Ravenhat's special week of review 2

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Day one: Bokurano



Once again it looks like I will be taking a look at the manga Bokurano: Ours. Having reviewed the first book of Bokurano, I was interested as to the quality of further books in this series. Thankfully you all (or at least those of you who voted) gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts on the rest of the series. For those who missed my first review I loved the first book of Bokurano: Ours, and was strongly looking forward to the rest of the series. After reading more of this series oddly enough the series really didn’t get any better or worse then this first book, except for the surprising ending (which will not be included in this review). This isn’t really a terrible thing since the first book was an excellent read, however it’s unusually for a series to be so strong in the first book, and to not change in quality as it progresses. This is one of the few books where you can judge by the first book’s direction whether, or not your going like the series.

Even if this manga’s other elements aren’t your cup of tea, there is something that definitely needs to be said about improvement of the artwork from the first volume. While I still see the art as the weakest element of this work, the art does becomes exceptionally strong. The character design for Bokurano is one of the elements that remains just as strong, and individual as in the first book. While the backgrounds remain sometimes rather unimpressive, the further volumes are able to create more dark tension, and a greater sense of action within the setting. The art-style and concepts used for the creative enemy machines, and kids own menacing and alien mech machine are highly polished. Even though the art remains the least appealing element of the this work, it reaches a very high caliber as it grows in further volumes.

If Bokurano really changes much story wise from the first volume, it can said that Bokurano increases it’s sense of moral ambiguity. Again for those who didn’t read my last review of Bokurano: Ours Bokurano, the story centers around 15 children who stumble upon a mysterious cave. In the cave they meet a man named Kokopelli (who oddly looks a lot like John Lennon) working with complex computer equipment. He offers the children the chance to protect the earth in a game by piloting a giant robot. The children agree and form a contract to participate in this game, unaware of consequences of their agreement. The mysterious man teaches them how to battle enemy machines, and then leaves the kids with a odd monkey like robot for a guide. The children quickly find out though that this game is all to real, and that piloting this robot is more of responsibility then many of them bargained for. Worst of all they find that they are forced to fight or the earth will be destroyed, and that even a successful battle will end in the death of person the piloting it. It’s only a matter of time before each child will be forced into pilot the mech, and hopefully save the earth, followed shortly after by death.

The central points of interest within this series are the moral dilemmas presented by the plot, and variety of ways the children act when faced with having to be a pilot. At times in the series there are interesting tales based upon self sacrifice and doing the right thing, but it is the stories where the children act in malicious and self interested ways that are the most interesting to read. It’s also nice that the series usually avoids giving easy answers or being overly preachy. Occasionally though even Bokurano falls prey to the above mentioned faults, and as a result suffers a bit when it does become overly preachy.

In comparison to Neon Genesis Evengelion (which clearly influenced this works in many ways) this manga focus’s on presenting believable characters, and the realistic implications of piloting a giant robot. As a result it focuses much less upon showing brutal mech battles, or the menace and destruction caused by invading robots. Rather then trying to create spectacles through major battles, Bokurano is more concerned with actions of the cast. Bokurano likes focusing in on how people react when under a huge amounts stress, and the huge amount of power and the responsibility that goes along with it. Instead of slowly developing the center casts persona’s and then evolving this cast, this series instead prefers to leave you in the dark to as to the characters major motivations until it’s their turn for a arc. When it comes time for a character’s backstory, however Bokurano takes a fast and much more efficient approach then most manga do. I enjoy this style for a story of this kind, because it allows for much more surprises, and also avoids any distractions away from the character studies. This lack of distraction allows these studies to be more in depth, and makes the cast more compellingly mysterious. While Bokurano’s plot lacks the spectacle that many other mech works have, but it more then makes up for this by instead presenting complex moral choices, and a more realistic and impactful setting.



Bokurano is all about the characters, with the group of children who signed the contract being the main focus. It’s hard to describe any individual child, because the series is based around discovering each kid’s story. Thus revealing too much information about these characters would spoil the plot. This creates a situation that makes it hard to do a good review on Bokurano, since the main purpose of the series is to develop it’s cast (and I don’t want to reveal spoilers). What can be said about the cast, which I remained impressed with (just like I was in my last review), is how much they acted like real kids would. Bokurano works hard to present the main characters with a wide range of motives, and reactions to situations they face. These reactions run the gamut with certain character that are noble and have riotous intentions, while others characters have much sinister intents. This work is not afraid to have some of the children act in cruel, malicious and/or selfish ways. This makes the children much more human, and portrays them much more like real children, rather then as perfect beings. It is this humanist exploration of the cast that really makes this manga so strong.



The rest of the cast likewise is strong, and really fits well in the realistic setting of this story. Koyemshi is a weird sort of monkey like thing left behind Kokopelli after he disappears. Besides being a sarcastic and a menacing figure, his main purpose to is to transport the kids into and out of the mech machine. The other two major cast members are the military officer Masamitsu Seki and Misumi Tanaka. These two characters have the tricky task of taking care of the children, while making sure not to anger Koyemshi (who slices off another officers fingers when threatened), and for the sake of the earth make sure the children do battle. Eventually they are even forced to be part of the contract as well, thus making their already incredibly tough job even harder. At the same time they are shown to have many human attributes, and despite their noble nature behave like most people would in their place. I appreciate that even within all the minor characters, no reoccurring character is a throw away character.

Bokurano didn’t really improve a whole lot from when I first reviewed it. This is due to the fact though that the first volume is so powerful, and sets a mood which is consistently followed by the rest of the series. Bokurano really reinvents the mech genera with it’s more character driven style of story. It focuses more upon moral dilemma’s and drama, rather then on typical focus of giant robot works the action. The art still remains interesting to view, despite not being as landmark a achievement as the characteristics of the cast. This definitely is one of my favorite reads of this year, and is my favorite work of the mech genera. I’d definitely once again highly advise picking this series, especially if you are into series with cerebral concepts.

[crowhats]

Day 2 Blue exorcist

Raven's Special Review week 2: Day 2 Blue Exorcist



I still can’t figure out the sudden popularity of the work for Blue Exorcist, especially when viewing it’s manga adaption (the one I will be reviewing). The only really enjoyable element of this work is that one of the characters is named Mefisto; which reminded me of watching the play Doctor Faustus at the globe theatre in London. Thankfully (or perhaps sadly, if you are unfortunately enough to read this manga) this excellent play has very little in common with this cliched shonen work. I can’t see why people are so happy to buy and support a series like this that takes so few risks, and is so completely cliched. This manga is a frighteningly accurate example of how predictable, and streamlined mainstream shonen titles have become in the last twenty years. While perhaps I was not the intended or proper audience for this particular work, but this is still no excuse for this manga’s many glaring faults.

One of the fundamental problems with this work is that its artwork was simply inexcusably inept (a statement that I rarely make). This manga is one of the worst offenders I have ever seen in terms of backgrounds. Often around half or more of each volume contained no backgrounds what so ever. When backgrounds are included in panels they are generally either noticeably simple, and often used repetitive patterns or basic action shading and lines. While it is common for shonen to be lacking in the background department, Blue Exorcist’s backgrounds are just inexcusably bad and made me feel like I was looking at unfinished art. While the character designs are nicely varied like many shonen works, this manga’s designs were not as inspired or varied as a work like Naruto or One Piece. As for the character models, however I took major issue with the casts facial features and the use of simple standardized uniforms. The characters faces were designed in such a way that they lacked the ability to emote more then basic emotions. As for uniforms, and some of the clothes choices I feel that they were used not because of a design choice, but because they were easier for the artist to draw (much like a Hanabara cartoon). Oddly enough the only character design that really caught my attention was once again the character Mefisto, which was mysterious, and much more memorable looking then the rest of the cast. The art form Blue Exorcist is incredibly lazy and sloppy, especially in terms of it’s backgrounds, which are some of the worst I have ever seen within a manga series.



The story for this work fits into the typical shonen format so well that it’s disturbing. Rin Okumura the main character is a young teenager and orphan. He lives with his younger and more mature twin brother Yukio, and is also raised by a priest named Father Shiro Fujimoto. Rin is a immature outcast who is known for getting into fights with local gangs, and feels like he doesn’t belong any where he goes. His feeling of being a outcast are soon explained when he suddenly discovers that he has a demonic form, and is the son of Satan. The priest who is protecting him gives him a magical sword that when in it’s sheave helps to control his supernatural powers, and hide his demonic appearance. Shortly after finding this all out though his guardian is possessed, and killed by Satan, who is seeking to reunite with his son (why it is that this all happens at this point in time is never explained). After this Rin vows to defeat Satan for the murder of his adopted father by fighting against him. Rin is then met by the high ranking exorcist Mefisto, and is then sent by him to the True Cross academy to learn to become an exorcist. At the academy he meets many new classmates who end up befriending him. He most also remember to avoid revealing his true demonic nature to the students and teachers. At the academy he begins to train hopes of becoming a great exorcist like his caretaker was.

If none of this plot sounds familiar to you then chances are you haven’t read that many shonen works before. The entire loser kid who finds out that he is a monster, and then acts as hero comes straight out of titles like Naruto. This sort of thing has been done again and again multiple shonen works of this sort (and has become quiet stale). If you combine Naruto and Rosario Vampire, and replaced the ninjas with exorcists then chances are you’d come up with a work entirely like this one. Another fundamental problem with this title is that it is clearly not equal to Naruto in terms of its exposition, and more importantly in terms of it’s presentation of action.

While many shonen works like Naruto have plots that often feel like an excuse to get the action, at least the action in Naruto could be counted on to be occasionally surprising, and to sometimes have a major impact story wise. This is sadly not the case with Blue Exorcist, which oddly enough I found was hurt was actually hurt more by a lack of action, rather then having too much it. The action has that quality where you can always predict the outcomes of a battle as soon as the fighting starts. Unlike other shonen works the major conflicts are few and far between due to the school setting, and the fact that the lead character spent most of his time trying to hide his demonic form. When fights did brake out they were mostly the students training against monsters, and ended quickly with the lead either easily winning or losing so as to advance the plot. The fights also lacked any sort of flare or surprise, rather then characters using interesting new attacks (a staple of most shonen) they rely on the same less then impressive (in terms of shonen stories) techniques. The dividing of the battle types was a interesting idea, but it’s handling was flawed. It’s use of these specific combat types is too limiting, and clearly favored the lead characters power type. This division of types is also another concept that is used in many other major and better shonen works.

While the action in Blue Exorcist was sub par, the stories attempts at comedy and making care at all about the cast really is what felt the most forced. I often found myself bored with the predictable and bland nature of both the story, the vein attempts at comedy, and bland attempts cast development. Worst of all though was the constant moralistic preachings presented within the story, which presents perhaps the most blatant and cliche attempts at a shonen style morality I have ever seen. I also loathed how the story took no risks, and seems to use a cliche whenever it could find one. This work does everything possible to be forgettablely average, and to follow a shonen feel at the expense of any creative ideas that could have developed (such as having a real horror story feel). As a result this series lacked any original elements, and was so trudging in pace that I actually would have preferred having read a work like Naruto (which at the very least could deliver some action).



The characters in this work are the stereotypical shonen cast, minus as many characters with interesting traits. This meant that I could not take them seriously as realistic, relate to them, or even find a reason to really care about most of their fate. Rin might be victim of fate, but his grating personality made it impossible for me to feel sympathy for him. While I understand that they were trying to develop him as character and have him mature overtime, I couldn’t get over how arrogant, child like and foolishly he is. He also comes off to me as a mishmash of shonen tropes, and unlike most shonen heroes relies purely on his natural powers, until the end of the fourth volume (the last one read for this review). I could never get into liking or caring about the lead of this series (which is is a major problem).

Beside Mefisto I found the rest of the cast pretty much just as dull and predictable. Yukio his younger human brother, and a teacher at the academy. He behaves as a guardian to his brother, and tries to keep him out of trouble. He acts as a mentor character, but really isn’t given much to do or much of a personality. Rin’s unorthodox and aggressive female teacher Shura appears in the fourth volume. She very much resembles a character like Jiraiya in that she is a powerful, often drunk and arrogant master, who resembles her students in personality. She teaches Rin how to battle more effectively through patience, and technique just as Jiraiya helped Naruto. The only major difference between her, and Jiraiya besides her sex (and that Jiraiya is much more well written) is that instead of being a obsessive pervert, she is instead used for totally pointless fan-service. She has the figure of a character like Tsunade, but not the modesty (she wears a bikini top). She also is far too quickly convinced to train Rin, against her original orders to destroy him (which never clearly explained). The only real interesting character of this entire work is the mysterious demonic paladin (the title of a top ranking exorcist) Mefisto.

He is one of the only characters to actually be given a interesting costume, and is a hard to peg character. He plans to use Rin as a tool against Satan, and is even willing to go behind the back of main council to make sure Rin is trained. Since he is looked down upon by many of the other upper level exorcists for being a demon, it makes sense that he employs this plan without their knowledge or consent, until he is forced eventually to reveal it. I also found it impressive when he then gets the council to side with his experiment, against the wishes of another paladin who wants to kill Rin. It is unclear whether he can be trusted yet though, especially since his plans often involve attacking Rin (which he claims are for training), and initially involved his hiding of Rin. These aspects might signal that he is up to no good or possibly not. He is also the character least hurt by the limited facial features, which allow him to be properly creepy and difficult to read.

The rest of the major cast of characters (and I use this term very loosely) are Rin’s Cross Academy schoolmates. Many of the schoolmates are just background characters, but this work tries to place three of them as important to the plot. Shiemi is the daughter to the owner of a exorcist’s supply shop. After her legs are saved from a demon by Rin and his brother, she then becomes friends with Rin, and seeks to meet and befriend new people (since before that she couldn’t leave her garden). As is typically the case with characters shonen characters of her kind, her power is to summon cute Greenman spirits that put up barriers and heal. Mostly she exist in this work to help it attempt to hammer in painfully cliche morals (I have had to use this set of terms and others like it too much in this review *groan*) and occasionally for comedy that isn’t funny. Another dull cast member is the strung up tough guy monk and ace student Ryuji Suguro. He pretty much acts like Sasuke from Naruto, except that he is much more loud and arrogant. He acts as rival to Rin, and also wishes to defeat Satan, who killed everyone else at his temple while he was absent. Lastly there is the stuck up tsundere character who learns to be less of jerk to others who is named Shiemi. Most of the cast is extremely cliche, and all seem like mash up of Shonen character stereotypes.

Blue Exorcist is the sort of manga that clearly wishes to be a popular mainstream shonen, and does everything in it’s power to copy other big Shonen works. The less then impressive art, which lacked of background was an immediate indicator to me that this work lacked any quality. The story, world and characters are bland, boring and unoriginal, and a real let down even when compared to the works this manga tries to emulate. I found the lead and lack of action only added to my disappointment in this lackluster title. This series feels like yet another example of a cheap attempt at creating a new best selling series. I’m not sure why this series has been so well received recently, but in my opinion it is boring, and offers nothing worthwhile or new even to Shonen fans. While it wasn’t offensive or nearly as bad as some work I have reviewed, I’d definitely advise skipping this one. Instead I’d suggest investing your money in a copy of Marlow’s Doctor Fautus, if your are looking for a creative and interesting work involving magic, demons, and Satan.

[crowhats]

Day Three: Star Fox 64



I’m glad that I finally have a chance to do a video game review, and that the game I’m reviewing first is Star Fox 64. This is one of those games that I came to play much later then it’s original release date, and that I instantly fell in love with upon actually playing. I regret not having played this game earlier, and consider it my favorite game on the Nintendo 64, even surpassing great games such as Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Super Smash Brothers. It’s no surprise that a game of this caliber really helped to revive the Star Fox franchise, and has yet to be surpassed in popularity or quality despite technological advances. I’m glad I can finally have chance to share my full thoughts about this game in review. This is why I was so excited to see this game be suggested for this very special week of reviews.

The one major problem with Star Fox 64 is that its visuals haven’t aged well. While they were neat looking, and cutting edge for their time, they really don’t stand up well today in comparison to more modern graphics. Despite this though this game can’t really be blamed for it’s lack of graphic much. Since this game was created at a time where 3d graphics were a relatively new concept for a home console video games, the graphics are actually very well constructed for a work of its era. It’s also definitely a major improvement graphically on its SNES predecessor. Well the art really looks dated by today’s standards, I’m sure back when they game was released it was extremely impressive looking. In some ways these graphical limitation can also be seen as good thing for the game. On top of pushing the creators to come up with more creative game play, these graphics really work well with the squad chat portions of the game. For some reason I just love the way the characters mouths seem to flap up and down wildly while characters are talking. Despite the art not aging well, Star Fox 64 makes creative use out of the limitations of its technology, and was mostly likely impress looking when it was released.



Soundwise this a great example of how to do a dramatic score on a small budget. While the soundtrack clearly doesn’t have the budget, or quality of a game like Mario 64 or Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it still has an excellent score with a number of memorable themes. The theme for Corneria, Lylat and Planet Venom were very befitting the epic mood of the game. This music provided the proper music for epic dog fighting and action packed missions.

What really struck me the most about the sound in this game though, was the voice acting. The voice acting in this game fits in absolutely perfectly. The dialogue is over the top in that perfect way that makes it exciting, cute and a bit humorous all at the same time. I find myself after playing or thinking about this game repeating quotes from it cheerfully with friends. While the music is definitely original for this game it is that voice acting that makes this game most memorable.

The story for Star Fox is very much a classic science fiction story. In a flashback before the game the main character’s father James Mcloud, his friend Peppy Hare, and the cowardly and greedy pilot Pigma Dengar are all sent to investigate disturbances in the Venom system. This planet is the home of the exiled giant mad scientist Andross. After they are attacked by Andross, Pigma betrays the group fleeing, and James sacrifices himself so that Peppy can escape to warn Corneria general Pepper. The game begins with general Pepper alerting the lead character Fox and his group of mercenaries that Andross has begun his attack upon the Lylat system. He hires Fox along with his men to stop Andross’s plot, and to save the galaxy from attack. Along with Fox comes the aggressive Falco Lombardi, the always in trouble scientist Slippy Toad, and the veteran pilot Peppy Hare. Andross has likewise hires a team of mercenaries to do his bidding known as Team Star Wolf, who plan on stopping Team Star Fox. They are lead by Wolf O'Donnell a ruthless rival to fox, and his allies Leon Powalski a chameleon rival of Falco, Pigma Dengar the greedy pig who betrayed Peppy and Fox’s father, and Andrew Oikonny the nephew of Andross who seeks to defeat Slippy. Together you (as Fox), and your team most battle against Andross’s fleet in order to reach him and finally take him down for good.

The story feels very much like a Star War’s type of story, and I’m guessing that this game really made the Lucas Art’s jealous. This game surpasses any other Star Wars based dogfighting game that I have ever played. It also silly in a fun sort of way, as well as being a really energetic and thrilling adventure. I really enjoy how fast paced and easy to follow story is for this game. While the story isn’t a masterpiece, very complicated or sensible it has that perfect sort of space opera feel, which keeps it entertaining.

As I have made mention above a few times Star Fox 64 is for the most part a dog fighting game, with an arcade like style. Most levels are spent flying around and shooting down enemy machines, and end in a interesting boss encounter. A few level, however have you facing off against Star Wolf’s crew, or piloting alternate vehicles such as subs or tanks. While the controls can occasionally be tough to masters (especially in the non-ship levels), they are precise and handle remarkably well for a early outing in 3d. These controls definitely fit well with Nintendo 64 controller, and I have a hard time imaging how this game plays in the current remake (which I haven’t played yet), which doesn’t use a controller.

The level designs are filled with exciting action, and actually allow for a more smooth and free roaming style then in later games of the series. This difficulty is not that big of a deal in this game, but the difficulty also depends a lot on which path of the game you end up taking. This is determined by whether, or not you find the secret to advancing on the tougher path or not. This element of the game is the most frustrating part, and I many times I ended up having to look up what to do to take the more challenging paths. The weakest element of this game though is the multi-player, which is just a large open dogfight with the occasional upgrades. This mode is most fun with when with three other people playing. Sadly I have yet to find three other people to play the multi-player with me, so I haven’t been able to really experience this portion to the fullest. This game is clearly a one player based game, and the multi-player is kind of thrown in as a after thought. Despite this though the one player mode is a lot of fun, and this game really outshine its competitors such as Rogue Squadron in terms of game play.



Star Fox 64 may look a bit old and is mostly a single player game, but it more then makes up for these faults with it’s great use of sounds, a exciting and loose story, and a stellar control scheme. Without a doubt it definitely deserved a 3D remake, and it’s a shame that the Star Fox series has never been able to recapture the magic of this game (Star Fox Adventure’s being a especially heinous sequel). I wish when I was younger that I had purchased this game, and had the chance to experience it sooner. This game is definitely worth picking up, especially if you are a fan of arcade style games or the Star Wars films (the original trilogy before it was screwed up with the prequels). In fact, it alone is reason enough to purchase a Nintendo 64 with a rumble pack, and is better then any other game of it’s kind that has been released to this day (that I have played)!

[crowhats]

Day Four: Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01



Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 is one of those series that I found is really hard to review. The problem I had reviewing it was that I felt that I wasn’t really the target audience for this work. Although I enjoyed it, it was really aimed much more towards a younger audience, or for those generally interested in a easy to read story without much deep content. This meant that I really had put myself in a very different mindset, and I had to view this series through much less jaded lens. This frame of mind really helped me though to see why the Digimon series is so popular, and why this manga is so well loved by some readers. While V-Tamer 01 was not without it’s flaws, it was fun series to read. It also introduced me to the Digimon series (which I never watched as a kid), and I found that it was definitely a great manga for younger readers.

I thought the art for this manga was surprisingly good for franchise based work, however the art still wasn’t the highlight of this work. One thing that really impressed me about the artwork was how fun and exciting it was. The art design clearly prioritized entertainment over trying to have a serious artistic prowess (which is not a slight, but rather a observation). As a result the character designs had weaker expressive abilities and complexity of movement then usual, but were interesting to look at. The biggest draw of the art was clearly the creativity employed in the character design, which made the cast much more impressive then the average work of this kind. While the backgrounds are weaker then in many manga, for a shonen story they were remarkably well done. The art presented backgrounds that really gave a good sense of the environment in which the story takes place. While the artwork isn’t fantastic overall, for this sort manga it is far above the usual standard.



The biggest strength to this story is it’s relative simplicity. The series begins with the trainer Taichi Yagami being turned down from a game tournament for the battling monsters in Digimon video game. This is due to the fact that his dinosaur like monster named Zero is not recognized in the tourney as a legitimate creature. Despite being unable to compete in the tourney, Taichi is offered a chance to battle the champion Neo Saiba after the tourney is completed. He ends up tieing with with Neo, cause the self confident Neo to become frustrated. The story really begins though when he later is summoned into the games digital world by an angel monster. He soon discovers that a demon monster has found a powerfully evil egg. This demon is trying to hatch, and summon a dangerous new evil monster into the world. It’s now up to Taichi and his friend the monster Zero to find five trainer tags, and then capture them by defeating monsters, so as to be allowed access to the demon’s castle. Meanwhile the demon has also made plans to summon his own champion Neo to stop Taichi, and raise the monster in the egg when it hatches. Neo, however has special plans of his own.

Like other good children’s titles such as some of the Pokemon manga’s, or the original Dragon Ball (before Z), this series isn’t trying to tell the worlds greatest story. Instead the story is designed to be fun, creative and a exciting adventure. This means that this story is able to avoid some common shonen pitfalls, such as being soap opera like and/or acting like a deeply intellectual work, at the expense of fun or creativity. It’s focus is based upon exciting action, and the interesting monsters of the world, rather then a drawn out story filled with melodrama. Sadly this work does carry many common shonen flaws, such as overly simplistic themes of friendship and constant power ups in battles toward the end. This works relatively simplicity and the general lack of an ego, however makes these elements slightly less dull. Another great advantage this manga has over the typical shonen is that it has a story structure. V-Tamer 01 is a reasonable size, and doesn’t drag on for an immense amount of pointless chapters, unlike many other shonen works. While Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 is certainly is not perfect, it has many advantages over the typical shonen manga that makes it an ideal work for those looking for a good time.



While the characters are the weakest element and a bit predictable, they still manage to be likable, and this manga did manage to make me to care about their fates (unlike some other shonen manga’s). Taichi Yagami does a convincing job playing the heroic and kind shonen lead, remaining ever optimistic and uses his skills to help those in need. He isn’t really given many specially unique traits besides the above mentioned ones, and a interesting looking costume. His monster Zero is very much personality wise like Taichi, except that he is a bit more slow witted and is more of a comedy relief character. The best part of these two characters is their silly victory dance, which is always entertaining. Their travel partner the monster Gabo is a more cynical, but still kind hearted guide monster. The only other really important initial hero is Lord HolyAngemon and his general Leomon who both summon Taichi to the digital world, and help him fight the demon Digimon’s evil.

The main villain is a rather typical rival character. Neo is the opposite personality wise to Taichi in almost every way. Unlike Taichi he serves a evil purpose, is motivated by personal objective, is highly methodical and can’t stand to be foiled. His sister also appears in the series, and seems pointless toward the plot at first, though this changes later in the series. Neo also brings with him three allies known as the Aliases. One is a egotistical girl obsessed with her appearance with a rose based monster, another is masked loner computer expert with a magical clown, and the last is the misguided friend of Neo’s with a giant knight monster (to avoid spoiler I won’t go much into their details). The last important character worth discussing is the Demon who seeks to use his egg and Neo to take over the human and digital works. These characters are pretty simple figures with relatively common shonen style goals, while a few of them develop most of them remain pretty devoid of major change personality wise.

If you are looking for a deep or life changing work, then this clearly isn’t a manga worth reading. If you are, however seeking a story a child could enjoy that is fun and entertaining then this is a manga is worth looking into. Despite the characters being generally under developed, the story and art is better then in most Shonen works. I personally appreciated this works light atmosphere, though I felt some of the later chapters shonen cliches were sometimes tiresome. I’m not normally a big fan of most shonen works, however I thought this manga was pretty good for a shonen based work (make of that what you will). I’d recommend this work simply because it is available online for free, and isn’t that long, unlike most Shonen titles.

[crowhats]

Day 5 Usagi Drop



Since many of my readers may have had a chance to see the latest remediation Usagi Drop (the anime), I thought it would be fun to take a look at the manga that inspired this anime. Much to my delight, most of this manga is very similar in the feel of anime (which has been generally well received), and has the the same heartwarming realistic tone. That is until the ending, which despite continuing to be well written made no sense, and I feel had no business being part of the story. Besides the lousy ending, however this work is really able to portray it’s unusual subject matter more accurately, and sensitively then most manga can, all while keeping it a interesting read.



The one area that I really can’t say is so stellar is the artwork. While the character designs were unique and enjoyable, the backgrounds left something to be desired. While I am aware that crowded backgrounds might have spoiled the quiet and thoughtful mood of this manga, the backgrounds just didn’t cut it for me. The backgrounds in this work are weak, and particularly boring when they are at all presented. On the other hand the character designs were fantastically expressive, and gave each character a unique look. Usagi Drop’s creator ensures that the characters are given body language that is both natural and expressive. While I loved the character designs, the poor background designs really hurt this manga’s overall art, making it merely okay rather then excellent.

Usagi Drop is a slow heartwarming story about single Japanese thirty year old who knows little about children, and then ends up adopting a young girl named Rin. While going to his grandfather’s funeral Daikichi Kawachi discovers that his grandfather had a illegitimate child, and that the childs mother left her. This situation leaves Rin alone without a family or some one to care for her. Due to her illegitimate status no one else in Daikichi family seems to be willing to take care of Rin. Annoyed by his families selfish attitude Daikichi decides to take care of Rin himself. The problem is that he has little experience with children, is a single salary worker and has no idea how much of a challenge it is to care for a young girl. Throughout the manga he learns more about what it means to raise a family, and about who Rin is.

Usagi Drop succeeds so much, because it really is able to capture the family dynamics in Japan, and it’s accurate portrayal of it’s characters. The plot doesn’t really follow any sort of real sequence, other then a time skip of ten years. Instead it focuses more on important moments in Rin and Daikichi’s life. This work moves at slow gentle pace, and rather then trying to capture the readers attention constantly it takes a more sophisticated, and character driven approach, similar to that of House of the Five Leaves. It’s humor likewise doesn’t beg you to laugh at it or try to be slapstick, but rather opts for realistic situational humor. This reservation really makes Usagi Drop seem much more sophisticated then the average work.

Rarely do I feel the need to mention much about the ending of a series at all, since I like to refrain from giving spoilers. Sadly I feel I most address at least briefly the ending of manga, because it is classic example of how not end a story of this sort. I have no problem with the time skip having a greater emphasis on romance. I also applaud that this story does not have a cliched sort of romance, and has Rin assert her independence despite initially having conflicted feelings. When Rin does fall in love, however it just doesn’t make any sense at all. While the stories dialogue remains mostly solid, the ending just doesn’t work at all for this story (and in fact is somewhat creepy). The writing beyond chapter 42 creates a terrible romantic subplot, which just doesn’t feel like it belongs in this story. While there are elements that remain good after chapter 42, I’d strongly suggest stopping at that chapter, rather then reading the disappointing ending of this story.



Usagi Drop’s real strength lies within it’s characters, which are easy to relate with and to care about. Daikichi is one of the best lead characters presented in a manga, because he manages to be flawed, and at the same time compassionate and likable. He discovers of how to care for Rin in very realistic situations, and usually manages while doing this to come off as comical and/or genuinely heart warming (which is very difficult feat). Rin likewise is lovable, because she is such a heartwarming character. Her real strength as a character, however comes from her child like behavior. She asks questions that kids in her situation would ask, and although she is intelligent for her age she still behaves like a kid realistically would. These to two characters play off each well, and make a interesting family dynamic.

The minor characters are just as interesting as the leading ones, and have the same realistic feel. Rin’s childhood friend Kouki when a kid really acts like a young boy should. While he is very loving toward his mother, he has trouble showing that love. He also behaves in wild manor as a young boy would, and makes a good foil to Rin’s quiet and intelligent manor. As he grows up he outwardly he still seems silly and thoughtless, but within it’s clear that he is very caring toward Rin and his mother. His mother Yukari is a kind person who clearly has her hands full trying to take care of her son alone, while dealing with low self confidence (perhaps a result of her husband leaving her). She and Daikichi end up helping each other out, but at the same time clearly have social boundaries set up.

Rin’s mother is very interesting character, because of how conflicted a character she is. She had Rin at a very young age, and then was forced to make a devastating choice. She ends up choosing her job over Rin, and then is forced to live with the regret knowing that she abandon Rin. Normally such a character would seem selfish, and be portrayed as such, however Usagi Drop makes her character much more sympathetic then selfish. Her character is racked with guilt, feeling that she isn’t worthy of being seen as Rin’s mother, and is too afraid and ashamed to ever approach Rin. Daikichi’s relatives and coworkers, especially his parents are shown as being supportive, but also humanly flawed characters that naturally aren’t perfect all the time. The entire cast for Usagi Drop has a this really natural and human vibe to them that you don’t often find in many manga.

Usagi Drop is one of the few feel good manga series that really work. Despite it’s sweet nature it is still able to have a realistic, diverse and complex cast. While the artwork is mixed, it’s simple and charming story supported by this great cast more then makes up for this minor problem. Even for a person who isn’t a fan of most inspirational themed works (like me) this one is really worth reading. Besides the ending of this story (after chapter 42), I feel that this series is really worth purchasing. I would, however strongly advise though not read beyond chapter 42, due to the fact that the ending makes so little sense and mars the mood of the story a bit.

[crowhats]

Day six: Black Butler



Black Butler is a very curious work, and one of the rare examples of a work that manages to get some of it’s details down right, but is lacking in many of it’s basic elements. While this makes it interesting to review, it was still a disappointing to view. It’s been a long time since I have actually reviewed a work that disappointed me as much as this one did. While it wasn’t one of the worst experiences I have had with an anime, I can’t honestly say I enjoyed Black Butler very much. While I have a lot I can say about why I felt this way, the bottom line was that this show just isn’t nearly as fun to watch as it is to write about. While I can see why certain people love this series, I couldn’t get past the major problems this show has. I ended up finishing this anime series feeling lost, and rather cheated by the ending reveals.



The animation style for Black Butler doesn’t really stand out all that much, but is better then many other anime series. The character designs fit well into the setting and were well enough done to be interesting to look at, but not well enough to be a really memorable after watching. The animation for Black Butler tended to be very inconsistent. Some times the animation was very good, at other times the animators clearly cut corners obvious corners. While the lighting could at times be interesting, only one element of the animation for Black Butler really stood out for me. This stand out element was set design, which was befitting for the era and setting of the show. I was impressed at how well this anime portrayed Victorian era London, especially in it’s use of proper London architecture. While Black Butlers setting was impressively animated, I wish the overall animation for this show and character designs were a lot more memorable.

Likewise in the sound department Black Butler is a mixed bag. While the voice acting and first closing credits sequence is strong, these elements are kind of overshadowed by the overall weak score, and the bland nature of the other credits. The voice acting in the Dub is the biggest draw sound wise. With the exception of Sherlock Hound, Black Bulter has the most British sounding voice cast in a dub I have ever heard. While the sub is okay, it is the stellar cast employed by Funianimation for this anime’s dub that is really noteworthy. The lead character’s voice actors are especially strong in this dub, and make the dub the strongest element of this entire work.

Sadly the music is tragically much weaker then the voice acting. I did enjoy how the score took chances, and made interesting use of Gregorian chant (like the Death Note anime) and operatic singing. Despite this though the music was often absent, many tracks were generic and these tracks were reused far too often. The music also really for the most part like the animation wasn’t very memorable, and at times was to weak for setting the proper mood. While I appreciated the creativity of the music, at times this creativity didn’t really work for me. Though this shows soundtrack did take some interesting risks in the soundtrack that paid off, most of the music for this show wasn’t memorable, was minimal, and often didn’t work when it was presented.

With the exception of the first ending most of Black Butlers credits were rather average. The first opening does a good job a introducing the characters, and has some nice atmosphere, but isn’t anything special that I haven’t seen or heard before musically. The 2nd opening is even more boring in all aspects (except the song that doesn’t change), and loses some of the original opening draw of atmosphere making it slightly worse. The 1st ending is easily the best of credit sequences, not because the music is much better, but because of the creative and cute imagery added. The imagery of Ciel (the main butler) doing all of his tasks in a chibi reel is funny, and cute. Sadly the 2nd ending does away with this cute animation, and instead replaces it with the slow panning across static images, and a bland song, which was really skip-worthy. While I enjoyed the first ending, I felt that the rest of the credits while not terrible were not interesting or noteworthy.

Black Butler's basic premise is fairly easy to explain (though after plot details are explained later in the series it gets needlessly complex). Earl Ciel Phantomhive, is a orphan child, and the inheritor of the Phantomhive company and name. The Phantomhive company specializes in toy making, but secretly serves the queen with special tasks involving the underworld. When Ciel was young his parents were murdered, and his house burnt down. Ciel begins the series by summoning the demonic, and literally perfect Butler Sebastian to serve him. Ciel offers his soul in return for Sebastian’s service, until his parents murders are found, and revenge is taken upon them. Ciel returns to his estate, rebuilds his manor, and continues his service to the queen. He continues to plot vengeance upon his parents murder(s), and hopes draw out clues while performing tasks for the queen.

The problem with this story is that although parts of the plot are interesting and original, these interesting elements are almost completely buried under a number of faults. To start with the good elements of this show, the setting is interesting and accurate when it needs to be. This show does a excellent job making the setting feel properly Victorian. However, it isn’t so concerned with accuracy to the point where it is distracts from the shows plot. It’s use of Faustian themes likewise I found very interesting.

Most of the plot is sadly marred by a variety of major pitfalls in it’s basic premise. These faults are so major that they really end up dragging the plot. To start off with the vengeful kid seeking revenge is one of the most cliche plots ideas of all time. This is a common plot device found in a number of anime series and other works, and doesn’t really alone make for an interesting plot concept. While this concept lacks originality, it wouldn’t have been a major problem had the rest of the plot been well executed. The problem is that the plot’s execution contains a three fold series of problems. The primary problem with the plot is that there is so little of actual story. Most of Black Bulter consist of side stories, and comedy, rather then working on the actual central plot. In fact most of the actual underlying plot is relegated to the last four episodes of the show. While some of the comedy is funny, I felt most of it was dull and bogged down the shows pace. The comedy also was often extremely random and unexpected, and the show would switch between serious and silly tones in a ways that were often jarring. While I enjoyed some of the side stories, more often then not I was bored with these side stories which were pointless toward advancing the main plot.

The second problem I had with the plot is how the supernatural elements are handled. While I am not naturally again elements of super-naturalism (and when they are well done I actual enjoy them immensely), I feel that this sort of plot device needs to be applied with special care. The problem with the super-naturalism in this show is that it is used too often as a plot contrivance, and feels underdeveloped. Every time something supernatural was introduced in Black Butler there wasn’t any reason for it’s introduction, other then advancing the weaker elements of the plot. Usually the supernatural elements seem out of the blue and random, or like sad attempts to cover up poor bad writing. These poorly handled elements were merely excuses used to hide the weaknesses within the placing and plot of Black Butler.

The last major problem of the plot can be found in the ending of Black Bulter. I appreciated that the ending took some more chances then the rest of the show, and presented some actually meaningful action. The reveals at the ending though highly were disappointing, and were initially confusing to me. As I mentioned in the introduction, after ending this anime I was left with a major headache, and dissatisfaction as my mind tried rap around the revealed elements. The ending didn’t feel rushed, so much as it felt convoluted and morose (I won’t reveal the details and spoil it). These three major problems covered up the interesting details of the setting, and made many of the show’s episodes seem convoluted and/or boring.



Character wise some of the characters are interesting, and other characters are extremely boring and/or annoying. No where is this more clear then looking at the two lead characters of the show. While I thought Sebastian was a interesting character, I was less then impressed with Ciel. While Sebastian was often used as deus ex machina (which was sometimes one of the funny running jokes of the series), he was reasonably interesting because his service was merely vested in self interest. It is clear that he doesn’t help Ciel out of the goodness of his heart, despite this he is also obsessively loyalty to Ciel. His cool and mysterious nature was befitting of a demonic character, and it was clear his interest was to feed off of Ciel’s soul. Ciel on the other hand is a constantly brooding and cold figure, who hides a occasionally warm heart. His character is rather predictable, and isn’t really given much chance to grow or change. His motive for revenge was nothing out of the ordinary, and I found this motives and mopey nature to be really boring. His young age and cursed pentagram eye (which is usually covered) is perhaps the only remarkable feature he has. There isn’t enough originality, or personality to his character me to really care about his brooding emo nature.

The rest of the cast has even more of a discrepancy between those character who are interesting, and those who are bothersome. I really enjoyed the curious and mysterious Lau, a powerful Chinese gangster, and drug dealer working with his sister Ran-Mao. His motives are hard to peg, making it hard to tell if he is a real silly ally of Ciel or a plotting fair weather friend. I also enjoyed the weird undertaker character who plays a minor, but interesting role in the story.

On the other hand the comical relief character’s such as Ciel’s three incompetent butlers, and the head butler who drinks tea most of the time were really annoying. Until the last few episodes they added nothing to the show other then comedy relief that was at best bothersome. I also thought that although cute, Elisabeth was a totally useless character in this adaptation. The worst character though without a doubt was the gay stereotype/female (it is hard to tell which) red haired Shinigami character Grell Sutcliffe, who appears a bit later into the series. Grell is constantly irritating, is always trying to flirt with Sebastian for some reason, and is mostly a bungling troublemaker. In both versions (sub and dub) Grell’s voice and demeanor really got on my nerves, especially since Grell acted like a gay stereotype. I was also not impressed at all by the major villain of the series that is revealed toward the end of the show (though I won’t go into detail so I don’t spoil anything). While I enjoyed Sebastian and some of the minor characters, I felt that Ciel and most of minor characters were annoying, boring and/or unnecessary.

While certain details of Black Bulter were impress, they were not enough to sell me on the entire show or for me to overlook the shows many flaws. I while I enjoyed the Victorian setting, voice acting and some of the ideas and characters presented, I didn’t have any love for other characters and the overall plot. The music and animation though not terrible failed be of any interest to me either. While I feel that this isn’t the worst show I have seen, it was still was a major let down, and definitely wasn’t as interesting a show as I had hoped for. For a better anime with great English voice actors I would advise instead to watching Miyasaki’s Sherlock Hound, rather then this show. Though I didn’t loath this show as much as some others I have reviewed even this week, I often found myself bored by it and wouldn’t recommend viewing it.