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*cracks knuckles -- ew, no, that's gross!*
Making myself do this each and every day is good exercise. I guess. But I find myself putting off writing about the books and series I have lots to say about. Today, to honour the fact that I went on a doujinshi-buying expedition -- and boy, did I feel like an old-school traditionalist, with my armful of GW and YYH -- I thought I'd review some anime.
First up, and it's a rewrite because I'd written a lovely review of this but then accidentally DELETED IT! *grargnashteeth*, it's none other than
Trigun
Does anyone still talk about this series, even? Back when it was first fansubbed, I saw the first few episodes, liked it, but never bothered trying to get my hands on the whole thing. A couple of years later, I was given a set of bootlegged DVDs by someone who'd bought the official release, but I never took the time to watch it. Partly, it was because in my mind, Trigun was a companion to Cowboy Bebop, at least in the thematic sense: futuristic Wild West, bounty hunters/hunted, etc., etc. And since I'd seen Cowboy Bebop and put it up there with my all-time favourites, it seemed kind of pointless to watch something that couldn't possibly be as good. Right? Right.
Because Vash and Wolfwood were fairly popular cosplay subjects at the time, I was aware of Wolfwood's existence, and I was pleased to find him to be an interesting character. His interaction with Vash was lots of fun, and as the series progressed, I found myself wishing that it had become a buddy comedy, instead of veering into a tale of genetic engineering and revenge, because I really hadn't seen that coming. I'd been expecting an exploration of the world of Trigun, as there were hints early on about energy sources and Vash's Dark, Tragic Past, but it was really jarring to see it go in the direction it did. It wasn't entirely unsuccesful, and I suppose I'm partly to blame for holding a certain vision of the show in my mind for five years, but I stil found it didn't quite work. I was expecting a more cynical world-view, perhaps, or at least more adult, more in line with Cowboy Bebop. Either that, or at least more of the manic energy from the beginning of the series.
Vash's shifts in personality were hard to swallow at times, but I was glad that the mysterious woman in his past turned out to be a mother or sister figure, instead of a lover, which I don't think would have worked as well. Another thing I would have liked to see is more simple scenes of Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl and Millie together. Wolfwood and Millie especially were fantastic, pretending to be a couple; they really stole the show in those bits, and I'm sad we didn't get to see more of it.
Final verdict: 7/10
Next up,
Princess Tutu
Surreal, often hilarious, full of lovely music, this series had been on my Must-See list ever since I heard about it. How to explain it? There's a duck, who's turned into a girl, and she studies ballet in an art academy of sorts, and her ballet teacher is a cat, and there are all sorts of other animals, and another girl is the princess of the crows, and the duck turns into a magical ballerina to defeat her, and the story takes elements from different ballets and fairytales and there's lots of gorgeous music. Oh, and the creators were obviously smoking something good when they came up with it. At times I was reminded of Utena, simply because the story was so bizarre. The character designs were very cute, and of course the boys were just as glossy and pretty as the girls, and the whole look of the show was nicely done. I especially liked all the animal teachers and students, if only because it cracked me up to see an anteater en pointe. Neko-sensei's constant threats of marriage were a bit creepy, though.
Because the plot borrowed so much from ballets, themselves based on fairytales, I was surprised at the ending, because I'd expected some variation on "The Ugly Duckling". Even the ballets referenced were used in such a way that they often didn't really inform the plot so much as provide a soundtrack, as different characters and elements were thrown together every which way. How else to explain Drosselmeyer's looming presence? Though I suppose if one were to analyse it more deeply, common themes would be more apparent. Still, I'm not into scholarship for my magical girl shows, so I'll leave someone else to do that.
Another thing in the series' favour, the opening and ending songs got under my skin, but in a good way. I even sang along!
Final verdict: 8/10
Making myself do this each and every day is good exercise. I guess. But I find myself putting off writing about the books and series I have lots to say about. Today, to honour the fact that I went on a doujinshi-buying expedition -- and boy, did I feel like an old-school traditionalist, with my armful of GW and YYH -- I thought I'd review some anime.
First up, and it's a rewrite because I'd written a lovely review of this but then accidentally DELETED IT! *grargnashteeth*, it's none other than
Trigun
Does anyone still talk about this series, even? Back when it was first fansubbed, I saw the first few episodes, liked it, but never bothered trying to get my hands on the whole thing. A couple of years later, I was given a set of bootlegged DVDs by someone who'd bought the official release, but I never took the time to watch it. Partly, it was because in my mind, Trigun was a companion to Cowboy Bebop, at least in the thematic sense: futuristic Wild West, bounty hunters/hunted, etc., etc. And since I'd seen Cowboy Bebop and put it up there with my all-time favourites, it seemed kind of pointless to watch something that couldn't possibly be as good. Right? Right.
Because Vash and Wolfwood were fairly popular cosplay subjects at the time, I was aware of Wolfwood's existence, and I was pleased to find him to be an interesting character. His interaction with Vash was lots of fun, and as the series progressed, I found myself wishing that it had become a buddy comedy, instead of veering into a tale of genetic engineering and revenge, because I really hadn't seen that coming. I'd been expecting an exploration of the world of Trigun, as there were hints early on about energy sources and Vash's Dark, Tragic Past, but it was really jarring to see it go in the direction it did. It wasn't entirely unsuccesful, and I suppose I'm partly to blame for holding a certain vision of the show in my mind for five years, but I stil found it didn't quite work. I was expecting a more cynical world-view, perhaps, or at least more adult, more in line with Cowboy Bebop. Either that, or at least more of the manic energy from the beginning of the series.
Vash's shifts in personality were hard to swallow at times, but I was glad that the mysterious woman in his past turned out to be a mother or sister figure, instead of a lover, which I don't think would have worked as well. Another thing I would have liked to see is more simple scenes of Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl and Millie together. Wolfwood and Millie especially were fantastic, pretending to be a couple; they really stole the show in those bits, and I'm sad we didn't get to see more of it.
Final verdict: 7/10
Next up,
Princess Tutu
Surreal, often hilarious, full of lovely music, this series had been on my Must-See list ever since I heard about it. How to explain it? There's a duck, who's turned into a girl, and she studies ballet in an art academy of sorts, and her ballet teacher is a cat, and there are all sorts of other animals, and another girl is the princess of the crows, and the duck turns into a magical ballerina to defeat her, and the story takes elements from different ballets and fairytales and there's lots of gorgeous music. Oh, and the creators were obviously smoking something good when they came up with it. At times I was reminded of Utena, simply because the story was so bizarre. The character designs were very cute, and of course the boys were just as glossy and pretty as the girls, and the whole look of the show was nicely done. I especially liked all the animal teachers and students, if only because it cracked me up to see an anteater en pointe. Neko-sensei's constant threats of marriage were a bit creepy, though.
Because the plot borrowed so much from ballets, themselves based on fairytales, I was surprised at the ending, because I'd expected some variation on "The Ugly Duckling". Even the ballets referenced were used in such a way that they often didn't really inform the plot so much as provide a soundtrack, as different characters and elements were thrown together every which way. How else to explain Drosselmeyer's looming presence? Though I suppose if one were to analyse it more deeply, common themes would be more apparent. Still, I'm not into scholarship for my magical girl shows, so I'll leave someone else to do that.
Another thing in the series' favour, the opening and ending songs got under my skin, but in a good way. I even sang along!
Final verdict: 8/10
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(Anonymous) 2007-12-15 04:41 am (UTC)(link)mp
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