Tag: science-fiction

Buddy Complex

What’s it about ?

Terminator with mecha.

Characters

Aoba, our generic high-school student protagonist. He’s got a generic (absence of) personality, and generic friends constantly saying how great a guy he is. He’s the picture of boring normalcy.

Hina, the girl sitting next to him in class who transferred in recently. Everyone just assumes she’s stalking him because she’s infatuated with him (for some unfathomable reason) ; and while there might be some degree of truth to that, the real reason is that he’s going to be Really Important in the future, and she’s a time-traveller who’s come back in time to protect him from…

Er, actually, I didn’t quite catch this guy’s name. (And since the credits just have him as a purposefully uncredited “pilot”, I presume that’s a plot point.) Anyway, he’s fallen into a wormhole from the future with his mecha, and for some reason he makes a beeline to kill Aoba. Hina was in hot pursuit, but somehow ended up arriving several months earlier ; this makes me believe time-travel isn’t an exact science here.

Anyway, the battle escalates enough for Hina to decide that the best course of action is to throw her mecha (with Aoba also in the cockpit) together with the other guy’s into another wormhole. When Aoba wakes up after that, he’s alone in a completely different mecha, at some point in the future, and the army owning that mecha is scrambling for combat…

Production Values

It’s Sunrise doing mecha. Of course it looks fine.

Overall Impression

Well, that’s certainly an intriguing start. I’m not too fond of the characters yet, but the premise is introduced well enough to feel interesting despite them. I certainly appreciated the way it rushed to have Aoba into the future so quickly, as there certainly wasn’t anything of much interest in the present.

I’ll give it a few episodes to see where it goes. (I have no clue whatsoever why it’s called “Buddy Complex” yet, for example.)

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2014.

Arpeggio of Blue Steel : Ars Nova (Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova)

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Sentient warships !

Characters

Gunzou Chihaya, our protagonist. Two years ago, he was a moody naval officer in training : the seas have been conquered by the mysterious “Fleet of Fog”, which showed out of nowhere and completely broke communications between nations ; so his future career is looking kinda pointless (it’s not like humanity looks like it has any hope of turning the tide). Also, his dad was a famous captain who got KIA (although there are some nasty rumours of him defecting), which earned him a fast track to the elite naval officer class. Which is how he got to see…

Iona, aka I-401, a Fog submarine “captured” by Japan 7 years ago ; they were kinda hoping to study it, but they haven’t made much progress since. When Gunzou touches her, she reacts and manifests her girl-shaped avatar ; she explains that her only purpose is to find him, and obey his orders. So, off they go, now labeled traitors by both sides.

Some of Gunzou’s oddball classmates (the masked dude, the guy who behaves like a delinquant, and so on) have somehow joined his crew at some point after the flashback. They’re acting as mercenaries for various human factions.

The current-day plot involves our heroes protecting a Japanese base while it launches a secret weapon towards America. This isn’t a hostile manoeuvre : Japan doesn’t have the resources to mass-replicate it, and sends it that way to America in the hope the Fleet of Fog can’t intercept it. The plan fails : the rocket is destroyed halway through its trip. So it’s time for plan B : give another copy to our heroes, and have them deliver it to America. If anyone can cross the seas and survive to tell the tale, it’s them.

The episode ends with a preview of some of the major Fog ships (and their avatars) our heroes are going to face. I note that we haven’t seen yet any clue as to who actually controls the Fleet of Fog. (Aliens ? A secret human conspiracy ? Who knows ?)

Production Values

Lots of CG animation ; actually, it looks a lot like even the characters are heavily cell-shaded CG models. It actually looks quite good… most of the time. (There are a few ugly shots indeed.)

Overall Impression

Well, this is certainly an intriguing premise. I’m not quite sold, though : the main cast are clichés without much personality so far, and I’m not sure yet whether the girl-ship thing is too stupid even for me. There are some definite pacing problems, too.

But hey, I’ve given a second episode to worse shows than this. Let’s give it a bit of a chance.

Summer 2013 capsules

Turning Girls is the latest web-thingie from Studio Trigger. Now, you may remember this studio was founded with much fanfare by the mad minds behind TTGL & Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt ; they also produced the wonderfully-animated Little Witch Academia one-shot for the Anime Mirai project earlier this year. But they’ve yet to produce an actual full series, and won’t until this Fall. In the meantime, all they’ve given us are shoe-string-budget shorts like Inferno Cop and now this.

Inferno Cop had some zany charm, but I quickly got tired of it. This is noticeably worse : an attempt at satire that’s not really funny, and has nothing more to say than “[female stereotype of the week] are annoying and terrible people, dur dur”. Also, it looks absolutely horrible, like something that was quickly thrown together between proper projects (which it probably was).

Don’t watch this crap. Especially when there are non-terrible takes on similar themes (such as the all-fujoshi new season of Genshiken) due out this very summer.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013.

And now for something completely different : a few words about the first instalment of Ghost in the Shell : Arise.

This is a series of four one-hour OVAs, the first of which was released on DVD/BluRay AND debuted in theaters about a week ago. The pitch is that it’s a prequel about how the Section 9 team got together, so you don’t really need to know anything about the previous movies & series in the franchise.

The good news is that it’s very good indeed. The plot for this opening chapter may be a bit too convoluted for its own good, and it certainly deserves a rewatch to make sure all the pieces fall together, but then the same could be said about many SAC episodes. And it’s certainly got a clever twist that puts everything under a new light… and makes the Major look even more awesome in retrospect. It’s also great-looking, with impressively-animated action sequences that contribute a lot to conveying the stakes.

In many respects this is a fanservice project (“so this is how the Major met Aramaki…”), but it’s well done enough not to feel too contrived. (And it refrains from having the whole of the team coincidentally investigating the same initial event.)

I should probably mention that all the roles have been recast with different voice-actors. It doesn’t jar too much ; sure, Maaya Sakamoto is easily recognizable, but she recaptures a lot of Atsuko Tanaka’s original performance (and there’s precedent for her to play a younger Major anyway). Also, Miyuki Sawashiro seems to have a lot of fun playing a Tachikoma Logicoma, which is delightful.

The next episode is due in November ; it’s going to be a long wait…

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013.

I give up : I can’t muster the will of giving Gifuu Doudou!!: Kanetsugu to Keiji (“Dazzling Sengoku Period Story: Kanetsugu & Keiji”) a full review. It’s going to be hard to beat as the most mind-numbingly dull show of the season. It may be a cultural thing, but those “legendary” men spending their time monologuing in poetry about the beauty of the world, and patting each other in the back on how awesome they are, just bore me to tears. And this ain’t helped by the retro-ish artstyle that makes all those 6-feet-tall forces of nature look the same to me.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 2.
A few words on Yami Shibai first : it’s a series of horror shorts with peculiar collage-like artstyle… and it doesn’t really work for me. Maybe because the first tale is so deliberately obtuse. (I think I get what the twist is supposed to be, but would it have killed the creators to spell it out ?) It’s not like it’s doing anything particularly original, anyway. But nice artstyle, still.

via [In which I review] New anime, Summer 2013 – Page 11.

Robotics;Notes

(22 episodes)

What’s it about ?

A high school club dedicated to building a giant robot, in a near future where the tech just about allows that sort of thing.

Characters

Akiho, the club’s leader. Her sister founded it a few years ago, and there was much progress at the time ; since then, it’s kinda floundered, and there’s only two members left (one of which never does anything). Still, she’s very enthusiastic about it.

Kaito, her kinda-boyfriend (I think), who spends a lot of his time playing videogames (so well that he’s been flagged as a possible cheater) and can’t be bothered helping much. He’s vaguely supportive and that’s it.

The vice-principal isn’t too keen on this pipe-dream-club, and is sneaky enough to promise them more budget if they knuckle down do a little something for a robot show. Which is set in a week. Oh, dear.

If the paratext and the brief flash-forward are any indication, the club is soon going to fill out with many more members.

Production Values

Perfectly alright ; the way the tech is portrayed makes the club’s goal ambitious but just within the range of plausible.

I also love Kaito’s augmented-reality phone app, a gimmick which would never look right in real life but is a lot of fun in animation.

What did I think of it ?

Re-adjust your expectations : yes, this comes from the same visual novel studio as Steins;Gate ; no, this doesn’t have the same blurry grit and paranoia-inducing atmosphere at all. This is much closer to something like, say, last season’s Tari Tari : a “save our club” story with a geek-friendly theme.

On this level, it’s perfectly enjoyable, and I’m always up for a series that looks like it’s going to deal with the practical aspects of building and operating a giant robot.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 6.

PSYCHO-PASS

(22 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Minority Report, the Anime.

Characters

Tsunemori, the newbie cop fresh from the police academy, here to be heavily traumatized by the harsh reality in the trenches. At this stage she’s obviously mostly a device to explain how the setting works, although the plot is sadistic enough to put a new spin on this well-worn police drama cliché.

Masaoka, the grizzled old veteran who explains everything to the n00b. The twist is that he’s a “potential criminal” (or so the omnipresent computer system has decided), and thus part of a group of “hounds” on a short leash who help track down the currently-at-large other potential criminals. So it’s the newbie who’s in charge of him, and can pull the trigger on him at any moment. (The special-gun-that-only-works-on-potential-criminals fortunately has a “stun” setting, although all safeties are off if the target gets too unbalanced.)

Kougami, the other hound she’s in charge of, looks like male lead potential (complete with an albino archrival !), although he mostly stays in the background this episode.

Ginoza, her senior partner, supervises his own pair of hounds (the hard woman and the joker), and has no time to babysit her. And he’s slightly disappointed she’s showing some humanity and doubts about the fairness of the system.

The case of the week demonstrates the dystopian quality of the setting with the subtlety of an anvil. The perp is just a guy who failed a random street psych scan, is now hunted down for being a potential criminal, and decided that he’s going down he might has well commit a vile crime while he’s at it. And let’s not even get into his victim’s case, who gets so traumatized that she’s now failing psych scans too…

Of course, one can play devil’s advocate for the system and say that this dude was so unbalanced already that he would have done something horrible at some point anyway, and that our protagonists’ first response is always to bring their targets down non-lethally if they can so that therapy can be done properly. Still, that’s assuming the system actually works and the computers are trustworthy. Has this ever happened in this type of story ?

Production Values

Very good. While not as gorgeous as K, this clearly has a high budget, and maintains perfect clarity despite the heavy grit filter. Nice soundtrack, too.

There’s clearly a heavy Ghost in the Shell influence at play here, from some of the directing and aesthetics to the blatantly gratuitous camo-suit scene in the beginning.

Do be warned that Gen Urobuchi is involved in writing this series, with all the deliberate cruelty and gore this entails.

What did I think of it ?

Hum. This episode is so busy with making its premise crystal clear that it becomes a bit clunky. There are even jokes acknowledging how exposition-heavy it is !

Still, there’s nothing wrong with the premise… wait, no, of course the premise is very wrong. But it’s a decent starting point, and I trust Gen Urobuchi to do more interesting things with it in the next 21 episodes. I’m giving it at least a few more episodes to find its feet.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012 – Page 6.

From the New World (Shinsekai Yori)

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the future, everyone gets telekinetic superpowers at puberty ! The consequences were so dire that the adults have set up a massive conspiracy (disguised as coming-of-age rituals and education) so that part of those powers get sealed off, and the most unstable kids get “disappeared”.

Characters

Saki, our protagonist. Her powers were late to bloom, so she joined the school-for-powered-kids after all her friends (a handy way to get some exposition out on her behalf). Not much in the way of a personality yet, aside from “somewhat scared”. (Which is a perfectly reasonable reaction in her position.)

Similarly, her friends fall into familiar categories (the quiet top student, the asshole loudmouth, the innocent guy, etc.) and don’t really stand out as characters yet. But then, this is an exposition-heavy first episode, and there’s 24 more for them to develop.

Saki’s parents aren’t really in a position to prevent the “disappearance” of their own daughter (the committee which oversees this is apparently quite autonomous). It really doesn’t help that Saki once overheard them talking about it.

Production Values

Quite good ; for some reason this is set in the countryside (did civilization take that much of a hit ?), and we are treated to some decent scenery porn on and off. The character designs are very generic but serviceable.

The direction is very good at creating a very toxic and paranoid atmosphere. It’s a bit rough around the edges, with sudden flashbacks often coming out of nowhere, but it helps building an oppressive mood. Especially effective is the opening scene depicting the emergence of superpowers in all its horror.

Overall Impression

This is quite promising. The setup isn’t particularly innovative, but it’s presented in such a way that it’s very creepy indeed. While most of the episode is centered about inoffensive-looking rituals, classes and slice-of-life scenes, the paranoia is slowly ramping up over the course of it.

The downside is that none of the kids really have any depth yet. Heck, Saki’s parent display more character and pathos in three minutes than the kids in the whole rest of the episode.

Still, that can be resolved later on, and at least this episode set the stage properly. I’m curious to see where it goes.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2012.

Gankutsuou – The Count of Monte Cristo

(24 episodes, 2004-2005)

My previous exposure

I first heard of this one through the president of my college anime club, who was a big fan of the artstyle. I think he even showed us the first episode. I never got around to actually watching the full thing it for ages, though, as I waited until I thought I’d be “ready”.

I’ve obviously heard of the basic plot through cultural osmosis, but I’ve never actually read the original doorstopper of a novel (or watched any of the numerous movie/TV adaptations). So I was mostly fresh on the actual plot twists the series had in reserve for me.

What’s it about ?

It’s the future, but conveniently society is basically the same as early-19th-century France (well, kinda, I’ll come back to it further down). Albert de Morcerf is the young naive heir of an up-and-coming politician, engaged to the daughter of a rich banker, and promised to a bright future… until he meets the eccentric Count of Monte-Cristo on the Moon. Little does he know that his newfound friend is actually out for a (very convoluted) revenge against the three men who wrong him 20 years ago… including Albert’s father.

Let’s be honest, the SF setting is just a parlour game, as one will try and guess how each element is transposed from the original context. But it’s also an excuse for the visuals to go marvellously insane. A duel will become a battle between giant armoured mecha… because why not, after all ? The show revels in its artificiality, using psychedelic images to make its story even more grandiose and baroque, as best exemplified by the use of unmoving elaborate textures to depict people’s clothes and hair. It will either burn your eyes or make you fawn over how pretty it is.

What did I think of it ?

I loved it, as you probably can tell by now. Not only is it gorgeous, but it never sacrifices the clarity of its storytelling. This is a very well-structured adaptation, with my only little qualm being that the Count’s plots take ages to actually go anywhere. But when they finally come to fruition, it makes all the build-up worth it.

It is interesting how little this adaptation cares about the Count’s past life as Edmond Dantès. He barely gets ten minutes of flashbacks very late on, as the strict minimum necessary to explain why he became the implacable vengeance machine known as the Count of Monte-Cristo. (Not the how, though, the series doesn’t care about that at all.) The Count himself is an antagonist throughout, with only token displays of hesitation while he tramples over the lives of innocents to get at his targets.

The focus here is clearly on Albert, which is a bit tiring at times given how much he’s a naive spoiled brat who takes a lot of time to distrust the dude who looks like a vampire. (Or heck, even be aware of how much many of the adults around him are scumbags.) But then, this is not a series for subtlety, and the core goal here is to display how the Count’s revenge wreaks havoc on innocents’ livelihood. Albert, as innocence personified, is the perfect incarnation of collateral damage. The storytelling choice of making the Count’s motives distant (and unrevealed until nearly the very end of the show) only adds to the monstrosity of his actions. Yes, those three assholes probably deserved punishment (not only for what they did to him, but also for their various other misdeeds later on), but the Count’s sweeping retaliatory action was always bound to provoke more future strife in an endless cycle of vengeance.

Perfectly illustrating the pointlessness of the Count’s actions, and looking great while doing so, this is a show well worth watching.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 11.

Accel World

(24 episodes)

What’s it about ?

In the future, augmented reality is going to be wicked awesome… Oh, wait, it’s a shounen fighting series.

Characters

Haru, our protagonist. Nothing says “punchable loser” like being voiced by Yuki Kaji, but the character designer went out of their way to portray him as a very short fat dude who looks utterly out of place among the other characters. He spends most of his middle school life being harassed by bullies and retreating into virtual reality games, until he meets…

Er, well, I really doubt Kuroyukihime (“Black Snow Princess”) is her real name, so let’s call her Black Lotus, her virtual reality screen name. She’s the beautiful idol of the school, although that’s just a front for her actual personality of a complete troll. She goes out of her way to introduce Haru to the underground community of Burst Linkers, which are basically people who use a program to hack the omnipresent augmented-reality/internet/network to get super-speed. This sounds awesome and addictive until you learn you must play a special game to get more doses of it. The big mystery here is obviously what’s Black Lotus’ angle in getting Haru under her wing.

Haru has what looks like a successful big brother to feel inferior to, and a clingy childhood friend who’s all set for the mandatory love triangle by the end of episode 2. Hopefully they won’t get too much screen time wasted on them.

Production Values

Wow. The real world sequences and characters aren’t much to speak of, but as soon as the augmented reality kicks in it looks awesome. (The virtual worlds don’t look too bad, either.) I really, really want to live in this future world where you have the internet hardwired into your neck. Sure, the Big-Brother-cameras everywhere feel a bit dystopian, but it feels worth it.

Overall impression

Dull characters, including yet another Yuki-Kaji-voiced loser protagonist ? Check. Already starting to degenerate into a fighting tournament series ? Check. Oh, dear, those aren’t good signs. But on the other hand, it’s a series with a killer concept at its core (and the visuals to back it up), and that may be enough for me to keep watching it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 3.

Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyoudai)

(?? episodes – some sources say 48+)

What’s it about ?

In 2006, two young brothers vowed to become astronauts after seeing an UFO. Flash-forward to 2025…

(Adapted from an award-winning manga.)

Characters

Hibito, the younger brother (29). He did become an astronaut, and is part of an international effort to set up a viable colony on the Moon (as a tryout before they go to Mars). He’s the successful one, then, and thus a bit boring. Fortunately, the series isn’t really about him so far.

Mutta, the older brother (32), is our actual protagonist. He didn’t become an astronaut, instead making a career in designing cars. Which has just collapsed after he headbutted his supervisor for badmouthing Hibito. He’s having a bit of a midlife crisis, to put it mildly, especially as he’s now basically blacklisted from the automobile industry. It’s time for a drastic career change…

We also see their parents, who do let Mutta stay in, but will only let him wallow in self-pity for so long.

Production Values

Perfectly alright. This seems well-documented (NASA is mentioned in the credits) and the near-future feels real enough.

Overall Impression

Hard SF ? The token series with actual adult protagonists ? There’s no way I’ll skip this.

It helps that it’s actually quite good. Sure, the characters aren’t quite well rounded yet, but I’m willing to give it time ; and Hiroaki Hirata nails once again the dude going through mid-life crisis. And it looks like we’re going to see the realistic process of being selected as an astronaut, which was fascinating when Planetes did it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 2.

Ozma

(6 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Leiji Matsumoto does Dune. Well, kinda.

Characters

Maya, a princess in distress on the run from a generic army of bad guys. Whatever this is all about, she’s not telling yet. (Not that she gets much of a chance, what with getting interrupted all the time.)

Sam Coin, our teenage protagonist, who was originally out to fish for some Ozma (basically, giant sandworms) until he stumbled onto Maya’s chase scene ; he takes advantage of the confusion of an Ozma appearance to rescue Maya and bring her back to his home.

Said home is some sort of vaguely pirate-like sand-ship (that can burrow underground if needed). There are scores of minor characters in the crew, with the most noteworthy being Mimei, Sam’s not-girlfriend (who’s obviously terribly jealous around the new chick) and the Captain, a charismatic and cool-looking woman (until you realize she’s just zoned out).

Oh, and the army of bad guys is led by a Cyclops lookalike who’s obviously important, given his distinctive character design. (Not that they actually do much evil yet ; maybe it’s all a misunderstanding ?)

Production Values

Pretty good on the action side, although the CG elements are a bit too obvious to my liking.

Leiji Matsumoto’s hand in the designs is unmistakable : there are four noteworthy female characters, and they all have the same face ! (It’s all the more grating because some random male members of the crew get very distinctive designs.)

Overall Impression

I’m still not sure what to make of this. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it (my above very minor quibbles aside), it’s got enough energy to carry itself over… But, well, it’s more than a bit on the generic side.

Still, it’s only 6 episodes, and it’s perfectly inoffensive ; I could see myself sticking with it till its end.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012.