Posts Tagged ‘character-design’
Aquarion, LOL
March 23rd, 2008
I can see why Funimation chose Aquarion to test the season box-set release instead of releasing it the traditional one volume at a time. Aquarion has names behind it that anime fans in the US recognize like Shoji Kawamori and Yoko Kanno, so Funimation can market the show. Who doesn’t like Yoko Kanno?
Though after watching the first volume, it’s pretty easy to see why Aquarion was chosen as a season-set guinea pig. The first five episodes are quite lame. I know I probably would not have bought volume two after seeing volume one.
Sure, most mecha shows are either super cheesy or are trying their hardest to prove mecha can be a serious business. Aquarion straddles the line quite deliberately in equal parts that it comes off as trying too hard without a clue. Eventually it sorts it self out enough to dump some interesting ideas about some shadow angel bad guys who harvest humans as food and that there are reincarnated heroes who are able to fight them.
Dead Flowers, Red Garden
January 25th, 2008
One volume in and I begin to wonder which Gonzo made Red Garden. Is it the one that made Last Exile and Gankutsuou or the one that made SpeedGrapher and Real Bout High School? Cheap-shot mentioning RBHS, I know. I guess either way, Red Garden promises to be horrific, though obviously I pray for the good kind.
009-1 Weird Look, but I Like It
January 6th, 2008
As far as current style goes, 009-1 has a unique look to the character designs which acts as both blessing and curse. It’s a new show that looks old, so to many fans that makes 009-1 a fugly show. Fugly hurts when the sex appeal of the lead, Mylene Hoffman who comes from the curvaceous school of character design, is supposed to sell the show. On the other hand, the retro look adds a lot to the mood of 009-1, if 60’s spy movies and tv shows have ever been part of your viewing pleasure. After a few minutes I got to liking the art direction and character design quite a bit, but even though I know and get that Mylene is sexy, she doesn’t turn me on. That’s actually OK though.
The First Ten Mushi-Shi
September 24th, 2007
I wandered into a random screening room sometime around ten at night, mostly just looking for a place to sit down and rest. It almost didn’t matter what anime was showing; a seat and a break from the convention was the goal. As soon as I sat down, the opening for the next episode began. Some seconds pass. Hazy forest images and the first phrase of an acoustic guitar walking beside a gentle voice singing — I knew Mushi-Shi was something else. The opening imagery and music were so atypical of anime that I found myself relieved of any cynicism I might have carried into the viewing experience. Almost a purification. It’s kind of funny that the opening song is The Sore Feet Song considering the only reason I was in that chair at that particular time was because my feet hurt.
Wallpaper from Desk Top Anime
My Otome DVD vol. 1
July 30th, 2007
Over the years anime studios have come up with scores of variations on the cutie weapon. My-Otome continues the tradition of girlie armaments with an earnestness that has me wanting to tell Sunrise and Bandai, please make more. I love this franchise. It feels like it does exactly what it meant to do, and that’s provide some action, cheesecake, and drama.
About My-Otome
Synopsis from the Bandai Entertainment site:
“They possess the powers of a lost era, serving as the peacekeepers and protectors of the numerous kingdoms on the planet Earl; they are the Otome. And for Arika Yumemiya, the dream of becoming a Meister Otome has brought her through the desert to the Windbloom Kingdom where she hopes to train at the prestigious Garderobe Academy.
However gaining admittance at the academy won’t be as easy as she thinks it is. Not only will she find herself rescuing the soon to be Queen of Windbloom, fending off a giant mechanized warrior, and discovering her latent powers as an Otome, she’ll also have to win a battle against an established Otome in order to be admitted. And even if she makes it in, how is she going to pay those school fees?”
Arika Yumemiya is a bumpkin trying to scratch her way into an elite academy where the best and brightest learn to become Otome, kick-ass weapon chicks. The first four episodes on the DVD does a pretty decent job of setting the stage and hinting at a darker plot brewing. Mostly, it sticks to getting to know the characters as they are before all hell inevitably breaks loose.
My-Otome has a lot of characters to know. Some anime take twice as long to introduce half as many characters and only do it half as well. Otome handles the bulk of the introductions in one episode as Arika literally runs by them all. The characters get about five seconds to let us know the key to their personality and for the most part Sunrise nailed it, sparing us some of the drudgery of character intros.