Pascoite gets bored and reviews anime, vol. 10 · 7:22pm Jun 1st, 2021
Early in the day today, but I have way too much to catch up on tonight. I'm about to run into a section of the alphabet without many very good or excellent ratings, so I'll plow through as many as I can today just to take the pressure off next week. Featured series are Eureka Seven and Flying Witch, plus the usual additional quick reviews, after the break.
Eureka Seven is a weird bird. It follows a group of future hippies, who are actually good fighters, despite the pacifist mindset that usually goes with that. Eureka (whose name is given a more Japanese pronunciation, and I don't know whether it's actually meant to mimic the Latin or English word) is part of that group, and while the plot revolves around her, she's not quite the main character. There is a crap-ton of world building here (crap-tonne for you metric users). There's a rock-like entity called scub coral that has overgrown the Earth, and some scientists believe it to be alive and intelligent. It mostly seems okay to coexist, though humans aren't quite sure what to make of it, whether it's growing by instinct or being aggressive. When attacked, it does defend itself vigorously.
It's even manifested itself as humanoid at times, and it changes the atmosphere of a planet to have certain energy lines (much like the ley lines and related things that turn up in anime a lot) called trapar waves that can be surfed if you have the right equipment. This group of hippies is in constant conflict with the military, and they have a very advanced spaceship. While fighting a mech, they encounter a boy who's the son of one of those scientists. His father died for his research, and the son, Renton, is living a go-nowhere life in a backwoods place, but he's idolized the group for a long time, so he's thrilled by the opportunity to join them. While dodging the military yet living the life of counter-culture idols, they also try to find a way to live harmoniously with the scub coral. For his part, Renton has a developing romantic interest with Eureka.
The best part of this show is probably the characterization, unless you're really into hippie culture. There's an interesting blend of archetypes in the crew, and they for the most part do avoid having the cookie-cutter cast that a lot of shows follow. You just know Eureka is going to be key to the plot, and yes she is. While I won't say how, it's not too hard to predict. It was a fairly unusual angle to approach an environmental apocalypse type of scenario.
There were a sequel series and two movies, and normally I'd hold off reviewing something until I'd watched all of it, but I'm not convinced that I want to see those other things. The first movie is an AU, and the sequel series didn't get very good reviews, so... we'll see. Maybe I'll revisit them later. I don't have an impression of the show's music, so it was probably average, but I rather liked the art style.
Rating: very good.
Kokyoshihen Eureka Sebun, 51 episodes, relevant genres: sci-fi, action, adventure, romance.
Flying Witch is pure slice of life. If you find those boring, then I doubt you'd like this one, either, but it's one of the best ones I've seen. It's just wall-to-wall cuteness with only suggestions of plot, just the kinds of low-stakes things you might see in a typical sitcom.
Makoto has reached the age where she needs to go continue her training as a witch on her own, so she moves in with her aunt and uncle way out in the country, where they have a farm. She ends up contributing to the farm quite a bit, in addition to her studies, and of course she still has to go to regular school too. She has two cousins, a boy (Kei) who's a little older than her and a girl (Chinatsu) who's significantly younger. Kei immediately introduces Makoto to a friend and classmate of his, and they quickly become friends as well, despite her being a little overwhelmed by the existence of witches (it's generally not publicly known).
A couple of other characters get brought in: Makoto's older sister Akane who's already fully trained as a witch, a friend of Akane's named Inukai, the supernatural Harbinger of Spring, Makoto's and Akane's cat familiars Chito and Kenny... What's kind of fun is all the callbacks. Each new character typically has a single episode focused on them, though most of them turn up multiple times later on.
Art was very good, and the music was also pretty good. A couple of the background tunes I really liked, and it was another one of those rare series where I watched the intro every time, and still occasionally watch it on YouTube. The visuals to it were fun, and the song was great. If you like slice of life cuteness, this is an easy one to recommend.
Rating: very good.
Furaingu Witchi, 12 episodes, relevant genres: slice of life.
I'll also tie in a companion series called Flying Witch Petit, which was just some more quick five-minute slice of life scenes, just as cute as the main series. If you liked that, it's worth watching as well.
Rating: good.
8 episodes (well, 9, but the last one was just an advertisement for the main series DVDs), relevant genres: slice of life.
Quick review time.
Armitage III: Poly-Matrix (movie)—originally, this was a short series, but I saw the version that was edited into a single movie. I took the title to mean that it must be the third movie in a series, but that number refers to to the main character, Naomi Armitage, being a Type III android. They got some pretty big name actors to voice the dub—Elizabeth Berkeley for Naomi and Kiefer Sutherland for the other main character, Ross. The plot is nothing new, reminiscent of Blade Runner in ways. Humans have colonized Mars, and robots are used to do lots of the menial tasks. As robots get more advanced, the question arises if they are alive and deserve rights. Ross is looking for a quiet place to continue his career as a police officer, and he has no particular love for robots, so of course he gets Naomi as his partner. It's not known that she is one yet. But as her secret gets out, and while she's trying to escape people sent to hunt down and kill all Type IIIs, Ross comes to appreciate her, and they have to fight off a military who had a vested interest in Naomi but don't want her operating independently. There's an additional secret she has which differentiates her rare type and which I won't spoil. The appeal here is both the action aspect and the usual investigation of what it means to be human. Rating: good, relevant genres: sci-fi, mystery, action.
Armitage III: Dual-Matrix (movie)—just as good as the previous movie in terms of the themes and action, but that extra secret Naomi had? The justification given for it here is just dumb. There's a robotics industry guy who's desperate to learn why she has this ability, and her explanation verges on the Revenge of the Sith "she's lost the will to live" hand-waving. Speaking of which, one of the side characters is voiced by Jar Jar's VA. And speaking more of VAs, they went lower budget on this one. Sutherland was subbed out for someone I haven't heard of, and they got another big name to replace Berkeley (Juliette Lewis), who does a mostly lackluster job. Rating: decent, relevant genres: sci-fi, mystery, action.
Black Lagoon (12 episodes), Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (12 episodes), Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (5 episode OVA, numbered as an extension of The Second Barrage)—a group of mercenaries who operate a generic "problem solving" business operates out of Thailand in an area with many other such rough characters and crime organizations. A Japanese businessman becomes embroiled in one of those ventures and hangs around afterward. It turns out he's actually a very useful strategist. The plot doesn't matter all that much, as it's some drummed up political intrigue to get the action started, and that's the draw of the series: the great fight scenes and the interesting characters. The sequel is more of the same, centering on the US-backed assassination of a South American crime lord, but it just kind of stops—you do need to watch the OVA to see how that turns out. I saw the first 2 on Toonami, and they must have used a significantly censored version, as the OVA used much coarser language. Plus it has MLP VAs in it... Spike as the crime lord's son, and it was weird hearing Rarity as a psycho assassin who gets all aroused about violence. Rating: good for all 3, relevant genres: action, crime, thriller.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shinseiki Evangerion, 26 episodes), Evangelion 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (movie), Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (movie)—this is an insanely popular series, and there are obviously more entries than that, but I just didn't care for it, and I don't plan to watch any more. I liked the idea of the first series, where rare people who can pilot mechs are needed to help save humanity from powerful attackers. But nothing about the relationships drew me in. The distant father who's a complete ass to his son, the quiet girl with a no-brainer mystery as to who she is, the abrasive team member, the drunkard "mentor," the harem aspect. There's just nothing for me here aside from the slightly interesting reveal the humans may well have caused their own problems. The movies... I liked them even less. They're just repeated alternate rehashes of the series with relatively minor changes. Which seems to have been the point, but still. I didn't like them. A fair point was made to me that the movies were made by a different studio, so they can't be blamed for that, but they did allow it to happen. Rating: decent (series), meh (movies), relevant genres: sci-fi, action, drama.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (movie)—I honestly don't remember this at all, other than thinking it was okay. It was described to me as "video game Scientology," which... I didn't know anything about Scientology at the time, but looking back, yeah, that seems like an accurate-ish description. Rating: decent, relevant genres: sci-fi, philisophical?
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (movies)—as I included the series these are based on in my initial "no way anyone hasn't heard of these" post but didn't cover the movies there, I'll just list them here without plot discussion. Suffice it to say if you liked either series, you'll probably like these, but they weren't quite as good to me. Rating: good for both, relevant genres: action, adventure, fantasy.
Gad Guard (26 episodes)—a boy named Hajiki lives on a future Earth mostly depleted of resources, but he discovers a robot-like creature that reacts to his emotions, so he can exert a degree of control over it. There are others around who have discovered the same ability, and that's about where my memory ends. Something about Hajiki's father having theorized them, and Hajiki's dream to go into orbit... it just didn't make much of an impression on me. I forget who, but one of my friends loved the series, so maybe it was just a poor fit for me. Rating: meh, relevant genres: sci-fi, adventure.
Gate Keepers 21 (Geto Kipazu Nijuichi, 6 episodes)—I barely remember this one either. Society is starting to crumble after a failed alien invasion, and a new one starts, but one that can disguise itself as normal humans. Some high school students have the ability to open elemental gates to combat the aliens, but I don't remember whether anyone can (you just need the right equipment/training) or only a few people have the inherent ability. When an alien dies, it leaves behind a crystalline residue that the main character collects. A decent apocalyptic premise, but it wasn't that memorable. Rating: decent, relevant genres: action, thriller, sci-fi.
Geneshaft (Jin Shafuto, 13 episodes)—I rather liked this one. It's another of the "only certain rare people are capable of piloting mechs" category, and in this case, as the title would suggest, it's driven by genetics. There's a certain Gattaca aspect to this, where a person's genetics are known and used to map out what futures they are suited for. The main character, Mika, just barely qualifies as one of these mech pilots, which some of the other team members take great delight in constantly reminding her of. Males have been bred down to around the minimum sustainable ratio possible, because their violent tendencies are seen as undesirable. They don't fill many vital functions in society, either, which is why it's unusual one of the team administrators is male. Men are even assigned a monitor to document all their actions and make sure they don't exhibit any of those behaviors. Enemy attacks are presaged by the appearance of a large ring structure in space, at which points the mech and pilots are dispatched to fight them. There is only one mech, so the girls have to take turns piloting it, according to whose abilities best suit the situation. Between the various friendships and rivalries on the team, the way the series is structured to discount the theme of genetic purity, the enjoyable characters, and the good action scenes, it's one of the better mech series I've seen. Rating: good, relevant genres: sci-fi, action.
Seen any of these? Did I convince you to try any of them? I'd like to hear about it in the comments.
vol. 1 here
vol. 2 here
vol. 3 here
vol. 4 here
vol. 5 here
vol. 6 here
vol. 7 here
vol. 8 here
vol. 9 here
Haven't seen Evangelion in an eternity, and the last time I did the translation was shit (my sister, who is fluent, was laughing at how bad it was). I recall liking it and I've wanted to watch it again, but at the same time I'm wary of ruining my old image of it. Also and largely unrelated: Rei Ayanami was one of my very first anime crushes. I look at her now and feel kinda silly about that.
I always thought that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within got panned for all the wrong reasons. I think it's a decent movie. Nothing amazing, but by no means bad. What it isn't is a Final Fantasy movie; had they not tried to connect it to a beloved franchise it probably wouldn't have been burned so hard.
As usual, I haven't seen any of these (wait, that's not true this time! I saw... at least two episodes of Evangelion. Probably fine for what it was, but I had no interest in the mechs, or the relationships, so yeah), but these are the kind of throw-away puns I keep coming back for.
Yeah, Flying Witch was great.
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Fair point about Final Fantasy, and as I had never played any of the games, the movie was a standalone thing to me anyway. I didn't think it was bad, but it didn't make a lasting impression on me either.
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Isn't it? It might be in my top ten overall, regardless of genre, and it's certainly one of my favorite 2 or 3 slice of life series. I'm in the middle of one now that I like better, but I still have two sequels and a movie to get through before I review it, so that's not forthcoming any time soon.
ye olde crappe-tonne :V
All I remember about Spirits Within (other than it was a box-office failure) is that it brought l'Arc-en-Ciel to American television via a music video, and that was a Really Big Deal for me at the time. :B
5528463 man, l'Arc-en-Ciel had some amazing stuff.
I happened to watch both Eva and FF: Spirits Within at a pair of particularly impressionable life-moments, and have retained a certain fondness for them largely for those reasons.
My friends and I at the time would've agreed that Spirits Within had nothing to do with Final Fantasy, but we basically enjoyed it. I seem to recall that the end was cheesy. I've spent most of the last 20 years meaning (but forgetting) to re-watch it.
Eva is (IMO) terrible from a story-payoff perspective, but still quite brilliant from a story-buildup perspective. The way it planted hooks, sowed mystery, and gave a slow but steady drip of cool things to keep a viewer's interest, made me want to be capable of doing similar things if I ever got into storytelling. I haven't gotten around to the remake movies yet, but still might like to someday. I suppose the harem aspect is pretty weird in hindsight, though there's so much weird in Eva that I probably didn't notice much at the time.
You had a better time with Black Lagoon then I did, apparently. I didn't watch that much, admittedly, and there was stuff I liked about what I did watch. But the memory of it that's most vivid is that two-guns-super-badass-lady jumps around in a room crowded with gunmen and miraculously doesn't get shot ever. And that felt very much like the narrative telling me something--Revy's very very good--that's contradicted by what actually happens--everyone else is stupid and incompetent. I'm happy to believe it was just a bad first impression, but it definitely put me off.
I just watched Black Lagoon a couple of months ago. Great fun if you like Hong Kong action movies and gunfu.
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I did like the series somewhat for the effective plotting you mention. Wanting to see how things resolved kept me watching through the whole thing, but the payoffs were doled out too sparingly for my taste, often were anticlimactic, and the characters started to grate on me.
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There are times Revy does get shot up, but it's definitely one of the many, many shows in which how much characters can dominate their enemies is a matter of plot convenience more than anything else. I enjoyed the fight scenes for the fast-paced action, even if they weren't believable, but I think I had the most fun with some of the show's more comic moments. The bar constantly getting destroyed, Shenhua always making fun of Revy, and Eda's rivalry with Revy. I'd call it more of a "dumb fun" show. Roberta in particular is way too good at dodging bullets, though it eventually catches up with her.