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!
2011/04/16
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)