Attack of the New Season

The recent crops of anime that have been surfacing in Japan have increasingly swung over to the unholy land of fan service and regurgitation. The midterm summer season, which gaps the space between when the big important full season series that aired in October end and when the next new hyped shows begin, has usually been filled with less then inspiring titles. This year is the worst that I have witnessed in the number of years I have been faithfully following the Japanese season cycles, searching for the freshest newest series’. Usually I will view the mass majority of the new titles airing and offer up a few paragraphs for each, giving a short plot synopsis and my initial reactions to the shows. This year however, I don’t want to destroy that many brain cells and have resorted to fast forwarding through episodes to get a general feel for them. Out of the dozen or so shows, probably more really, I have settled on just 3 to watch, and what is really sad is that only one of them is new.

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is just a retell of the original series based on the on going manga, so no real new ground there, but definitely a welcomed and familiar story. The incredibly cute and kid friendly Chi’s Sweet Home was green lit with a second installation of the 3 minute slice of life series subtitled Chi’s New Home.

So while we see that two of the three brand new TV series I have decided to watch are continuations and rehashes of shows already aired one wonders out of the bounty of new shows what the third and new series is all about. Could it possibly the semi anticipated fantasy series based on the semi popular ero game filled with gratuitous nudity, ludicrous body fluid and fanservice, Queens Blade? Could it be the great American past time summer sizzler shonen sports romp Cross Game? Or possibly the attempts to tap into the highly lucrative fan base that gave us 2 seasons of the riveting mecha sports series Eureka Seven (also slated for a theatrical release soon) in the basketball mech series Basquash! While I was tempted to watch the bi-shonen Victorian supernatural thriller Pandora Hearts, I also knew I couldn’t forget about the apparent homage to over the top action video game titles with Sengoku Basara. I also passed up two titillating fantasy titles, Slap Up Party and Tears to Tiara. No, I finally made my choice and with bypassing the amazingly cleaver fanservice laden Asura Cryin’ and Valkyria Chronicles. I settled on Higepiyo.

Now you may say, but why settle for a 5 minute off the wall comedy about a bearded chicken that acts like an old Japanese man when you have such comedic gems as Charady’s Daily Joke or K-on. But no, I have to stand my ground and keep my self from being inundated with too many quality shows, even if it means I have to forsake watching the thrilling super natural mystery Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom.

Now I may find room for other series, as I am backlogging season two of Hayate the Combat Butler seeing as I have only watched 6 episodes from the original series and I have some mild interest in Shangri-La and Eden of the East. I have yet to get to these titles u to so much time being spent trudging through the pile of quality crap presented to me so far.

I think I’m beginning to hate fanservice.

Blade of the Immortal - anime

Blade of the Immortal (無限の住人) is a 13 episode historical action series based on manga of the same name by Samura Hiroaki.  It was originally broadcast on Japanese TV in 2008.

    Blade of the Immortal takes place in the shogunate era of Japan, where the samurai has become complacent and weak due to the relative lack of war that was seen in the previous era's. Instead of fighting all of the time these upper crust warriors occupy their time with debauchery and graft. One positive way the clans keep themselves out of trouble is through teaching their own unique fighting styles to anyone willing to pony up the cash. One ambitious dojo, which was spawned due to a schism from another dojo, has decided that it will unite all of the schools in Japan under its own banner and those that resist will be destroyed. On their path to redemption a hit squad from the dojo attacks the dojo which they originally broke away from, killing its members and leaving the teenage daughter of the head of the dojo alive. Young Rin vows vengeance for the senseless murder and rape of her parents and trains day and night to kill the men responsible for her misery.

    With the guidance of an old Buddhist nun she is introduced to a scruffy swordsman named Manji to hire as a bodyguard while she is on her path to redemption. Manji offers an advantage to her goal in the fact that he is nearly immortal. Years earlier Manji went on a rampage killing samurai responsible for the death and dishonor of his father. The 100^th and final samurai he fought was his sister’s husband. The killing blow was dealt in front of her, causing her to close up and revert mentally to a child. The old nun found Manji on his deathbed and fed him magical worms that spread through out his body, healing all of his wounds, restoring him to life. Manji, feeling guilt over the state his sister was in, decided to dedicate his life to caring for her, until one day when she was murdered by a group of bandits. After her death he vowed to the nun that he would repent for his sins of killing 100 good guys by killing 1000 bad guys. Once he reaches his goal she would have to remove the cursed worms from his body so that he may join his sister in death. Seeing an opportunity to help Manji she points Rin in his direction.

    Now, with an almost unstoppable killing machine by her side they set out on the path of vengeance against Rin’s parent’s killers. Along the way they both must face personal awakenings and physical danger as they immerse themselves into a plot much bigger then either imagines.

    So I have been a fan of the manga since the mid 90’s and right from the beginning had dreamed of an anime. At first I was hesitant when seeing the trailers as I wasn’t keen on the detail in the artwork. The manga is highly detailed. I overcame my objection with the art after watching the first episode understanding that it would be expensive to replicate the level of detail found in the manga.  The simplicity of the design in the anime worked well. The series was mostly faithful with the manga, they added in a few things that didn’t take place in the manga at specific points but it actually helped with the story. As the manga evolved, more and more elements were introduced, with the anime they began introducing them early on. In the manga it seems as if Samura didn’t have a set idea when he started and evolved it as he went. With the anime they could introduce those elements earlier, giving them more depth and understanding. The anime quickly pounds through the first few issues of the comic, covering the beginnings of the journey of growth and revenge, while touching the surface of the grander schemes being formulated in the shadows. Then, it ends. The anime is only 13 episodes that leave nothing resolved and more questions and plot lines in the wings, waiting. The end of the final episode points to more coming in the future, but with the fickle anime industry that is very questionable.

    While it was only 13 episodes long and barely scratched the surface of the story I was still quite happy with the result. I have no complaints with the anime aside form the soundtrack, which at first was cool but then got grating as the same music continued to be played, over and over and over again in each episode. The animation, while simple, fit well and was executed properly. The voices for the characters that I have only imagined for over a decade did not disappoint my hard core nerd aesthetics. The translation of the manga to anime was quite faithful and the things they changed were done for the better. All in all it was a very satisfying anime and even if more never gets made I don’t feel any loss. At least this was created and did justice to this long running and personal favorite manga. One question remains from the anime though, and that is the continued eluding to Manji being placed in modern times. In both the opening/ending credits and the eye catches between commercial breaks they show images and scenery of the modern word. Weird...

    The anime was licensed for release in North America by Media Blasters.  The entire manga, 31 volumes, is available through Dark Horse comic.

A Quick Look at the Spring 2009 anime season

It is the April and that means brand new anime for the spring/summer season. Unfortunately this season’s selection leaves a lot to be desired. Here are a few of the new series I have watched and/or skimmed through.

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood the eagerly anticipated follow up to the immensely popular shonen adventure series from 2004 proved to be mysterious (at least to me) in what it was actually going to cover. The original series had wrapped up neatly once the movie was released and there seemed to be no room left to expand the story. Everyone wondered what this new series was going to give us, could it possibly life beyond the movie? Then as the previews started rolling out it became obvious that it was going to be a remake of the original series. This was only partially true. The new series is based on the manga, which apparently was based off of the original series. So in a way we are seeing a rehash of the original story, but the manga is still on going. So we have a completely different canon now with the series in the form of the Brotherhood TV show. This brings to mind two things, we have to go through some of the same boring parts that were slow in the original (like their origins and leaving their country life in search of salvation) and the fact that we pretty much know most of what is going on, at least if you can consider the story to be similar to the original anime. You know who all the bad guys are; you know the major twists, what else is there to find out? Know, not having read the manga, I’m not sure how different it is from the original anime, but to some extent I don’t see some things changing, like the identity of King Bradley and the location of the brothers missing body parts. On the other hand, I truly enjoyed the original anime and it will be nice to spend time once again with comfortable characters, especially the ones who died prematurely in the original anime. One question remains to be answered above all else; if this is based on the still running manga, how long with this anime last and when do the fillers start?

It is Full Metal Alchemist, the animation is the same, the people are the same, you know what’s going on, but it is still nice to return. It’s like rewatching the original and catching things you missed before and not actually rewatching the original. I will be happy to indulge until it becomes oppressive like Naruto and Bleach have become.

Higepiyo is one in a list of new, odd-ball comedy shorts that shows the slice of life day to day events of the plutonic Japanese family (mom, dad, and son) and their new adopted pet chicken. There is just one problem; the chicken has a beard and acts in every way shape or form like a surly unemployed old man. So for 500 yen the family has acquired a sake drinking, ass scratching, morning news watching chicken.

If you don’t think this is funny there is something wrong with your sense of humor. Sure if you don’t understand the subtle jokes about how the chicken behaves it could be due to inexperience with certain Japanese specific mannerisms. There is the danger that the show can get old quickly, you really only have so far you can go on the premise of the story. You can only introduce the odd poultry to new people so many times before it gets boring seeing new people over react about its human like tendencies. You can only show the foul acting like ji-chan so many times before enough is enough. What might really make the series carry on for a little longer is to find out that he’s a Yakuza chicken as well. It would be highly entertaining, for a while anyways, to see Higepiyo (literally bearded cheep) pullout some Yak moves. If he produces a chicken sized wakizashi I’ll be on the floor. I don’t foresee the mafia thing, but for now watching the chick act like a 70 year pensioner with no qualms about his attitude is fun. It also helps that the episodes are around 5 minutes long.

Chi’s New Address is the second series of the sweet, entertaining, kid friendly slice of life story about a lost kitten and her new human owners. The series picks up where the original one left off. Chi’s humans are faced with either moving form their apartment or getting rid of her, since they can’t have pets where they live. Now they must make the decision and life on from there.

Nothing has changed from the first series, the episodes are drawn the same, are still about 3 minutes in length and feature cute, funny and endearing adventures in this adorable kittens life…my kids are ecstatic with the shows return.

Basquash! is another title to ad to the ever growing cross genre of sports mecha anime. For me it pretty much stops there. The animation is sub par, although the mech designs are pretty cool, if only they were used for good as opposed to evil. The show is about basketball mechs. For some unholy reason crap like this gets very popular, see Eureka Seven, not only do these shows suck because its combining mechs with sports they really suck because the rely on every horrible shonen plot device in existence. A quick flip through the first episode proves that this show will not disappoint in the shonen suckyness area either.

Queens Blade is the epitome of televised fan service. This fantasy, in more way than one, is based on a semi popular ero video game and deals with a cast of scantly clad, obscenely well endowed women warriors as they do what ever it is they do to allow them to sleep better at night. While the show is on TV, I admit it must on cable, because it is semi graphic in the nudity department and sticks to its hentai roots by having anatomical weapons as part of its character offensive line up.

This show really stinks of bad mid 90’s hentai, and looks like it too. I hate fantasy anime to begin with, so make it look like something that came out 15 years ago, have it be directly from the ero empire and you really have yourself a steaming pile of celluloid garbage to fester on your hard drive. In fact the only reason I still haven’t deleted the damn thing is to mess with people with…but soon it will meet with its digital demise and I will try to repress any memories of what I have watched by watching Chi again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and aga