Viewing Journal: Zipang (complete)

Series Overview DVD Info Trailer Rating: Overall= C- Story = C- Video = D+ Audio = C-

Journal

Mirai, an improved Kongou-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, is one of the newest and most advanced ships in the entire Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF). Her crew, also one of the newest, is lead by Capt. Umezu Saburo and Executive Officer Kadomatsu Yosuke. While running scheduled training exercises one day, Mirai encounters a fierce storm that throws their navigation systems into temporary disarray. After a few minutes of recovery, the crew is shocked to discover that they've been transported back in time to June 4, 1942 -- The Battle of Midway, during World War II. Letting history take its course for this battle, they manage to avoid the conflict firsthand and make a vow to remain anonymous, changing history as little as possible. However, when the crew comes across the dying Lt. Commander Kusaka Takumi, XO. Kadomatsu's instincts to save lives takes over, changing the course of history more than he could've imagined. (Source: ANN)

Let me start out by saying the one thing about this show which may be a big factor in determining whether or not you want to even start watching it: There is no ending. Don't let the title of the final DVD volume -- "Return to the Future" -- fool you. The crew of the Mirai never does get back to the future and the events that build up over the course of the show never have any pay-off.

Now I know some of you will come reply with something like, "But Bob, can't you just appreciate the story that the show does give you and stop fretting over what it doesn't?" And my answer to that is "No, I can't." The reason is that the only thing that kept me watching this show at all was to see how the future is ultimately affected by the Mirai and Lt. Takumi. But since the show ends before Takumi's plans come to fruition or the Mirai returns home, we are never able to see how history is ultimately affected. And even the historical events that the Mirai does alter seem minor and thus have less dramatic impact. Of course, those events might have a huge effect later on, but how are we to ever know? There's no ending.

Again you may be saying, "But my good man, what about the characters? Surely such a show is chalk-full of gripping human drama!" And I'd say, yeah, sure there's human drama -- or at least the attempt at it. But the characters are too melodramatic and cliche so the drama is more cheesy than intense. For instance, whenever the Mirai would unleash its arsenal of long-range or heat-seeking weaponry, the soldiers would be so shocked as to chalk it up to magic or being from the devil or some other reaction where I would think, "Oh come on, that's a little much don't you think?" Of course, anime doesn't always have the most realistic characters, but with a show like this that is rooted in history and that includes actual historical figures, it needs more realism and depth to its characters to match it's realistic, historical setting and moral dilemmas. To be fair, there are a few scenes were characters act with more subtlty and genuineness, but a combination of the disappointing historical impact that Mirai had and the cliche or unrealistic reactions of other characters dulled the impact that the good scenes had over the course of the show.

The art and animation for this show are equally unimpressive. I think maybe I was spoiled with Monster, but the character designs here are too simplistic and inexpressive to be dramatic. And the setting used a lot of computer animation that stood out awkwardly against the 2-D animation.

So obviously I wasn't crazy about this show, but I have to give it credit for at least coming up with an interesting concept -- even if it didn't cash in on its potential. And I'm sure history and/or military buffs will enjoy the references, but even they will ultimately be disappointed by the conclusion -- or lack there of.

Viewing Journal: Ergo Proxy (complete)

Series Overview DVD Info Trailer Rating: Overall= D+ Story = D+ Video = B+ Audio = C

Journal

In a future where the world has been ravaged by a nuclear apocalyse, there exists salvation in a domed city named "Romdeau", where humans and their android servants, the autoreivs, live in. Under the implementation of complete management control, it is a paradise where feelings are literally discarded, and the governing council dictates the way of life the citizens should live. But this utopian landscape is soon broken by a series of mystifying murders. Re-l Mayer, a female inspector from the Citizen Information Bureau, along with her autoreiv partner Iggy, are tasked to solve the murder cases. She is soon attacked by a creature drawn to her which is neither human nor android, and learns about the mysterious phenomena called "Awakening", an event which draws her further into the case...and to the world beyond the limits of Romdeau. (Source: ANN)

Watching the trailer and opening animation, this looks like it's going to be an awesome show with dark sci-fi action and drama. As it turns out, it does have those elements, but the tone, theme and symbolism are all done with such a heavy hand the it makes from some awkward storytelling. A lot of what happens in the show seems more like it is intended to push the show's tone and themes, and as a result it sacrifices having relate-able characters and a comprehensible plot.

One of the oddest things about the story is that there is a lot of very straightforward, even blunt explanation compacted into the first episode or two. But then much of the rest of the show is hard to follow, because there is little to no comprehensible explanation as to what is happening or why. Then, in the last couple episodes, it frantically tries to explain everything again. As a result, the beginning seems odd but somewhat promising, the middle is just cumbersome to get through, and the end doesn't have enough time in between all the lines of expository dialogue to build a satisfactory climax and resolution.

Another issue that I had it that the show is so forceful and blunt with its tone and themes that they actually distract form the story. For instance there's one episode where Pino visits a theme park where everyone is fascinated with her "spontaneous smile." So they all repeat over and over again how wonderful her smile is, and at some point I was just like "I get it, natural emotions, don't be manipulated, whatever! Now move on."

On the plus side, I did like the character designs. Let's face it, Re-l's eyeshadow is probably the biggest part of what makes this her look cool. The autoreivs organic and somewhat disturbing designs are also impressive.

As I mentioned before, the opening animation is awesome and is enhanced all the more with the song by Radiohead. The rest of the show's music worked well within the show, but wasn't especially noteworthy in itself (IE, I'm not rushing out to buy the soundtrack).

So in summary, at first glance this show looks like it has a lot of promise. But ambiguous storytelling and a heavy-handed tone end up making this a chore to watch.

Viewing Journal: Bleach (episodes 26-51)

Series Overview TV Broadcast Info DVD Info Trailer Rating: Overall= B Story = B Video = B Audio = B

Journal

Ichigo's journey to save Rukia continues, as he and his companions develop and increase their fighting power and skill in order to battle the members, lieutenants, and captains of the 13 Soul Reaper squads. Meanwhile, the squad captains learn that there is more to Rukia's imprisonment and planned execution than meets the eye, as a plot is unfurled that will eventually turn the entire Soul Society upside down.

I think I'm starting to understand how all those Dragonball Z fans must feel, because this Bleach story arc certainly is taking it's sweet time moving forward. When it started, I thought the whole thing about Ichigo going to save Rukia would last a few episodes before it moved on to other things. But as it's turns out, the story arc that started at the end of last season, still hasn't wrapped up by the end of this one.

Of course, I understand why it's taking so long. First of all, there are a ton of characters to introduce. And once they are introduced it needs to delve into their pasts, explain their fighting styles and techniques, and display all the wacky forms their zanpaktuou swords can take. Then there are all the episodes-long battles that take place where characters (especially Ichigo) will come near death, only get back up, dust themselves off and end up victorious.

That's not to say that all that character development and the intense fighting aren't incredibly cool. In fact, those elements are exactly what keep me watching. I said in my review of season 1 that I couldn't wait to find out what all the different soul reapers would be like and how their different swords would help them fight; and in that I have not been disappointed. The whole concept of how their swords have their own souls -- and their own personalities -- and work in unison with the soul reaper brings a fascinating new dimension to the show. And the fighting techniques and weapon designs just ooze creativity and originality.

Then there's Ichigo himself, the kid who seems to come near death at least 5 or 6 times in this one story arc only to recover each time to become all the more powerful. Most recently he is training with the spirit of his zanpaktuou as well as that inverse version of himself to attempt to reach "Bankai" -- a kind of super-elite power. I'm looking forward to seeing how that element is resolved, and seeing what his new zanpaktuou will end up looking like.

The animation and art have remained consistently high quality throughout its run. I still enjoy the original character designs of the soul reapers. And the animation during the battles is colorful and add to the intensity of the fights.

I haven't really noticed the music much in this season. I think it's pretty much the same as last season though and it seems to match each scene well. I don't particularly like the opening theme as much as last season, and the ending theme.... ugh... My wife, who is not a big anime fan but who seems to be enjoying this show, mocks the ending theme just about every episode. ^_^;

So despite the drawn out story arc, this show remains well-worth watching. And I'm looking forward to see what happens in the next season.

On a related note, Adult Swim has apparently stopped running Bleach after episode 52 in favor of showing Death Note (another awesome show you must watch). What the heck? I guess I'm going to have to start looking into Bleach fansubs after all.

Viewing Journal: Animation Runner Kuromi (complete)

OAV Overview DVD Info Trailer Rating: Overall= B+ Story = B+ Video = B Audio = B

Journal

After being inspired by the fictional anime, "Luis Monde III", Mikiko "Kuromi" Oguro goes to animation school and and finally lands the job of her dreams at Studio Petit. Upon arriving, she meets the head of production. Unfortunately for her, he dies soon after meeting her and passes his position unto her. Now that she's head of production of "Time Journeys", it's up to her to rally up the lazy animator's and finish the second episode in a week. (Source: ANN)

If anime production is really run like it is in Animation Runner Kuromi, then it would seem that everything just just total stress and chaos all the time. But this 2-episode OAV presents that insanity with a tone of lighthearted fun that makes it easy to enjoy.

For fans of anime, this OAV can be at least somewhat insightful because it shows that animators have to answer to some harsh realities. Not that this is exactly a documentary, and I'm not sure how much of it is technically accurate, but even looking at it as a sort of parody or caricature of the true nature of animation production can be enlightening. If nothing else, it presents what kind of factors can lead to variation in animation quality; such as what artist is working on a particular scene, exporting in-between animation overseas, and especially time constraints.

Another challenge that Kuromi has to conquer is dealing with all the different personalities of the animation staff. For instance, her major issue is getting all of the key animators to complete their work. It seems that most all of them have some excuse for why they can't get the work done, and the one guy who does consistently have everything ready on time is a horrible artist, so the director has to redo all his artwork anyway. Kuromi has to learn how to work around these personalities to keep "Time Journeys" on schedule.

Of course, the educational benefit of the show (if there is any) isn't the only thing that makes it worth watching; it's seeing how Kuromi is going to topple all of these seemingly insurmountable obstacles to complete the production so the series can air on schedule. It's also fun to watch the wide variety of colorful characters with quirky personalities and how they each deal with the stress. I especially liked how the animation director Aoi tried to give up smoking in the second episode and as a result she would unconsciously stick random objects in her mouth to deal with it.

The animation quality is top-notch. The designs are simple and colorful adding to the fun tone. The music also adds to the upbeat tone.

So overall I really loved this show and recommend it for any animation fan who is curious about what life at an animation studio might be like, or anyone who is just in the mood for a lighthearted, short series with a well-rounded and quirky cast that is easy to cheer for.