News came out today that Tokyopop is going to release both Otsu-ichi’s novel Goth and the manga adaption of it; the manga being noticeable for having art by Welcome to the NHK artist Kendi Oiwa. I’ve already read the Goth manga, and despite how cliche the title sounds it is one solidly awesome story, featuring a boy and a girl hunting serial killers with the added twist of the boy being a sociopath himself. After reading Otsu-ichi’s other novel, Calling You, I can’t wait to read this novel and see how it compares to the manga, along with enjoying another one of his works in English. Otsu-ichi is definitely one of the better light novel authors getting translated right now, and deserves more credit and attention for his great works. Right now it looks like the manga will come out in September and the novel in October. I’ll be sure to pick them both up then.
P.S. Later this month the first novels of Seven Seas light novel line are coming out, and it’s interesting to see that while there is a roughly a seven month turnaround time between Tokyopop’s novel announcements and their publications, it’s taken Seven Seas TWO FREAKIN’ YEARS to get anything out. Just felt like pointing that out.
It would cost me a little over a hundred dollars to get all of Robotech - the 89-episode bastardization of Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada - while to get all of Macross, a 39-episode series spread over three boxsets, is ninety dollars. So, why is it roughly the same amount of money between the two when Macross is only 1/3 of Robotech?
From this point on you shall be called HarLockon, truly a name worthy of any eye patch wearer.
Of course it’s the communist soldiers who can do the crazy synchronized attacks.
So, Saji appears to be doing well. Let’s just leave him alone a bit more. Maybe he’ll be a renegade gundam thief out for revenge the next time we come back.
Quickest gundamjack ever. Not even Gato had it this good. Thus is Trinity now only Nene. Johann and Michael really didn’t have that much character to them, so them dying just to further Ali’s motives isn’t that bad. Michael’s death was almost fitting in how quick it was. Trinity, you will be missed, but now it’s Ali’s time to shine as resident bad guy with a gundam.
As badass as Trans-am Exia looks, I’ll say right now that Trans-am is the stupidest name for a power up ever. A gundam shouldn’t remind me of a car. Too many models for cars already anyways.
There’s quite a few storylines going on in Baccano, so the best I can do is try to summarize them:
In 1711 a group of alchemists summoned a demon and were given the elixir of immortality, and the ability to “eat” other immortals and gain their knowledge. However, only one alchemist was given the knowledge of how to recreate the elixir.
In 1930 an up-and-coming gang member, a juvenile delinquent, an evil alchemist and his homonculus, and the most incompetent thieves ever cross paths while trying to gain the immortal drink.
In 1931 the Flying Pussyfoot sets off with terrorists, gangsters, both good and bad; immortals, psychopaths, and the monster Rail Tracer all on board, just waiting to cause some havoc.
Finally, in 1932 a young girl joins with some information brokers to try and find her missing brother, while a mobster who is being blackmailed by said brother tries to find him first.
It’s all nonsense, which is what Baccano literally means in italian.
Impressions:
Baccano! is probably the most ambitious anime, from a storytelling perspective, that I’ve ever seen, and fortunately that ambition pays off to make it one of the best and most fun anime to come out in a while. I’m glad I waited to watch this show all in one sitting, cause I don’t see how it could be watched any way else. For one, the suspense would be too much, but also I would forget way too much. Baccano has a HUGE cast of characters and three different storylines going on at three different times, and each story is retold from a dozen perspectives! You know you’re getting into a wild ride with Baccano when the first episode spends fifteen minutes talking about where’s the best place to start the story and the rest essentially showing you the ending, though you have no idea what is going on. I have crazy respect for the director who managed to keep all these storylines straight and logical even when told in a non-linear manner.
Of course, even with all the unique plotting, Baccano would be nothing if it didn’t have good characters, but fortunately Baccano has awesome characters in spades. There’s Isaac and Miria, the greatest thieving, crazy, and spastic couple ever; the psychopathic Ladd Russo, the other psychopath with a heart of justice Claire Stanfield, the young mafioso Firo Prochainezo, Jacuzzi Splot, the most courageous guy who cries all the time ever; his hot, eye patch wearing girlfriend Nice Holystone; and way too many other great characters. It’s a real credit to Baccano that it can make us so familiar with each one of these characters.
Aniplex and Brains-Base did a great job with the animation in Baccano. All the scenes looked great and the action was incredibly fluid. And 1930’s New York actually looks like 1930’s New York! No small feat when considering how often anime gets even modern day New York wrong. There’s a lot of gory scenes in the show - there are a couple psychopaths running around after all - but never enough to feel too over-the-top, like Mnemosyne. This is a violent world where blood often has to be spilt. The jazz soundtrack fits the series perfectly, particularly the instrumental OP. It’s also great how it zooms in to show the characters’ names. I demand that more anime do that.
For all the awesomeness that Baccano is, I do have a couple complaints, though. While it wraps up all its main plots nicely, there’s still a couple threads hanging, like why does Lua love Ladd so much, what made the Russo family target Jacuzzi’s group, what did Elmer wish to the demon for, and why did the demon choose to follow Huey? Seeing as how Baccano is based on a novel series these questions are probably answered later on, so I hope we see a second season for this stuff.
Baccano! is definitely one of the most original works of anime to come out in a while. Its characters are great and the storytelling approach is nothing less than fantastic. I can’t imagine the show being told any other way. Definitely try to watch it in one whole sitting to get the full effect. And how can one not love a show that features a train called “The Flying Pussyfoot,” or features my favorite episode title now, “Ladd Russo Enjoys Talking a Lot and Killing a Lot?” Now that’s just pure fun there.
When the Exoda Ring is formed in the sky the great demon Satan Exoda C. Crown is revived along with his island Shina Dark. To appease the demon all the nations of the world send one thousand young virgins to satisfy his legendary lust. The only problem is that Satan has no lust at all, nor does he want to destroy anything. He just wants to lay around and go fishing. But now this apathetic demon lord is stuck taking care of a thousand girls and it’s up to him to take care of them all and make them happy. Satan is aided by his butler, the actually evil looking Vincent, his maid, Noel who commands an army of tiny robots, and the two princesses who have taken the most interest in him, Garet of the Vansable Empire and Christina of the Estgloria Kingdom.
Impression:
Shina Dark is an incredibly fun little series. While it has its fair share of fantasy cliches, everything from the characters to the setting comes off as very refreshing. A lot of this has to do with how great Satan is as a main character. He’s a strong guy in his own right, willing to stand up for what’s wrong and, as befitting a demon lord, the strongest in the world, but his personality is so laid back it allows for him to be the butt of many jokes. The other characters are also all suitably funny. The straight faced Vincent is always great, especially when people mistake him for the legendary pervert Satan. Noel is the hapless and clumsy maid, while Garet is gung-ho about everything. Christina doesn’t really have anything that makes her a very funny character, but the story is already hinting at a darker past and future for her.
Indeed, despite the many jokes and comedic situations in the series there’s still some serious plots going on, mainly what to do with all those women. The artwork is all very nice to look at, with each girl looking suitably cute. The action scenes, of which there are a couple so far, could be drawn less hectic. Shina Dark is a pretty short series right now, three volumes with only two translated, but I really like what I see right now. Its premise is unique, the characters are fun, and the whole thing is refreshing to read; perfect for anyone looking for a light, fantasy-themed story.
Despite the manga being so short, it’s already getting an anime adaption, done no less by SHAFT and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. The trailer is up and it looks very faithful to the manga so far. Also probably does a better job of describing the series than i can. I don’t know how they can do an anime already, but hopefully it will be as fun as the manga.
That’s certainly one of the most cringe inducing anime scenes I’ve ever scene. I can handle blood and gore fine, but the idea of placing flesh on burning metal is just too visceral for me. Tonegawa may be a bastard, but he didn’t deserve that. The Chairman is the real evil. The E-Card arc has now ended, and while I do think it lasted longer than it should have, it did give us several great moments. Now it’s time for the climax of Kaiji: Tissue Box Raffle! I’m not lying here, just check the wiki page.
My dream come true. Rie Kugimiya and Mamiko Noto making out. Oh god it’s like their voices are having sex!
oh my god it’s a pager! This really is set in the nineties. I think if there was one useless technology that the nineties gave us, aside from furbies, it would have to be the pager. It’s a glorified portable answering machine.
It’s 1991 and you’ve maxed out your computer with 300 MB. What one episode of anime do you download?
