"Rocket Girls"
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 12 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2007
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
Because of the pairing of girls and mecha, I mistakenly thought this show was yet another creation of Studio Fantasia. Unfortunately it’s not. It’s actually based on a light novel series that’s published in Dragon Magazine. The story is pretty daft. It’s a little hard to suspend disbelief at times when you have teenage girls as astronauts. Especially with the moe-licious Akane, a screw up in terms of being an astronaut. Even if the only way to launch astronauts was a weight resection and teenage girls were the only option, it’s hard to believe the three girls in this series were the space administration’s only choices. The silliness continues with island girl Matsuri. Her depiction and that of her tribe is, let’s face it, just a tiny bit on the racist side. It’s all very ”unga-bunga” with grass skirts and practically no western conveniences. Totally unlike most traditional island communities for the past 50 or more years. In fact their depiction looks like it came straight of a 1930’s Hollywood film.
Despite the silliness of the actual plot, the show is quite fun. There is also quite a bit of factual science and physics used in the show in relation to space travel and the expense and problems associated with it. However the show is certainly no “Planetes”. There are plenty of times where science is discarded in place of movie physics and bad science. The CG models are generally good (especially the rockets), but the first episode has a really, really dodgy CG forest and Hummer sequence. I did initially confuse this show as a Studio Fantasia show, and it does have a number of similarities between it and “Stratos 4”. However that show is a much more entertaining one than “Rocket Girls”. I was also amused that “Rocket Girls” seems to have a lot more fan service than “Stratos 4”, which is pretty hilarious seeing as Studio Fantasia is pretty notorious in that regard. I didn’t know until, after I saw the show, but apparently Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, who has been on a US shuttle mission, voices herself in a cameo mid way through the show. Overall, an OK show, not brilliant at all, but quite fun. 6.5 out of 10.
"Toradora!"
Publisher: NIS America (USA)Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 25 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2008 - 2009
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
What I dislike so much about those Key/Kyoto Animation shows is the lack of any substantial character development (or even worse, annoyingly overused catchphrases and traits in lieu of any development), overused personality types and the rather forced, emotionally manipulative and stunningly stupid situations the characters get themselves into. Certainly not all slice of life/comedy/romance/drama shows with blatantly moe characters are like this, but a fair few I’ve watched in the last couple of years do fit this description. The first episode of this show introduces us to Taiga, the typical tsundere character (much like Louise in the dreadful “Zero no Tsukaima”). Add in Ryuji’s underprivileged background with stupid parrot and hostess bar girl mum, and I really, really felt this show was nose diving straight into cliché territory from the very beginning. It just seemed it like this show was going to be the same old, same old.
However it turned around rather quickly in the second episode. Ryuji soon proves himself to be the anti-milquetoast boy and actually wants to have a relationship with a woman, shows his feelings and actually acts like a real teenage boy (unlike the weird platonic situations in other similar shows). Taiga also quickly becomes really likable. What I really liked is that they showed that Taiga has a vulnerable side, but she’s still feisty and can stand up for herself. In a lot of these types of shows, the girls are almost like “pets” for the male lead. In that I mean the male gets to look after them and sort out their problems. I find those shows kind of weird. There’s this strange power play going on where the male is always in control. Thankfully that’s ditched here. The story is told pretty much from Ryuji’s point of view, but both Taiga and Ryuji are almost equals. I found that pretty refreshing. Surprisingly the supporting cast and the secondary cast rarely fall in stereotypes and are all really well fleshed out and believable characters. All of the main cast (besides the two leads) have problems which are explored over a couple of episodes. Most of this is done in a realistic and believable manner, with only a scene or two I’d consider to otaku pandering, and only once small sequence I found a little hard to swallow.
The story, while mostly episodic for the first half of the show manages to balance comedy, romance and drama very, very well. Towards the end there is a lot more drama, and in spots it’s quite melodramatic, to point I felt a couple of scenes seemed like they could have been taken out of a cheesy live action Japanese drama. But overall the show is planned out very well and the drama is really well done and complements the comedy aspects really well. It’s blatantly obvious as to what the final outcome of the show is (it is a romantic comedy after all), but the trip there takes a lot of really unexpected detours and there’s never a dull moment. The NIS America release does contain the four “Toradora! SOS - Connoisseurs Banzai” super deformed bonus shorts. I didn’t get into these at all, which I really was surprised about since I really enjoyed the show they came from. The shorts are dull and uninspired mostly.
This was the first anime release from video game company NIS America. While the packaging is excellent (though a little cumbersome) and the hardcover series book was a fantastic addition, especially in these no frills anime release times, however the video was a mess. It had some strange interlacing going on which made it look like a bad NTSC to PAL transfer. Luckily NIS were really quick to respond and issued a new pressing of the discs for the first set. They even issued these to those living overseas, which was great for me. Overall it’s a fantastic release by a new company. The only downer I suppose is the lack of a dub. I don’t watch dubs at all, but this show is going to get a lot less exposure because of that. It’s far more accessible, more substantial and far more fun and entertaining than the Key/Kyoto Animation stuff. 8 out of 10.
Remaining Backlog: 22 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).
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