Couchbound/Continued #370 - Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Episode 1, "Some people say 'Déjà Vu.' Others, 'SS;DD.'"

I might be suffering some form of entertainment burnout.

There comes a point in time in any rabid couch potato's life, make that several times, when they (namely me) reach a saturation point and begin to feel like they've seen everything a soap or procedural or genre series can offer, that it's all been done before with only minor variations in era, themes, or conceptualization.

Gargantia is kind of like that.

From the very moment I started watching this first episode, I instantly had visions of Martian Successor Nadesico, Vandread, and so many others. Giant robots piloted by teens in space, fighting an alien menace that has a vaguely familiar look but is definitely non-human until, oh no, maybe that's just a misdirect and they're really human after all. Gasp!

I have no idea if that's the case here, as I have no clue to the overall plot of the series, but it would not at all surprise me, based on the space combat shenanigans that take up the first half of this series opener. It just bears all the hallmarks of a generic mech actioner. Extremely dedicated child soldier amping up his heroics but thrust into an unwinnable situation, incomprehensible technobabble jargon thrown out left and right, the sacrifice of a superior for the greater good and a cliffhanger that leads directly into part B.

And, from there, it just gets even more generic. Insert landing in a salvage yard on Earth that is populated by buxom stereotypes, dudes with pompadours, and a cute flying squirrel pet with obvious intelligence. Seriously it's like watching Nadia crossed with Eureka 7. The squirrel even chirps like it's talking (I'm having Samurai Champloo flashbacks here, just without the cool music and style). Oiy.

Still, that said, it's pretty gorgeous, so far. While I'm not a huge fan of the mech design, the human ships and their strange weapons (especially that pinwheel thing) and the vague references we get to their space-faring society are engaging, once you get past the jargon and obvious jingoism. Plus, the one glimpse we get of the floating salvage yard at the end of the episode is pretty tantalizing. I just wish the character designs weren't so clean and Ghibli-riffic.


Honestly, I think I would prefer to have seen a full episode establishing Avalon instead of having its sole mentions be those of propaganda and the like... but I understand that the point of the episode is to establish a fish out of water story on Earth, not go into depth on a place we'll probably never see. I also really like that, even though main character Ledo comes from an obviously fascist society, he cares quite a bit about both his comrades and the potential innocent humans of this strange place he's trapped in. Sure, he takes a girl hostage to put off direct attacks against him, but no one is ever in any real danger as he uses avoidance and intimidation instead of force to get these humans he cannot communicate with to back off, however temporarily.

I think I'm going to give Gargantia a couple of episodes to prove itself, despite my initial reservations concerning its predictability. One of my favorite authors has very blatantly pointed out in his own works that there are no new stories under the sun. The least I can do is see which particular rabbit hole this one will lead me down, especially since it has some decent merits right out of the gate.

Until later, Potatoes~



***

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Season 1 is available on Netflix as of this posting.

Couchbound/Continued #368 - Ore Monogatari/My Love Story, Episode 4, "Through the Fire and Flames!"

I'm going to get this out of the way right now... not all anime is deep. In fact, the grand majority of anime is LCD fluff. Everything from Naruto to GoLion to Fate/stay night is pretty shallow fare. Sure, there might be some feels and pseudo-philosophical ranting at some point, but for the most part, it's all about the widest spread of merchandising appeal.

Ore Monogatari/My Love Story isn't really an exception. Where OM/MLS stands out from the crowd is that it's telling an atypical story using a familiar rubric... or, rather, it's telling the same old anime love story with an atypical lead.

Most romance anime which focus on a boy falling in love usually fall into one of two sub-genres, a harem anime where one less-than-ideal guy (an otaku or loner of some stripe) somehow inexplicably garners the attention of a bevy of beautiful ladies... or a sappy coming of age romance where a seemingly unobtrusive but unique character leads a rose-colored life. OM/MLS is the latter.

A big, brutish, somewhat dim guy with a heart of gold constantly gets crushes on girls who are only interested in his handsome but standoffish friend... until one day he saves a cute girl who goes to a neighboring all girls school from a molester on the train. She falls for him, he can't believe it, cue  a plethora of moe feels.

It should be boring. It should be a one and done affair, but I can't stop watching. There's no complexity, the message is hammy and the delivery is predictable as all get out, but it has just the right amount of schmaltz to reel me in. It's manga was the same way... and I can't help but wondering if I'm biased towards the anime because I enjoyed its print version, because I honestly can't say if there's enough to the anime to justify a recommendation.

Ninety percent of the time, the art is cheap and shoddy. To pad their shots, MADHOUSE makes use of gratuitous pans every chance they get. Instead of being an homage to the framing of the comic panels, most of the time it looks like a budget piece from the 90's. Only a few shots really shine when it comes to dynamic movement, framing, and color... and one of those shots is the climax moment of this episode, where Takeo makes an insane leap from a burning building. Very reminiscent of the buff guy action archetype that he's a send-up to. Additionally, MADHOUSE skimps on detail at key moments while overcompensating on background art at the wrong times. Very distracting.

Still... watching Takeo waffle between falling in love with a cute girl and trying to do what he thinks is the right thing (Takeo encouraging his love interest to go after his friend since he cannot fathom her liking an ogre like him) is oddly endearing. Sure, it's not a series I'm going to return to all that often. It doesn't have the graphical excellence or emotional resonance of top shelf productions like Hyouka or the like, but it also isn't necessarily a guilty pleasure anime either.

In this episode, we get to watch two young (and innocent) lovers be cutesy, suffer backlash from friends, and weather the very real (but so conveniently staged) threat of possible tragedy. It's predictable, it's corny, it's... okay. I'd say stay for the sappiness and put it in the back of your mind never to need visiting again.

Until later, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-three - Samurai Champloo: Episode 15, "Ow, my back!"

Samurai Champloo was an intriguing experiment. I mentioned, way back when I reviewed its pilot, that it was a tremendously good mix of style, music, and action... and its English dub was fairly superior to most other anime. That recommendation still holds most of its water, I think, though it's a little shaky this time around.

I say that because this particular episode, Bogus Booty, has a sing-song intro that doesn't translate well in the English dub. The style that they try and emulate from the original just can't be done with our sentence structure and pronunciation, so it ends up being a somewhat sad and definitely pale imitation. Luckily, it's only the first minute or so of the episode, so its quickly dismissed, but I can see where someone just randomly coming to it might be turned off from the whole thing. Not high odds that it would happen that way as Bogus Booty is the fifteenth episode of the series, but it might happen.

Anyways, once that terrible intro is over, the plot for this stand-alone episode kicks into immediate gear as a lone figure tries to escape his ninja pursuers but ends up captured. He throws a bundle into a pond to save it from the ninja and the scene fades... directly into the series' main characters Jin, Mugen, and Fuu fishing the very next day at that same spot. In a fit of fishing-related frustration, Jin finds the bundle and the three discover its full of gold koban coins, which they take directly to the next town and live it up. Fuu gets fat on vittles and the boys ditch her to visit a brothel, where Mugen wins a game of Jan-Ken-Pon (Rock-Paper-Scissors) and gets to spend the night with the cute Yatsuha, who is more than she seems.

The plot of the episode mostly revolves around a counterfeiting operation that Yatsuha and her compatriots (including the runner from the beginning) have been sniffing out, and she uses Mugen's sex drive to convince him to beat the crap out of the rebels using the brothel as a hideout for their illegal deeds. While it's true that Mugen gets the majority of screen time, with short little asides for Fuu and Jin as chapter bookends, there's little to no character development for anyone. This is just a stand-alone action quickie that can be watched by anyone unfamiliar with the series. It's quick, comedic, and fun... though, perhaps a little too sexist.

I like the quirks of history that can be gleaned from the plotline like the yukaku (pleasure) district that Fuu is prevented from entering, the references to the Sengoku (Warring States) grudges, and koban (gold coin) smithing. Almost every episode of Samurai Champloo has little details like these that are hilarious and interesting, and I just love it.

My one regret, though, is that Yatsuha is a one-off character, especially considering her confession to her subordinate that Mugen is the man she wants to marry. It would've been nice, had the series continued past one season (technically two in Japan as their seasons run in lots of 13 and often continue one right after the other) to have Yatsuha and Fuu competing for Mugen's affections... or just nice to see Yatsuha show up again at all. I found her much more compelling in her fifteen or so minutes of screen time than Fuu had across almost the entire series, but that's just because Fuu isn't all that dynamic a character save for when the series arc chapters focus on her "search for the sunflower samurai" woes.

As always with this series, there's fun action, great music, and excellent animation. Worth the watch if you're any sort of fan of anime, samurai films, or hip hop.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

2!

Day Three Hundred and Forty-two - Chrome Shelled Regios: Episodes 1-4, "I... I have no idea what's going on."

I try and give every anime that shows up on Netflix a chance.

If you've been following Couchbound for a while, you've probably noticed that there are precious few titles of any quality. I've covered a few, but most of them are stinkers and they're pretty much all courtesy of Funimation. I think I could count on my hands the ones that are actually worth it.

Still, you have to give a series and/or movie the benefit of the doubt. There's no such thing as "once burned, twice shy" when it comes to media. One day an author/director/producer is making crap, the next it's genius or vice versa, see Michael Bay for the latter.

Anyways, I think I must sadly report that Chrome Shelled Regios isn't a sterling example of anything. I'm pretty sure it's not the worst title available on the Instant Stream, but it's not that great.

For one thing, I don't think the author (or adapters) know how to tell a compelling story. I could be very wrong, considering that the light novel series that the anime is based of off is a moderate success with over 20 volumes and 4.5 million copies sold. Would that I had those numbers. Still, just looking at the first four episodes of the series, I have absolutely NO idea what is really going on and find nothing all that nifty about the main characters... or the side characters... or the flashback characters.

Yeah... there are a LOT of characters.

Take, for instance, the nominal leads... there's Layton, Nina, and Felli. They're all major archetypes, particularly connected to manga culture. Layton is the wandering hero trying to escape his past through gentleness, Nina is the weak child trying to become a strong (but, ultimately, brittle) adult, and Felli is the silver-haired silent Hime (princess) with no emotional affect. It's a role I've seen dozens of times before and done much better elsewhere: Rei in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nagato Yuki in The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

Then there are the side characters... the over protective brother, the ladies' man rake, the trio of energetic girls (one of whom has a doomed crush on the lead). Bleh. Each and every one of them is an obvious trip down character creation lane (Yay, Central Casting!) and each and every one of them is boring as hell.

Finally, there are the flashback characters... who only start showing up in episode 3 for random bits of poorly voice acted drama/action. That means something, coming from me, just how bad the voice acting is... because it's all in English (while the dystopia scenes are all in Japanese with English subtitles). Really, really BAD English. I can't tell if it's just the way of things, that they'll never cast actual native speakers... or if Japanese audiences just wouldn't believe the sounds coming out of our mouths are true language and prefer to hear the gargling emanations of non-fluent pronunciations.

Speaking of the flashbacks, they're confusing as hell. So far they seem to hint that they're happening in our modern day or perhaps the not too distant future, but certainly not the post-apocalyptic deserts of the main storyline where everyone lives in mobile cities and train to skirmish with competing cities for the dwindling resources of the planet. The flashbacks are all black and white (well, purple and white) and horrible.

There are just too many stories going on at once for you to keep track of. Is it a martial drama about Layton's new platoon and how he fits in as a hidden prodigy? Is it a survival story about humanity defeating genetically mutated fiends? What the heck is going on with Layton's girlfriend from his previous town and why is a perverted sexy-gal archetype so interested in her. For that matter, why is the sexy-gal type forcing a devoted follower to hold her throne in her absence?

WHAT IS GOING ON?

I think I would've dropped the series already if I didn't find the occasional gags from Felli to be amusing. There are moments where the art style of her scenes goes into chibi dimensions and it's moe as hell (if you don't know, google). Still, those little moments of awkward humanity and cuteness aren't enough to pull me in, I think, and I'll probably bow out soon... if not right now.

The series has a very steep climb if it's going to survive in my queue... and very little time to do it in. I might give it one more chance, but if it doesn't get any better, I'm out.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-four - Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Episode 1, "More Slayers than Lodoss."

There are two types of fantasy anime... tongue-in-cheek and high fantasy. Tongue-in-cheek is usually all about comedy and reference humor, usually with comedy duos of the straightman/funnyman variety with titles like Scrapped Princess or The Slayers. High Fantasy also has comedy, but for the most part it's straight up Tolkien-esque adventure like The Record of the Lodoss War. LotLH is definitely of the former variety.

The pilot starts off with a brief prologue sequence about how the world was once ruled by demons and monsters who had the power to destroy the world... and that it was only when more powerful heroes arose that the world was spared and life settled into its current feudal state. Flash forward to this world's present day and a hero king is trying to reform the corruption of the noble class with the help of his talented underlings, among them a blue mage (magic copier) named Ryner and a master swordswoman named Ferris. Together they are traveling the frontiers between kingdoms looking for relics of the ancient heroes.

I have to say, LotLH starts off pretty bland and generic, very much like a poor man's Slayers. Attempts are made to make the leads interesting via personality quirks (Ferris loves a Japanese confection called dango to the point of obsession and Ryner is rumored to be a lecherous perv), but there's nothing in the pilot that is engaging enough to keep me interested. Everything is too clean cut and generic, from the plot to the art to the voice acting, nothing stands out as anything other than "blah."

And this is yet another example of Funimation dumping under-performing series onto Netflix because the quality stuff has already been snapped up by Crunchyroll or hasn't been licensed at all (;_; Hyouka). I honestly don't think I can recommend LotLH based on this single episode and, really, have no desire whatsoever to continue the series to see if it gets any better. There is a lot more content available on the Stream that I'd much rather check out than this. It's not terrible, but it's definitely not thrilling or even mildly interesting... so I'm gonna pass and recommend that you do too. You know, unless you're just dying for something similar to The Slayers but without the same magic.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Eighteen - Yamada's First Time (B Gata H Kei): Episode 7, "Insert Obligatory Swimsuit Episode Here."

Okay, yes, I have to admit... this series is super cheesy, but I stand by my previous assertion that it is Love, Japanese Style and, while it's not exactly the most ground breaking or informative sex comedy out there, it still has this odd sort of charm despite it's reliance on tropes and silly contrivances (like Yamada's rival for "School Queen/Idol,"  the extremely rich girl transfer student, Kanejo, who is desperately in love with her own brother).

This episode is, like all the rest, split into two short plotlines, the first of which revolves around swim class, which gives the girls time to compete and become jealous/morose over body image issues (a good stepping off point for discussion), and the second concerns summer vacation time as Yamada attempts to crash Kosuda's family camping trip (which includes her semi-secret rival, the clumsily cute Miyano).

Both parts are rather light on development, but feature the dichotomy of Yamada's life, as she tries so desperately to be a sex diva (and fails miserably) while unwittingly beginning to fall in love, her concerns for Kosuda's attentions slowly shifting from mercenary and single-minded to complex and a mystery even to her.

I have to say that Yamada's much put upon friend and confidant, Miharu Takeshita, is my favorite character... mostly due to her no-nonsense attitude about life and the sheer amount of fluff and craziness that she has to suffer through (and suffer, she does) by being Yamada's best friend. Seriously, the only other character that comes close is Miyano... and that's just because she's so damn moe, it almost hurts.

That's not to say I don't laugh at Yamada's antics and really do want to see her and Kosuda get together, it's just that her motivations are so puerile and her tsundere attitude towards, Kosuda, the supposed object of her attentions? Let's just say I didn't like that sort of archetype even when I was first introduced to it back in the Evangelion days (really, the only time I've enjoyed it was maybe when it came to The Melancholy of Suzamiya Haruhi).

While I could point to sex comedies that are better out there in the anime universe (Seitokai Yakuindomo comes to mind), Yamada's first time is still one of the strongest titles available on Netflix. I just wish that other production companies would license their titles for the Instant Stream instead of getting the wide range of quality (both good and bad) that we do now courtesy only of Funimation.

I also want to point out that it comes both dubbed and subbed, like most titles on the Instant Stream, which makes me very happy. I realize that many people don't want to read their dialogue, but I'm a purist and prefer the original Japanese language tracks, even though I don't speak the language, myself. Having both means no one is left out, and that's awesome.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Ten - Yamada's First Time (B Gata H Kei): Episode 1, "Love, Japanese Style"

If you were to ask me to watch an animated version of American Pie, I would probably decline. While the premise is cute, the thought of idiot teenagers getting their jones on via awkward gags doesn't really appeal. Additionally, Japanese sex comedies aren't exactly known for their presence of mind when it comes to tact (or being anything other than a thinly veiled smut-fest), as they're generally just loose storylines of horndog guys trying to get with whomever they can. I guess that's why I was surprised when I first checked out Yamada's First Time.

Not only does the series invert the trope of the sex-crazed male horndog, turning that role over to the overly sexed, but criminally naive, Yamada... but the show actually manages to highlight all of the silly, awkward things that teens go through when it comes to discovering their sexuality, while telling an oddly sweet romance at the same time... something that American Pie only does in the last ten minutes of the film.

Of course the main character is Yamada. She's the pinnacle of your typical fashionista model type, at least physically, but suffers from being extremely interested in sex with no actual experience to draw from. This makes her so self-conscious that she actively sabotages the efforts of any guy trying to fulfill her desire for nookie.

That's where the timid Kosuda comes in. After bumping into him at a bookstore and miraculously discovering that they're in the same class, Yamada decides that, since he's a scaredy-cat virgin, he's the perfect person with which to lose her own virginity to as he'd just be happy to be with her and wouldn't notice her own lack of experience. It doesn't help, of course, that she has no idea how to attract/seduce him, so her clumsy attempts more often than not wind up intimidating or scaring him and, at the very end of the episode, frightening even her as she wasn't quite prepared for the, uh, shall we say physical reactions she might have on him.

I decided to watch Yamada's First Time today to wash the taste of last night's Okami-san out of my mouth. While, on the surface, the two use many of the same tools in terms of character archetypes (there's a tsundere female lead with a cowardly male love interest, and several different female characters like the buxom glasses girl and precocious loli), where Okami is just a mishmash of tropes, Yamada's First Time is a surprisingly decent "Step-Up Love Story" that could almost be used in health classes to show what kids discovering their hormones should NOT do in the pursuit of their first relationships... and does so in a way relateable to both adults and teens.

And it's funny.

There, I said it... watching Yamada try and reach her goal of having 100 Sex Friends by the time she graduates high school (spoiler: she never gets past #1, by the way), but always be struck down by her own nerves or hubris, is pretty darn entertaining.

It's also a commendable series because, while it is a bit ecchi (I mean, c'mon, it deals with high schoolers trying to hook up), it's never about titillation. Unlike most ecchi titles, which are usually just generic stories with tits and ass meant to boost ratings (see my reviews of High School of the Dead), Yamada's First Time is an exercise in discussing, but never really showing. Any nudity is avoided by camera angles or sight gags and everything else sex related is pantomimed or symbolic.

It's not porn... it's... well... a health class filmreel for the modern era... that just happens to have a cute and funny storyline. To be honest, it's really rather amazing how the author of the manga that this series is based on has managed to present such a compelling argument for monogamy in the guise of a woman trying to become a sex-fiend.

I wouldn't recommend this anime for anyone who hasn't reached puberty, but it's pretty safe (and informative) for teens and funny for adults.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Nine - Okami-san and Her Seven Companions, "Trope, tropes, tropes."

It's a sad fact that the grand majority of anime out there aren't going to make any waves in terms of quality or storyline or style.

Like American television, there are plenty of shows that are made year after year purely to see if they'll stick. Sure, the market strategy for anime is year round and all about saturation, trying to find that magic title that will outsell all the rest, and not limited to regular fall and spring sweeps scheduling, but even as I type this I realize that this paradigm is changing thanks to Netflix.

Set in a stereotypical Japanese high school, with its typical assortment of quirky characters that follow established character tropes, Okami-san follows the antics of a school club of do-gooders who handle requests from the student body and fulfill them in unusual ways. It's cast is populated by every moe fetish under the sun, from the serious megane (glasses) girl to the buxom and ditsy maid to the precocious loli, every recurring character has its own archetype to inhabit simply for its own sake.

Okami-san, herself is your basic tomboy heroine who solves problems with her fists and has the typically Japanese complex over her lack of a chest. She is being love-love-stalked by the boy in class whom everyone's eyes pass over, which allows him to disappear into the background, a handy trait for a stalker. Confronting her with his feelings, stalker-boy only manages to piss Okami off and the majority of the first episode revolves around the club trying to get this stalker, Ryoshi, to get a backbone and show her his skills.

If you couldn't tell from my opening line, I'm not a fan of Okami-san. It's an exercise in stereotyping of generic, soulless character tropes whose only purpose seems to be to exemplify said tropes. The only saving grace of the series is the fourth-wall breaking narrator, whom the characters seem to be able to hear occasionally, who lampshades the grand majority of the weaknesses of the characters individually and the series overall.

The jokes are obscure enough that you'd need to be well versed in anime history and jargon, but the series is too vapid and superficial to be worth a true fan's time. I'd almost consider it a parody, thanks to its self-awareness, but the lack of quality in other departments, namely art and key animation, makes the title feel like its a filler series meant to be made quick and sloppy while the studio works on something else for another season. It's all very slapdash and weak.

There are definitely better titles to be had on Netflix, but the problem is we're just not getting a lot of good stuff on the Instant Stream. Maybe its because the animation studios made better deals with Crunchyroll or they just don't like the market, but I can list of dozens of titles from recent years that would do well on Netflix that just aren't coming. Sure, there are one or two decent ones, but the grand majority that I've seen lately are crap.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-one - Trigun: Badlands Rumble, "Guns a'blazing, space-western comedy, Anime mediocrity."

Okay, so I lied... it wasn't Hellraiser or Zack & Miri that I went to after Prohibition... it was the familiar and the safe.

It was Anime.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble is the companion movie to the late 90's (early 2000's, in America) Scifi Anime of the same name... well, the Trigun part, anyway. Set in the distant future, where humanity scrapes a living on a desert planet with extremely limited resources, both the series and the movie embody themes of humanity at its worst with rare peeks of it trying to be at its best... all amidst wacky, highly improbable gunplay.

The main character of Trigun is the demigod Vash the Stampede who is a neigh immortal, pacifist gunslinger who has lived for hundreds of years and become a legend on his planet for all the wrong reasons. Yes, that whole "pacifist gunslinger" bit sounds weird, but his goal in life is to mediate and limit death and carnage on this desert world so that humanity may survive. Unfortunately, making it so everyone survives often requires a lot of destruction and mayhem, for which his is always blamed.

In Badlands Rumble, his personal story arc is sidelined in favor of the one-off villain, Gasback, and the beautiful woman tracking him for personal revenge, Amelia. Gasback is basically a rehash of Brilliant Dynamite Neon (no, I'm not making that up) from the series, a crook who savors the thrill of the heist, not its actual monetary gain. Amelia is a very obvious spurned daughter, whose "mysterious past" is easy to figure out almost right from the start. Her inclusion as a possible romantic interest for Vash isn't unusual as he often spent every waking moment swooning after beautiful women in the series, but because of that history, we know he isn't serious.

And that's kind of the problem with the movie. It has absolutely no bearing on the overall arc of the series or its characters. In order to overcome that, it needed to be tremendously worthy in terms of action and drama (like its cousin-film Cowboy Bebop:Knockin' on Heaven's Door). Sadly, I don't think it did.

All of the familiar players are there: Vash, Wolfwood, Millie and Meryl... but they're just in demo-mode, never really expressing anything interesting emotionally/philosophically and just barely being interesting action-wise. Heck, Millie and Meryl disappear for pretty much the entire third act and Wolfwood? As much as I love the character, his forced "mourning" period during the beginning of that act rings false because we all know... just know that it's impossible for Vash to be dead. It's one of those silly false trails that, even if you didn't know the fate of everyone in the series ahead of time, is just too convenient a plot twist to be true.

That's not to say it's all bad.

As an overly large, higher production quality episode of Trigun, it's alright. It has your basic self-contained story elements that quite a few of the early series episodes did and handles itself decently when it comes to its occasional gunplay... but it drops its character quirks like they never existed for more than the single joke they support and, on the whole, the movie doesn't live up to the better examples that exists out there in the nether (namely the Cowboy Bebop movie and Ghost in the Shell:SAC). I do like the out there character designs, but only just so... it's all mediocre style and trite frontier existentialism.

If you're a fan of the series, it's okay... but for first-timers and the general Netflix-going populace, I'd say stay away.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Forty-two - Ghost Hunt: Episode 1, "It's like Ghost Hunters/Adventurers... but as an Anime."

It's really hard to judge Ghost Hunt on this episode alone, I think... but I'm not sure if I want to continue the series just based on the tease of the Supernatural alone.

The problem is, there are absolutely NO ghosts in the opener.

That's kind of a dealbreaker if your show is a fictional fantasy piece about ghosthunters, I think.

Sure, there are dimly lit, creepy rooms complete with creaky floorboards and ceiling joists, and several moments where characters claim to be sensing spirits (or the opposite), but there are no actual events outside of the imaginations of the trio of young high schoolers telling ghost stories during the intro.

If the cover art and series description have any merit, it looks like the plot will revolve around the skeptical, but easily spooked Mai and the aloof Naru, who is manager of the Shibuya Psychic Research Team. They definitely look the part of your typical Seinen teen adventure, a bishy boy and moe girl.

Naru is called to Mai's school in this episode to investigate a condemned schoolhouse that is supposedly haunted. The two team up after Mai causes an accident that sidelines Naru's assistant, but find out that the school's principal has hired not one or two, but five separate exorcists/spiritual types to try and cleanse the schoolhouse of whatever curse might be hovering over it. Needless to say, not all of the paranormal investigators are thrilled to have been quintuply booked as the second half of the episode mostly consists of their bickering.

I like the concept of Ghost Hunt, even if it's lacking in actual ghosts, real or Scooby Doo-fake. I have friends and family on both sides of the fence when it comes to the IRL Ghost Hunters/Adventurers television phenom... enough that no matter who I'm watching them with, I get entertained (either by cynicism or true belief). Seeing the formula taken on in Anime with Japanese folklore constructs and practitioners tickles me on many levels, increasing my desire to see it through.

It's just, with the lack of spirits, the only promise in the episode is in the interpersonal drama that is invented by the conflicting personalities. I want to say that could be enough, but the spooky girl is more than a bit annoying in her occult zealotry... and we're barely introduced to the other exorcists and mediums before the episode is over. Too much in the way of characters and not enough development or action.

Production value-wise, Ghost Hunt is very high quality when it comes to background art and color design. In that it is a lot like Moonphase, which we took a look at here on Couchbound a little over a week ago. While it's true that the character animation sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, particularly during punchlines when the people become more stylized and simplified, it only distracts a little bit... though, I have to admit, it's not as smooth as it should be. If you want better examples of fantasy abstraction, look to series like Hyouka and xxxHolic.

Overall, I'd judge the first episode (I call it that as it's not quite a pilot) to be borderline. It has quite a number of positive points in its favor (design, mood, etc.), but only having squeeking wood panels and off-screen door pranks as its supernatural gimmicks is almost overwhelmingly annoying.

I definitely don't feel as guilty about watching Ghost Hunt as I do Moonphase (with all its pervy lolicon sensibilities), but it better improve next episode or I think I'll drop it. At least Moonphase establishes its concepts early and runs with them.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-two - Moon Phase: Episode 1, "A little creepy, but maaaaan... those are some gorgeous backgrounds!"

If there's one thing about Japan, they're a little more... shall we say, liberal, about exploring their paraphillias than we are. One such fetish is the Gothic Lolita style where girls dress up like Victorian Dolls complete with frills, lace, and minimized secondary sexual characteristics (see: flat-chested).

It's safe to say that Moon Phase is very firmly rooted in its Goth Loli persuasions... along with several other archetypal otaku fantasies like the cute, chibi-vampire and imouto/onii-san (little sister/big brother) complex. It's wacky and a bit creepy, but sells... a lot.

Playing the role of the Goth Loli Vampire Queen is Hazuki, who has apparently been mystically imprisoned in a massive European castle for hundreds of years, yearning for an escape... which she seems to be going to find in the form of Kouhei, a Japanese ghost photographer who is visiting the castle on assignment from an occult magazine. He finds her irresistibly attractive and she...? Well, it's sort of hard to tell what Hazuki feels as she's supposed to be the mysterious outsider, an impossibly old soul trapped in a child's body.

The majority of the episode is just the initial setup to get the two of them in the same room together. Kouhei takes photos of the castle from a distance while Hazuki lounges about her gilded prison. There's a gratuitous bath scene (a standard for most anime) as well as plot hammers such as a sneaky exorcist and a magical golem guardian.

What is interesting about the title, despite its pervy, fan-service tendencies, is the massive amount of production value when it comes to the animation, particularly the setting and props. I mean, serious amounts of effort were put into these backgrounds, I am not kidding. They're just gorgeous.

It's such an odd combination of stereotyped ecchi and quality horror/fantasy art that I can't quite decide whether to despise or adore it... and, maybe, that's the point. That, in order to serve as contrast to the obvious perversions of the Goth Loli pairing, tremendous work was put into the sundries to raise the value of the series.

Granted, their character animations could be a bit better, but man... those backgrounds! Yum!

Either way, I feel both extremely uncomfortable and oddly transfixed by the opener... which is, I think, an apt feeling to have when it comes to vampire tales. So often, nowadays, we're given vamps that are nothing more than the Greek Gods reborn... sparkly, lustful Adonises who are nothing more than expressions of the desire for sexual domination, no longer the creatures of horror. While I cannot say that's the case here, as Hazuki is definitely a sex object of a different persuasion, the artifacts and creatures that they have surrounding her are much more suited to the horror of her monster mythology roots... at least, in the pilot episode. Much more Castlevania as opposed to Twilight.

I just wish that they weren't so pervy and blatant about Hazuki, herself.

One good thing about it, though, it's yet another anime title that features both the English and Japanese (with English subs) vocal tracks. Netflix has been getting pretty good about that lately and I'm always very happy to listen to a title in its original language than suffer what could possibly be a bad dub. It's just safer for me, in my opinion, to watch it subtitled.

I can't say that Moon Phase is appropriate for anyone younger than their teens and it definitely has some sketchy fetish action going on, but I also cannot say that I'm not intrigued. Just, remember, Caveat Emptor and don't say I didn't warn you.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-seven - Fairy Tail: Pilot, "SHONEN FIGHTO!"

Much like GIJOE, Transformers, and the like, Japan has it's own staples of kid's anime aimed at the elementary set but finding fans of all ages. Naruto, One Piece, and Fairy Tail are all examples of such. They're light on depth, big on action and fan service, and seem to stretch on into infinity as the adventure never ends.

While I've seen (and grown bored with) both Naruto and One Piece, Fairy Tail was one of the few manga/anime titles that I never even tried. Not that I think I was missing all that much as the pilot doesn't impress, really, but it's a rarity to find a title make it over the Pacific that I haven't seen or read a little of... cause, trust me, I read A LOT of manga.

A LOT.

Anyways, Fairy Tail's opening episode follows a similar rubric as many anime (and that we've seen here on Couchbound before), a one-off intro episode that introduces several of the main characters without really plumbing their depths but definitely establishing their street-cred when it comes to powers and combat skills... as well as providing a small amount of background data on the fantasy world that they inhabit.

The more I think about it, the more Fairy Tail feels like a cross between One Piece and the Dragon Quest series of video games... and I don't just say that because the lead character Natsu seems to be on a quest to find an actual dragon. There's something about the art and character design that really reminds me of Dragon Quest 8. It definitely has a vibe similar to that universe, but with a few over the top characters that are vaguely similar to One Piece.

Being a Shonen Fight-o anime, though, it has quite a few annoying tropes that it studiously follows. There's the annoying talking animal sidekick, the über-powerful hero who initially presents himself as weak, and the easily influenced female lead (Lucy) who, despite seeming competency, quickly falls into a position where she needs to be rescued.

Take THAT, feminism!

Sadly, there's a lot of endemic misogyny in anime, and Fairy Tail is no exception. One of the other side characters (who you don't meet in the episode) is shown off as a bikini centerfold, so kudos to progress there... Lucy tries to ply her feminine wiles on a shopkeeper for a discount (and is angry that her antics only shave off a small percentage)... and, hell, the eventual plot of the episode revolves around slavers kidnapping dozens of buxom women from the town to sell off and, no doubt, ravish... though, it's never really said, just heavily implied by the date rape spell the main villain tries on Lucy.

There's not much to like about Fairy Tail aside from its generic boy's action anime tropes and devices. If you're a fan of shows like The Slayers, you'll probably find something to enjoy here, but it's all so much overpowered fluff to me. The character motivations seem a bit more grounded than the utterly ridiculous plots of One Piece, but not by much.

That said, shows like this are often immensely popular... One Piece being a prime example of extremely wide reaching in terms of its audience and fanbase. I guess I'm just an anime snob, though, as neither One Piece nor Fairy Tail are doing much for me.

At the very least, it's a plus that the series is presented with its original Japanese Dub, even if some of the jokes are lost in the English subtitles' translation (like the fireworks Tamaya shout).

My final verdict is that it's probably fun (and fine) for the older elementary and younger teen set, but don't look for depths to plumb, complex action, or witty dialogue. Fairy Tail is upper tier LCD... but still just LCD.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~