[K.B.]

Originally Posted by urdailywater

I giggle like a little japanese girl every time I watch that show.

Next you'll be watching Yuru Yuri.

Then Hidamari Sketch.

Then you'll be watching Clannad again for all the wrong reasons.

And then you'll have your own personal waifu.

If you're going to go that far then I recommend just skipping to the end.

[GravitySuitCollector]

I should borrow Dai-Guard from my older brother again. It's been more than a few years since I last saw it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbfx3qJKNN8

It's been a while since I've fully watched an anime like that.... A lot of newer ones seem relatively lacking, for some reason.

[Native Jovian]

Dai-Guard was pretty entertaining. It's an amusing combination of your standard giant robot vs godzilla monster style mecha awesomeness, and a wage-slave's eye view of the same. There's a reason why it's tagline is "office workers saving the world!". Wasn't the best mecha series I've ever seen, but worth watching.

[DJLionheart]

I finished watching Madoka a few months ago. Any thoughts on that one? A friend suggested it, saying it was REALLY good. . . And I must admit I really liked the story, but parts of it seemed kind of weird. The animation style was unique, and very well-done.

[HalcyonSpirit]

A~zu~nyan!

I return with a double-feature review! And not a combination you'd expect, either. But first, let's backtrack for a moment. This past weekend I replayed a few portions of the Kanon VN to get a better feeling for how the stories are set up and executed. In the process, however, I stumbled upon a realization I hadn't come to during my first read-through, partly due to the order that I played the paths in. I won't say anything else besides this: the realization was about Ayu within the other paths and was a punch to the gut. "Think you're over your feels about Kanon? Ha, you're going to feel it again whether you like it or not."

Anyway, because I watched them side-by-side and I figure talking about these two won't be very long individually, I bring to you today reviews of two anime and their films: K-ON! and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Ooooh, the contrast!

K-ON!
If you didn't see my previous post, I'll sum it up as follows: "I've never before watched pure moe-blob anime before. I started watching K-ON! and it has infected me with smiles." It was a bit more passionate, but that's how it boils down.

K-ON! is a slice-of-life anime, and in true slice-of-life fashion, plot is pretty much thrown out the window in favor of making the ordinary lives of five highschool girls interesting, usually by way of amplified reactions, silly idiocy, and general adorableness of the main cast. If you're looking for a plot, look elsewhere; this is all about the characters. And if you're looking for any sort of darkness in the show, forget it. In the world of K-ON!, darkness is nonexistent. If you're looking for music, well, you'll get a few songs, but that's about it. If you're looking for cuteness and more cuteness, WELCOME ABOARD.

The show starts out with four of the main characters (Yui, Mio, Mugi, Ritsu) and adds the fifth (Azu-nya—ah, sorry, Azusa) halfway through the first season. It's interesting how that ends up working out. Azusa is the serious one of the group (or tries to be), and her addition allows the entire cast to go above and beyond with their antics while having someone to pull them all back down. It helps to accentuate the impact of the adorableness/craziness/cute idiocy when it happens (and it happens ALL THE TIME) by forcing it back down, even for just a few moments. That way the viewer isn't in a constant sugar-high.

It'll just be a near-constant suger-high instead.

The series as a whole works well. The first season, in retrospect, builds up the characters, gets the viewers used to them without their actions seeming too odd, before cranking it all up to eleven in the second season. The second season is where the show really shines as far as the light, cute feelings and jokes go, though those that aren't particularly fond of the style will have grown tired of them by the time the first season is over. I use jokes here loosely, too; the show is a comedy, but it's more clever/cute observations about the characters than traditional jokes. The movie continues in the same form, not much plot and mostly-rapid-fire yet light humor. There's a bit more of a concentration of them playing music, too, which is nice. The movie is basically an extended season 2 episode that ends with a nice, fulfilling, maybe even emotional conclusion to the series when paired up with the ending to season 2. It still ends on a humorous note, though.

Speaking of humor, Yui and Ritsu are the two main setups for gags when they happen, and the main reactions are done primarily through Mio and Azusa. Mugi is played a little differently and remains a bit more in the background. She's usually there to deliver the second punch or make the first one stronger. However, due to this, I feel that her own gags, which happen infrequently and are usually very simple (even compared to the rest of the show), have the greatest impact per hit. Whether it be by adorableness, naivety, or doing something completely unexpected (which really is to be expected from her, given her background), she was the most consistent in getting me to keel over in amusement and diabetes. That said, there were very few jokes and scenes that did not at least make me smile. Given the frequency of the antics, I simply did not stop smiling throughout each episode.

For such a whimsical series, you wouldn't expect too much from the animation, but it is done amazingly well in this series. I don't mean flashy movements or amazing visual detail, though. It's the attention to animation subtlety that is so fantastic in this series. Even the smallest movements are given individual touches. Each character moves differently from the rest, emphasizing character traits and feelings. Even shots of legs climbing stairs and walking is given full attention by the animators to create expressions of the character they belong to. Watch an episode, particularly in the second season, without the sound on; even without it, the characters' personalities shine through using their movements.

The characters are each basically a caricature of a personality, and it's used to great effect. When something goes down, you more or less know how each character could react, but you know neither the specifics of how and exactly which ones are going to be doing so. The semi-predictability is a positive in this way, since it builds up the characters so they'll always be playing off each other's strengths (in the entertainment sense). Due to that, the viewers' empathy can be tapped quickly, as they can identify parts of themselves within each character while not getting distracted by other character traits that the viewer may not have and may hamper their empathy. If K-ON! is representative of what's typical in moe-blob shows as far as characters go, I think this is why the moe-blob sub-genre is so popular. They're easy to identify with personality-wise, so the humor that hinges on those personality traits are very likely to resonate. That said, each character does have a few traits that aren't expressed as often but make them so much more likeable when they are finally used.

Overall, it's an excellent show for those viewers looking for the anime equivalent of comfort food. It's tailored specifically to drag out as many good, light, fluffy feelings as possible. From the visual style to the way it plays with the characters, it's "fuwa fuwa" through and through. The show meanders but never really loses its relaxed edge; it comes close at times in the first season, but never really does in the second.

I don't have much else to say about the show, since it's really quite simple and you'll either like it or not, so I'll leave you with this statement of fact:

Every family needs a Mugi-chan.

<3 Mugi



Rating: A


Neon Genesis Evangelion
If you haven't seen the original Evangelion series, stop what you're doing and go watch it. Not because it's the greatest thing ever (it isn't), but because it's one of those defining series for the mecha genre and anime as a whole. This review is of my second time watching it; the first was some 7 years ago.

The start of the series is fairly typical of what was common around the time it came out. A simple "here's the target, go fight it", with more-or-less a "daily enemy" to battle and ultimately win against. It isn't completely generic for the time, but much of it does get played fairly straight. However, hints are dropped early on about how the series will end up playing out. Specifically, the show shifts its focus more on the characters themselves (and their inner conflicts) than it does on the actual battles. It starts doing so about halfway through and continuously ramps it up all the way to the end. Especially at the end. Oh dear lord, the original ending...

The plot isn't the most interesting in the world, but it does its purpose. In the beginning, all you know is that humanity is threatened by things called Angels and there's these big robots called Evas used to fight them. As time passes, more and more details about both the Angels and the Evas are revealed, fueling the viewer's desire to understand the mystery going on behind the scenes. The show uses the plot and the visuals to achieve this through some straight and some clever effects and snippets of conversations and actions. It never reveals too much at a time, but also never too little. The information is spread out in an almost ideal fashion; just as we're getting bored with what we currently know, something new is dropped into the mix that throws our perception of the situation out of balance. Characters are also affected in this manner, swinging our ideas of who's right and who's wrong back and forth. Nothing is ever quite so universally gray as some series, like the Gundam franchise tends to be, but none of the main characters are shown to be either good or bad, just with different motivations and, particularly, with different fears. Shinji gets the most of this treatment, but the rest have their fair share as well. Even Shinji's father, the one main character in the show we're sure is just a dick for quite some time.

The visuals aren't spectacular, but they're good. More importantly, they're used properly. Shots are lined up to emphasize a feeling, a moment, or even just a particular character. It's done very effectively. However, there has always been some controversy over the nature of some of the symbolism used throughout the show. Some say it's deliberate with deep meaning, others say it's there just because. Without getting into what the creators have said on the subject, it is my opinion that the symbolism is deliberate yet shallow at best. It's done very obviously, with the visuals and the words used, but nothing about them hints at any sort of depth. When watching this series, I got the distinct feeling that it was all just to provide a hook for the viewers to latch onto, something to give it a more "epic" feeling without too much work. It certainly succeeded in that regard; the symbolism does a great job at making everything feel just a bit more tense, a bit more meaningful, without having to do much legwork itself. It's not thrown in the show halfhazardly, but neither is it given any sort of deep thought.

What can I say about the ending? There's two. The original ending to the series within the last two episodes, and then the ending provided in the movie End of Evangelion. The original ending is a result of budget cuts during the series' production, causing the last two episodes to completely fall flat on their faces. One can say that there's some interesting psychology and such being revealed in those two episodes, both in the characters and as a general statement about humanity itself, and I will say that this isn't false. However, the episodes stretch for time so much that it dilutes any impact it may have had. The ending to this ending is deeply unsatisfying, too, as it provides no resolution. Absolutely none.

End of Evangelion is the "true" ending according to the creators, made possible by the success of the series. It certainly gives the viewer the action one would've expected from the ending to the series, it condenses the philosophical segment of the final two episodes into a much more meaningful and directed form, and gives a resolution to the series. Perhaps not the most satisfying of resolutions to some, but it is a definite resolution. It's even symbolic, perhaps moreso than any other part of the series. The action scenes are done very well, the visuals are used to great effect, and there's even moments where you feel the characters' struggles right up until the end. It has an impact, something that was lacking in the original ending. It's an excellent movie finale for a pretty good series. Evangelion should be watched through at least once.

Rating: B+

--------------------

Coming up next may be a review of a movie that, according to many, should never have been made. I recently acquired a copy and put it on my computer. Immediately, I felt a great disturbance in the fandom. As if millions of Key fans cried out in disgust and were suddenly silenced.

As a diehard fan of the source material, I may be in for a rough hour and a half.

... Bring it on.

[Thin Crust]

Evangelion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq0LIe2ATGI

Just listen to the song and ignore the video.

[urdailywater]

Halcyonspirit, if you really liked K-ON!, then seriously Yuru Yuri should be the next thing you watch. Seriously. It's too good.

Of course there's such a thing as too much moe. So if you're at that point then chillin' out with some more action would be good. Nice reviews, by the way.

Going to try and watch Evangilon soon, speaking of. Maybe. Really I'm just trying to get all the short, 12-14 episode classics out the way (along with a few others). Just got a external hard drive storage which I badly needed and have been on an anime craze as of late.
After I'm finished with Shigofumi I'm onto Serial Experiements Lain. Then probably Evangilon.

Then whatever else comes after that. Probably another mystery series.

[Thin Crust]

In all honesty, the only reason I believe there is to watch Evangelion is simply because of the hype surrounding it. I watched it for this reason as well as Suzumiya Haruhi and I really disliked both shows. It takes more than cute girls to make a show and I believe that that is the only thing these 2 shows have.

But of course that's only my opinion.

[Native Jovian]

Evangelion also has really awesome giant robot ass-kicking sequences when they actually have giant robots kicking ass instead of deranged teen drama. Sadly, the latter was the huge majority of the show.

[HalcyonSpirit]

If all you want is mech ass-kicking, I guess the more human parts of the show wouldn't appeal. Mech ass-kicking is a more universal form of enjoyment; who needs silly human emotions when there's half a city to destroy every week? It'd be a strange day to find someone that doesn't enjoy it at least a bit.