znsinger
Plot Summary:
Rikugou Tokidoki is a high schooler going through the motions. School, life, they’re all the same: take them as they come, and whatever. His is the way of total apathy-until it’s shattered. What started as a virtual tour of the Bakumatsu Era becomes something terrible and inexplicable, as Continue reading »
znsinger
Summary:
In the Rune-Midgard Kingdom, Roan, a young swordsman, travels with Yuufa, a childhood friend and an Acolyte. Adventuring together after some tragedy befell their old party, they search about for adventures and monsters. Continue reading »
znsinger
Plot Summary:
In the Treisting school for magic, the name of Louise Francoise is famous-for failure. Without one successful attempt at magic to her name, everyone eagerly awaits what spectacular unwanted results will come of her attempt to summon a familiar. Continue reading »
znsinger
Summary:
Claus and Lavie are teenagers well used to looking after themselves. Both their parents long dead, they rely on themselves, each other, and their fathers old vanship(airplane equivalent) to succeed as pilot and navigator as their fathers had. Earning enough money to buy a booster to let their old ship win the upcoming race is their present biggest concern. But the race is interrupted, Continue reading »
ondema
Plot Summary:
In their closed-off underground village, Kamina and Simon chafe at the limits imposed by the village elder. Yet all this will change, when Simon stumbles across a fantastic device - just as the village’s peace is broken by a violent intrusion.
Company:
GAINAX
Cast:
Katsuyuki Konishi as Kamina
Marina Inoue as Yoko
Tetsuya Kakihara as Simon
Genre:
Adventure, Comedy, Science-Fiction, Drama, Mecha
Air Time:
Gurren-Lagann aired from April 01, 2007 - September 30, 2007
Episodes:
Gurren Lagann is a 27 episode long series. There are also two “bonus” episodes, the uncensored version of episode 6 and episode 5.5.
Review:
The creators of the legendary Evangelion return again with a new mecha anime, Gurren Lagann. Does it make the cut?
Simply put, Gurren Lagann’s art is unique. The anime is full of explosions, gunfire and lasers which are spectacularly rendered and drawn. Gurren Lagann has a very crisp look to it which is enhanced by awesome use of simple colours.The characters and mecha are drawn simply, but effectively. Combined with breathtaking backgrounds and animation make Gurren Lagann a different and refreshing visual experience.
The Gurren Lagann story is one of my favourites. The anime consists of several arcs which are seperated by time lapses. The use of arcs within a 27 episode series is a fairly ambitious idea and it works perfectly in Gurren Lagann. The story stays fresh and the action is always exciting.
The characters in Gurren Lagann are all equally unforgettable and you will grow fond of each and everyone of the massive cast. Specifically though, Kamina is made one of the most badass characters ever seen in an anime. The characters also age and subtly change their personalities as the anime progresses, making them seem more human.
The music in Gurren Lagann is also unique with several hip-hop and rock songs being used. The characters sound amazing, and they deliver some of the greatest lines in anime history (most of them being said by Katsuyuki Konishi.) The music, sound effects and dialogue work together perfectly and create heart-pounding action scenes.
Gurren Lagann is hilarious and all the while managing to produce some of the craziest retro-mecha action I’ve ever scene. At times I have finished an episode and found myself out of breath. Don’t start watching Gurren Lagann expecting “Evangelion 2″, because it’s far from it. Gurren Lagann delivers an oldschool Super Robot action experience in a modern format (GATTAI!) The story and characters are fantastic and each episode leaves you needing more. Once again Gainax have made a mecha masterpiece, completely different from Evangelion, but just as amazing.
This was probably my favourite anime of 2007 and I strongly advise this to anyone looking for something fresh and fun.
Final Rating: 5/5
This review was brought to you by Ondema!
Credits:
ondema
Plot Summary:
In a world rife with deadly creatures called “Youma”, a young silver eyed woman, Clare, works on behalf of an organization that trains female youma half-breeds into warriors with the ability to destroy these creatures. Considered a rogue for picking up a stray child & almost losing herself to her youma side by “Awakening”, she is constantly assigned rather dangerous missions…
Company:
Madhouse Studios
Cast:
Houko Kuwashima as Clare
Motoki Takagi as Raki
Romi Paku as Teresa
Aya Hisakawa as Priscilla
Genre:
Fantasy, Adventure, Medieval
Air Time:
Claymore aired from April 03, 2007 - September 25, 2007
DVD Availability:
Avex Trax has released the first 15 episodes on DVD and is releasing them in DVD compilations of 3 episodes each along with Limited Edition packages as well. Claymore will be fully released on DVD on March 26, 2008.
Episodes:
Claymore is a 26 episode long series, with possibility for a sequel.
Review:
Graphically, Claymore is above average. Backgrounds are carefully painted and there’s no shortage of blood during gore scenes.
Each of the Claymores are all drawn uniquely with subtle features which set them apart despite them all carrying near identical traits. The creative design on the fodder Youma is fairly bland but the uniqueness of the Awakened Ones compensates for it.
Claymore provided a compelling story which was perhaps the main driving force of my continued watching. The first few episodes have such a perfect pace of story progression which was lost towards the end as they begin to try and stretch events.
Character development is fairly well done. Certain characters are addressed more or less than others. That said, they did everything right in the development of Teresa. The couple episodes which she stars in are some of my favourite.
The score in Claymore fits the mood well, the Ending Theme in particular is incredible. On the most part the music fits the mood well, it has ups and downs but is generally solid. The sounds of the fights are visceral and gritty, whether it be the clangs of swords, the spatter of blood or the rippling of muscles. Voice actors play their part well, and once again with Romi Paku’s voicing of Teresa being my favourite. Not much criticism here, basically Claymore sounds awesome.
Claymore like most anime began with a bang. Delivering both gory hack n’ slash and compelling story, much like Berserk, the first 12 or so episodes were phenomenal. As the series continued, however, it slowly went downhill. Fight scenes became less detailed and almost DBZ-esque with long monologues and power-up scenes and the story progression grinds to a halt. Don’t get me wrong though, Claymore does deliver, and unfortunately like most anime the first half of it is significantly better than the second.
On a final note, Claymore contains both good and bad aspects. If you’re a fan of crazy gore involving demons, petit blond-haired girls and big swords then Claymore in the anime for you, and you might even get a fairly epic story thrown in to boot. Ultimately Claymore does shine and gives fans of medieval adventure anime something to sink their teeth into while the wait futilely for the rest of the Berserk manga to be adapted into anime.
Final Rating: 4/5
This review was brought to you by Ondema!
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