Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Review of YamiBou
This is another one of those "spawned from H games" series. It was originally a H game released by ROOT in 2002. The TV series differs quite a bit from the game though, and while the ecchiness definitely is there, it's handled nicely and does not become annoying or overwhelming. Do not expect any H or yuri-action worth mentioning in this series.

There are things that the viewer should know when watching this series, as they basically throw you into a story without giving any background information. Luckily some people decided to write up a small page which explained the foundation of YamiBou. They have borrowed some elements from religion to create this foundation. This is a quick and basic explaination:

In the beginning Adam and Lilith created various worlds and then Eve helped populating these worlds with humans. Then Gods came and started to wage battles against each other. Fearing that all worlds would be destroyed Adam created "The Great Library" where each book would represent a single world. A being called "Yami" was born to protect and manage whis library.

The story itself is okay. During the first episode we are thrown into a completely different world with trains, spies, russian military and similar things. Lilith, as well as her little yellow, fatty bird is also present here but nothing is explained and things might appear quite jumbled. Lilith meets Hazumi and decides to help her out and each episode basically features a new world where they look for Hatsumi, who isn't quite what she first appeared to be.

At times the plot becomes confusing and not much happens -- it stalls. I didn't find that particulary problematic myself, as I thought these side stories were quite interesting nonetheless.

Based on H graphics, nothing less than very good was expected. The character designs are very well done, as are the sceneries. The colors were well balanced, not too dark as with old "tech" animes and not too sugary as in dating-sim games.

The character design is, however, that of a Dating-sim game. We've got the big eyes, small noses, small mouths and pufffy hair styles. It's not a style which I usually like but I actually found myself coming to like some of the designs.

Okay music. It's mostly synthesizer based, but the sound quality is quite good on the various FX used. The background music fit the scenes well and sounded a bit old style European at times, those of you who have watched Noir will know what I talk about. The opening tune is great though, good Jpop with a nice beat.

The show is only released in Japanese so I watched the sub. The voice actors all did a good job on their parts. I found myself liking the VA of Hazumi since the voice is a bit darker, not the squeeky squeeeky type, it fit her character well; hard on the outside but softer within.

There are not the traditional mix of personalities in this show as in many other game-derives. We dont have: the tomboy, the shy girl, the sloppy girl, the athletic..etc you get the point. The characters are by not unique...or perhaps some of them are in a way. It's not every day where you come by people who have the ability to travel through worlds via books after all. The main characters grow during the show and there are some episodes which bring us back in time to other events which happened earlier when the main characters were young. This helps to give the viewer an insight into the different personas. There is more to say, but doing so would spoil the show.

Some things are not explained in the show though, like why Hazumi always has one of her calves loosely bandaged or why she's one helluva sword fighter. There are some small bits here and there that I guess are explained in the game but were left out in the anime.

Some people have voiced their utter hate for this series, while other people say that it gets way too confusing after a couple of episodes, while others like it. YamiBou is an okay mix of Fantasy, Magic, Sci-fi, and Drama with Ecchiness here and there. I didn't think it was very confusing myself, although the story line dose lose itself here and there. However, it picks up eventually and various occurances throughout the series are tied together during this journey through worlds.

Rewatchability is a possibillity. The animation was good and some episodes are quite crammed with happenings. It's not a series for everyone and it seems to be one of those "either you hate it or you like it and watch it" series.


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Saturday, January 29, 2005

Read or Dream Review ^-^
ROD (this time it stands for Read or Dream) is the television anime sequel to Read or Die, the three-episode OVA. Amazingly, ROD the TV is a melding of the OVA and original ROD manga storylines, something that seems unlikely considering how unrelated they were, but is executed in the most astonishingly competent way.

ROD the TV begins four years after the OVA. Yomiko Readman, aka The Paper, has been missing for the past four years. Sumiregawa Nenene, the author that Yomiko so admired in the original ROD manga, has fallen into a slump, at least in part because of Yomiko's absence. Where in the original manga Nenene was a hyperactive, over-acheiving and slightly callous young author, the 20-year old Nenene is far more mature, and more than a little melancholy.

The series begins as Nenene visits Hong Kong to be present for the opening of a movie based on one of her novels. Because there is some concern for her safety, she is assigned three rather scattered young women as her "bodyguards." In an action-filled and very well-crafted episode, these three sisters turn out to be paper users, just like the missing Yomiko. The first episode looks and sounds like a James Bond movie (a feeling accentuated by the three sisters being named after three popular feamle HK action movie actresses.)

In the end, the three sisters, quiet, butchy Maggie, flighty Michelle and cynical Anita return to Japan with Nenene to be her bodyguards. At which point the truly most amazing transformation occurs - the entire anime shifts gears.

It took me a while to figure out what was going on. From high-powered, intense action in the first episode, the second appears to be written by a completely different group altogether. Then, bizarrely, so does the third...and the fourth episodes...at which point I realized just what was going on. The episodes switch back and forth between shounen and shoujo style writing. In the shounen episodes, we follow the efforts of the three sisters, as they battle vampires, adventurers and opportunists to retrieve rare books for the mysterious company "Dokusensha." In the shoujo episodes, we follow the sisters and their relationship with Nenene,and Japan in general. Each of these episodes reads like a different kind of book - one a romance, one a suspense novel, etc...

Somehwere about episode eight I realized that this series is, by far and away, the most finely crafted anime I'd ever seen, in terms of writing. As we learn that Dokusensha isn't what it seems, we are reintroduced to some old friends, Joker and Wendy, who make not be our friends this time, and introduced to new ones like Junior, a mysterious young boy who shares the phasing ability Nancy, aka Miss Deep, had in the OVA. And all through this, every episode is filled with the spirit of Yomiko who affects this series so strongly by her absence, that one is literally on the edge of one's seat every time. Even the use of music is breathtaking in this series.

So, where's the yuri, you ask? Everywhere. Nenene claims she is not "in love" with Yomiko, but her behavior belies the fact. It's obvious to anyone who has ever had an absent lover that she is, in fact, very in love with Yomiko. But that's not all - the three sisters have very ambiguous sexuality, but their sensuality is obvious. Nenene picks on butchy Maggie constantly in ways that one could consider yuri fan service.

But the real realtionship in the series is left for Anita, the youngest of the sisters. In the beginning, Anita seems asif she'll be no more than another annoying young girl character, but its not long before the viewer comes to realize that she is, in fact, the star of the series...ROD is, quite literally, all about her. Anita is enrolled in a local school and almost immediately she and Shiishi Hisami
become friends. Their realtionship is very real and very sweet and fills at least one entire episode with smiles and nods for us yuri fans.

But here's the kicker...the series is only half over.

So far, the first 13 episodes of ROD he TV have been *amazing*. So catch up, with the rest of us and sit down with your popcorn to find out just what this brilliant team of writiers will do for the second half!

Scores: Music - 9; Character - 10; Story - 10;
Overall - 12 ;-)


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Thursday, January 27, 2005

My DearS review ^.^
One year ago, Japan made contact with, "The DearS", an alien race made up entirely of submissive, pre-collared men and women on the lookout for masters. We know the men exist because we're told (and there looks to be at least one in the series from the opening movie) but otherwise, it's wall to wall alien T&A.

Definately aiming straight at the heart of an audience still enamored with Chobits, the similarities are uncanny. Messy-haired haired, slightly perverted, but ultimately nice guy Takeya, is living alone in a one-room apartment. Motivation apparently isn't his strong point, only his childhood friend Neneko and 24 alarm clocks manage to get him up every morning. One day, while walking home from school he finds a naked girl with improbably long, flowing hair on the street wrapped in a blanket. Accidentally "activating her", she kneels at his feet and declares herself his slave. Taking her home, Takeya tries to teach her the niceities of clothing, food, and other human customs. Lacking command of human language, she mutely and adorably misunderstands them all while displaying immediate, almost romantic devotion to her new master. I guess this means Chobits is now, officially, a genre unto itself.

If Chobits appealed to the human desire to control another life in a morally-conscious manner (though it ultimately undermined it's own cautionary message), DearS intends only to exploit that desire and have as much fun with it as possible. Yeah, it's sick... if you think about what you're watching. But I'm willing to wager it won't even occur to 75% of the people who are about to become obsessed with this show. Rizelmine was sick too... but Japan isn't exactly haven for the womens' and childrens' rights movements.

There is one potential point of light for girls in Neneko, the "childhood best friend", a role that usually symbolizes overlooked true love. Neneko is the anti-harem girl. Flat, bespectacled and with a choppy, unstyled haircut... she's calm and possesing of a slightly Janine Garafalo sarcastic geek-girl quality. She's provides a welcome respite from the brainless, bouncy submissives. Inclusion of a character like Neneko in a series like this may even hint that the series will develop into something more than it's premise implies. Of course, she could also be played for comic relief and left out in the cold. Only time will tell. Either way, she rocks.

As pure entertainment, DearS is decent. But it's message and the ideas it enforces are ones I hope, for womens' sake, never catch on. In 30 years, what will guys be like that are raised up on this drabble? Will the Prime Minister of Japan be a DearS fan? Will our foreign minister have a Chii fetish? I suppose it's a very good thing that "only otaku" watch this sort of show, seeing as they're the least likely to reproduce and pass these ideas on to another generation O_o; Harem is bad enough. Any show with a "cute" slave theme should be immediately banished to the porno section to be enjoyed in secret with full-knowledge that it's a messed up idea.

But undermining 100 years of femenine progress isn't all DearS has in mind. DearS has another, more subversive goal: to employ all of Japan's most mindbendingly annoying voice actors in a single tribute to grating character acting. Ryuuichi from Gravitation is here, as the moderately annoying "best friend" Ohiko, who predictably ends lots of his sentences with cute sounds. As is 'Komugi-chan' singing the most inane theme song I've heard in years (a cheerful, totally grating opening that proclaims "I'm your slave, because you're special"). Don't know about you, but I know I find middle-aged women trying to sound like 10 year-olds with sinus infections singing about human bondage REALLY sexy. Then there's Mitsuka-sensei, with the annoying breathy, phone-sex voice that's given to all teachers with gigantic breasts. Seldom has a cast this shitty ever been assembled, or has an audio track so wanted me to claw out my eardrums..

So... did I like it or hate it? Both. After all, there's a catgirl. You know I've gotta watch it for the catgirl ^_^; So while every "that's wrong" sensor in my brain was set to buzzing: the eye-candy prevails. Chobits gave me a similar initial impression, and while I came out of the experience feeling dirty and cheated I wasn't significantly traumatized.

DearS is a definate "yes" for bishoujo freaks. If you like the genre, then you're probably not too worried about sexism anyhow. Girls, I think, will probably find DearS much harder to forgive than men. There's just something inherently scary about realizing that there are men out there who really want slaves. Not just guys watching porno in Japan... but guys who watch cartoons and read manga in our own back yards (the DearS manga was just liscenced).

If you can take it as pure fantasy, it's an enjoyable enough offering. But those looking for a bit more gravity, realism or romance in their shows will be, if anything, turned off by DearS ridiculously sexist setup.

Bottom line, It's a great anime even with the grating soundtrack. Definitly a must see for Chobits lovers.
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