CHAOS;Head - First Look

CHAOS;Head

Summary: Taku is you're ordinary, run of the mill otaku, who rarely goes to school, and loves playing video games. However, through one of his online chats, he learns about the mysterious New Gen incidents – a horrifying series of murders, done in very strange ways. After clicking an image of a New Gen murder, he is very surprised to, the next day, stumble across that murder as it is being commited. Somehow, Taku is related to all of the New Gen murders – but how? [In all honesty, I still don't know]

Analysis: ... This anime is second to Casshern SINS. Its very unique in several ways, and is very interesting in and of itself. Its based off of a light novel, and is told in much the same way. We see everything, know everything, hear everything, think everything, that the main character does. Its done basically in book form, and really sucks you in. There is maybe 15 seconds of non-takuness in the first three episodes. Because we only know what the main character does, its great for suspense. We're figuring out whats going on as the main character does, and not in a sudden revelation provided by the enemy or by a friend. We're with him as he slowly figures it out, being shocked the entire way, not really knowing what he's getting into. Its done very brilliantly.

Now, the minuses. A problem that I had when first watching it is that you don't realize that its being told from only the perspective of the main character. There were some things that happened that didn't make sense, such as the appearance of Seira-Tan, a character from a TV show that he constantly imagines holding conversations with him.

Other than that, the only minus is that there are only going to be 12 episodes. At the pace its going at, I don't know how much plot is going ot happen after he finds out whats going on, unless there is going to be a second season, which I honestly hope there will be.

Sono me, Dare no me?

Taku and Seira - Sorry, its a bad pic, but something went wrong with the screenshot thing.

The chat window of one of his games. He gets alot of information through these, and it is how he is sucked into the mystery.

The blessed crucifixion, one of the New Gen Events

Sorry that I havn't updated, but its been a long week. Very long. I havn't had much time for anything. I also have alot of tests coming up, so that will be annoying.

/Vavoysh

First Look - Casshern SINS

Hi again.

Sorry for not posting, but the weeks been very busy. I'll write my actual review either tonight/tomorrow. But, in the mean time, I thought I'd try something new.

The 2008 Fall Anime Season just started and I'm watching 3 or so new shows. So, I figured to get out what I'm watching, and to get more people interested, I'd do a first-look thing. After watching 3 episodes, I'll say what its about, and my views on it. When it finishes, I'll do a complete review.

Casshern SINS

Genre: Action, Drama, Post-Apocalyptic

Summary: Its a post-apocalyptic world, where a now extinct human race has been taken over by robotkind. However, the robots themselves are falling to the ruin, a rust that decimates their bodies, killing them with no cure.

Its all due to Casshern, but as to what he did neither we nor he know - he has a robot amnesia. All that he knows is how to fight. His prey comes from robots who approach with intent to kill, thinking that the ruin will stop and they will gain eternal life by eating him.

Analysis: This will easily become one of my favorite anime. I know that saying this is unprofessional, but this anime ... is FREAKING AWESOME. Let me go over why this is.

For one thing, the drawing style. Its not the style thats used now - its a more classic style, mixed in with some elements. It fits very well with an apocalyptic world setting, and its great for dramatic effects.

The music is blended in so well to the anime that you don't even notice it, yet it still affects your mood. Exactly how BGM [background music] should be.

The writers have made it so that we don't know exactly whats going on, yet we know enough to make it interesting. Its contrary to most other anime, where the hero is introduced to everything in the first episode. In this one, he's just wandering around, trying to make sense of what happened, and figure out what happened to his amnesia. Also, the first scene in each episode, before the opening credits, slowly show what did happen - 5 second blurbs, that we are supposed to be piecing together, backwards, as it is. Its a great way of showing what happened without actually showing it.

Because its a post-apocalyptic world, its filled with people who are on the verge of death. Here's the catch - none of them want to die [big shocker there]. Its very intense, watching their interactions, and what happens. I, for one, was crying at the end of the second episode [watch it, and see why I was doing so. You'll be crying too].

Casshern, without his helmet on.

Casshern, in Battle mode, Part 1

A more full body glimps of casshern. Those two things on his hips have another part to them, but we don't know what they do yet.

Casshern, in Battle Mode, part 2. When he is in this state, he exists only to destroy. Its rather scary.

A landscape shot of the earth. There are quite alot of these as he travels.

A full on view of the ruin.

Most of the ruined robots that try to attack Casshern look something like this.

All in All, this is a great show so far, and I can only think that its going to get better. I suggest that you all go and watch it. Right now. Why are you still reading? Go and watch it!!!

/Vavoysh

Aria the Animation

Aria the Animation

Length: 13 Episodes

Rating: 7.5/10

Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy

Plot: come and observe the life of Akari, an undine working for the Aria Company in Neo Venezia, on the planet aqua. Aqua is what’s formerly known as Mars, after humans managed to pull up water from the surface and make the planet one that of water. Earth, known as Man-Home, has become an almost impossible place to live.

Akari came to Aqua a year and a half ago and started working as an undine, or someone who steers gondolas. Join her as the makes new friends and learns more about Aqua. That’s really it. It’s the ultimate slice of life anime. There’s no suspenseful plot, you watch it to observe the lives of those in it.

So that you don’t get confused by what’s going on sometimes, I’ll explain a bit about Aqua.

There are four key jobs that are essential to Aqua. They are the Undines, Sylphs, Moles, and Salamanders. Undines are responsible for piloting gondolas, and there are three main companies – Aria Company, Himeya, and Orange Planet. They transport many people from place to place, and also serve a s a major source of tourist income. There are three levels to being an undine – the two apprentice levels, which are Pair and Single, and Primas, who are the professionals. You can differentiate between the ranks by the gloves on their hands – a pair has two gloves, a single one, and a prima none. It is the want of all Pairs and Singles to become a Prima, because they can then take around customers on their own and mentor other pairs and singles.

Sylphs are the package deliverers. While there still is a ‘traditional’ mail system, most of the mail is done through the sylphs, who ride around on hover-bikes transporting the goods.

Moles and Salamanders make Aqua inhabitable however. Moles live underground, and they control the planet’s gravity. Its very important to do so, because the strength of gravity is about 1/3 that of earth, which would make things very uncomfortable for humans to live on. Salamanders all live in the sky, in a hovering system known as Wikijima. They are responsible for controlling Aqua’s climate, and making it habitable. The reason that they are called salamanders is that Mars’ nature by default is to be very cold – therefore, the salamanders main job is to make sure that there is enough heat in the atmosphere to survive. That being said, there are still the four traditional seasons.

Analysis- Contrary to what you might think, its actually a good anime. When I first heard of it, I thought ‘this is going to be really stupid. It’s a show about gondolas for crying out loud.’ after being prodded by a friend, I decided to watch it.

Whats great about this anime is that, as I said before, it truly is a slice of life anime. Its very calming to watch this and become immersed in the characters lives. The characters are instantly lovable, and each have distinct personalities just like many people in the real world have, not just the cookie cutter personalities that you find in many anime and manga. These characters are all real people. I think that that is what make this anime so great.

My only downside to it is that it is slow paced. Because theres no plot from episode to episode, there isn’t a lot of suspense contained there. Sometimes it was a force of will to watch them when I was bored, when I could have gone for something with a little more action. This anime you probably should watch when you’re content with everything and you’re not just watching anime because you’re bored and have nothing else to do.

Characters:

Akari: She is a very loving girl, and also very innocent. She takes everything sentimentally, and feels obligated to help others at most chances. However, she is prone to panic if something starts to go wrong. She is a single for the Aria Company.

Trademark Phrase: Ehh??

Aika: Heir to Himeya she takes everything seriously. She isn't one for touchy-touchy feelings, but if theres someone that she really likes, then she becomes pseudo-obsessive. She treats everything as though it were a contest, and as such mimics her instructor, Akira. She has a crush on Alicia She is a single for Himeya.

Trademark Phrase: Hazukashi serufu kinshi! [Embarrassing remarks aren't allowed!]

Alice: A prodigy undine at Orange Planet, she is a naïve, closed off girl. She treats everything apathetically, and first time that we see her, she doesn't know how to smile. Because she is a prodigy, she was treated differently by the girls in her school class. She is the only pair of the group, yet she is as talented.

Trademark Phrase: adding Dekkai to everything [which means something along the lines of big, extreme, very]

Their mentors are the Three Water Fairies, or those who are said to be the greatest undines that are currently working.

Alicia: She is a very light natured girl, much like Akari. She loves people, and she never sees the bad side to anyone. She's best at her social skills, and as such is much wanted by the tourists. She is a prima for the Aria Company

Trademark Phrase: Ara Ara, *giggle [Ara means My, so she's saying My My]

Akari: Much like her apprentice, she deals with everything seriously. However, beneath it all, she's really nice – the rough exterior is her way of trying to properly train whoever is underneath her. However, even with that, she still has a mean streak, which is apparent whenever someone insults her, however jokingly she meant it. She's best at controlling the gondola out of anyone. She is a prima for Himeya.

Trademark Phrase: Unfortunately, I can't find one.

Athena: She is a big ditz head. She is clumsy, silent, and prone to making mistakes. However, she is remarkably perceptive, and helps usually from the shadows. She doesn't make much of an appearance, so I can't say much more. Her best skill is that of canzone, or singing [which, is quite frankly, quite amazing]

Trademark Phrase: Again, can't find one.

Other Characters

Ai: A little girl from Man-Home, she became friends with Aria in the first episode, after which they became pen pals. Every episode starts off with a conversation between the two, which foreshadows/concludes the episode in some way or another. In the two episodes that she appears in person, I really don't like her. I can't really explain why though.

Now, before you all yell at me for this next part, let me explain. On Aqua, blue eyed cats are considered to be lucky, for they embody the water goddess. Because of that, all gondola companies have a blue eyed cat as their president.

Aria: A big, fat, Martian cat, he is my favorite character. He can understand human speech, and loves having fun. He is curious, as all cats are, and he likes to help out other people.

Trademark Phrase: Pyun nyan nyan nya! [Ok, its basically the only thing he says. He's a cat. But i love his voice].

Hime: A Persian cat [I think], like her name suggests, she has a very regal manner to her [Hime means Princess in Japanese]. She is president of Himeya.

Maa: A ... weird ... cat ... who loves to bite Aria's stomach. He is president of Orange Company.

Music: The music in this anime is very calm, very relaxing. Something thats unique is that there is no opening sequence - rather, the song is played in the background while we watch the characters do stuff.

Akari, who is the Main Main Character of the show.

The three main characters from right to left - Aika, Akari, and Alice

Akari, Aika, and Alice, all with their 'reaction' face on, which they make whenever they're having a reaction to something or talking in a certain way. I rather like these faces.

Aika steering the Gondola, with Ai and Akari as the passengers.

Alicia, who is the water fairy that we see the most.

The three water fairies, from right to left - Athena, Akira, and Alicia

Aria, the martian cat and president of the Aria Company. He is rather intelligent for a cat. On his head, beneath his sailors hat is another cat, Pete, who only appears for one episode.

Aria attempting to help out with an injury that Alice inflicted on herself during the 'Left Hand Punishment' episode.

A landscape shot. There are a couple every episode, and they're all done really well. The three apprentices are all in the gondola, taking their practice together as they usually do.

Now, let me make note that this is the first of 3 series. The total episodes number of episodes is 52. Because they're all called different things, I decided to do each of them as I watch them.

Congradulations if you noticed something weird with the names. They all begin with A!! There are only four main characters in the series that don't: The mailman, who never gets a name; Woody, who is a sylph, and the two cats mentioned above.

There were a few characters I skipped over, like Woody, because even though I could tell you their personalities on the spot, they don't play a major role in the show. Their names are, so that you don't yell at me, Al, Akatsuki, Woody, the Mailman.

I just barely made it this week. I'm probably not going to be able to post next week, but when I next post its probably going to be a manga.

Cyaz
/Vavoysh

Angelic Layer

Hey there.
There is an Angelic Layer Manga and Anime. However, because its been a while since I've read the manga and I just finished the anime, I'm only going to talk about the anime.

Title: Angelic Layer
Genre: Action, Comedy, Shojo-ish
Rating: 6/10

Plot Summary: Suzuhara Misaki moves to Tokyo city in order to attend school and for a hope that she will see her mother, who left 7 years previous to work in Tokyo. After exiting the station, she sees on a big screen two people fighting. However, these are not people - rather they are Angels, which are dolls controlled by a Deus. These dolls are custom made, and they fight in Angelic Layer, which is the name of the sport. She is told all this by the scientist Icchan, who walked up to her and started telling her this stuff. Ignoring the possibibility that he might be a lolicon [AKA, pedophile][He isn't], she followed him into the Anglelic Layer store, where he went and showed her what to buy to create her own angel. After creating her own Angel, who she called Hikaru [which means Light], and making friends, Kotaro and Tamayo, she enters tournaments and goes on to become the Kiseki no Rookie [Miracle Rookie].

Analysis [Contains Spoilers][Highlight to View]: Its a decent enough anime. Its done by CLAMP, which makes some good anime/manga, but I do have some problems with it. Early on in the series, Kotaro developes a crush on Misaki, which is teased upon by Tamayo. However, later on in the series, Tamayo admits that she's had a crush on Kotaro for a long time. If thats the case, why did she even push him onto Misaki to start with? The other thing I can't get around is the fact that she is the Kiseki no Rookie. She starts playing, and then she never looses. She only lost once, and that was too Kotaro's little genius sister, Hatoko. She beat every opponent after that, continuously gaining in strength, without really appearing to. Additionally, the Champion, Shuko, who is her mom, lost to her. When she hadn't lost to 77 or so other players. Finally, there is the matter with her mom. Her mom, quite frankly, is a wuss. A gigantic one. She's afraid to see Misaki, because she's afraid of what Misaki will think of her. She doesn't want Misaki to see her in a wheelchair. However, by postponing it, isn't she just making it worse?

End of Spoilers

Analysis [No Spoilers]: Some of the fights are cool. I think that the plot is a bit iffy, but its a 26 episode show expanded from a 25 or so chapter manga. There really isn't much you can do with it. I think that the comedic moments are great, but sometimes it just pushes it. Some of the fights are good, some are bad. It seems like in order to make a new plot point in the fight, they introduce something, that they can miraculously explain away in all of the previous fights. While sometimes, it works, but other times ... I just can't buy it. Theres only so much you can ignore.
Additionally, when you 'launch' angels onto the layer, you say an opening shpeal. Which is kinda lame. And I really dont see how Hikaru can fall like the way that she does in that.

There isn't really much to the anime except for the tournament. The first 4 or so episodes deal with her starting, and then there is the tournament. The rest of the plot then deals with the tournament. The unimportant matches get an entire episode, and some of the 'big' matches, you never see the character again. If you do, its very very minor.

This is a cute anime, and ok for a laugh. Some of the fights are good, while others are meh. Watch it if you want.


First Image - Icchan talking to Misaki when she buys the Angel Egg.
Second Image - Athena, Angel to the Champion, launching her ultimate attack.


First Image - Hikaru on the Layer, with Misaki sitting in the controlling egg behind her.
Second Image - Hikaru kicking Mao, an opposing angel, during the same fight.

There are better images that I could get, but I have the episodes in .ogm format, which makes them hard to look through.

/Vavoysh

What is Anime?

Anime. We know it, we love it.

But what exactly is it?

Anime is, in its simplest sense, Japaneese cartoons. Its name comes from what it was origionally called, Japanimation, which eventually was just shortened to anime, although how they got the 'mey' sound, I don't know.

Anime is used in many things - TV shows being the most common example. They can also be used in some movies, and if you want to stretch it a bit, computer games.

Anime got its start in the 1920s, when Japaneese people decided to experiment with - guess what - animation. It then quickly grew in the 1930s as a way to make settings and have plots that simply were not possible given technology. It further grew as a simplication of American animation techniques, to make things even cheapter. This has been continueing to this day, with alot of anime being drawn by computers nowadays instead of by hand.

Anime is a way to show things that couldn't be possible in this world, or even just elaborate on this world. Many times, there will be plots where someone gets magical powers, or gigantic robots come and fight. Anime is just a different form of story telling, that can cover wide ranges of subjects. These can include shonen [male stuff], shoujo [female stuff], romance, action, drama, comedy, bits of everyday life [which probably similar to a sitcom], and many more things.

There is a certain 'art' to anime. Every artist in cubism draws slightly differently, yet they are all still considered to be cubists. It is much the same way for anime. There are great similarities in most anime works - however, each has its own unique style. Many times people will watch an anime just for its glorious artwork, and discard another for its horrible one. The artwork can greatly affect the mood of the scene, amplifying the viewer's emotions.

A picture from Angelic Layer, depicting the so called 'chibi'[childish] side to anime. Note how the person in the back isn't well defined line-wise, and lighting falls pretty much uniformly on him.

Two images from Death Note, depicting a more dramatic style of drawing. Note how the light falls across the face, and how there is much more detail in order to give a more evil, dramatic feel to the images.

Asides from those points, most people watch anime because its fun to watch. You can immerse yourself in another world, with a whole other set of characters, and live through them things that you could never do yourself. [Much like little kids who play superhero after watching superman, but most of the time people don't do that. Unless they're at conventions. But conventions break all known rules of life because they're that awesome.]

People from all walks of life watch anime. Most people don't admit it, however, in America, because its considered 'uncool'. Well, I assure you, it isn't. Many people that say it is such havn't actually watched anime, but they've been told its bad so they don't even try it. Alot of people that watch it get hooked, and continue to watch anime and immerse themselves in fantastic worlds of adventure, drama, romance, and all that sort of stuff. [Kind of makes you wish that it was like that every day.]

Anyways, I hope that that has slightly cleraed up what Anime is. Soon I'll post a post saying what manga is, then I'll get to the actual reviews.

/Vavoysh