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PEEL - The Futurama Message Board    Off Topic    It's got a TV!    Spike Lives! (Anime talk) « previous next »
Author Topic: Spike Lives! (Anime talk)  (Read 64703 times)
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PEE Poll: This world is made of
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Peace   -8 (29.6%)
Total Members Voted: 27

Nixorbo

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« Reply #320 on: 09-21-2010 05:37 »
« Last Edit on: 09-21-2010 05:38 »

You must be drunk, or high... or both.

Spike should, if at all, be Asian.

I don't see why, nothing in Spike's history screams "asian" to me.  At best he is mixed heritage, from being born on Mars to having a surname of "Spiegel," which is a German name if ever I heard one.

Keanu himself looks sufficiently mixed heritage for me.  Furthermore, Spike is laid-back, aloof and emotionally distant.  If there's one thing Keanu excels at, it's being aloof and emotionally distant.  We also know that he knows kung fu and can kick ass on-screen.  

I don't like Keanu Reeves and I don't want him (or anybody) to try to play Spike, but I don't see any reason he couldn't do a decent job of it (other than the fact that he's roughly 15-20 years too old now).  I can't think of anyone else offhand that could do it better.  Was that kid from Ninja Assassin any good?
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #321 on: 09-21-2010 06:05 »
« Last Edit on: 09-22-2010 04:13 »

You guys are real Keanu haters, come on he is awesome. Has no one seen the matrix, I am sure you all have. Im sure you all bitched about 2 and 3 for some bullshit reasons. Well they were amazing, so stop bitchen. What other movies was he so bad in, constantine was awesome, the devils advocate, even "speed" had its charm. Who cares if he is type casted, god forbid, o he sucks cause he plays similar characters. Maybe he likes playing those kinds of characters and who are we to say he can't. I am not saying those this move would have been a good idea, but I was curious. I was willing to give it a chance. I am a huge fan of the anime, but I am not some pompous windbag who would bitch if it was bad. Would it really matter no, because the anime is still the anime and the movie is still the movie. It is pretty easy to write off something like this as a fluke and move on with life. I am a huge anime fan i have over 100 different series, that I paid money for. I am not so much of jerk to cry about a bad anime movie adaptation. They are easy to separate, its much harder when you get an animated movie after the anime series. When that happens its either awesome or you take it the like the company is waving their middle finger around at you. Not trying to sound like a dick, I just think Keanu gets less credit then the guy deserves. Lets face it there are far worse actors out there, If he was so bad, he would not have made it this far. The movie "the gift" not that it is a great movie but keanu was definitely out of his element in that movie. He played some backward red neck, and he was convincing. So check some clips out, and you get to see Katie Holmes rack, so thats cool. I think I said enough, sorry for the rant.
Bend-err

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« Reply #322 on: 09-22-2010 11:21 »

Paragraphs, use them!

until then: tl;dr
M0le

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« Reply #323 on: 09-22-2010 13:01 »

But I love Keanu! :(
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #324 on: 09-22-2010 22:22 »

Ya me too buddy.
Spacedal11

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« Reply #325 on: 09-23-2010 03:54 »

Obviously you two have never watched the Francis Ford Coppola Dracula movie. Keanu made me want to stab myself in the ears repeatedly due to his atrocious take on a britsh accent.

On a more topical manner: I just got to the episode where Bebop meets Edward, she's crazy insane awesome.
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #326 on: 09-23-2010 09:04 »

Ya she is, I love Ed. She named herself Ed, that's hilarious. Keep watching, her antics will keep you laughing the whole way through the series.
Nixorbo

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« Reply #327 on: 09-23-2010 09:41 »

Assuming you're watching the stellar English dub, watch a couple of episodes with Ed, then watch a couple of Gaz-heavy episodes of Zim.  IT'S CREEPY, MAN.
Bend-err

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« Reply #328 on: 09-23-2010 11:32 »

that's another thing about a live-action Bebop...

NO WAY anyone could play Ed.
coldangel

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« Reply #329 on: 09-23-2010 15:00 »

You guys are real Keanu haters, come on he is awesome. Has no one seen the matrix, I am sure you all have. Im sure you all bitched about 2 and 3 for some bullshit reasons. Well they were amazing, so stop bitchen. What other movies was he so bad in, constantine was awesome, the devils advocate, even "speed" had its charm. Who cares if he is type casted, god forbid, o he sucks cause he plays similar characters. Maybe he likes playing those kinds of characters and who are we to say he can't. I am not saying those this move would have been a good idea, but I was curious. I was willing to give it a chance. I am a huge fan of the anime, but I am not some pompous windbag who would bitch if it was bad. Would it really matter no, because the anime is still the anime and the movie is still the movie. It is pretty easy to write off something like this as a fluke and move on with life. I am a huge anime fan i have over 100 different series, that I paid money for. I am not so much of jerk to cry about a bad anime movie adaptation. They are easy to separate, its much harder when you get an animated movie after the anime series. When that happens its either awesome or you take it the like the company is waving their middle finger around at you. Not trying to sound like a dick, I just think Keanu gets less credit then the guy deserves. Lets face it there are far worse actors out there, If he was so bad, he would not have made it this far. The movie "the gift" not that it is a great movie but keanu was definitely out of his element in that movie. He played some backward red neck, and he was convincing. So check some clips out, and you get to see Katie Holmes rack, so thats cool. I think I said enough, sorry for the rant.


^ Even though that sounded like the dribbling of a 13-year-old with Aspergers Syndrome, I kind of agree with the main idea.
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #330 on: 09-23-2010 21:24 »
« Last Edit on: 09-23-2010 21:26 »

Ya i kind of went off on a tangent, lol. I am just a big fan of his movies.

that's another thing about a live-action Bebop...

NO WAY anyone could play Ed.

That would be tough, it probably would have been bad. Maybe they would have not even put Ed into the script. I never said it was a good idea, but I was curious.
David A

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« Reply #331 on: 09-24-2010 08:03 »

Spike should, if at all, be Asian.

I'm pretty sure none of the Bebop crew are supposed to be Asian.  We've had this discussion before.

I don't like Keanu Reeves and I don't want him (or anybody) to try to play Spike, but I don't see any reason he couldn't do a decent job of it (other than the fact that he's roughly 15-20 years too old now).

What about the fact that he can't act?  At all.  I mean, if you were making a live-action version of Ed, Edd, and Eddy and needed someone to play Plank, then he's your man, otherwise he shouldn't play anything ever.

that's another thing about a live-action Bebop...

NO WAY anyone could play Ed.

Eh, get Yoko Kanno some acting lessons and she could probably pull it off.  She's too old to play an eleven-year-old, but whatever.
Gopher

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« Reply #332 on: 09-24-2010 14:23 »

Have to side with david on this one. All I have to add is this classic review, The Many Faces of Keanu Reeves
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #333 on: 09-24-2010 21:34 »

If you guys say so, to each his own I suppose. You are telling me he can not act. I think that is garbage, seriously have you not seen the matrix. I do not get get it, but I guess that is what a fan is. People like what they like. It really does not matter either way I guess, considering this movie looks dead.
Nixorbo

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« Reply #334 on: 09-24-2010 22:20 »

the matrix

A movie where his acting consists of a) looking confused and out of his element and b) knowing kung-fu might not necessarily be your best position.
Gopher

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« Reply #335 on: 09-24-2010 22:42 »

proposed set of keanu reeves matrix emoticons

Bend-err

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« Reply #336 on: 09-24-2010 22:55 »

Oh come on, Keanu is really great at acting, hardly anyone can portray a dumbass as convincing as him ;)
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #337 on: 09-27-2010 03:45 »

I get what you are saying but I still like his acting. Name some actors you guys really like. I am just curious.
winna

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« Reply #338 on: 09-27-2010 04:31 »

All the Keanu hate is ridiculous.  I'm not suggesting he's Marlon Brando, but Bigboysdontcry, he plays in the same roles that he's good at portraying because he looks cool.  He'd make a great Spike.  Get the girl from Kick-Ass to play Ed.  The End.

I saw this anime about five years ago called Jigoku Shujo or something like that.  Some little girl ferries people to Hell when they're mean to other people or something and then the person that wishes they went to Hell gets to go to Hell too when they die.  That way the little girl who ferries people to Hell gets to have friends in Hell because her village sacrificed her to the gods or something when she was eleven.  It also has ghosts in it.  I saw it like five years ago, but it wasn't dubbed so I had no idea what was going on ever.  Most of the episodes are exactly like every other episode and they reuse the animation from each episode for the next episode.  Someone is mean and someone else wishes they would go to Hell, so the little girl ferries the mean person to Hell and then she makes a contract with the person that wished the mean person would go to Hell so that they get to go to Hell too.  There's also a reporter who is a single dad with a little girl and that little girl becomes friends with the little girl that ferries everybody off to Hell so that they can be friends.  Sometimes I wish I was a single father and had a daughter; we'd go on ice cream adventures at the bowling alley and then go to Burger King after we got done Mountain Climbing.  Life would become too difficult for me at that point though and I'd become an alcoholic.
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #339 on: 09-29-2010 00:11 »

Hey, remember when this thread was about anime?

Iczer-1

Thank god for youtube.  All the shows that no longer have distribution and nobody cares about except true-blood anime nerds like myself seem to be out there somewhere.  For many and myself especially the 1980's was the golden era for Japanese animation.  Boatloads of space-opera dramas and fearless gore along with CGI-free retro mecha designs and special effects.  I'm hunting down as much of the old stuff to review while the getting is Good, and today my reviews start with this classic OVA from the 1980's

Everything I listed previously is exemplified in this title about a gynoid super warrior, Iczer-1, who comes to earth to form a partnership with high school girl Nagisa in order to repel an alien invasion.  A race of beatiful girl extraterrestrials have set Earth at the hands of mutant tentacle monsters who posess and bloodily take over the human race.  The only means to combat the invasion is for the topless Nagisa and armor-clad Iczer-1 to combine their powers in the giant battleoid Iczer-robo against the alien's biggest war machines.

I mean come on, it's got it all.  This series is three chapters long and every drop of it is liquid shameless Anime.

The plot which, for all I know, may have been groundbreaking at the time is so familiar with the genre at this point so that there are hardly any real suprises but I did always have a sweet spot for the unwilling heroine stories and the execution is so beautifully over the top that you can't help but to have a good time.  Icezr-1's battles are always breathless and tight against various armored horrors and even if you are annoyed with Nagisa weak will as a character it still flows well because first of all you're kind of supposed to be a bit  annoyed with her and second because she has an adorable design with the coolest hairpin of all time.

This one might be a good retro title for you.  I liked it.
Nixorbo

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« Reply #340 on: 09-29-2010 07:42 »

Samurai 7 - worth the space in the Netflix queue?
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #341 on: 09-29-2010 09:02 »

Ya that is an awesome series. It starts off a little slow, but it gets really good.
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #342 on: 09-29-2010 14:41 »

Just be sure that first you watch Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai.  Also the Magnificent Seven would be reccomended.
Bend-err

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« Reply #343 on: 09-29-2010 14:44 »

And don't even bother watching a cut down version of Seven Samurai!
Nixorbo

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« Reply #344 on: 09-29-2010 17:30 »

The various works of Kurasawa are what immediately precede Samurai 7 in my queue.
Bend-err

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« Reply #345 on: 09-29-2010 17:36 »

Good boy! ;)
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #346 on: 09-29-2010 19:24 »

I have never seen Seven Samurai. I have heard of it, I will check it out.
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #347 on: 10-02-2010 19:51 »
« Last Edit on: 10-02-2010 19:55 »

Ebichu Minds the house

When I first watched Chobits I thought CLAMP and the animators asked themselves 'how many pussy jokes can we cram into 30 minutes?' Now I can say for certain that if that was the question at hand then they way undershot the mark because Ebichu minds the house asked the same question and doubled the pussy jokes in just 8 minutes.  24 8-minute episodes every single one of them centered around dirty sex humor.  The childish way in which all the characters are presented plays off the highly adult material in a bizarre but always humorous manner.  If I felt comfortable writing the sentence premise 'If kids were to make a sex comic' I would have used it here.  The plot is simple; Ebichu the hamster minds the house while her master the office lady goes through the pains of everyday life while shagging and putting up with her deadbeat boyfriend.  Ebichu, being a hamster, is inept at her job and spends her time disgracing her master in some very demeaning ways, which usually results in bloody slapstick retribution.  There are also some side stories where Ebichu opens several small businesses which end up landing her in some sleazy activity, and another where she turns into a super-hero to assist people's sex life.  Just about every sexual fetish is probed and parodied herein: role-playing, S&M, rape-fantasy, even a very strange man who wants to go furry/bestial for the little rat.  This show is low-brow, tawdry, and never apologetic...and I like it.  The jokes almost always work and it's refreshing to see sex humor that actually has a sense of humor about sex rather than making light as though giggling at fart jokes.  It's childish and it's mature, it's fearless and not heavy handed, and goddammit, it's funny.

7/10 mankos
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #348 on: 10-07-2010 19:34 »

The Skull Man

This is a story about a journalist named Minigami Hayato. There have been reports of brutal murders in Otomo City Japan. Hayato thinks there is something going, and gets a job for the news company he works for to get the story. The rumors going around about the murders, is that there is a man in a skull mask behind all the killings. Before entering Otomo City, Hayato meets a young photographer Kiriko Mamiya. They end up teaming up and trying to solve this cae. It turns out Mamiya has her own agenda, and Hayato gets caught in some local political issues that put a huge threat on his life.


The musical score on the show is amazing, so I bumped from 7 to 8. It is just that amazing. It is a short 13 episode series, possible season two eventually. The story does wrap everything up though for the most part.
8/10
Morgan_G19

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« Reply #349 on: 10-08-2010 11:49 »

Ebichu Minds the house



7/10 mankos

Oh I love Ebichu! My favourite part was her singing to help her mister and the lousy boyfriend to spice up their sex life :)

Chu~hu
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #350 on: 10-09-2010 08:20 »

My favorite bit was when Ebichu found the Porno and she and the deadbeat boyfriend thought that Master had posed for the amateur spread.  It's hilarious when they started screaming "HER PUSSY, HER PUSSY, HER PUSSY IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT!"
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #351 on: 10-09-2010 08:31 »

Sounds like I need to get in on this. I will check this series out. Sounds interesting.
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #352 on: 10-13-2010 22:02 »
« Last Edit on: 10-13-2010 22:18 »

Dominion: Tank police

Here's another of those 'it came from the 80's' finds on youtube.  From 1988, Newport city is buried thick under a permanent black cloud of bacteria constantly overhead.  Society has largely adapted to the conditions with gas masks but the populace has become dystopic to such an extent that the police force are permitted to use tanks to assist them in law enforcement.  The tank police are devoted to getting the bad guy at the cost of any and all collateral damage, and most of their jobs involve an awful lot of that.  So, straight from the Dirty Pair school of criminal justice, the gung-ho genki-girl red-head Leona and starry-eyed greenhorn lad Alcuad are rookies on the force.  Their first day out they take out a mammoth war machine for a training exercise but end up doing damage beyond the pale of even tank police standards and are immediately demoted.  Undaunted, the duo build their own miniature tank dubbed "Bonaparte" and set out to clean up the town.  Meanwhile, the cyborg gangster Buaku and his sexy gynoid sidekicks the cat sisters are out causing trouble trying to steal valuable urine samples and priceless art.  Somehow all of it, the tank police, Cyborg thieves, the robberies and even the looming black cloud overhead are all interconnected by scientific breakthroughs that were meant to expose the nature of human behavior.

This series has a delightful balance of narration and action.  For each scene it's like there is a switch meant to say "Brain goes on/Brain goes off"  While one minute there will be a probing scene of character development that also raises fundamental questions about the nature of humanity, the next minute you've got cat-girls pulling machine guns out of their dresses and tank treads grinding up priceless artwork.  The real allure of the show, however are the characters.  While Leona's sidekick falls a little flat the rest of the tank police are a collection of very interesting characters with quirks all their own from the badass Bronson-esque lieutenant to a strangely preachy Chaplin who thinks nothing of shoving a live grenade down a suspects mouth to see how long before he cracks.   Our villains too are heavily focused upon and you can't help but sympathize with their endeavors.  The humor of the show is all that I came to love from blow-it-all-up Anime comedies like Dirty Pair, Urusei Yatsura, project A-ko and Excel saga.  The tank police waste no ammunition on making the whole city a sprawling war zone in an attempt to stop one crook.  

My one big complaint about the series is that it is not self contained.  The four episode OVA anime is the prequel to the manga which is then resolved in "New Dominion Tank police" the sequel.  So I can't really review or reveal the story too well because there is more out there to be seen.  The series also has that noticeable tinge of Masamune Shiro's eco-preachery as seen by the environmental havoc reaped at the hands of mankind but all in all, there is nothing heavy-handed about it.   Another warning is sent out to purists because this Dub which is about the only English version available is from the earlier days of dubbing and embraces the Carl Macek concept of bringing new music and material to the table instead of the original score.  The tacked on soundtrack has nothing outstanding, and nothing too objectionable (Well, "Keep your body movin'" can get redundant).  It's really just fluff on the side.

Just based on this short series alone I'd say it stands up pretty well, and weather you go into it for that blade runner question humanity feel or for the busty cat girls and Bonaparte wrecking a city block, you won't be disappointed.

B

Lieutenant: The ape that knows he is one has attained true wisdom, thus sayeth the Lord.
Chaplin: Right.
Lieutenant: I'm gonna castrate you assholes!
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #353 on: 10-18-2010 09:32 »
« Last Edit on: 10-18-2010 09:36 »

Double-pump...Will someone else watch some Japanese cartoons on this board?  Christ.

Toradora

25, 20 minute episodes of high-school romance.

Through a bizarre mix-up the diminutive and voraciously violent Taiga "The Palmtop Tiger" has her crush exposed to the obsessively-cleanly and submissively helpful (to a fault) Ryuuji.  In response, Ryuuji exposes his crush to her.  They both happen to be the best friend of their respective crush.  Therefore, they mutually agree to assist one another in getting into their relationships.  Hijinx ensue, and then drama ensues.  

Every part of me says that this series is formulaic with familiar character derivatives and standard plot executions with a few surprises that are resolved in, if not predictable, then at least conventional means.   Yet, I still liked it.  I'm just a bad person to review anime because I just don't get tired of their archetypes.  You've got the Genki-girl, the violent girl, the two faced classy-girl, the smiling guy who always goes "My, my."  the pushy class rep and the kind yet misunderstood doormat of a hero.  I mean, dammit, I've seen it all before and I still love it.  Right from episode one you can see where the leads will be by the final and yet the dynamics keep the story pretty tight and flowing and the characters still draw the viewer in to be emotionally invested in the plot.  They even over-use that annoying "I just have to tell you this one thing: I lov-" *INTERRUPTION* bit and I sucker for it every time.  All the emotions of the story are well conveyed weather it being a bit of levity, a scene of bitter heartbreak or one of the several viscous cat-fights.  If you want to see a pretty well executed, if somewhat standard, high school romance I think you can do a whole lot worse (Like white album for example...Shudder).

A bit of warning I am opposed to their char design for Taiga.  I don't want to force myself to remember that the main character is not a nine-year old.
Bigboysdontcry

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« Reply #354 on: 10-19-2010 01:18 »

You are like the king of anime review. kudos
Tweek

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« Reply #355 on: 10-22-2010 20:33 »
« Last Edit on: 10-22-2010 20:38 »

Double-pump...Will someone else watch some Japanese cartoons on this board?  Christ.

OK :p

Sekirei: Pure engagement

Having enjoyed the first series of 'Sekirei' I was pleased to see that Funimation had subtitled the second series on their YouTube channel; I assume there will also be an English dub by the time it makes it to DVD. If you have watched the first series you'll know what to expect; Minato and his harem of buxom Sekirei are continuing battle against the other Sekirei and the sinister MBI whose leader is forcing the Sekirei to fight. When not fighting the girls like to relax in the bath although this time their modesty is protected by convenient steam; I suspect that this might only be in the broadcast episodes and that by the time the series makes it to DVD that steam will have evaporated!

As with the first series there was plenty of fun to be had here as the characters were as much fun as ever. There was plenty of excitement and not everybody that I thought would survive did. I'd recommend this but before watching make sure you catch the first series or a lot of it won't make sense.

7/10

Kino's Journey

This series is quite different to other anime series I've seen; it is neither action packed nor full of laughs although that doesn't mean it is totally lacking in these. The animation has a style of its own too; in some ways it has a simple look but it is stunningly beautiful. The series follows the travels of Kino and her talking 'Motorrad' (motorbike) Hermes as they visit various countries, each of the countries are effectively city states that each have their own unique customs, some are friendly, others less so. As a general rule Kino is just an observer of the countries she visits but occasionally gets involved although that is usually because she has no choice. Just because Kino prefers to avoid conflict does not mean the guns we see in the opening credits don't get used, it did come as a surprise the first time though.

As they are constantly travelling the only regular characters are Kino and Hermes; Kino is an interesting character whose gender is open to question for the first few episodes and is sometimes addressed as a boy and sometimes as a girl in the various countries, Hermes might be a talking motorbike but isn't as silly as that sounds, it looks like a real bike and does not have a face like other animated talking vehicles.

While the stories were gently paced I was never bored, I'd certainly recommend this for anybody looking for something a little different. It is suitable for most ages although one or two scenes might disturb young children; some people and a few rabbits do get shot and we aren't spared the sight of spilt blood.

10/10

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
Pitt Clemens

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« Reply #356 on: 10-24-2010 19:31 »
« Last Edit on: 10-28-2010 20:24 »

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (right click on video player to activate subtitles)

First impression:

Dirty Pair + Powerpuff girls + Invader Zim + Filthy, filthy, filthy, filthy humor + Heaping anime awesome = Damn.
Tweek

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« Reply #357 on: 10-26-2010 09:49 »

A few more reviews to keep Pitt happy :P

Linebarrels of Iron

While browsing through various anime titles which can be watched legally on line I came across this, I'd not heard of it before but thought I'd give it a go. It wasn't particularly original featuring a teenaged boy who becomes the pilot of a huge mecha. When we first meet our protagonist, Kouichi Hayase, he is weak and the victim of the school bullies but when a giant mecha called Linebarrel falls on him he becomes unnaturally strong and heals quickly. With his new strength he soon puts the bullies in their place and declares that he will become a 'hero of justice' although in fact he just becomes a jerk. He and Linebarrel are soon recruited into JUDA a group defending Japan against KATAU; both these groups have frequent battles involving large numbers of mechas fighting each other. There are quite a few comic moments to lighten the atmosphere to be honest I enjoyed these a lot more than the fighting as that got a little tedious.

The animation had a fairly rough look to it and the main character wasn't at all sympathetic which detracted from my enjoyment, thankfully the secondary characters were more likable. If you aren't a fan of giant mechas beating the living daylights out of each other I wouldn't recommend this; if that is your sort of thing though check it out as you might enjoy it. There was a nice twist shortly before the finale but after that it was non-stop fighting as Kouichi and his friends battle to save the Earth. I'd only really recommend this if you are into mecha anime, if you are give it a go.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

6/10

Suzuka

Suzuka Yamato Akitsuki is an ordinary high school who just happens to be a great sprinter; he isn't interested in joining the school athletics team though... not until he falls for Suzuka Asahina, the team's female high-jumper. Over the course of the series he tries to impress her but it seems everything he does just makes her seem dislike him more. It doesn't help that he reminds her of her former boyfriend who died before he came to the school. Yamato isn't confident enough to tell Suzuka how he feels and constantly says the wrong thing, unfortunately he never seems to realise that he is doing all the wrong things and constantly wonders what is wrong with everybody else. Even when he starts going out with another girl he ends up blowing it. As the series approaches its conclusion Yamato is preparing for a major athletics meet where he hopes to become the fastest sprinter in Japan, he is sure that such success will give him the courage to tell Suzuka how he feels.

Normally I watch anime in Japanese with subtitles but as the English dub was the only version available to watch on Funimation's YouTube Channel I was initially unsure about watching it; I'm glad I did though as the dub was actually rather good. The animation also looks pretty good even in the sports scenes which could easily look terrible if the animation wasn't good. The only problem is that the two main characters can be annoying all they seem to do is bicker yet the viewer can see that they actually like each other.

I deliberately typed most this up a couple of episodes short of the end so I wouldn't subconsciously give any hints about whether he ends up with Suzuka or the girl he dated mid-series as I don't know! If you are in a mood for a high-school romance you should give this a try, I enjoyed it despite its flaws and don't be put off by the bright blue hair Suzuka sports on the title page, in the series it is only a slight tint.

7/10

Strike Witches 2

Unfortunately I have yet to see the first series of 'Strike Witches' but when I discovered that it was possible to watch the second series on line legally I decided to give it a go. I thought it might take a few episodes to figure out who was who and what exactly was going on but the characters and plot were quickly and efficiently introduced. Strike Witches is set in an alternate version of 1945 Earth where instead of countries battling each other they are fighting against an alien invader known as the Neuroi. The story follows the 501st Joint Fighter Wing: The Strike Witches as the fight the Neuroi in the skies above Italy; or as it is called her Romagna. It isn't all fighting though we get to see them training, practicing with new equipment and even enjoying a soak in their large bath... their modesty being protected convenient steam of 'lens flare'! While nudity is for the most part hidden the same cannot be said of the girls' knickers which are almost constantly on show sometimes in gratuitous close up! Thankfully there is a lot more to this series than fan service; there is lots of action and plenty humorous moments.

The 501st is made up of eleven witches from a variety of countries; I liked the character designs; the cute moe style meant the fan service didn't seem as creepy as it might have done if they had more realistic designs as they are meant to be in their teens; to be honest I barely noticed it after a while and just enjoyed the story. The animation looked good and the flying sequences were stunning in a way that brings the viewer into the action. Over the course of the twelve episodes I grew to care about the characters and when it was over I was left wanting more.

These comments are based on watched the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

8/10

Click title links to watch the programmes legally :)
Pitt Clemens

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #358 on: 10-28-2010 06:09 »
« Last Edit on: 10-29-2010 04:29 »


Click title links to watch the programmes legally :)

Oh, yeah.  Fixing.

UPDATE:

Single episode anime review:

Eyeshield 21


Sena manages to achieve his goal and makes it into the same school as his childhood friend.  Unfortunately he lands himself into a calss with three bullies who abuse and intimidate him.  The one thing he is really good at is running, and when he happens to escape the bullies he catches the eye of the captain of the football team.  The AMERICAN football team.  Sena is immediately drafted into the squad as a running back.  Since Japan doesn't really have a mainstream appreciation of football, and other clubs like soccer and baseball might want Sena's natural talents, Sena wears a visor to hide his face and goes only by his Jersey number "Eyeshield 21".

I just started this, thinking what a nice novelty it is that another country is taking notice of football.  I thought the world would be sick to death of it considering all the cheezy football movies Hollywood churns out.  Character designs are a bit wierd and definately over-stated but, hey, if you're a football fan and an anime fan you're probably keeping those two fandoms seperate.  If you want an excuse to co-mingle them, well here it is.

Let's go Giants!
Tweek

UberMod
DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #359 on: 10-29-2010 20:09 »
« Last Edit on: 10-31-2010 17:13 »

School Days

There are plenty of anime series featuring a boy who finds himself the centre of attention for several girls; usually he is oblivious or too shy to do anything about it. As this series opened it looked as it may be more of the same as protagonist Makato furtively takes a photograph of Kotonoha, a girl at his school, while travelling home on the train. When his friend Sekei sees the picture she volunteers to help him get together with her. At first things progress slowly and Sekei offers to help Makato further by telling him what he should say and do... unfortunately he soon starts ‘practicing’ with her and they are soon in a sexual relationship. Kotonoha meanwhile is oblivious and thinks Makato is her boyfriend. As the series progresses Makoto gets involved with other girls until it seems the only person he hasn’t slept with is poor Kotonoha. Things get worse for her when she finds herself being bullied by a particularly nasty group of girls who believe she is lying about being Makato’s girl friend. As the series approaches its conclusion things get worse and worse leading to a shocking and bloody conclusion which leave more than one character dead and another in a damaged mental state.

When this started I though it looked typical harem comedy but things took and interesting and dramatic turn just under half way though. Even though I’d heard that the ending was bloody I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so shocking. While Makato may have slept with several girls the sex wasn’t shown; that isn’t to say there was no fan service though as there were several panty shots and an episode set in the pool. This series was quite disturbing, most characters were unpleasant and unsympathetic and those that were likeable went on to commit the most heinous crimes but I did enjoy it as it was so different to anime I’d seen before. The animation looked good throughout and the story had a degree of believability although in real life I suspect the outcome would have been less violent and I don’t imagine any school would have a ‘break room’ at the annual fair for the students to have sex in! I’m glad that it is available to watch legally on Crunchyroll at the time of writing as it doesn’t look as if it will get a DVD release in the west any time soon.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

9/10

Eden of the East

This series, made by Kenji Kamiyama creator of ‘Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex’ is quite different to his earlier work; while both involve a complex mystery this is fair more light hearted, both in the tone of the story and the way it is animated. As the story begins Japanese student Saki Morimi is outside the White House in Washington DC when she meets Akira Takizawa. There is something very strange about him; for a start he is stark naked holding a phone in one hand and a pistol in the other, he has no idea why though as he has no memory. Clues lead them back to Japan where he learns that he is one of twelve people recruited to play a strange game; they have each been given a phone and ten billion yen, they must use this to save Japan and if they spend the money before completing the task or somebody else completes the task first they will be killed. Using the phone they can contact a woman known only as Juiz, she can arrange just about anything for a price. Over the course of the series Akira attempts to discover why he erased his memory and also to find out if he was involved in ‘Careless Monday’ an event where several missiles hit Japanese cities but amazingly killed nobody and if he caused 20,000 unemployed people (NEETs) to disappear.

This was one of the most engrossing series I’ve watched in a while; I certainly plan to get the DVDs when they are released here. The only real flaw was that it ended so soon and several mysteries remain unsolved; these will presumably be dealt with in the two feature films that follow; I hope they get released here too. The animation was really good for a TV series and the character design was most appealing; reminding me of Studio Ghibli characters. While this was a mystery there was also plenty of humour such as the computer hacker who is rumoured to have become a recluse when his only pair of trousers blew away, there are also one or two wince- inducing moments involving a serial killer who uses a cigar cutter in a particularly nasty way on her male victims! Don’t worry though we don’t actually see the deed. I’d certainly recommend this series; especially as it can currently be viewed legally on Funimation’s YouTube channel.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

10/10
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