But of course, just like any utopian society, something goes horribly, horribly wrong. A terrorist organization wipes out the facilities needed to keep the clones alive, and the only thing that can save them is the Appleseed, a bit of data created by Knute’s late mother. But as Knute dives deeper into the search of the this critical piece of information, she uncovers that the conspiracy runs far deeper than anyone had anticipated. Many powerful enemies stand between her and the survival of the artificial species.

Fans may have remember that the movie was originally released in the US by Geneon Entertainment in 2005. However, the company did not last much longer after that and the film’s sequel, Appleseed Ex Machina, was later released by Warner Brothers with a completely new dub cast.

Well now Sentai / Section 23 has rescued the original movie, and they redubbed it with the Ex Machina cast for better consistency between the two films. And for the first time ever, they’re releasing the computer generated anime film on Blu-ray disc.

And oh god, does it look freaking sweet!

The most defining aspect of this movie is in its visual style. The movie is rendered entirely in 3D computer generated animation, but all of the characters are “cell shaded”, the process of making a 3D image look flat like a traditional cartoon. The mesh between the realistic backgrounds and the flattened anime characters provides a very interesting contrast that is quite pleasing to the eye.

And it looks even more gorgeous in HD thanks to this Blu-ray release. Absolutely gorgeous.

I believe we first encounter the power of the HD visuals in a scene where Knute and her artificial comrade Hitomi are driving down a highway in broad daylight. The glass skyscrapers in the background reflect the bright colors of the blue sky, and the smooth futuristic highway roads reflect those buildings. It all looks sharp and clean, and the colors brilliantly popped on my HDTV screen. With bright scenes like this rendering this beautifully on this Blu-ray release, it becomes a real shame that so much of the film takes place in the dark.

The other aspect of this film that really stuck out to me was its soundtrack. Starting off with a technobeat background music reminiscent of the Matrix, we quickly jump into the opening credits sporting a Cowboy Bebop style soulful R&B theme song. From that point on, the film just continues to deliver one memorable song after another, particularly during the action sequences.

But even beyond the enhancements offered from the computer generated environment, the movie just looks good from a pure anime perceptive. The character designs are quite appealing, especially with the character of Hitomi. The cybernetic city backdrop is quite interesting and satisfies that sci-fi bug in all of us. And the action sequences are quite intense, often diving into the bullet time camera angles that have been the foundation of Hollywood films for the past decade.

But there is a major drawback to the style of the film that is almost impossible to shake off while watching it. The animation often comes off as stiff as a video game cut scene, which I found to be completely distracting and often disrupted my suspension of disbelief for the film. It felt like a video game, just one that you are not playing.

And once you get past all the eye candy Appleseed has to offer, there’s really not much there to provide for an interesting plot. In fact, I remember specifically falling asleep in the middle of watching this film back in 2005. So it did not surprise me to find myself losing interest in the movie once again in 2010 for this re-release. They really should have just cut the final 20 minutes of this flick, because you really just want it to end at a certain point.

* * * * *

The Good: Fantastic visual style of CG animation renders stunningly in HD. Good action sequences and character designs. Exceptional soundtrack.

The Bad: Animation is very choppy and stiff. Boring ending.

Final Verdict: Once you get past the fact that it looks like a long video game cut scene, Appleseed offers enough eye candy to make it worth checking out on Blu-ray. Watch it!

Review copy provided by Sentai / Section23 Films.

In a fictionalized World War II era world, Earth is being attacked by a mysterious alien race known as the Neuroi. When traditional military forces come up short in combating the threat, the world turns to the girls of the 501th Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches, as their last hope for humanity.

The Witches are an ensemble team of young women from around the world with magical abilities, which periodically manifests itself in the form of animal ears and tails. By attaching the special machinery known as Striker Units to their legs, the girls’ magical powers are enhanced and they also gain the ability to fly. With the Striker Units in place, the girls take to the sky to do battle with the Neuroi in high altitudes.

The first season of the Strike Witches TV series centers around Japanese school girl Yoshika Miyafuji. Because of her magical healing ability, she is recruited by Mio Sakamoto to join the girls of the 501st. The pacifist Miyafuji is reluctant to become a fighter in the war, but when she discovers that her missing father is the inventor of the Striker Units, she goes along with Sakamoto in search of him.

It is no secret that I love Strike Witches. For the past few months, I have been heavily promoting the series on my twitter and blog as FUNimation has been embarking in their tongue-in-cheek “War on Pants” campaign. But my love for the show has been there since it first debuted in Japan nearly two years ago. I named it my #1 anime release of 2008 because it was the first commercially successful anime to be legally available online for a global audience.

However, there is a reason why this became such a big seller in Japan. In a market that has been overflowing with moé titles for years, Strike Witches manages to take the science of fan pandering and make a goddamn masterpiece out of it.

So where do I begin?

I think the most obvious thing that everyone will immediately notice about this show is the fan service. With the exception of maybe a see-through stocking or two, none of the female characters wear pants, skirts, or anything else to cover up their underwear. It is such a simple costume choice, yet it ends up being unbelievably sexy in execution.

The brilliant thing about these costumes is that as obviously embarrassing as walking around in just your panties is to the audience, the girls are completely oblivious to it. No one ever makes any references to pants of any kind, yet the camera is frequently being placed in close up crotch shots to show that this is what you are supposed to be looking at. I think this is best shown in a scene where a strong gust of wind suddenly blows through as the girls are working outside. The girls scream in embarrassment and go through all the motions as if they are keeping their skirts from flying up, however, they are not wearing any skirts in the first place!

And that is how this series succeeds in being original in its approach to fan service. It is absolutely fan pandering and completely paint-by-numbers, yet somehow puts enough spin to the formula as to never come off as being cliche. A filler episode in this genre would typically involve sending the girls to a beach or hot springs in order to showcase their bodies. However, there is never a need to do this because the girls are always showcasing their bodies. So instead, we get a filler episode that is a cute “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” skit about the girls stealing each others underwear.

Yet no matter how original and creative the fan service is, the overarching plot involving the girls fighting the Neuroi is absolutely weak. If you are looking for any good military action or deep symbolism with the WWII setting,  you are not going to find it. You can probably sum up every twist and turn within these 12 episodes in a single paragraph.

But the military aspect is not the point of the show. This is a moé title, so the primary focus of every episode is on the girls, their unique personalities, and their relationships to each other. And once again, Witches succeeds in creating absolutely lovable characters. With a cast of around a dozen girls, each one gets their chance to shine for at least one episode, which gives you more than enough time to pick your favorite from the group.

Strike Witches also manages to be visually pleasing even beyond its fan service. With their petite figures and childish faces, the bishop girls look adorable. They are exactly the type of characters needed in a show of this genre. A lot of the designs appear to have come out of a Ken Akamatsu manga title, which as an Akamatsu fanboy, I was completely fine with.

And I do have to give a lot of credit to the large female cast put together for this English dub. In the ever debate over “subs vs. dubs”, the only reason why I would ever chose Japanese over English is that Japanese language is able to pull off “cute” better than English can. Yet the English cast somehow manages to make these girls just as pleasing to the ear as they are to the eyes. Cherami Leigh holds her own in the lead role as the timid Miyafuji, and she is able to be cute without ever becoming annoying.

* * *

The Good: Originality, lovable characters, cute designs, decent voice acting and oh yeah, THE FAN SERVICE!

The Bad: Overarching militaristic plot is thinner than paper.

Final Verdict: In a market that has been flooded by moé, Strike Witches stands out as a masterpiece of fanboy pandering. If you are not into the genre, then you already hate it. But if you are into this type of stuff, then it is required that you watch it!

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.

So after a huge mix-up  regarding my coverage of the NYICFF this year, I was finally able to catch a screening of the highly anticipated new film from Mamoru Hosoda, Summer Wars, last weekend. Well, pretty much everyone and  their mother has seen the film and have written a review of it, and for the most part, the film has been unanimously praised by everyone.

However, I wasn’t quite as wooed over by the film as everyone else was, and when I tweeted this out, I got some peeps asking me to do a review on it. Well, I wasn’t really planning on doing this, so here’s my brief review of Summer Wars using as little spoilers as possible.

Summer Wars is a good movie, it might even be a great movie. But is it as amazing as the hype makes it out to be?

Far from it.

But first, let me just say that there is a lot to really like about this film.

I felt that it was the perfect snapshot of modern society, and by “modern,” I literally mean right now, as in March of 2010. Whether is was paid product placement or not, you felt a real sense of authenticity in the setting because all of the characters were using actual products we use today, such as the iPhone and the Nintendo DSi. Not some generic electronics or obvious brand parodies, they were actually the iPhone and DSi.

I believe the message Hosoda was conveying in doing this was that even though this anime film is a pure sci-fi action flick, we are actually living in a world that is filled with this amazing technology. The characters are constantly whipping out their cell phones to check their messages and log into the virtual community, which shows this incredible connection everyone had to each other over this  kind of network. And sure enough, as soon as the movie ended and the house lights went on, I looked around the theater to see almost everyone around me checking their cell phones. This film was a true reflection of the world we’re living in right now.

I also really liked the way Hosoda paused the movie several times for moments of awkward silences. In a medium where a new action is happening every few seconds, Summer War essentially stops dead in its tracks and waits an excruciating number of beat before anyone moves or says anything. This is such an unconventional move in anime, and I don’t think I’ve seen it pulled off since the latter episodes of Evangelion. So much respect to the man for trying out a stunt like that.

But ultimately, my problem with the film is that the main plot felt very uneven. There is essentially two faces to Summer Wars, the real world involving a huge family gathering and the virtual world being overtaking by a hacker. The problem is that 99% of the film takes place in the real world and focuses on the family and their relationships, but all of the major conflicts in the plot arise from the hacker story.

Because we spend so little time dealing with the virtual world, it becomes more of an after thought that never really gets fleshed out or becomes a huge consern for the audience. But then a very tragic event within the family in the real world is blame on the problems in the virtual world, and suddenly all attention and focus is switched to this side story that has just been stewing idly in the background this whole time.

This all leads to the climax of the film where suddenly every character jumps in with a brand new role to fulfill that hardly matches the part they’ve played up to that point. And one of the biggest heroes of this epic cyber battle ends up being a character that has had the smallest interactions to the online world up until that point.

Again, trying not to give away any spoilers here, but I just felt the final act of the film did not match the story leading up to it. It felt really rushed and sloppy, and that most certainly took away the momentum that had been building up in this story about a family reunion.

After the screening, I was asked which recent anime film did I like better, Oblivion Island or Summer Wars. The difference is that I went into Oblivion Island expecting it to be bad, and its climax absolutely blew me away. I went into Summer Wars expecting it to blow me away, and I walked out with an, “well, that was nice,” impression.

Summer Wars is a step up from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which was also a really good film. However, Hosoda still has a bit to go before he can be rank among Miyazaki, Kon, or even Shinkai when it comes to great anime directors.

* * *

I also read the first volume of Bunny Drop over the weekend, and this time, I can agree with the critics. I loved this comic, it’s fantastic.

I can’t help but to compare it to the shojo comic Aishiteruze Baby, where a teenage boy is left in charge of his little female cousin and ends up becoming a surrogate father to her. Even though the comic was shojo, it ended up being the work where I based my “longing for fatherhood” definition of moé off of.

Bunny Drop is a very similar premise, however, the difference this time is that this bachelor is a working professional 30-year-old. So rather than having the novelty of a teenage boy raising a little girl, it’s actually a man who is of proper age for fatherhood. This leads to a far more serious and realistic take on parenting, but its still just as sweet and adorable.

As I was reading the manga, I thought to myself, “so, is this seinen or josei?” and I even came close to tweeting out the question online. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this had to have been a josei comic.

And that’s just a damn shame considering that I, a professionally working 20-something bachelor, was feeling such a strong connection to this protagonist. If I was a Japanese manga reader, would I have even been able to read this or would it be too embarrassing to pick up a woman’s magazine?

And again, I think that if you’re looking for a source on the moé phenomena, this is it. The “longing for fatherhood” goes against so many traditional gender roles, and comics touting the notion of men taking on maternal duties can only exists in comics for women. So we had to adapt the concept to be able to put this kind of stuff in our own magazines, and thus, we have moé.

* * *

I also caught the Irish animated movie The Secret of Kells over the weekend.

… yeah, I guess I was pretty busy over the past few days, wasn’t I? (>_<)

If you’re unfamiliar with Kells, it was the only nominee for this year’s Best Animated Film oscar that you have never heard of before. It has been touted for its unique visual style, and indeed, that alone is worth the price of admission.

Is it an anime style? Not at all. In fact, it’s about as western as a cartoon can get.

I had described it as a mashup of Kim Possible character designs with the creativeness of The Thief and the Cobbler. The latter title is probably a little too obscure for me to use for comparison, so I highly recommend checking out Wikipedia for full info on that film. But the influence is very obvious, and I was very happy to hear director Tomm Moore confirm this connection in his interview with Samurai Beat Radio last week.

Story wise, it’s a children’s film, so don’t expect anything that deep or complex. But I think the pretty visuals more than makes up for that to the eye of an adult viewer.

The first season of Kenichi: the Mightiest Disciple completely flew under my radar last year because it did not really look all that interesting with a plot like that. However, it ended up becoming a sleeper hit for FUNimation. In fact, the company has said that the reason why they are releasing this second season is because the fan support has been so huge for this series alone.

So I decided to finally give this series a shot with its second season to see what all this hype could be about. But needless to say, I did not find it all that appealing. If Soul Eater was a throwback of all the awesome anime series I remember watching while growing up, then Kenichi is certainly a throwback to all the mediocre ones.

What stood out for me first and foremost was just how poorly this show is animated. Even though the “still frame” shot is quite a staple in anime, Kenichi manages to absolutely abuse the power. There is the good old fashion static still frame. There is the pan across a wide still frame. And then there is a still frame where only the mouth is moving, which looks really awkward because they did not even bother moving the chin up and down.

It is amazing to watch how much movement is not happening in each episode. It is as if their goal was to create an entire show using as little work as possible.

So in lieu of action, Kenichi has to rely on massive amounts of dialogue to drive its minimalist shonen action story. The Japanese cast is way too over-the-top in their delivery in order to heighten the comedy. This gets really annoying after a while and it is difficult to continue listening to this for an entire episode. The English cast brings it down a few notches to make the audio much more tolerable and enjoyable at some points.

Kenichi is an action-comedy, however, the animation is far too lazy to allow a lot of action sequences. So that means it is mostly comedy, and because it is simplistic Japanese comedy, it does not really translate so well into English. The dub team really attempts to adapt this to be entertaining, and they manage to make it amusing, albeit in a cheesy and corny way. I probably encountered about 5 true “laugh out loud” moments within this 12-episode set, which is a better track record than most anime comedies.

I also really liked the fanservice. The series features a handful of sexy female characters with wide curves and huge (but not too huge) breasts. And they are not afraid of putting these buxom babes in plenty of shirt skirts and highly revealing outfits. In fact, the first episode of this set starts off with the introduction of a female character in a tight Chinese cheongsam. However, this dress just so happens to have a wide opening on top that manages to showcase as much cleavage as the girl could possibly have to offer.

Unfortunately, this dress might have been the best part of this completely mediocre series.

Coming off of the heals of FUNi’s Soul Eater release, I believe that Kenichi is suffering from the same thing that Kaze no Stigma suffered on the heals of Romeo x Juliet last summer. It is not an awful series per se, and it might actually be good for you if you just want some mind-numbing entertainment. I would have enjoyed seeing this kind of show after school on Toonami back in the day among all the other so-so action series.

However, given all the options we have available today, you really should be spending your time and money on great anime series. Skip the mediocre ones like this for the Right Stuf bargain bin sales.

* * * * *

The Good: Great fanservice, decent english voice cast, and some of the jokes are kind of funny.

The Bad: Awful animation, annoying Japanese voices, generic plot.

Final Verdict: Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple is not really that bad, but it just does not have enough going for it to make it really recommendable. Skip it!

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.

Review originally posted on November 6, 2009.

What ever happened to all those old toys and doodads you had when you were a kid? Doesn’t it feel like they have just simply vanished off of the face of the Earth?

That is the premise behind the latest anime movie from Production I.G., Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror. As a child, Haruka heard an old Japanese fable of how all the items that have gone unnoticed and forgotten by people eventually get picked up and taken away by nature’s most sneaky creatures, foxes.

Now your typical rebellious teenager, Haruka wonders what ever happened to a mirror given to her by her late mother. She happens upon a Shinto shrine and makes an offering to the gods to return the mirror to her. There she encounters a tiny fox-looking creature named Teo carrying an abandoned toy plane.

While following him, she is suddenly swept away to Oblivion Island, a secret world inhabited by Teo’s people and built entirely out of the objects that humans have long forgotten about. So now she teams up with Teo to explore the island and find her long lost mirror.

The movie is making its official debut this weekend at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, but Fuji Television was generous enough to invite me to an exclusive screening of the film last October. What I saw was an absolutely delightful children’s film filled with more imagination, heart, and wonderment than the last two Miyazaki films combined.

Oblivion Island is the first full length film from Production I.G. done completely in 3D computer generated animation. The film’s animation director, Naoyoshi Shiotani, was on hand at the private screening last fall to offer his take on the making of the studio’s landmark title.

“I was moved to finally see the finished cut,” he tells a sold out theater audience. “There were 200 people involved in this movie and I spent 4 years working with them on it. I put a lot of my thoughts and feelings into this movie.”

While almost every animated film in America is done in 3DCG these days, we very rarely see it done in Japanese anime. However, the difference between Hollywood and Japanese cinema is still evident in this particular medium.

The character designs have that unique “anime” style to them, and the look and feel of the animation resembles more like a video game cut scene than a Pixar or Dreamworks film. This is a little difficult to get used to as a viewer. Human characters like Haruka and her parents give off the look of plastic, lifeless dolls, and their body movements are stiff and unnatural.

But the awkwardness of the CG animation completely fades away the moment that Haruka and Teo go to Oblivion Island. The fictional world is so beautifully rendered with vivid bright colors, and incredible detail has been paid to the buildings comprised completely of old signs and cardboard boxes.

“I wanted this movie colorful,” explains Mr. Shiotani, “because the island is created with things people leave behind. I think there must be a variety of things like that, so that is why I wanted to make the island as colorful as possible.”

But even more impressive than the visuals is the emotional story of how teenage Haruka reconnects with her own childhood by wondering around the island. The turning point comes when she stumbles upon Cotton, her adorable long-forgotten stuffed animal.

“Stuffed animals are usually loved and hugged by people, which means they should be cute or lovable. Cotton was once loved by Haruka. So, I wanted something very cute and pretty that the audience would fall in love with instantly.”

And we do. Cotton’s reunion with Haruka brings about the same kind of emotional identification and response we had to the “When She Loved Me” flashback montage in Toy Story 2. But unlike Toy Story, Haruka and her cherished doll are able to speak to each other in this magical island, thereby putting into words the type of love that is otherwise implied between a child and their toys.

When I gave Miyazaki’s Ponyo a negative review last summer, the biggest reaction I heard back from the community was, “well, that’s because it’s made for kids, so of course you wouldn’t like it.” But being a children’s film doesn’t mean it has to be a bad film. With its childish blend of fantasy and Japanese traditions, Oblivion Island has shown me just what Miyazaki has been missing since Spirited Away.

This movie is too good to be kept hidden in Japan forever, so I am thrilled to see the NYIFCC selecting it as part of their program this year. Oblivion Island is the best anime film I’ve seen in a long time, and I hope more American fans have the chance to see this heartwarming and delightful 3D story too.

Movie screening and animation director comments courtesy of Fujisankei Communications International and IACE Travel. All images ©2009 FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK/ Production I.G. / DENTSU / PONY CANYON

The series centers around three pairs of student “meisters” and their humanoid weapons. Our main heroine is the spunky Maka Albarn with her cool-as-a-cucumber scythe, Soul Eater. They are joined by their classmate, the self-centered and egotistical Black Star, and his chain scythe weapon, the sweet and motherly Tsubaki. And finally, the Grim Reaper’s own son, the comically OCD Death the Kid, eventually joins the team with his twin pistols, Liz and Patty.

There has been a lot of hype about this anime series from the anime community since it debuted two years ago. I have seen a huge number of Soul Eater cosplay at anime conventions, so I feel like I was already familiar with a lot of the characters even without ever watching a single episode. And at last year’s New York Anime Festival, both FUNimation and Yen Press teamed up to make a major push for the series to become the main event of the convention that weekend.

But like all very popular mainstream anime series, I was very skeptical as to just how amazing this series could possibly be. So I popped in these first 13 episodes preparing myself to be very disappointed.

So did I find Soul Eater to live up to all the hype?

Oh, hell yeah, I did!

In fact, I loved every minute of this kick ass anime series.

The first thing you will notice about this series is its very unconventional and extravagant style and attitude. To call it “gothic” would be misleading, it is more like a cartoony vision of all things Halloween. The setting appears to be in a stoney London back alley inhabited by monsters, witches, and the occasional black cat. There is either an ominous grinning sun snickering in the sky during the day, or an equally disturbing crescent moon in the night with blood dripping from his mouth. All of these spooky images are rendered with vibrant colors and many contrasting angles to provide plenty of interesting eye candy for the viewer.

Along with that art style, you also have a story that seems to draw inspiration from the most random and obscure reaches of Western civilization. One of the first villains the kids encounter is a cartoony caricature of mobster Al Capone. There is the stitched up professor Dr. Franken Stein who sports a huge screw going through his brain. And of course, there is the twin pistol packing gothic cowboy who goes by the name of Death the Kid. Figuring out all the literary and historical references really adds to the fun of this story.

Another area where Soul Eater excels at is in its action sequences. While most shonen series tend to skimp out on the battles with many close up shots and still frames, Soul Eater wonderfully renders each fight with vivid details on every swing, punch, and strike that occurs. The choreography of the meisters utilizing their weapons further adds to the excitement, almost guaranteeing to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.

It is really hard to figure out where the series needs some improvement, but if I had to nitpick at it, I would have to say that Soul Eater is kind of lacking in the lulz. Now that is not to say that it doesn’t try to be funny, in fact, it frequently tries to be funny. It is just that all of the jokes tend to completely fall flat on their face. The fast-flying bits rely way too much on the tsukkomi-boké formula between all of the characters, which very rarely translates well into American humor. Though there is one hilarious episode involving the legendary sword Excalibur that won me over because of the pure ridiculousness of it all, but sadly, that humor did not continue past that one episode.

But where the series lacks in humor, it surprisingly makes up for in fan service. All of the female characters sport a cute and sexy look about them that is enhanced by their unique costumes. Maka pulls off the pigtailed Catholic schoolgirl, Tsubaki exposes a lot of cleavage in her female ninja outfit, and the twins do sexy cowgirl with tight blue jeans and bare midriff tank tops. And of course, there are plenty of moments of semi-nudity with these female characters, rendered with the same level of high quality art and detail that I talked about earlier in this review.

And then there’s the amazing voice acting. Switching back and forth between both audio tracks, you notice just how much the English dub captures the essence of the original Japanese audio. When I first heard Micah Solusod’s English voice for Soul, I thought, “there’s no way that this short lead character sounds that masculine in the Japanese version.”

But sure enough, when I flipped to the Japanese track, he did sound that masculine! In fact, all the English characters match their Japanese counterparts perfectly, yet the dub still manages to feel totally natural and fluid. FUNimation pulled out all the stops with this series, and it would be hard for even the most hardcore sub fan to justify hating on this dub.

When it comes down to it, I really believe that you can place Soul Eater on the list of “Great Gateway Anime Series” alongside such staples as Sailor Moon, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball Z. You know, the kind of series you remember watching on TV when you were first introduced to the wonderful world of anime. Soul Eater is the kind of cartoony comfort that calls for a big bowl of cereal on a Saturday morning.

* * * * *

The Good: Wickedly awesome style and attitude, finely animated action sequences with exciting choreography, exceptional voice acting from both Japanese and English cast, and some damn sexy fan service.

The Bad: Practically all of the humor falls flat.

Final Verdict: Soul Eater is the embodiment of all the kick ass action series you remember from the time when you first got into anime. It doesn’t get more fun than this. Watch it!

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.

But there’s a catch. Rin and Mimi are actually immortal, so no matter how many times Rin is gunned down or dismembered, she sprouts right back to life. So sets up RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~, an epic 6-episode OVA* thriller spanning over 65 years and multiple generations.

And it is the first “must watch” anime series of 2010.

The key to RIN’s success is just how well the story is written and way they go about telling it. Every 45-minute episode in this OVA series feels like its own full-length feature film,  with each episode one being a sequel to the one before it. Most of them follow the same formula, starting off with playful dialogue between Rin and Mimi about hangovers and vodka. And like a movie franchise, each episode typically centers around one specific plot, and ends with a finite conclusion to that plot while still leaving enough open-ended for the sequel.

The first episode begins in 1991 and the last one takes place half-way through the 21st century. The fact that each episode often takes place decades after the previous one allows the viewer to fully grasp the scope of this massive timeline. The science, technology, and city landscape evolves remarkably with each jump, and side characters grow up, get married, and have children. But the fact that each episode begins with the same banter between Rin and Mimi allows the viewer to see how cruel it must feel for an immortal to see the world change around them while they remain the same. It is a brilliant premise for a story told in a very brilliant way.

However, if I had to find anything wrong with RIN, it would have to be its extreme portrayals of sex and violence. The story and tone often dives in hentai territory as the characters are often naked and getting it on with each other. One episode clearly shows cunnilingus being perform twice, once by a male and again by a female. The characters use the excuse that they must engage in extreme acts because normal life gets too boring for immortals. But I felt that the perversion really crosses the line with one particular gut-wrenching torture scene in the first episode. The viewer must be prepared for some truly disturbing moments.

But is all this fetishism sexy?

Well, I would not really say that.

I cannot really call all the sex, nudity, lesbianism, and BDSM in RIN “fan service” like I normally would with anime. The series runs so deeply into these ideas that it eventually becomes a part of the show’s style and theme. It gets to a point where you will see a throne created out of a pile of naked women moaning in sexual pleasure, and you do not think twice about it. It just seems normal at that point.

The fetishisms in RIN goes beyond sexuality and becomes a form of art, which I find to be one of the most amazing things I have seen an anime series go for and actually succeed in. In fact, there is so many parts in this OVA series that you can point out as crowning achievements within the genre. It is the perfect suspense thriller created for the anime medium, and you must check it out if you feel like you can handle its violence and sexuality.

* * * * *

The Good: A finely crafted story taking place over a huge timeline. Makes great use of every 45-minute episode, and turns fetishism into a work of art.

The Bad: A number of gut-wrenching violent scenes and extreme sexual situations may prove to be too disturbing for most viewers.

Final Verdict: RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ is the perfect anime suspense thriller. It is the year’s first must watch series… that is, if you think your stomach can handle it. Watch it!

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.

- – - – -

* UPDATE: I have been informed that RIN actually isn’t an OVA series. It originally aired on satellite TV with one episode airing per month for six months. It was a special event miniseries, which is not normally done in anime TV broadcasting. Personally, I still feel more comfortable calling it an OVA series given the unique circumstances because it meets the criteria of that genre better than it does as a weekly episodic TV series. But in its strict definition, RIN was not a direct-to-video release.

Now with the power to call on Linebarrel and pilot the machine, Kouichi becomes of interest to JUDA, a weapons manufacturer working with the United Nations to fight off a global mysterious alien threat. But after Kouichi joins JUDA, he quickly finds out the truth behind their enemy, and how closely these aliens are connected to Linebarrel and Emi.

When I announced that I would be reviewing Linebarrels of Iron over Twitter, I could hear the collective groans of everyone following me. Clearly this was not a very popular series. So while I did not particularly find it to be the worst thing I have ever seen, it sure did not win me over in these first 13 episode.

I think the biggest problem with Linebarrels is in its characters. The protagonist, our “hero” of the story Kouichi, is a despicable prick who will make your blood curdle with the first dumb thing that comes out of his mouth. His bold declaration of becoming an “ally of justice” feels like an annoying parody of caped superheroes. The rest of the other characters in this extensive cast don’t fair off so well either. None of them have memorable or likable personalities.

But even with the lack of personality in the characters, the one part that Linebarrels manages to get right is in making them look appealing. The predominately female ensemble are all very top heavy and are often seen in their underwear, bikinis, or just in the nude for many parts through out the series. It is quite a lot of fan service, but unlike the disgusting images we saw in Dragonaut, these figures are exaggerated just enough to remain very sexy and appealing.

Likewise, I also found the backstory of Linebarrels to be sort of interesting. The story behind the alien enemy, Emi, and Linebarrel actually set up a very interesting science fiction plot device that I would have liked to see explored further. And likewise, the last episode in this DVD set leaves off with a interesting bit of character development that left me wanting to see what happens next.

But the story also yields some problems as this is a typical big mech action anime that doesn’t have much big mech action. A majority of the episodes revolve around Kouichi and the kids of JUDA “at play” around the facility instead of out fighting the enemies. This means that the series becomes more of a crappy teen romance comedy than an action series, and like most fan service heavy comedies, all the humor and entertainment gets lost in translation.

The characters in the series use the excuse that “we need to have fun in the offseason because we need to be serious while fighting.” But there’s hardly enough serious actions to justify all the time devoted to putting on a talent show, preparing for a Christmas party, or spending a day at the beach. This “relaxed and fun” approach to giant robot fighting sort of reminded me of Martian Successor Nadesico, if Martian Successor Nadesico had only a quarter of its action sequences and was not funny at all.

You got to take the good with the bad in this exclusive partnership between FUNimation and Gonzo. On the one hand, it brought us Romeo x Juliet, which was my third favorite anime of last year. But on the other hand, it also brought us Dragonaut, which was probably the worst show I watched last year. While Linebarrels is not nearly as bad as Dragonaut was, it still earns its place on the crap list of anime releases.

* * * * *

The Good: Backstory is kind of interesting. Decent fan service.

The Bad: Horrible characters, lack of interesting action, and really bad humor.

Final Verdict: I’ve seen worst come out of the FUNimation-Gonzo partnership lately than Linebarrels of Iron, I really have. But there is just not enough here to make the series recommendable. Skip it!

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.

Upon discovering the fox girl sleeping buck naked in his cart, Lawrence offers her a job as his partner in trade. The two begin traveling from village to village peddling goods. Holo keeps her identity hidden from others while Lawrence teaches her his craft. All the while they must deal with rival merchants, currency conversions, dangerous animals, and that blasted Christian church!

I think it’s safe to say that the hype around Spice and Wolf has been pretty big lately, especially since Yen Press just released the light novel this series was based off of. But after seeing all 13 episodes of the first anime series, I really found it hard to see what all the hype has been about.

First off, the good.

I was very impressed with the way this story dove deep into mythology. In fact, I thought it was a very biting commentary on the Japanese taking on Western religion, which is a topic we rarely see anime approach in this way. After all, the series’ protagonist is an animal goddess in a world dominated by the monotheistic Christianity. And they sure don’t paint Christianity in a positive light either, often portraying the church as corrupt and eager to persecute the pagans as devilish witches.

But along with that strong mythology, you also have a story fronted by two lovable characters in a very intriguing relationship. The banter and constant teasing between Holo and Lawrence portrays the ultimate “madly in love with each other but too proud to admit it” situation you often see in stories. The plot thickens when Nora, a cute blond shepherd girl, enters the picture and Holo obviously becomes jealous at her. This ends up becoming the most interesting aspect of the story.

I also have to give FUNimation kudos for providing another great English adaptation to a series set in old European culture. The scriptwriter often diverges from the Japanese dialogue to create a tone to the story that feels authentic to the type of folklore we’re used to hearing in English. While the dialogue is not nearly as poetic as it was for the Romeo x Juliet dub, it most certainly has a style to it that is worth listening to.

But even with all these high marks for the series, the ultimate problem with Spice and Wolf is that it gets boring.

Really boring.

In this dialogue-intensive series, very little actually happens. There are probably three or four story arcs that spread thinly across the 13 episodes, and each new major plot development is hardly exciting and easily forgettable. Instead, we spend about 80% of the entire show watching the two leads slowly traveling across the countryside and talking, talking, talking to each other.

And what are they babbling on about?

Economics!

Fake economics for a fictionalized old European world.

They talk about the purity of coins, the conversion of currencies between different villages, negotiating prices among merchants, buying on credit, the fact that one gold piece can be broken down into 35 silver pieces, blah blah blah. Unless you’re the type of person who gets a kick out of filling out your tax returns every year, I really don’t know how this dry conversation is exciting.

Also, I never really get upset over anime theme songs, but this ending theme song just completely rubbed me the wrong way. It is a simple childish nursery rhyme about apples sang in English by someone who, obviously, can’t speak English. On top of this, it also contains the line, “with seven seeds to plant inside of me.” I think that they’re talking about apple seeds,  but it obviously invokes a far different vision for English speakers than it was intended to. It is Engrish at its worst, and it’s annoying at every level.

* * * * *

The Good: Interesting mythology, lovable characters, and a good English adaptation.

The Bad: Pacing is too slow and boring, ending theme song is annoying, and fictional economic babble runs pretty dry.

Final Verdict: Don’t believe the hype. Spice and Wolf is far from being as great as everyone makes it out to be. But amid all that boring drivel, there is enough there that makes the show worth checking out in the long run. Watch it.

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.

El Cazador is the final entry into the “Girls with Guns” trilogy of anime series from studio Bee Train, right after Noir and Madlax. I have never seen Madlax, but Noir was one of my favorite series when I first got into anime many years ago.

With FUNimation releasing both halves of El Cazador (Part 1 and Part 2) on the same day this week, I got a chance to marathon the entire series last weekend. While I was initially disappointed that this wild west incarnation of Noir didn’t live up to the greatness of its predecessor, it eventually won me over as being a great series on its own merits.

First, let’s talk about the good parts. Like Noir, the soundtrack to El Cazador is absolutely fantastic. A solid mix of flutes, violins, and female vocals infuse with a spicy Latin beat provides a unique sound that perfectly sets of the mood of this anime spaghetti western. The background music feels almost as essential to this series as its characters and plot.

I also really found myself liking the characters and their designs, especially the moé female lead Ellis. Her short blond hair, big blue eyes, and slender body works perfectly with her sweet personality and the naiveté that comes with her case of amnesia. This meagerness clashes quite well with the strong female and male characters that surround her, leading to many interesting relationships and plenty of funny bits. While the series could have benefited with a little more fan service from its female characters, there is certainly a lot here for the fanboys to look forward to.

But no matter how much El Cazador feels like Noir, they are most certainly not the same series. The major difference between the two is the attitude and tone. While Noir was a gripping thriller with amazingly intense action sequences, El Cazador is completely loose and comical. This results in very little action sequences, which takes away any excitement or interest within each self contained episode in this “girls with guns” series. By the time things seem to be heating up in the foreground story, the episode is over and you move on to a completely new story in the next one.

I also felt a strong disconnect from the female lead, Nadie, and her English voice actress Trina Nishimura. The character appears to be extremely sarcastic and cynical, and the English script surely calls for that by saying catchphrases like, “Yeeeeaaaahhh, not so much.” Yet Nishimura’s performance is very ditzy and happy, which does not match with the sarcastic words that she is saying.

But even with these glaring problems becoming immediately noticeable in the beginning of the series, El Cazador eventually redeems itself with its overarching plot centering around Ellis discovering her supernatural powers and mysterious past. This doesn’t really kick in until the third or fourth episode, but by the time you get to the second half of this series, there is enough established to make the series worth watching in the long run. Recurring characters become far more important, and the background of the leads turn out to be far more interesting than the daily adventures they encounter episode-by-episode.

* * * * *

The Good: Excellent soundtrack. Likable characters with very appealing character designs. Good overarching backstory.

The Bad: Loose and comical attitude takes away from some much needed action in each episode. Poor acting performance from one of the female leads.

Final Verdict: El Cazador de la Bruja is a wild west version of Noir. While it is not nearly as good as its predecessor, it is still worth checking out. Watch it.

Review copy provided by FUNimation Entertainment.