So, with the conclusion of the second (and potentially, final) season of “Chaika, the Coffin Princess”, it is now time to trot out the OVA, so we can tell a story that otherwise would not have fit into the full run of things. The OVA is actually two half-episodes, where the Red Squad and the White Squad come into contact with one another while avoiding the Kliemann Agency (more or less), but this is done more to be goofy than any real import, much like “Darker Than Black” Episode #26, which was goofy and silly and funny and completely out of character with the show’s original dark and dismal run.
In this outing, the guys and gals are still looking for the parts of dismembered Daddy and come to a location to hunt them down, not knowing the other team is there. The tone here is far lighter, as they have to work together to escape the situation they are in, but it is not done as dramatic or intense as seen in the series; more like a minor inconvenience or annoyance, like bees living in your head. And when Akari has to flatten David twice for doing the same perceived pervy thing twice, well, it’s all for giggles and laughs. (more…)
This is a kind of a magical girl show, but “Magimoji Rurumo” (or “Magi Moji Rurumo”) does not follow the same arc as others of this genre. It all starts at school (as does a huge amount of animes and mangas).
Kota Shibaki (that’s him on her right) is a high-school boy whose only interest is girls, but he is so openly perverted about it, the ladies avoid him. Well, he IS kinda icky. One day, he finds a book in the library about how to summon witches. (I don’t remember my library having books like this. Sure, maybe a science book talking about the just-launched Sputnik satellite, but we can’t ever be up to date on things.)
He tries it as a joke, but it turns out to be the real thing: an apprentice witch named Rurumo appears, to grant him a wish. Shibaki helps Rurumo and she, in return, refuses to take his soul. Well, that’s the nature of contracts with witches. Time passes and Shibaki wishes he could see Rurumo again. His wish is granted immediately as Rurumo falls from the sky and crash-lands in front of him. Well, a lot has happened. He finds out that as punishment for Rurumo not taking his soul, she’s been busted down to an apprentice demon. (more…)
I usually do not like post-apocalyptic shows, as it always presents the fall and demise of society; however “Sunday Without God” certainly goes in a different direction than you surmise. But there is a big problem with the logic and physics of this dying world we find ourselves in.
It is the future. Fifteen years earlier, God abandoned the world, but initially, didn’t tell anyone. The world made two discoveries: no one was dying and no one was being born. God later came down to say that Heaven was overcrowded (What? Really? And God couldn’t do anything about it?) and that there would be no new admittances and that we were on our own. But it’s like “Death Becomes Her”, in that you have to take care of your body. You can still die, but you just kind of hang around as your body rots away.
In this village of no given name, we find 12-year-old Ai Astin (dead center). Her mother was a gravekeeper, but since she was the last person who could really die and did so, Ai has taken over the position. She tends over the 134 graves in the village, ready for the day when she has to use them. A stranger comes into the town and proceeds to kill everyone, as he looks for this mysterious Hana. His name is Hampnie Hambart (to her right). Since she has no reason to stay in the village and he has places to go, they set out on a journey to try and find Hana and even to help Ai in her quest to save the world God has abandoned. (more…)
The second season of “Sword Art Online” is out, and they did the same thing on this approach as with the last version, and that is to have two full story arcs. The first 14 episodes, “Phantom Bullet”, have Kirito as a kind of cyber cop. There is a new VRMMMORPG called “Gun Gale Online”, a real shooter game. A character walks about named “Death Gun” who shoots another character and they disappear. It later turns out that the real-life person whose character was shot in the game is dead.
This happens two more times and people are scared that there is a way for your avatar to get shot in the game and that it kills the real you. Kirito is asked by Kikuoka Seijiro of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Virtual Division to investigate this. He dives back in and signs up to be in the Bullet of Bullets competition, where he proves himself to be very competent, despite using a light saber…..I mean, a Photon Sword. There is a real funny incident involving his character, but I’ll let you find that one yourself. Kirito is befriended by Sinon, a sniper person in the game, who has severe psychological problems outside the game (can’t reveal; plot point). (more…)
When I started doing these Short Run reviews, I asked myself “When is an OVA not an OVA?” After a couple of years, I came up with an answer that I can work with. It is an OVA if there is a full show that it can be tethered to. So, when “Attack on Titan” or “Sword Art Online” have their little things, those are OVAs, as there is a show that it can be tied to. If it is something like “Eiken” or “Jungre de Ikou”, it is a short run series, as there was no show for it to be based from and is a stand-alone short run.
Now, with all that being said, I comment about this short-run item, “Holy Knight”. It comes in at a mere two episodes but leaves a lot on the table, kind of like going to an All-you-can-eat smorgasbord and then, after getting all of it to your table, you get up and get out after one bite. What? You’re leaving that all behind? What gives? What gives, indeed.
The tale starts out simple enough. An entire village is killed off, save for the child, Lilith Kishimoto. There is something odd or special about these farm folk, thus triggering their massacre. Here’s where the first problem occurs. The raid appears to have taken place during mediaeval times, as we are wielding swords and wearing armor. When Lilith grows up, in what appears to be a span of 10 years, it is certainly the modern times, with cell phones and airplanes and Justin Bieber posters. Lilith has grown into the fine woman you see before you, but she has a task. This is a three part task. I can only tell you the first part, as the other parts are major plot points. (more…)
When I say that “Orenchi no Furo Jijō” (“The Circumstances in My Home’s Bathtub“) is a real fish out of water show, I ain’t kidding!
It tells the story of Tatsumi, who is a high school boy living by himself. One day, something happened to him in the ocean and he went under, rescued by Wakasa, who pulled him to safety. Yup, he’s a merman (and one problem that I had; the incident just mentioned is alluded to in the credits, but no specifics). Tatsumi brought him home to recover in his bath tub and that was that. Wakasa is not moving out. To make things worse, some of Wakasa’s friends come a-calling and also sit a spell. They include Takasu, or Octopus Boy; Mikuni, the jelly fish; and Maki, a sea snail (Maki is much smaller than that; otherwise, you’d never see him).
The tales revolve around how Tatsumi puts up with all of these moochers (and, yes, they are a caliber of mooch), as he figures out what to do with them and his life. The problem I had is that the guys (with the exception of Mikuni) are really good looking. I mean REALLY good looking, with wispy eyes and strong jaw lines and that metrosexual ideal. The staff tried to make this a caliber of Yaoi, as they are all in firm shape and have devastatingly fabulous looks and are potentially hunkalicious. (more…)
Sanshu Middle School has a Hero Club, students (girls) who are dedicating themselves to helping those that request it. One day, they are suddenly caught in a ray of light and transported to a strange forest, where evil monsters known as Vertex are seeking to destroy the Shinju (Divine Tree), which would, in turn, destroy the world. Using a special app to transform into heroes imbued with magical powers (App? Yes, they have to use cell phones to transform, kind of like “The Irregular”), these girls must now become genuine heroes in order to protect their world. That is the premise behind “Yuuki Yuuna Wa Yuusha De Aru” (“Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero”).
This is another in the “Girls Who Save the World” genre, as they do battle with these Vertexes (and I though the plural was ‘vertices’. Splitting hairs?) The original staffing was four, but one got added later, and the line-up for the Home Team is, left to right:
Karin Miyoshi Mimori Tōgō Yūna Yūki Fū Inubōzaki Itsuki Inubōzaki
Now, in this ‘strange forest’ (so called, as it defies any other caliber of description), Togo has the use of her legs. She is messed up, owing to a car accident that took her ability to walk and some of her memories, so she is ported about in her wheelchair. (more…)
Now, when “Chaika – The Coffin Princess” came to its conclusion, I knew a second season was in the offing, as the main plot wasn’t resolved. Well, the second season “Chaika – The Coffin Princess; Avenging Battle” does just that, but this is the third series I have encountered this year with a 10-episode second season. Oh, and a revelation uncovered from the first season is completely buried under for this run.
Well, our heroes (left to right) Toru Acura, Chaika Trabant and Akari Acura are still hunting for the remains of the Emperor Gaz, who ruled the land with an iron cudgel and people were glad he was turned into shish kabobs, as he was really, really evil, worse than an IRS auditor. Adding to their consternation, Red Chaika is ALSO hunting for body parts as well and can seemingly get to them faster than White Chaika is able to. Their goals are still the same: a decent burial for Daddy-san.
Plus, we still have the Kliemann Agency, the government-sponsored group, also in active pursuit of them, with the intent to capture and stop this foolishness. Remember, the body parts still carry strong and dangerous magical powers and if we bring them all together, it’s Armageddon, or at least Fresno in the fall. A new sojourn, added to the rather capacious list of Things To Do, is to find Gaz’s Fortune, which is on a mysterious island that no one knows about, as it is hidden and mysterious (although we can find it; it’s just takes two episodes to do that). The show heads to a conclusion that I had not predicted, as we were all unaware of the Black Chaika (and we learn the full history about that as well). (more…)
There is a classic trope in Hollywood pictures, where some rube from the country comes to the Big City to make it big, only to get fleeced and greased. That is the initial concept behind “Akami ga Kill!” (“Akami Slashes!”).
In this land, Tatsumi leaves his poverty-stricken village, with his two friends, in order to join the army in the Capitol, makes lots of money and help save the village. Along the way, he is separated from his companions and gets to the Capitol all alone….where he is promptly swindled out of all his money. Destitute, a rich family takes him in for the night, to help him get back on his feet. However, this house is attacked by members of the assassination group Night Raid, who proceed to kill most of the people.
In trying to defend them, Tatsumi realizes that his hosts not only take in lost souls from the streets, but torture them to death, including his two friends, whom he frees, but cannot rescue. Angered, Tatsumi kills his hosts and joins Night Raid to dispense some harsh justice. (more…)
This is another of those shows like “Infinite Stratos” or even “Unbreakable Machine Doll”, whereas only maidens who are pure of heart and come from a noble family can pilot a body ship, or, in this case, make contracts with the spirit world and become elementalers. In order to achieve the finest education in all these matters, they attend the Areishia Spirit Academy, where they are trained and given an Elite’s education in order to qualify to become an elementalist. Well, all of this is knocked into a cocked hat when Kamito Kazehaya (find the dude up there, dude) somehow manages to make a contract with a spirit, making him the ONLY male elementaler in the world and only the second since the Norman Conquest (the real one, not the series).
“Blade Dance of the Elementalers” relates the tale of how Kamito tries to fit in with all of these girls, but four in particular, who are, left to right:
Claire Rouge Rinslet Laurenfrost Ellis Fahrengart Fianna Ray Ordesia
The fifth, Terminus Est, is actually the contracted spirit for Kamito. This is her ‘human’ form; her regular form is some fabulous sword. (more…)
