What I watched in DECEMBER 2013: Digest Version, part 3 of 3

b Nichijou (My Everyday Life):  So very wacky and random.  I loved it.  It was just a weird series of short vignettes, and unexpected things were always happening.  Plenty of non-sequiter humor.  For those who don't mind being totally lost and still sometimes laughing at the punch-lines.  It's like Azumanga Daioh on uppers.  You can watch it on Crunchyroll.  It is an excellent pick-me-up when life has made you tired.

b Princess Jellyfish: The touching (?) story of a bunch of misfit nerds and some fashionable people and how they all collide with, hurt, and help out each other all while being their totally unique selves.  Lots of  laughs at and with various people who don't know how to interact with each other but still (sometimes) try to connect (and sometimes even succeed).  Painful and funny.  And frustratingly unfinished, like so many short anime based on longer light novels.  Yen Press?  Maybe a little help here?

b Ray: Um, so have you heard of Black Jack?  Ray was just spare parts, kept stashed away with other kids who shared the same fate.  She'd already lost her eyes when she was saved and given new, special, x-ray eyes by a mysterious, rogue surgeon.  She grew up to be a much more attractive rogue surgeon always on the lookout for the other kids and with a desire to bring to justice the evil scum who used the kids.  In very little clothing.  I first came across this story in the few volumes of manga published by ADV. (Remember that frustrating experience?)  This adaptation goes much further than what was published, but it's also pretty different. It has a decent conclusion, and there's some fun along the way.

b Yu Yu Hakusho ssn 3 and 4:  Guess what?  There is so much fighting in this show.  Surprise!  With all the drama and bombast, it also surprised me that sometimes this show wasn't loud enough to drown out the perpetually crying child next door.  Sigh.  But the good guys sort of win in the end through the power of fighting.   And I sort of forgot that Hiei had such a romantic ending to his story.  Well, romantic for Hiei, anyway.

Princess Tutu again because I like it that much

For those who think a stylized, dark fairy tale where ballet is battle and the nature of story, free will, and love are acted out to a varied and excellent classical soundtrack is a great idea, Princess Tutu is for you.  Probably.  Lots of folks who would not have admitted interest in most of those things liked it when I watched it with a group, and some folks interested in a lot of those things really didn't get into it at all.  Your mileage will vary.

My mileage was awesome.  It's like they made this show for me.  That brief obsession with ballet when I worked as a page in the children's section at the library let me recognize many of the allusions and musical cues on my own, which enriched the stories a bit.  It's very clever.  Frankly, I don't understand how people could like this show without that background, but they do, and I love that.

I watched the second half this time.  I stopped collecting at the first half because it had something closer to what I would consider a happy ending, but this sale was really too good to pass up.  I was sucked in again, and I just need someone to make a playlist of all the songs and what they're from, so I can figure out more of the buried allusions and also add them to my own playlist.  What a smorgasbord of lovely music.  Sigh.

What I watched in August: Digest Version, Part 1 of 2

b Broken Blade: Oh, that opening is stuck in my head until the next time I watch the Guin Saga closer.  (Keep those amazing theme songs for dramatic fantasy/sci-fi mecha coming, folks! ; )  I liked this the second time through, too, but I was still frustrated by the dangling threads that those who read Japanese will get to see resolved in the manga, which I think is still being published.  There is certainly closure to some things, but the things I was most interested in were not among them.  Again, it was nice to see adults have most of the starring roles.  It brings some different things to the table.

b Guin Saga:  Thank goodness this isn't even close to as graphic as the novels.  Unfortunately, it's totally watered down, instead.  (I'm mostly okay with that since my stomach couldn't handle such horrific violence in a visual medium.)  Actually, it's kind of like an anime Cliff's notes.  Holy cow!  They tried to cram something like 40 volumes worth of the novels into 26 episodes.  Something had to give, and that something was details.  Those details were pretty important for character development, so the end result is you get to go further in the adventure, but you care less.  Or maybe that only applies if you read the novels and know what you're missing.  I would like some folks who enjoy fantasy to give it a try and let me know their reaction, so I can see if it holds together better for people who haven't read the novels.  Not that I'm really, really complaining because since it doesn't look like any more of the novels will see print in English, it was sort of nice to find out what happened down the road, right?  Then again, I may be lying to myself because I've never liked Cliff's Notes or abridged versions because they tend to take out all the really important words in trade for a clearer/cleaner plot.  Not that the novels need help since their plots are pretty straightforward . . . 

The dub for the first half was pretty serviceable, though I wasn't too fond of Istavan's voice for some reason I couldn't pin down even though I usually like David Matranga's work, and then . . .?!?!  WTH?!  The dub for the second half is increasingly awful.  It got selected for worst dub on Anime News Network, but I thought that was for the songs.  (Which were pretty bad in English.  Just leave 'em in Japanese, guys; it's okay.)  What bothered me more is that it's like they stopped caring!  They started adding all these ad-libs and going for comedy readings (this approach worked in Wedding Peach because it wasn't straight drama and was pretty ridiculous).  This ill-considered and executed humor served to destroy any integrity remaining in this 100% serious dramatic action fantasy.  So many of the shows Sentai releases don't have dubs, so it seems inexcusable to spend the money to produce one that's so sub-par.  Usually I don't take this kind of thing personally, but I'm a tad offended.  The next time through, I'll watch it all in Japanese, and maybe I won't have this bitter taste in my mouth.  And I will probably listen to/watch the ending theme song every time again.  : )

What I watched in February: Digest Version, Part 1 of 2

b Black Butler: Huge props to Brina Palencia.  I was not a huge fan of her whatshisface in Nabari, but she managed to not only pull off a more convincing boy this time but also to present me with the only time I have ever heard a woman playing a boy cross-dressing as a girl and managing to really sound like a boy pretending to talk like a girl.  Seriously in awe.  There was some really great voice acting in this one (and some enthusiastic but not-so-great).  Some of the commentaries are pretty great, too.  My title for the series: "His Butler, Smirking."  I will probably do a comparison review of the anime to the manga at some point, since I was reading and watching them sort of at the same time. 

b Broken Blade: Oh, this splendid scenery demands to be seen on a huge HD screen.  It was impressive enough on my old regular TV.  "If I crush that gun, Zess can be saved."  Too many smoking guns, and I don't care.  Or I wouldn't care if I thought I'd ever get to read the rest of it.  (I think there's a sequel series, and I hope it deals with some of engaging dangling plot threads . . .)  What we have is beautiful but brutal and somewhat self-contained but ultimately painfully incomplete.  Definitely worth a watch.  Also a great show to have on in the background when you're trying to sort and gather resources for an OWCP report you want to pretend you don't have to write.

b Ghost Hound: What's with the butt cheeks?  Seriously?  This was a quirky little series with a sort-of psychological/mystical hybrid bent.  Have no expectations, and things will go better for you.  And try to ignore the butt cheeks; though they are something to giggle at when things get serious or creepy.

What I watched in October: Digest Version

b Argentosoma: Shakespeare!  Caliban references!  The irritation of politicians toward scientists.  :)  Tragedy!  Characters with all sorts of hidden agendas!  And an extra episode that's actually a real bonus (since it gives backstory to the only character who didn't get it during the show)!  What would have made it better: an earlier clear mention of the fact that Hattie was in a coma for many years (then I wouldn't have been as annoyed as I was by her seemingly inexplicably childish behavior).  I must have only seen the first disc before I picked this series up, and I'm kind of sorry I waited so long to watch it all.  The suspense made me fly through the series (something I could do because of the good English dub, which lets me clean and sort things while I "watch" instead of having to drop everything to watch (something that's harder to justify when I'm busy with two jobs).  It's science fiction with somewhat realistic geopolitical and scientific crap mixed in, which gives it a slightly different flavor from many other mecha-type shows.  It also has an antiheroic protagonist.  He's far from sane after a rough first episode including a massive head injury, and he needs someone to blame (even if he doesn't choose his target based on airtight logic), so he chooses the only other survivor and plots a course for revenge.  Too bad that course intersects with someone who reminds him very much of the girl he once loved.

b Arjuna: Well, this could have been really something.  In the end, I am grateful that it was made simply because the astonishing Yoko Kanno soundtrack justifies its existence.  According to the extras, this was the most expensive music for a TV series ever paid for by Bandai (equivalent to what you'd normally pay for a feature film), and, boy, does it show.  Beautiful art but some terrible CGI.  There's actually a pretty cute Brad Swaile interview extra (among other less interesting ones).  There are lots of interviews with director Shoji Kawamori, and they give you some idea of why the final product is what it is. 

b Patlabor8 and 9:  Ah, Patlabor, I just love your police procedural office comedy giant robot vehicle laid back screwball wonderfulness.  I wish there were more of it here, but I will enjoy every bit we got.

b Petshop of Horrors:  There is something about that first horrific story with the rabbits that I remember from reading the first volume of the series.  It dances happily on the border of social commentary, gleefull and vicious and smearing blood everywhere.  If we give our kids everything they want, we turn them into monsters in the real world.  There isn't any flesh-eating-rabbit-tearing-out-of-one's-innards-in-spectacular-gory-horror in the real world, thank goodness, but the lesson stands, I think.  So don't watch this with a weak stomach.

What I Watched in May

Figured I'd get up to the beginning of summer (June) before summer ends (September).

b Casshern: So, that stayed darkly atmospheric and strange all the way to the bitter end.  And it was super bitter.  I still liked the music all the way to the end.  Can I buy the CD?

b Clannad After Story: So this one reeeeeally gets a bit silly, and it uses this deus ex machina crap (in its defense, it really did keep including hints along the way) in the end, but up until then, it was pretty good. Keep your tissues handy, my friends.  I do also have to give it respect for actually tackling what happens after the couple gets together and gets married.

b D.Gray-Man: The pacing seems a bit off, and the transitions from super-serious to wacky really don't work sometimes in anime form.  I'm also not super-fond of the English dub.  Maybe it'll be different in Japanese.  Yay, Timcanpy! 

b Darker than Black: Chinese Electric Batman forever.  That was a surprising, twisty, good ending to a dark and twisty show.  I think I'll understand it better the second time.

b Eden of the East: The best comment anyone made during a showing: "This show has an awful lot of naked."  And some gleeful mosaics, as well.  The TV series ends pretty well itself.  There's tons of stuff left open (much of it gets revealed in the movies), but I thought it ended on just the right sad, triumphant note.

o Gao-Gai-Gar: Why did I keep watching this all the way to the end?  Why did the end take so long?  It was actually pretty entertaining as long as I had the English dub to listen to while accomplishing other things (it was often gleefully over the top), but when I had to actually sit through a whole disc and read and watch, it was such a chore.  I'm not sure why I tortured myself like that, but now I can claim I saw it all.  In case anybody cares.  Also, the opening and ending songs are cheesy goodness.

b Heat Guy J: I still love the dub and the show.  For some reason, I thought this one character died, so I was getting all ready to deal with his death, but I was totally wrong.  Oops.  Well, I'm glad he made it to the end.

o Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE: The awful pacing is still evident, but there are many episodes that actually end on tense cliffhangers or make me want to watch the next episode NOW, so I'm still kind of enjoying it.  I can't really just listen to the English dub, though, because it's one of those Funimation Reversions where they don't just change phrasing; they change meaning and take out important plot points and stuff.  On an intricate show like this, it drives me crazy.

b Xam'd: Holy cow.  I need to watch these again on a real screen, so I can see all the magnificent desolation and figure out what exactly happened (I'll be crying a good deal more than I did when I couldn't see anything, I imagine).  It was epic; I know that much.  Part of me wishes this had been a two season, 51 episode extravaganza like Eureka because there is so much more I want to know about this world.  I'm glad we got what we did.

What I watched in January: Digest Version (2 of 2)

b Nadia: That was a lot of fun. That dub was incredible! I'm actually glad they got folks the right age to play the young teenage leads. And that musical episode, oh my goodness . . . You can tell they had a good time putting it together. Good for Saturday morning cartoons most of the time, but sometimes it veered into good ole' Gainax T+A territory, and I don't think I'd want to be a parent trying to explain the ending to a child . . . As an adult, I found it to be a great adventure that had pretty much nothing to do with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which is okay.  I did a lot of cleaning while watching it, so I missed out on a lot of the rage-inducing filler stuff, which I think is probably for the best.

b Project Blue: Earth SOS!: Another fun one. This just never really slowed down. Some of the English dub was pretty terrible, but I think even that was mostly tongue-in-cheek. Gaping plot-holes papered over with exuberance!  Excitement! Adventure! Hilarious names! Aliens! Young people with no proper adult supervision! Way fun!

p Sukeban Deka (live action) movie: Give me back those two hours of my life. I beg of you. Why was this made into something live action? It's about a girl who fights evil with super-powered yo-yos. I am not making this up. I'm sure it worked way better in anime form. Live action? Um, well, I suppose it was good fanboy fodder for its intended audience. I guess . . .

b Xam'd: Quite obviously brought to you by the folks who brought you Eureka7, this fantasy adventure series has already introduced a fully-realized, complicated world packed with interesting characters (including adults!). It's like what would happen if Miyazaki's Nausicaa got dropped into Last Exile. The music, the political situation, the sprawling cast . . .  I am going to love this show a lot. Here's hoping it doesn't kick me in the face or the gut quite like E7. It only has 26 episodes to work with; it can't possibly destroy me as much as E7. Right?

What I watched in January: Digest Version (1 of 2)

Casshern Sins: This is a series that demands to be watched on a perfect HD screen with perfect lighting where each gradation of black can be enjoyed in every sad, bleak, twisted scene of this dark, moody, melancholy, post-apocalyptic, violent, tragi-fest, art-film show.  There must also be surround sound.  If you didn't guess, it's an acquired taste sort of show.  How high is your tolerance for angst?  (If there are good reasons for the angst.  Really good reasons.)  And the music, wow.  There's some really good jazz and fusion stuff here.  Lots of great synth-work, which fits with the show, too . . .

Darker than Black: You know, this show has super rewatch value.  Such detail.  Sometimes so much I can't actually watch because of the gross, but that's rare.  Some people say this show is only cool because of its premise and the bizarre fights between contractors.  They're missing at least 64% of the show.  The fights are great but the world and characters are so much richer.  This is a show that begs to be dissected with other careful viewers.  And that line between heroes and sociopaths?  Yeah, I hope you don't mind it being pretty blurry . . . Chinese ElectricBatman Forever.

Eden of the East: So you're on your way back to the airport to go home, but you decide to throw a coin in the fountain on the White House lawn for good luck, and the police see you, and you're about to get in trouble when you are saved by a completely naked man holding a gun and a cell phone.  Well, that's awkward.  And hilarious.  What would you do?  I have no idea, but you can watch what Saki did.  This complicated and breathtaking show was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, writer-director of the popular Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the less-popular but no less amazing Moribito.  He's done great adaptations, so I'm psyched to see what he does with original material.  Extra points for having the artist from Honey&Clover do the character designs.  Everything just clicks so far.

Monster: If you saved the life of an individual who grew up to be a serial killer, what would you do to take responsibility?  That's where this story starts out.  Part mystery/psychological thriller and part something else, this anime is based on a manga that seems to move with brisker pacing.  There's something intensely creepy about seeing things animated/moving, though.  I feel like I heard this one was being contemplated for live action movie treatment, and I don't think I'm a huge fan of that idea.  This is a somewhat epic story, and to try to condense all the intrigue and mystery into something short would just destroy it, more likely than not.  I'm not a huge fan of the English dub, but the care taken with the animation is kind of amazing.  They went several extra miles in pursuit of realistic movement.  I think it works since the story is so weighty (something that would have been undermined by cut corners and jerky, fake-looking, cartoony images).  Anyway, the ethics and moral quandries are just as interesting as the action and suspense.