Murder Princess review

What a wonderful little gem! OK, the title is a bit dodgy but do not be put off by that.

This comprises of only six half-hour OAV episodes but it very fast paced and there is more depth in the characters and story than many big budget blockbusters out there.

Be warned that it is very addictive though and will probably leave you wanting more!

 

Noein – to your other self

Just finished this series. Overall it is pretty good and worth watching at least once. The storyline is a tad bit complicated, especially if you are not a scientist, but a very interesting one. Unfortunately, it feels like it was written by and for quantum scientists. The storyline could have benefitted from having the concepts reinforced through reptition rather than just thrown in randomly.

The music and opening theme is some of the best I have heard so far. The fight scenes and graphics are amazing as well. Probably worth seeing again at some future point.

Fushigi Yuugi – interesting but annoying

Well, I found the story to be reasonably interesting. But romatic action is not my favourite and this anime series was 90% romance and 10% action. It was very annoyingly predictable and repititous. The thematic music is quite irking as well. I might have enjoyed it more if they had reduced this from 52 episodes to 13 episodes (or even 6 episodes) with more focus on main storyline.

Samurai Champloo – a waste of time

I am aware there are a lot of people raving about how great or funny Samurai Champloo is. The visual and music is pretty good though but I found the story line incoherent and a total bore. As a matter of fact, it is probably worth watching Episode 1, 25 and 26 (total of 26 episodes) to get the best of this series. The rest of the episodes are almost unrelated to the story and some were down-right annoying.

Silver Surfer – a cartoon that respects its audience!

Two of my favourity childhood animated TV series are Dungeons & Dragons and the X-men. They had some resemblance of a plot, good animation, action and most importantly they did not insult the audience with predictable plot, annoying characters and repetitious dialogue. This was one of the reasons I started watching more and more serious anime.

So I was very happy to re-discover a third cartoon that meets these standards and not fall in the anime category – Silver Surfer). I previously watched some random episodes in my childhood and thus was never able to fully appreciated the underlying story line.

Not only is the story continous and the animation excellent, I also like the fact that the Silver Surfer’s thoughts are explicityly expressed as well as the narrative at the beginning of every episode. All in all, it makes it for an captivating viewing.

I was very dissapointed to find out that Marvel decided not to produce the second season due to financial problems despite the successful ratings and the scripts were already written. I hope with the second Fantastic Four movie, there will be some revival in this direction.

Samurai Deeper Kyo – completed

Just finished yet another marathon and here is my verdict. Samurai Deeper Kyo (SDK) consists of 26 episodes, each 20 min long. Given its shorter than other series that I been watching, I think SDK does a pretty decent job of getting a very complicated story line accross.

Still there are incomplete story lines, sudden introduction of characters and names that somehow does not jive. After finishing the series, I googled for spoilers and found a few answers. It seems that the anime represents a short summary of the manga which goes into more details. Still the ending does leave one feel unsatisfied.

Summary, if you are not the type to be obsessed with details and have some spare time for some complicated story line that will keep you guessing, then watch SDK.

Vampire Hunter D

The animation is quite good despite being made in 1985. The plot is very action oriented and reminds me very much of Blade in many aspects.

The story does not explain much in terms of D’s background. For example, what is D’s Left Hand and why is it so powerful ? I hope the sequel will do a bit more of the explanation.

Bleach updated!

Just caught up with all 104 episodes of Bleach in the last week. Quite repetitious and predictable. Basically, the good guys get their asses kicked very badly and then find the resolve at the last minute to overcome the baddies. Oh, and I hate the long flashback and overly long fight scenes. Would recommend more character and plot development.

I have been pondering over the following points. Wonder if anyone has any insights into them.

a) Why “Bleach” ? Besides Ichigo, who may have bleached his har to orange (is that how it works?), I cannot think of any other reference to the Word Bleach.

b) Why do Shinigamis, who are essentially spirits, are unable to walk through tangible material such as walls when they can defy other physical laws such as gravity?

c) Why is there a poor quater (i.e. Rukongai) in the Soul Society? Why is there povery, hunger and greed in a spirit world?

d) Why do Shinigami’s in the real world communicate to Soul Society through cellphones?

e) How did Ichnose get into the Seiterei without one of 4 gate guardian’s approval? And how do Shinigami’s generally more in and out of Seiterei and Rukongai?