Today, I have something a little different… an old anime I re-watch from time to time: Tokko. Unfortunately like so many older anime, this one is out of print and the privateers are out to take advantage of younger fans that didn’t have the opportunity to buy this when it first was released. It’s a short (13 episode) series that has a sort-of conclusion that isn’t very satisfying, but at least it’s not a cliff-hanger or something. It looks like they were planning to go further and ran out of money or time (due to bad planning). In fact, the story is very smooth and fluid for the first 8-10 episodes and suddenly gets jerky… as if they were planning a 26 episode run and were told 8 episodes in they were only getting 13.

It’s a classic demon fighting anime about a special police unit that combats demons from another dimension. What makes it a little different is the political machinations. There’s more than just the demons and fighters, there are a few other groups moving around in the shadows as well. Unfortunately the anime doesn’t get too deeply into most of them, but their presence and implied impact on the story adds a dimension a simpler plot line would not be able to realize.

Still it’s a good series. The setup is pretty good and the characters are pretty interesting. I’ll be honest, it’s not worth what people are asking for it new… but it is worth $20… for sure… which seems to be the used price. If you can get it for under $20… and you like some gory demon fight scenes and violence mixed in with a bit of mystery… give it a go!

Today we have an anime that asks the seminal question “Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?“… and the answer is… Wrong? So wrong it’s RIGHT! (DVD)

This is a very fun and mostly light-hearted feel-good series which follows the adventures of Bell Crenel as he goes from weak nobody who can’t even get accepted into an adventuring guild (Familia) to a renowned hero loved and respected by a widening circle of friends and admirers. The good news is it’s only 13 episodes and has a solid story and reaches a satisfying conclusion. The bad news is that the sequel we’re all waiting for stops following Bell’s adventures and switches to another (albeit central) character all together. I’ll wait to see it before saying more, but after this excellent anime, I was hoping for more Bell and friends.

Let’s see… maybe you want some more detail… This is a fantasy anime… everything takes place in a single town dominated by a giant tower and a massive dungeon. The main source of wealth and resources comes from what can be extracted from the dungeon, and so adventurers (alone or in parties) routinely enter the dungeon to kill monsters and bring back whatever they can. Most adventurers join a guild (or Familia) and these Familia specialize in things like making weapons or fighting. They are usually founded by a deity who oversees the members as if they were the god’s children and expend some effort protecting and nurturing them.

Bell is the lone member of Hestia’s Familia (after being rejected by all the other gods). He starts with no experience, training or equipment and through his hard work and determination (and a good bit of luck and an accident of birth) he works his way up to a solid adventurer. Along the way he meets and befriends a number of people, ranging from local restaurant employees and members of other Familia to a “supporter” who becomes his first partner in battle and a famous weapon-smith who becomes his second.

Bell is the main character and is generally likable. He does have an annoying level of naivete which gets exploited painfully in a couple of episodes, but this is central to the story as it also explains why so many characters feel a need to protect him. Hestia has an equally important role effectively as Bell’s patron god and protector. Perhaps most interesting is the way a character we rarely see plays such a major role. In the first episode, Bell is saved by an adventurer of mythic stature and thereafter, he pursues a single goal almost exclusively: to become as good as his new idol. It’s odd for an adult, but fits with Bell’s fourteen year old character well enough. I just mention it because many anime have the protagonist chasing an idol pattern, but few make it such a large focus.

Anyway, this is a very good anime. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in this very likable world full of interesting and fun characters. Give it a look, won’t you?

Why, oh why didn’t Strike the Blood get dubbed?

I love this anime! I’m not sure how many times I’ve re-watched it now, but I’d guess this is the third time in the past year alone. It’s classic harem and maybe that’s why it didn’t get a dub, having so much competition from similar ilk, but honestly. this one stands out above many similar titles for me.

I usually hold out in the hopes that a sub-only release will get an English dub at some point, but in this case I’ve given up hope and just gave in. If they ever do a dub, I’ll happily buy it again for that alone… so, what makes this so great?

The male lead isn’t super-clueless… just regular-level clueless when it comes to the females around him… and he’s not a pervert or jerk… which is saying something in light of a lot of contemporary harem anime. The girls vary quite a bit in personality and appearance and many are fun, competent characters. Most importantly though, this has an interesting setting and story. The show’s mythology is pretty interesting and seems to keep expanding as the show continues. Before you know it, everyone has some back story or development that gives them a reason for being around (other than eye candy). They’re all generally nice characters as well… none is unpleasant. I know that sounds weird too, but there are a lot of characters you can’t wait to see exit the scene because they’re just that annoying.

So is this a mediocre show that’s just not terrible in any way? Because re-reading what I just wrote, that may be the impression you’re getting. I’m not really doing it justice. The truth is really this simple: The story is interesting, the characters are fun, the visuals are good, there is a good mix of action and comedy with just a little drama (not much) and it’s broken up into nice bites. Most episodes are part of a four episode arc. Some are three and even a two episode arc, but there are generally clean breaks between the arcs that let you sit down and watch about 90 minutes at a time… almost like a collection of movies. This makes it east to sit down and watch and get to a good stopping point and then leave and come back the next day for more. Before you know it the 24 episodes in this season will be over and you’ll be wondering if the OVAs and second season will ever get a U.S. release (I sure hope so since there are some mysteries about some of the characters that are not explained here).

Anyway, if you’re willing to live with subtitles and are looking for a fun, easy harem anime where the focus is on action rather than ecchi, give this a shot.

Next… The Slayers: Next (The second season)

So after watching season one I just had to continue on to season two. It’s the continuing adventures of Lina Inverse and her gang, except now Zelgadis and Amelia are effectively part of the core and we have some new people tagging along. They vary from occasionally present for comic relief (Martina) to critical to moving the story along (Xellos). Sylphiel from season one returns for a while as does Zangulus for the final arc.

This season feels a little more purposeful than the first… there being a single overarching arc that stretches from beginning to end. That being said, it feels like there is more filler in here, especially in the middle as they stretch the story to fill all 26 episodes of the season. When you get to the end, you can see how even the filler serves the overall arc, but while you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to figure out why. There’s a lot of questing for the Clair Bible… and a bunch of battles with various monsters along the way. A grand plan gets revealed, and a villain is unmasked, but in the end this is not quite as enjoyable to me as the first season. Still, it’s definitely worth watching and I enjoy re-watching it every once in a while.

Since you get all three seasons for the price of one (because this is so old) it’s a no-brainer! Get the three season pack and watch them all! If you’re a fan of sword and sorcery anime with a heavy dose of comedy… you really can’t go wrong. I’ll probably continue on to season three next… let’s find out next time, shall we?

Oh yeah… The Slayers! (But just season 1 🙂 )

You know you wanna watch this one again. The Slayers is classic anime… and I don’t just mean “old”, I mean CLASSIC. Swords and sorcery comedy adventure… heavy on the comedy, including fourth wall breaks and meta-humor. A cast of crazy characters that only get crazier as they bounce off of each other. In spite of some serious themes and plot lines it never gets too heavy and always ends happy (99% of the time). Don’t get me wrong, characters die… sometimes even good characters, but by and large this is an uplifting feel-good anime that you can count on to brighten your mood.

There are five seasons… I’d really call it four, and the last one(s) came out probably 10 years ago now… and the first three were old then, so the animation’s nothing special. In fact it’s full of the anime cliches… but it’s also so old that it’s ALL hand drawn, even the backgrounds.

So, let’s talk about what makes this show great, the characters! (just the core for now)

Lina Inverse is the star of the show (as she’ll occasionally remind you). She’s a 15 year old sorcery genius and all around brat. She has a short temper, thoughtlessly blows up entire towns, kills bandits to steal from them and is occasionally wanted for various crimes. While all that sounds pretty deplorable, she always seems to mean well and is very endearing as a character.

Next is her partner in crime Gourry Gabriev. He’s a strong, handsome, highly skilled swordsman who’s also dumb as a rock. In fact, the exposition is usually Lina explaining things to Gourry… multiple times. It’s a good thing he’s a good-natured and easy going lunk because the rest of the group (especially Lina) harp on him quite a bit for his dull wit.

Not quite there for every adventure, but somehow around for most is Amelia Seyruun, a child princess of Seyruun who wants to be a “warrior for justice”. Ridiculous poses from high places while spouting grandiose introductions seem to be her hobby. She’s a skilled magic user in her own right (and her skills develop through the series) and she’s very valuable to the team. Unfortunately just like Lina she usually delivers more chaos than justice.

Finally there’s Zelgadis Greywords, a part-human, part-demon, part-golum who sometimes comes along for the ride when his goals mesh with the team, and sometimes opposes some or all of the rest when they clash over his personal quest to recover his humanity. Both a skilled sorcerer and swordsman, he acts as the team’s voice of reason and straight man almost all the time.

Between the four of these highly skilled and accomplished, but also dysfunctional individuals we get the painfully funny adventures of The Slayers. If you have never seen this, the first three seasons are super-cheap AND excellent! What are you waiting for?

Today in anime: Blood-C… oh and The Last Dark… yeah, horror!

WARNING… do NOT watch Blood-C without having The Last Dark ready to start the minute you finish the last episode because the series does NOT have a satisfying ending… in fact it’s down right frustrating. I remember watching this when it first came out and being severely unhappy about the ending… then having to wait a couple of years for the movie which finally concludes the story with a reasonable ending… it’s not a happy one, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the way the series ends!

This is an interesting entry in Production I.G’s Blood franchise, being created with CLAMP, the characters exude their particular aesthetic and there’s a significant role for another famous  CLAMP character which is making me want to re-watch xxxHolic! (I don’t think that’s a spoiler… but sorry if it is).

This is one of those things I binge-watch because once you start it’s hard to stop. It’s as much a mystery as it is horror and things progress through the 12 episodes from nice sweet everyday slice of life with a tiny (and a bit gory) fight in the episode through surreal psychological assault with nothing but brutal mass-murder and raw unabashed evil. This series makes me think a bit about it’s underlying philosophical question, but it does an excellent job of crafting a villain you can really hate, and a heroine you genuinely feel for. The twists near the end are difficult to see coming and even on a re-watch the hints are subtle and you’ll probably forget all the details of the various character machinations.

If you want something powerful and affecting and difficult to forget, long after the credits stop rolling, this is a good candidate for that. It’s hard to recommend for everyone though. While there’s little fan service or sex, the gore is substantial and progresses throughout the series. Dismemberment is always on the menu… as are most of the cast. No one is safe from death, even the main characters. For those wanting something safe and predictable, this is not it. It’s also not an uplifting series. There’s no feel-good ending (even after the final conclusion) and no happily ever after. The survivors just move on… trying to put the past behind them. It’s supernatural horror, with unrealistic developments (the antagonist’s motivations are particularly hard to grasp, literally until his dying breath), and the protagonist becomes equally enigmatic, making the entire thing feel like a long strange journey you didn’t so much enjoy as experience.

You know, now that I think about it, I’m not sure this is really horror… sure it’s gory and filled with violence and bloodshed, but I think it’s defining characteristic is perhaps psychological torture. Maybe in that regard it’s more mystery/thriller than horror? Although there’s nothing thrilling about the mental assault depicted. Maybe it’s mystery/psycho-horror? I’m really not sure… I haven’t seen too many things that push my buttons in quite the same way as this one does. There have been a few… but most of them I don’t revisit nearly as often as this one. There’s something special about it that can bring me back again and again (probably once every 18 months).

Anyway, it’s well priced and truly unique and if you’re in the right mood for it… you’ll never forget it. Give it a try.

This weekend… the classic Princess Resurrection!

If you want it… get it NOW while there’s one copy at list!!!

It’s really too bad this is so expensive now. Looks like it’s out of print and the privateers are exploiting that fact to try to make a buck off of poor unfortunate anime fans. It’s despicable and pathetic… people who can’t do anything but exploit market idiosyncrasies are really the worst! Hopefully it’ll get a re-release from Sentai and these jerks will lose out on the money they’re hoping to squeeze out of some poor fan!

Anyway… if you’re able to borrow a copy from a rental shop or friend… do it… this is a nice little series that’s enjoyable and easy to watch. There’s a little bit of story arc, but not much of one. It’s really a monster-of-the-week series. Most of the episodes you can even watch out of order… except the early ones where they introduce the characters and some of the last which are “continued”.

I called it a “little” series, but it’s actually 26 episodes. Really it’s 24 with two extra (OVA?) episodes tacked on the end. I call it “little” not for the run length, but for the ease with which it “goes down”. The stories are pretty episodic, but not so much so that it feels like they’re repeating the same thing over and over. When I watch, I’m often struck by how quickly an episode goes by, even though it’s standard length (25 min).

The first 6 episodes introduce the main characters Hime, Flandra, Hiro and Sawawa (#1), Riza (#3), Reiri (#5) and Sherwood (#6). Once they’re established, the rest of the stories involve some or all of them to one degree or another. Some of the villains (i.e. Zeppeli) recur but since they’re pretty flat and get little development, it almost makes no difference. As already mentioned, the conclusion (episodes 23-24) are really a “two-parter”. Watch them together and in order.

Other than that… I re-watch this on occasion when I want a break from heavy stuff… it’s not really a harem anime, though it sounds like it from the cast roster… one boy, 5+ girls… but while Hiro is clearly attracted to some of the girls (Hime and Reiri in particular) they really treat him as a little boy (which he is) that they can play with (more or less). This light S & M theme is intentional as made clear from the ending song. Still it’s innocuous and entertaining and it’s clear that while the girls “abuse” Hiro, they do it out of genuine care for him.

So… in short, a very enjoyable series when you want something that you can easily pick up and put down for a brief escape. It’s a shame the out of print status has driven the price up so much. Let’s hope for a re-release or rescue.

This week in anime… Kampfer!

This is an anime from 2011 or there abouts… so another one I’ve had for a long time… and another I like to revisit from time to time. I’m familiar enough with the story that I usually just pick out an episode or two when I’m looking for something fun to pass the time, but this week I re-watched it in its entirety so I could write something about the entire series.

This is an unusual one in that I don’t think it’s particularly well regarded. I think it’s fair to characterize it as a fan-service heavy harem comedy, but it has a few twists that make it a bit unusual. I suspect Sentai didn’t think it’d be very popular, hence the absence of an English vocal track. Still, it was popular enough to get a release of the follow-up OVAs (2 episodes) as well as a Blu-ray re-release of the entire collection. I’ll bet if they had done an English dub in the first place it would have been quite a bit more successful. It’s probably a good example of the U.S. licensee miss-reading the appeal.

That’s not hard to understand when you consider the show over all… set in high school, it’s about a boy who turns back and forth into a girl throughout each episode and the collection of girls romantically interested in him. It’s complicated by the fact that some of them are after the boy version, one is after the girl version and one seems willing to take whichever one she gets (and in fact goes both ways) although she does express a preference. So there’s a straight harem element confounded with a yuri element. There’s also a heavy “magical girl” element, complete with mascots and transformation scenes… but the mascots are full-on comic relief and no one takes them seriously… not even their respective “magical girls” who are atypical since they really have no discernible mission or guiding principles. Let’s put it this way, they’re certainly not “warriors for justice” or anything like that. In fact, the show makes quite a point of having the female fighters effectively have no clue what they’re supposed to do or why, and a good bit of time is spent with them trying to figure out why they exist at all.

There’s sort of a villain, but it’s pretty ambiguous. Really the show may be more “slice-of-life” than anything else, although there are fight scenes in almost every episode, it’s not really a fighting show. As you can tell, I have a pretty hard time pinning the show down to a simple one-sentence description that tells you all you need to know, and that’s probably it’s greatest weakness… If you can’t put it in a box that a sub-set of fans “know” they’ll like… you can’t guarantee a certain level of success.

Anyway, it’s still a great show to me… I’m watching for the comedy. To me, all of the other elements are either irrelevant, or are contributing to the comedy. For example, the magical girl transformation scenes don’t really add anything for me, but they don’t detract either… but the magical girl mascots are often hilarious and the show definitely wouldn’t be the same without them. The same goes for the fan service… most of the time it’s effectively irrelevant, but occasionally it plays into the “guy in girl body” for a joke you just can’t have without that dynamic. In fact, the trans-gender aspect of the main character is the foundation of a lot of the comedy… but not in the ways you may typically expect. It’s not all about “how do I use the restroom” jokes, but about the extreme behavior of the other characters as they interact (i.e. Boy (in girl form) to girl: “Watch my back while I use the restroom.” Girl: “OK, if that’s what you’re into.” Boy: “No, I mean keep a lookout.” Girl: “Oh, don’t scare me like that!”)

And really, while the central character is the boy who keeps transforming into a girl, the cast of girls in his “harem” are the real stars of the show. Each generally fits a stereo type, but they are played very well for all the comic mishaps they’re worth. The dialog is a hoot, especially with the word-play and assorted verbal miss-understandings. That’s why it’s a shame it didn’t get an English dub. I can just imagine the voice cast of Highschool DxD and what they could have done with these roles. I’m sure they would have pushed it over the top and made it even funnier than it already is to an English speaker.

So… this is a great series, but as with most comedies, there are hits and misses, and unfortunately, there are entire episodes that are better and worse. When I re-watch, I tend to go straight to certain ones, and frequently skip others entirely. Since I re-watched it this week in it’s entirety, I’ll comment on each episode. If you haven’t watched this before, I’d encourage you to give it a try in its entirety… But it’s pretty old… either you’ve already seen it or you’ve already decided it wasn’t for you for whatever reason. Still, I’m gonna give you my preference for episodes in case you want to re-watch select ones, or dip your toes in the water without the commitment of the entire thing.

Warning: There is a “mystery” (I’ll call it that, but it’s not terribly well hidden) that plays out over the course of the series and if you skip episodes you’ll miss some of the clues as they are revealed. A good reason to give the whole thing a try… but if if comes down to all or some or none, I’d suggest you try some rather than none. Just watch in order since the story’s progressive.

Episodes 1 & 2: Essential and very good. It establishes the premise and the relationship between the male (sometimes) lead and the three main girls vying for his attention. Akane’s personality swings are fun and funny. She’s presented as two characters because while Natsuru’s transformation is entirely physical (from male to female), Akane’s is entirely mental. She looks effectively identical, but behaves like a completely different person. Shizuku establishes herself solidly as well… it’s Kaede that doesn’t really get much fleshing out here and really starts off as a straw man more than a real character.

Episodes 3 & 4: Skip. All you miss here is the setup to have Natsuru in the girl’s section (segregated) of the high school, Kaede’s growing interest in Natsuru, and an obligatory lingerie shopping and karaoke trip. It moves the story forward, but isn’t terribly rewarding.

Episodes 5 & 6: Watch. The obligatory school cultural festival sets up some pretty funny stuff… Natsuru and Akane are put through a fan service fiesta by their own female classmates to ostensibly prepare for the school’s beauty pageant, but in fact, it’s to finance the student government. Then the actual beauty pageant goes sideways in a way reminiscent of the fantastic theater scene from Fairy Tail (one of my favorites). Then there’s a ‘”maid-like” maid cafe’ scene on the second day of the festival in which Natsuru is again exploited by her classmates… and finally we get the introduction of a new kampfer… which is hilarious.

Episode 7: Skip. A sleep-over situation that reveals a little about the overall plot and introduces a mysterious new enemy (which is a motivation in future episodes), but kinda forgettable.

Episode 8: Maybe. The Shizuku and Natsuru date episode gives more time with Shizuku which helps her out a bit (as a character), but it’s generally just an average episode… the best part is how Shizuku keeps telling Natsuru one thing, but he keeps hearing another… building the misunderstanding up to an amusing conclusion with the other girls.

Episodes 9-11: Watch (probably). This is really the conclusion of the story, where the “villain” is revealed and lots of the mystery is resolved (to a degree). Most of it takes place at an amusement park, we get a fight between the new enemies and the gang, There is one scene in the hotel (before the fireworks) that’s priceless, and a few other good ones, but this is really less about the comedy and more about the drama (yes, they threw that in as well). It’s worth a watch, but mainly for the conclusion.

Episode 12: Skip. This is really like an OVA tacked on to the end of the regular season… the story was really wrapped up in 11. Some body swapping shenanigans and a Christmas theme aren’t enough to save this from being classic filler.

Episode 13: Watch if you watched 9-11. The OVA (with OVA levels of fan service) picks up right after the last real episode (11) and continues the conflict played out there.

Episode 14: Maybe. Again OVA levels of fan service but we’re back to the comedy shenanigans with a group date at a bunny cafe where Natsuru is working to earn money for a new bra. Some funny stuff… but this is more on the filler side than anything.