Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, or Z Gundam is the successor to the classic Mobile Suit Gundam, taking place shortly after the events of the One Year War between the Earth Federation Special Forces and the Principality of Zeon. New machines and characters were introduced, but 4 familiar faces are seen in the story as well.
After the climatic battle between veteran newtypes Char Aznable and the One Year War hero Amuro Ray, the EFSF was declared victors. However, over time, the EFSF's power became too oppressive. While their mission was to hunt down remnants of Zeon, they have a bit of intolerance against those begging for equal rights as space citizens, as the EFSF's pilots were from Earth. This merciless act brought forth the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG), rebels made to combat the EFSF's elite task force, known as the Titans. The viewpoint of the story is from Kamille Bidan, the protagonist of this story. He is a teen with a bit of a dislike to his name. Through the series, he is guided by Lt. Quattro Bajeena, who views Kamille as the second Amuro. Among the people assisting them, One Year War captain Bright Noa returns to assist as the AEUG commander, defecting from EFSF and the Titans.
This anime got the same treatment as the first, sporting merchandise, games and anime variations. The plot of Z Gundam was later succeeded by ZZ Gundam, also dealing with a new cast and with a bit more machines introduced. The titular Gundam, the Zeta Gundam, does appear, though the initial machine seen is the Mk. II version of Gundam, to which there are two types of. Games like Gundam vs Zeta Gundam, and Dynasty Warriors Gundam games incorporate the machines, pilots and plot, and mostly made by Namco Bandai. Various mechs made cameos in titles like Super Robot Wars, with Zeta being among them.
While not as legendary ad the first Gundam anime, it was worth it. Z Gundam gets a 7 of 10.
2011/04/22
2011/04/20
XXXVI: "Speed Racer: The Next Generation"
Ugh... look what they did to you, Tatsunoko. To those who don't know, Tatsunoko is a production team responsible for Gatchaman, the Time Bokan series, Casshern, and one of my favorites: Speed Racer. After seeing the original and Speed Racer X, I thought that the third series, Speed Racer: The Next Generation, would be something up my ally. Boy... was I ever wrong when I thought that.
Speed Racer: TNG is a cartoon series that is not really based, but stemmed from the original. In truth, this cartoon was made the same time as the live action movie Speed Racer (which is based from the original), and the toon's pilot feature was released before the movie hit films. Now before I somewhat bash this, let's go into the cartoons background a little. To my understanding, the original Speed's second son, Speed Racer Jr., was a orphan, and he serves as the titular character. For some time now, the original Speed Racer has disappeared. He has an older brother, X, and Spritle, the only original character to return initially, serves as his uncle. X and Speed are shown as rivals on the track, much like how it was in the original show. Speed Jr's attire, minus slight changes, is homage to his lost father's wear, the primary difference being Speed Jr's red collar, while Speed Sr. had an ascot. This series does have its antagonist as well, this one being Zile Zazic: an adversary of Speed Sr.'s past, and enemy of Speed Jr. The famous Mach 5 vehicle makes a brief appearance, before Zazic destroys it, only to inadvertently give rise to its successor, the Mach 6: a car based on the previous iconic car that is capable of running without gas, though that is still used.
To be fair, the production that made this was also responsible for Kappa Mikey, something I actually liked. Speed Racer: TNG had a more toon like style that differed significantly from the classic, and the cars were all CGI, something that kind of irked me throughout the series. I won't go as far to say that this series was a joke, but I was really disappointed in the series. I grade it a 3 of 10, because while somethings, like the Mach 6 were introduced, it had animations that were cheesy at best, and the plot, despite how much it may influence a real-time possibility, was laughable. To me, this is one era of Speed Racer better left unheard of.
Speed Racer: TNG is a cartoon series that is not really based, but stemmed from the original. In truth, this cartoon was made the same time as the live action movie Speed Racer (which is based from the original), and the toon's pilot feature was released before the movie hit films. Now before I somewhat bash this, let's go into the cartoons background a little. To my understanding, the original Speed's second son, Speed Racer Jr., was a orphan, and he serves as the titular character. For some time now, the original Speed Racer has disappeared. He has an older brother, X, and Spritle, the only original character to return initially, serves as his uncle. X and Speed are shown as rivals on the track, much like how it was in the original show. Speed Jr's attire, minus slight changes, is homage to his lost father's wear, the primary difference being Speed Jr's red collar, while Speed Sr. had an ascot. This series does have its antagonist as well, this one being Zile Zazic: an adversary of Speed Sr.'s past, and enemy of Speed Jr. The famous Mach 5 vehicle makes a brief appearance, before Zazic destroys it, only to inadvertently give rise to its successor, the Mach 6: a car based on the previous iconic car that is capable of running without gas, though that is still used.
To be fair, the production that made this was also responsible for Kappa Mikey, something I actually liked. Speed Racer: TNG had a more toon like style that differed significantly from the classic, and the cars were all CGI, something that kind of irked me throughout the series. I won't go as far to say that this series was a joke, but I was really disappointed in the series. I grade it a 3 of 10, because while somethings, like the Mach 6 were introduced, it had animations that were cheesy at best, and the plot, despite how much it may influence a real-time possibility, was laughable. To me, this is one era of Speed Racer better left unheard of.
XXXV: "Wolverine and the X-Men"
I'm not one to be all pro-comic, but when it comes to animated things, I prefer the original better sometimes. This is one of those times. Wolverine and the X-Men is the 4th animated tier of the popular Marvel superhero mutant team: X-men. Hence the title, Wolverine is the main, and returning character.
Preceded by X-Men Evolution, the X-men team has disbanded, with many of its core members being either missing or going their separate ways. The government-powered Mutant Response Division was on the move to detain mutants, suit to favor the human protestors. This action causes Wolverine and fellow comrade Beast to team up one more and restore the X-men to glory. Along the way of finding Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, junior members of the X-men are recruited, along with the return of some of the original members.Many of the X-men sport wither new styles of their trademark clothing or a new outfit overall. Threats like the MRD, and the Inner Circle are prominent threats to the X-men while they continue their search.
This series, despite good intentions, kinda makes me weep. Props to giving Wolverine more screen time, but it just lacked the flair I had for the original. X-men Evolution was the same way, but I liked it a little. I don't like Wolverine and the X-men, but not enough to hate it. While it does not sit too well with me, I must say, I'd rather watch this than the now absent Speed Racer: The Next Generation. Good mindset, lackluster execution, so 4 of 10.
Preceded by X-Men Evolution, the X-men team has disbanded, with many of its core members being either missing or going their separate ways. The government-powered Mutant Response Division was on the move to detain mutants, suit to favor the human protestors. This action causes Wolverine and fellow comrade Beast to team up one more and restore the X-men to glory. Along the way of finding Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, junior members of the X-men are recruited, along with the return of some of the original members.Many of the X-men sport wither new styles of their trademark clothing or a new outfit overall. Threats like the MRD, and the Inner Circle are prominent threats to the X-men while they continue their search.
This series, despite good intentions, kinda makes me weep. Props to giving Wolverine more screen time, but it just lacked the flair I had for the original. X-men Evolution was the same way, but I liked it a little. I don't like Wolverine and the X-men, but not enough to hate it. While it does not sit too well with me, I must say, I'd rather watch this than the now absent Speed Racer: The Next Generation. Good mindset, lackluster execution, so 4 of 10.
2011/04/19
XXXIV: "Tekken: The Motion Picture"
Tekken wasn't the first fighting game I played in my years growing up, but it was, and still is, one of my favorites. So, I was kinda thrilled when I first heard about Tekken: The Motion Picture. Boy, do I ever wish I recalled back those feelings. To be fair, it had the right idea, but execution just didn't sit well. This is perhaps one of the only few times I actually sympathize with other viewers and critics.
Tekken: TMP is as it says: an animated motion picture of the popular fighting game franchise by Namco, now known as Namco-Bandai Games. Loosely based of PSone game Tekken, and its sequel, Tekken 2, any Tekken fan should be able to recognize the many familiar faces that takes place. The storyline, albeit changed completely, sort of connects with a few elements of the storyline so far (though the storyline of the game itself its messed up at this point already.) The story begins as young kids, Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama, stand in front of a rabbit's death by a bobcat. Before Kazuya can proceed to reprimand the bobcat to cheer Jun up, his father, Heihachi Mishima, berates him for his compassion, scoffing it as his weakness. To find out if his son had what it takes to become stronger, Heihachi throws his own son off the cliff, with Jun watching astonishingly.
Sixteen years afterwards, Jun is now an officer of Interpol, looking into the illegal actions of Heihachi. Upon mentioning of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, she, along with fellow agent Lei Wulong, are sent to infiltrate the tournament. Elsewhere, while any normal person could have met their demise, Kazuya, alive and pissed, enters for his shot at revenge against the man that nearly killed him. Heihachi learns this, and is prepared to hand him the conglomerate when the time comes. This doesn't sit too well with his adopted son, Lee Chaolan. Wanting the Zaibatsu for his own, he hires and seduces the Irish assassin sisters, Nina and Anna Williams. Their mission to kill Kazuya is the same, but their emotions for Lee, who uses them, differ, causing conflicts between them. At this point, Kazuya is now host of the prominent Devil Gene. As I stated before, any Tekken fan should recognize the characters from the games, even those who either don't show up/stand out as much, or are left unnamed in the film.
Animation is rather poor, and the storyline, despite good intention, seemed lacking. I do thank it for incorporating the first two games in it though (with the precursor to the 3rd), but it didn't do it justice. In fact, even though there were damn good classics like the cartoon version of Marvel's X-Men and the original Tatsunoko-made Speed Racer, I disdainfully pair this movie with cheesy cartoons like Darkstalkers, based of one of Capcom's least recurring, yet popular fighting franchise under Street Fighter. I sit there wondering "How could a game-based movie do any worse?", much to my dismay that it has been done now. Tekken: TMP gets a 5 of 10. Not the WORST rendition of game to film/anime overall, but it could have used a lot of improvement.
Tekken: TMP is as it says: an animated motion picture of the popular fighting game franchise by Namco, now known as Namco-Bandai Games. Loosely based of PSone game Tekken, and its sequel, Tekken 2, any Tekken fan should be able to recognize the many familiar faces that takes place. The storyline, albeit changed completely, sort of connects with a few elements of the storyline so far (though the storyline of the game itself its messed up at this point already.) The story begins as young kids, Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama, stand in front of a rabbit's death by a bobcat. Before Kazuya can proceed to reprimand the bobcat to cheer Jun up, his father, Heihachi Mishima, berates him for his compassion, scoffing it as his weakness. To find out if his son had what it takes to become stronger, Heihachi throws his own son off the cliff, with Jun watching astonishingly.
Sixteen years afterwards, Jun is now an officer of Interpol, looking into the illegal actions of Heihachi. Upon mentioning of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, she, along with fellow agent Lei Wulong, are sent to infiltrate the tournament. Elsewhere, while any normal person could have met their demise, Kazuya, alive and pissed, enters for his shot at revenge against the man that nearly killed him. Heihachi learns this, and is prepared to hand him the conglomerate when the time comes. This doesn't sit too well with his adopted son, Lee Chaolan. Wanting the Zaibatsu for his own, he hires and seduces the Irish assassin sisters, Nina and Anna Williams. Their mission to kill Kazuya is the same, but their emotions for Lee, who uses them, differ, causing conflicts between them. At this point, Kazuya is now host of the prominent Devil Gene. As I stated before, any Tekken fan should recognize the characters from the games, even those who either don't show up/stand out as much, or are left unnamed in the film.
Animation is rather poor, and the storyline, despite good intention, seemed lacking. I do thank it for incorporating the first two games in it though (with the precursor to the 3rd), but it didn't do it justice. In fact, even though there were damn good classics like the cartoon version of Marvel's X-Men and the original Tatsunoko-made Speed Racer, I disdainfully pair this movie with cheesy cartoons like Darkstalkers, based of one of Capcom's least recurring, yet popular fighting franchise under Street Fighter. I sit there wondering "How could a game-based movie do any worse?", much to my dismay that it has been done now. Tekken: TMP gets a 5 of 10. Not the WORST rendition of game to film/anime overall, but it could have used a lot of improvement.
XXXIII: "Akira"
Without a doubt, Akira is one well known animated movie. The film itself is that of cyberpunk science fiction. While it's epic in itself, the movie differs, though, from its 2182-page manga of the same name, more so in the plot. The character designs were also taken from that very manga, and the plot was restructured from the back half of it. While it wasn't a shared reception by all, this movie gained critically positive praise.
Akira has 3 key characters. The titular character, Akira, is seen as a test subject, for he's a being with god-like abilities. He is among 4 test subjects we see in the film, Akira being codenamed #28. He subsequently lost control of these powers, leveling Tokyo by an explosion in 1988, 31 years prior to the story's events. The second character, and the protagonist, is Shotaro Kaneda. Accompanied by his custome fitted motorcycle, he is the leader of a gang that gets into trouble. Along side him is the third character, who eventually becomes antagonist: Tetsuo Shima. Depicted as the black sheep of the gang, he is Kaneda's best friend, and Kaneda cares for him like a little brother. While beating ruthlessly thugs who were messing with his girlfriend, Tetsuo suffers from the psychokinetic powers manifesting within him. Once fully manifested, Tetsuo switches quickly from friend to enemy. While he also aim for Kaneda's bike, he seeks to prove himself supremely powerful, lacking the need for Kaneda's protection.
As it is a sci-fi, things like lasers and advance weaponry are seen. As such, we see these psychokinetic powers in action, and also the consequences of such power. Interesting to know that Tetsuo has an ability to shapeshift his arm, seen as the famous tentacle arm. This is paid homage to in the game series King of Fighters, by the character K9999 of NESTS Team, who also has this ability. Again, this film has two different English versions, the first being the Streamline dub, while the second dub, by Pioneer, had voice actors like Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, and Johnny Yong Bosch.
Akira got its praise for its action paced plot, and was generally adored by fans. I personally liked it, and would watch more of it should I have the DVD to this film. While it's not one of those perfect grade animations to me, it comes fairly close, so it's a 9 of 10. Akira is a film like no other, and though its early to say, it's doubtful if there's other media of this genre that'll get the same respect.
Akira has 3 key characters. The titular character, Akira, is seen as a test subject, for he's a being with god-like abilities. He is among 4 test subjects we see in the film, Akira being codenamed #28. He subsequently lost control of these powers, leveling Tokyo by an explosion in 1988, 31 years prior to the story's events. The second character, and the protagonist, is Shotaro Kaneda. Accompanied by his custome fitted motorcycle, he is the leader of a gang that gets into trouble. Along side him is the third character, who eventually becomes antagonist: Tetsuo Shima. Depicted as the black sheep of the gang, he is Kaneda's best friend, and Kaneda cares for him like a little brother. While beating ruthlessly thugs who were messing with his girlfriend, Tetsuo suffers from the psychokinetic powers manifesting within him. Once fully manifested, Tetsuo switches quickly from friend to enemy. While he also aim for Kaneda's bike, he seeks to prove himself supremely powerful, lacking the need for Kaneda's protection.
As it is a sci-fi, things like lasers and advance weaponry are seen. As such, we see these psychokinetic powers in action, and also the consequences of such power. Interesting to know that Tetsuo has an ability to shapeshift his arm, seen as the famous tentacle arm. This is paid homage to in the game series King of Fighters, by the character K9999 of NESTS Team, who also has this ability. Again, this film has two different English versions, the first being the Streamline dub, while the second dub, by Pioneer, had voice actors like Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, and Johnny Yong Bosch.
Akira got its praise for its action paced plot, and was generally adored by fans. I personally liked it, and would watch more of it should I have the DVD to this film. While it's not one of those perfect grade animations to me, it comes fairly close, so it's a 9 of 10. Akira is a film like no other, and though its early to say, it's doubtful if there's other media of this genre that'll get the same respect.
2011/04/17
XXXII: "Rockman.EXE" series
Like Ryuusei no Rockman, Rockam.EXE is also a game series, with anime to tail behind it. I wasn't too fanatic about it, having seeing it in English first, but warmed up when I got around to the later series.
Rockman.EXE has a collenction of titles, with US seeing only Mega Man NT Warrior, and about half of its sequel, Mega Man NT Warrior Axess, translated to English. So, much like the Ryuusei no Rockman series, it's clearly a series primarily Japanese. The characters in question deals with the previous incarnation of Mega Man, a navi known as MegaMan.EXE, and his operator, a netbattler named Lan Hikari (Netto in the Japanese dub.) Like before, this is in a parallel timeline where this succeeded the Classic Mega Man series, with navis and a few Earth characters made as either incarnations or homages to the Classic counter parts. Through battles, Lan and MegaMan fights a number of problems, such as the organization WWW or Wolrd 3 and their leader, Lord Wily (sound familiar?), to net mafias, a renegade Navi, the aforementiond Wily's son, and finally cyber titans of destruction.
While it spans a number of anime series, US was only lucky to get a series and a half translated: Mega Man NT Warrior and Mega Man NT Warrior Axess. Much like other series like Sonic X, the different dubs of the series were treated with different tones. In US, it was more kid friendly, though, the titular character has a cool attitude about him. In contrast, the Japanese dub was more serious in tone, while it had its share of comedic moments. Like the successor, the series were loosely tied with the games, though there were elements that were omitted from the anime that the game had, or vice versa. An example of this would be the Cross Fusion seen in Axess, which wasn't implied in either of the 8 games, and was later rehashed to be part of the games and anime Ryuusei no Rockman as EM Wave Change. Another trait is that localization, even platforming, prompted name changes, examples being Rockman.EXE (JP) and MegaMan.EXE (US), while the latter had a few changes, seen in transitions like so: FireMan.EXE (Battle Network) and TorchMan.EXE (NT Warrior)
Before my final verdict, keep in mind that NT Warrior, and Axess weren't the only anime of the series, though it's the only ones the states officially saw releases of. Rockman.EXE Stream succeeded this series, and ended altogether with the anime Rockman.EXE Beast and Beast+. The anime entirely gets a 6, though I favor personal points for the latter 3 series.
Rockman.EXE has a collenction of titles, with US seeing only Mega Man NT Warrior, and about half of its sequel, Mega Man NT Warrior Axess, translated to English. So, much like the Ryuusei no Rockman series, it's clearly a series primarily Japanese. The characters in question deals with the previous incarnation of Mega Man, a navi known as MegaMan.EXE, and his operator, a netbattler named Lan Hikari (Netto in the Japanese dub.) Like before, this is in a parallel timeline where this succeeded the Classic Mega Man series, with navis and a few Earth characters made as either incarnations or homages to the Classic counter parts. Through battles, Lan and MegaMan fights a number of problems, such as the organization WWW or Wolrd 3 and their leader, Lord Wily (sound familiar?), to net mafias, a renegade Navi, the aforementiond Wily's son, and finally cyber titans of destruction.
While it spans a number of anime series, US was only lucky to get a series and a half translated: Mega Man NT Warrior and Mega Man NT Warrior Axess. Much like other series like Sonic X, the different dubs of the series were treated with different tones. In US, it was more kid friendly, though, the titular character has a cool attitude about him. In contrast, the Japanese dub was more serious in tone, while it had its share of comedic moments. Like the successor, the series were loosely tied with the games, though there were elements that were omitted from the anime that the game had, or vice versa. An example of this would be the Cross Fusion seen in Axess, which wasn't implied in either of the 8 games, and was later rehashed to be part of the games and anime Ryuusei no Rockman as EM Wave Change. Another trait is that localization, even platforming, prompted name changes, examples being Rockman.EXE (JP) and MegaMan.EXE (US), while the latter had a few changes, seen in transitions like so: FireMan.EXE (Battle Network) and TorchMan.EXE (NT Warrior)
Before my final verdict, keep in mind that NT Warrior, and Axess weren't the only anime of the series, though it's the only ones the states officially saw releases of. Rockman.EXE Stream succeeded this series, and ended altogether with the anime Rockman.EXE Beast and Beast+. The anime entirely gets a 6, though I favor personal points for the latter 3 series.
XXXI: "Ryuusei no Rockman" series
As you may know, based on not only my profile, but how ecstatic I was over the Devil May Cry anime, that I'm a pretty huge gamer. This next title is taken from such game. Originally called Ryuusei no Rockman, it can be recognized as either Shooting Star Rockman, or its English title: Mega Man Star Force. Timeline wise, it's set in a parallel universe succeding the original Mega Man, the series before it being known as Rockman.EXE (I'll cover this later.)
Mega Man Star Force is set in the year 220x, and focuses on the life of Geo Stelar (Subaru Hoshikawa is the Japanese name), a kid who lost his father in an accident upon a space station. Originally, his father, Kelvin Stelar (Daigo Hoshikawa) was sent up there in hopes of establishing a "Brother Band" (read my other blog when I cover the games) with extraterrestrial life in space, later revealed to be Planet FM. However, he came under attack, supposedly Planet FM's doing, and the space station, along with Kelvin, were deemed lost. Three years since then, after associate and friend of the family broke the news to him, Geo and his mother Hope (Akane Hoshikawa) are still in grieving, with Geo distancing himself from others. During one of his visits to Vista Point, a mysterious EM wave beams down on Geo, who later introduced himself as Omega-Xis (known as Mega in the games, with his Japanese title being Warrock), who is an FM-ian renegade (though the truth is revealed later) who escaped with a key that holds the planet Earth's fate. Other FM-ians soon apprear, each wanting to take the Andromeda Key for their FM King, who wants to use the deadly Andromeda to rid this planet much like he did Planet AM.
After a chance encounter with Mega, Geo reluctantly chooses to fight viruses attacking his home by EM Wave Changing into Mega Man, or Rockman. Through his adventures, he encounters various friends, like the gutsy Sonia Strumm (Misora Hibiki) who can also EM Wave Change into Harp Note (Lyra Note in the anime). As well, he faces enemies that embodies his friends, as when Bud is invaded by Taurus (Ox) to become Taurus Fire (Ox Fire). Though the series has 3 games, only 2 had anime derived from it: Ryuusei no Rockman ( based from the game of the same title) and Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe (based from Ryuusei no Rockman 2). It didn't gain much attention here in the US, only being compiled into a 2-hour showing on Cartoon Network's Toonami block ONCE, though up to Episode 25 were shown on the site Toonami Jetstream in English. Still, the series, much like most anime out there, are dominantly of Japanese dubbing. Viewers that are familiar with the preceding Rockman.EXE series may cringe at the plot, but also notice some similarities, as in the EM Wave change process, which is taken from the predecessor's Cross Fusion trait.
Granted I don't hate the anime, it could be better. However, the viewers declared it as awful, often citing it as bad, if not worse, than Rockman.EXE, known as Mega Man NT Warrior in the states. I, however, give it credit and give it a 6 of 10. Still loosely tied to that of the games, I still had a general gist of the connection between the two. hovever, it is note worthy to mention that the episodes here, which goes for a 30 minute period, is actually 2 Japanese episodes combined, along with a few minute recap in each one. That said, this state saw only 13 episodes. Check in next time when I cover the predecessor series, and keep checking Life of Seiko Wolf for the game review of Ryuusei no Rockman.
Mega Man Star Force is set in the year 220x, and focuses on the life of Geo Stelar (Subaru Hoshikawa is the Japanese name), a kid who lost his father in an accident upon a space station. Originally, his father, Kelvin Stelar (Daigo Hoshikawa) was sent up there in hopes of establishing a "Brother Band" (read my other blog when I cover the games) with extraterrestrial life in space, later revealed to be Planet FM. However, he came under attack, supposedly Planet FM's doing, and the space station, along with Kelvin, were deemed lost. Three years since then, after associate and friend of the family broke the news to him, Geo and his mother Hope (Akane Hoshikawa) are still in grieving, with Geo distancing himself from others. During one of his visits to Vista Point, a mysterious EM wave beams down on Geo, who later introduced himself as Omega-Xis (known as Mega in the games, with his Japanese title being Warrock), who is an FM-ian renegade (though the truth is revealed later) who escaped with a key that holds the planet Earth's fate. Other FM-ians soon apprear, each wanting to take the Andromeda Key for their FM King, who wants to use the deadly Andromeda to rid this planet much like he did Planet AM.
After a chance encounter with Mega, Geo reluctantly chooses to fight viruses attacking his home by EM Wave Changing into Mega Man, or Rockman. Through his adventures, he encounters various friends, like the gutsy Sonia Strumm (Misora Hibiki) who can also EM Wave Change into Harp Note (Lyra Note in the anime). As well, he faces enemies that embodies his friends, as when Bud is invaded by Taurus (Ox) to become Taurus Fire (Ox Fire). Though the series has 3 games, only 2 had anime derived from it: Ryuusei no Rockman ( based from the game of the same title) and Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe (based from Ryuusei no Rockman 2). It didn't gain much attention here in the US, only being compiled into a 2-hour showing on Cartoon Network's Toonami block ONCE, though up to Episode 25 were shown on the site Toonami Jetstream in English. Still, the series, much like most anime out there, are dominantly of Japanese dubbing. Viewers that are familiar with the preceding Rockman.EXE series may cringe at the plot, but also notice some similarities, as in the EM Wave change process, which is taken from the predecessor's Cross Fusion trait.
Granted I don't hate the anime, it could be better. However, the viewers declared it as awful, often citing it as bad, if not worse, than Rockman.EXE, known as Mega Man NT Warrior in the states. I, however, give it credit and give it a 6 of 10. Still loosely tied to that of the games, I still had a general gist of the connection between the two. hovever, it is note worthy to mention that the episodes here, which goes for a 30 minute period, is actually 2 Japanese episodes combined, along with a few minute recap in each one. That said, this state saw only 13 episodes. Check in next time when I cover the predecessor series, and keep checking Life of Seiko Wolf for the game review of Ryuusei no Rockman.
2011/04/16
XXIX: "Gokusen"
Yet another of those anime which a trouble maker turns role model, Gokusen follows Kumiko Yamaguchi, granddaughter of a Yakuza boss, who becomes a teacher at an all male private school. While I'm speaking of the anime adaption, the live action has the titular character portrayed by Yukie Nakama, who has done various anime roles and did the theme for Capcom's Mega Man X4 (covered under my other blog's game reviews.) Kumiko, having lost her parents and having her grandfather take her in, is to be the next head, or Ojou, of the Kuroda Family, who is also the head of the Tokyo Ninkyo group. However, she wants to become a teacher, a wish that doesn't sit well of her new followers, but was granted by the current Kuroda head.
Kumiko, nicknamed Yankumi by her students, is a good person at heart (with a violet temper to balance), yet things would be much easier if details about her clan was kept on the down low, and if cops weren't around to make her panic. She has a crush on a lawyer who helps out the Yakuza, as payment for her grandfather assisting him as a law student. The class she teaches are full of delinquents, the main being Shin Sawada, the supposed leader of this group. An incident in his middle school caused him to be respected and feared, and he is calm and cool-headed for most of the anime.
Gokusen has a number of series, mostly live action, with a running gag in each of them. The anime itself gets a 7.5 of 10. Slightly higher than the related GTO, but partly due to her still being the potential family Oujo, as well as a teacher, as opposed to giving up one for the other.
Kumiko, nicknamed Yankumi by her students, is a good person at heart (with a violet temper to balance), yet things would be much easier if details about her clan was kept on the down low, and if cops weren't around to make her panic. She has a crush on a lawyer who helps out the Yakuza, as payment for her grandfather assisting him as a law student. The class she teaches are full of delinquents, the main being Shin Sawada, the supposed leader of this group. An incident in his middle school caused him to be respected and feared, and he is calm and cool-headed for most of the anime.
Gokusen has a number of series, mostly live action, with a running gag in each of them. The anime itself gets a 7.5 of 10. Slightly higher than the related GTO, but partly due to her still being the potential family Oujo, as well as a teacher, as opposed to giving up one for the other.
XXVIII: "GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka"
GTO, or Great Teacher Onizuka, deals with the unlikeliest breed of teacher. Meet Eikichi Onizuka the 22 year-old virgin, ex-gamg member, and titular character of the series. He is liked by few, hated/feared by many. Even with this scary nature, along with his rather perverse acts, he decides, after a chance seeing how much influence the school faculty has over female students, decided to become a teacher, much to the dismay of the unattractive Vice Principal. After trials, he is hired to be a teacher at last, pushing is aspirations to be the greatest. There's one problem though: the class he is now in charge of has quite a rep about them. They driven one teacher to death, another to a nervous breakdown, and one teacher even joined a cult.
Onizuka is basically fresh meat to the students now, but don't underestimate this guy. His years as a gang member made him tough, and he's willing to give this job his all! As the anime progresses, we see various sides of the teacher, the colorful behavior of the delinquent students, and the VP's aspirations to get rid of him (among damages to various cars he owns...) Within faculty and otherwise, we see various people he helps out, with the possibility of boosting or breaking Onizuka. In short, he has a tough job ahead.
Granted he's rather brash, and his thug like behavior is enough of a turn down, GTO is, and will remain, as one of my favorites. The 43-episode anime is licensed by Tokyopop, with events preceding by 2 mangas, and succeeded by the manga GTO - Shonan 14 days. The story shows Onizuka breaking some sense into the trouble making kids (making them genuinely enjoy life), while undergoing his own mission of self-discovery. GTO gets a 7 of 10. Onizuka does things the dangerous way, but at the end of the day, he does what he can, and succeeds in what he does. There's even a live action film and drama series to it. He means well, but takes reckless approaches to settling things, which makes him a scary, yet respectable teacher in my book. (I wouldn't hire him though...lol.)
Onizuka is basically fresh meat to the students now, but don't underestimate this guy. His years as a gang member made him tough, and he's willing to give this job his all! As the anime progresses, we see various sides of the teacher, the colorful behavior of the delinquent students, and the VP's aspirations to get rid of him (among damages to various cars he owns...) Within faculty and otherwise, we see various people he helps out, with the possibility of boosting or breaking Onizuka. In short, he has a tough job ahead.
Granted he's rather brash, and his thug like behavior is enough of a turn down, GTO is, and will remain, as one of my favorites. The 43-episode anime is licensed by Tokyopop, with events preceding by 2 mangas, and succeeded by the manga GTO - Shonan 14 days. The story shows Onizuka breaking some sense into the trouble making kids (making them genuinely enjoy life), while undergoing his own mission of self-discovery. GTO gets a 7 of 10. Onizuka does things the dangerous way, but at the end of the day, he does what he can, and succeeds in what he does. There's even a live action film and drama series to it. He means well, but takes reckless approaches to settling things, which makes him a scary, yet respectable teacher in my book. (I wouldn't hire him though...lol.)
XXVI: "Onegai, Twins!"
The spinoff sequel to Onegai, Teacher!, Onegai, Twins! is set after the events of the preceding title. The plot this time around is different, as Maiku Kamishiro is the anime's male protagonist this time around. Maiko is a boy who balances between schooling and working from home as a programmer. Prior to the first episode, he had siblings it seems, with parents that left him. Things were hard enough for him as it is, save from two girls suddenly showing up at his doorstep! These girls, Miina Mayufuji and Karen Onodera, show up suddenly with a few things about them that may connect them to Maiku: a photograph of the past, and the same eye color. Living with the possibility that one of them,, if not both, could be strangers, he takes them in, which is where the story takes off from there. The goal for them is to find out who is related to Maiku, and who's the stranger (therefore having the right to actually love him.) At first, given what I saw, a part of me nearly consider the acts on the borderline between ecchi and incest. Dunno why, but it felt like that at first.
Despite having a different plot and new characters to focus on, it is a spinoff sequel, so it was expected that faces from Onegai, Teacher!, among which the now married protagonists and comical companion of Mizuho, Marie, appear in this anime, some actually being part of the story. The risque level has also risen a bit from the last anime, so caution and viewer's discretion is necessary when watching. Once more, Bandai Visual did production, with licensing possibly done by Bandai Entertainment as well, since there are English episodes. KOTOKO did the anime's opening once again, with Mami Kawada providing the ending once more as well, and popular voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch (known for his roles as Mighty Morphing Power Ranger's Adam/Black Ranger and Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki) lent is voice for Maiku, which is pronounced as Mike, in the dub. The episode count is the same as the last: 12 episodes with an OVA attached.
Onegai, Twins! gains a 6.5 of 10. While the plot was a fast ball to me, I gotta say, it grew on me. It didn't grasp me like Onegai, Teacher!, but it was worth taking a glance over in my opinion.
Despite having a different plot and new characters to focus on, it is a spinoff sequel, so it was expected that faces from Onegai, Teacher!, among which the now married protagonists and comical companion of Mizuho, Marie, appear in this anime, some actually being part of the story. The risque level has also risen a bit from the last anime, so caution and viewer's discretion is necessary when watching. Once more, Bandai Visual did production, with licensing possibly done by Bandai Entertainment as well, since there are English episodes. KOTOKO did the anime's opening once again, with Mami Kawada providing the ending once more as well, and popular voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch (known for his roles as Mighty Morphing Power Ranger's Adam/Black Ranger and Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki) lent is voice for Maiku, which is pronounced as Mike, in the dub. The episode count is the same as the last: 12 episodes with an OVA attached.
Onegai, Twins! gains a 6.5 of 10. While the plot was a fast ball to me, I gotta say, it grew on me. It didn't grasp me like Onegai, Teacher!, but it was worth taking a glance over in my opinion.
XXV: "Onegai, Teacher!"
It's been a while since I reviewed anything, so here we go. Hm... Onegai, Teacher!, or Please, Teacher! or Onegai, Sensei! (whichever you prefer) deals with... well, something not normally seen. To be more precise, the theme is the relations between a teacher and student, outside acceptible standards, normally. Now before you get all grossed out, let me review what's going on before you get all negative about rejecting it (or otherwise, but who am I to decide a viewer's taste?) Anyway, there's a little strangeness to the couple in question.
First off is the titular character, Mizuho Kazami. At first glance, she seems human enough, around 23 years old. Well, she's actually half-human and half-alien, and she's a planet observer from the Galactic Federation sent to Earth to observe humans, which around this time the male lead, Kei Kusanagi, happened to notice. Eventually, she becomes a teacher to his school, and happens to move in next to him. To top it off, after being seen by the director of the school, ends up being married to Kei. While initially not mutual, she does end up having feelings for him, but has this knack of outbursts and misunderstandings, which seems to happen more when her family, also extraterrestrials, come to visit her and Kei. Speaking of Kei, he's a human, as you may have guessed, but he has a disease about him, which we learn early in the anime. Somewhat frail, he has this condition known as Teitai, where his body seems to "stop" for a while. In fact, this caused him to miss school for a while. In spite of being a 10th grader, he is actually 18 years of age. As with Mizuho, his feelings for her weren't that of love initially, in fact, he feared her when he first encountered her. Over time however, he started to have feelings for her, which led to some conflicts, one of which dealing with a classmate who was also after his heart.
Bandai Visual produced this in the Daume studio, with American license by Bandai Entertainment. The episode count is 12, attached with 1 OVA. KOTOKO, who is known for an insert track for Kannazuki no Miko and the themes for Aksys game Blazblue (both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, which I'll cover later in my other blog), did the opening and episode 12's ending of this anime, while fellow artist Mami Kawada provided the main ending theme. Supposedly, Onegai, Twins! is the spinoff sequel to it, but I'll check that out once I give my verdict here.
Onegai, Teacher! didn't have me screaming that, but I did enjoy it. I score this a 7 of 10 (like I said, I'm probably a sucker dealing with anime containing weird teachers.) Well, a few things before I go: while there is little to no perversity in it, it does have its brief mentioning, but don't get your hopes up for that (well, perhaps some in the OVA). Well, that and... you'll be seeing Pocky... A LOT! So if you're one of those that crave it, like I do, I suggest you grab a box to keep you occupied when watching. Otherwise you'd probably go crazy for some. Anyway, until next review!
First off is the titular character, Mizuho Kazami. At first glance, she seems human enough, around 23 years old. Well, she's actually half-human and half-alien, and she's a planet observer from the Galactic Federation sent to Earth to observe humans, which around this time the male lead, Kei Kusanagi, happened to notice. Eventually, she becomes a teacher to his school, and happens to move in next to him. To top it off, after being seen by the director of the school, ends up being married to Kei. While initially not mutual, she does end up having feelings for him, but has this knack of outbursts and misunderstandings, which seems to happen more when her family, also extraterrestrials, come to visit her and Kei. Speaking of Kei, he's a human, as you may have guessed, but he has a disease about him, which we learn early in the anime. Somewhat frail, he has this condition known as Teitai, where his body seems to "stop" for a while. In fact, this caused him to miss school for a while. In spite of being a 10th grader, he is actually 18 years of age. As with Mizuho, his feelings for her weren't that of love initially, in fact, he feared her when he first encountered her. Over time however, he started to have feelings for her, which led to some conflicts, one of which dealing with a classmate who was also after his heart.
Bandai Visual produced this in the Daume studio, with American license by Bandai Entertainment. The episode count is 12, attached with 1 OVA. KOTOKO, who is known for an insert track for Kannazuki no Miko and the themes for Aksys game Blazblue (both Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift, which I'll cover later in my other blog), did the opening and episode 12's ending of this anime, while fellow artist Mami Kawada provided the main ending theme. Supposedly, Onegai, Twins! is the spinoff sequel to it, but I'll check that out once I give my verdict here.
Onegai, Teacher! didn't have me screaming that, but I did enjoy it. I score this a 7 of 10 (like I said, I'm probably a sucker dealing with anime containing weird teachers.) Well, a few things before I go: while there is little to no perversity in it, it does have its brief mentioning, but don't get your hopes up for that (well, perhaps some in the OVA). Well, that and... you'll be seeing Pocky... A LOT! So if you're one of those that crave it, like I do, I suggest you grab a box to keep you occupied when watching. Otherwise you'd probably go crazy for some. Anyway, until next review!
2011/04/07
XXIV: "Kiki's Delivery Service"
I've seen a good few movies that usually depict the bad side of witches. Y'know, they have a scheme, they get in the hero/heroine's way, and die a rather upsetting death. Not this one, and it's by Hayao Miyazaki, so you know it got famous for a reason. Called Kiki's Delivery Service, this feature focuses on the titular witch in training, Kiki. She has a talking cat named Jiji, and it takes off just as she was ready to leave home. It's said that once a witch turns 13, she can live alone for a year for training. Kiki just happens to be 13 years of age at the start of the movie. Even after finding a city, she has no idea what she wants to specialize in as a witch, and only has one skill available: he ability of flight. Using this, she starts a delivery service.
This movie has its happy and sad moments, but generally fun for the family. She also goes through adolescent troubles, and bigger troubles when she can't communicate with Jiji, let alone fly. There's also Tombo, a local boy in the city she trains in who has admiration and liking towards her. It has it's touching and comedy moments, which generally makes it a good one in my book. This feature also had 2 different dubbings: one from Streamline and another from Disney. I assume the one I saw was that of the Streamline version.
Kiki's Delivery Service soars on my radar with an 8 of 10. Then again, for Miyazaki's works, I can't say I expected anything less.
This movie has its happy and sad moments, but generally fun for the family. She also goes through adolescent troubles, and bigger troubles when she can't communicate with Jiji, let alone fly. There's also Tombo, a local boy in the city she trains in who has admiration and liking towards her. It has it's touching and comedy moments, which generally makes it a good one in my book. This feature also had 2 different dubbings: one from Streamline and another from Disney. I assume the one I saw was that of the Streamline version.
Kiki's Delivery Service soars on my radar with an 8 of 10. Then again, for Miyazaki's works, I can't say I expected anything less.
2011/04/01
XXIII: "Mobile Fighter G Gundam"
The Mobile Suit Gundam series is known for quite a few things: lasers, broken machines, and a whole lot of destruction. The more unique of the franchise happens to be Mobile Fighter G Gundam, whereas, opposed to the common guns, sabers and war, it's filled with different mechs with different styles of fighting, with the Earth serving as the ring for these battles. Set in an alternate timeline after Universal Century (the timeline of the original Gundam series), wars have ravaged the Earth into a nearly inhospitable planet. It was later proposed that a competition of sorts was to be used as a way to decide the ruler of all the colonies over the next four years. This is where the term "Gundam Fight" came into play. Every 4 years, a tournament is held, with representatives from their respective national colonies (Neo Japan, Neo France, Neo Hong Kong, and Neo America to name a few) competing in the infamous machines known as Gundams. They fight, and fight some more until one unit remains, gaining the right to rule over the colonies for the next 4 years.
The story of G Gundam takes place in the year Future Colony (F.C.) 60, during the 13th Gundam Fight. Neo Japan's Domon Kasshu is selected as their representative, and he pilots the Shining Gundam. His reasons for participating is to hunt down his brother, Kyoji Kasshu, who stole the nefarious Dark Gundam (Devil Gundam in Japan) and free his father, the man who was part of the conception of the Dark Gundam. Throughout this task, he meets many friends and opponents, and cross paths with Master Asia, the master who taught him martial arts, and Shwartz Bruder of Neo-Germany, his surrogate teacher.
The voice actors of Domon Kasshu (Mark Gatha) and Master Asia (Dave Pettitt) also worked together in their respective hero and villain roles in Mega Man X: Command Mission (X and Epsilon), and in Mega Man X8 (X and Sigma). Each participating Gundam has unique abilities, the majority of them suiting their names. The way that the Gundams are piloted is very different, in contrast to the other Gundams in various series. While the Gundams of other series are more mechanical, and are piloted by controls in the cockpit, G Gundam's machines are piloted by the means of a system that allows the Gundam to move in similar actions to the human pilot. Very rare that Gundams apart from this series have power up forms (the main exception of this being the F91 Gundam), while it's more prominent with Shining Gundam and Burning Gundam. Localization called for a number of names of the Gundams to get alternated, the American names for some being fairly close to the originals. In certain parts of the animation, various Gundams of different series made cameos, including the Wing Gundam, whose series, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, wasn't made until the completion of G Gundam.
I grade G Gundam as a 7.5 of 10. Not the best in the franchise, but it was truly unique amongst all the Gundam media. Surely, this is a rather acceptable outcome of combining mecha with fighting styles.
The story of G Gundam takes place in the year Future Colony (F.C.) 60, during the 13th Gundam Fight. Neo Japan's Domon Kasshu is selected as their representative, and he pilots the Shining Gundam. His reasons for participating is to hunt down his brother, Kyoji Kasshu, who stole the nefarious Dark Gundam (Devil Gundam in Japan) and free his father, the man who was part of the conception of the Dark Gundam. Throughout this task, he meets many friends and opponents, and cross paths with Master Asia, the master who taught him martial arts, and Shwartz Bruder of Neo-Germany, his surrogate teacher.
The voice actors of Domon Kasshu (Mark Gatha) and Master Asia (Dave Pettitt) also worked together in their respective hero and villain roles in Mega Man X: Command Mission (X and Epsilon), and in Mega Man X8 (X and Sigma). Each participating Gundam has unique abilities, the majority of them suiting their names. The way that the Gundams are piloted is very different, in contrast to the other Gundams in various series. While the Gundams of other series are more mechanical, and are piloted by controls in the cockpit, G Gundam's machines are piloted by the means of a system that allows the Gundam to move in similar actions to the human pilot. Very rare that Gundams apart from this series have power up forms (the main exception of this being the F91 Gundam), while it's more prominent with Shining Gundam and Burning Gundam. Localization called for a number of names of the Gundams to get alternated, the American names for some being fairly close to the originals. In certain parts of the animation, various Gundams of different series made cameos, including the Wing Gundam, whose series, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, wasn't made until the completion of G Gundam.
I grade G Gundam as a 7.5 of 10. Not the best in the franchise, but it was truly unique amongst all the Gundam media. Surely, this is a rather acceptable outcome of combining mecha with fighting styles.
XXII: "Devil May Cry"
We have seen certain games, novels, etc. put on other media. A few of which are Pokemon, Donkey Kong and Type-Moon's Fate/Stay Night. This entry is dealing with another one of those, named Devil May Cry. This anime is based on the famous game series created by Capcom, and is currently going through a reboot with Ninja Theory. However, the DmC title is not what I wish to speak of here (it's an anime blog, after all.)
Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, believe it or not, is an anime set after the first game. Now frankly, this scares me, as this is the first anime I've seen that actually fits in a game's storyline. The character involved here is, of course the devil exterminator, Dante, who after the events of the first game, still runs his business, though he is financially unsuccessful. In fact, one of the comedic points of DMC:TAS is that he is always in debt. The other characters Lady (DMC3: Dante's Awakening) and Trish (DMC) also appear in the anime, with the inclusion of anime-exclusive characters, like J.D. Morrison, the liasion of Dante's, and Patty Lowell, a girl who is prominently seen in his office.
The music score follows the rock theme, but also has it's touching music scores as well. "rungran" provided generally most of the music heard in the anime. Reuben Langdon (known as Justin Cause) reprised his role for Dante after his role in the 3rd DMC title. His attitude is well captured, as it's a good translation to how he is in the games, more so the third one. The original license holder was ADV, but became one of the 30 titles in 2008 that were licensed by Funimation.
I was pleased by the translation, as games that make it to the TV screen, or the big screen, for the most part don't do too well. Devil May Cry: The Animated Series is a living exception to the rule, and gets a respectable 8 from me. I truly feel that this is a game-to-animation done right, and hope other titles follow this example.
Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, believe it or not, is an anime set after the first game. Now frankly, this scares me, as this is the first anime I've seen that actually fits in a game's storyline. The character involved here is, of course the devil exterminator, Dante, who after the events of the first game, still runs his business, though he is financially unsuccessful. In fact, one of the comedic points of DMC:TAS is that he is always in debt. The other characters Lady (DMC3: Dante's Awakening) and Trish (DMC) also appear in the anime, with the inclusion of anime-exclusive characters, like J.D. Morrison, the liasion of Dante's, and Patty Lowell, a girl who is prominently seen in his office.
The music score follows the rock theme, but also has it's touching music scores as well. "rungran" provided generally most of the music heard in the anime. Reuben Langdon (known as Justin Cause) reprised his role for Dante after his role in the 3rd DMC title. His attitude is well captured, as it's a good translation to how he is in the games, more so the third one. The original license holder was ADV, but became one of the 30 titles in 2008 that were licensed by Funimation.
I was pleased by the translation, as games that make it to the TV screen, or the big screen, for the most part don't do too well. Devil May Cry: The Animated Series is a living exception to the rule, and gets a respectable 8 from me. I truly feel that this is a game-to-animation done right, and hope other titles follow this example.
XXI: "Seven of Seven"
Seven of Seven... kinda odd that my 21st review deals with an anime by that name. The Japanese title of this is Shichinin no Nana, which is more or less a play on the number 7. Anyway, here we have an anime dealing with a girl named Nana Suzuki. Typical for anime schoolgirls she does indeed have a crush, and aspirations to attend the same high school as fellow student Yuichi Kamichika, who is rather oblivious of the affection for him going around. Also standard are the love rivalries, which includes 3 girls who always conveniently show up to give Nana and her friend, Hitomi Onodera, some trouble.
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