Anime & Manga Teh CX Anime Review Thread

Lord Sovereign

Well-known member
I utterly despise Miyazaki's attitude towards the military. It's old bloody talking points about the World Wars that metastasized during the 1960s and 1970s with Vietnam, nothing more. Soldiers are merely people, and nobody chastises animals when they fight over resources. Make no mistake, they do it far more brutally than we do.
 

prinCZess

Warrior, Writer, Performer, Perv
Had never heard of this and, based upon the title, probably never would've, but it sounds fun. Right up that alley of half-homage, half-parody of the whole 70s, disco-fever era of spy genre. I'm a sucker for that silliness.

That said...having done a little bit of interneting in search of this, damn, out-of-print/less-popular anime is expensive. Swear to God someone could make bank buying bulk orders of the stuff (and english manga collections--Gunsmith Cats has reached stratospheric levels of heights in cost since I got the things) and holding onto it for a few years to slowly drip onto the secondhand market.
Or maybe not. Having also glanced at some other stuff, maybe anime or manga is just expensive in general to buy, I suppose.
the main character isn't the only woman who has either machine guns or lasers for nipples
That's gloriously ridiculous. If Austin Powers-y.
And, of course, unrealistic. You can't put a machine-gun in yo' titties--I done asked my doctor--it can't be done.

instead had some good-bye sex with the alien chick before she left him in the ruins of his civilization
And thus we reach the moral of the story: Even in a post-apocalyptic hellscape where might makes right, men will abandon their quests for access to exotic lady-bits.

Sounds like Wind suffers the common problem of the ending just...falling apart. That seems an oddly common phenomenon with the late-80s, early-90s stuff. I'd be curious of how many animated productions from that period have funding issues or production troubles that result in hack-job stories, if it was just a common storytelling thing of the time/Japan rearing its head, or if my perception of that period having any worse trouble with endings is just inaccurate from the start (Lord knows plenty of endings from other, more modern, shows have hit the 'WTF' factor hard).
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Ah! (or Oh) My Goddess!
(50 episode series)

Yeah, I know there are movies and other versions to go along with this series, but really I'm a little embarrassed that I watched this series in full as it is. It was actually one of the first when I started watching everything basically alphabetically on my huge "to watch" list, and for some reason, I actually did watch this angst-fest beginning to end. On the other hand, if I hadn't, I actually would have missed a few interesting stories.

What I'm referring to has more to do with stories involving the Motor Club within the series that the main character, Keiichi, was involved in. One of them was actually a ghost story, and it's actually my favorite of the stories I found somewhat interesting. It actually managed to tug on what's left of my heart strings a little, mainly because it involved a sick young woman who died before someone could fulfill a promise to her, which in this case was just something as simple as a motorcycle ride. So basically she ended up haunting the property she died at until someone else could come along, fix the now classic motorcycle and give her a ride around the nearby lake. I also have to admit that I liked how the writers pointed out that love comes in many forms, even in the form of someone taking care of their old cars/electronics/etc.

Belldandy, the title goddess, really was too sweet that way. And really she was just too impossibly sweet. A "harem" anime, we got to meet her sisters too, but while they were anything but sweet, I wouldn't call them all that interesting either. That could be because I found most of this series either boring or really frustrating. The two main characters are basically living together as a couple from the very beginning, but the male lead was horribly immature and the female lead wasn't much better. It was completely obvious that the two of them cared a great deal for each other, and yet the vast majority of what happened revolved around the other one trying to show their love to the other or still trying to determine if the other loves them, no matter how many times they show or outright say that they do to each other. No, really, right up to the last episode.

I guess if you like angst (I'm looking at you TnT 'shippers – you know who you are), this might actually be the thing for you. Otherwise, not much to see here, and if you were only interested in the stories I was talking about being interested in, I'd be happy to look up the episodes for you and list them. It's for those that I'm even bothering to throw this series any kind of a bone, scoring it 3/10.
 

Terthna

Professional Lurker
Believe it or not, the original manga author actually tried to retroactively justify the total lack of forward momentum in Keiichi and Belldandy's relationship for most of the story; apparently, the Ultimate Force program that ensures contracts with gods always work out essentially brainwashes/castrates Keiichi into being a feckless coward when it comes to Belldandy. It did this because the author decided to crib the Judgement Gate from that one non-canon movie, which tests relationships between different categories of beings on whether or not it's based on "true love" (which seems to be defined in-universe as not having a single shred of doubt in said relationship); permanently separating those who fail. Thus, in order to protect against that threat, the Force ensured that their relationship never progresses to the point where it would have to come into play.

Needless to say, Keiichi was not happy when he finds this out. Things kinda go downhill from there, and the few people I know of who were still reading at that point got progressively less happy as the rest of the finale played out. To be honest, from what I've heard the manga probably shouldn't have gone past volume 20, and the author was talking about ending it over a decade before it finally did. Instead, it dragged on for a total of 48 volumes; even though it was obvious to many he had no plan whatsoever, and was phoning it in by the halfway point. I don't think that's his fault though; the publisher probably forced him to keep making the manga for as long as it kept selling.
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Akira
(1988 movie, new dub)

So this is the famous movie that is credited with making anime cool here in the US? Well, it's not bad, but it's not really as awesome as I was hoping it would be. I'm not even sure what the point was supposed to be, aside from the standard "science gone wrong." The movie itself is set in the future, after a nuclear WWIII that apparently started with an explosion going off in Tokyo. Well Neo-Tokyo has been built in the crater, with the old part of the city surrounding it pretty much in ruins. It's easy to see why this movie is classed as cyber-punk, which can pretty much be summed up as "high tech, low life," as in, everything is all very future-y and stuff, but it's all old, worn out, and dirty rather than being top of the line, with the people in this setting being much the same as the technology around them.

The main characters themselves aren't exactly good guys, most of them belonging to a motorcycle gang which regularly goes out and battles another motorcycle gang called The Clowns. That is, all until a fateful meeting with a little kid that looks like he has that freakish rapid-aging disease. Turns out the kid is special, and not in a back of the short bus way, as he uses some kind of a mind force-field to keep from getting run over by Tetsuo, basically the secondary main character of the film. Why the freakishly old kid didn't use his mind force field earlier to protect himself and the communist revolutionary who rescued him from the secret military lab he was being kept at is never really made clear, or addressed even.

Oh, yeah, Japan is apparently in the throes of a recession which has resulted in massive civil unrest and a practically fascist police state to deal with it. Naturally where there are fascists, there are communists to fight them ... well, they never really identify as communists, but let's just say I had the feeling. In any case, the movie never really delves into any of this all that deeply, instead focusing on the main storyline of Kaneda, the film's main character, and his exploits in trying to find and rescue his friend Tetsuo from the military (with a little commie tail-chasing on the side). It seems Tetsuo is suffering some rather odd side-effects from the mind force field, which is why the military and its scientists have taken an interest in him. It seems he reminded them of another really powerful psychic kid they experimented on named Akira, who has become a messianic figure to a large portion of the anarchist types who make up most of the mobs seen in the movie being oppressed by the police.

This brings up one of the secondary characters, a JSDF Lieutenant Colonel. He's hard to put a finger on, mostly because at times he's a complete bastard, and at other times the movie basically makes him out to be justified for being a complete bastard, who occasionally has a heart. He's the one in charge of the military's research into these telekinetic kids, and it's more than hinted at that Akira caused what appeared to be a nuclear detonation at the beginning of the film. Naturally, the colonel doesn't want this to happen again, and he's determined to kill Tetsuo should he get out of hand, which is naturally exactly what happens.

Akira is an okay film, and is kind of cool. There is a lot of awesomeness, especially as Tetsuo grows out of control, but it isn't really an awesome movie in my opinion. The storyline is at times hard to follow, and there's a connection between some government officials and the communist revolutionaries that is never really explained, and really has nothing at all to do with the main plot as far as I could tell. That being said, this movie is still worth a watch, and scores a 7/10.
 

Val the Moofia Boss

Well-known member
The animation was pretty great but otherwise I can hardly remember anything about the movie.

EDIT: now that I think about it, the scene with the creepy dolls was pretty good.




I wonder if Akira inspired the First Pokemon movie, which has a similar premise where you have this shady research group (government funded?) that was experimenting to create reality warping psychics, which resulted in said psychic breaking lose and wrecking havoc.
 
Last edited:

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
The manga source material is a lot easier to follow, even if the ending is still pretty stupid. The movie suffers from the common affliction of movie adaptations - trying to cram way too much of the source material into it.
 

ATP

Well-known member
I like both Akira/those dolls were indeed creepy/ but Wind named Amnesia is not plausible.If human get children minds,they would survive.Problem is - they got toddlers minds,which mean that they must die.

We are not insects which could act on instinct alone,or even rats.We need to be teached at least few years to survive and form even most prymitive society.People in that settling should all die.
But alien chick was nice.
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Area 88
(12 episode series)

I tried to get into this series, but there really wasn't much there for me aside from cool warplanes and cool air-to-air combat.

It takes place in a generic middle-east country which is undergoing a civil war, with the government having hired on a mercenary force of combat pilots to aid their side against the rebels. The concept of mercenary jet fighter pilots never really makes much sense to me, and what makes even less sense is that the mercenary force itself is like the French Foreign Legion of old, which kidnapped people and pressed them into service. Well, technically everyone signs up for a stint of service, but they're still treated like slaves in the sense that they can't leave the super-secret base they are stationed at unless they serve their full contractual stint, or they buy their way out of it with the money they earn from their kills.

While the series' main character is in fact a reporter who is there for reasons not made entirely clear until later, the character being focused on is a blonde-haired Japanese pilot who flies an F-5. He's your basic moody type yearning for home and the one he left behind. Considering he got screwed over by his friend and shanghaied into service, that would normally make him pretty sympathetic as a character. Unfortunately this is ruined by the aforementioned moodiness, which fails completely at making him mysterious or even really interesting, for that matter. Ironically the reporter/photographer is more interesting as he develops from the typical snooty press type into someone who's sympathetic towards the pilots at this base. He ends up having second thoughts about his job, and actually ends up quitting it, which makes it that much worse that he gets the tar beat out of him by the pilots and is almost killed by them when they find out what he was originally sent there to do in typical kill the messenger style.

Well, fear not, all turns out "right" in the end as far as the main pilot's girl deciding to not marry the douche that betrayed him and had him shanghaied, and the fact he's completely forgiven for trying to run. Of course he still has to serve out his time and do exactly what he's been lamenting doing by shooting down and killing other human beings, which is what's made him such a moody bastard. I guess if you like the eye candy, this series might be worth the time to watch, but there isn't much of a story that's worth watching. 4/10.
 

Terthna

Professional Lurker
Looked into how the manga ended some years back; was not impressed. I think the author, after having Shin reject a return to civilian life numerous times later on in the story, realized he had written himself into a corner by turning the main character into someone who would probably eat a bullet the moment he couldn't distract himself with combat anymore. He ended up giving the guy amnesia and leaving him in the care of his "girlfriend", who somehow still loved him even after he had spent several years mostly trying to avoid her.
 
Last edited:

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Argento Soma
(25 episode series)

This is a classic example of an anime that takes too long to get to the point. While I understand and like the idea of meeting characters and getting to know them as they develop, there's something to be said for keeping the plot moving at a steady pace, which this series doesn't until the last few episodes. What's worse is that from the beginning of the series, you're teased by an image in the end credits that doesn't become significant until the last half of the series when the big mystery is finally solved and the series finally gets to the point.

Superficially this series reminds me of what I've read about Neon Genesis Evangelion, at least in the sense that giant alien robots dubbed "angels" have been randomly descending from the heavens and wreaking havoc on humanity. In fact, New York City, the place they first landed, had been completely destroyed and left abandoned. Giant mechas also seem to be humanity's only hope, but that seems to be where the similarities end. There are no children piloting these things, the aliens all seem to be setting down in North America and heading towards a "pilgrimage point" which is just north of the North Dakota border in Canada. This is the big mystery of the series, as well as the origin and purpose of the very different looking giant robot dubbed "Frank" (short for Frankenstein). All is eventually answered late in the series, but the pace getting there is what makes it frustrating, because really the series probably could have gotten there in about half the time it did.

I guess the main storyline itself revolves around the character whose false identity the series is named after and his struggle to find out what his girlfriend was doing experimenting with this mad scientist type on Frank, and what the military has to do with what happened. He's basically made a spy by a person whose identity we don't learn until almost the end of the series in order to infiltrate the FUNERAL organization, which is charged with the defense of Earth against the alien robots. Hilariously, it's headquartered in Minnesota on the edge of Lake Superior. In any case, the military is butthurt over what it sees as someone invading its turf, and there is a power struggle which results. Also hilarious is that while this is set in mid-21st century America, it's seen as somehow special that a woman is in charge of Funeral, despite female commanding officers being not all that uncommon even now. In fact the only thing women are restricted from doing is actively engaging in combat, which is something you see in a lot of in anime. The misogyny is very open and frequent, and it all comes off as a hammer-to-the-head message against it. This is probably because it's from Japan, where misogyny is pretty common.

I guess I found it interesting enough to keep watching, and I don't really regret watching it exactly, but it was very frustrating to have the story crawl along at a snail's pace for about the first half. The main character is also something of a whiny misogynistic bastard, which also affects the watchability of the series since it's hard to really sympathize with him. It might be worth a watch, but it's also a bit of a waste of time, earning it a 6/10.
 

ATP

Well-known member
Area 88 - except all mistakes you mentioned,mercenery force would use one kind of jet,when in anime any pilot used other type.
And main character was passenger plane pilot,so i do not undarstandt how he could become good fighter pilot.
I never piloted anything,but there is difference between F5 and Boeing 727.

About misogyny in Japan - according to what i read,it is real.But they still gave all their moneys to their waifus.And their horror stories show great fear of man about womans.
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Armored Trooper VOTOMS
(52 episode series)

You know, I muddled my way through this beast of a series, hoping that in spite of the constant padding and drawing out, that it would pay off in the end. After all, Blood+ turned into something worth watching in spite of a slow start, and it was likewise a long series. However, Armored Trooper VOTOMS ultimately proved to be a disappointment for me, because as the series neared its end, it became really clear to me that the writers had been pulling everything out of their fourth point of contact all along.

A product of the '80s, this series really showed its age as far as the animation – it actually resembles the animated Star Trek series from the '70s in part. That being said, at first that was my only real concern with the series. We're given a bit of exposition in the beginning that explains that a war has been going on between two interstellar nations, the Gilgamesh Confederation and the Balarant Union, and from that point on the series closely follows protagonist Chirico Cuvie as he is sent on a secret mission with a clandestine group that has unknown objectives. He thinks he's on a training mission of some kind only to find himself fighting his own forces as the group he's with looks for something. He stumbles upon a mysterious bald (and buck-ass nekkid) woman in a glowing stasis chamber, and from that point on his life goes completely to hell as basically everyone he comes across tries to kill him. So basically what I'm saying is that, initially anyway, the story seemed interesting enough to put up with the dated animation and lack of a dub (however horrible it might have been). After all, it was obvious that this secret society didn't want Chirico with them on this mission to steal what turned out to be some kind of a genetically engineered super-soldier, yet he was an elite soldier from a group known as the Red Shoulders. What was he doing there? What was the secret society up to and how extensive was its membership? Who was the mysterious bald woman?

So it was fairly easy to root for Chirico and the friends he made along the way, even if every single one of them basically was a cliché of some kind. Chirico, for instance, was basically the ideal bad-ass soldier. Actually, it got rather amusing at times, because the secret society was apparently after the "Perfect Soldier," or PS for short, and given how Chirico was basically perfect in his Gary Stu-like ability to overcome literally any odds, I thought it was pretty obvious that Chirico was the real perfect soldier. Apparently the writers noticed this too and just made him one. But then, the PS thing was pushed into the background, even as Chirico met up with the mysterious woman from the first episode and the two of them decided they were in love with each other.

I suppose it could be somehow argued that everything was planned out at least well enough, but especially getting toward the end of the series, it was obvious that the writers were just clamoring to tie up any loose ends they might have left. I guess I can give them credit for at least caring enough to do so, anyway – that's more than Rick Berman and Brannon Braga can be given credit for anyway. ;)

I was also initially concerned that since this was a giant mech series that I'd end up not liking it because of that. To be honest, giant mechs are mostly amusing to me, and for the most part in a series that's trying to be serious I usually find that it just isn't my thing (see my Evangelion reviews). I was somewhat impressed that some thought was actually put into these particular giant mechs, but for the most part I just kind of bared with it.

I think the characterization is where I was mainly let down for the majority of the series. To be frank, Chirico's character would change depending on whatever plot twist the writers decided to pull out of their asses, and so would pretty much everyone else's. For instance, there were three comedy relief characters who always managed to end up following Chirico no matter where he ended up, and they would constantly yo-yo between thinking Chirico was a prick and deciding he wasn't that bad after all and do everything they could help him. To be fair, though, there were plenty of times Chirico actually was a prick, and he'd usually end up screwing these people over in some way. Then there was Fyanna, the mysterious bald woman Chirico saw in the first episode (she does grow hair, though). Initially, she was an impressive combat soldier, but as Chirico drew closer to her in his search for answers, she started to grow weaker, and when the two of them fell in love she basically fell into the clichéd role a lot of women in anime (and just in media in general) tend to fall into. Sure, occasionally she'd show some fighting ability, but for the most part she was there to be emotional about Chirico so the writers could try to fool the audience into thinking there was actually some drama.

The series goes on a very long, convoluted journey, which seems to change depending on what mood the writers were in, and it has a little bit of everything. Chirico goes from the kind of urban cyberpunk dystopia that was pretty common for '80s sci-fi, to a Vietnam-like planet where he fights in someone else's civil war, to a post-apocalyptic desert planet that has a poisonous atmosphere, to the desert home planet of a species that decided to abandon technology, with an ancient technological mystery buried beneath them the entire time. Likewise, Chirico goes from being almost an everyman, to an asshole, to being sympathetic, to being regretful in his past affiliation with the Red Shoulders due to atrocities they committed, to refusing to let a woman die even though she's vowed revenge on him and constantly tries to kill him, to being a prick with aspirations of galactic domination, to being the big damn hero at the last minute. I especially wasn't impressed with those last two things.

So what was the solution to all the mysteries? God did it. Well, a technological god, who was made by a genetically superior superman, but, still. And as it turns out, Chirico is actually one of these "overmen," too. And the part that really irritated the hell out of me is that once this was finally revealed, Chirico basically turned evil and left his would-be lover and the friends who have been with him for all this way to die. Then, not long after, he seems to actively try to kill them as they try to stop him from taking over the galaxy. Of course!
Then, at the last minute, Chirico suddenly shoots the ancient computer god and sets about destroying it, having done all the douchebag things he'd done up to that point to fool the computer god. Of course, the big deal about the computer god was that it was telepathic, so... yeah.

ArmoredTroopersVOTOMS01.jpg
Daisy... Daisy... Give me your answer, do... I'm half cra-zy, all for the love of you...

The ass-pull comes in how basically every lingering mystery – the strange ship Chirico and Fyanna found themselves on following planet Vietnam, why Chirico was on the mission in the first episode, etc. – was resolved by having the computer god exposit that it was totally behind everything, and even though Chirico came close to dying more than once, the computer god was somehow protecting him the entire time. Talk about an eye-roller.

The series then somewhat abruptly ends as the war Chirico apparently was trying to prevent by destroying the computer god (along with the planet it was on and all of its inhabitants) breaks out between the Gilgamesh and the Balarant all over again anyway. Chirico and Fyanna, now newly made up with each other as well as with the other friends Chirico had tried to kill previously, decide to be shot out into space in a cryo-tube, leaving the story open for a sequel, which there apparently were plenty of. Jury is still out on whether I'll actually give them a chance – I might check them out just out of morbid curiosity.

I think, for me, the most interesting aspect of the series was seeing the influences this series took from other sources, and how it influenced at least one other show at least in name. There was definitely a lot of influence from the movies Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey, both in visual design and in the use of certain sound effects. As for how it influenced another, much younger show – apparently someone from Gainax saw this show and liked the name of a certain character, named Gurren. ;)

That being said, while there are some interesting aspects to this series and it is somewhat noteworthy in the basics of its story and approach to telling that story, I'm not sure I'd really recommend it to anyone. Hardcore sci-fi and mech fans might be interested somewhat, but it's a rather dated show and it tends to drag at times. 4/10.

I can't believe I watched the whole thing... :(
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Baccano! – A Re-Review
(13 + 3 episode series)

Having recently re-watched this series, I thought it deserved a re-review – not that my views have changed much on it, but because I have a clearer understanding of it. That, and the original review I wrote up on it was one of the first ones I did, and I think it deserves to be reworked using my current, more detailed style.

Baccano! is a pretty unique series, and it’s obvious that a lot of effort went into bringing it into being. Like the Gunsmith Cats team, the Baccano! team went to the locations they wanted to portray in New York City, and since a good chunk of the story takes place on a train, the team also visited the Steamtown National Historic Site, so the locations the story takes place in could be more accurately depicted. This attention to detail was carried on into the English dub by the casting director and script writer, who watched old movies from the era so they could get a feel for how people talked at the time, and this produced one of the best dubs in anime. About the only downside is that since most of these movies were about Chicago mobsters, a bunch of New York mobsters had Chicago accents, but in this case it’s the thought that counts. For me, the attention to detail is pretty impressive nonetheless. And as if that wasn’t enough, the outstanding soundtrack also makes a point of bringing the sound of Prohibition era America to life for a show that primarily takes place during this time frame.

Of course, this attention to detail isn’t really what I’m referring to when I call this a unique series. What makes this show unique is its method of storytelling, which is to say that it’s like the editor had attention deficit disorder. There are several different storylines that take place at several different time frames that all manage to intersect on a train called the Flying Pussyfoot (which is referring to being quick and light on the feet, you sick bastards). Anyway, if that wasn’t bad enough, the story actually starts out after everything has already gone down, and then proceeds to feed the audience relevant information in a well-paced manner that kept me interested in the story. To the credit of the people who made this, they actually kept things pretty straight, which is more than most other shows told in a more traditional manner can say sometimes. This works both for and against this show, as it does generate interest and tells a story in a different way, but it can also be very frustrating and confusing at times.

The story itself revolves around a group of immortals and an elixir of immortality given to them by a demon one of them managed to summon. This isn’t a case of Highlander immortality either, as one of these immortals can be shredded into little pieces and their flesh will magically reconstitute together and bring the person (or animal) back to life. The original group was apparently a bunch of alchemists, though the series didn’t really make that point all that clear to me, as I was under the impression that it was a group of immigrants on the way across the Atlantic. Although now it makes a lot more sense to me why they all had different fake European accents. Anyway, the demon gives the knowledge for how to make the immortality elixir to the alchemist who summoned him, but he and most of the others decided that they would keep this to themselves, as the consequences of this becoming common knowledge and creating a world full of immortals was rather distressing. However, one of them, an old man named Szilard Quates, disagrees and wants this knowledge for himself. Incidentally, the demon left the group of immortals an out in case they ever decided they wanted to die by making it possible for them to be absorbed by one of their fellow immortals if their devourer placed their hand on their forehead and thought, ‘I wish to eat’, or something along those lines. As an added bonus the devourer also absorbed all of that person’s knowledge and experience on top of basically being a cannibal, so you might guess where this was leading.

Fast forward to the 1930s, and ol’ mad Doc Quates was closing in on the correct formula for the elixir, and unfortunately for him, got tangled up with a bunch of mobsters in the process. Really, though, the best thing he ever produced was Ennis, an incredibly attractive homunculus he created from his own cells using magic, apparently.

Baccano01.jpg
*sigh* So kawaii… Have I mentioned I have a thing for women in suits, women with short hair, and women who can kick ass?

As for how all this leads up to a slaughter on the Flying Pussyfoot *snicker*, I can’t really say for sure, other than that a lot of the characters we’re introduced to end up on that train, and one of them was one of these original immortals (man, imagine being stuck in the body of a 10 year old boy for 200 years) and the homunculus of another immortal happened to be on the train while some kind of underhanded political crap was going on. It’s really kind of a Charlie Foxtrot, because while there’s a group of black-suited terrorists basically looking to take a US Senator’s wife and daughter hostage, there’s also a group of white-suited thugs led by the completely insane mobster Ladd Russo that’s basically looking to kill everyone on board. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s an expert assassin/gymnast on board who was actually one of the train’s conductors, but thanks to a scary story being told at the right time he effectively becomes a monster known as the “rail tracer” who busily goes about slaughtering all the black-suits and white-suits on the train. It’s entertaining as hell to watch, but it can also be confusing at times.

That all being said, this series is completely over the top and ridiculous. That actually helps me to let the giant cluster fuck that is the storytelling method and the sheer amount of story and characters that there is slide. Which, speaking of the characters, there are so many of them that it's often hard to keep track of them all. The opening credits helps a little, as it introduces basically everyone important to the story while the awesome theme song plays. It also helps to convey the scatter-shot method of storytelling, I guess. Really, there are only two characters that manage to weave it all together – Isaac and Miria, two eccentric (as in insane) characters who are in every single storyline except for the "how it all got started" storyline that took place in the 1700s. There's also the vice president of the Daily Days, which is both a newspaper and an information brokerage, and his young apprentice, Carol. Those two mainly serve the function of introducing the different storylines and the odd method of storytelling to the audience, as well as the all important role of being the writers' mouthpiece. This may be somewhat unkind of me to say, but they just made it so damned obvious by only having these characters be in the first few episodes, literally introducing all the various storylines, and then not having them show up again until the very end of the special 3 episodes that were added after the original ending of the series, mainly to take pot shots at critics like myself, as well as making a statement to all the fans who were undoubtedly the reason these 3 episodes were made. Which is to say that they tied up a few loose threads and then told everyone off about any others they might have left dangling.

It's certainly a valid argument that the audience should be able to use its imagination in lieu of showing how each and every plot thread got resolved, which is to say that there is an appeal to that. Mainly, I just took a little issue with the attitude, although I can understand anime fans being at the root of that. I'll also say that their unique method of storytelling was also valid, but I still think the show would have been better in chronological order and without the story-framing writer mouthpieces, but that's just my opinion.

On that same note, I also have to say that I didn't particularly attach to any characters or find any of them sympathetic, mainly because they were all criminals, but that's okay because this isn't really a serious series anyway. In this case, what matters is that there are interesting characters who are interesting to watch, and Baccano! has plenty of those. One of my favorites has to be Ladd Russo.

Baccano02.jpg
How can you not like this guy? So what if he's a psychopathic murderer who's saving his girlfriend to kill last; he's just so damn entertaining to watch. ;)

So, in case you were wondering if I'd changed my mind on the rating I gave this show on my nebulous and arbitrary scale of "good", no, I haven't. I still rate this a 9/10 for being the entertaining, well done, and well thought out ruckus that it is. I would definitely recommend it, and I'm going to finally get around to adding it to my favorites list. Actually, I bought this show a while back when it was on sale, and the only thing I regret is that Funimation saw fit to put unskipable ads on every single disk.
 

Lord Sovereign

Well-known member
One of my favorites has to be Ladd Russo.

View attachment 786
How can you not like this guy? So what if he's a psychopathic murderer who's saving his girlfriend to kill last; he's just so damn entertaining to watch. ;)

Lad Russo is a gift from God who practically devours every scene he's in. Me and my friends watched Baccano a long time ago, and I recall it being one of my favourites.
 

ATP

Well-known member
Armored trooper Votoms remind me old pulpfiction magazines,which i once readed - issue end with disaster which would kill all,but next started when everybody was saved "thanks to herculean Strenght of Will" or something like that.
And you knew what - it is even funny kind of story.You do not need to find reason,becouse all could be explained lust like that.

Baccano is real gem,and Lad Russo is archetype of mad mobster.Maybe even living idea ?
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Neo Tokyo
(1987 movie)

I've actually been putting this review off for close to two weeks now, because honestly, I'm not entirely sure what all I can say about this movie. Of course part of that is because strictly speaking it isn't so much a movie as a collection of three short stories, only one of which is told in a linear, mostly logical fashion. The others are a bit more ... abstract. But then, that isn't to say that I disliked this movie so much as I wished I understood what exactly it was I was watching.

Okay, just to start things off, I'm going to put it out there that this is a beautifully drawn and animated piece of work. The visual style of the two less abstract shorts in particular typify one of the appeals older anime has with me. Older sci-fi anime in particular just tends to look really awesome to me, and I actually kind of like it when things are kind of weird or otherworldly in the story that's being told. Actually, one of the things I liked about the much more recent movie Redline was that it's visual style and even the type of story that was being told reminded me a lot of '80s anime that I've grown to like, in spite of never having watched any of it until more recently. I'd say Redline actually mostly resembled the "Running Man" short with the hardness of the lines in the drawing style and just overall in the visual design, at least in my opinion. Incidentally Madhouse animated both of these movies. :D

As for things like plot and story, well, that's a bit more complicated. As I mentioned before, this isn't a movie, it's a collection of three shorts, one of which serves as a framing device for the others, at least in how it was edited for the movie. Called "Labyrinth Labyrinthos", it seems to involve a little girl in '50s era Japan playing with her large pet cat, named Cicerone. The Wiki article indicates that the abstract visuals the audience is subjected to is an "exploration into the mind of a little girl," which I guess I can buy, it's just that I felt kind of like I was watching an animated episode of The Twilight Zone. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of commentary I can offer on this short, as it's really much too abstract for me to do so – really this is a case of things possibly representing some other concept that I just don't grasp, or it could be complete nonsense. About all I can offer is that her cat's name is an old European term for a guide, such as for a museum or an art gallery. The word itself is derived from Marcus Tullius Cicero's name. He was a Roman philosopher and politician during the late Roman Republic. During Caesar's dictatorship, he advocated for a return to the more traditional style of republican government which later led him to becoming an enemy of Marc Antony and getting killed. In any case, the use of his name as the title for a guide probably has a lot more to do with his writings on philosophy, mostly of the Greek variety, through which he introduced Greek philosophy to the Roman Republic. These writings were rediscovered in early modern times and are often credited for helping to start the Renaissance by reintroducing classical philosophy to the writers of the day. As for how this applies to a little girl traveling into a warped dimension and seeing some Salvador Dalí artwork on the way to a monster circus, I have no idea, beyond the obvious of the cat accompanying her in spite of not actually being a guide of any kind.

The second short, called "Running Man" is about a futuristic, ultra-violent race of some kind that is (in)famous for all the deaths it tends to cause. It focuses on a driver named Zach Hugh, but is told out of linear order and is narrated by a magazine reporter after Zach's unusual and mysterious death. Apparently Zach had a telekinetic ability which he used to destroy the hover-car racer of anyone who managed to pass him, and this apparently had driven him insane. The short covers Zach's last race as the ghosts of his past catch up to him and he apparently destroys his own body and car. I guess the thing is, while the narration explained all of this, the way the story is edited together made it somewhat confusing for me to watch until after I'd watched it a second time. It was kind of bland as a story, but pretty neat to watch even if I didn't entirely understand just what I was watching.

NeoTokyo01.jpg
What did I just watch?

This is probably the most common short from this movie that American audiences would be familiar with, as it was aired during an MTV spot called Liquid Television.

"The Order to Stop Construction" tells its story in a much more traditional fashion, keeping things nice and linear even if the setting is still strange as hell. Basically, a stereotypical salary man from a generic Japanese construction company has to travel to a fictitious South American country to shut down an expensive project being built there. Called Facility 444, this would be a bit more obvious to American audiences if it was called Facility 666 – 4 is the Japanese number for death. Anyway, the facility is being built deep in the jungle and has to deal with both an abundance of rain and flora, and because of the conditions there it's being built entirely by robots with only one man supervising the project. As you might guess, this is the pretty standard "warning against depending too much on technology" story, though I personally also see it as a bit of a jab at the business attitudes of the average Japanese company. Since a coup has taken place, the contract for the facility has been cancelled, and the order has gone out to stop construction and recoup as much as possible from the site. Unfortunately the human supervisor has not responded to this order and construction at the site is continuing. So, it's a bit clichéd, but not in a way that made it unenjoyable for me to watch.

So while this movie may not be what I would normally call "good", I think it was still pretty fun to watch. It actually reminded me of a show that was on Tech TV back in the early 2000s that featured animation (mostly CG) from amateurs, some of which had no point beyond being cool-looking, and some of which actually were short stories. I'd say I enjoyed Neo Tokyo on that basis, and I think it's important to keep that in mind if you're thinking about watching this movie. I actually would recommend it, though more in terms of seeing an example of some cool sci-fi anime from the '80s than in some other sense. That being said, I'm not entirely sure how to rate this, even on my nebulous scale of "good", so I'll just tentatively call it a 7/10 – not something that'll rock your socks off, but still fun to watch.

Oh, incidentally, someone made "Running Man" into a pretty cool AMV:
 

Captain X

Well-known member
Osaul
Wonderful Days/Sky Blue
(2003 movie)

Man, I really wished some of these shows would just keep the same title. I actually watched this under the title "Sky Blue," but Wikipedia has informed me that it's actually supposed to be "Wonderful Days". Whatever. Wikipedia has also informed me that this animation comes to us from South Korea, which is actually where a lot of animation is done for both Japanese and American companies. Of course this is also where movies like Diatron-5 come to us from, which is basically Korea's attempt at doing anime. I'm not saying Sky Blue is that bad, though between the CGI (used for basically everything but the characters) and the story, it does remind me an awful lot of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which isn't really a good thing.

The story, such as it is, takes place in 2142 in some unspecified region of an environmentally devastated Earth. There's mention of global warming, and toxic rain is supposed to be responsible for the barren landscape, so, as you might guess, this movie has a very heavy-handed environmental message. About the only thing going for it there is that its only about as heavy-handed as Ghibli's Castle in the Sky, as opposed to some of his other movies, just to give you a feel for what you'd be in for this movie. As in Castle in the Sky (and Avatar, for that matter), the story follows two star-crossed lovers who are somewhat awkwardly made to share the protagonist spot. What I mean by that is that Jay, a rather attractive female security officer in the "living" city of Ecoban, seems like she's the protagonist early on in the movie, as she not only narrates, but the film follows her perspective for the most part. This changes when we're introduced to the male lead, Shua, who's an environmentalist terrorist bent on messing up Ecoban's power core. He's also later revealed to be a former citizen of Ecoban and the boy Jay totally liked when they were kids. Point being that Shua takes up most of the movie's focus from the point he's introduced, with Jay being relegated to more of a supporting role. But then this movie isn't really what I thought and hoped that it might be from what the opening of the movie teased me with.

SkyBlue01.jpg
What can I say? I like 'em with short hair.

You see, I was led to believe that Jay would be the protagonist, and the movie was even kind of setting her up as the type of strong female protagonist that I like seeing, mostly because that isn't a type of protagonist that is seen very often. She informs us that it's been raining for a century, and that Ecoban is not only the last hold-out of humanity, but that it's also a living city. Of course it's only almost always cloudy, not always raining, and only the computer/power core of the city is "living" in the sense that it's neurally-based and happens to be shaped like a flower bloom. Of course Jay turned out to not be all that strong, or the main protagonist, so it shouldn't be hard to understand why I was disappointed by this movie.

The thing is, this movie is pretty predictable, and not terribly compelling on top of being somewhat boring. Right off the bat, we're given underdogs to root for, as survivors of the environmental apocalypse mentioned in the opening are basically used as mistreated labor to do all the dirty work of digging up the resources Ecoban needs to run, somewhat similar to what was depicted in Battle Angel Alita and in Star Trek's "The Cloud Minders." Within the first few minutes of the movie, we're shown not only the bigoted way that most of Ecoban's residents treat the people they call diggers, but the way they abuse them. Apparently Ecoban is powered by carbonite (no word on if they use it to freeze people, too), and they use these diggers to, well, dig it up for them. So the opening consists of Jay, the one non-bigoted person who lives in Ecoban, heading out to an oil-rig looking mining platform, just in time for it to start falling apart and to show the complete disregard the Ecoban foreman, Commander Locke, has for the diggers' lives by not only ordering the part of the platform that's falling apart on its own to be cut loose into the ocean, but by shooting the digger foreman when he refuses to do so and threatens a mass strike if Locke gets someone else to do it anyway. Of course this doubly serves to introduce the main antagonist to the audience. And that being done, Jay goes right back to Ecoban, Commander Cade is introduced as her boss and the guy who wants to bone her, and Shua sneaks in, kills some poor security guard, and hacks Ecoban's computer for his boss, Dr, Noah.

SkyBlue02.jpg
Sadly, no. (Photo Credit: Memory Alpha)

Dr. Noah, who not only used to be a citizen of Ecoban but designed its computer system, wants to do some kind of an energy release that will supposedly clear the entire planet's atmosphere, making sure to note that the only "harm" to the citizens of Ecoban will be that they'll have to use solar energy (because I'm real sure that's developed a lot under a sky that's constantly cloudy) and have to do some hard work themselves, because, you know, the diggers are the underdogs who do all the work while the Ecobans are bastards who live like rich people and do no real work themselves. Class warfare, basically. It's also at this point we're given some brief background on Shua and Jay, as Shua also used to be a citizen of Ecoban, and he and Jay were totally into each other even as kids, apparently. We're also introduced to Woody, some little orphan kid Shua adopted as a little brother to show us he's totally domestic material, and to the comedy relief thugs that Woody hangs out with, and who naturally turn out to nobly sacrifice themselves so Shua can get laid- I mean so he can win the day and get the girl in the end.

The conflict of this movie is also quickly set up, not only between Ecoban and the diggers, but between quite a few of the characters. Locke and Cade are set up as political rivals, with Locke being more militant and Cade being more moderate. Cade is also an antagonist, though he's made much more ambiguous than the straight-up black hat wearing, mustache-twirling (if he had one) antagonist that Locke is, at least in every area but one – Cade totally wants to bone Jay, and has been jealous of Shua since they were kids. Shua brought Jay outside Ecoban at one point to show her a brief break in the clouds, but Cade tattled on them, as the area they were in was supposed to be off limits. The guard was a real prick himself, and went really overboard on Shua. Naturally Cade was all for that, but when the guard turned his attention on Jay, Cade tried to pull him away from her. In the ensuing struggle his foot knocks knife out of the guard's belt and he uses it and to stab the guard in the back. Then, being rather forward thinking for a kid, Cade not only frames Shua for the guard's murder, but does his best to kill Shua so he can't be around to defend himself, as Jay was conveniently unconscious at the time. So as you might guess, the conflict between Cade and Shua is made to be the main conflict of the movie, rivaling even the plot's main conflict, which is Dr. Noah's plan to screw Ecoban so the sky can be magically cleared.

Naturally, everything turns out exactly the way you would expect, with the underdog terrorists succeeding at Dr. Noah's plan at the cost of all of their lives, with Shua and Woody being the only survivors out of them so that Shua can hook up with Jay and the two of them can adopt Woody. Cade actually turned out to be the most fleshed out character of all of them, as he actually stopped short of killing Shua, instead sacrificing himself to save Jay from Locke. Of course, everything was very melodramatic during all of this and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. There's also the reveal that the mythical "Gibraltar" Shua had been going on about having a blue sky all the time was actually where the entire story took place.

I mean, this isn't a horribly bad movie or anything, but it's just so thin in story and characterization, and the plot is very basic. I suppose if you enjoy basically anything that has class conflict, star-crossed lovers with a love triangle, and an environmental message, you might be able to just turn your brain off and enjoy this movie. As for myself, I found myself bored and disappointed. Really the only entertainment I got out of this movie involved all the names of characters which just also happened to be the same as characters from other shows or movies, all the flaws in logic the movie had, and just how transparently manipulative this movie tried to be. I also couldn't help but see some similarities with Ergo Proxy, which I totally would have made a crack about, except that Ergo Proxy came out about 3 years after this movie. Well, Ergo Proxy may have borrowed from this movie, but it was definitely a better show and far more entertaining. Other than that, while there are a few enjoyable moments, and it has some pretty visuals here and there, I can't really recommend this movie to anyone. 4/10.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ATP

ATP

Well-known member
I saw it,and i think the same.Mostly - Jay had female guard friend,which was also hot.Becouse she had muscles.What better then musclegirl ?

Aside from that - i saw some 25 years ago South Korea anime series, with main character with superpowers and one of antagonist hot woman which fall for him eventually.It have 24 or 26 episodes,but i forget tittle.

Did anybody here saw it ?
 

ATP

Well-known member
Since i long not posted anything -
Kaibutsu ojo/Princess resurrection,24 episodes from 2007.
Manga arleady ended,so we knew everything,but anime unfortunatelly cover less then half of story.
Anyway,here :
Hiro Hiyorimi was normal 15 year boy,till he died.Then Hime, which belong to Royal Family which rule over monsters on Earth,ressurected him so he could serve her.He later become powerfull warrior,but in anime is still weak.
And Hime hired his cluelles sister Sawawa,who manage to do not see any monsters.Or is acting as if she do not see them.

You see,our Earth in reality is full of monsters,but thanks to Royal Family they behave.Most of the time,in one episode rogue monster killed off town in Japan,in other another sunked ship.Hime take care of such cases.

But,becouse her race is immortal,she must fight all her siblings till only one remain.In manga she manage happy end faking her death,but in anime she is still fighting.Problem is - she do not want power,and do not hate her siblings.

So,we have slow life in her mansion - with attack of assasins,rogue monsters ,rogue vampires,and siblings trying kill her.

Except Hiro,Hime had gynoid Flandre /robot/ looking lime small girl but very strong and almost impossible to destroy,half-werewolf hot tomboy Riza Wildman,and
cute and hot pureblood vampire Reiri,who should kill each other but actually become friends.

All in all - interesting mix of action and slice-of-life.
Here,ending song :
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top