like all the ends to be tied up into a nice little package.

My opinion? I’m so glad you asked! Lelouch is dead.

I’m not exactly a gold mine of information when it comes to supporting this theory. C.C. is shown to be looking up at the sky and talking. Yes, she is happy so that leads some viewers to believe that is proof Lelouch has survived, but some time has passed since his death when that scene is shown. So because it acts like a sort of epilogue, we can say C.C. has moved on. As an immortal she is used to being alone. Some people believe that Lelouch is the man riding the carriage in the last scene and there are videos that show the man having a similar facial structure to Lelouch as well as Lelouch’s black hair. At first I thought they were hoax videos but according to this one, that was the original Japanese ending and not just a hoax.
After some research I’m starting to understand the people who assume Lelouch is alive. The code and the Geass elements to the series leave me admittedly confused at times. I’m watching season 1 for the third time and there are still parts that I am only just catching this time around. With all the different theories out there I still like to stick to my original belief. I like that Lelouch is dead because I think it gives the ending a much more profound impact and him still being alive is like a cop-out. Also, I’m a sadistic nut when it comes to stories. I’ve always liked dark, sad story lines better.

Another guess? The writers watched V for Vendetta one too many times.

I’ve heard more than one person say that this is a sequel to R2 and that they hope to see Lelouch in it. This is not the case. The new Code Geass installment is to air August 4th. It’s a 4 episode long OVA. According to the summary (more…)

This is one wild and crazy show that needs multiple viewings to make certain that you can figure out what it all means. You may fail, but this is a show that keeps you on your toes.

The basic plot is about Naota Nandaba (he’s the one in blue at the bottom). He lives in Mabase, a suburb ofTokyo. The city scenery is dominated by the Medical Mechanica building, which looks like a giant flatiron and I mean GIANT. While standing on a bridge, talking with Mamimi Samejima (ex-girl friend of Naota’s older brother, the smoker at the far left), Haruko Haruhara bursts onto the scene,  running Naota over with her Vespa scooter, then giving him CPR and finally hitting him on the head with a blue vintage Rickenbacher 4001 left-handed electric bass guitar (that dead-center maniac).

This creates a horn on his head, from which later on, a robot emerges from it. Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, Haruhara turns up to be a live-in maid at his house, making an already bad situation even worse for him. And from there, things get progressively stranger. Yes, it DOES get progressively stranger.

Can one really codify the show and not give away huge chunks of the plotting?  I mean, it is only six episodes and it a show that requires a real intensity of watching, because if you miss something, you really miss something. And since it moves at this breakneck pacing, playing catch-up is something you really don’t want to do. (more…)

Taking a play from an old ad campaign that use to run here in the states to discourage parents drug habits from having a transitioning influence on their kids; I can only start off by saying that I can imagine some unsuspecting adolescent quietly watching Kingdom in the comforts of his own room until his father busts in on him:

Dad: What are you doing!?
Son: *Startled* jumps up to hide the screen.
Dad: ANIME!  Who taught you to watch ANIME!?  TELL ME!
Son: YOU DID! DAD! I LEARNED IT FROM YOU!
Dad:     

Kingdom Synopsis:

In the Warring States Period of ancient China (475-221 BCE), Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of one day proving themselves on the battlefield. One day, however, Hyou is taken to the palace by a minister. Winding up on the losing side of a power-struggle, Hyou manages to return to the village, barely alive. Shin then meets a boy who closely resembles Hyou, Ei Sei. For now he is the king of Qin; later he will become the emperor Shi Huangdi. (more…)

More Than Meets The Eye

Like a lot of people Ninja Scroll was one of the first anime movies I had the luxury of watching.  After observing how unique it was compared to other ‘cartoons’ I had seen over the previous years I began to do research to find similar productions.  Of course, back in the 90’s I didn’t realize a lot of shows I was currently watching were actually imported from Japan.  After learning the difference I understood the first genuine anime show I actually watched was the Original Transformers.

Since then I’ve watched everything from Princess Mononoke, Gungrave, Black Blood Brothers, to more recent stuff such as Kingdom.  I may take a little bit more of an old school approach to stuff I see today in large part due to the fact I believe Xenogears is the best game of all time in my opinion.  I previously played games along with watching anime prior to Xenogears, but it helped facilitate the foundation for my enthusiasm in all things anime/game related when ID tossed the Yggdrasil on Bart. (The graphics are cheesy compared to today’s standards I know.) (more…)

Hello world! Whilest I could start with an apology for my unplanned hiatus due to exams, my new-found python obsession and dealing with Kamikaze monkeys from hell, this review takes precedence. I’ll do the world a favor and get straight to the point.. Zetman sucks. I remember in a previous post I said:

“So the spring season has started and I must say that there are quite a few shows that caught my attention. Zetman for instance 🙂 I love how we have an initial episode giving us some background then in episode 2 we jump 5 years straight into the action.”

Although at episode 2 I felt I was barely keeping up, there seemed to be so much potential in this show that it had to be good right? Wrong. By episode 4 I realized that hey, things were not right. By 8 I confirmed that theory and today, episode 13 I was scratching at the screen screaming ‘MAKE IT STOPP!! DEAR GOD!! MAKE IT STOPPP!!!!!’

The root of the problem is that the original Zetman is basically the cross between a western (Marvel) comic and Japanese manga and while that sounds like a pretty awesome mix, they completely failed at the adaptation into an anime. The main character Jin is…. sigh… (more…)

Pretty 🙂

Air: An Overview

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Air, it’s the story of a homeless man, Yukito, and his journey as he stops in a quaint little town by the beach. He is searching for the Winged Maiden (sounds so pretty, doesn’t it?), a woman his mother would tell him about as a child who was cursed and bound to the sky. He meets a young girl named Misuzu when stopping in this town, and suddenly everything changes for him. So that’s the basic plot line. Now you don’t have to quickly google it before reading this article.

The Air Anime

Story: The anime first appealed to me because it was short at only 13 episodes and because the artwork is stunning. Where the story is concerned, it’s sloppy and all over the place. The Winged Goddess story line is choppy and poorly explained…well maybe it isn’t but I was just bored by the time they got down to specifics. A huge reason for this is the large and pointless cast of secondary characters who are tolerable at their best and horribly annoying at their worst.

Characters: Misuzu, Haruko (Misuzu’s foster mother), and Yukito are all fairly well-developed characters. The problem is the obnoxious bunch of secondary characters who are supposed to make this a more dramatic show but make it slow and all over the place. Misuzu goes beyond your typical cute girl. (more…)

Maturity... yea it matters

After my last post ‘Appearances can be Deceiving‘, I realized that what I called a ‘deceiving start’ was not the only thing that could make one drop a show. While it is the most common reason, one’s Level of Maturity also plays a pretty huge part in how much one is able to understand and appreciate an anime.

A lot of the time viewers find themselves more able to relate to certain shows (especially those with a ‘deeper’ sense to them) when they are older and have a better understanding of the world (usually brought about by both good and bad life experiences). A perfect example can be found on Canne’s Anime Review Blog when she expressed that ‘watching anime at the right time is as important as watching the right anime’.

The thing is. I wasn’t ready for Princess Mononoke when I first saw it. I was too young, too ignorant and inexperienced to truly appreciate it. I could feel that this was a great anime but I didn’t understand why. Now I do and I am grateful to myself for giving the anime another chance.

Shows such as Princess Mononoke, Akira and Grave of the Fireflies are examples of anime that while can be enjoyable by all, takes a certain level of Maturity to fully appreciate.

Like Canne I remember a few years back watching Akira for the first time and to be honest it didn’t hit me, it felt old, boring. I actually felt somewhat confused for the greater part of the show. After a re-watch a few months ago by the slightly more mature me, or at least the slightly older me. I found myself thinking that (more…)

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Why Shinji is as strong as Rei and Asuka and …What would Asuka do?

(Spoilers ahead)
I was reading the NGE manga and in volume six Toji discovers he’s the fourth child. His Eva unit is taken over by an Angel and Rei, Shinji, and Asuka are sent to destroy it. This happens in episode 18 of the anime. Shinji has no idea Toji is in the Eva/Angel in the anime, but still refuses to destroy it. In the manga he recognizes that it is Toji. Shinji refuses to shoot, Rei only follows orders and doesn’t think twice about shooting, and Asuka was already shot down and help was sent for her.

I don’t remember if Rei and Asuka are present during this scene in the anime, but to the best of my memory they aren’t. Anyway, in both versions Shinji is now faced with a choice and promptly refuses to follow orders. This to me is the most defining moment for his character and proof that he is far more than a coward.

Take that Shinji bashers.

Shinji gets far too much dislike. Is he a heroic, admirable, amazing hero? No. But hello, that’s the entire point of the series. My opinion, if someone hates Shinji, they hate NGE; which is fine everyone is entitled to an opinion. But if someone still loves NGE I can’t understand why they would love a show centered on a character they hate. Also, I think they failed to see the point of the show.

So now I have developed a list I like to call…
Reasons Why Shinji is as Good as Asuka and Rei

Reason 1: Shinji refuses to shoot because it goes against his moral reasoning
Simply, Shinji sticks to his guts. Whether or not you agree with Shinji’s choice is a whole different debate. That issue of whether it’s okay to sacrifice one person to benefit another can be analyzed for you in 50 very complicated episodes of the Code Geass series. The point is Shinji did what he thought was right. He didn’t shoot because he was terrified of getting in trouble or afraid to die, he simply said he was not going to shoot. It would have been very easy for Shinji to have just saved his own skin. In the manga, he knew it was his friend. That also shows loyalty. In the anime he has no idea it’s Toji. That shows that he thinks of others, of children his own age. (more…)

The power of deception.. blessing? or curse?

Do you remember in the first Transformers movie, when Sam Witwicky went out looking for his first car, and ended up with this average 1976 Camaro? If so then you surely remember when it self-pimped up to the 2009 model. Sometimes it feels to me that anime does the same thing. On numerous occassions I have found myself dropping an anime, only to find myself picking it up again after a certain period of time and only then realizing that hey… I LOVE this show!

While there can be numerous reasons for that, I believe that the main reason is simply because of a ‘Deceiving Start’. This is the case where you start watching a show and by episode 3 or 5 you feel you have just wasted way too much of your life on it, that it can not possibly get any better and so you simply move on to the next show that peaks your interest.

I call it ‘deceiving’ for lack of a better word, saying ‘A Slow Start’ or ‘A Boring Start’ would imply that the plot progression is slow (or boring) which is not always the case. In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for instance, although it is currently one of my personal favourites, it was once on my ‘dropped’ list due to its… somewhat unappealing start. (more…)

Today I’m going to attempt to review Trinity Blood but before we begin I would like to throw out there that this review will be affected by various factors. The first being that I watched it in french and while my ‘le français’ isn’t as bad as a monkey’s English it isn’t the most eloquent thing either thus I probably didn’t get as into the show as I could’ve. Secondly, before doing a general review I like to watch or re-watch (assuming it only stretches one or two seasons) the entire show in 2 – 3 sittings so that it’s fresh in my mind. This on the other hand I’ve been watching in groups of 2 – 3 episodes with extremely lenghty spans of time in between. So with that in mind, lets begin.

Trinity blood summed up is basically a poorly made Hellsing, okay maybe I shouldn’t use the word ‘poorly’ so instead I’ll call it a ‘lighter’ version of hellsing. I suppose that was a given as it was adapted from a light novel instead of an action packed anime but sigh, we have a potentially AWESOME protagonist with all the power he could possibly want with the personality of Vash the Stampede (Trigun) in a show with highly detailed artwork and a potentially awesome setting and they still found a way to screw it up.

The plot was unnecessarily complex and disjointed, we kept jumping from one thing to another and sometimes it seemed like we had 5 different people (with conflicting personalities) or at least one guy with a really serious case of multi-personality disorder directing individual parts of the show. But regardless here is what I believe the show was intended to be about: (more…)