Warner Bros. Studios, already in the process of making a live action Akira, (although there’ve been discrepancies over if the project has been scrapped), is trying to obtain the rights to create a live action adaptation of Bleach. Some have speculated that the move to make the Bleach film may be in place of Akira, after problems with directors and writing have arisen.
On top of that, The director currently attached to the project is Peter Segal, director of Get Smart and 50 First Dates.
After making it half-way through the harem/mermaid/romantic comedy known as Seto no Hanayome, I’m proud to say that I’ve become a fan of this fine comedy series!
A young boy gets saved from drowning by a mermaid but, according to mermaid law, if a human sees a mermaid’s true form, both have to be killed. The only solution to the problem is for him to marry her.
A young boy gets saved from drowning by a mermaid but, according to mermaid law, if a human sees a mermaid’s true form, either the human must be killed or the mermaid must be killed. The only solution to the problem is for him to marry her.
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Initially, I thought Seto no Hanayome would be a pretty generic and bland harem anime with mermaids, cute girls, and a perverted monkey friend. It was an anime I thought I would NEVER touch, but out of sheer boredom, and reading through the posts on the Subculture Anime Blog praising the the anime for being an excellent romantic-comedy, I decided to try it out for myself. I was immediately shocked at how good the series was! and this was a GONZO anime!?
The series did get off to a rather boring, and bland start, but maybe after….4 episodes in, the series really began to “take-off” and venture into the crazy antics of the series’ characters, which all prove to be VERY entertaining. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of Akeno!!!
The characters in the anime start off rather annoying and unlikable (which is really bad!), but after they develop, and you learn a bit more about them, you really can grow to like them. The character designs are pretty solid as well. Not sure about Maki though…she’s still a bit annoying…Lunar/Sun are my favorite character(s).
Even though you have to adjust to liking the characters, without a doubt, the strongest point of the series is the comedy! it’s got some of the most WTF and in your face comedy I’ve seen in quite some time, which I just love! perhaps one of the funniest moments in the anime thus far is the point where Nagasumi and his father sit around watching fish porn. Actually,episode 11 all in itself was just a riot. As funny as this series may be, there are times where the humour and episode does fall a bit flat. Which can be forgiven since the next episode always proves to be even more awesome than the last! I also think that it’s worth noting that this is pretty clean for a harem anime, but some of the jokes do get a bit raunchy.
Even though this an excellent comedy series without question, it certainly has it faults… BUT good news is, that it has very few. The biggest problem is the fact that (with every long-running comedy series) the humour involved eventually runs “dry” and becomes “stale” at certain points, and in attempt to save the humor from plummeting since it’s the main point of the show. The writers just decide to re-use old gags from who knows how long ago in order to save the show. Most notably in this series is the “Masa-san~” line… it’s only funny up to a point, I personally feel as though that joke is being used a bit too much… I think that perhaps the jokes and comedy are the biggest concern for me as I continue to trek through the series. The animation or rather art, also remains a fairly weak point to the series. And this is a GONZO series!? (the Limited Edition DVD covers are VERY beautiful though) !!?well, the humor more than makes up for that!
Besides the crazy and likeable characters, and off-the-walls comedy, another merit of Seto no Hanayome is the music. I’m not talking about the BGM here, which seems non-existant(except for that weird singing music), but the best part of the music is actually (for once) the character/insert songs! Your Gravitation, Eiyuu no Uta and Rasan are amongst some of the best the series has offered! and there are tons more I have yet to listen to!
So then, in conclusion,Seto no Hanayome is a crazy and off-walls-comedy centered around mermaids. And so far I’m Loving it(…). It’s got side-splitting comedy, awesome music, likeable characters and cute girls, what more could you ask for!? GONZO should so more anime like this and STRIKE WITCHES, they really know what they’re doing when they produce comedies, let’s hope that they’ll live long enough to produce and outstanding comedy series! that’s enough to make it one of my top anime(which it currently is now~)! But FUNimation has licensed this series…I’ll buy it, but I’m a bit worried about the dub since they don’t do too solid of a job with comedy dubs…
*this was only a review of the first 13 episodes, once I’ve finished the anime, I will review episodes 14-26 and maybe even the OVAs!*
*this’ll be the layout of anime reviews here from now on!*
Black Rock Shooter, in simplest terms, is a Vocaloid sub-culture spawned from the creation of a group named Supercell. The most profound members are Ryo and Huke, who are credited with this incredible piece of work. Ryo is the composer and genius behind nearly every Supercell song. Huke is the artist who did the original work for BRS and other Hatsune Miku variants.
Black Rock Shooter originated as nothing more than a song and a piece of artwork by the original creators. However, a fan took the liberty of creating a 3D animated music video using the original song. That video gave BRS a plot. The song was originally perceived as the narrator wandering through a deserted city searching for something dear and important to her that she had lost. The version that came from the fan’s video had a different plot. The narrator’s sister, now known as Dead Master, had betrayed her and ran her through in an attempt to kill her. The narrator then spends some time tracking her down to kill her and free her spirit.
Just like with Hatsune Miku, there have been products released for Black Rock Shooter, mostly figurines. There have been clothing articles as well. Most importantly of these released products has been the pilot episode for the upcoming anime being produced and commercialized by Good Smile Company, who also released a lot of other products for BRS.
On the anime project are the directors for Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, so if it’s anything like those two its going to be a great show. The expected release date for the anime is sometime around August. I am yet unaware of the plot to the anime. There are also several other characters for Black Rock Shooter that aren’t as important and that I can’t remember off the top of my head.
I will include the videos of the original music video by Huke, and the pilot episode for the anime. Enjoy! (Did I also mention I’m completely obsessed with Black Rock Shooter? I did? Well now…)
Poor Durarara! You used to get your own posts, but the past few week’s you’ve had to settle for potpourri.
Rather, that’s what I initially wrote, since I intended for this to be a segment in a larger scattershot post. Then I wrote too much. Oopsie.
The problem is that Durarara! is taking a little too long to build things up. I like that we’re getting to know several characters, with the Shizuo and whatever-they-are-Dollar-kids-with-the-otaku-torture-artists episodes being the coolest so far. The series has a good sense of humor, everything that happens is genuinely interesting, and I’m anticipating each week’s episode, but a guy can only take so much “just you wait” before he gets a little antsy.
As much as I like series that withhold information and let you guess at what’s coming next, I don’t like series that do this sort of thing only to have said reveal suck. Look at Lost. They play the cocktease game well, then when shit gets revealed I’m left thinking “that’s all?” Durarara! isn’t anywhere near that level of lameness, but I’d love just a scootch of payoff sometime soon. The Celty’s head bit from the other week was anti-climatic, and this week’s “Mikado is probably in change of the Dollars” reveal just didn’t have the oomph that it deserved.
I’m chalking this up to the animators having too much time to get the job done. Baccano!, a series by the same creator, had already established more characters with the same level of detail by this point and was well on its way to a big-time climax. Baccano! did all of this by letting us get to know everyone in the middle of the action, rather than spending time with flashbacks and monologues. I prefer to see things play out that way rather than seeing someone spell it out for us in their thoughts. I’m sure that’s the way it played out in the novels, since that’s the way novels usually function, but it isn’t the ideal way for a visual and kinetic medium such as animation to work. Baccano! got that right, but Durarara! seems to be a little too true to the source material.
At least that’s what I’m assuming, and I do love to make assumptions.
Part of my “frustration” (and I use that word lightly) is that Durarara! seems to be decelerating. It started off with a frantic pace, tossing out all sorts of stuff in the first episode and setting things up so we could piece them together as we went. Unlike Baccano!, which managed to maintain that level of energy throughout the entire run, Durarara! all but slammed on the breaks after that point. It’s as if it went straight from the highway to a podunk country town that makes all of its money off of speeding tickets. Every now and then things pick up, like when we saw Shizuo’s past or when we saw that “gang” take on human trafficers, but for the most part the series is being a little too leisurely.
I have a feeling things’ll speed up now that most of the “revelations” seem to have taken place, so I’m not too concerned. Just gotta get that stuff said.
And yeah, despite all of this Durarara! is still my favorite new series of the Winter season. Cobra’s a close second, but I’m still absolutely loving Durarara! It’s just a little too ponderous when there’s no need to pause and think about what’s going on. Stuff just needs to happen more franticly. Let us pick up the severed heads later.
The world is under attack. From a galaxy far, far away, a new threat has come to conquer and destroy the planet. A small threat, a green threat…and one that does chores. And croaks.
The threat is none other than Sgt. Keroro, an amphibious alien whose attempt to invade Japan fails miserably, leaving him in the clutches of the Hinata household. Fuyuki Hinata, an occult fanatic, is fascinated by the invader. His elder sister, Natsumi, despises and distrusts the slippery alien menace and quickly becomes his biggest advisary. Their mother, Aki, is a manga editor and decides Keroro is the perfect inspiration for her latest work. He’s permitted to stay…under the condition that he does all the household chores. However, the frog has more nefarious interests…like eating junk food. And building Gundam models. And taking over the world.
Adapted from the manga of Mine Yoshizaki, the anime series is one of the craziest and funniest things ever to come out of the land of the rising sun. I had waited a long time for ADV (RIP) to release the dub (or at the very least, a decent sub) and feared the worst when that company went belly-up. However, Funimation saved the day, rescuing the frog (and several other franchises), even providing a test episode to get viewer feedback. The resulting dub replaces the japanese pop references with American ones, lampooning everything from 24 to Star Trek, although keeping most of the gags that well trained otaku would recognize. Making things even better is that the dub has been released in DVD half-season sets (meaning paying $30 for 13 episodes, as opposed to 4). Or watch it on Hulu.
The stage is set for the final battle in Railgun! And yes, Telestina is the baddie.
The episode opens with Telestina letting Haruue see Banri.
Meanwhile back at Judgement Branch, Misaka tells the other all about what happened with Kiyama and Telestina the previous night. This leads everyone to believe that the case is now closed. Uiharu also thinks that because of this, Haruue will be discharged from the MAR facility, so rushes home to prepare things to meet her. However, she decides to make a side trip to pay a visit to an old “friend”:
After talking things over with Kiyama, Uiharu convinces her to come with her to the MAR facility, where maybe the research Kiyama did can help the MAR people with their investigation.
After getting to MAR however, they discover that Telestina is moving the children to another facility, along with Haruue and they are unable to see them. She then begins mocking Uiharu and smashes the research data Kiyama brought.
It is then that they learn Telestinas full name:
Telestina Kihara Lifeline.
Kiyama becomes enraged when she learns that Telestina is involved in Kiharas Level 6 experiment, and attacks her. Telestina though dispatches her with ease.
Back at the Judgement branch office, a distraught Uiharu reveals Telestinas true colors, and they begin researching her. They discover a shocking secret:
Uiharu continues to weep profusely, thinking she is unable to do anything now for Haruue and the others. Kuroko however steps in to knock her back to her senses:
It is after all the commotion stops however that everyone realizes that Misaka is gone.
Misaka has gone off to confront Telestina herself, right as she’s transporting the children to a new facility.
Misaka becomes enraged at Telestinas true colors, however when she tries to use her power, her power is canceled out. It turns out that Telestina is using a large Capacity Down system, and that she is in fact the person who invented the system and gave it to Skill-Out. Misaka tries to hold her own against Telestina, but without her powers she is helpless and eventually is beaten.
As Misaka is about to be captured by MAR, help arrives in a surprising way:
After being rescued by Kongo, Misaka is taken to the hospital, where she is awaken by Kuroko and the others. She realizes what happened, and gets up to chase after Telestina, thinking that because she’s the one who essentially led Telestina to Kiyama and let Telestina take the kids, that it’s her sole responsibility to stop Telestina. However, Saten blocks her path:
Saten tells her to not go off on her own, and rely on her friends. Saten also gets Uiharu and Kuroko to make up, and tells them all they need to work as a team to get Haruue and the children back. With everyone “reunited”, they return to the Judgement branch office to track the MAR trucks, as well as implore AntiSkill for help.
As they are tracking the trucks, they notice a certain blue Lamborghini chasing them:
With Kiyama in hot pursuit, all the girls (including Konori!) prepare for the battle ahead.
Well, that was another good episode! As I’ve been suspecting ever since her character was shown at the end of the Level Upper arc, Telestina is in fact the person pulling the strings in the background. If you read my post last week, I theorized that Telestina may have be in cohorts with Kihara and the Level 6 experiment, and that her befriending Misaka and the others was simply a ploy to get to Kiyama. I was more or less right on the money (yay me!!), however the fact that Telestina is in fact the granddaughter of Kihara, and happens to be the First Sample Kiyama was referring to, was a bit of a shock to me.
I just hope the fact that Telestina is the first experiment test subject is the reason why she went so bat-shit crazy in the second half of the episode. She did a complete 180 as far as her character, and that was unexpected for me personally. As I said (bragged) before, I knew Telestina was the baddie, I just didn’t know she was the psycho type of baddie. I have to say she did a damn good job at covering her true face. I also got a kick out of her psycho expressions in the battle with Misaka, although I’m sorry to say I don’t find her attractive anymore. Sorry, psycho chicks = NO.
As for the whole Uiharu EMO thing, I’m just glad it’s over. And although I thought Saten would be the one to do it, I’m glad Kuroko SLAPPED some sense back into Uiharu. That was seriously one of the best scenes of the episode, and I found my self going “YEAH!” when she did it. Seriously, I didn’t understand why Uiharu was so distraught anyway. Hopefully she’s back to (MOE) normal.
I loved the small battle scene we had in this episode, but it left me wanting more. Fortunately, it looks like we get the big one next week, and I’m excited for it. As much as I bemoaned the second half of the season for not being able to top the first, I have to say that this is shaping up to be a better ending over the Level Upper arc. I also like the fact that Misaka isn’t the only who’s gonna be fighting, as all the other girls were shown “suiting” up for battle as well (although I question how effective Saten with a BAT is gonna be!). Hopefully we’re treated to a grand battle, and a great ending to the series next week. At least I hope they’ll make it worth skipping the Sisters arc…………nah, no way that’s happening!
Black Rock Shooter, in simplest terms, is a Vocaloid sub-culture spawned from the creation of a group named Supercell. The most profound members are Ryo and Huke, who are credited with this incredible piece of work. Ryo is the composer and genius behind nearly every Supercell song. Huke is the artist who did the original work for BRS and other Hatsune Miku variants.
