Archive for September, 2006

Genshiken

Published by
FDimension
at September 24, 2006 in Anime Review, Comedy, Genshiken and Slice of Life. 0 Comments

Episodes: 12
Rating: Teen
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy

Introduction

Genshiken follows an after college club called Genshiken: Contemporary Visual Culture Research Organization or Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyūkai in Japanese. The club, in reality, is an otaku club where members watch anime, build models, and do various other otaku things after school.

The story follows their adventures they deal with various Otaku issues while a non-Otaku attempts to adjust to their society in an attempt to win a boys love.

Review

Genshiken is an extremely well done anime. You ask how in the world can an anime about otakus be any good. Well, I don’t know either, but it’s very well done. The story is well thought out and the progression is extremely well paced.

Basically you have a typical college club, but instead of drawing manga or doing other college club type things, they just goof around. The anime has two key plotlines. One is the very cute Kasuga attempting to fit in with the otakus in an attempt to win the love Kosaka, an extremely “KAWAIIIIIII” guy who is a major otaku. The other is following the general things Genshiken does which are often times random but always related to anime, models, manga, video games, etc.

Genshiken has the somewhat unique ability to keep you watching even though there, well, isn’t much going on. No matter how you analyze it, it just follows people hanging around talking about anime and doing otaku related things. You want to keep watching even though all your watching is two people discuss model building. Truly amazing.

I want to say that Genshiken was too short in a way. Twelve episodes didn’t feel like enough, but I asked myself what else could they have done to keep it interesting? There really isn’t much you can do to make an anime following the lives of nerds interesting.

There are a few more downfalls. The anime isn’t too true of a portrayal of otakus and their culture. You see a lot of the fascination with eroge (Hentai Games) and erotic Doujinshi but you don’t really get into the stereotypical looks of an otaku. The overly nerdy looking person who no girl would ever set eyes on that you see in a lot of anime. This isn’t really THAT big of an issue, considering if you look at the major hub for Otaku activity, Akihabara, you will see that really isn’t very true of a stereotype. You do though, wonder why all of the characters are well drawn and fashionable.

When I said few, I really meant one and by one I mean not really. There just isn’t much to complain about. It’s a very true look at otaku life in Japan! Oh well, other then if you don’t like anime you will not like Genshiken, or even get some of the jokes.

There is some really good artwork in Genshiken. The anime is fluid and well drawn and the music is well placed. Genshiken takes a more serious approach to the art-style, often lacking the stereotypical anime emotions more facial expression. That doesn’t mean you won’t find some sweat drops or extremely cartoony scenes.

Oh, while I’d love to review Kujibiki Unbalance in the same review, I can’t. It’s going to be an actual serious anime upcoming sometime in October. Basically Kujibiki Unbalance is the mega-stereotypical anime that Genshiken watches. It includes most everything “major” inside of anime. Childhood promises, aliens, swimsuit scenes out of nowhere, combat, etc. It was made into an OVA and will soon be released as a real series (taking away some of the ridiculous character models in the process that is kind of its charm).

One last thing, the English dub is done VERY well. The voices actuall fit and it’s not painful to listen to it. Even the Kujibiki Unbalance voices for the most part are well done. So if you don’t like reading subtitles while people speak in some kind of strange language then pick up the DVDs and watch the dub. Not that, a real otaku wouldn’t want to hear it in it’s original Japanese version.

Rating

Score: 8/10

Pros:

  • Well thought out storyline Interesting plot. A slice of life anime that doesn’t put you to sleep.
  • Great visuals, musics, opening, ending, and artwork.
  • English dub is well done, so be sure to pick up the DVDs!

Cons:

  • People not in Japan who want to be otakus.
  • If you don’t like anime then you probably won’t really care or even understand this anime.

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Published by
FDimension
at September 8, 2006 in Abenobashi and Anime Review. 1 Comment

Introduction

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is an anime about a boy and a girl, a shopping arcade, and well the kitchen sink. I would define this anime as well, random. It’s like FLCL but without a plot. Each episode is mostly it’s own story, until some “deep” plot points arrive that no one cares about because the show does better with the Excel Saga type humor done right.

Review

Basically you have a boy and a girl who travel through “dimensions” that emulate an otaku type lifestyle. I’m going to be blunt, the details isn’t interesting at all. Each dimension features stuff like RPG games (where the boy and girl must defeat the game), a sci-fi fantasy with mecha action and missing pantsu, and well a lot more. Then you have a few of the previously mentioned serious episodes that feature a serious storyline that doesn’t fit the show at all.

There are moments in this anime where you feel really good. Especially the first three episodes, the introduction, the RPG, and the mecha sci-fi dimension, highlight the series peak. An episode featuring the boy becoming a mystic is also way up there as the mystic guy that’s kind of been following them is quite the otaku himself.

The main point of this anime is its visuals. The graphics are sharp and clean, even on the levels of Vandread or even Haruhi (this is going by the DVDs). This makes the effects and the comedy value work as all the motion is very fluid and well animated. This is a GAINEX show after all.

I would say that, if this anime had a better “serious” plot line and involved more magic and didn’t have the stereotypical everything is as they started ending that this would be one of my favorites. It has way too many low points and the twelve episodes don’t give the serious plot line enough time to evolve nor the mystic powers enough attention.

DO NOT WATCH THE DUB. Be sure to pick up the DVDs and listen to the Japanese voice cast for this anime. Seriously, the dubs sound as if cowboys were talking for children.

Personally I would watch this anime just to have something fun to do. The first three episodes are fantastic and it does have some high points. The parody of a lot of anime/otaku related genres works out well.

Rating

Score: 5/10

Pros:

First three episodes are fantastic.
Fluid visuals combined with decent sound.

Cons:

Repetitive formula used more often then it should be.
Serious storyline is a downer to an otherwise happy anime.

Eureka 7

Published by
FDimension
at September 3, 2006 in Anime Review and Eureka 7. 1 Comment

Eureka 7 is one of the many mecha fusion series. It combines mecha with a long and detailed plot involving a young Renton Thurston. Renton finds himself onboard the Gekko-Go, a ship piloted by HIPPIES IN THE FUTURE who attempt to do good in the style of Beret from Final Fantasy 7.

The basics of the show is as mentioned, in the first few episodes you find our main hero who is a very modest and easy going guy getting together with a group of mercenaries who only do good. They enjoy a sport called “reffing” which is surfing on light particles that at the start of the series have no explanation. He meets a girl named Eureka who seems rather odd, but quickly falls in love. The anime follows his adventures as he discovers the past of his family and those on board the flying assault ship, the Gekko-Go.

The anime is hard to review as it suffers from the fifty episode problem. There are a total of fifty episodes and like most animes, the middle of the series really suffers. The actual plot of the show isn’t introduced until the last fifteen episodes, with the series getting to the half way super serious point around episode twenty five. It’s a very standard anime structure, but this anime isn’t completely standard.

Eureka 7 has a very rich story dealing with a lot of drama. Remember how I said it was a fusion with mecha and other genres? Well, it’s a mecha drama with less focus on the mecha and a lot of focus on the drama. Rarely will you see combat and when it happens it’s generally very brief or used as a focal point for some future drama. This makes it less appealing for those looking for the sci-fi mecha fix, but still doesn’t cause disappointment as the drama is generally well done.

There is a lot of focus on love and pacifism in Eureka 7. This leads to a few stereotypical plot points that kind of make some of the plot lines extremely generic. The whole “I don’t want to fight but have to end this fighting!” comes into play as the series takes a turn for the serious. This is one of the series only down points. The other one is lack of information throughout the series making you wonder what a lot of stuff is about. While a lot of it’s answered later on, not all of it is put together leaving you wondering.

Outside of that, the main character has a solid backbone through most of the series. He doesn’t start off as a magical LFO pilot (LFO being the mechas) but instead has to slowly work on skills. He does of course; gain super LFO piloting skills out of nowhere later on. That is to be expected though.

Animation wise, Eureka 7 is very well animated. There are few filler episodes and those are animated just as well as the other episodes. The colors are crisp and everything is presented in a way that it doesn’t seem out of place. It’s not the best of course, but it’s about what you would expect from Bones.

Overall the series is fantastic containing a ton of “HECK YEAH” moments. It does contain some generic plot points (mostly the pacifism) but that is well done as well. Some of the characters do become annoying but there is a ton of depth and richness inside of the vast story. While not every episode is awesome (or even interesting), the series is very worth watching.

As a side note, from what I have seen of the dub, it may be best to avoid it and just pick up the DVDs. The original Japanese voices are much better then what I’ve heard of the dubs. There may still be the dvd sets available to contain cool swag.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Pros:
Rich Story
Lots of Character Depth
Tons of “awww” and “Heck Yeah!” moments.

Cons:
Generic plot lines.
Episodes with little or not advancement.
Actual core plot doesn’t take place until later in the series.