Monday, August 15, 2005

   Ok, I've been busy...
Heh heh. I've seen a few more series since my last post. I'm in my dorm now, so expect more updates with the fast internet (when I'm not buried under a pile of homework, that is.. *urk*). Ok, so let's get started!

DIRTY PAIR FLASH
Premise: A story of two Travel Consultants (basically, police that are not affiliated with the formal police) that are vastly different but are put together as partners in their difficult job. They have to protect travelers or random people, catch criminals, and other stuff like that. We have Yuri, the ditzy, vain, and airheaded girl, and Kei, the buff, swig-a-beer-and-belch, butch kind of character.
My opinion: Not bad. At only 15 episodes, it is short, and that total is broken into three five-episode "missions". The first is spent getting the characters to like each other, the second is the best (with a plot that actually spans all five episodes!) and the third is ok, spent with random one-episode plots that mainly just show how they work together... So I like the second mission best.
Music overall is ok. I didn't hear anything I fell in love with, personally. They do change songs every mission for openings and endings, but none of the songs were so great I wanted to listen to them every episode. In-show music was fine - mood-setting but not inspiring, either. The animations look a bit old, the style is a bit older, but not so old as to be annoying, personally. In fact, overall, everything was ok, but not mind-blowingly wonderful. Overall Rating: 6.5 or 7.

SORCERER HUNTERS
Premise: In this world there are normal people and sorcerers, who are born with powers. The sorcerers have been given dominance over the regular people (think nobles vs. peasants), and as a result some of these sorcerers start to abuse their powers. Thus the Sorcerer Hunters were started by Big Momma, who appears to be some kind of goddess. (I believe technically in the series she's called 'The One Closest to God', but this god never makes an appearance or has any effect over the plot, so whatever.) These Hunters punish those sorcerers who abuse their power, usually with death (unless they repent, I think). They are: sisters Tira and Chocolate (personality-wise, they are opposites; extrovert vs. introvert. They both love Carrot), Carrot Glaze(the woman-chasing pervert who cares more for chasing women than pretty much anything else. He does love Tira and Chocolate very deeply, however) and his brother Marron Glaze (a total pretty-boy, and he's gay), and Gateau (the 'butch' of the group, and he's bi, and eventually hooks up with Marron). In the meantime, we have the Main Bad Guy, Zaha Torte (only made better by the fact that it's pronounced tor-TAY), who's determined to reawaken the Destruction God and bring about Apocalypse, and hence, the rebirth and remaking of the world, in which he would be god.
My Opinion: For all the strange names, it's actually pretty good! They don't pull anything when it comes to innuendo (heck, Carrot hits on a little girl, and, well, here's one of their conversations: Carrot: "When you're older, would you play with me again?" (they had done little fun things, like skipping rocks)(girl, named Lake): "Are you thinking dirty?" Carrot: "Uh-huh." Lake: "Were you nice to me just so you can do dirty things with me when I'm older?" Carrot: "Uh-huh." Lake: *giggle* "All right, sure!") But quite frankly, none of it is really dirty, and I think that, while not something you'd want your younger sibling to see or hear, it was to me in good class and not anything I found myself looking away over, which in my book makes it amusing and, in the mentioned episode's case, kind of sweet (if you see the episode, you'll understand). The rating is 17+, which I totally agree with, and I think that's quite appropriate given circumstances. Only once did I think something SHOWN was 17+, and that was only for a short bit in the last episode, when Chocolate's outfit loses a shirt and replaces it with thin suspenders that hold up her very low pants. Literally. But you only saw it for at most a minute, so I was okay. And the ending itself is pretty good, along with the general dialogue and plotline. For once, the evil character didn't wait for no reason! He didn't play with the main characters; he didn't stall for any reason other than he had to to gain more power in order to take on Big Momma.
For that and that alone I'd give this a good rating, but it is backed up with at least a memorable opening song (and if I take a moment to think, ending song too), and reasonable to good in-episode music that definitely sets the mood, if nothing else. If I hadn't been so intent on what was happening, I might have actually found in-episode songs I liked, but I was too entertained by what was going on to pay attention.
Animations aren't anything flashy, but they are well-done if you take a moment to pay attention to the details they add. Sure, they do little shortcuts with panned stills like all shows do, but it's not often and everything else pays wonderful attention to physics (yay!). Realistic - that's the word!
Overall Rating: 8.5

SAIYUKI
Premise: Shangri-La used to be a peaceful place where humans and demons shared a wonderful brotherhood until about three years ago (I think. A lot of things happen one year ago in the plot, too, though) So Priest Genjyo Sanzo is commanded by the Merciful Goddess to travel to the west and prevent the resurrection of a powerful demon named Gyumao, since it is the attempt to resurrect him that appears to be driving the demons into muderous rage (lots of magic and technology mixing). Sanzo is also ordered to take along a demon (I guess) named Goku, another demon named Hakkai, and a half-demon named Gojyo. Goku is the noisy, whiny yet strongest of the four, Gojyo is Goku's arguing mate (they fight CONSTANTLY), Hakkai is the happy-all-the-time, polite, caring character AND the most versatile fighter, in my eyes (hand-to-hand, chi blasts, chi barrier walls, and healing chi!), and Sanzo is the generally-ticked off irritable character who refuses to admit he cares for anyone (even to himself). Along the way they are opposed by Kougaji, Gyumao and Rasetsumo's son (legit wife of Gyumao is Rasetsumo), who is controlled by Lady Gyokumen Koushu (Gyumao's mistress), who is heading the resurrection attempt. (Apparently, Koushu has Rasetsumo trapped in stone) Kougaji also has his side-kicks (Dokugakuji, Lirin, and Yaone). Then Sanzo and his team are waylaid by Homura, the current God of War for the Heavens, who is intent on pretty much the same as Zaha Torte from Sorcerer Hunters: remake the world. He doesn't care about ruling that world, however.
My Opinion: AWESOME. I cannot gush enough about this series. Sure, they may swear a lot, but I don't care. It makes it tons more amusing!!!! When they're being series, they don't tend to swear a great deal, but in amusing sequences, they swear up a storm! And dialogue itself is just wonderful, even the stuff they have in the background, like the arguments between Goku and Gojyo that are a near-constant occurance have their own witty remarks!
The animation is beautiful. It may not be high-budget, but nonetheless it is incredibly well done, and when it comes to artistry and transitions, they are just amazing. I can find little to fault with any of it.
Music is great. In-episode and opening. Well, ok, I like the first opening best, and I pretty much skipped the others, but the first opening is just wonderful! My favorite song at the moment, and it easily pops into my head. The only thing is you can tell when they're going to get into something serious because the music changes into a piano piece that can, at times, get a little annoying.
Characterization is also wonderful. What can I say? They do a great job of fleshing out ALL of the major characters, from Sanzo to Hakkai to Kougaji to Homura. Everyone is studied, and if you read the historical notes, you can get even more out of the characters. And it isn't too overbearing in their study of the characters, either, in the way of 'come on, speed it up and get back to the action.' You may feel that way every now and then, but not often - usually, it's quite nice.
Overall Rating: 10!!

ARC THE LAD
Premise: Bounty hunter Elk is caught up in a conspiracy to open the Covenant (and thus swallow the world in chaos and darkness) and those who seek to prevent that. Ark, the rightful heir to some kingdom (sorry, don't remember which) leads that resistance, and the 'bad guys' turn people into monsters while the 'good guys' can use the powers of the spirits (Elk has fire, Arc has them all).
My Opinion: Cliche. From beginning to end, you can predict every event and most if not all the lines said by pretty much everyone. I would recommend this to younger audiences or something, but then they go and have one episode that I wouldn't want a younger person (say, below 13) to see. Consequentially,. that's the one episode I liked. But anyway, the main character, Elk, ends up killing an old childhood friend (he chokes her to death) in that episode, so that's a little more geared to older people. Honestly, they tried to make a bad RPG plotline into a series, but it was too cliche and too game-influenced to make it good. Not to mention I hated the main character (Elk, not Arc).
There was one song I kind-of liked, and that was the second ending song. The others I didn't like and skipped. In-show music was eh. Don't remember any of it, but I do remember thinking it had a lot of trumpets and that it was overdone. It tried to set the mood, but it was just too much.
Animation was good, I guess. Now and then I found myself thinking that something didn't line up right, but overall I didn't hate it, which is something with this series.
Overall Rating: 3

ORPHEN
Premise: Orphen quit his studies at the Tower of Fang after his mother-figure/childhood friend turned herself into a dragon and, as a result, the Tower of Fand cut all ties with her and tried to kill her. It's been six years, and he's found the sword that she used to transform herself, but he can't get it, so he watches it. He gets himself an apprentice to pay for his quarters, and then, later, is joined by the bratty, emotional girl who owns the sword. While he tries to find a way to save Azalie, the Tower of Fang is still seeking to kill her and, since he's in their way, Orphen.
My Opinion: I liked it! It had some weird points, but overall the dialogue didn't suck too badly most of the time - and managed to be witty some of the time - the music was nice (love the first opening! and the other opening and the two endings were good enough I'd like to hear them again), and the animations very smooth. My only irritation came seldomly in the form of strange mouths. Little dots on the corners and the bottom lip, and that was it. But I can live with that. However, it wasn't as inspiring as, say, Saiyuki.
Overall Rating: 9.
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