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.
Manga: MeruPuri vol. 1
Warning: This document contains spoilers!
Story: 7
In this manga the fairy tale world comes together with our normal everyday life as a young prince from a kingdom comes through the mirror of a teenage girl to hide himself from his older stepbrother who did cast a spell on him. The prince takes shelter in the girl’s home for the time being and this causes all kind of weird events to happen.
About this aspect of the series I can be very short: The artwork is simply great. I like the adorable character designs. It sometimes feels a bit crowded but it is easy to follow along. The combination of the attractive art and the enjoyable, sometimes wacky story gets you drawn in easily.
As stated before, the male lead is originally only 10 years old and on top of that being a prince, so he is very spoiled. On the other hand he can also be very cute. The funny thing is that when he grows older, his body does but his mind doesn’t. This causes some comical situations.
The artwork is great so that’s no reason to leave this manga on the shelf. However I wouldn’t recommend it if you can’t stand lolicon at all since the series does have elements of that. However if you are looking for a fun fairy tale meets modern world manga and doesn’t take the underlying hints to loli seriously this story provides an enjoyable read.
Gakuen Alice Review
Story: 7
Gakuen Alice is presented as a comedy and while this anime certainly has comical elements, it didn’t make me laugh out loud much. This doesn’t mean this is a bad anime; it just wasn’t what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed the deeper elements that this story had to offer. On the surface it seems like any ordinary school life anime, but as the story progresses you get drawn deeper and deeper in the underlying secrets of this school. Hidden motives are a keyword in this series and it was interesting enough for me to finish this one in 2 days.
The animation is pretty basic, yet they spend time to add details to the total picture. This is especially clear in the character designs. They made certain that the animation fitted with the unique characters of certain personalities. Also it is one of those series where characters actually wear different every day clothes instead of the same thing over and over, of course the school uniform is the exception here.
The comedy aspects are brought out more by using exaggerated facial expressions. To my opinion this really adds something extra to the series.
Voice acting is good overall. Most of the times the voices fit the characters however there is one boy though who sounds like a girl and I think it took me about 4 episodes before I noticed he was a boy because of his uniform.
The opening theme is a wacky song that fits the anime well. The ending theme is a mellow song, almost like a lullaby. Both songs aren’t bad, but I wouldn’t play them on their own. It is too bad that the former are the only two vocal tracks for a 26 episode series. The scenes in the series are accompanied by little weird sounds to accent the comedy aspect. As for background music, they use the same tunes over and over but this is only noticeable if you pay attention to it.
When Mikan, the main character first comes to the new school, almost everyone acts cold towards here. But with her personality she wins people over 1 by 1. This is the main event for this series and if you compare the beginning of the series to the end there is a major difference. They did a good job here, following this line of development. Mikan stays the same cheerful girl overall in spite of all the hardships she has to endure, yet she still develops to a stronger person. Even if she still stays a crybaby in the end.
To my opinion a lot of people will be able to enjoy this series. Some will appreciate it for the humor while others might be drawn to the drama aspects of the anime. There is also some action involved and is has a deeper story then expected. The ending could have been stronger and it is true that the series leaves quite a few things untold. All though these flaws are there, I nevertheless enjoyed watching it.
Rozen Maiden Overture Review
Story: 6
Rozen Maiden Overture is a separate story that tells the history of the relationship between the dolls Shinku and Shogintou. The timeline where it begins is somewhere in the second season but I couldn’t quite place it myself. This aspect doesn’t matter so much since the whole thing is basically a 2 episode flashback.
I didn’t really think it adds really much to the whole series. It is a nice story but I wouldn’t have noticed if it wouldn’t have been told. To me it doesn’t add anything really spectacular. It is a sad background story which is mostly an addition for Rozen Maiden fans.
The animation is the same as the other Rozen Maiden series and therefore there is of good quality. The atmosphere is more grim and dark though which fits the melancholy of the story. The thing that was done really well is the transformation of Shogintou from an almost cute doll to the wicked doll we know her. I noticed the small differences they put in her expressions and it really adds something the whole picture.
The opening is once again done by Ali Project and is not really my taste, however this one isn’t as bas as the 2nd seasons. The ending I liked better since it is more soothing, almost comforting which matches the theme quite well. Of course the voice acting has the same quality as the rest of the series so there is really nothing to complain about.
Since this prequel only lasts 2 episodes, the character development is down to a minimum. The episodes concentrate on Shinku and Shogintou and their relationship. Shinku is still her old demanding self and not as compassionate as she came to be in the second series. It tells the Story how she pitied Shogintou and how she and Shogintou were friends first and why Shogintou’s hate for Shinku came to be. It does add some sympathy towards Shogintou since Shinku isn’t displayed as merely the good doll here. The other dolls only play minor parts in this story.
We meet the past medium of Shinku, a little rich girl. She adds her opinions on the whole thing but further adds nothing of importance.
Since the great stories of the other series I went in with great expectations, however I was slightly disappointed. To my opinion this story could have seen told in the 2nd season and there wasn’t any need to make a separate appearance. It does have the same quality of sound and animation, but it just isn’t as good as the rest. For the fans it can be a nice addition but it isn’t a must see.
Manga: S.A (Special A) vol.1
Warning: This document contains spoilers
Story: 6.5
S.A is short for Special A. It is the top class of an elite school where only the 7 top students belong. They have a special building within the school apart from the others. All students of this elite school are very rich, except for Hikari who is the daughter of a carpenter. The only reason she insisted to go to this school is because of her rival Kei.
She lost to Kei in an impromptu wrestling match at age 6 and she swore she would defeat Kei some day. Now at age 15 she is still fighting every day to meet up to her goal. She wants to beat him someday whatever it takes.
S. A is drawn by Maki Minami and this is her first published manga. Even though this is the case I didn’t notice anything that felt off. Character designs are cute. The panels are in the right places and she actually dares to experiment with the placing of the panels. There are a lot of scenes where bodies are in hard to draw positions but she pulls it all off.
Only the hair of the characters is too long, especially the bangs. She already admits in her manga that she does this on purpose to camouflage the fact she cant draw faces too well. However because she made this a part of her style, you don’t notice this. The backgrounds vary a lot, from detailed scenery to fluffy romance backgrounds with sparkles. It makes it a very varied whole.
I have to say that when I read the back cover I couldn’t imagine that there would be characters this shallow. I mean in reality who would strife for such a thing as Hikari does? However even though her goal in my eyes is absurd, she works hard for what she wants. She is actually the only one in S. A who has to follow classes to keep her number two position. It seems that all other members have some super human abilities and they basically don’t do anything except loafing around.
While I didn’t expect much of this manga when I read the back cover, it was a fun read and it was better then I thought it would be. All though I still have doubts about the chosen theme for this series. It seems this will be an 12 volume series (so far) and I really wonder if it will keep me entertained for that long. However I guess we will just have to wait and see. For a first timer this manga is of good quality and especially if you are into the Ouran like setting, it will be worth trying it out.
Manga: Clover (CLAMP) vol. 1
Warning: This document contains spoilers
Story: 7.5
Sue is a special child who has grown up without any human contact. This is because she has a hidden power, a power so great that the government feared it’s discovery.
Therefore Sue is very lonely. Sue has only one wish, to get to
This manga is unlike any other from CLAMP. Of course you can see by the character designs that it is CLAMP, however the surroundings are really different. There is an intense use of negative space and panels are drawn on weird places. This gives the manga a unique feel, but also makes it a bit harder to follow.
Sue kind of reminds me of Chii from Chobits. She has an innocent character and isn’t aware of her own powers. She doesn’t know much about the world as she has been locked up all this time. In the first volume it becomes clear already that Sue is very lonely and that she longs for company. She hasn’t reached her destination yet, and therefore she is unhappy. In the final chapter of the manga, a glimpse of Sue’s power is awakening.
All though things still leave my puzzled after this manga, I think this is one with potential. I know I will be reading more of it to know the rest of the intriguing story. Because it is CLAMP, it was enough reason for me to check this one out, and I know that they have lesser works as well, but I think this ones might turn out to be quite enjoyable.
Manga: Sunadokei (The sand Chronicles) vol. 1
Warning: This document contains spoilers
Story: 7
Sunadokei (hourglass) is about a girl, Ann, who remembers the life she leads when she was younger. She came to live in a remote village with her grandparents and has to make new friends there. She has some hard times but she manages. There is a chapter when she is 12 years old and a chapter when she is 14 years old. A friendship starts between her and Daigo, the male lead. When Daigo helps Ann through some rough times, Ann, realizes she loves Daigo. The main focus is on the relationship between Ann and Daigo, however there is also
The art is like any typical Shojo manga, cute with some sparkles here and there to enchant things. While eyes are the stronger point of this mangaka (all though even sometimes the eyes are a bit off) mouths seem to be her weak point. Sometimes moths are drawn just plain ugly, too big or too thick lined. Sometimes body proportions are kinda off as well. It is not really the best drawing I have seen.
As stated before part one of the manga focuses mainly on the relationship between Ann and Daigo. You see how they become friends, and slowly develop into more. There is the regular turning and twisting and the female rival also comes along.
I don’t dislike this manga, it is kind of interesting and endearing, yet the far from perfect artwork throws me out of it. It prevents me from really getting into the story, I keep thinking: “Hmm.. that angle is off or that mouth is so unnatural.” It really meddled with my reading pleasure therefore I do not know if I will be reading all of this manga. I might give it another volume but the story must make up then what the art lacks, or the art must have improved by then. All in all I think this is just a manga for true Shojo fans.
Karin review
Story: 7
I normally dislike vampire stories. Sure, I don’t have a problem with a series that happen to have a vampire in it, however I wouldn’t normally watch an anime where it all involves around these creatures of the night. Yet, when I read the synopsis of this series, I got curious and decided to watch it.
I normally dislike anime that has blood. However if there is blood it is animated in an almost cute way. For example flower shaped blood. Even though it is unrealistic, I really liked it because in this way I can handle blood.
Further the animation is nothing really special; it is the kind you normally encounter in a romance anime. Backgrounds aren’t really detailed, but characters have more details and most were aimed to look cute. Some characters look slightly odd but there is always a reason behind it. Extra details were laid in the different costumes characters wear. A thing that did draw extra attention was the last episode which was fully drawn in a grey and red palette.
The first thing that stands out is the classical vampire sounds that are used as a comical note in this anime. I find this very well done and it made me laugh on several occasions. The voice acting is done splendid. Karin’s father Henry has this really amusing voice and Winners voice has a bad American accent which fit his character well. All other voices are also fitting so the series scores high marks here. The opening theme is a catchy upbeat song. The ending song is somewhat mellower. Both aren’t outstanding however I have heard far worse.
There are a lot of characters in Karin. At first it starts out with her, most of her family, best friend and Usui Kenta, the male lead of the anime. First the anime focuses of Karins daily life and how she gets along with this unusual situations she gets involved in and Usui Kenta who discovers Karin’s secret. It shows the weird family structure and their way of caring for Karin.
This anime made me warm up towards vampires, and I enjoyed watching it. Even though there are some points of annoyance as well. It isn’t the most outstanding anime out there but if you want to see something lighthearted about vampires then this is a good pick, even if you normally aren’t into the vampire genre much, I would still recommend you try it out.
Episode Review: Mnemosyne 01 (warning: contains spoilers)
Uniflame recommended this series to me because she thought it might be something I like. Reading the synopsis about it, I agreed, but having seen the first episode I am not so sure anymore, since it has a lot of elements I usually don’t like; still, my curiosity is stirred, so I might give it another go when I get my hands on the second episode.
The story introduces main character Rin, a private investigator of some sorts with a reputation to boot it seems. In the opening scene she’s chased by an assassin and killed, yet she wakes up in her bed the next morning as if it were just a dream.
Here her job is introduced, along with her assistant Mimi, who looks like she’s 12 but downs vodka as well as her employer. Of course with alcohol involved these’s a good excuse for some touchiness throughout the episode to fan-service the perverts, but nothing too out of bounds.
While completing a job – finding a lost fat cat – Rin stumbles across a young man named Maeno who is about to be beaten up. She rescues him and learns he has an odd case of amnesia.
Rin decides to help him find his missing memories and their trail – a trail of violence, extortion and a few dead bodies, mind you – leads them to a pharmaceutical company with mob connections.
When attempting to sneak inside, it turns out Rin’s butt (-lol) proves to be too much of an obstacle to bypass some infrared beams, and the two are arrested, introducing this episode’s villain: the pharmaceutical director with a preference for Lolita dresses outside office hours and the bizarre fetish of gaining pleasure from attaching vast amounts of piercings. Add a random female-female french kiss and we have a torture scene that could’ve been taken straight out of a kinky hentai flic.
But all’s well that ends well; Rin proves to be able to revive after dying, using this talent to unleash some zombies upon the unsuspecting director, and free Maeno. And guess what, the fat cat is found too!
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.