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Review: Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

Movie (Anime) Also Known As: Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gyakushuu no Char, Gundam CCA Consumed in English Sub

Released just over a year after the end of ZZ in 1987, CCA is here to finally draw the first era of Gundam to a close. A capstone on the original trilogy. CCA however, isn’t simple. There’s a lot going on in this movie, and a lot left to the viewer, making this movie a source of debate. The question lies, is that a good thing? Let’s rock.

PLOT: UC 0093. After the events of Zeta and ZZ Neo Zeon has been built once again, this time with Char as its head. Char is running a plan to end the struggle between the Spacenoids and the Earth Federation once and for all, by permanently destroying the Federation. A 2 phase plan of dropping asteroids on the Earth to put it into a new Ice Age. Amuro and the Londo-Bell unit seem to be the only thing truly standing in his way. One of the initial complaints many people have with this movie, is how abrupt the start is. After ZZ only had one monologue in reference to Char, we suddenly have the movie opening with him dropping an asteroid on the Earth. However I feel the lack of build-up is quite intentional, as throughout the movie Char’s motives are hotly discussed and it leaves the viewers with interesting questions. We’re given enough to come up with answers, but we never truly see what’s going on in Char’s head. The movie continues along this plotline at a rather brisk pace, the 2 hour runtime of the movie is well earned even if it’s not enough to truly set up the new cast of the film. Seeing the conclusion to the battle between Amuro and Char is a worthwhile selling point. Seeing the old enemies battle again 14 years after their original war was quite impactful. The ending of this movie is... interesting. I definitely found the last few lines surprising and honestly I still am unsure what to make of them. It does bring things to a satisfying end however.

9/10, a dramatic finale to a strong series

CHARACTERS: Now here’s where the anger from fans really sets in. Sure there are some returning characters. Amuro, Char, Bright, Astonaige, Mirai, and Cameron Bloom all return in this movie. All of the returning characters were on-character and enjoyable. There are also a lot of new characters. On the Federation side we have Kayra, a character who’s thwarted by a lack of screen time and basically earns investment from her relationship with Astonaige. Chan, who spends the movie working with Amuro, has enough screen time but was never characterized too strongly outside her relationship with Amuro. On the Zeon side we have Nanai, who’s close to Char and generally comes off as being a cold bitch when not around him. The best of the new cast would have to be Gyunei, who probably would’ve been a super interesting character in a longer series, but instead serves as a semi-interesting view of Zeon and on Char. Any viewers of the movie will notice two characters I’ve left out. Quess and Hathaway. These characters are controversial to say the least. Hathaway, while not a new character, has his first major role where we get to see his personality. Hathaway is largely in over his head and emotional, causing intense ire from many audience members. Quess is kind of a similar case, her character thematically plays her role well, but is also a dumb brat who I doubt has any fans. Many complaints about CCA are about these characters being unbearable to watch. I found them effective despite being unlikeable. 

6/10, they tried too hard to introduce a new cast and ended up introducing the most obnoxious characters in Gundam history.

VISUALS: This movie is a good example of “good for the time.” Some of the effects haven’t aged well but I can clearly see how they looked amazing at the time. The frame rate dropping when colonies were shown was annoying, but the real 3D look of the colonies was neat. The animation was somewhere between good and impressive the whole movie. As for design- I want to start off by saying how much I like the nu-Gundam design. Fitting with the movie, it’s very similar to the iconic Gundam but yet still looks newer and even a bit more mature. Some of the other new Mobile Suits had some interesting designs but didn’t stick around long enough for me to really get to know them. Char’s mobile suit was pretty cool and had the nice, fitting red. The returning characters have aged rather naturally, and as new characters go their designs were effective and memorable. Gyunei was a personal favorite of mine design wise.

8/10, aged but rather good.

SOUND: I don’t think I could listen to a Char not voiced by Shuuichi Ikeda. The OST for this movie was rather strong, though my favorite piece was the people in the train car singing for Char. The ending theme was also pretty good. As for sound effects, this is Gundam sounding it’s most Star Wars yet. It does come off as a bit cheesy, but fun. The voice acting was pretty on point, fantastic performances for Amuro and Char especially.

7/10, pretty good

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

A bit of a messy project, but the strengths definitely show through. Perhaps this should have been part of a TV Gundam, but it worked as a movie. UC Gundam up to this point has been a long story, and with CCA we draw it to a satisfying close. I know this isn’t the last page in the Gundam story, but it’s a good ending for what it is.

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Review: Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

Television (Anime) Also Known As:  Kidou Senshi Gundam ZZ, Gundam Double Zeta Consumed in English sub

As Zeta Gundam brings Kamille’s story to a close a single problem remains. The war is not yet won. Haman Karn and her Axis Zeon are still out there. So Zeta would be followed up by a direct sequel, ZZ. After the ambitious, shocking, and dark ending of Zeta, what could follow it up? As the first episode of ZZ revealed, probably not what anyone was expecting. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: The war between the AEUG and Axis Zeon carries on. The Argama, weary and beaten, stops to rest at the colony Shangri-La. What they don’t expect, is a few junk dealing teenagers to attempt to steal the Zeta Gundam to sell it off. However as fate turns about, this group of teens ends up joining the Argama in their fight against Zeon. One of the things people coming into this series will quickly notice is the tone snap. Zeta’s ending was very dark and poignant, however ZZ kicks things off with some comedy. The series, while not fangless, is significantly lighter in tone than its predecessor and even 0079 before it. It will take itself seriously and have strong moments, but it never reaches the prior abysses. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it can be disappointing for many viewers. It also felt significantly less ambitious, towards the end of prior series there was a sense of serious resolution that ZZ lacked. It still had its early kinda comedy bits spliced in the middle of the final arc and they came off a tad unnatural. However I found the comedy to make it much easier to ease into than Zeta’s beginning. The other major complaint is I felt like ZZ had significantly less going on under the hood, it came in with less to say. However what it did have to say it made it’s point on, and is something that I can only really demerit it on as a sequel. ZZ was however, full of strong points. The ending of its Earth arc is something I won’t soon forget, and it brings things to a rather strong close. The ending is a nice conclusion to things, honestly working as a conclusion to the series if it weren’t for CCA.

7/10, it’s nothing terribly special, but does some pretty great things.

CHARACTERS: The first thing you’ll hear about from many ZZ fans is Judau Ashita. He’s the one who leads the plan to steal the Zeta, and ends up being the lead character for the series. Unlike his prior counterparts he takes significantly less shit from the people around him, which makes him satisfying to watch. He’s got a good character arc and will speak his mind, making for some powerful moments. The problem is the rest of the main cast isn’t as compelling. Elle and Iino were pleasant enough but gave me little to remember them by. Beecha had the makings of a really good character arc that just never finished. Mondo was there. There was a good amount of returning cast and I felt like it managed to give a bit more to some of Zeta’s less developed characters. As far as villains go, there’s a good amount to unpack here. Some of the early villains, Mashmyre and Chara Soon were quite comedic and rather enjoyable villains. They weren’t imposing but I generally enjoyed when they were on screen. I feel like as the series goes on it squashes them a bit which is a shame. The recurring villain of Glemy is an interesting case, he initially comes off as incompetent but has a parallel arc to the main cast and has some fantastic moments later into the series which earn him his spot. Haman herself is.... an interesting case. She was a highlight of Zeta and I was excited to get more of her but it feels like she’s changed between series. She’s significantly less exciting in ZZ with some strange character changes, but she is quite imposing and does her job well as an overarching villain.

7/10, some missed opportunities here and there but one hell of a lead character.

VISUALS: Visually this is a continuation to Zeta. The style is the same, though I do feel like the animation quality took a bit of a dive. I noticed significantly more shortcuts in ZZ then I remember from Zeta but that could be faulty memory. What definitely stood out, is the visual comedy. ZZ’s animation was pretty good with being fun and expressive to match the comedy of the series. I snipped many a frame of something silly and strange happening. I definitely found this to be a plus. As far as design work goes, this batch of characters was quite well done. Everyone has a unique and distinguishable look, both hero and villain. The ZZ Gundam looks like a natural progression to the Zeta Gundam. Psyco Gundams still look mad cool, life is good.

7/10, funny face make me smile.

SOUND: First thing you’ll notice is the killer openings. Anime Ja Nai gets memed for a good reason. The OST was pretty alright, it had some good moments but never did anything amazing in my opinion. The voice acting I found to be stand out, all of the cast had unique sounds that fit their character. I could easily tell who was on-screen with my eyes closed. Good performances all around there. 

7/10, kudos to some good performances.

FINAL SCORE: 7/10 I feel like ZZ is a really good example of a 7/10. It’s a good ride and quite enjoyable, but it’s not the type of series you really write home about. It’s one of the weaker entries in a strong series, but it’s not bad by any measure. It’s a satisfying close to an era, well, almost. There’s only one thing left to settle- and a movie to do it.

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Review: Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru

Visual Novel (Sound Novel) (PC) Also known as: Umineko: When They Cry - Answer Arcs, When They Cry  Consumed in English

Welcome back to Rokkenjima. The fourth entry in the When They Cry series picks up directly where the third left off. This part concludes the mystery of Umineko, however there’s so much more to this than just that. Chiru is hard to discuss, but I’ll do my best. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: 

(Mild Spoilers for the first half below)

After the ending of the 4th game, the witch can’t continue to run the games. However the voyager witches haven’t had their fill of entertainment. The games continue with new pieces and ploys to dig into the truth of Beatrice’s game board. Battler finds himself stuck between his quest for the truth and the malice of these voyager witches as the answers begin to come to light. 

(Spoilers end here)

The story continues up to its end, but due to the nature of Umineko it’s hard to talk about what happens. What does happen though, is quite intense and intriguing. There are some slower parts that’ll come off as obvious to the more perceptive reader, but all in all I have more positives to say than negatives. As far as whether the answers themselves are satisfying, that’s up to the reader. Umineko Chiru is an ambitious project, and it’s ambitions will surely not be for everyone, however I believe people willing to listen to what it has to say will surely find a lot to love. I personally found myself disagreeing with many of the themes and ideas but I much enjoyed the way they played out. While some episodes are rougher than others, all of them were packed with absolutely amazing moments readers won’t be quick to forget. The ending is an interesting discussion, but I did find it to be both fitting and emotionally satisfying. I did catch myself crying in the 8th episode for good reason. There’s a lot to chew on and talk about, but I’m afraid I can’t do so without ruining the experience.

9/10, Aside from slow moments I found this to be intriguing and engaging from beginning to end.

CHARACTERS: Let’s first talk about returning characters. With our main character Battler, he continues to develop through his arc and has become a fully developed character by the end. His arc is well-done, but the answers he comes to may be disagreeable to some. As for “Beatrice” we finally get to the bottom of that mystery, quite the interesting one indeed. As for the other humans on the island, while they don’t take drastic departures, I do feel by the end everyone has had their moment to shine as we truly get to understand them as people. As for new characters, there’s a few of note. First of all is the character of Erika. Erika will come off as distasteful for many, but she has quite the presence and a fantastic dynamic with other characters. The character of Dlanor was also a welcome addition. A personal favorite would have to be Willard, who has one of the strongest debuts in the series and is amazing throughout his debut episode, though his presence falls off later. The character of Lion is quite popular, especially considering the dynamic with Will, but I never found Lion memorable or impactful myself. Hachijo Tohya was a character who I didn’t like at first but grew to like more over time, especially for her role in the last episode.

9/10, this was very close to being a 10 but I have a few spoilerific nitpicks.

VISUALS: I don’t have much to say that wasn’t said in the review of the first part of Umineko. As for new sprites I found them very hit and miss. Erika and Will’s sprites were quite nice (in both arts honestly). However there were some sprites that felt like really poorly done repurposings of other sprites. In general the entirely new sprites much outweighed the occasional misses. Ryukishi has improved as an artist. As far as background goes I’d say this fourth entry of When They Cry has the best backgrounds in the whole series, especially with some “new” locations looking absolutely phenomenal. Any remaining complaints would be some costume changes that were described but not shown.

7/10, When They Cry at some of it’s best.

SOUND: I don’t think there’s much to say that I haven’t already said. Umineko sounds amazing, the songs in this half have more vocals as it draws towards the end. This second half has two opening songs (5-6 and 7-8) respectively and both of those I found to be amazing even if they are totally different. When They Cry soundwork is and will always be quite the treat.

9/10, It’s WTC what else do I need to say.

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

Thus we close the curtain on the latest and greatest entry in the When They Cry series. The story presented here isn’t a simple one, and it’s one that requires patience, but it’s quite the tale and a hard to forget one. Episode 8 debuted back in 2010, and here we are 9 years later on the brink of Episode 1 of When They Cry 5, let’s hope the series can continue as glorious if not better than it’s last entry.

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Young Justice: Invasion

Cartoon Also know as: Young Justice Season 2

I was not the biggest fan of the first season of this show, but I’m the type to stick things out. It does help that I was watching with a friend. From 2012 to 2013, Young Justice: Invasion, the season that entirely changed my feelings on the show. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: Plot? Yes there’s plot! Picking up a whopping 5 years after the first season, Invasion starts you off at high speed. Things have changed, our young team is older with new younger members of the team for an increased roster. The Light is still at large but a more imminent danger has show itself, one consisting of teens being abducted by an alien force. Our heroes have to battle these aliens, but of course there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than anyone could imagine. This season has a lot more focus on the overarching plot, each episode feeds right into the next and it has a great sense of momentum. The 5 year timeskip is a bit rocky at first as the series tries to awkwardly bring the viewers up to speed, but in all honesty I feel like it was beneficial to the series. It allowed to to see how our main characters have changed, but more importantly added a whole new cast without having to go through pesky origin episode after origin episode. Not only do the episodes flow together better, I found them to also be more impactful. More things happen, and more powerful things happen. We see some intense stuff, from big explosions to intense action I found the individual episodes to also be gripping and impactful. The villain presence was also much better this season, as the seasonal villains main fighter showed up early and repeatedly with a lot of presence. Some might complain the series got a bit complex in its plots, schemes, and twists but I feel they were balanced just right to create quite the thrilling ride. The end of the season was also quite satisfying, while not the way I would have written it it resolved the arc quite well and prepared cliffhangers for the next... something that would haunt fans for years of waiting for a season 3 that seemed unlikely to come.

9/10, it set out with ambition and achieved, though it’s no master classic.

CHARACTERS: With 5 years passing we have a lot to catch up on with our main cast and this is done... all right. Miss Martian’s character has taken a turn, while not bad I did find myself enjoying her less this season. Our more matured Connor is rather nice, and has to carry the torch as Wally, Artemis, and Kal’der have left the team. Our Robin from last season has graduated to Nightwing status, and has grown in a satisfying manner, though his bat habits are still apparent and keep him real in his own weird way. Wally and Artemis have retired so we get significantly less of them for the first half of the season, but seeing them together and moved off to college is nice. Kal’der’s arc is hard to explain but quite intriguing as he does his own thing throughout the series. The kids are still well (or at least still good characters.) However I think what’s of more note is the newer cast members. We get a lot of new characters out of seemingly nowhere, but this never made the series feel hard to relate to or bloated. We got to know most of them fairly well. While not all are developed, they’re all pretty memorable with a few stand outs. Blue Beetle was an absolute highlight of the series for me as he tied into the plot but was also enjoyable to watch. As for development and interaction, I feel like the series has gotten a lot more natural. The romances no longer feel nearly as forced, and the broken relationship between Connor and Meg’an was handled with more complexity and care than anything in S1. Villain presence was also better this season. The main villain was quite enjoyable in his own evil way, and seeing the Light put on the spot brought some interesting things about with them. Black Manta was also a highlight of the season, despite being a villain he was shown to be a quite human character and loveable despite his evil role.

8/10, this was a step up from season 1 in all the right ways.

VISUALS: I don’t think visuals will ever be this show’s strong suit. While lacking in the constant errors of season 1, I still found this season to be plagued with out of place 3DCG. Aside from that I suppose it’s mostly unremarkable, characters all look distinct but I didn’t find many of them to be aesthetically pleasant in the art style. It all works but rarely looks good. The best things here are probably how good the Beetles look. The color palette is nice but the artistry otherwise is just passable.

6/10, a step in the right direction.

AUDIO: Audio can be defined in 2 parts, diegetic and non-diegetic. This season I found all the non-diegetic sound to be entirely unmemorable, but on the other hand the diegetic sounds were great. The voice acting was spot on and everyone had distinct sounds and vocal quirks that bounced off of eachother. When speaking their own series unique lingo they still sounded natural and worked quite well. Sound effects were still pretty on point as well. For special notices I want to point out Black Beetle, who had one of the best voices I’ve heard in a cartoon. At times I would lament when he stopped speaking because I just found his voice that good with its alien sound. I don’t have a lot to say here because it’s just simply a job well done.

7/10, bgm was forgettable but the voices were good.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

It’s definitely an improvement. While Young Justice is no genre breaker I do have to give a lot of props for how far it’s come. I lamented the lack of ambition in S1 and this had that in spades, making good on the foreshadowing of S1 as well. Definitely recommend for any fans of superhero cartoons and I find to be an action cartoon done right.

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Review: Sengoku Youko

 Manga Consumed in English

Continuing on from Samidare into the catalog of Satoshi Mizukami, next I came along Sengoku Youko. Despite being Mizukami’s longest work and a shounen action manga, it was a name I’d heard little about. However what I did hear about was quite interesting, OPT threads posting ambitious spreads, and some classy-taste friends of mine listing it as their favorite battle shounen ever. So I began my delve into the 2007-2016 series, Sengoku Youko. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: Two people roam the land. We have the fox demon, Youko Tama, and her stepbrother, Yamato Jinka. Together they’re on a quest to reform the evils of the land and bring a better peace to the world. Along their way they meet the young samurai Hyoudo Shinsuke, who’s the first to join their party in their quest for peace. If this doesn���t sound interesting to you, don’t worry. This is just the initial set-up. Sengoku Youko is broken up into some clearly defined parts, each building on the events of the last and, in my honest opinion, increasing in intrigue. The first part has a pretty standard set-up and does drag for the first while, but what it ends up doing and being built from there is quite the mastercraft. Sadly this means it’s the type of piece where I have to hold my tongue on why it’s good because the twists and surprises are best left unspoiled. Once part 2 kicks it, it becomes a tightly woven tale that carries a lot of emotional punch. Despite the simple set up, some quite amazing and surprising things do happen down the road, the manga will shift the status quo quite a bit and time will pass, but all of this is done quite meaningfully and with a lot of skill. There’s also a lot of thematic and emotional weight, as the series goes into humans, demons, fate, and what it means to fight. It’s full of exciting fights backed by powerful ideals and heart-wrenching deaths. It manages to fantastically blend an intense action plot with a lot of character moments and development. As with my last Mizukami series, I will say the plot falls under the characters but that’s by no means a bad thing. Ending wise the series ties up nicely, even if the epilogue lacked in some ways.

7/10, the first part is a 6 with the second part beyond being an 8.

CHARACTERS: Mizukami is one hell of a character writer and this doesn’t change. The initial cast are all quite memorable. Tama herself I find to be the weakest character as while she’s likeable and cute I found her development quite lacking in comparison to everyone else. Her initial ideal of peace stays throughout with little questioning, but she does over time come to discover her motivations for what’s more important to her. Jinka on the other hand is quite strong development-wise. When we meet him he’s a human on a quest to become a demon, after being exiled and living with demons he watched humans kill all the demons he lived with and has developed a hatred for them. Through the events of the series (and especially through his relation with Shinsuke) he comes down off of his hatred horse and begins to develop into the main hero we want him to be. Shinsuke himself is quite the case, starting off as a coward and a wannabe we see an AMAZING amount of development with him. His development is rough, but as all human development is, and by the end he’s even rather inspirational. I can’t say his name, but the other character to go through quite as complex and satisfying a development is one who becomes a lead character in the second part. I imagine any fans of the series will know who I’m talking about and there’ll be little dissent on the development of this boy. There’s also a lot of great side characters. The character of Teru was a particular highlight for being both incredibly funny and endearing despite overall playing a rather minor role in the series. Some other characters such as Raidou and Nau were also quite nice. I never found any of the characters to be unpleasant, with the “worst” being fun but static. As far as villains go there’s a good amount to talk about here. Some of the recurring villains are quite nice, especially Douren who falls into the old trope of “Genuinely Great Guy who’s just on the Other Side.”  The character of Mudo falls into the villain turned rival role and has some of the best character development in the series. I also want to give a shout out to Jinun but can’t say why for spoiler sakes. Lastly the series villains, who’s reveal itself is a twist, were rather interesting. They were built up in a mysterious and exciting manner over the early parts of the series, and come to pay off towards the end. Despite being villains they fall into the nice category of not only relatable, but arguably more right than the main characters and have a fantastic backstory even if they’re lacking as individual characters. All in all Mizukami outdid himself by creating a loveable cast that grows well and ends up becoming powerful and memorable characters.

9/10, epitomic of good battle shounen character writing.

VISUALS: I’d honestly say this is a mixed bag. Mizukami’s art isn’t the strongest but he pulled out all of the stops here. While the individual panel to panel can be alright, the action scenes (especially later in the series) are top notch. While it may not be the most anatomic or realistic, the art is really expressive and can flow well. Character faces convey a lot of emotion and the designs are unique and memorable. Most memorable of all are the spreads, which on their own might be 10/10. Whether it be epic attacks conveyed in gripping detail with powerful emotion, back to back spreads conveying a mix of scale and flow, or (most surprisingly) spreads of larger than 4 pages to convey the size and scale of a scene in intriguing ways, Sengoku Youko I feel is one of the best examples of how to utilize and make multi-page spreads in an action series. I can still picture some of them with their intense action and raw emotions. It’s ambitious for the medium with having even a 6-page spread at one point. The average page isn’t as good as these spreads, but the series looks fine on average. I also think some of the demon design is particularly fantastic, a personal favorite of mine is Banshou’ou’s combat form.

8/10, some amazing spreads put in what’s otherwise a pretty decent piece.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

While not perfect (with a slow first act) Sengoku Youko does some amazing stuff and in my opinion is well worth the read, while not becoming my favorite battle shounen I think it’s a pretty good contender for one of the best ever. I’d recommend it for most manga fans and is a must-read for any battle shounen manga fan.

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Review: Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Visual Novel (Sound Novel) (PC) Also know as: Umineko: When They Cry - Question Arcs, When They Cry 3 Consumed in English

Welcome to Rokkenjima. The third entry in the acclaimed When They Cry series, Umineko, brings a fresh new start to the series. New story, new characters, and so on. It both rode on the coattails of, and had to fight it’s way out of the shadow of its predecessor, Higurashi. This presented a massive challenge, but did Umineko succeed? Let’s rock.

PLOT: October 4, 1986. The annual family conference of the Ushiromiya family has come once again. Being an immensely prosperous business family, talks quickly become of money, including the inheritance of the aging family head. The head of the family’s 4 children and their families gather at the family head’s mansion on Rokkenjima island and debates begin. Our protagonist, Battler, and the other grandchildren are spared from these debates and find themselves in front of a portrait in the mansion. This portrait is of the legendary witch Beatrice, who the family head Kinzo claims gave him a fortune of gold which he built his success on. Attached to this portrait is a mysterious epitaph which none of the family have managed to solve. When a typhoon blows in, trapping the family, their servants, and one attending physician on the island, strange events begin to occur. A letter is delivered to the dinner table signed by the “family alchemist” Beatrice. Beatrice’s letter claims that she had a contract with Kinzo, and this contract states that all possessions of the Ushiromiya family go to her unless someone can solve her epitaph. When a series of mysterious deaths begin to happen on the island, the family is forced to take the letter seriously. At this intersection between reality and magic, can the culprit be found, or will it be accepted as the powers of a witch? Umineko is a hard as nails mystery with a lot of detail to it. For those familiar with Higurashi, Umineko does adopt the same format over it’s four episodes. The unique trait of Umineko is its witches, rather than simply solving a murder to catch the murderer, it’s also a battle to prove it isn’t the magic of a witch- which sounds a simpler task than it is. Due to the incredibly plot heavy nature of the VN, I can’t go into much more detail for spoiler reasons. There is a lot going on here, a drastic amount has changed between episodes 1 and 4. Umineko is also incredibly long, and not necessarily for all the right reasons. The pacing isn’t usually very tight, and you occasionally run into bumpy dragged out pieces or retreaded ground, but the high points are definitely worth the lows. Umineko also isn’t content to be just a mystery, in its over 50 hour playtime it delves into comedy, action, romance, tragedy, and so on. Despite some unique diversions however, at the end of the day it goes back to the mystery and battle against the witch. While not conclusive, Umineko has a strong ending that sets up for its sequel, Umineko Chiru.

8/10, a grand mystery unfolds with some bumps here and there.

CHARACTERS: Umineko has a lot of characters. We open the story with 18 characters before adding in any supposed witches.The good news is all of them are very distinct in both appearance and personality. The VN uses its long run time to spend a good amount of time on most of the characters. The human cast ranges from being able to be uniquely described to in depth enough for a full character study. Battler himself is a rather distinct and likeable character, his character also well develops over the course of the VN. The other grandchildren (Battler’s cousins) Jessica, George, and Maria get a good amount of spotlight as we see into their lives. Maria in particular has a lot going on. The servants of similar age to the grandchildren, Shannon and Kanon, were characters I initially disliked but grew to rather like by the end. They both come off as initially simple but have a significant amount more going on. The head of the family Kinzo comes off as more mystery than character, we see little of him but feel the waves of his actions. Kinzo’s children all get a good amount of spotlight. Battler’s parents don’t get much screen time, but the time they get is enough for them to make some powerful impressions. Jessica’s parents I found to be the weakest of the family character-wise, but are still likeable in their own right. George’s parents are both immediately enjoyable and I found them to get more interesting over time. Lastly Maria’s mother Rosa has a lot going on and is quite interesting to dig into over the series. As other characters go, the rest of the servants and doctor Nanjo, they aren’t particularly strong characters but have a significant enough presence and a good amount of likeability. I feel as the series goes on we’ll get to dig more and more into these characters and I have high expectations and a belief they’ll be met. As for “the witch, Beatrice”, we’re left with quite the interesting puzzle.

9/10, there’s a lot of characters, a lot of character, and a lot of intrigue. TFW no Battler bf.

VISUALS: When They Cry visuals will always be an interesting discussion, as there are multiple versions.

The steam version of Umineko comes with the original art (pictured above left) and the Pachinko art (picture below). The Alchemist art can be modded in, however as it isn’t natural to this version I won’t be discussing it.

The backgrounds are the same in both new and old arts, all that changes is the sprites. I ended up going with the original art, though I did look at the Pachinko quite a bit. The original art is very rough, as is the nature with many a doujin games, but has a lot of charm in my opinion. It manages to give every character a unique feel whilst feeling consistent to itself. The original art is also very expressive, with each pose and look containing a lot of emotion. The Pachinko art can clash with itself stylistically, is less expressive, feels like it tries to be way more sexual than is Umineko’s nature (obnoxious boob inflation), and is ultimately incomplete, as some minor characters in minor scenes don’t have pachinko sprites so even in new art mod you will get original art. Umineko art is at best rough, but I quickly found myself growing to like it. As other visual pieces go, I found the stylized photo backgrounds quite enjoyable. They can very easily convey an air of mystery or horror (hence why I liked them so much in Higurashi), however that can be a personal preference thing. As other visuals go (the portrait of the witch, some designs of magic circles, and some unique set pieces) I found them to be quite enjoyable. The transition pieces were also quite nice. However nothing about the visuals felt like a home run or epitome of good visuals. A lot of the designs had some fantastic ideas in them, but ultimately artist ability, time, and budget were limiting factors. A thing I will say about the visual presentation however, is it uses the format of the VN with text colors as inherently meaningful, a minor detail but a positive one.

7/10, When They Cry will always be divisive visually, but I like it.

SOUND: Umineko might have one of my favorite OSTs, it is loaded with killer original compositions. The opening song is one of my all time favorite opening songs, I could almost listen to it on repeat. The soundtrack is loaded with a variety of styles, from very traditional background pieces to mysterious tracks of magic to energetic battle tracks. A lot of my personal favorites are the more electronic-y tracks loaded with energy, pumping you up to solve the truth and deny the witch. However fans of more traditional mood pieces will also be quite satisfied. It’s also good about working different audio queues into different songs to represent songs, there’s a few types of sound that get inherently associated with magic. It also does a thing I like of making multiple renditions of a song, each version being distinct for its own reason. It feels like it’s building on itself, and each version carries the emotional value of the prior song but adding more to it. In other pieces, there’s no voice acting without the Alchemist sprite mod, so I won’t be discussing that. Sound effect wise, I adore Umineko. A lot of the sound effects just feel so right. Ahahaha.wav is one of my all time favorite sound effects, and the bleeding “gloop” rubs me the right way.

9/10, I can fault this only with “not being absolute perfection.” That award goes to Persona 3.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

In all honesty I was surprised that Umineko meted out at an 8. If I were to include a super-subjective enjoyment category that’d get a 10. Umineko is not perfect, but it’s damn interesting. A small part of my brain keeps telling me to just google the answers because I’m so curious as to how it’ll all come together. I absolutely adore most things about Umineko. I implore more people to give When They Cry a chance, it’s such a fascinating series and is such a good mystery.

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Review: Aqua

Manga Consumed in English

Probably better known under the name of it’s sequel, Aria. Aqua is usually held as a pillar of Slice of Life and Iyashikei with some Utopia to boot. I have yet to break into Aria, but let’s look at how the two volumes known as Aqua fares. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: or lack thereof. Taking place in 2031, the planet Mars has become covered in water and renamed to Aqua. Our tale takes place in the city of Neo Venezia, a city of water and boats. Our protagonist Akari arrives from earth to seek a job as a gondolier tour guide known as an Undine. The series follows Akari training to be an Undine and coming to know the city and world she’s moved to. There’s not much of a plot. We see a sense of progress in Akari’s Undine training, but the series is largely a relaxing read. Luckily for a series centered on tour guides, the city is an interesting tour. Learning about the intricacies and lifestyles in Neo Venezia proves to be interesting. There’s a good amount of stuff going on in our main character’s lives to keep the series from getting dull. I’d usually rail a series for tottering around doing nothing, but it really works out in Aqua’s favor as an atmosphere piece.

7/10, plot might not be the right word but the events of the series are a joy to read.

CHARACTERS: The cast is rather small. Akari is a cheerful girl who doesn’t quite have it all together just yet. Her immaturity and not being an Aqua native allow us to learn with her. She’s writing e-mails to someone, so there’s more to learn in the sequel I’d assume. She’s endearing, but rather simple. That’s the real running thing with this series. Most of the characters are simple tropes but they work. Alicia is your stereotypical nicer, skilled older girl. Aika is the girl who’s obsessed with Alicia (and also the series’ weakest character). Akatsuki is the rude guy with a good heart. There’s also the cat, President Aria. He’s a gentle comic relief with no speaking lines. They have a dynamic you’ve probably seen before, but in a “if it’s not broke don’t fix it way.” 

6/10, nothing interesting but it’s all functional.

VISUALS: Once again, when the point was to be a tour guide, you need to have nice things to look at, and this manga does. Setting design is wonderful here, Neo Venezia is just a joy to look at. We get many spreads of characters just looking about the city and they’re just gorgeous. Everything comes together, the architecture, the water, the technology, the fashion. It all builds something gorgeous to look at. The city being designed in mostly white makes it work with the black and white printing. It also goes well with the water, and speaking of the artist makes good use of water. It reminds me of the train scene from spirited away but up to 11. The water always has this gentle feel to it that just makes it work. The Undine outfits the main cast wear also meld with the city near perfectly. You can tell a lot of thought was put into the aesthetic design and it works wonders. The artistry in it is also pretty solid, while I was never blown away by the skill of the artist, he managed to convey his visions and they worked wonders. The character designs themselves are pretty standard minus the Undine uniforms, but like, who cares when everything else works so well.

9/10, it’s a tour worth taking.

FINAL SCORE: 7/10

While it ended up simply being the prologue to another series, the manga Aqua is a good time on it’s own. I’ve yet to read Aria but I’m interested after what I read here. If you’re looking for a relaxing atmosphere place and some great setting design, I recommend you give this a read.

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Review: Young Justice (Season 1)

Cartoon

When I was a child, the in thing as far as superhero cartoons was Teen Titans. Years after its cancellation, the show Young Justice appeared to try to fill its shoes, however by the time it came out my interest in cartoons had waded. Alas on the dawn of the third season, a friend of mine suggested watching through it, and here we are. From 2010 to 2012, Young Justice season 1. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: We start off following the sidekicks Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy, who are to be officially inducted into the Justice League. However, rather than full access they’re given second class status. To prove their worth they strike out on their own, and come to find a facility creating a Superman clone. After freeing the clone the Justice League decides to give them a bit of recognition, allowing them to form their own team. The show follows this team and their adventures, especially as they get tangled up with the conspiracy that created the Superman clone. After the two part first episode, most of the episodes follow a similar formula. Bad guy does thing, our main cast steps in and saves the day, and at the end we see a line of monitors talking about how their plan is still in motion. Over time the plot slowly advances and our lead cast grows their team. The problem I have with this is that it’s formulaic and can be very fatty. Episode 18 “Secrets” for example, is entirely pointless. It doesn’t connect to the plot or develop characters, and has one of the stupidest villains I’ve seen to boot. A lot of the show could’ve used more creativity or innovation, or just allowed plots to be more than one episode for more flesh. While it rarely had “bad” episodes, it didn’t have many great ones. Tried and true plots can do with some more spice. A lot of times due to the limited nature of the episodes things just get solved by convenience, this felt especially egregious. Speaking of, the season finale, while climactic, lacks much resolution. The series however was good with foreshadowing, a lot of small details early on that felt a bit weird were turned into full points later on, much to my surprise. There’s a good amounts of secrets and twists, but like the main villains of the show, they’re pretty crammed into the second half. As far as humor goes, the show’s decently funny. It has one of my favorite running gags in a cartoon.

5/10, while solid and effective, this series could definitely have used some creativity and ambition.

CHARACTERS: As with most cartoons, the burden of the series is put on characters rather than plot. In that regard it’s hit or miss. Most of the characters have some pretty solid bases but have some problems in execution. Robin is pretty solid the whole way through, the 13 year old Dick Grayson’s one of the more level headed team members, though can be immature and picked up some batmanisms. Aqualad was a personal favorite of mine. He became the team leader because of his calm consideration and responsible nature. He’s not perfect, but he had a warm charm to him. Kid Flash quickly became the comic relief, sometimes his incompetence got overbearing, and his love triangle antics could be grating but was rather likeable. Superboy was probably the character I had the most problems with, somehow edgier than Shadow the Hedgehog, there were too many “Superboy loses himself in a rage” moments. For as cool as he was I wish he would’ve grown out of those faster, his anger makes sense with his backstory but that didn’t make it enjoyable. Delayed entrances to the team include Miss Martian, who was supposed to be your airheaded pretty girl but green. While not particularly interesting until her backstory later down the line, she was generally pleasant. She did have a problem of being sexualized in uncomfortable ways on occasion, but I’m sure that’s a plus for some. Rounding out the team (as they appear in the opening) is Artemis. While charming in her relationships with others, the show spent a tad too much time obsessed with “her secret dark past” which led to the audience being unnecessarily suspicious of her come the introduction of the mole subplot. While generally most of the characters were likeable, how they were handled was imperfect. I specifically recall in episode 3 where Miss Martian came to a conclusion that the team and I’d assume a majority of the audience agreed with, and when proven to be untrue the whole team just turned and snapped at her in a very forced manner. It feels like the writing team doesn’t know how to handle romance and drama that well so a lot of these parts feel expedited and unnatural. Episode 11 for example. The first ten episodes hinted at some one-sided romantic feelings between two characters and the slight possibility that they might be returned, without much development between the two characters, they just start making out in episode 11 in a very forced and uncomfortable manner. While some of the couples do have good chemistry, it never gets to the openly romantic point in a natural manner. However these are simply a few pieces of the many forms of character interaction. In interactions other than team conflict and romance, the series does fine. As side characters go there is quite a few. I prior mentioned Speedy, who decides to do his own thing rather than join the team. As Red Arrow we occasionally get episodes that follow what he’s doing, however he suffers from similar problems as Superboy, coming off as too much of an asshole at times. Like Superboy he’s likeable, but sometimes he’s just obnoxiously angry for someone trying to be a hero of justice. The team is mentored by Red Tornado, who’s personality begins and ends with robot with a sense of justice. However, his simplicity makes him endearing in episodes with focus on him. The series gives a lot of focus to Captain Marvel, which I personally rather loved. His secret identity of Billy Batson allows him to have some interesting interactions with the team, and I found him to be a joy on screen. The only problem is he was stuck on what I refer to as “The Jobbing League.” Zatanna became a semi-prominent character towards the end and I found her to be a pleasant addition to the cast of personalities, but not overly remarkable. There’s a surprising amount of focus given to Doctor Fate, which I just found to be pretty cool. His appearances were usually kind of unexpected and always came with sick moments up until he too became part of the Jobbing League. As far as leaguers go, Batman was quite endearing with his role as a mentor. He spent the series trying to get Superman to bond with Superboy and it made him quite endearing. Otherwise the League had the Jobbing League problem. Many a time for the sake of stakes members of the League just got completely thrashed in a way that’d occasionally challenge suspension of disbelief. Other than that, the amount of leaguers on display was quite nice

6/10: There’s a lot to like here but there’s also a significant amount of problems.

VISUALS: When I first started episode 1, I knew I was in for a bad time when i could see an animation error in less than 30 seconds. This holds true for a good portion of the series, being filled with derpy faces, bad CG, and awkward walk cycles. While action scenes are well done, the animation can get lazy in any other type of scene. As for art, I’m not a fan of the style, it’s fine but feels a tad on the lifeless side. The insistence on CG models for a lot of things was quite obnoxious however. The characters all look distinct, but most of them don’t look interesting and I don’t think they’d fare well on the silhouette test. All in all not much to say in this regard.

5/10: While it’s passable on average, any high moment has to compete with the amount of mistakes made.

SOUND: When it comes to music, it’s very indistinct. While the music did it’s job fine it never rose above the call of duty or stood out in any memorable manner. The opening and credit songs are incredibly forgettable and indistinct. The voice acting on the other hand was done pretty well, aside from the Flash in the first two episodes I never found anyone’s voice to sound problematic. The lines were delivered with emotion and even shared voice actors were distinct in different roles. I wanna give a shout out to episode 3′s Mister Twister for sounding cool as heck. I kinda wish he showed up more just so I could listen to him again. Sound effects and diegetic noise were on point. All the gadgets and gizmos sounded right, with alien things sounding alien.

7/10: A job well done. The one notable goof was outdone by some small victories.

FINAL SCORE: 6/10

This series has a lot of problems, while not bad it’s by no means great. I imagine any fan of superhero cartoons will find it fine, it’s not going to bring anyone into the fold. I’m interested enough to continue with the series, but of all things on my plate right now this is the one I have the least love for. If the premise interests you it’s worth a shot, but it’s no must see. 

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Review: Kakukaku Shikajika

Manga Also known as:  Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey Consumed in English

For anyone familiar with the premise of this manga, my reading of it may seem odd. It’s an autobiographical piece for Akiko Higashimura, and mangaka of which I’ve read none of her works. However the premise of an autobiographical manga sold me enough, so here I am. From 2011 to 2015, Kakukaku Shikajika. Let’s rock.

PLOT: I’m used to talking about set ups and what not, but not used to discussing real stories. We follow highschooler Akiko Hayashi as she ends up studying at a new art class so she can follow her dreams of being a mangaka, however that’s only half of it. The story isn’t a straight following of her life, but a reflection. It’s told from the point of the contemporary Akiko Higashimura, reflecting on her life and choices of the time. However this new art class isn’t what you’d expect, as we’re introduced to the yelling, bamboo-sword wielding sensei with no softness or hesitation. How this terrifying man would forever change Akiko and inspire her to be the person she is today. I don’t know if my words do it justice, but I found myself immediately pulled into it. Maybe I just jive with Higashimura’s humor, but the silliness of the situation quickly put a smile on my face, and the underlying heart got to me. The tale of Kakukaku Shikajika is one that spans across many years, following Akiko’s battle to become the mangaka she dreamed of, and Sensei supporting her every step of the way. It feels very real because it is real, and the modern Akiko’s commentary every step of the way keeps it from ever feeling dry. As much as I found myself laughing and smiling, I also found myself going through many other emotions as the tale unfolded, and by the end I found myself heavily crying. While seeming frivolous at first, by the end you can truly understand why the story needed to be told. 

10/10, it never wasted any time and carried a lot of weight, it’s funny when it wants to be and powerful when it needs to be.

CHARACTERS: Let’s start with Akiko herself. It’s her story of growing up, going from the self-important, dreamy-eyed high school girl who was going to conquer the manga world to the quirky mangaka of today. I found her quite endearing, helped along by the ability of her modern self to critique and poke fun at the her of the past. This allowed us to get in her headspace and make her an incredibly relatable character. Frankly for me to never get annoyed at someone who makes as many stupid mistakes as real people do is quite the amazing feat. The other major character is Sensei, despite being introduced as this assaholic, loud mouthed, terrifying man we quickly grow to understand his straightforwardness and eagerness. He acts the way he does because he gives it his all and believes honestly in others to do the same. He’s kind of an idiot but he wears his heart on his sleeve in an endearing way. His ability to believe in someone 100% without doubt is something I find to be uncommon in real life people, and something I can love and respect. He’s very rough but has an incredible amount of heart, and that’s something I love. There are many other characters who show up throughout the story but the real focus is on the prior two and their relationship. The characters all being real people allows you to take some inside looks at some famous people, especially the other mangaka Akiko meets along her journey. 

10/10, I fell in love with the main two, and the supporting cast was full of interesting faces, some of which are names I’ve heard before.

ART: The art throughout the series has this rough sketchiness to it. While I wouldn’t call it particularly amazing or any level of refined, it’s very expressive. Nothing ever looks terrible, but rarely do things look great. However things do look distinct and there’s a good amount of detail where detail is due. A lot of the settings have pretty distinct designs and the characters all look unique in very realistic ways. A lot of anime gets accused of same-face, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth here. The art is also great at expressing emotion, which in this kind of story is well appreciated. At the end of the day it isn’t great, but it’s very alive.

7/10, rough but charming. 

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

This was quite the read from start to finish. It’s a very personal tale, and one with an overflowing amount of heart. Akiko Higashimura has a great personality, and that shows with every piece of this manga straight from her heart. I’m now interested in more of her stuff. Whether you’ve read her or not, I’d definitely recommend giving this series a shot, it’s a frankly beautiful piece.

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Review: The House in Fata Morgana

Visual Novel PC Also known as: Fata Morgana no Yakata, FataMoru This does not cover the content included exclusively in the collected edition. Consumed in English

I’m very new to visual novels, for the longest time I was put-off by the medium for their pacing and insistence on being pornographic. However I found myself to be small-minded so I’ve tried sampling the medium to see what lies within. During this time a friend of mine approaches me with a rather interesting looking vn, one which I shall discuss today. I present to you the Utsuge, The House in Fata Morgana. Let’s rock.

PLOT: There’s a dark manor in the woods. Legends speak of a witch living in it. You awaken in this manor by the fireplace, utterly alone except for a single maid. The Maid informs you that you’re the master of this house, but unfortunately you don’t remember who you are. She takes your hand and guides you through the the memories of the house, as you look into the past to find out who you are. In a lot of way this feels like a Framing Story in the beginning. The story is told through “doors.” Each door containing a different time period and story behind it, only sharing their being set in the manor. However over time you see the stranger pieces begin to connect and unfold into a grander tale. This grander tale was quite emotional and fascinating, while not shockingly complex or new it was incredibly effective. The real problem lays in the doors prior to everything coming together. While they’re all individually fine they are rather weak. The first door in particular felt rather mediocre until the ending of it. While better than many vns these do server as a buffer, even if they do pay off in the long run. They’re paced fine enough that it’s no real problem to get through. On the other hand some of the later doors are borderline perfect, being tightly paced, impactful, and intriguing. No piece of Fata Morgana is unimportant, even if they initially seem that way.

9/10, a bumpy start but a fantastic ending.

CHARACTERS: Any MAL friend of mine will notice that a Fata character is on my top 10. However I will not be able to talk here much as many of the later characters are cloaked in spoilers. I will simply rapid fire use some names and attach brief opinions. Michel is an absolute joy and a pleasure to read, I adore him. Giselle is very loveable and warm. Jacopo hurts my heart in good ways. Needless to say there’s a lot of powerfully done characters here, not too many but enough. One of my favorite characters I can’t even talk about at all without going into spoiler territory, but if you’re read up on the VN you can guess who she is.

10/10, I actually can’t talk more without ruining the experience, trust my number here.

VISUALS: For many people this might be the initial draw.  Moyataro‘s art is very distinct and has this gothic allure that’ll intrigue. The character designs I found to be quite good, with most characters having distinct and interesting appearances I shan’t soon forget. The art quality however can be hit and miss, though I did find it to improve over time. The first sprites you see in door 1 are the worst sprites in the game in my honest opinion, and the first 3 doors have some hit and miss CGs. Some are quite beautiful, while others are anatomical errors. However towards the end I found it evened out and was generally appealing to look at. Another thing of note is the design and style of the more VN/Game aspects. The menus looked great and the ADV boxes were also quite interesting to look at. The boxes changed with the doors to keep mixing things up and I much appreciated this. While the menus and text boxes did feel kind of cheap, they were made up for by how much effort went into their design. The menus were so dedicated to the aesthetic that “start” was enter the manor and load save was “inspect your memories.” If there’s any more complaints I must have, it’s that you can tell with a character or two that the artist wanted to show off how sexy they were. One of the girls basically had the ‘camera’ focused on her breasts the whole time and I found this a tad obnoxious.

8/10, while the diegetic art would earn somewhere between a 6 or 7 the other aspects of visual design fantastically made up for such shortcomings.

SOUND: Fata Morgana comes with quite the distinct soundtrack. The composers put in a lot of effort to emulate the eras being shown down to the languages some tracks were sung in. You won’t find boopy j-pop here, just old European music and spooky pieces to build the atmosphere. Some of the stereo mixing I found to be a bit off, and I don’t think there’s much here I’d listen to on its own but these are very, very minor complaints all things considered. Throughout the VN I found the music added immensely. The sound effect design was also rather great. Many things that occured were pleasant to listen to. I’d like to give a specific kudos to the sound of the beast. The chilling squeak-like sounds were incredibly nice.

9/10, sound is used to full advantage here.

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

Fata Morgana, while not flawless, is a rather fantastic piece that I’d recommend to fans and non-fans of VNs. In a way it feels more like a play or novel than your stereotypical VN fare. I can’t tell you the secrets of the House in Fata Morgana, but I can tell you I found them well worth discovering.

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Review: Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Manga Also known as: Our Happy Hours, Our Happy Time Consumed in English

Going into this manga I knew nothing about it except two things. A. It used to be in MAL’s top 10 manga. 2. It’s one volume long. So allegedly it had a lot of punch for a tiny piece, without any further ado... Let’s rock.

PLOT:  Juri Mutou is in the hospital after another suicide attempt. The daughter of a pianist who had to give up her career to have Juri, her life hasn’t been a great one. In the hospital her aunt visits her with an ultimatum, either stay and do the mental therapy Juri’s mother wants her to, or come with her aunt to visit death row inmates as a clerical mission. Juri accepts the latter and ends up visiting a man named Yuu, a man sentenced to death for killing 3 people. The manga follows their meetings and the revelations had in them. It’s an interesting set-up, presenting quite the morbid start, but as the title implies it has a more positive note, going into revelations about life through Juri and Yuu’s damaged characters. There’s not much more that can be done explanation-wise without digging into spoilers, but I can tell you my impressions. Which are “interesting”, “emotional”, and “powerful.” It’s the type of story which can be wrapped up in one volume. It has a powerful ending too. 

8/10, it’s interesting and powerful.

CHARACTERS: Our cast is small but because we have great emphasis on those we have. Let’s start with Juri. As I mentioned her mother had to give up piano to have Juri, and they’ve had a broken relationship their whole lives. Juri is initially characterized by her negative outlook on life as one rejected by her widowed mother. As with any child told “it’d be better if they weren’t born” she’s damaged against her family and herself, yet being the daughter of a rich family she’s always been put on a pedestal. She’s damaged but I didn’t find her to be unbearably down. Her development throughout the story is satisfying and quite emotional. I felt like I grew with her and her last few lines made me cry. Our other lead Yuu is equally interesting. He’s been on death row for a long time, and has attempted suicide during it before. He’s numb to the world and looking forward to his death, but being introduced to Juri changes that. His development is two way, with us slowly uncovering his past and what made him kill 3 people, and us seeing him learn from his opposite in Juri. His being an orphan and her rich girl make them opposites, but in a way that allows them learn from each other based on their mutual damages. His story has more spoilers, but I’ll say his arc is equally satisfying and impactful. Beyond the main two the cast has 2 more notable characters. Monica, Juri’s aunt and a Nun, is someone who’s had her own batch of struggles and hardships but has grown past them, and acts as a catalyst for the growth of both characters. Her story is also interesting and she’s a good character, but she doesn’t have much development to give focus to the main two. The last character of note is Warden Inoue, who oversees the prison where Yuu is staying. He’s not much of a story but he’s very pleasant and I quite like him. 

9/10, a fantastic main duo carries the whole stories, and the supporting characters are nice too.

VISUALS: The art for this manga is pretty alright. Nothing ever looks bad persay but it was never stand out. The character designs, while interesting, do suffer from a good amount of eyes drawn on top of hair syndrome. I’ve really not got a whole lot to say about it.

7/10, it’s generally pretty good but I could nitpick it for awhile.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

For one volume it packs a significant amount of punch. It’s got an interesting set-up and some frankly amazing character work. I’d recommend this for most anyone, but also specifically for people disillusioned with life. It’s got a lot to say and does it in a timely fashion.

[jacereviews]

Review: Superman (Max Fleischer Cartoons)

Short Film Series

While I may not be big into capestuff, a few friends of mine are. We decided to do a cape cartoon binge and started from the start, Max Fleischer’s 1940s Superman cartoons. How does it hold up? Let’s rock.

PLOT: Well assuming you’re familiar with a Superman story, you well know the plot. The story is very episodic, with each episode following Lois and Clark somehow getting wrapped into some craziness and Superman coming in to save the day. Each episode is an individual story unconnected (mostly, but I’ll get back to that) from the others. It also lacks any real recognizable villains. One episode is Mad Scientist, the next is robbers, the one after is a Giant Dinosaur. However each of the films is also only as long as it needs to be, they’re tightly paced shorts that take as much time as things need. Heck some of the later episodes could’ve used a minute or two more. I will say the second half the plots got weirder with birdmen and whatnot. The only recurring villains are fitting of the time period. During the course of this series the events of Pearl Harbor occured, and some of the second half takes a pro-war slant. The Japanese are villains for a couple episodes, the nazis for one, and anti-war effort terrorists in another. Some of these second half plots also felt choppier and lacking explanations compared to the very natural plots of the first half. The series has no real beginning or ending, with the last episode only being unique in its weirdness. You could jump in whenever and it’d all still make sense. This being said the plots never really felt particularly repetitive, each one felt fresh enough that I never really got bored of them, but I don’t think it could’ve lasted much longer than what was made.

6/10, for being insanely basic it managed to never fall into any major missteps, staying just above average.

CHARACTERS: Well this’ll be short, as there’s really only two characters. We have Clark Kent/Superman.Clark is a very mild man in contrast to the Superman, which is occasionally used for comedic effect. Other than that... I don’t think I have much to say on him? Well there were times Clark used the duality for some humorous moments. That was pleasant. Lois Lane had a bit more personality, being a more go-get-em type reporter who’d brave danger to catch an intense scoop. For a “damsel-in-distress” style heroine she had some courage and bravery to her, in one scene she even grabbed a tommy gun to fight back some train hijackers, however in most scenarios she’d end up needing Superman, though so would anyone else.

5/10, while the characters are pleasant, they are really devoid of much more. However that does no damage to a series of this style.

VISUALS: Now this series is pretty notable for being really well animated, which I mostly find it to be. The movements are interesting and natural. However on the design angle it’s less solid, with some pretty boring visual design in large part. At one point Lois completely changed designs between episodes and it was strange. Her face also looked pretty off a lot and some characters were clearly in different art styles and not in a good way. There were also occasional errors, for example the giant robot episode would have robots change numbers on their backs between scenes despite clearly being the same robot. Though most of these nitpicks are rather minor, but they’re in enough force that they do tear away from the animation that otherwise looks good by today’s standards. Also it’s 40s animation, so expect the Japanese and African characters to look uh, interesting.

6.5/10, Borderline amazing animation held back by some poor design.

SOUND: Voice acting is decently on point, while there’s no stand outs there’s no real demerits to be had. Soundtrack-wise it’s very much a marker of the time. While effective it’s also not interesting and wouldn’t be worth a listen outside of the context of the series. It’s about what you’d expect with “old action cartoon.”

5/10, it’s exactly average.

FINAL SCORE: 6/10

While enjoyable, it’s not remarkable outside of the context. This was the series that made Superman fly for the first time. It doesn’t stick around long enough to do any demerits but it’s not something I’d recommend outside of capefans. But if you just want some fun Superman action, this’ll do it for ya.

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Review: Sakamichi no Apollon

Manga Consumed in English Also known as: Kids on the Slope

I first heard about this series due to the Shinchiro Watanabe directed anime, which I’d watched a long time ago. At the time I didn’t think much of it, but I was also a much younger and more close-minded individual. Years later, here I am revisiting the series in its manga form. Yuki Kodama’s 2007-2012 manga about life, love, and Jazz music. Let’s rock.

PLOT: 1966, a young Kaoru Nishimi transfers to yet another school. Due to his father’s work he’s always moved about, never really connecting with anyone. However he runs into the school delinquent, Sentarou Kawabuchi. The two form an unexpected friendship, helping each other through the ups and downs of life and playing jazz together. While nothing new, the set-up is effective. We follow Kaoru and Sentarou through their 3 years of high school and the events that come with. We see both characters deal with the damages of their past as they move on to the future. While, as with any drama, the situations were by and in-large caused by the main characters, it never really hit an obnoxious degree and very rarely did the situations feel particularly contrived. They were very natural and very impactful, and the manga’s brief length kept it from ever feel like it was repeating itself or dragging for dragging’s sake. The series mostly focused on the main trio, though it did spare some time for the stories of Yurika and Junichi which I found to be some personal highlights. If there’s any complaint I have it’d be that the original ending lacked much punch, however the bonus track volume adds more and wraps the story up in a rather nice manner.

8/10, a good drama story yet lacking in the horseshit that they sometimes come with.

CHARACTERS: A drama’s story is only as good as its characters. Our protagonist Kaoru starts off the series as someone damaged by his loneliness. We of course see him grow out of that over the course of the series. While many times he does let his emotions get the better of him and put himself in trouble, his genuine love for the people around him shows through. We see him not only grow up, but loosen up, such as his transition from rigid classical music to the reactive and improvising jazz. His character arc is quite satisfying. Next up is Sentarou, the force to shake up Kaoru’s world. Despite his delinquent reputation, Sentarou’s quite the nice guy, if a bit aggressive. He’s got a bright energy to him and the force to change those around him, even if that strength is built on a troubled past. He’s the one who gets our lead into Jazz and is generally the motivating force of a lot of the series. I found him to be quite likeable in his genuineness and learning of the scars he bears I found to be quite the emotional trip. Rounding out the trio is Ritsuko Mukae, Sentarou’s childhood friend, Kaoru’s crush, and the daughter of the owner of the record store at which the cast practice their music. She’s a very kind and gentle figure and adds a softness to the main cast balancing them out. Despite her affable nature and likeability, I found she lacked presence in comparison to the other two leads. While it’s natural I do wish we got to spend a bit more time with her as her rather than sticking to her in relation to the other leads.If there were to be a fourth main character it’d be Yurika Fukahori. She starts of simply and a crush at first sight for Sentarou, but moves into a leading role for a good portion of the manga. Unlike Ritsuko we do get to see a bit more of her personal life and struggles and her arc in the manga is one of my favorite portions. Lastly I want to give brief mention to the character of Junichi, while I won’t go into details on why I want to mention him for spoiler reasons, I also really liked his character arc. As for minor characters go, there were a few comedy characters and some other minor characters to flesh out the cast but the real focus was on prior mentioned characters.

8/10, some strong and likeable characters brought up by each other.

VISUALS: Yuki Kodama’s arts has its strengths and weaknesses. To start with the negatives, the art is really flat. Not in an emotional sense but everything felt really two-dimensional. (While duh it is two-dimensional, nothing felt like it popped.) On occasion I’d feel like characters felt off but not to any real demeritable amount. On the positive side however, is the expression and emotion tied into the art. There are a lot of scenes that come off as quite beautiful and really convey the feeling of the scene in a rather powerful way. This ability is also used masterfully in scenes with music, managing to convey the feelings of music in a soundless medium. A lot of the settings were visually interesting including the visual use of the titular slope. The characters all had unique and memorable designs and the quality was pretty consistent. As far as flow goes the series does just fine.

7/10, while not perfect the art does definitely have some very strong points.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

While it’s not a hallmark or a master-classic, Sakamichi is a very strong manga about life and music. It pretty well utilizes a strong cast and finishes right when it needs to. While many people may be put off by the lack of a soundtrack, I find playing some of the music discussed by characters in the background helped me get in the mood but was by no means necessary. If you do read this just make sure to read the Bonus Track volume as well, it’s great. All in all I would recommend this series.

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Review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse

Theatrical Showing

Spider-Man has had a good year. While I can’t speak from a comic perspective, as a multimedia star he’s had quite the run. Many people are in love with Tom Holland’s portrayal of him in the MCU and his starring role in Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PS4 is (allegedly) fantastic and even got a game of the year nomination. So here we are, last month of 2018 with one more Spider-Man. I’ve heard many people complain about Spider-Man movie fatigue, so is yet another new Spider-Man worth it? Let’s Rock. STORY: Peter Parker’s career as Spider-Man is at its peak. You know the stories, we all do. This isn’t Peter Parker’s story however. Miles Morales is moving to a new elite high school, the son of a cop and a nurse, he lives in a New York where Spider-Man is swinging up and down the roads. However an incident with a mysterious spider bite pulls him into the world of heroes, a world shaken up by the Kingpin trying to break down the walls between dimensions. Thrown into chaos, Miles must work with those brought in from other dimensions to try to restore order and figure out what it means to be Spider-Man. This shouldn’t and probably won’t be your first Spider-Man movie. It references a lot of Spider-Man culture and is a fanservice romp for long time fans, yet is still a refreshing tale. The plot isn’t particularly deep or complex, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s simple, yet effective. Going through the logical order of a superhero story, yet packing some surprises along the way. I want to give bonus points for the story being told in a way that’s aware of the trailers and intentionally tries to subvert some preconceptions established by the trailers. While I may not be able to give this much credit on originality or freshness, I can compliment the ability of the story to deliver the emotional payoffs it needs. Some of the harder hitting moments are done fantastically and work within the simplicity of the tale. Story-wise I think my only real complaint was the climax being a bit too straightforward. The way the story is told shines brightly though, especially in its use of spider-man tropes and parallels. Since my format doesn’t have a spot for it, I’ll go ahead and discuss the humor and comedy here. The movie can be damn funny when it wants to be, not only in simple jokes, but in twisting expectations, pop culture comedy, and a lot of inside jokes for spider-man fans. The gag character of Spider-Ham manages to stay amusing throughout the whole film and never gets grating.

8/10. Simple yet effectively told. Also funi movie make me laugh.

CHARACTERS: Let’s start with Miles himself. He’s discontent with his new high school, trying to flunk out so he can move back in with the people. He’s got some issues with his family, mostly looking up to his Uncle Aaron, who’s not always on the good side of the law. While like Peter Parker he’s got a good brain and some social troubles, he’s less of a nerd wish fulfillment type. His dynamic with his Dad and Uncle is unique from Parker and is a strong point throughout the movie. While not shockingly new or interesting, Miles is a strong central character. The other spiders are also strong. Peter B. Parker is a late career Spider-Man, one movies never show us. He’s arguably washed up and the constant life toll of Spider-Man has clearly gotten to him. I found this take to be rather unique, and also relatable as we see the youths around him reminding him of what he once was. While some people may not like his negativity, I found him to be rather engaging as the group senior. Gwen Stacy brings the main cast into an effective trio. Being slightly older than Miles, she’s got a good dynamic of banter with him despite her claim to not keeping friends. She’s pretty prominent in action scenes and in general has a strong energy that puts her in the movie spotlight. While I can’t claim she has too much interesting going on, I think in large part that’s simply because it isn’t her movie. As for the other 3 spiders, they feel like a lower tier in prominence. While there, they don’t have much individual bits outside of their backstories (which get told together.) Peni and Noir were quite interesting, and I honestly felt like we really just didn’t get enough of them. If I can claim any problem here, it’s a utilization issue, but that’s something to be expected out of a one off movie. You can’t give every character the full spotlight they could use. As far as villains go the only one I can really discuss is the Kingpin. While maybe not needed, the movie did go the extra mile to give him a borderline sympathetic backstory. I was a fan of how his story kind of paralleled miles with his downfall being his inability to learn from his mistakes. All in all a pretty strong cape movie villain even if he’s not my favorite Kingpin. I also want to give a shout-out to this movie’s Aunt May. Being a spider-veteran she’s just freaking awesome in this film.

7/10. Some nice ideas and strong characters. Any real complaints are kinda inherent to the medium.

VISUALS: Oh boy is this a treat. I feel like the real appeal of the movie is the frankly amazing art direction. Pretty much every aspect is spot-on. The framing, design, movement, colors, etc. I can just keep singing the praises of this film. Miles’ street art is taken full advantage of. The use of the dimension clashing is rendered in some gorgeous design. The City at Night is rendered in some gorgeous neon colors and the costumes pop. I love how some of the characters from other timelines come in their own distinct art styles. The visual storytelling here is also amazingly done. The scene where Miles leaps from the skyscraper as a full Spider-Man, yet glass sticking to his fingers is an amazing scene. The comic book aesthetic of displaying internal thoughts and backstories is also super nice. I could keep going on but basically it all boils down to YES! YES! YES! The only real complaint I can muster is I noticed when the frame rate would change and that was kind of jarring. 

10/10, Why would you do something in animation when live action is more accessible? Because you can get art design like this!

SOUND: I went in expecting the movie to look as good as it did, I didn’t expect it to sound this good. The music track is full of bops, and not just the non-diegetic tracks but the diegetic ones too. This movie makes near perfect use of both diegetic and non-diegetic music for some absolutely amazing effect. I want this soundtrack! The voice acting was also on point. Everyone sounded great and it all came together nicely. Specific shout-out to John Mulaney as Spider-Ham for sounding the Loony Tunes part. The sound effects flowed perfectly, this isn’t a movie to just see, but to listen to.

9/10, the only faults I could really come up with are things that I’d have to set aside for an album review of the OST, and that’s one hell of a compliment.

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

This isn’t just another Spider-Man movie. It’s a Spider-Man movie for those who’ve seen too many Spider-Man movies. It’s one of the best comic book movies in a world too full of them. Not only that it’s a case study in aesthetic utilization, the art and sound design are beyond on point. It takes full advantage of the animated medium to be as visually unique as it can be in the best of ways. It’s a full recommendation not only for superhero and animation fans, but for any fan of film. While this could be your first spider-man film, I’d definitely recommend watching it with more familiarity of the character and his lore. All in all one of the best animated films in the west, and one hell of an entry in the repertoire of a character dominating the media world. PS: This movie wishes you a Merry Christmas! 

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Review: Hoshi no Samidare

Manga Consumed in English Also known as: Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

As an avid manga reader, especially being a massive fan or super-power action stories, not having read any Satoshi Mizukami was a black mark on my record. At the request of a friend, and after a long time coming, I read my first Mizukami manga, starting with his first big hit Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. Running from 2005-2010, Lucifer became prized gem in many manga circles. Let’s Rock. PLOT: High above the clouds in space is a massive hammer. Known as the Biscuit Hammer, it’s a tool of the Wizard Animus to destroy the world. However before Animus can use the Biscuit Hammer, he has to defeat the Princess Anima and her 12 Beast Knights. Rings are show up on the chosen Beast Knights along with the Animal to guide them in their battle. One such person is our main character Amamiya Yuuhi, the lizard knight, with the talking lizard Noi Crezant. However Yuuhi’s distaste for the world leads him to have no interest in its affairs, that is until he meets the chosen princess Samidare, who reveals to him her plan to defeat the wizard so she can destroy the world on her own. Swearing fealty to Samidare, Yuuhi joins the battle to save the world and carry out their secret agenda. The set-up is simple, 13 warriors battle a wizard and 12 golems to save the world, but it’s executed upon quite well. The various golems Animus throws at the Beast Knights plus Samidare and Yuuhi’s secret plan keep the formula from getting stale. It’s also helped along by some strong character development and a real sense of danger. The plot isn’t complex, as the characters are the real star of the show, but it’s still fun and interesting even if it sounds very cheesy. The ending is pleasant and satisfying, it’s a short series but it didn’t need to be any longer. The plot may not be the most ambitious but it’s successful. The only thing I can see bugging people is how the plot will skip over noticeable time gaps where nothing happens. The story takes place over more months than it has volumes, so it’ll speed through slower months.

8/10, while feeling like something out of a cartoon, it’s done in a satisfying way.

CHARACTER: This is where the series really shines. Staring with Yuuhi himself. His character arc is flat out great, while he starts off as kind of a scumbag, we see him influence by the people around him. Breaking the chains of his abusive past and discovering the person he wants to be. The relationships he has with the other characters is a highlight as they impact each other. I want to bring special attention to Yuuhi’s relationship with Noi, as that was particularly nice to see develop. Samidare is another character of note. Though less connected to other characters, her connection with Yuuhi is a major part of the series. Her role as the “Lucifer” combined with her upbeat nature make her quite the engaging character, just kinda wish she had less panty shots. All of the other Beast Knights are rather well written as well, the way they influence and bounce off each other makes the cast the real push of the series as we get into each of their minds and stories, no character is left behind (even if they die before being introduced). Princess Anima was interesting but I felt like she didn’t have enough screen time to really be much. Animus the Wizard, while not the deepest of characters, was incredibly notable for his relationships with the Beast Knights as he was highly present throughout the series and constantly interacted with the main cast, being a real highlight. There’s not many notables beyond that though. Early in the series Samidare’s sister Hisame plays a heavily recurring role and was generally played a big part of the character dynamics of the time but fell into irrelevancy. Sami’s family were important to her story but weren’t much outside of that. Yuuhi’s family played a similar role but had noticeably tiny screen time. More time was spent talking about them than with them. Any other character was entirely background, though background can be interesting, just not in the case of Hiwatari who would literally just tighten the pacing of the series if removed, playing no real role.

9/10, the highlight of the series for good reason.

VISUALS: I was not a fan of the art of this manga. While not terrible it was noticeably rough, many characters breaking down anatomically anytime they weren’t the main focus of a panel. The backgrounds were pretty passable when present, but there wasn’t much if anything to really write home about with art quality. From a design aspect however, it was smartly done. The characters are all unique and stand out, most could pass a silhouette test. The golems were interesting to look at and the stuff in space was all visually interesting. The manga flows and is panelled quite well, with some cool spreads here and there, but they were more for being smartly designed than being arted well. However I don’t find the art to be problematic, I do think some of the moments could be given more punch with some better skill. Color pages also look nice.

6.5/10, smart design feels slightly hampered by weak art.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

While not perfect, this is a very solid series. The characters are fantastically done in a story that stays interesting just as long as it needs to. The series is a lot of fun while also containing interesting ideas on connection, recovery, and what it means to be an adult. While I wouldn’t call myself a Mizukami fan just yet, his first big series turned out to be quite a good one, and one I’d definitely recommend to anyone curious.

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Review: Billy Bat

 Manga English Translation

Running from 2008 to 2016, Billy Bat is the next mystery-thriller from Naoki Urasawa, though this time written in combination with Takashi Nagasaki. People discussing Urasawa usually tend to solely mention Monster, 20cb, and Pluto, giving Billy Bat a pass. Is this due to a lack of quality? Is it simply too new? Let’s Rock.

PLOT: We begin in 1949, comic artist Kevin Yamagata is semi-successful with his comic “Billy Bat” (which the first chapter and a half simply are). However an investigator looking into some soviet spies drops by his office. The investigator comments that he’s seen the Billy Bat character before as a manga in Japan. Yamagata, feeling like he may have unintentionally plagiarized the character. sets off to Japan. However what he finds isn’t simply a manga with a bat, but a multi-thousand year conspiracy about prophecy, power, and the icon of god. I say “begin” because the plot will move a lot in both directions, looking into the past, and progressing into the future. It’s intricate and intriguing, and in my opinion one of Urasawa’s greatest plots. Not only does it span a good amount of time, it heavily involves real world conspiracies. To avoid _too many_ spoilers I’ll only mention the JFK Assassination, Disney’s ghost writer, and Nazi spies. I find that the use of reality adds more weight and impact to everything. No matter what it does, it makes it connected and always comes with an interesting twist, being plenty surprising. The ending will be hit or miss depending on the person. I wouldn’t say it’s the most narratively satisfying but it’s incredibly thematically satisfying. Which party you lean towards will decide how you feel about it. I personally enjoyed it. Back to the main plot however, it’s a lot of different conspiracies over time, all involving the bat. They can feel episodic as it’s heavily arc based, but they all build into the larger narrative. Nothing is unimportant, even what seems irrelevant at first.

9/10, it’s crazy cool and uses real world elements for great effect.

CHARACTERS:With that much plot detail something had to give, and that sadly was characters. Kevin Yamagata just isn’t as interesting as some other Urasawa protagonists. I think the epitome of this problem is when Kevin hooks up with a girl in early volume 2. It’s so focused on tying the plot in that the girl is completely devoid of anything interesting and her exit from the story has little impact. There’s not a lot of flesh given to a lot of characters save for some more character focused arcs. I rarely found myself connecting to anyone (notable exceptions were Kiyoshi Kurusu and Diane Goodman, who to the end of both of their arcs had become exceptional). Though there weren’t really any bad characters. Kevin(s) felt like typical leads, thrust into situations they don’t know and largely defined by their abilities and perception being based around those. They were simple, and effective for the plot, but with Urasawa I’ve come to expect more character writing. Takes on historical figures were interesting to see however. Lee Harvey Oswald was quite interesting in contrast to the usual public image of him. Adolf Hitler was also a surprise. A lot of characters were unique in manga for their natural existence in different time periods and locations, but I don’t think any of the characters will stay with me too long.

7/10, there wouldn’t be any real complaints if it weren’t for Urasawa. There’s nothing to write home about without comparison to external knowledge. 

VISUALS:The art in Billy Bat is a unique topic, mostly for its varying styles. In being a manga about manga/comics there are many a times that things are told through the comics themselves, switching into the style of whatever in-series artist drew the comic. This keeps the manga visually interesting, and whenever the series focuses more on fiction it becomes quite intriguing to look at. I can still see in my mind Billy Bat walking on a flat plane consisting of his comics, and that’s a cool image. Urasawa’s ability to represent different art styles is also a nice little touch. The real world art is pretty standard Urasawa fare. Like with Monster I found the art to be largely not surpassing functional. All of the characters were visually different and nothing ever looked bad but there were only maybe 3 moments within the 20 volume manga that I ever found myself wowed at the art. After 20th Century Boys I expected to be wowed once more but I never found myself as impressed. Still not being the greatest is by no means bad, and there were still things I found myself quite impressed with. The depiction of JFK and his Wife just wasn’t that.

8/10, there’s a lot of smart design and varied/unique visuals. Just not a lot of uber-frameable moments.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

Billy Bat is an interesting manga, a very interesting manga. I can see someone coming off of Monster and being disappointed that it doesn’t have Monster’s level of skilled character writing but it makes up for that in plot. I wouldn’t call myself Billy Bat’s biggest fan but it was an intriguing read that I think I’ll come to find I enjoyed more than I initially thought. For anyone into conspiracy stories and meta-narratives about art I’d definitely recommend Billy Bat. It’s not Urasawa’s best work but I do believe it holds to his standard of quality, and that’s a high standard.

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Review: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Television (Anime) Consumed in: English Sub Note: This review covers only the 50 episodes of TV Zeta, not A New Translation. For the sake of discussion I will have to cover the plot of Gundam 0079.

March 2nd, 1985 the second series of Gundam made its debut, Zeta Gundam. While the 0079 movies may have put Gundam on the map, it’s Zeta you still hear people discussing to this day. Revered by many as a classic, and one of the best mecha anime of the 80s, Zeta’s a big name, but does it hold up to it? Let’s rock.

PLOT: Universal Century 0087, the One-Year War between the Earth Federation and Zeon is long over, however peace is not to be had. In response to the remnants of Zeon, the federation has created a police-like military organization called the Titans to control Zeon and other spacenoid groups to prevent them from uprising and resisting the Federation’s control. To do this the Titans have been given borderline free reign to do whatever they see fit to do their job, no matter how atrocious it may be. In response to the unchecked reign of the titans, a resistance group called the Anti-Earth Union Group (or simply AEUG) has risen up to fight back. During an AEUG mission led the mysterious blonde pilot who always covers his eyes and his past named Quattro Bajeena to the colony Green Noa, a young man called Kamille Bidan steals a prototype Gundam Mk. II belonging to the Titans. The two cross paths and Kamille ultimately ends up joining Quattro on the Argama as it sails out to fight the Titans. From the get-go we have a story both similar and dissimilar to the prior series. Once again we have a young man piloting a Gundam on a white ship as it battles enemies, but instead of being a traditional soldier, we’re now following a rebellion. It takes awhile for the plot to get truly moving, but when it goes it goes. The Titans are a hateable cast of villains, unlike the Zeon of the first series the Titans are mostly irredeemable. The Titan cast is likeable at best and cartoonishly evil at worst. There was never a Ramba Ral style villain where it felt like that without the war they’d be our friend. As it goes on the plot gets more and more interesting with webs of betrayals, cyber-newtypes, and even the remnants of Zeon. Especially of note is the ending of Zeta, which without going into detail, is both narratively satisfying, thematically resonant, and quite shocking for a series aimed at young audiences. Very few series have an ending that really make me sit back and consider it like Zeta’s and that’s a good thing for Zeta. However the story is not without its flaws. The first 10 episodes can be kind of a drag, and the once again episodic format can lead to some weak and borderline filler episodes. I feel the series could’ve shaved off 10 episodes and be better for it. The biggest problem I had with Zeta however, is the amount of things that happen off-screen and details the series feels like it doesn’t need to give to the audience. Many a times I found myself confused or questioning stuff and just had to concluding that some change happened off-screen. Characters swap ships on both sides with little notice, and operations fly by with people hardly mentioning it. It made the whole experience way less cohesive. The series also had a few cases of trying to emulate the original series for no good reason, such as bringing kids on board the Argama half-way through. It made sense for the White Base to have kids but the Argama really didn’t need them and it just felt like poor decision making. However by the end I felt that the pluses far outshine the negatives and ultimately lead to this series being one hell of a ride. 

8/10, it’s good, messy, but good. Ending earns a whole point on its own.

CHARACTERS: Let’s start with Kamille Bidan himself. Kamille starts off as an obnoxious brat, a lot of my early enjoyment was seeing people beat the shit out of him, but he honestly grew on me, and by the end he’d gone through quite the character arc. He’s a good mc, but takes a damn long time to become that. Luckily he’s not alone. Let’s discuss the overly familiar looking Quattro Bajeena, doesn’t that scar look familiar? Might he be the Red Comet of Zeon? No he can’t be... But he is definitely a highlight of the series. The audience is invested in him from the get-go, and throughout the series we see him mentoring Kamille and doing some amazing stuff in his own right. He’s only human and has his flaws too, but whatever flaws they may be are something you forget when you see his speech during the Day of Dakar. Zeta’s also notable (by the audience and Kamille) for its sizeable female cast. Emma, Reccoa, and Fa Yuriy are all notable female characters put in powerful roles. Even if Reccoa’s later arc may inspire some ire from viewers they’re all great characters with their own interesting arcs. Another thing I’ve got to give Zeta a lot of credit is for how it used the returning characters from the first series. My boy Bright Noa shows up in episode 1, and many of the White Base members make some kind of reappearance (not really a spoiler because it’s in the opening). We get to see how they’ve lived their lives since the events of 0079, and they have many interesting scenes without it ever feeling like the series is too dependent on them (save for Bright). The problem I had with Zeta characters, is a lot of them act out and act irrationally. Now this isn’t necessarily bad character writing, but when someone acts out and takes a mech, does something stupid with it, and the next day is piloting a mech again it raises a few eyebrows. It can also get obnoxious with how many characters are being overly emotional twats, but I never found any of the Argama crew to be entirely irredeemable idiots. They were just flawed people in a stressful situation. The Titans on the other hand had what I felt to be a relatively lacking cast. While the character of Jerid and his varied love interests were all likeable, with Jerid himself being a standout likeable douche, aside from Jerid they didn’t get character arcs. Otherwise like Titans consisted of pitiable cyber-newtypes, hand-rubbing schemers, and straight up assholes. Aside from the cyber-newtypes none were very redeemable. The cyber-newtype Murasame Four was notable but limited by her limited screen time. They tried to make Paptimus Scirroco into a new Char, but he just felt way less interesting than Zeon’s red comet. The ultimate leader of the Titans, Jamitov, was just a bog standard evil politician. All in all only Jerid and Four were interesting characters, and only Jerid lived up to much potential. While you didn’t have any Garmas or Ramba Rals to make the war seem like a curse causing good people to die on either side, the Titans did fill the role of hateable villain well. Without going into too much detail, I do want to give a shoutout to Haman Karn. She was a rather engaging character but pretty much everything about her involves spoilers.

8/10, a lot of good characters, a lot of hateable villains, but most of the best characters are repeats from 0079.

VISUALS: Now probably the biggest improvement from 0079 is the animation. The noticeable errors of 0079 are gone, replaced with some truly gorgeous and fluid animation. Zeta has a lot of sakuga packing, and when it wants to move well it damn does. However when it doesn’t care it’ll freely use a lot of cheap tricks that the skilled eye will notice, but what doesn’t? The actual art of the series I’m less in love with. There were less moments of truly interesting visuals than 0079, but being okay is okay. The character designs were mostly fine, with a few (Jamaican in particular) being very dull. The mecha design is a mixed bag with me. The designs feel way less varied than 0079, with a lot of mechs feeling like the same skeleton with different overly ornate decorations. As cool as they looked I found myself just shaking my head and saying “Really?” at some of the more over-ornate designs. However the thing that bugged me the most was the Titans using Zeon-esque mechs. Being part of the Earth Federation you’d assume they’d use Federation mechs, but instead they use mechs designed like their original enemies. This didn’t make much sense outside of the meta-reasoning “Villain mechs in Gundam need the domed one-eye design.” However everything I’m saying is simply nitpicks. 

7/10, at worst we have functional art that suspends disbelief, at best we have gorgeous animation.

AUDIO: In all honesty, I don’t remember much of Zeta’s soundtrack which is an okay sign. What I do remember is pretty decent but nothing ever stuck out to me except the first opening. The first opening was a rather enjoyable song, the second was very mediocre. The ending theme for the whole time was entirely forgettable as you’re skipping to the next episode anyway. Sound design wise everything sounded fine and natural, despite sound effects in space. Voice acting was passable. Most of the voices fit well with no real stand out performances in my opinion. The voice of Bask Oum was notable for sounding overtly evil, so that was nice. However there were some voices that were not so great on minor characters. Every time the minor character Sydle talked I just wanted her to stop talking. Luckily she was incredibly minor.

6/10, functional with a demerit or two.

FINAL SCORE: 7/10

While not the perfect masterpiece many claim it to be, Zeta Gundam is something I’d personally recommend. With a powerful delivery of themes and a strong follow up to a good series, Zeta’s a fantastic watch. There’s a lot of great to be had here, though sadly the execution of the ideas is far from perfect. Held back by some bumps, Zeta nonetheless stands out as an excellent story animated quite well. The ending alone makes me want to raise the score even higher, but a show is more than it’s last five episodes. I now set out to continue my Gundam Quest with ZZ. I’ll probably get a lot of flack for rating the quintessential 80′s mecha so low, but don’t let a number understate how much I love this series.