Weekend Anime Briefing II

Last week I finished the rough draft of my (second) screenplay, so I treated myself to a whole weekend of anime watching. I wasn't a complete shut-in, though, as I went to the Josh Ritter concert on Friday and Lauren's friend's birthday party on Saturday. I also finished making pins with Stella. I made about 95 pins (1 inch buttons) that promote jerksquad and feature anime characters. I intend to give the pins away at anime conventions, bringing joy to the hearts of all who receive them.

Here's a briefing on the anime I watched this weekend, listed, once again, from Most Worthwhile, to Not Worthy of My Time. I've linked the titles to the database of the Anime News Network Encyclopedia, a pretty damn good database (I also highly recommend the site as a news source).

Rose of Versailles. This is an older series from 1979/1980 that totally rocked my meerkats!!! Basically, Revolutionary Girl Utena is a giant rip-off of this series, which is a million times better. The character design is very much in the tradition of Battleship Yamato. Set 20 years before the French Revolution, Rose of Versailles is the story of Oscar, the youngest daughter of a French nobleman. Tired of having only female offspring, Oscar's father has raised her as a boy, hoping that she will become a high-ranking military official, in the family tradition. However, it's no real secret to anyone that Oscar is actually a girl. Everyone in town calls her a "she" except her father. Oscar is a bad-ass at fencing and one of the most beautiful girls around. She wears boys clothes all the time, including a totally hot uniform. Need I say more? This series is great and I recommend it to everyone. For an older series, it's quite fast-paced.

Get Backers. In my original Weekend Anime Briefing I gave a thumbs-down to Get Backers. However, I'd like to retract my original comment now that I've seen the first two episodes. This is actually a really decent show that Adan would totally love. Reasons that Adan will love this show: 1) High Yakuza presence (100% in the two episodes I've seen). 2) Trigun-esque mix of comedy and drama, and 3) Protagonists with super-powers. Initially there are two Get Backers, and each has one super-power; one can emit electricity from his body like an electric eel, and the other has the "evil eye". This means that by making eye contact with someone he can cause them to hallucinate for one minute - in effect the bad guy dreams that the cops have arrived and acts accordingly. Auug!! Bad-ass!

Magical Angel Creamy Mami. Don't let the "Creamy" in the title fool you, this is a children's show from the early '80's. The "Creamy" is the crepe stand that Mami's parents work at. This show is, in fact, the original Fancy La La (a series that sucks). Mami (a ten-year-old) is given 1 year's worth of magical powers by some friendly aliens. The magic power is that she can transform herself into a teenager who happens to become famous. She also gets two magical/alien talking kittens. Anyway, I'd advise Rick not to watch this. There's a lot of non-sexual panty-flashing in the first episode.

Piano (or Piano Lesson). When I woke up on Sunday, I'm not going to lie to you, I was hung over. I never used to get hung over, but I guess losing 35 pounds really lower one's tolerance. Anyway, Piano was just about the right speed for a hang over. There wasn't much conflict, and the graphics aren't all edgy. There are no flashing lights or loud noises in Piano. In fact, as far as I can tell, the series isn't about much. There's this Junior High girl who's taking Piano lessons. Her mom and her piano teacher are kind of mean to her, but not to the point of an actual conflict that might steer the plot in some specific direction. The girl forgets her sheet music and loses her umbrella. That's pretty much the entire episode. It wasn't bad, really, but it's quite slow. The only real down-side is that the protagonist has a hideous hairstyle that only looks OK in profile.

Sister Princess was one of the worst damn shows I've ever seen. Like Tenchi Muyo, this is in the "harem" genre of anime where there's a guy who meets a bunch of (sometimes magical) girls who are hot for him, and he refuses to date any of them. The twist in Sister Princess is that nobody wants to date anybody. The protagonist is a young man, who, after failing his exams, goes to study on a desert island to study. It turns out that the island is inhabited by 13 girls who claim to be sisters (despite a distinct lack of parents), and these girls claim that the protagonist is their older brother. It's all non-stop doting and vying for attention from there on out. He does some chores for them. That's about he extent of it. I can't see where anyone in their right mind would like this show. It's not quite as bad as Trouble Chocolate or I Wanna Be an Angel, but even B-grade Air Master is better than this crap.

And that's it. That was my weekend. N. and I also watched more of the totally awesome Hikaru No Go, which I cannot stress enough, is so totally awesome.

Comments Individual Archive Index

June 9, 2003 04:46 PM, N. said:

Hikaru No Go may actually be the best anime series I have ever seen.

June 9, 2003 04:56 PM, ET said:

I watched Magical Angel Creamy Mami obsessively the first time I went to Hong Kong! This is one of those shows where you have the disturbing phenomenon of a little girl able to take on a teenager's form and has a teenage boyfriend! Erk! Of course, that realization came later. At the time, I just loved the show.

June 9, 2003 07:52 PM, Rick said:

Please burn Rose of Versailles to cd for me. And I guess I'll take a few episodes of that creamy show too.

June 10, 2003 12:45 AM, Halifax said:

What's better: being a ten-year old boy whose girlfriend is able to turn into a teenager or being a teenage boy whose teenage girlfriend is actually a ten-year old?

Please explain the appeal of Hikaru no Go. It seemed only fair to me. Also, not enough go in it.

Also, should we start playing go? I have a set.

June 10, 2003 11:03 AM, Erin said:

Yes!! Hal you have to teach me how to play Go.

Also, CD's, will-do.

Yesterday, I watched Harlock. Yes!! Pirates! It's not as good as Rose of Versailles.

June 10, 2003 12:42 PM, Rick said:

While I hve no doubt that Rose of Versailles is very good and may be better than some Harlock shows (Harlock Saga, Cosmo Warrior Zero, maybe even Endless Road SSX) there is no way it is better than Arcadia of My Youth, because nothing is better than Arcadia.

Pirates! The Voice of the Free Arcadia! The Stanely Witch! The Ancestral History Machine! Nazi-Harlock! Harlock losing his eye! That weird bird! Awesome!!!!

June 10, 2003 04:13 PM, Maggie said:

How was Josh Ritter, Erin? Was it all that and a bag of chips as Hal says?

June 10, 2003 04:59 PM, Erin said:

Maggie! This is an anime discussion.

Rick: That weird bird was sucky and annoying. Although I approve of pirates having birds, that bird was both annoying and exceptionally ugly.

Also, I could have dealt with Harlock's girlfriend dying a lot sooner than she did (perhaps the first time it seemed like she was going to die, or the second, instead of her 25 set of last words).

Other than that Arcadia was really quite good.

June 10, 2003 11:20 PM, Kerry said:

Sorry Erin, but Science proves Rick right again. Go Nazi-Harlock!

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