Video Backlog: Lafiel… Abh! My Goddess

“Crest of the Stars (Seikai no Monsho)” 
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 13 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1999
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Over a thousand years have passed and humanity has spread out into the galaxy. Not as one single unit mind you, there are large factions and disputes are still common which leads to war. Jinto Lynn is just an ordinary young boy who happens to be the son of Rock Lynn, leader of the planet nation Martine. A race of genetically modified humans called the Abh Empire, who live in space and frequently war with other empires in order to maintain and create new trading routes, invades Martine. Jinto’s father surrenders in exchange position as a nobleman in the Empire. The people are furious to find out they’ve been sold out, and the Lynn family and it’s servants have to go into hiding. Jinto is pretty much forced into learning the ways of the Abh nobility, and when he reaches the age of 18, he is drafted into the military for a minimum period of 10 years, as tradition dictates. Jinto is assigned to the Gothlauth, a patrol ship, to ferry him to a training base to commence his military training. There he meets another trainee, Lafiel, whom he embarrassingly is unaware that she is a viscountess. Unfortunately a number of enemy ships soon trail the Gothlauth. The captain, not willing to let non-combatants involved in the fight, orders Lafiel to take the patrol ship’s shuttle to the port of Sufuguoff, via a refuelling point in control of the Abh noble Baron Febdash, where they plan to rendezvous with the patrol ship. However things don’t go to plan. The pair are confined against their will at the refuelling point by the slightly deranged Febdash, and after they escape and head to the rendezvous point, but discover that it is now in enemy hands and the pair have to go undercover in order not to get caught.

I originally acquired the first two episodes of this show back in the dark ages of fansubs on VHS. At the time I thought it was an OK show, but never really got into it. To me it felt like a more crowd pleasing and less hard sci-fi version of “Legend of Galactic Heroes”. It wasn’t until 2009 or so that I decided that perhaps it might be a good idea to pick up the series before Bandai deleted. Because of the obvious similarities between this show and “Legend of Galactic Heroes” (on the surface at least), I really was expecting tons of space battles and some political drama. While there is a space battle or two, most of the series focuses on the struggles of Jinto and Lafiel as they try to make their way to the planet of Sufuguoff. There is a romantic thread running through the series, but it’s extremely subtle, along the lines of “does Lafiel have any feelings at all for him?”. In terms of as an ongoing series beyond this initial 13 episodes, this part of the series does serve as great introduction to the characters. As a standalone series, it’s a little bit on the weak side. Especially when the show’s promotional material pitches the show as a space opera with space battles aplenty and the reality has Jinto and Lafiel hiding out on planet for much of its length. While most of it is in the hard sci-fi vein, I felt the last quarter went into a sort of police drama/fugitives on the run type show. While most of this was fairly well handled and was used to strengthen the ties and relationship between Jinto and Lafiel, some of it was rather silly and the mehca, some of the characters and situations were a bit cartoonish. Still, overall it’s a pretty good show 7 out of 10.

“Banner of the Stars (Seikai no Senki)”
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 13 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 2000
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Because of the events surrounding the patrol Gothlauth in the previous series, the Abh have gone to war with a triple alliance of nations. Three years later and the war is still going on. Jinto has completed his training and is now a supply officer. He is assigned to the Basrogrh, captained by Lafiel. She is at pains to explain to Jinto that she will not let their friendship get in the way of running the ship. The assault ship Basrogrh’s main mission is join the main fleet and protect the Aptic Gate, a wormhole that ships use to reach other parts of the galaxy. Complications arise when Atosuryua, the younger sister of Baron Febdash, becomes the commander of their battalion and surprisingly invites both Lafiel and Jinto to dinner. Worse is the fact the Bebaus brothers (twins in fact) are given the task of defending the region. The Bebaus family has a developed a reputation known as “Spectacular Insanity” in terms of their battle plans. Will Lafiel and Jinto survive the forthcoming battles?

The follow up lived up to my expectations as to what I envisioned the series to be about. While there seems to be a lot of downtime for the crew of the ship in the beginning, we are soon treated to a ton of really well animated space battles. Apart from focusing on Lafiel and Jinto’s completely chaste developing relationship and the problems of Lafiel not wanting to favour him while she is captain, there’s also a lot of new characters that are introduced that don’t necessarily have any connections to Lafiel and Jinto. The two Bebaus brothers as well as several other commanders in the Abh fleet have large parts of the story focused on them. My favourite would have to be Commander Spoor (originally introduced in the final episodes of the first series), a 20-something noblewoman who constantly vocalises the boredom of her job. She’d rather be a trader, which is her family’s business. But she can be quite cold and bloodthirsty at times as well as enjoying teasing the enemy as well as her subordinates. Naturally the series also focuses on the main crew of the Basrogrh as well. Most of the “pure” Abh give the impression the Abh race are rather cold and calculating, a little like Vulcans from “Star Trek”. The show is certainly hard sci-fi for the most part, but some parts of the show are a little daft. Still it’s a pretty exciting well told story coupled with some very nicely choreographed space battles. I don’t understand why Bandai has chosen “Banner of the Stars” as the title of the show. The more literal “Battle Flag of the Stars” sounds a lot cooler. 7.5 out of 10.

“Banner of the Stars II (Seikai no Senki II)”/”Lost Chapter of the Stars: Birth (Seikai no Dansho - Tanjo)”
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 10 Episodes x 25 minutes, 1 Episode x 27 minutes
Production Date: 2001, 2000
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

After the end of the war, Lafiel and Jinto are given respective roles as Territorial Ambassador and Territorial Deputy Ambassador of the newly conquered Lobnas system. They were given these roles as the Abh have expanded their territory so much, they have run out of people to govern these new territories. However when they arrive at the system, they confronted by four people claiming themselves to be leader of this world. It soon transpires that the world is a prison planet, and the three sections of the large island the prison is on, have a leader each. The fourth claimant, Geol Meideen, actually is in charge of running the prison and therefore is the planet’s true leader. Jinto is sent down to negotiate and Meideen tells him that he wants the staff to be evacuated. The women’s section of the prison also want to be evacuated, however the men’s section want them to stay so they can build the planet into a new society (as they technically aren’t prisoners anymore due to the Abh’s action) the staff and the women get their wishes granted, but the men cause a full on riot (though it’s more like a war) using weapons supplied by staff sympathetic to the cause. Jinto soon discovers something more is going on than what he has been told. Some of the staff and the male prisoners have a drug racket going on, and the evacuation is going to put a stop to this lucrative venture. Regardless the evacuation proceeds and Jinto decides to stay on the planet until the evacuation is complete. However while traveling, Jinto’s car is hijacked and he is taken hostage. With enemy forces within a short distance from the system, Lafiel is forced to abandon Jinto and retreat.

I’m really not too sure about this short series. There are some really good ideas here, but it doesn’t seem to work out all that well in the final product. I found the whole prison planet and many of the prisoners themselves a bit clichéd and silly. The prisoners are stereotypes really. Surely they could have spent a bit more time developing them since they do play a big part in the series. There’s also the bizarreness of starting the show with a scene which shows the ending! Not exactly sure what the point of doing that was. Jinto has a shit of time surviving, but we know he survives because they told us in the very first scene of the series. The look of the show and the animation itself are also problematic. The show is 16:9 widescreen, but the fact it’s a cel based show and the very tight framing of shots lead me to believe it was originally shot in 4:3 and then zoomed it to make it 16:9. It looks a little off to be honest. The animation is pretty shoddy too, especially in the mid-section of the show. The DVD set also comes with the 2000 OVA “Birth”. This OVA follows the story of Lafiel’s parents as they discover an abandoned space craft while out on a leisurely flight on their own spacecraft. While marketed as being about the birth of Lafiel, other than a scene at the end, it’s all about her two odd parents. It’s a strange kind of OVA which doesn’t really give much insight into Lafiel or her parents. Despite the story of the OVA, it doesn’t really give much info about the history of the Abh either. In the end, I think this is an OK series. The ending sort of saved it for me. As for the OVA itself, I was really lukewarm on that. I must make mention of the orchestral music through the entire series. It is magnificent, especially the opening theme which is used for all three series. It’s glorious. There is also a two part 2005 OVA series “Banner of the Stars III” which never made it into English unfortunately. I can only give “Banner of the Stars II” and the “Birth” OVA 6.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Week 5, 2012

I’ve been a bit lazy this week, so I’m only going to do quickies in terms of reviews of stuff I’ve watched over the last week or so.

“xxxHolic”
Publisher: Funimation (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 24 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2006
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Kimihiro Watanuki is a high school student constantly plagued by spirits who seem to be attracted to him, which of course no one but him can see. One afternoon has him being chased by a bunch of spirits when he suddenly stumbles upon a shop run by a mysterious woman named Yuko Ichihara. She claims that she can rid him of the spirits that follow him. However there’s a catch; like all wishes she grants, the payment for them must be of equal value, so Watanuki must become Yuko's part-time employee until he has racked up enough time so she can perform the wish. Yuko puts him to work mainly on household chores and errands, but mostly having him cook meals for her, and her companions, two strange young girls called Moro and Maru, and a small black talking creature called Mokona. During the period where Watanuki isn’t being hassled by Yuko and her companions for food and sake, he is also helping out and poking his none into requests from clients. He soon realises that Yuko can command supernatural forces and often finds himself in thr thick of the supernatural world. Occasionally his school friends, Himawari Kunogi (a girl who he seriously has a crush on) and Shizuka Doumeki (a gruff boy who he suspects is a rival for Himawari’s affections), get caught up in Yuko’s world as well.

Supposedly this series can be watched in conjunction with “Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle”, but really I couldn’t be arsed. While characters from “xxxHolic” appear in that show, you could easily watch this show without every watching “Tsubasa”. There’s not one reference made to any of the characters or any of the situations in that show. I stupidly bought this series because it was rather cheap. I later regretted at as I expected the show to be full of stories where someone wants a wish and has to pay ironically and painfully for that wish. There is some of that in the show, but it’s thankfully quite subtitle. And most of the time “bad things” don’t actually happen to Yuko’s clients. In fact it seems most are reasonably happy (or at least satisfied). There’s also more of reliance of basing stories around the regular cast (or returning characters) rather than one off characters. The main problem with the show (and everyone seems to point this out) is the animation. This is really disappointing seeing as it’s a Production I.G show. About mid-way through the series, characters go off model something dreadful. Their arms become way too long; their necks are insanely long and at one point Yuko just looks like a mess with her breasts in an odd position. The characters do go on model again, but it’s just very, very sloppy work in my opinion. While the stories are pretty good (most episodes are self-contained) I though the series went off track just before the end. There’s also no real end to the show. The character just keep having adventures randomly, though there is a two parter at the end which has Watanuki on the verge of death, but it wasn’t exactly much of a climax. In the end, it’s a bit of strange show with some rather mediocre animation in the middle. I did enjoy a fair amount of it though. I really find I haven’t enjoyed much of Clamp’s material since about 2001 or so. 6.5 out of 10.

“Ultraman Zearth”/“ Ultraman Zearth 2: Superman Big Battle - Light and Shadow”
Publisher: Force Entertainment (Australia)
Format: Region 4 DVD, PAL, English dubbed
Length: 47 minutes, 67 minutes
Production Date: 1996, 1997
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

It had been exactly 15 years since the last Japanese Ultraman series, “Ultraman 80”, which finished in 1981. However in the intervening years there were several other Ultraman series; a co-production with the South Australian Film Commission called “Ultraman: Towards the Future” was made in 1990. A US co-production called “Ultraman Powered” was made 1993 and an “Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider” TV special with Toei the same year. There were also a couple of animated and unofficial productions as well in the 15 year gap. March 1996 brought Japan a new Ultraman in time for the franchise’s 30th anniversary. A movie omnibus called “Ultraman Wonderful World” which featured the shorts “Revive! Ultraman” and “Ultraman Company” as well as a 50 minute movie called “Ultraman Zearth”. In this film, gold is being sucked up by a mysterious force. It’s up to MYDO (Mysterious Yonder Defence Organization), an anti-alien invasion force organisation disguised as attendants in working petrol station which doubles as their secret base. Katsuto Asahi (Masaharu Sekiguchi) is a lowly, practically spineless trainee in MYDO, and can’t even go out on missions, and is also made fun of by his colleagues because of his obsessive compulsive issues with dirt. Of course the only one who doesn’t make fun of him is Tohru Hoshimi (Yuka Takaoka), naturally the two of them begin developing romantic feelings for each other. Unbeknownst to everyone is the fact Katsuto is Ultraman Zearth. Unfortunately he’s not very good at his job and has trouble fighting. Making matters worse is the alien Benzen Seijin (Takeshi Kaga, that’s right, Chairman Kaga from “Iron Chef”) in his human form taunts Katsuto at every opportunity at the petrol station by wiping dirt and oil on him. It is finally revealed a monster called Kottenpoppe is staling gold to convert to energy for Benzen Seijin. Naturally MYDO fail in stopping the alien’s plot and Tohru and several children are kidnapped by Benzen Seijin to draw out Zearth.

The second film was released the next year and was paired with the anime short “Ultra Nyan” which is about an Ultraman cat. In the second film, Zearth comes face to face with Ultraman Shadow, who sent there by Benzen Seijin’s sister, Lady Benzen (in human form played by the lovely Misato Suzuki). Having been defeated, Katsuto has a crisis of confidence and believes he can no longer defend the Earth as Zearth. First I think I should talk about the major problems with these discs. First, they’re dub only (an obscure dub by the Ocean Group in Canada. It seems the dub has only been released in Australia) and second it’s 4:3 letterboxed. The dubbing is overplayed and is just tolerable in places. There’s also a theme of taking the piss out of the films, and even though they are parodies of Ultraman, I still think it’s disrespectful to the original material. Third the cover pictures for both discs are not an image of Ultraman Zearth, but Ultraman Tiga (the same images with different colourer backgrounds). One can only wonder why Force decided to release this show in Australia. Besides a very late night airing of “Ultraman: Towards the Future” by the Nine Network in the non-ratings period in late 1991, no other Ultraman show has screened or been released on video here. There really is no introduction to the situations or explanations for monsters or in the show. It requires some knowledge of the Ultraman franchise. There’s also a number of cameos in the film by all of the original Science Patrol from the original 1966 Ultraman and a couple of the cast from Ultraseven and Ultraman Jack. As you can imagine, the dub writers gloss over all of this and any subtle references to other Ultraman series in the films. The first film is pretty mediocre and very, very silly. I found it annoying that Katsuto is treated like crap by his teammates. The second film is far better in plot and special effects. Takeshi Kaga does a fantasic job as the evil Benzen Seijin. It’s a shame that you can’t hear his original voice on the disc. It’s a far better performance than what the dub actor gives. I’m realy not too sure why these dubs were created to be honest. They certainly don’t help the films at all. I can only give a combined score of 5.5 out of 10 for these discs.

“Super Atrigon (Shin Kaitei Gunkan)”
Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 51 minutes (OVA 1), 47 minutes (OVA 2)
Production Date: 1995 - 1996
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

At the end of WWII, the United States of America and Japan develop secret super submarines built from technology from the subterranean civilisation called Mu. However both submarines go into battle in final moments of the war and sink each other, leaving no trace of their existence. Some 50 years later, strange occurrences begin to happen in the Antarctic, with large amounts of microwaves being detected and huge sheets of ice breaking up and drifting north. A task force from the UN is set out to investigate and they discover an enormous black cylinder is the cause of it. After getting too close, the cylinder shoots laser beams towards the task force, killing the leader. UN forces are suspiciously close behind and begin their attack. However large red rings defeat them before they have any real chance. Go Arisaka, one of the young members of the task force awakens from the disastrous battle and finds himself inside the medical bay of a large gutted ship. He is more surprised to find he is inside some sort of huge dry dock where a super submarine, the Ra, is being rebuilt. ON board he discovers a man who looks like his long lost father, presumed lost at sea, though the man denies it and claims his father is dead. Go also discovers fellow task force member and girlfriend Annette has survived. She isn’t exactly what she seems. The crew of the Ra have rebuilt the Ra, from the plans of the original WWII sub, and plan to fight the Mu civilisation, which sent out the cylinder and rings to defeat the UN, from taking over the world.

I haven’t seen this OVA series for almost 15 years. This OVA is based on the same novel that the original 1963 live action Toho film “Atrigon (Kaitei Gunkan)” was based on, but there the similarities to the two versions end. One can only wonder why ADV decided to market this tape under the Atrigon name. In the late 1990’s only dedicated tokusatsu fans would have recalled the original film. Like a number of OVA series of time, there’s a fair wack of money ploughed into this film. It looks pretty good, though the cel animation doesn’t quite stand up to today’s computer coloured stuff, and the Warsaw philharmonic provide the score. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko provides character designs and there’s a couple of voice actress such as Junko Iwao and Kikuko Inoue in the cast. It’s a pretty good sci-fi fantasy with plenty of action. The production does reuse a number of animation sequences, especially in terms of the fighter jet battles. The ending was also really left open. But of course there’s never been any follow up OVA series to the show. Overall I think it’s a solid, really fun show. 7.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku

“Revolutionary Girl Utena”
Publisher: Nozomi Entertainment (Right Stuf, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 39 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 1997
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

I don’t think I can add much to what has already been written about this series, so I’m just going to blab on about my experience and thoughts of the show for a couple of paragraphs. In one of the interviews contained within the three box sets in this handsome reissue, director and co-creator Kunihiko Ikuhara was asked why there was still a strong fanbase for the nearly 15 years on. The answer is of course that there seriously is nothing like the show out there. Not now, nor back in 1997. I suppose you could suggest that “Utena” is the shoujo answer to “Evangelion”. That’s probably a fair assessment, look at the symbolism, the teen angst, the pain of growing up etc., but it’s certainly far more surreal and humorous than “Eva”. This is the third time I have watched the show the entire way through. The first was via Software Sculpture’s subtitled VHS box set of the first 13 episodes and the rest by way of VHS fansubs in 1999. The second was via CPM’s DVDs in 2008. The show was screened here in Australia on the now defunct ABC digital “teenage” digital channel Fly TV as “Ursula’s Kiss” around 2002 or a bit later, which used the same dub as the CPM tapes and discs. Nozomi/Right Stuf have used the recent remastered version which appeared on a Japanese DVD box set a couple of years back. The audio has been remixed for 5.1 set ups and the opening and closing credit text as well as the title card text seem to have been redone. But it’s pretty minor and doesn’t distract.

While the show certainly looks like it’s been influenced by Takarazuka theatre, magical girl anime, “Princess Knight” and certainly “Rose of Versailles”, the liner notes seems to suggest “The Three Musketeers” as a major influence as well as general theatre productions. While I loved the drama as well as the humour and surrealism of the show, I think the way the show is tightly structured is its major downfall. Officially there are four arcs to this show; Student Council Saga, Black Rose Saga, Akio Ohtori Saga and the End of World Saga. The episodes of the first three generally follow a certain pattern; we are introduced to a character and are shown their backstory which includes some sort of event which has coloured their personality, they wilfully or are coerced into duelling Utena (usually after something tips them over the edge), the Shadow Girls perform a play which is in some way connected to the events of the episode, the character duels Utena amid over the top symbolism and finally Utena wins and the character is changed. Sure, there are some very interesting elements to all of this such as the different songs for each duel, but there is a predictability to it all. Not helping this is the reused animation in the duels and the lead up to them. However despite the minor problems with the show, it’s still one of the best anime of that era. 9.5 out of 10.

“Revolutionary Girl Utena Adolescence Apocalypse (Adolescence of Utena)”
Publisher: Nozomi Entertainment (Right Stuf, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 85 minutes
Production Date: 1999
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

The movie version, released less than a year and a half after the TV series finished, is pretty much an 85 minute condensation of the show. The themes and plot are pretty much the same. It’s just the journey there which is quite different. The first noticeable difference is in the character designs for a couple of the cast. Utena Tenjou is now a new student to the school and has short hair and a more masculine uniform than the TV series. Anthy Himemiya has been redesigned almost beyond recognition. The other major character change is Akio Ohtori. His relationship to Anthy and the other characters is essentially the same as such, except he’s much younger here and for some reason another voice actor has taken his role. Touga Kiryuu’s role has changed too. In the film he’s actually Utena’s former boyfriend. The biggest disappointment is the fact Nanami and Chu Chu have been relegated to a mere (albeit quite surreal) cameo. They provided the TV series with the majority of its humour. The other strange element to the film is the truncating of the duels. There’s only two here, the second is only partly shown. While the relationship between Anthy and Utena was pretty much platonic in the TV series, here it is explicitly shown to be a sexual one. I think this strengthens the film’s story. The reasoning behind Anthy and Utena’s desperation to leave together is much stronger. However the actual realisation that there is something wrong in the wold they live in and the decision to leave are not handled very well. It’s like Utena had just decided on a whim. The concluding car chase sequence is pretty good, but quite nonsensical. Yes it’s a movie full of surrealism but can we just have a bit of logic to what is happening?

I recall about a decade ago that a local LGBT group had contacted me to promote their screening of the film (the club I used to run had previously played in the film in late 2000). As this film was created by heterosexual men and women and targeted mostly to a heterosexual female and male crossover audience, I really wondered what in hell they made of the film. I recall another screening, done by another anime club I was helping out, of Shonnen Ai and Yaoi material. They invited some sort of LGBT group along and essentially they laughed at how the relationships were depicted. It makes sense because that material is an idealised version of gay male relationships made specifically for heterosexual women. Hence my curiosity of how lesbians would view this film. So in conclusion, the film is a pretty good adaptation of the TV series material. There are little hints here and there of all the arcs from the TV series. At 85 minutes, I think the film is a little too short. It truncates too much of the show. If it was say 15 minutes longer and showed the reasoning behind Utena’s declaration to leave the world of the school, I think it would have made the film a lot better. Some additional scenes explaining or at least putting the cars into context wouldn’t have gone astray either. At the very least the film looks dead gorgeous, especially considering it’s a cel film with very little CG animation. The scene where Anthy and Utena dance on the flooded duelling arena is one of the most beautiful sequences of any anime film of the period. And just as a side note, this film was screened in Japanese cinemas with the forgettable “Cyberteam in Akihabara” film. 8.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: "K-ON!"

Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 14 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2009 - 2010
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Ditzy and vacant Yui Hirasawa enters high school (the equivalent of year 9) and has a real difficulty trying to figure out which club to join. Meanwhile three students who have also joined high school that year, Mio Akiyama, Ritsu Tainaka and Tsumugi Kotobuki, want to join the Light Music Club. The only problem is that they need four members of the club, otherwise it will be disbanded. In their attempts to recruit new members, Yui spies one of the club’s flyers. Misinterpreting the meaning of Light Music (she thinks it means “light hearted” music), she joins up. The girls are delighted at first, but soon discover she can’t play a single instrument or even read sheet music. Yui decided to leave the club, but the others mange to change her mind by having cake, snacks and tea at every meeting. As the other three play bass, drums and keyboards, the only spot left for Yui is guitar, which pretty much forces her to buy one and learn how to play it.

The girls go through some strange trials and tribulations such as Yui failing her exams because she was leaning cords and not studying, practically blackmailing the music teacher, Sawako Yamanaka, to be the club’s adviser and surviving their first live performance. Drinking tea and eating sweets does seem to take precedence over band practice in the club. However a new school year brings opportunity for new members. Yui’s younger sister, Ui, enters high school and takes her friend Azusa Nakano to see the club. Initially not very impressed, Azusa later attends a welcoming ceremony where the band play. The performance impressed her and she joins up. However being in a family where her parents play in professional jazz bands, she takes exception to the lax attitude to practicing. Mio picks up on this and becomes a little more forceful in getting everyone to take things more seriously.

I fully admit that I am not really in sync with what modern day fandom likes. I really hate the poor, unsubtle and emotionally manipulative writing in the Key/Kyoto Animation tittles. I think the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise (the anime part at least) relies too much on gimmicks (broadcast order of the first season, endless eight etc) and the titular character isn’t exactly the most pleasant or likable person in the world. I was sort of bracing myself for a similar reaction I had to previous “hot” otaku shows I’d seen over the last few years with “K-ON!”. However I was really pleasantly surprised with this show. While the set up and personalities of the girls are set to 11 on the moe amplifier, it is quite well written, particular in terms of humour. And the humour is surprisingly genuine and not forced or clichéd for the most part. The girls themselves (oddly the only boys I can recall in the show were Ritsu’s younger brother and his friend whom we only get to see briefly in the final episode) are bunch of rather cutesy moe tropes; Yui is a ditz, Mio may seem to be a normal girl but she gets creeped out by horror or anything she’s not used to like barnacles on rocks at the ocean, Azusa is the new girl which they pick on in cute ways, Tsumugi is the rich girl and Ritsu is the tomboy. But somehow with the way the show is written and the situations they find themselves in, I forgave a lot of that. OK, I forgave all of it and gladly accepted pretty much all of it. It’s just so damn friggin’ cute! Certainly the most “moe” moment of the series was for me a scene where Yui and her sister Ui and snuggling together trying to get warm while walking to school on a cold winter's day. Somehow that flipped my paternal switch on to the max. I really don’t understand why either...

While a lot of reviews criticise the fact the show really has no drama whatsoever to it, I think that the lack of drama is what makes the show so successful. It’s the interactions between the characters as they go about their very pleasant school and after school activities. How is any different from something like “To Heart”? I’d prefer a show like this to yet another robot show with teenage protagonists and tons of angst and melodrama (but I like those shows a well from time to time). There are some problems with the show however. Once Azusa arrives the tone of the show changes a bit. There is some drama (as such) which lasts for an episode or two, but it reverts back to normal afterwards. I really felt this threw the whole vibe of the show off and was kind of unnecessary. I also thought the band itself was a little too tight. None of the bands at my schools were that good. Or could write songs, let alone decent sounding ones. There’s also the issue with Yui’s quick succession from beginner to guitar goddess. I get she’s an idiot savant (well, that’s my interpretation), but come on! And then you have the music teacher with the heavy metal past who makes fetishistic costumes for the girls. That was way too hard to swallow. I mean it’s just s lame cover to get the girls into cute costumes for the benefit of the target audience. But in the end I can overlook these issues. After all it’s just a show with cute high school girls acting cute, drinking tea and eating sweets, playing cute pop songs in a school band. It’s not high art or in any way substantial and it doesn’t have to be. I really liked this show. 8 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: “Night Raid -1931- (Senko no Night Raid)”

Publisher: Sentai Filmworks (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 16 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2010
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Shanghai, 1931. A Japanese spy agency called Sakurai Agency was formed to weed out threats and problems that may hinder Japan’s influence in Manchuria. There are four main agents; two young men, the rash Aoi Miyoshi and the more conservative Kazura Iha who’s cover is running photography studio, and a young woman named Yukina Sonogi and Natsume Kagiya, a gentle giant of a man who is like a protective brother to Yukina. The four work under a middle aged man named Shinichirou Sakurai, who was a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army. They are sent on a variety of missions such as stopping a sex trafficking ring, to thwart a kidnapping of a Japanese business man and to stop a suspected spy from leaking classified information. What sets the four members of the Sakurai Agency apart from other spies is their powers. All four have a different type of supernatural abilities ranging from telekinesis, remote viewing, teleportation and telepathy.

One day Yukina receives a letter from her missing brother, Isao Takachiho, presumed to be dead, saying he wants to meet her. However a bomb threat on the four biggest department stores in Shanghai brings Yukina in contact with her brother’s offsiders. The bomb threat was part of plot to sprit her away in order for her to secretly meet her brother. Isao’s subordinate also has supernatural powers like the Sakurai Agency, which surprises the team members. Isao is plotting something very big which could destabilise the region. To add to the chaos, Aoi discovers someone close to him has mysteriously returned and seemingly has links to Isao.

This show is certainly a refreshing pace from the other stuff I’ve been watching lately. There’s a number of really interesting elements to this show. First is the fact its set in a historical context and for the most part the show's story fits in really well. It does divert off into an alternate history slightly towards the end, but it is quite plausible that the events, bar the big one at the climax of the series, could have taken place alongside real life history. The characters, situations and stories also fit in really well with the time period. The show looks really well researched and correct in almost minute detail to the era. I did think Aoi did look a little too causal for the period and sort of questioned some of the lack of headwear when out in public on some of the characters. But I guess that this is Asia and not the west and men and women weren’t so socially inclined to wear hats in that period. There was also a secondary character, a young Chinese woman who works in a restaurant called Feng Lan, whom I though was a bit too much of a stereotype. The supernatural powers are also handled well in the show. It’s all rather matter of fact and they are sparingly used. The powers most certainly aren’t the focus of the show; it's the political machinations.

In that regard, it was all rather intriguing, but I sort of lost my way a bit with all the factions and who had swapped sides and for what reasons. However by the last few episodes it had pretty much settled down and was a lot clearer. Another great thing about the show is how languages are handled. People not only speak in Japanese, but Mandarin, English, Russian and German. The Japanese actors handle both the Mandarin and English fairly well, but are not so great with the Russian language. The only one out of place was an Indian character who seemed to speak English in a perfect American accent. That sort of destroyed my suspension of disbelief for the few scenes he was in. Also be on the lookout for a tall thin man named Ichishi, who is Shinichirou Sakurai’s offsider. He plays quite an important part in the show. But his part is done very subtlety. The series has three OVAs spread throughout it, which I thought add a bit more depth to the characters and the period. Even the postscript OVA at the end was really quite good. It really felt part of the story, not some tacked on bonus created for the video release. In conclusion this is really good antidote to the rather mediocre and fan pandering anime out at the moment. It’s really well produced, is really intriguing and suspenseful at times, portrays the period very well and is practically nothing like anything else out there at the moment. I did however get a bit lost with the political machinations at some points though and some of it I really did find had to suspend disbelief considering the historical context, but a lot of that stuff was pretty minor. I’m really surprised fandom didn’t warm to this show as much as I thought it would. It’s good, solid entertainment. 7.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: “The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya”/“Nyoron! Churuya-san”

Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 25 Episodes x 5 minutes (Haruhi-chan), 13 Episodes x 2 minutes (Churuya-san)
Production Date: 2009
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

I’ll readily admit that I’ve never been a big fan of “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” franchise. I only thought the original anime series was OK and the whole broadcast order gimmick was a bit lame really (though you must admit it worked like a charm). There were a number of references from the light novels which were never explained in the anime series. I always felt that was rather excluded a large part of the show’s audience. I really don’t see why I have to read a novel series to understand the anime. It should be self-contained. Somehow I enjoyed the second series a bit more than the first. The endless eight episodes could have been handled a lot better though (say, some more variation considering each one covers the same time period). And the movie, well I thought it was just a bloated, missed opportunity. That’s not to say the franchise isn’t entertaining. It’s just that I don’t see what others see in it.

I really regretted buying these discs and thought I was in for a relay bad two a bit hours when watching them. However I was really surprised. “The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya” is a set of five or so minute shorts released on YouTube back in 2009, based upon the spin off manga of the same name. Essentially it’s just an SD version of the show played for laughs. Pretty much everyone is the same as the original show. Except Yuki, who has given up books for video games, mostly of the ero variety (yes, the staff are playing to their target audience). The other big change is with Ryoko, who has revived in this incarnation of the show, except she’s a chibi version of herself and is no larger than say 20cm. Yuki manages to save her from a cat and then she sort of ends up as Yuki’s domestic slave, much to Ryoko’s horror. This odd relationship is where most of the humour comes from in the show. But Haruhi and Kyon’s antics are also pretty damn funny too. For the first half of the series, every episode did make me laugh at least once, but the humour waned as the show progressed. The format did wear me down a bit after a while. But then again I don’t think this show was meant to be watched in one hit.

“Nyoron! Churuya-san” is another kettle of fish. It ran in tandem with “The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya” on YouTube and is based on a bunch of four panel manga doujinshi by a circle called Eretto. The main character of this show is Churuya-san, who is essentially a stupid SD version Tsuruya. Everyone else has the same names as in the original show. Each two minute episode is broken up to four or so segment, most of which have to do with Churuya-san talking about, acquiring, eating or doing something else related to smoked cheese. Yup, that’s it. Sample dialogue runs something like this;

Churuya-san: “How do you make smoked cheese?”
Mikuru: “Google it.”
Churuya-san: “Nyoron~”

Vary the first two lines, change around the person Churya-chan is speaking to and repeat ad nauseum. Seriously, that’s it. As you can imagine it gets pretty old pretty quick. Add in the fact the rest of the cast have the exact same faces and the voice actors do weird deep voices for each of their characters. It’s quite dumb and not all that funny. Though I must admit some of the latter episodes did make me laugh. In the end it was pretty bloody annoying though. The disc is rounded out with some more of those bizarre live action commercials (one section is a thirty minute behind the scenes feature with the Japanese voice actor for Taniguchi, which is about 25 minutes too long. For about 10 minutes of that 25, two of the Japanese voice actors are seen wrestling each other dressed as oni in the grounds of a museum dedicated to oni myths. Yeah, great extra) and obligatory English ones made by Bandai Entertainment hyping the Haruhi releases. Seriously, does anyone watch those poorly acted, cringe inducing things? Overall it was quite a surprise and far better than I expected. The Churuya-san segments let down the Haruhi-chan stuff I’m afraid. 6.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Hungry (and Drunk) Like the Wolf

“Spice and Wolf” 
Publisher: Funimation (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles.
Length: 13 episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2008
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

In a European-like post middle ages world, man in his mid 20’s, Lawrence Kraft wanders the countryside trading whatever he can get his hands on. His peddling has again brought him to the village of Pasloe. The village has an ancient legend where a giant wolf named Holo once made a deal with the villagers to look after its annual wheat crops. In the passing decades and with evolving agriculture techniques and the growing influence of the church and waning interest in paganism, Holo’s promise is no longer relevant to the villagers in terms of actual harvesting. However they still celebrate the story of the promise with a festival at the end of the harvest which treats Holo as a myth, a story. After trading for some wheat, Lawrence leaves town. Late at night at his campsite, Lawrence discovers a young naked women sleeping in his cart. She claims to be the human form of the legendary wolf Holo. Lawrence disbelieves the story and asks her to prove it. Holo accepts the challenge and using a piece of the wheat, begins the transformation. Lawrence is horrified at this and quickly returns to Pasloe. There he visits Chloe, a peddler in training he knows quite well. She asks if they can be partners in business, but he declines say she is too young. Lawrence again leaves town and again meets the human form of Holo. Holo wants to leave the town and return to her homeland in the north, Yoitsu. She convinces him to take her on his journeys.

This series follows the pair as they traverse the countryside making deals, sometimes good ones, sometimes disastrous ones and meeting a number of people, including representatives of the church who don’t take kindly to pagan gods such as Holo. This anime is based upon the highly popular light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura and contains the very distinctive illustrations done by Ju Ayakura. Initially thought the series was set in post dark ages Europe, but this is not the case. It’s a fantasy novel series, but instead of focusing on the usual tropes in the genre, it’s focus is on trade and business. With a hot wolf girl of course. Holo in part seems much like Kuu from “Our Home's Fox Deity (Wagaya no Oinari-sama)”, except she’s much more savvy and knowledgeable about humankind. She’s also much more relaxed and comfortable with herself. Unlike Kuu, Holo can’t hide her long tail or her prominent ears in human form; therefore she hides them in nun like habit which Lawrence has to explain away with a story that she is indeed a nun. For the most part, Holo adapts well to human culture, though her instincts regarding food are weighted a bit on the animal side. For the most part the series is quite interesting, however over the 13 episodes, it does seem to get into a familiar pattern; Holo and Lawrence journey and make a risky deal, they are betrayed and in dire straits and then the problem is solved. Admittedly this structure is probably due to the fact it’s been adapted from the first two light novels, with six or so episodes each corresponding to one book. The final arc however was pretty damn good and made up for a lot of the show’s shortcomings. The animation was pretty disappointing and looked rather cheap (especially after watching “Dennou Coil”). A lot of animation is also repeated during the show. Certainly the first half of the first season is pretty good. I felt the second half of the show did mirror the first in terms of actual basic story ideas and this felt a bit repetitive. However the final few episodes and the two main characters more than made up for many of the show’s short comings. 7.5 out of 10

“Spice and Wolf II”
Publisher: Funimation (USA)
Format: Region 1 and 4 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles. Region A and B Blu-ray, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles.
Length: 13 episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2009
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

As Lawrence and Holo bid farewell to a friend they’ve helped out, Holo finds herself being drawn closer to Lawrence. At time she’s almost as giddy as a school girl (in her private thoughts of course), but at other times she’s a bit wary of how attached she is becoming to him. As they continue on their journey and visit the next town, Lawrence meet a fellow trader’s guild member, Amati. He is quite a young trader and immediately takes an interest in Holo. While Lawrence looks for clues as to the exact whereabouts of Yoitsu, he decides to distract Holo by letting Amati show her around the town. Unfortunately this backfires on Lawrence spectacularly. Holo spins a story to Amati that she is forced to travel with Lawrence because she raked up a debt of a thousand silver coins. This horrifies Amati who is now more or less in love with Holo, so he challenges Lawrence that he can come up with the money and free her. If does so he will propose to Holo. Though not exactly having romantic feelings for Holo, Lawrence accepts and attempts to come up a with a large amount of money so he can win the challenge. He really fears he will lose Holo. The money maker in this town is Fool’s Gold (pyrite) which local soothsayers say it holds special properties. However the supply of the pyrite is limited and it is extremely popular with the townsfolk. Lawrence plans to buy up as much pyrite he can lay his hands on, and then sell it all at once to devalue the market as much as he can. Therefore Amati’s stock will be effectively worthless. However Lawrence’s main problem is finding the pyrite.

The second series brings a change of animation studios. Because of this there is an immediate improvement in the animation. It looks significantly better than the first 13 episodes. The other really noticeable change in this series is Holo’s increasing attachment to Lawrence. The first few episodes show hints of her confusion and anxiety brought on by her friendship with him and also the fact she spent so much time with him and in the human world after spending such a long time being alone. There’s also her increasing anxiety that when she finally returns to Yoitsu, she believes no one will be left to great her. These episodes really humanise Holo who has been portrayed as a somewhat gluttonous, alcohol loving but sharp and cunning wolf girl. At the same time there is this attempt by the makers of the show the animal side of her. Certainly she’s portrayed as being more playful and even a bit more impulsive, and her tail is much more expressive here. It clearly gives away what she is thinking and shows her feelings. I really felt as a lot of these inclusions were deliberately included to soften Holo’s character, to make her girly and less intimidating. For the most part I didn’t mind there changes so much as they were mostly not distracting, however I thought it was a bit disappointing that they felt the need to do this. Holo is a fantastic character that didn’t need to be changed.

After the first arc of the show, Lawrence and Holo become a bit uh, lovey-dovey, or more correctly very, very chummy. I didn’t really like the character dynamic between them from this point on. The final arc for me certainly wasn’t as exciting as the first. I felt the show ended a bit weakly compared to how it started out. The plans that Lawrence and fellow traders hatch out together are bit convoluted and perhaps a bit implausible I think. However most of the dramas surrounding these schemes are reasonably exciting, though a bit subdued and not as dramatic as I hoped they would be portrayed. Funimation have thankfully included the two shorts from the Japanese releases. In particular, “Stretching with Holo, Yoitz Style”, is a strange but somehow suitable fun little extra. Overall I think the first half of the show was pretty good. The second half had a good set up but seemed to peter out a bit in the second half. The tension of the dissolution of Lawrence and Holo’s relationship disappears at the end of the first arc, so the events of the second arc not as dramatic as they should have been. Bit of a shame really. There’s also the problem that this anime is based upon an ongoing light novel series. The final scene feels really open ended. It really feels a like a third series should be created to give some real closure. Despite the problems with the show, I can still give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).