Zero no Tsukaima
Story: 7,5
In a fictional fantasy world the power of magic is held in high respect, and those who can use it are considered the nobility of that world, where those without the ability to use magic are treated as inferior in every aspect: not quite slavery just yet, but definitely a difference in class. Louise is one of these nobles, however also one of the worst, and pretty much every attempt at using advanced magic ends in failure or destruction.
The first episode introduces this new world, at an important day at the academy of magic: the day when each student summons his or her familiar, a magical creature destined to accompany them. All sorts of strange and wonderful creatures are summoned, but Louise’s familiar is something else altogether: a young boy from our present-day
Even though he’s from another world, most others simply see him as a commoner, someone who can’t use magic, ridiculing him, and frustrating Louise even further –another failure-, frustration which she violently takes out on Saito.
At first there doesn’t seem to be much going on Zero No Tsukaima, a chain of loose episodes, but gradually a storyline starts to develop, though it rushes with some plot twists around halfway, introducing a lot of new elements. But everything ties together in the end, even though some aspects of the story still feel a bit rushed to me…
Graphics: 7
Graphically, Zero no Tsukaima is nothing to write home about, though the animation is far from bad either. There are some stills, but nothing which disrupts the flow of the series, and the action sequences are good. Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad either.
Audio: 7,5
The same as with graphics, season 1 of Zero was good, it set the mood well, but apart from a few strong tracks, it wasn’t really something to write home about. Average. The voice acting was well though, enthusiastic and professional, no complaints there.
Characters: 7
The series introduces a set of fairly cliché characters early on: the silent brainiac with glasses, the rose-wielding arrogant but cowardly playboy, the busty attention-craving female, etcetera. Fortunately there’s room for some more original characters as well, such as a talking sword, or the headmaster, who looks like he could’ve been swept straight from a Harry Potter movie, except for his pervy nature to use his pet mouse to find out the color of girls’ underwear.
The relationship between Louise and Saito is pretty much defined from the start: she is the noble, and he is a commoner and a familiar, a lowly servant without any real rights. But Zero no Tsukaima has a romantic element as well, so of course more is bound to happen… were it not for complicated love triangles and at least a handful of others having an interest in poor Saito, while Louise in turn keeps denying her feelings.
However just as important as a good hero is a good villain, and since the story feels a bit rushed sometimes (perhaps 12 episodes is too little?) most of the villains aren’t really developed as well; in fact, most of them are only introduced in the last few episodes, which in turn gives them very little depth.
Overall: 7
Zero No Tsukaima is a fun little series and has all the potential of becoming a popular series: a fairly original setting, good characters, a promising plot –which I can’t tell much about since some vital elements are only introduced in the final episodes- and a nice mixture of action and comedy. Season II is out, and if it improves a bit in the story department, it could be a hit indeed.
Tsubasa Chronicle : The movie (Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom)
Story: 7,5
The CLAMP studio has already been around for quite a while and produced a good variety of different mangas and, additionally, anime shows, most of which became little gems of their own. An item which has been seen several times before in CLAMP shows has been the re-use of characters: some characters can make a new appearance in a different series, either as the same character or as a completely different personality who has nothing in common with the original, except for appearance.
The Tsubasa Chronicle series takes that aspect one step further, by re-using every CLAMP character in existence, several times over: the series is based on the concept of the existence of many different world in different realities, each with their own theme. The same people can exist in different worlds, and yet while they may look the same, their characters might be as opposite as day and night.
The plot of the Tsubasa Chronicle in a nutshell: the princess Sakura (originally from Card Captor Sakura) is lured into ancient ruins and loses all her memories as a result, which are scattered across different worlds and dimensions. Determined to win them back, thus saving her life, her childhood friend and potential lover Saiyoran journeys with her to the Dimensional Witch because it’s believed she can help him. She gives him the ability to travel between worlds (in the form of the cute creature Mokona), but in exchange Sakura will never be able to remember their past together. Saiyoran agrees and sets off on this journey, together with two others, Fai and Kurogane, both who have their own reasons to travel across worlds.
After a whole season of traveling, finding feathers, and bonding between main characters, the movie is a logical continuation of that; in reality, the Tsubasa movie is little more than a lengthy, drawn out episode, and that’s also its main flaw: there’s a story to be told, and in this case that story would take more than one episode, yet at the same time the movie is short, and trying to cram as much of that story into as little time as possible. The result is that some things aren’t explained that well, or rushed through, and it may leave the viewer confused sometimes.
Graphics: 8,5
After seeing the first season of Tsubasa Chronicle, this ‘movie’ came as a bit of a surprise. A different studio was responsible for this production, and it was notable in a subtle change of animation and redesign of characters, both in outfit and appearance. Fortunately, none of this seems to disrupt the flow of the movie in any way, apart from taking a moment to get used to.
However the movie is fast paced, leaving no room for filler scenes or long (boring) dialogues, mixing said dialogues with camera changes, rather than using a lot of stills. There’s plenty of action, yet it isn’t all about action, and this movie creates a fine balance of that.
Audio: 8,5
A good soundtrack can either make or break an anime series, and where Tsubasa Chronicle is concerned the soundtrack serves only to strengthen the anime, with soft calm tones during quieter scenes, romantic melody where romance is required, and wild, upbeat orchestral tracks to intensify the action scenes. The only real shame is that, though the Tsubasa movie introduces some new tracks, some of the old ones are also re-used, even after a whole season of it all.
Characters: 8
With every new episode (or in this case, a “movie”) it’s always a surprise what kind of characters will be introduced; of course there are the main characters, who travel between worlds, along with both good guys (the Dimensional Witch) and bad guys (Fei Wong Reed) who watch and influence them from the sideline, but in every world characters from different series and previous worlds are re-used and it’s always a matter of finding out whether or not they are good, bad, have hidden agendas, dark pasts, etc.
This ‘movie’ brings back some old characters in new roles –or similar roles, since Tomoya has been a princess in several worlds already- but also introduces some new faces, which are a welcome sight.
There isn’t much room for character development since most characters are too busy rushing back and forth either carrying out evil schemes or preventing them, but there is a glimpse of the love relationship which is about to blossom (again) between Saiyoran and Sakura, though this movie by itself does not indulge further into it, leaving that story to be told another time.
Overall: 8
As I already mentioned, the title “movie” isn’t totally fitting of this Tsubasa Chronicle installement, and while it does influence the overall quality of this title a bit, it’s still a worthwhile movie to watch. It’s still recommended you watch season 1 of the series first though, since pretty much everything in this movie has references back to it, and you won’t have much of a clue about what’s going on if you don’t. But Tsubasa fans will agree that it’s a good… episode.
Final Fantasy Unlimited
Story: 7
I’ve been a long time fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, a series of roleplaying games in a fantasy setting, and perhaps one of the most famous roleplaying games out there. Of course which such a popular item, it would be only a matter of time before Final Fantasy would move beyond a game franchise, and so it did, with an anime OAV based on Final Fantasy V, and a valiant effort of introducing Final Fantasy to a broader, worldwide audience with a feature (computer animated) film. The anime failed hopelessly, and the movie had only moderate success. Having seen both these attempts, I was somewhat skeptical about Final Fantasy Unlimited, and worried that it would indeed turn out to be another fluke.
When the anime started in our own world (
Unfortunately a quick pace isn’t always kept as the story progresses; fortunately the story lacks fillers, but especially in the beginning there are some “monster of the day” episodes, and later on several episodes are spent on the good guys escaping a complex enemy puzzle which offers them many challenges.
On the other hand, the final episodes feel a bit rushed and could’ve drawn out a bit more, but this is no surprise, given the series was supposed to last for about 52 episodes, but was reduced to 26 due to poor ratings in Japan.
Because of this a continuation of this series is probably out of the picture as well, which is a pity, because while some import issues are concluded at the end of the show, there are quite a few loose ends that need to be wrapped up, and could fill at least another season.
Graphics: 7.5
Character design has always played an important part in the Final Fantasy games, especially the later ones, with characters which can either look completely human, yet with odd spiky hairdo’s, or completely beyond that, odd creatures and mad villains. The anime is no exception, with a generous host of different characters and designs; standing out most in this aspect are perhaps the “Summoned Beasts”, creatures conjured forth by Kaze’s Demon Gun, and the special bullets it’s equipped with: each of these creatures is computer animated, though some of these Summons still lack some detail.
As I stated earlier, Final Fantasy Unlimited was initially planned to last 52 episodes, to be aired on Japanese, even though this was cut back later; still, a lot of episodes means a lot of screentime and thus a lot of animation, and that usually means certain tricks are used to cut back on costs. A well known method is the use of stills, especially when dialogue is used, ie. By focusing on a certain bodypart which doesn’t move when talking (eyes) or by showing an image of a landscape; FFU is guilty of this one, though not by extremes. Another method is by re-using key animations, and FFU does this richly: Summon animations are re-used, and when Kaze powers his Demon Gun, the same method is shown (in one episode even at least four times!). Pity, because it tends to get annoying…
The action sequences are good though, and they make up for a lot where graphics are concerned.
Audio: 8
One of the better aspects of pretty much every Final Fantasy game out there has been the beautiful orchestral soundtrack which carries each game, a soundtrack with some familiar tracks which return with every new game, yet also always renewing itself with a brand new soundtrack. The Final Fantasy Unlimited anime is no different from that, carrying a fairly large soundtrack of different themes, personal themes, battle music, cute innocent themes – enough to set a certain atmosphere for every major scene.
Characters: 7
As I already mentioned earlier the characters in FFU are as diverse as some of the characters in the game series, and no doubt the artists have enjoyed that little bit of freedom. Some characters are fairly stereotypical: the powerful villain warrior, the seductive femme fatale villain, the genius Cid (in most final fantasy games there is a character named Cid, who usually takes on this role). However there is also room for some unexpected roles, for instance the evil Count, main villain of the show, takes the appearance of a seven year old boy.
Unfortunately that’s about all there is for most characters, they tend to stick to their clichés with no major character development. Sure, the grouchy loner becomes a bit more… socially acceptable, the innocent children become a bit more independent, and some of the villains turn out to be more than meets the eye, but don’t expect any major developments like you see in some of the games (then again, in some of the games the characters stick to their pre-determined clichés as well.. )
Overall: 7.5
Final Fantasy was a fun anime to watch. Fans of the games will not be disappointed when it comes to reference material from a good host of Final Fantasy games, however might find the storyline a bit lacking in the end. Still, it has enough action, comedy and stuff going on to keep you entertained for the full 26 episodes.
Rozen Maiden Traumed Review
Story: 8
This anime is a sequel to Rozen Maiden and I recommend you watch that one first, if you haven’t done so, or else it will be easy to get lost plot wise.
Rozen Maiden Traumed picks things up where Rozen Maiden left them so it is easy to follow along if you have seen the first series, unless it has been a while, like me.
There are some new characters introduced and some old ones re-introduces. With a complete set of Rozen Maiden dolls continuing the
Like Rozen Maiden, the animation of the dolls is very cute and sometimes wicked. The dolls are animated like their personalities, for example; pink for Hina-Ichigo, the childlike hyper active doll. The costumes of the dolls are detailed which adds to their unique designs. The action scenes are fluent and intense, like they should be. The designs of the human characters on the other hand are plain and simple; I think this is done to lay the accent on the beauty of the dolls. Shading is done well. There is nothing really to complain about here.
The voice acting of this show is simply brilliant. There wasn’t one moment where I thought things were off. They have chosen the voice actors well for each character and this makes it a really intense watch since the actors managed to get the emotions of the dolls across in such a splendid way.
The scenes are accompanied with beautiful orchestral music, to stress the situation the characters are in. The only think I really disliked was the opening theme of the series. It really doesn’t do the series any justice. The ending theme on the other hand is very beautiful and I wouldn’t mind listening to it on its own.
It’s clear that each doll has its own personality. From quiet to hyper active from smart to mischievous, it is all there. It makes it fun to see all the dolls interact with each other. The interaction between the cuter dolls and the more wicked dolls is interesting. All dolls have their own motives for competing or not competing in the
As the situation gets tenser in the last few episodes the dolls change and some unexpected events happen, this makes them develop in certain ways as they have to make choices.
This series delivers a mix of comedy, sadness, action and cuteness all in one and manages to combine this with a deep and heart touching story. I think this anime will be liked by a broad audience but I strongly recommend watching Rozen Maiden first.
As for people who have already done so: This is a sequel you must watch since it really will add something to your Rozen Maiden experience.
Romeo X Juliet Review
Story: 8.5
Almost everybody knows the sad love history of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s work has been used on several occasions already, so it was only a matter of time before there would be an anime made. That this story is one of success has already been proven, and Gonzo’s version is no exception of this rule.
The animation is splendid in lost of different ways. The characters are drawn according to their personalities. This means for instance that Romeo comes off as really innocent while his father is anything but that. They aimed for a realistic look, where characters aren’t just cute, or just dark. The main characters are beautifully color coded: Romeo in various shades of blue and Juliet in various shades of red. To me this was a very appealing choice. Action scenes are fluent and brilliantly drawn while romance scenes truly are endearing.
The opening song is the most beautiful one I have heard in a while. It really captures the atmosphere of the series in one glimpse. The first ending theme is a funky rock theme. I was surprised they would choose a song like that for this series; still it is a great song to play DDR on, though I like the second ending theme better because it is more fitting for the series. The voice actors did an awesome job with the characters. I especially fell for the voice actor who did Romeo’s voice. It was the best out there of the already amazing cast.
Of course this animes main focus is the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. Their relationship is full of development from the moment they met till the final moments of the series. There is a lot of chemistry between the main characters. They are struggling with their feeling for each other and the fight for the one they love is very believable every step of the way. Next to their growing relationship, both main characters also grow as persons, making individual decisions that affect the relationship between them.
The cast surrounding Romeo first seems like a bunch of average noble snobs, with exception of Romeo’s mother, however they also have a story of their own. The background story of Romeo’s father was quite unexpected and it gave the final episodes a nice twist.
Romeo X Juliet is a perfect example how a mix of a great story and a strong character development, can become an awesome whole.
I think that because of the action and the tragedy next to the romance, Romeo X Juliet will please a rather board audience. Even those who aren’t normally into the romance genre, I would advise to try this show. Chances are you might end up pleasantly surprised.
Giant Robo: the day the world stood still (OAV)
Story: 8.5
One of the first anime shows I’ve ever seen was “The new adventures of Gigantor” (Shin Tetsujin-28). Perhaps that was the reason why I’ve felt drawn to the mecha genre ever since, or perhaps it’s the odd combination of humor, action and science fiction which always seems to go with this genre, or perhaps it’s because I’m a boy and secretly every boy would like his own giant robot to plow through cities with.
The fact that Giant Robo falls into the mecha category goes without saying, this much can be derived from the name alone. And yet, it’s not entirely a mecha anime either; sure, it has robots, and sure they do battle on occassion, but on more than one occassion attention is shifted from these titanic clashes to the people behind it, elite agents in many different fields, yet all human, all with their own dilemmas.
The story itself may seem pretty cliche at first, no more than an average mecha plot: taking place on our earth in the near future, a perfect energy source, and an evil terrorist group using giant robots to wreak havoc. And yet while it still revolves around all that, there’s more than meets the eye: hidden agendas, secrets from the past, the plot and storyline twist and turn with every passing episode, and it isn’t until the final episode is past that the full truth will be revealed.
Story is told at a rapid pace, with barely any room for a slowdown, leaving no room for fillers, just for flashbacks – and these too arrive at the exactly right moments, to further broaden an already expanding storyline.
All by all, I have very little complaints here, as there’s been few anime shows which told a story as well as this one did, especially in the mecha genre.
Visuals: 8
The first thing I noticed when watching Giant Robo was the obvious retro-look, with mecha and character designs that were popular decennia ago but became less used as new styles developped. But Giant Robo takes it one step further, and as a homage to its original manga creator, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, by using his mecha designs, however also by re-using characters from various mangas he created into this seven part OAV.
But where the graphics department is concerned there has been put a good deal of attention in the Giant Robo OAV. Even during monologues and dialogues there are different angles and the camera usually keeps moving, avoiding stills whenever possible. The different sceneries used throughout the anime are detailed and worked out, and backgrounds are just as beautiful, using a good amount of colours for realistic detail. The creators of this OAV have done as much as possible to keep the story and the action fast-paced, without going overboard, and it shows.
Audio: 9
One of the things which I liked most about Giant Robo was the elaborate and extensive soundtrack. Composed by Masamichi Amano (also known from the soundtracks of Stratos 4, and the Battle Royale movies) and performed by the Warshaw Philharmonic Orchestra, each track is a little gem and carries the series the way a good soundtrack should.
Characters: 7.5
On first impression and judging on appearances alone the Giant Robo cast may seem like a rather diverse bunch, with a good manner of different appearances, hooked or enormous noses, obscure hairdo’s and diverse outfits. In truth, as I briefly mentioned earlier, the original character concepts come, for the most part, from other manga’s made by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, no matter which genre or setting they originally were portrayed in.
While some of the characters were fairly stereotypical (the burly but not so smart warrior, the teenage boy and his giant robot, the bishonen villain, the mad scientist) each of them, as well as the other, less predictable characters, had their own luggage in back history with them: personal grudges, troubled pasts, a history of lovers, and even situations that are only hinted at but never explained in full, meant to be saved for another, different OAV perhaps? A pity though, because I personally would love to have heard more of the history of some characters…
There is a good deal of support characters in this series, and most of them have a fairly stagnant role, however the main characters, even though they already carry a significant background, grow over the course of the series as they’re exposed to more hardship, but also good situations. What amused me though is that this growth did not apply solely for the heroes, but also for the villains – in fact, even though the badguys are part of a terrorist group bent on global domination (of course) they are not entirely evil, in fact often portrayed as human beings with mixed human emotions. And I like that.
Overall: 8.5
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review Shin Tetsujin-28 was one of my first animes, and also the show which drew me to the mecha genre to begin with. When I first purchased Giant Robo it was because it was one of the few anime shows available in common stores in the
In the end, they had little in common, and the first episode of Giant Robo served more as an introduction, with fairly little action; as a result I nearly decided not to continue this series, but in the end I decided to give it another go, and I’m glad I did.
To summarize, I really enjoyed this show; the characters grew to me as I watched more of it, and I was shocked to even see some main characters die. Besides that I enjoyed the unfolding and changing storyline, the good pace of action and storytelling, but what drew me in most –which is not uncommon for me- was the extensive soundtrack, performed by the Warshaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and it shows. My only regret is that there are only seven episodes of it, because I certainly would love to see more of Giant Robo.
Sola review
Story: 9
Once again I picked this anime just randomly out of a list of new anime from the season and I wasn’t disappointed!
In the first episode there is a lot of action and I was interested immediately. This does not happen often. Most anime need an episode or three to get me interested so I definitely consider this a plus for Sola. Then the anime becomes kind of slow for the next 4 episodes. You know that there is more to things then they let on, but it is not until episode 6 that the story really starts rolling again. The story takes some unique and unexpected turns that surprised me; something that I think is a strong point of this series as well. And it keeps doing so until the very end of the series.
Animation: 9
This is truly the best point of the anime. The backgrounds are really beautiful and focus a lot on the different kind of skies. The colors that are used are lively and inspired me. Character designs are detailed and unique. They paid a lot of attention to the designing of the outfits from the characters, especially the female ones. This also goes for the hair and eyes. They made sure the looks of a character fits their personalities. Shading and light effects is another thing that was done really well. It was all very detailed.
The series switches a lot with the lights used since it lays accents of the different times of day and night. This was done really well and I didn’t feel “off” once. The colors were dark or bright when they were supposed to be because of change of scenery. The anime also had a lot of special effects, especially in the later episodes. And once again I can only say that this part was also done splendidly.
Audio: 8
The music is another strong point of the anime. As with the visuals the audio varies a lot because of the amount of different moods used throughout the series. This makes it a varied soundtrack to listen to. The background music supports the scenes greatly. The opening and ending theme are both really good and are worth listening to on its own as well. There is another vocal song used somewhere in the series to support the scenes. This is done in a wonderful way. The voice acting is splendid. The voices fit the characters well and the combination of audio and visual makes the characters feel as if they are alive.
Character development: 7.5
There certainly is character development but I feel that is mostly because of the twists and turns of the story then that the characters purely develop themselves. In the beginning of the anime everyone is just presented as normal average characters. When you learn the truth behind the characters, your outlook on the characters will change. However this is mostly because you learn about certain events in the past and not because the personality of the character develops that much. It is not until the last few episodes that the real motives and personalities of the characters will become clear. This is both a good and a bad thing: Good because it keeps you in the dark until the very last but bad because it doesn’t give the characters time to develop.
Certain bonds are formed between the characters throughout the anime and the way the characters interact with each other changes throughout the series. I cant say too much about the relationship of the characters towards each other without giving away too much but this is one aspect of the many surprises Sola has in store. The series seem to focus more on the development of the bond and the relationship between characters then on the characters itself. But because this aspect is done very realistic it didn’t bother me the slightest.
Overall: 9
If you want something different to watch, Sola is the way to go. Because of the well chosen combination of a good plot with unexpected twists, splendid animation and fitting accompanying music it will draw you right into the series. The combination of genres used makes it an enjoyable watch for a broad audience. This series was one of the rare ones that still managed to surprise me and is one of the better ones out there.