I'm Talking About: Angel Beats! (Anime Review)

A truly rich yet disturbing subject matter makes for a high school drama unlike any other that, for once, was over far too soon.

Purgatory is a battlefield and God is the Devil. Yuzuru Otonashi awakens here suddenly to discover his memory has been completely wiped, including that of his own name. Informed that he is indeed dead by fierce, rifle-totting Yuri Nakamura, she enlists his help in an underground battle against God Himself before Otonashi can even fully get his bearings in what appears to be a vast boarding school. Thrust now into an eternal struggle against Angel, the student council president and believed to be an agent of the Almighty, Yuri's brigade called the Shinda Sekai Sensen (Afterlife Battlefront) is determined to avoid contentment in this world, or else pass on and disappear completely. Having no recollection of how he got here in the first place, Ototnashi's ignorance leads him to the SSS's colorful band of merry men (and women), all with different lives and stories, yet united by one singular goal.

Yes, this is one of those deep plot-lines treading into the ever sensitive Religion River that everyone tries to avoid wading in, and I'm sure the immediate thought would be “The atheists are going to lap this shit up.” Well, I'm not atheist, but I'm also the worst Catholic you will ever meet. Bottom line, the premise of this anime will appeal to anyone, especially those youths entering that shaky time in their life where adults are suddenly flawed and right and wrong is no longer black and white. The tough, gritty members of the SSS are nothing more than a group of young people whose lives were cut short due to tragic happenstances, and this pisses them off. If there even is a God, he is a merciless God with an unyielding hand whom none of these rebels are willing to succumb to.

But that doesn't mean they're not above inserting humor when the occasion calls for it. This is dramedy by the book, cut right down the middle, yet always keeping that dark undertone present when the narrative forces us to recall what these kids are fighting against. But some of the measures they go to in order to rebel are so ridiculous and random (like stealing students' meal tickets while the school rock band distracts them) that one can't help but laugh, even leading Yuri herself to wonder how she's supposed to lead this gaggle of complete idiots.

The art direction and animation are both gorgeous, working simultaneously to create something stunning and action packed, from the glare of the band's spotlights to the details of the battle scars to the heavenly glow that seems to constantly surround Angel. The character designs are simple yet distinct, the ability to tell each rebel from the other easy due to this and their sometimes one-dimensional personalities. I'm also sure that there's a very good explanation as to why Yuri strongly resembles another famous female brigade leader in anime history. (These are the jokes, people.)

The voice work is...ehhhhhhh...the Dub. My Lord, the Dub. Okay, it's not terrible, but you know there's a problem when Luci Christian is playing not only two characters but two of the Girls Dead Monster band members in the same scene. I don't care if you're trying to show off her versatility, we already know she's versatile. You honestly couldn't hire another actress, considering how many people are trying to break into the voice acting circuit? I don't know where this Sentai Filmworks came from, but it's clearer than glass that they're newbies at this. Blake Shepard is not leading man material, his Otonashi coming up short on too many occasions, Hilary Haag is beyond irritating as Girls Dead Monster's biggest fan Yui, and Leraldo Anzaldua's Noda is just plain god-awful, reading off his script in a mustered monotonous shout like the typical teen comedy bully.

Greg Ayers is a solid saving grace, playing a beautifully balanced Ayato Naoi as both an arrogant prick who believes himself on par with God and the lost boy who got the short end of the stick in life. And Brittney Karbowski, who's due for redemption after I kind of bashed her Black Star in my Soul Eater review, by and large delivers the strongest performance as Yuri. She puts on a brave, steadfast face for her brigade as leader, while coming to grips with her own inner demons in her lifetime. Karbowski manages to nail all aspects of the emotional spectrum without over doing it with overblown speeches and complete meltdowns. But if these two veteran ADV actors (plus Christian's one-episode stand) aren't enough to satisfy you, by all means watch it in Japanese with subtitles to get your full enjoyment out of this experience.

It's a shame when a good thing must come to a swift end, and it's a rare find in an anime series when one actually wishes there were more episodes then there actually are. Angel Beats is 13 episodes long, which I would normally applaud for avoiding filler and keeping the plot moving. The problem here with Angel Beats is there are so many characters. You want to get to know the people in the brigade better, and you long to know their backstories and what led each of them to the Afterlife Battlefront, but there simply aren't enough episodes to get to everybody, and the rapidly moving plot overtakes each subsequent 22 minute period in the latter half. Otonashi has to get his memories back at some point and the battle has to come to a head eventually—we've only got 13 episodes to work with, so we have to prioritize. In the end it's a bold move on the creators part to not bog down this series with a flashback per character in each episode, but instead choosing to focus on the brigade as a complete entity. But a couple OVAs would have been nice to flesh out some of the minor characters a bit more. You know, like Baccano did? No? Oh well, I guess it's up to the imaginations of the fanfiction writers now.

Angel Beats is by no means a flawless execution of questioning faith and rebelling against belief in forces we cannot see, but it is a truly beautiful piece of work inside and out. The conflict is harshly straightforward, the characters vivid and memorable, the animation elegant, and the soundtrack a cacophony of synthesized delight—all leading to a resolution so exhilarating that you'll definitely find yourself reaching for the tissue box as the end credits roll. Despite a few tedious filler periods and an English Dub that should have received far better treatment than it did, don't deprive yourself of this impressive treasure that is sure to become a classic with time.

Angel Beats!

Produced by PA Works and Aniplex, English Dub by Sentai Filmworks

Rated TV-14 for action violence, thematic elements and mild language

4 stars out of 5

I'm Talking About: Soul Eater (Anime Review)

Despite its triumph in animation and a righteous soundtrack, it’s the characters that save this anime from a slipshod plot that ultimately suffers in its second half.

~

At Hogwarts School of Witchcr— I mean, The Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA) students are trained in Defense Against the Dark— uh, Soul Resonance by using wands — correction, scythes, run by headmaster Dumbled— er, The Grim Reaper to rid the world of evil — I mean…no wait I was right, EVIL.

Yes, everything I said above is indeed true, and if it seems a little wacky, get used to it or it’s going to be a LONG review.  The students at the DWMA train in pairs consisting of a Weapon and a Meister (or the weapon wielder).  Soul Eater centers around three of these teams: headstrong overachiever Maka Albarn and her lazy “ultra-cool” weapon Soul Eater, arrogant loud-mouthed Black Star and his ever patient sweet-natured weapon Tsubaki, and The Reaper’s own son Death the Kid who has the worst case of OCD you will ever witness, and his twin pistols the Thompson sisters, Liz and Patti.  Their mission as students is to collect 99 Kishin Eggs (corrupted souls in human bodies) and one Witch’s Soul in order to make their weapon into Death Scythe (a weapon that can be used by the Grim Reaper in battle). 

Except…that’s totally NOT what this show is about.   If I went into too much detail, however, I’m sure I’d spoil something.  To put it simply, this anime exemplifies what probably would have happened if Tim Burton had gotten hold of the Harry Potter films.  It’s an epic adventure of a group of students’ struggle for survival against fear and madness in this somewhat fictional world—yet it’s stylized with so much Western cartoonish animation, abstract design worthy of Halloweentown, and zany running gags that it may throw you off at some points, yet does not take away from the sheer enjoyment this show offers.  Yes, no matter what I say in this review, this show is very good: the story is strong, the characters are engaging, the soundtrack is one of a kind, and the animation keeps you riveted.  Now that the Reader’s Digest version is out of the way, let me explain my reasoning.

The music in this show is probably of the greatest variety I have ever heard on any anime.  While most anime tend to stick to one genre of music, Soul Eater combines hard rock and hip hop with dramatically orchestrated pieces.  These not only enhance the fight scenes and add to the emotional suspense, but leave you thinking that those scenes would not have had nearly as much effect without that soundtrack behind it — and that’s not something I can say about every anime I’ve seen.  The opening themes (particularly the first one) are both visually compelling and musically driven, so much so that I did not skip over them once in all 51 episodes.  Now that takes talent, so kudos to you Studio Bones!

All of the characters in Soul Eater range from compelling to downright slapstick.  Top of the list would have to be Maka, the lead heroine who pretty much dominates every scene she’s in, combat skills alone (the girl can wield a scythe twice her size!).  She’s compassionate and earnest with enough emotional baggage to justify her pent-up rage (mom took off, left in the custody of her father she hates, etc.).   When she feels something, she feels it strongly — while her appropriately contrasting partner Soul is rather cold and withdrawn, finding the only way he can really express himself is through music (yep, he plays the piano like a madman in one episode).  The differences cause them to clash constantly, as is the case with most Weapon/Meister pairs, but it’s obvious they care deeply for and would ultimately die for eachother.  While nobody goes into any incredible depth and the development remains generally stagnant, the main seven protagonists are colorful enough and their interactions with eachother are easily the high point of every episode, being boisterously hilarious, dramatically intense, or beautifully heartfelt.  And even each character’s habitual tendencies, such as Black Star’s will to surpass God Himself, seem to have a bit of backstory behind them.  Except for Kid’s obsession with symmetry, but it’s so ridiculously hysterical that we forgive him for it. 

Which leads to the question you’ve all been waiting for: English Dub or Japanese Subs?  I personally wouldn’t force you either way, but I’m going to have to lean a little on the Far East side on this one — thank you, Yumiko Kobayashi, for actually sounding like a boy when you voice prepubescent Black Star.  Everyone else I find on equal playing field with eachother: Kōki Uchiyama and Micah Solusod sound almost identical as Soul, Mamoru Miyano’s Death the Kid is a tad more neurotic in the comical bits than Todd Haberkorn but both match up nicely when the dramatics kick in.  Maka is voiced wonderfully by both Chiaki Omigawa and Laura Bailey—though I do have to give super awesome props to the former, as this challenging lead role was her voice acting debut and she seriously knocks it out of the park.

Sure wish I could say the same for…well…the show as a whole.  Every anime, no matter how good it is, has its pitfalls.  Soul Eater has one flaw, and unfortunately it’s a big one.  The story has a unique and imaginative premise despite Potter-esque remnants everywhere you look — but the way it is set up and presented to you, the viewer, is about as organized as the back of a college student’s car.  The pacing is awful, just bloody awful (I kid you not, there is a six-episode battle arc that supposedly takes place in a time span of forty minutes).  Plot points you thought were important are either never mentioned again or resolved so quickly that if you blink it’s gone, characters that posed as actual dangerous threats to the main heroes (e.g. the immortal werewolf) are shoved to the side once “Voldemort” comes into the picture — and for God’s sake, did we really need three episodes of comic relief Excalibur that could have otherwise been used for, oh I don’t know, relationship development between the core Weapon/Meister groups?  Maka and Soul get the most screen time, as rightly they should, but I was disappointed that we didn’t delve deeper into the relationships of the others, aside from learning how they first met.  Dear Lord, this story drags so much that by the time we’re five episodes away from the end, we’re bombarded with so many last minute clarifications and exposition our heads are spinning.  Thank goodness they managed to salvage the slack during the final battle.  Except for one…semi-minor…detail…oy, you’re just gonna have to watch for yourselves.

Yes, you will have to watch for yourselves, because I DO recommend this series.  Despite my gripes, the overall Soul Eater experience is one that should not be missed by any anime fan.  It’s quirky, funny, nail-biting, heck even tear-jerking at a few points, and what it lacks in execution it makes up for in the other departments.  Particularly character; yeah, I think I eventually grew to love or at least tolerate every protagonist on this show.  But due to alternating between dragging and rushing the storyline, way too many plot holes left gaping wide open, and an anti-climactic final resolution, I’m gonna have to lower my score a bit.  And it kills me to do it because honestly, this show had the potential to be up there with the classics, like its predecessors Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist.  While it doesn’t quite make the cut, it is worth your time.  So to quote Maka’s episode preview catchphrase: “Watch it—or I’ll take your soul!”

Soul Eater

Produced by Studio BONES, English Dub by Funimation

Rated TV-14 for violence, violence against women (LOL, I had no idea this was a separate category!), language, brief nudity, drinking and tobacco use.

3 ½ stars out of 5

I'm Talking About: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Anime Review)

A magical girl anime, you ask? Allow me to blow your mind. Almost literally.

How do I even begin this one? How can I top what's already been said about this show, making it one of Japan's solid hits of 2011 (earthquake/tsunami and all)? I can't even—you know what, forget it. I should just tell you all to stop reading this and go find Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica on some streaming site and watch it. Just watch it and you will understand just how dumbfounded I am about what to say.

Let's start with the plot (God, I can't even do this without worrying about giving something away). Madoka Kaname is your ordinary eighth grader who wakes up one night from an apocalyptic dream involving a strange dark-haired girl battling the calamity and what looks like a rejected Pokemon named Kyubey. As would be expected from these magical girl shows, Kyubey is the strange little talking creature who gives our main heroine the power to transform into a magical girl—whether she wants to or not. Except that's not the case here. For Madoka and her best friend Sayaka Miki, they have a choice in the matter: Kyubey will grant each of them one wish, anything at all, while in exchange they must form a contract with him and become magical girls, fighting the invisible witches responsible for disaster and suicide amongst innocent people. Encouraged by upperclassman and magical girl Mami Tomoe to go through with the undertaking, the girls are also prevented from forming the contract at every turn by Homura Akemi, the new transfer student and the very girl Madoka witnessed in her dream.

And this is about all I can tell you, honestly. The anime is a mere 12 episodes long—not because it could not afford more, but because that was pretty much all that was needed to tell its story. There is virtually not one moment of filler in the entire series, which is incredibly refreshing for a viewer who has almost come to expect such from even a short anime. You really feel like you are watching one continuously structured plot, very much like a movie, right down to the big reveal near the end of it all. For myself, this is a big plus in a series chock full of high points.

While the animation is not really anything to write home about, the art design is astoundingly beautiful. From the first moment Madoka and Sayaka enter the battlefield of the witches, you can immediately tell where all the budget for this show went. It really feels like world's best acid trip as you watch these crowded conceptional images that both intrigue and terrify dance in front of your eyes, making you want to scream at those little junior high girls to get the hell out of there before they're killed.

The voice work here is constantly ranging somewhere between quietly contemplative and a sobbing meltdown—not that this is necessarily a bad thing, given the circumstances. The Japanese seiyuus (save for the eerily monotonous Kyubey) seem like they are trying their hardest to rip your still-beating heart from your chest, throw it on the ground and grind it into rumble. And they succeed. There is hardly an episode that you don't feel emotionally drained after watching, especially from Madoka's viewpoint as, frequently, a helpless bystander with the constant threat of something bigger than yourself that you cannot control hanging over your head. This series does a masterful job of pulling you hard and fast along this emotional roller coaster, playing with the heart strings like a violin all the way, and I pray for the day we can see an accomplished group of talented young American women tackle the dub. The music soundtrack is nothing short of gripping and really gets its chance to shine in the dramatic battle sequences, particularly towards the series' finale. But from composer Yuki Kajiura (Tsubasa), one really should not expect anything less.

What I must (regrettably) point out as a flaw in the series is the opening. Not the song itself (“Connect” by ClariS), no the song is fine, especially once you realize a certain character is singing these mournful lyrics. I'm talking about the opening as a whole. Apparently when the show first aired on TV in Japan, it was even advertised as your normal magical girl show, all the dark and disturbing elements conveniently absent, and rounding it all off with an intro sequence that is equally misleading. And it really bugs me. This sounds like some diabolical advertising scheme we would do over here in the US, only to dump us into a psychologically scarring escapade that really young girls should not be watching—in fact, I would even put this strictly in the teen/young adult category. Just tell it like it is, or else you're going to have five-year-olds watching this and suffering long-term trauma (I kid you not)! And I swear once the show comes States-side, if DVD stores dump it in the “pink” section, I am going to personally pummel the stock boy. This show is not your typical magical girl show; if anything it pulls apart and challenges the common tropes associated with such anime as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. So if you have watched or grown-up with either of those shows, I highly recommend watching this one and witnessing a fresh take on an old concept.

I know this review is vague and I apologize for that, but it only stresses how much I recommend Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. The story is superb, the acting is heartrending, the visuals are stunning, and the suspense grabs you by your attention span and never lets go. For anyone who loves to see a worn-out plot line turned on its head, this unyielding sinister take on “ordinary girl becomes extraordinary” deserves to be recognized.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Produced by Shaft and Aniplex

North American release by Aniplex of America TBA (no word yet on an English Dub)

Rated MA – violence and profanity

4 ½ (is it possible to give 4 ¾?) stars out of 5 

I'm Talking About: Princess Tutu (Anime Review)

Enchantment thrives without the overdose of whimsy we’ve come to expect from Disney, leaving its more sophisticated audience immensely satisfied.

~

Once upon a time, there was a man who died…

Huh, not exactly the way you would expect an anime called Princess Tutu to start out, but nowhere can first impressions be more misleading than with this particular series.  My anime dealer, who shall remain nameless, highly recommended it to me by title, and I wondered if she was sniffing glue at first.  How can I possibly take an anime called Princess Tutu seriously?  After pondering this, I recalled once feeling skeptical about a musical just because of its title, but after giving it a chance it became one of my personal favorites.  Being an anime newbie, I was in no position to pass this up, so I breezed through all 26 episodes during my spring break.

            The man in question is Herr Drosselmeyer, the eccentric author who died before his story “The Prince and the Raven” could be completed, just as the hero cut out his own heart to seal away the monstrous Raven.  Consequently, his story is at a stand still and its characters are wandering aimlessly through a German storybook town (cool, my first anime that doesn’t take place in Japan!).  It is here that we first meet the little duckling that Drosselmeyer—from his, er, clock gears-type purgatory—assigns the role of Princess Tutu to.  According to his story, Princess Tutu was responsible for finding the pieces of the Prince’s literally shattered heart and restoring them back to him so that he might defeat the Raven once and for all.  The catch?  Tutu is deeply in love with the Prince, and the moment she confesses her love, she will turn into a speck of light and vanish completely.  This does not seem to faze the duck in the slightest at first, so Drosselmeyer gives her a red amulet to wear around her neck, which transforms the duck into a 13-year-old girl whose name…also happens to be…”Duck.”  Okay guys, quit laughing and go with it.

            Duck attends a ballet boarding school with several other students, some of whom are animals with human qualities, some of whom provide somewhat feeble comic relief as Duck’s two lackey-type friends, and some of whom are...the Prince!  Yes the Prince from the story, now named Mytho, is a student at the ballet school with Duck.  The girl dreamily vows to herself to use her powers as Princess Tutu to restore his heart to him so that the Prince may smile once again.  But like any fairy tale, there are those who wish to prevent her from saving him and have their own reasons for doing so.  ‘Cause hey, why have two main protagonists when you can have FOUR?  Mytho’s possessive girlfriend Rue and his equally controlling best friend Fakir are two characters who we aren’t quite sure whether they are good or evil at first, but we gradually find out that there are definite grey areas with all four of them as the stakes get higher.

            The series starts out with a formulaic approach: Tutu finds a shard of Mytho’s heart within the soul of a typical one-episode character, she dances away their troubles (okay seriously guys, do you have to SNORT?), and returns the shard, which represents a specific emotion, to her Prince.  Rinse and repeat (yes, I said it).  This anime takes a little while to get the actual plot started, and doesn’t really start getting good until around episode 10 (well, we can’t ALL begin our animes with notebooks falling from the sky now can we?).  In fact, the entirety of episodes 1 through 13 I would generally describe with words like “cute” and “endearing” with exciting sequences thrown in towards the end of the first season just to keep us on the edges of our seats.

            The vast contrast in tone, style, story, and emotion that is the second season however is almost like watching a different anime altogether.  The tale takes a dark and ominous path in its second half as “The Prince and the Raven” moves forward and weaves in and out of the perspectives of the four principal characters, all individually having one identity crisis after another.  The discovery that they are merely pawns in the twisted Drosselmeyer’s puppet game and helpless to stop their tragic fates from happening does not bode well with them as they work to bring the story to a satisfying end—and it is done so in such a way that makes this magical girl anime OVER 9000 times better than Sailor Moon (there, I said it).

            The factors that make Princess Tutu such a joy to watch is not only in the beautiful animation you would expect from a series about ballet, but rather all of the elements combined—and there is hardly a weak link in the bunch.  The English Dub is a powerhouse of emotional performances, particularly the phenomenal Luci Christian and Chris Patton as Duck and Fakir respectfully.  Pretty much all of the anime’s score are classic pieces from ballet or opera, including The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Carmen, and countless others that truly enhance the depth and feelings of the characters through their joys and sorrows (Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet featured in the penultimate episode brought your stone-hearted reviewer to tears, believe it or not).  It is one of, if not the strongest element the series has to offer and its worth it just for your listening pleasure.

            I humbly lay this series before you now while it currently reigns #2 on my list of favorite anime.  Save for the few episodes of dull repetition that keep me from awarding it a perfect score, Princess Tutu is delightful, family friendly, and ultimately one of the most gripping and heartfelt series I have ever had the pleasure of watching.  While you may or may not want to use this series as a way to kill your spring break, this college-age reviewer is not ashamed to give it high praise.

Princess Tutu

Rated TV-14 for action violence and brief nudity

4 ½ stars out of 5

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Hi folks!  If you are one of the probably 5 people who will read this blog, you're in for a treat.  I'm a big fan of analyzing various aspects of media: movies, theater, and most recently Anime.  I'll be putting up my reviews as well as a couple of silly abridged scripts I've written, so basically we're all here to have fun.  Enjoy your stay!