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Sword of the Stranger, at a glance, is kind of a tough sell. The average person who's interested in anime could easily look at its synopsis, and jump to the semi-logical conclusion that it's not worth their time because of how generic it could possibly be. It's one of the reasons - but not one of the biggest reasons - why anime isn't as popular nowadays, especially outside of Japan. But to pass on this movie for this reason would be a big mistake: It's actually quite different from the usual samurai-themed anime.

And that's precisely what stands out about the movie; it's a successful attempt at taking a predictable concept and making it nearly unpredictable through the actions of its characters and diversifying the happenings in the setting. It also has necessities like character development and a well-developed plot to keep anyone who isn't in for the ride for the inevitable samurai battles that ensue over the course of the movie. And for anyone interested in those, it has them too; it has a nice mixture of every element it needs.

Sword of the Stranger takes place during the Sengoku period in Japan (aka the era of the Warring States), and shows us the story of a boy named Kotaro and his dog. For some reason, a mysterious group of men are chasing after him, and they've been tracking his route of escape throughout Japan. Given the state that Japan, its citizens, and its warriors were under at the time, it probably isn't an ideal environment for a boy running around, especially when there's a bounty on his head.


As Kotaro is wandering through a village, some of the soldiers pursuing him manage to catch up because of some innocent and frightened pedestrians who felt they had no choice but to reveal their location; regular people who did it for either money or their life. How lucky for Kotaro that a nameless, mysterious warrior arises from the house they run into, and the man defeats the soldiers with minimal effort.  The guy may be homeless and he takes random jobs for money, but he sure fights well; something which suggests to the viewer that he's more than what the lets on.

And it's the bonding between Kotaro and the nameless warrior that emotionally charges the film. (He's referred to as "Nanashi," which means "nameless" in Japanese.) A good portion of the first half of the film is dedicated to developing the two characters, but throughout that you'll also get a glimpse of the nameless swordsman's past, and the politics occurring around Japan. It's not too much that you won't be able to follow it, but its inherent happenings are something you'll want to pay attention to.


A shame the film could lose a bunch of viewers during its character development time, because they might feel that it gets a little long in the tooth with its penchant for all character development and minimal action. That would be a shame, because the creators of Sword of the Stranger not only wanted to craft a stylish samurai epic, but also a piece of work where you could care deeply for the characters it presents through tragic back-stories. It takes all of the time it needs to, and doesn't take any more time than it needs to.

In fact, the time it takes to tell its entire tale is a blessing in disguise, especially for the story it's aiming for. It actually manages to cover quite a bit within its 101 minute run time. A problem with too many movies these days is that they run way too long without justifying the necessity of that length, as far too many people associate value with length.

With this being a 2007 movie produced in HD, unsurprisingly the animation is beautiful and the picture quality is top notch. These qualities are usually tertiary concerns compared to more important aspects like the story and sound, but just because it's less important doesn't mean it doesn't need to be there. This movie isn't just some brainless samurai flick, so don't expect swordfights every few minutes with minimal justification. They only happen when the need arises, and when they do, they're a sight to behold. You can tell a lot of money was put into this, because it doesn't cut any corners with the animation.


The English dub is pretty acceptable for what it is, with some pretty quality acting from The Ocean Group. The thing is, English dubs tend to be pretty difficult to produce for movies that are well steeped in Japanese history, and it kind of makes the Japanese version feel more authentic. But there's another angle presented here that makes dubbing it even more tricky than usual. Sword of the Stranger presents a story that involves both Japanese and Chinese at war with each other, and each perspective is provided in their respective languages. In a dub that replaces any lines that aren't English in English, that sense of authenticity is lost on the viewer.  Thus, I highly recommend that you watch it in Japanese (featuring Japanese and Chinese) with subtitles.

If you're interested in knowing how someone can take a generic setting and story and make it feel original, Sword of the Stranger is what you've been waiting for. Heck, even if you don't, you should at least check it out. The most appealing aspect of the movie is that it offers something for everyone. You want a good story? It has that. You want stylish and admittedly improbable action sequences? Well, it has plenty of those too (though hopefully you don't find character development too obtrusive). It basically raises the standard for what we should expect from a samurai anime.

Screen captures courtesy of Hundland.org. Because unfortunately I lack the ability to take screen caps from a Blu-Ray disc.

Everything I know about life I learned from Disney movies.

-When you're a princess, you always have your head in the clouds.  That's all you need, for your prince will always come for you, you don't need to lift a finger and go to them.

-As long as such characters aren't evil, everyone always gets along with the secondary characters, and it's all sunshine and happiness.

-Princes are daring, handsome, and will fall for you at first sight.  They've always been bored with other women; all it took was to find the right one.

-Snakes are always evil, no exceptions.

-No protagonist, not even a supporting protagonist, will die.  If a protagonist must die, no protagonist will die if they survive the first half of the movie.

-The main villain in any modern plot will always be rail thin and sinister, with few exceptions.

-And whenever you wish upon a star, your wish will always, always magically come true.

I don't know about you, but I think it's time for a new lesson.  Keep in mind, there are spoilers ahead, so here's the spoiler-free, tl;dr version: I liked this movie a lot, found that it was sufficiently different from past material that Disney has put out, and feel that they're going in the right direction by throwing out the usual formula and shaking things up a lot.  Anyway, spoilers, you have been warned.

You know, Disney was promoting Tiana as the first African American princess, but she spent about half the movie as a frog and not as a person.  It's hard to claim that you've made a main character black, when she's green for a substantial part of the story.  Still, I doubt that the prince could've made the kinds of leaps in character that he did as a person, so it's acceptable.  And you don't have to be black to be African American anyway.

Tiana is not your ordinary Disney princess.  Instead of being born into royalty, like Ariel or Jasmine or Snow White, she's more like Cinderella (and Snow White) in that she's a hard-working girl.  Unlike Cinderella (or Snow White), Tiana has a goal she's working towards, and is very down to earth.  She knows better than to rely solely on magic to get what she wants.  Instead, she relies on her hard earned savings to help her achieve her dreams.  She works two jobs, has been saving all her tips, and has grand dreams that are still realistic enough to come true.  She is pretty overworked, but is so full of energy that it makes me wonder whether or not she's sneaking a Red Bull in between scenes.  For someone who is graceful on her feet and moves around the restaurant with ease, it makes me wonder why she says she can't dance.  Probably just shy.

Right when Tiana is about to achieve her dreams, her African American background bites her in the ass.  It's still early in the movie, so she should've known it wouldn't be quite so easy.  It's actually pretty daring of Disney, after making movies for years and pretending racism didn't exist (which is pretty easy when you tend to draw nothing but white characters and change the subject whenever Song of the South is brought up), to see them openly acknowledging that during the time of the movie's setting, black people were at a disadvantage because of their skin colour.  I suspect that Tiana's father didn't have a choice when it came to serving in the Great War, but we never see enough of him to judge if he did want to serve the country in such a way or not.

Prince Naveen comes to town near the beginning of the movie, and he is definitely not Prince Charming, Prince Phillip, or even Prince Eric.  Naveen has an eye for the ladies and openly flirts with anyone that does not have a Y chromosome.  Even after becoming a frog, he seems to look upon other females with a favourable eye, as he did during one musical number, where he was surrounded by a redhead, brunette and some blondes, and mentioned so in the lyrics.  He's more willing to play around all day than to do any sort of actual work, which is part of what causes him to be drawn in by the villain in the first place and changed into a frog.  This doesn't change his personality at all, since all that seems to be on his mind are kisses, for he is far too happy to take advantage of old fairy tales if it means he gets attention from the ladies.  He might've been a cliche if not for the fact that this is the 49th full length theatrical animated feature from Disney, but only their first to include a prince who only cares that the ladies are breathing and have a steady heartbeat.  If I recall, it's usually characters like Gaston who possess such a character flaw (and even Gaston favoured one lady above the rest).  Modern princes like Simba and Aladdin have only ever had their eyes on one girl.  In creating such a character as Prince Naveen, Disney shows a willingness to throw out their playbook and change the rules.

Depending on the movie, Disney protagonists tend to be very durable.  Mufasa was able to endure a stampede of wildebeest in The Lion King, and he probably would've survived being flung from the cliff as well if not for being trampled to death by the very same herd of wildebeest.  Exactly zero characters died in prison in Robin Hood, even though food was scarcely provided and the cells didn't look too clean.  In fact, no characters died at all during that movie, despite at least one madcap fight scene, and the scene at the end where the villains ran crazily into the burning castle).  And Captain John Smith's musket wound in Pocahontas wasn't even animated (also, he didn't die from it, and the fight scene that was imminent late in the movie was averted).  Likewise, Prince Naveen survives being whacked by two books, and Mama Odie herself has lived 197 years.  She is rough with her snake, who seems not to mind such treatment and endures it well.  Tiana's father does die off screen fighting in the Great War, but his durability was never shown on screen and so it's not known how much effort it took to kill him.  He was also a supporting protagonist, and as the movie 2012 recently indicated, extreme peril will kill exactly one secondary character per scene.  This rule isn't followed in The Princess and the Frog, but Disney does one up every single animated film they've done to date by first alluding to the father's death early on in the movie, and then showing the villain murder one of the main characters late in the movie.  Because of the Walt Disney Company's past attitude towards character death, when said character was dying, all I could think was, "If you don't want the ending to completely suck, this character had better stay dead."  The character was well written and extremely likable, and I wouldn't have minded if he survived the movie, but the moment he was mortally wounded, I felt that a death bed miracle would've weakened the movie and shown that Disney was still a company full of cowards.  I think that's just sad.

The villain... okay, so Dr. Facilier is the most rail thin villain (physically, I mean) Disney ever came up with, so he still fits the stereotype that's existed since Jafar from Aladdin.  When Jafar came along, it was clear that Disney had tossed their overweight villains away.  Somehow.  They probably needed Hercules's help.  But anyway, Disney had tossed their overweight villains away and chose to use a new breed of slender, anorexic villains.  Ratcliffe was a heavy exception, but still, most modern Disney villains look like they could desperately use a sandwich.  I think the best villain they've had to date has been Gaston.  Handsome, muscular, popular, and if not for his nasty jealous streak and pompous attitude, he could've easily been a prince.  Dr. Facilier, though, isn't that strong a villain.  He's more of a tempter than a true villain, kind of like Satan in the Bible, and is very limited in his power.  If anything, Prince Naveen's valet, Lawrence, could've been the main villain, but his purpose in the movie was to illustrate that there are consequences when you take a title you didn't earn, consequences that Aladdin never faced when he used similar means to become Prince Ali.

I'm not sure that a stronger villain was needed, though.  The Princess and the Frog is a down to earth movie, one which presents a main character who doesn't rely on magic or wishes or other people to help her meet her goal.  She is strongly independent, and so when other characters are blindly wishing on a star and waiting for their princes to come, Naveen works hard, and even when she's a frog, she still works towards her goals and doesn't let something as silly as an amphibious transformation get in the way.  Apparently it is easy being green after all.

I really liked that Tiana was taught at an early age that wishing isn't enough.  A few years ago, Rhonda Byrne wrote a book called The Secret, and a movie was made to further promote the ideas within the book.  When I watched it, it seemed to me like they were promoting the idea that if you just sat around and thought happy thoughts, those thoughts would magically come true, and if they didn't, it was entirely your fault for not believing hard enough.  The Secret is nothing more than a modern day When You Wish Upon A Star, and helps to show how shallow those early Disney movies truly are.  Cinderella thought real hard about her dreams as she scrubbed the floor and her fairy godmother suddenly appeared one day.  Snow White thought real hard about the prince that would some day come and as she lay in a kind of magical death, her prince did come.  Although Princess Aurora was asleep for a good portion of Sleeping Beauty, I bet she dreamed about her prince during her long sleep.  In contrast, The Princess and the Frog shows that wishing is only the first step.  After wishing comes doing, although a little bit of stargazing never hurt anyone.

A few things I'm just going to touch upon: the supporting cast was wonderful, since it consisted of characters that weren't one-dimensional or just thrown in to advance the plot.  The music was decent enough to work, and the songs seemed like they were intended to be a celebration of early 20th century jazz rather than an attempt to be the next Be My Guest or Under The Sea.  Plus, although Disney chose a popular R&B singer to perform their end song, they did not choose one of their Radio Disney stars like they did for The Lion King 1 1/2 and for that I am truly grateful.  None of the cast members chewed the scenery, not even John Goodman.  Keith David did a great job as the villain, a role he seems well suited for and has been indulging in a lot lately (he was not exactly a protagonist in the Numb3rs episode he guest starred in, and he lent his voice to the final boss of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, among other projects he's done).  Somehow, the animation quality was even better in this movie than it was in Brother Bear, which leads me to believe that there are still places that Disney can take hand-drawn art.  And the payoff at the end of the movie was kinda predictable, but for the target audience it was perfect.  When I watched it, many people in the audience at the theatre were surprised when it happened, whereas I could see it coming from a mile away.  It wasn't predictable in a cliche way, though.  It felt more like the feeling of figuring out a mystery novel and then reading the end and being satisfied that I was right.

Lastly, this movie features a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) references to Disney's past animated movies.  One scene looked like it was lifted from Sleeping Beauty, right down to the camera angle, and I couldn't help but wish that the dress in the scene started changing colours.  In the same scene, you could see a mermaid costume, and in another scene, one of the jazz musicians was wearing a lion costume.  There are many other interesting touches and references that can be picked up by ardent Disney fans, but aren't obvious enough to ruin the movie for casual fans.

In the end, The Princess and the Frog did nearly everything right and was a very enjoyable film to watch.  I would definitely watch it again in the theatre.  Disney showed that they're willing to do things they'd been too afraid to do in an animated feature, and if this continues, they may enjoy another golden age like they had in the early 90's.  They might even be able to re-release The Black Cauldron in a few years, possibly with its deleted scenes restored to the film, but I suppose that's idle wishing.

I wonder if Tiana's Palace survived Katrina.

This article/review was previously posted to the animation site Keyframe Online, and more of my reviews can be read here.

Two years ago I found myself excited to see BLEACH The Movie: Memories of Nobody, but after watching the film several times over I found myself underwhelmed by the story. Since then I've come to expect very little from BLEACH movies and shonen anime movie adaptations in general. I found myself so uninterested that it took exactly a year to actually watch BLEACH: The DiamondDust Rebellion after I downloaded the fan subs. It wasn't until the current domestic release of The DiamondDust Rebellion on DVD that I found the motivation to watch the movie. I wouldn't call it a great movie but compared to Memories of Nobody the plot, characters and in some cases, the animation, are an excellent improvement. Now I find myself rather disappointed that I didn't take the time to see and perhaps review it a year ago, because the second BLEACH movie is quite good despite some shortcomings. 

In the overall BLEACH anime storyline The DiamondDust Rebellion takes place between seasons seven and nine. In the World of the Living members of the Soul Society's royal family are transporting an important artifact known as the King's Seal. Tenth Squad captain Toushiro Hitsugaya, along with his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, and various squad members are charged with making sure the procession arrives at its destination safely. Unfortunately, the procession never arrives with the King's Seal as they are attacked and nearly wiped out by two female arrancar. Hitsugaya personally takes part in the fight against the powerful women until he's stabbed by another foe wearing a Hollow mask. He clashes swords with the masked man and manages to get a glimpse of his face before the fight ends. Suddenly, the 10th Squad captain goes silent and turns to give Matsumoto a pained look of sadness before pursuing the masked man and the stolen King's Seal.



The next day Ichigo Kurosaki happens upon the scene of the massacre and artifact theft while out making his rounds as a Substitute Soul Reaper. He meets up with the captain of the 2nd Squad, Soi Fong, who begrudgingly fills him in on some of the details. After the 2nd Squad leaves Ichigo is joined by his Quincy rival and friend, Uryuu Ishida. As Ichigo tells Uryuu of what he learned an injured and barely conscious Hitsugaya stumbles in front of them and collapses. Meanwhile in the Soul Society, the 10th Squad is put under house arrest as their captain did not return after the fight and has gone missing. Matsumoto feels as if Hitsugaya had some kind of connection with the masked man and implores Renji Abarai, and Rukia Kuchiki to look into the matter for her.

Meanwhile, an unconscious Hitsugaya dreams about his past when he was still a student learning to become a Soul Reaper. There he meets and becomes fast friends with a slightly older boy. The dream ends on a disturbing note as the boy is executed by the Soul Society right in front of his eyes. In the World of the Living, Hitsugaya regains consciousness in Ichigo's room. Without saying much to Ichigo, Hitsugaya returns to sleep and sneaks out the next morning, leaving his captain's haori behind.



Ichigo isn't easily fooled and attempts to stop Hitsugaya from leaving. It's then that Ichigo utters the name "Kusaka," and demands to know if it has any connection to the stolen King's Seal. Hitsugaya then attacks Ichigo without warning and sends the Substitute Soul Reaper reeling. (At this point the name "Kusuka" was never actually mentioned by anyone. How did Ichigo learn of it? The audience is simply left to assume Hitsugaya uttered it while unconscious. This is a minor plot hole but it is an annoying one.) Before Ichigo can recover he's attacked by the same two arrancar women responsible for stealing the King's Seal. During the attack he blacks out and when he wakes up Hitsugaya is gone. Instead he finds Renji and Rukia, and they inform him of the situation with the now rogue 10th Squad captain. Ichigo mentions the name Kusaka and returns Hitsugaya's discarded haori to Renji and Rukia. Renji then returns to the Soul Society to find out about Kusaka.

In the World of the Living Hitsugaya continues to wander the streets alone, even as Ichigo and friends search for him. In the Soul Society, Renji passes on the name Kusaka, and with help begins to research the name. A few Soul Reapers discover the importance of Kusaka's name when all information pertaining to him is altered or missing. In the meantime, a group of Soul Reapers track down Hitsugaya and order him to return to the Soul Society. Instead the boy captain resists and attacks the squad, escaping with further injuries in the process. This act labels him a traitor and a swift order for his execution is given. At the same time Ichigo figures out why Hitsugaya has gone rogue and vows to find him before he's killed by the Soul Society.



All in all, The DiamondDust Rebellion is satisfying to watch. The plot is much more enjoyable and less predictable than Memories of Nobody. With that said, I did have a number of objections with the story largely centered on unresolved plot points. The biggest part of the story was poorly explained, or just outright unexplained. When Hitsugaya and Kusaka originally formed their zanpaktou (or swords) from their souls, they both ended up wielding Hyourinmaru. Was it implied their friendship was so close they ended up with the same powers? Was it just an amazing coincidence? Or a little bit of both? Did Hyourinmaru serve as one entity for two Soul Reapers or was he born twice from Hitsugaya and Kusaka's souls? Furthermore, why is such a thing frowned upon in the Soul Society? There was never any real evidence to suggest that two Soul Reapers having the same exact abilities was a problem. Since these little facts are a major driving force behind the movie I would have expected them to be better explained. Instead everything is largely left to audience speculation.

The rest of the movie is handled well, as battles are fast-paced and always fun to watch. A majority of the Soul Reaper cast makes an appearance in this film. Just like the first movie much of it is fan service, but because the story is better developed having multiple characters around no longer feels like simple pandering. Some fans may be disappointed by how slowly the first half of the movie unfolds versus the action-packed second half. I had no problems with the slower dialogue focused pacing, but your enjoyment may vary.



Character development was limited in this movie but at the very least everyone was in character. In a movie based on a popular action series it's rare to see any kind of character development at all. The movie did a nice job of exploring some of Hitsugaya's past while simultaneously revealing the lengths the young Soul Reaper will go in order to pursue his beliefs. At the same time Ichigo's received some development as he found himself most able to understand and relate to a forlorn Hitsugaya.



For the most part the animation was fluid and generally looked better than the anime series. Some scenes looked a bit strange with an animation quality on par with the regular series. Generally the animation started off very strong and then became weaker toward the end of the movie before regaining its quality. It wasn't a huge issue, but at times I found myself wondering if I'd really just sat through a movie that originally had a theatrical release. Shiro Sagisu returned to work on The DiamondDust Rebellion's musical score and as expected the instrumental songs are excellent. Orchestrated violin pieces help set the movie's more somber moods while action-themed guitar pieces highlighted the movie's numerous battle scenes. Of the music, the orchestrated violin score remained unique to the film. The rest of The DiamondDust Rebellion's score was incorporated into the anime starting with episode 168.

Because this review only covers the subtitled version of the movie I'm not able to comment on the dub-- as I was unable to a year ago with Memories of Nobody. All of the dub's voice actors reprise their roles for this film. So if you enjoy hearing the BLEACH anime in English the DiamondDust Rebellion is more of the same. If you dislike the dub, then you'll want to stick to the subtitled version of this film.



Film adaptations of popular anime series are rarely epic, and are often little more than an interesting side story or adventure. The DiamondDust Rebellion is certainly a little better than the average Shonen anime movie adaption, but it's far from being a masterpiece. If you hated the fairly predictable plot of Memories of Nobody the second BLEACH movie is a refreshing change of pace that occasionally keeps you guessing. The story and character development aren't completely focused on Toushiro Hitsugaya, making it a decent watch for anyone who's not a huge fan of the silver-haired Soul Reaper boy. But if you absolutely hate Hitsugaya as a character this movie may not be for you. For anyone else who follows BLEACH in some form on a regular or moderate basis The DiamondDust Rebellion is worth watching at least once. A major plot issue aside, this film rises beyond the typically low expectations of a Shonen anime film.

It is easier for me to criticize something than for me to praise it.  I think I prefer watching something with flaws and playing something with glitches or obviously poor choices in design, because at the end of my experience, I can rip it a new one, even if I intend to play it again.  Granted, some things I don't ever want to see again, but others are good enough despite their flaws.

I find myself in a difficult position, then.  I wish to write a credible review for this series, but I think I had only one observation about the show that I can make any kind of comment about.  In fact, I thought that it was one of the best shows ever made in Japan, and I wish more anime could be like this.


Sometimes I like to start with telling what didn't work, then go into what did work when I'm writing about video games.  But Clannad had so many good things going for it that I don't think I'd have enough room to mention it all.

The one thing I noticed that seemed to happen in Clannad more often than in other anime was that the characters would get emotional and cry a lot.  It happened with such frequency that you could practically set your watch to it.  It's something I've hardly seen in an anime show, but most of the anime I've seen involves battles and/or wolf girls.  I suppose this might happen more often in drama shows.

The characters probably cried a lot because they could break the fourth wall and read the script.  And for someone like me, I have a small list of things I watch when I need a good cry.  The Lion King.  The second season finale of Numb3rs.  And this series.  Never before have I seen a show where the music swells so emotionally and the characters go through such a rough time that you can't help but feel for them.  Sure, I shed a single tear or two when watching other shows, but Clannad has almost had me fully crying on more than one occasion.  The second series is where they really turn on the pathos, but this series certainly has enough of it to go around.


The first series is made up of a few major arcs relating to the main characters of the show (the ones that appear in the opening credits), and my favourite out of all of them was the very first one, Fuko's story arc.  It wasn't until she started disappearing from everyone's hearts that I realized that the series had supernatural elements, but from the realization came a greater respect for the writers of the show, because the various supernatural elements didn't overwhelm the story, nor did they take over.  And the best thing about them was that they were introduced as a way to bring about the conclusion of the second series without rushing things or adding a hasty explanation at the end.

Throughout it all, various scenes occur in a Hidden World, one that was hinted at in various points of the story, but never fully explained, owing to the fact that a second series was planned.  In my Spice And Wolf review, I complained that writing a Japanese series this way might not work out, but I think in Clannad's case, since it was very popular, they didn't have to worry.  Plus, the story found its natural breaking point at the end of the first series, so if there wasn't a second, then it wouldn't have mattered whether everyone understood the nature of the Hidden World or not.  And if they did find out that they weren't going to do a second series, then they could just as easily have done an OVA to explain it all, afterward.

The theme of the series is family, of course.  The female lead, Nagisa, is fond of the Dango Daikazoku (the Big Dango Family) and the anime itself is named after a Gaelic word which has its own interesting origin.  The music group of the same name had to come up with a name for themselves on the fly, and so they came up with "the family from Dore", or "Clann As Dobhar" in Gaelic, which they abbreviated to Clannad.  Since then, the name Clannad has adopted a more general meaning of "family", rather than being the name of a family from a certain place.  It is this general meaning that the creators of Clannad had in mind when they first came up with it.

The original form of Clannad was a visual novel developed by Japanese video game company Key, and was arranged in two parts, School Life (which would become the first anime series) and After Story (which would become the second anime series).  Depending on how you play and what choices you made, you would either find yourself confronted with a bad ending, or if you've collected what you're supposed to collect, you can receive the good ending.


The first series of the anime, as it focuses on School Life, only tangentially explores the overarching concepts that the second series would focus on, that of the hidden world and of the destiny of Nagisa and the main character, Tomoya.  All the while, little seeds were planted, seeds that would fully mature in the second series and serve as a means to bring about the conclusion.

Throughout the series, and with all the tribulations and triumphs of the group, it's amazing to watch how the characters grow and change, becoming closer to each other.  Especially Tomoya, who started out as a loner and delinquent, and Nagisa, who started out weak and shy.  You never know where life will take you, and certainly, if Tomoya and Nagisa hadn't met that day, under such a silly circumstance (she suddenly stopped walking and declared "Sweet bean bread!" and it would've been so easy for Tomoya to just shrug such an event off and continue on his own merry way), things might've turned out very different for everyone.

I have but gently touched upon the music and not even mentioned the visuals for the series, both of which are top notch; instead I've spent quite a bit of time just talking about the series in general.  I haven't even mentioned the humour, or the charming ending song, or the way poor Sunohara gets treated (kinda like the omega wolf in a pack).  I guess the previous thousand words I've wasted amount to one long way of saying, watch the show if you like drama, it's one of the best I've ever seen.  I imagine I'll have more substantial things to say in my After Story review.

To be continued...

It is a staple of modern fantasy to focus on the warrior caste.  People can't get enough of strong adventurers who arm themselves with swords and staves and go out on a sacred quest to slay dragons, rescue top-heavy princesses, and get nagged incessantly until you agree to take them with you before you go off to explore new lands.  Or something like that.  But how does a  world such as that turn?  Who handles all the comings and goings of people and their property?  How does any nation survive in these worlds, other than by conquering other nations and defending their own borders?

Spice and Wolf chooses to explore the economics of a fantasy world, while telling an entertaining story about a wolf goddess who lives near a small town.  Her worshipers suddenly decide to convert to a new religion and no longer need her, and so the goddess, Horo the Wise, gets homesick and chooses to travel with a merchant named Lawrence, on the one condition that he takes her to her homeland in the north.  All the while, she is eager to see how the world has changed since last she traveled.

Horo is quite the sexy, yet somehow cute character, especially with the way she handles her tail.  As a  wolf goddess, she keeps her ears and tail, even in human form.  And unlike some characters who sport animal features, Horo's ears and tail aren't treated as a couple extra lines to draw.  The best animal girls in anime are the ones that actually move their body naturally, and that includes their extra appendages.  Horo flicks and swivels her ears in reaction to her environment, and her tail often betrays her mood.

Lawrence is quite a clever merchant, and the two of them make for an interesting odd couple, with Horo's haughty nature clashing with Lawrence's maturity and calm, rational manner (except with things go bad, which happens rather often).  Then again, if both characters were cut from the same cloth, it would weaken the story.  The story itself consists of two arcs, with Horo meeting Lawrence acting as the beginning of the first arc.  There is also an OVA episode that takes place between the two arcs, available only on DVD.


One of my favourite things about the series is that, despite Horo being a goddess, she still used proper crop science to fulfill her agricultural duties for the small town she lived at.  She understood how to keep the land fertile, even if the village didn't.

The anime may be a little too complicated for some, because Lawrence's dealings can get quite intricate at times, to the point where you'd have to rewatch the anime to try to see all the ins and outs of his more involved schemes.  And I found the second half to be weaker than the first half, due to a side plot involving wolves that seemed to come out of nowhere, then return to that nowhere once they were defeated.  It's clear that there's something antagonistic going on between  Horo and the other wolves, but it wasn't explored as well as it could've in the series.

It's for this reason that I'm glad there's a second series.  The thing about Japanese shows, especially anime, is that a series generally only gets one season, so when writing the story, everything needs to fall into place at the end, all dangling plot threads should be handled, and a suitable ending found.  Whether this ending is final or not is up to the writers, but sometimes, just riding off into the sunset is a good enough ending, because there's a possibility of more adventure.  After all, if a series gets to continue for a second season, the writers can then come up with a new story.  There have been some exceptions (most notably, Clannad got a second series so that they could finish the story they started, and nearly everything that Shonen Jump has started literally has no end), but if an anime ends in the middle of a story, that's usually it, there isn't any more, and any opportunity to explain what's happening is gone forever.


It will be interesting to see what Funimation will do with the series when it finally brings it over to North American audiences in December.  It will also be interesting to see how closely the anime resembles the novels when they start being published in English at around the same time, with the manga being translated and then published the April after the first novel debuts.  It may explain why the wolves appeared during the second anime arc, if they appeared in some of the novels.

The new anime series makes its debut very, very, very soon (it might've aired by now, depending on what time it is in Japan right now), and an OVA has already been released as sort of a reintroduction to the characters and as a way to lead into the new series.  Horo is as cute and spicy as ever and I, for one, can't wait.

A few years ago I watched a neat a little movie on DVD called Blood: The Last Vampire. I watched Blood and thought to myself, 'Wow, they ought to make this into a TV series!' Then less than a year later it was announced Blood+, a 50 episode adaptation of Blood, would be aired on Adult Swim. Somewhere in the announcement was the fact that Hans Zimmer had also composed the series' musical score. I knew then Blood+ wasn't a series to be missed. Thankfully the show lived up to my high expectations.

Saya Otonashi is a teenager who lives in Okinawa with her adopted father, George and two foster brothers, Kai and Riku. Other than the curious fact that she has no memories of her life beyond the last year, Saya is a happy and normal teenager. One evening she returns to school to fetch her forgotten track shoes and is attacked by a bat-like monster. The large monster, known as a chiropteran is intent on killing her. (In Blood+ chiropterans are immortal vampire-like beings that have the ability to disguise themselves as humans.)

She suddenly runs into a mysterious and handsome man who knows her name. In a brief flashback Saya recognizes him but the memory is still hazy. He utters the words, "Saya, you must fight now," as he places a katana in her hands. Before Saya has a chance to inquirer about her situation he slits his palm, drinks some of his blood, and kisses her forcing the blood down her throat. The bloody kiss causes a strange reaction in Saya as her brown eyes turn blood red. She then cuts her own thumb, causing blood to flow into a small channel built into the sword's design.



With a mighty swing Saya slices the monster in half and her blood causes it to crystallize. (The end result is more like being turned into stone than crystal.) Saya then returns to normal as she faints from seeing herself covered in the monster's blood. The man named Hagi (pronounced "Haji"), carries her to safety before disappearing. Two days later, the incident at school has been completely covered up by the U.S. military. At home Saya overhears George talking to another man named David. Later the man reveals himself to be a member of an organization known as the Red Shield.

The Red Shield's sole purpose is to hunt down and kill chiropterans, but to complete that goal they need Saya. Her blood alone has the ability to completely destroy the chiropterans via crystallization. Shortly after their talk, George is attacked by former friend of his who has transformed into a chiropteran, and George is hospitalized. Saya's father is then kidnapped by the U.S. military under contract from the powerful pharmaceutical company known as Cinq Flèches. Saya along with back up from members of the Red Shield infiltrate the hospital hoping to rescue George. Unfortunately, he was given an injection that will transform him into a chiropteran. He pleads with his daughter to kill him before that can happen--which she does. Initially Saya is hesitant to fight, but joins the Red Shield in order to prevent the further proliferation of chiropterans.



As far as plot goes Blood+ seems simple enough on the surface. An evil organization, Cinq Flèches, is interested in creating monsters for power and profit. Meanwhile, an opposing organization, the Red Shield wishes to destroy the monsters and make the world safe for humanity, and Saya is their secret weapon. Thankfully the series has a lot more depth and creativity to it under the surface.

The real story takes place 100 years in the past with the discovery of a mummified chiropteran corpse by two scientists. Within the womb of the corpse two cocoons containing living twin baby girls are found. One girl would be raised as a normal human child, and is named Saya. The other girl, Saya's little sister, would be raised in complete isolation as a test subject and later be named Diva. It is eventually learned that both girls are chiropteran queens and their blood has the power to turn ordinary people into chiropterans. From this past the present day strife between the Red Shield (those who support Saya) and Cinq Flèches (those supporting Diva) organizations is created.



As far as character development goes much of it is very complex but I prefer to focus on Saya and her foil, Diva. Saya has to struggle with the knowledge that not only is she a chiropteran, but that she's the only one who can easily kill them. While it gives the series a typical kill-your-own-kind feel, Saya is not without fears or doubts and feels badly for the suffering caused by her kind. Diva is Saya's twin, but she has a completely different outlook on life. She enjoys inflicting pain and suffering upon others, and has no problem with being or turning people into chiropterans. Ultimately, Blood+ has a deep nature-versus-nurture theme and it's important to remember Saya's and Diva's situations could have easily been reversed.




The animation and music in Blood+ are of top notch quality, as expected from a show produced by Production I.G. A lot of work was put into creating the series and it really shows. All fifty episodes of Blood+ feature gorgeous, high-quality animation. The only thing that manages to top the series' animation values is the musical score. As I mentioned this series features a soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer and performed by Mark Mancina. In addition to the wonderful compositions, the openings and closings are performed by Japanese pop and rock singers such as HYDE, Jinn, UVERworld and Angela Aki. What results musically is a fusion of a big Hollywood movie score and some of the best J-pop and rock around. I have yet to come across another anime series with a soundtrack on par with Blood+.

The series dubbed version is decent, but far from great. Having only seen the dubbed version on Adult Swim I can't compare the actors to their Japanese counterparts. Kari Wahlgren does a fairly good job in the lead role of Saya and as someone who's desperately trying to learn about her past. Wahlgren also gives a pretty spirited performance as the spoiled and cheerfully evil Diva.
 
Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Crispin Freeman and his role as Hagi. Freeman is one of my favorite voice actors, but he didn't seem to fit the soft-spoken role of Hagi. His monotone performance bordered on frustrating at times. It makes me question how of it was Hagi's reserved personality (who despite this is a likable character), and how much of it was a mismatched role for Freeman. I had a few issues with lackluster performances from supporting actors, but fortunately they were only supporting roles. I'd recommend watching this one subbed, unless you absolutely prefer dubs.



As a fan of Blood: The Last Vampire, I found Blood+ to be disappointing on some levels. Saya isn't the kickass vampire queen she was in the short movie, and the plot of Blood+ felt really clichéd at times. Despite my minor complaints the series is still a solid and refreshing take on vampire lore. The orchestrated score is more fitting for a Hollywood movie than an anime series, making it a welcome rarity. Fans of Hans Zimmer and or Mark Mancina may want to watch this series just for the music alone. If you love vampires, horror, and a touch of history and science then Blood+ is probably already on your to see list. Even if you're not a fan of vampire themed series Blood+ is still worth your time.

Every so often I'll try out an unknown anime movie on TV. Not because I'm particularly excited about the movie but because it's more or less free to watch. Occasionally I'll see an anime movie worth buying and watching over again. But more often that not I'll watch the movie once, find myself glad I didn't pay for it, and never watch it again. Unfortunately Strait Jacket (a three episode OVA spliced into a movie) fell into the latter category, and except for the purpose of this review I'd like to forget I ever watched it. It isn't because Strait Jacket had a bad story or ideas, those elements were just badly executed and underdeveloped.

In an alternate universe sorcery was discovered in the year 1899. As society modernized science and sorcery were able to coexist, and sorcery is used in many aspects of everyday life. From the medical world to the military, sorcery is restricted and regulated by the government. While magic has generally made people's lives better it also has the potential to curse the user, eventually turning him or her into a grotesque man-eating demon. The military arm of sorcery management, known as the Sorcery Management Bureau, is tasked with hunting down these demons and destroying them with magic. Specialized warriors known as tactical sorcerists wear special armored suits called modes. The modes have two main purposes; to protect the user during battle and to prevent the user from becoming a demon themselves. In other words, the mode prevents the user from becoming the very thing they must destroy. For this reason mode users are also known as strait jackets.


No offense, but if there was a chance I'd mutate into something like that  while using sorcery I'd pass. Seriously, no thanks.

Strait Jacket's plot revolves around Leiot Steinberg, an unlicensed (i.e. illegal) lone operative tactical sorcerist and Isaac Hammond a sorcerist within the government. Steinberg is well-known for using highly destructive methods and illegal spells in order to dispatch of demons. The Sorcery Management Bureau is forced to call on Steinberg for help when the actions of the Ottoman Organization, a terrorist group, drastically increases the number of demon attacks on the city of Tristan, leaving the government short-handed. Steinberg reluctantly agrees to help, but refuses to officially join the government. Meanwhile, Hammond a tactical sorcerist who does everything by the book disagrees with the choice to let Steinberg do as he pleases. When the two occasionally cross paths during battle the animosity between them is palpable.

Strait Jacket starts off strong but ultimately fails in terms of plot and character development. The entire conflict with the Ottoman Organization being in league with the Sorcery Management Bureau to orchestrate demon attacks in Tristan is made clear early on. It could have been a major source of interest given how Steinberg works outside of the system and the antagonists clearly want him dead. Instead, the entire Ottoman Organization/Sorcery Management Bureau ties only serve to bring misery and misfortune to Hammond, which further fuels his contempt for Steinberg. When the antagonists are finally called out and punished for their misdeeds the resulting struggle is so anti-climatic that it borders on boring.


Because magic and metal never looked so good together. Except for when the armor breaks in battle, then everyone is screwed.

The eventual showdown between Steinberg and Hammond is marginally more interesting, but only from a philosophical point of view. Their differing life experiences (an anti-hero who wants atone for his sins and a hero who failed to protect what was important to him), manifests itself in the form of a physical confrontation. This plotline while good to a degree, came at the expense of the terrorist organization one. In short, Strait Jacket really suffers because 76 minutes simply isn't enough time to pursue both plotlines to their fullest potential.

Character development was also stifled because of the lack of time. Steinberg is the main character of the series but he more or less remains an enigma. Other than discovering his reason for fighting so recklessly and why he wishes to die (thus finding atonement), the ambiguity surrounding him is never lifted. By the end of Strait Jacket all of his potential (like the plot) is wasted in a frustrating way. Hammond and his little sister Rachel, are interesting characters but only because a tragic sense of foreboding hangs over them for the entire series. All of the other characters were easily forgettable.


Leiot Steinberg: "Sorry ladies, I'm not available. I'm too busy being emo when I'm not making a wise-crack. Thanks for looking though!"

The quality of the animation was fairly good and got the whole horror/steampunk theme across well. The animators at Feel were going for a gritty, horrific setting and they pulled it off. Still, there was nothing to really get excited about. If the animation was good then the music can be considered unremarkable. It didn't clash with the horror/steampunk/sorcery genre, but none of the songs are worth remembering.

The voice acting on the dub was mediocre at best. It wasn't a horrible dub but it wasn't a good one either. Steven Blum as Steinberg is by far the most spirited actor of the group, but his role may not have been a good fit. Considering Steinberg's heavy emotional burdens, Blum's wise-cracking nature may have been an attempt at a character who makes light of his situation. Or they could have been out of place entirely, I couldn't really tell. Because I don't have access to the subtitled version I can't make a fair comparison. Crispin Freeman delivers a solid enough performance as Hammond, but I've heard him perform better. All of the other actors were lackluster, yet I can't fault them considering how lackluster Strait Jacket is overall.


Kapelteta Fernandez is Steinberg's partner in crime, so to speak. Too bad she doesn't get much development either.

When everything is said and done Strait Jacket suffers from being way too short for its own good. Had it been a few episodes longer, or an actual movie (instead of being spliced into one) it may have been much better. The plot held lots of promise but failed to deliver, and many of the characters were uninteresting. If you're looking for a series that blends science and sorcery you could do much better with a title like Fullmetal Alchemist. If you're dying to watch a horror movie with a magical angle to it Strait Jacket may be worth renting, or watching on late-night TV. Otherwise, I'd recommend giving this disappointment a wide berth at the video store.

In recent years I've almost completely given up on the Mobile Suit Gundam series. I don't dislike mecha series but I also don't consider myself a big fan of them. However, I try to keep an open mind given that I've found gems like Escaflowne, Rahxephon, Full  Metal Panic! and Code Geass over the years. Still, I find the Gundam series was more often than a miss than a hit with me. Out all of the series I watched on U.S. TV (in some cases heavily edited), I enjoyed The 08th MS Team the most followed by Gundam Wing. In the case of Gundam SEED, I couldn't even finish it. When I decided to watch Gundam 00 (pronounced "Double O") my expectations were quite low.

Within a few episodes all of my doubts about the newest Gundam series were completely crushed. Gundam 00 is quickly replacing The 08th MS Team as being my favorite in the series. It may even overtake both seasons of Code Geass as one of the most intellectually compelling mecha anime series I've seen in recent years. Much of 00's appeal comes from its take on a futuristic, but plausible reality in a post 9/11 political world. The series is cleverly set roughly 300 years in the future (2307AD) and manages to mirror the political landscape of today. In short, this is a series for intellectual and political junkies as well as Gundam fans.




The 24th century is still as tumultuous as it was in the 21st century. Wars in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe have been ongoing for centuries. Meanwhile the superpowers of the world have grouped themselves together by region into three major power blocs. The Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations or the Union, led by the United States and consisting of the Americas and Japan, the Advanced European Union or AEU consisting of Europe, and the Human Reform League made up of China, India and Russia are all vying for power even as they play a zero sum game with their military might. Each of these power blocs controls an orbital elevator which supplies solar energy in the place of depleted fossil fuels. Weaker countries ally themselves with the stronger nations for energy and military protection, while countries outside of the power blocs unfairly find themselves struggling to survive, locked in constant war.


Most of the core group of Celestial Being, including all of the Gundam Meisters. And no, Tieria Erde isn't a woman, stop asking already.


It is in this setting that Celestial Being, a privately owned military group challenges the current world order. After out performing current mobile suit technology on Earth owned by the World's militaries and terrorist groups alike with Gundam mobile suits, the group makes itself known. Celestial Being's goal is the total eradication of war through forceful armed interventions. The group will uphold the ideals a peaceful and united humanity advocated by the scientist Aeolia Schenberg over two hundred years ago- through violent means. Savor that obvious contradiction. Shortly after the declaration is made the four Gundam Meisters (i.e. pilots), Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism and Tieria Erde, with their mobile suits Exia, Dynames, Kyrios and Virtue, set out on a series of armed interventions that result in an uneasy reduction of worldwide conflict.

The three major superpowers ultimately join together in a bid to capture the Gundams in a strategy that pits the superior mobile suits against thousands of inferior ones. The plan almost works until Celestial Being seemingly uses their final ace. Three new Gundams with even more destructive powers than the original four are deployed. The new Meisters, a trio of siblings calling themselves Team Trinity take over the intervention missions with ruthless, sadistic force as even civilians and innocent bystanders are slaughtered. Their actions ultimately turn public opinion against Celestial Being and strengthen the resolve of the superpowers to stop the Gundams. Suddenly, the tide of battle turns when a mysterious man business man named Lagna Harvey (working for a more powerful organization) offers the three power blocs 30 GN drives. The drives are the secret power source behind the superior Gundam mobile suits.


The GN-X models are as powerful as Gundams and the pilots are out for revenge. Now that is a real Military-industrial complex.


The new machines, called GN-X's (pronounced "jinxes"), are easily able to fight on par with the Gundams and the superpowers set out to destroy Celestial Being. The group is further crippled by traitors within their organization who spring traps with the arrival of Team Trinity. As the world ultimately does change (for the worst), the four Gundam Meisters and the core Celestial Being members find themselves on the losing end of a malevolent plan. The plan was set into motion not long after Aeolia Schenberg advocated his original ideals two centuries ago.

Early character development in season one is curtailed in favor of plot and story elements. In fact, much of the first few episodes are spent getting us acquainted with the political landscape of the series. Season one mainly serves as a starting point to better set up characters for season two. The characters that were partially fleshed out and managed to survive will most likely be further developed in the second season.


To hell with team spirit and harmony, at times Setsuna and Tieria (totally not a woman) would rather settle their differences with bullets.


The four Gundam Meisters all hail from various parts of the world and are products of the various wars. Setsuna is the child solider from the Kurdis Republic, a Middle Eastern nation that was annexed in past war. As a child solider who was brainwashed into committing horrible crimes he personally knows how war is nothing short of Hell on Earth. Lockon is from Ireland and lost most of his family due to the Energy Wars. Where Setsuna seeks to become the embodiment of a Gundam, Lockon is motivated by revenge.  In comparison Allelujah and Tieria are enigmas. Allelujah is from the Human Reform League's space colony and has a sadistic split personality. Tieria is a seemingly heartless man who would think nothing of shooting a fellow Meister down for the sake of keeping the secrets of the Gundams. Yet he is emotionally unstable at his worst and has a hard time seeing himself as human. All of the Meisters grow as characters, but I suspect they'll grow quite a bit more in season two.


"I want it now!" Because Louise is that kind of girlfriend. Poor Saji... At times their placement in the series seems odd, but it makes sense later.


On the civilian side Saji Crossroad and Louise Halevy are ordinary college students in Japan who always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even as they get out of life threatening situations mostly through luck, their lives are tragically changed through acts of violence. In the end, their purpose in season one is to give a face to the everyday lives that war can destroy.

Most of the military fighters are portrayed in such a sympathetic light that it is occasionally easier to cheer them on instead of the sometimes terroristic Gundam Meisters. The real villains of the story at first seem to be Ali Al Saachez and Team Trinity. Ali Al Saachez is a Middle Eastern warmonger who immensely enjoys war and harbors a hatred of Celestial Being for obvious reasons. Team Trinity ascribes to Celestial Being's ideals but feels extreme violence is the only way to achieve anything, regardless of public outcry. Unknown to them they are simply disposable pawns in a more sinister scheme. In reality one man is pulling the strings behind the scenes in order to manipulate Aeolia Schenberg's dream of a united humanity into something fitting his own image. He wishes to change the world too and uses the momentum of Celestial Being (derailing the group in the process), Team Trinity and Ali Al to bring the world to a turning a point- the creation of the Earth Sphere Federation.


"Team Trinity here. We're such sadists that we take pleasure in killing civilians along with soldiers. And our sister, Nena maybe the cruelest of all."


Gundam 00's animation remains superb throughout the series, as expected from Sunrise. Viewers who are fortunate enough to own HDTVs will notice that the show is broadcasted in high-definition and widescreen. I have no issues with the character design or the detailed mecha designs. The music always fits the mood, but outside of the openings and endings none of it is memorable. On a side note, like Adult Swim the Sci Fi Channel has a nasty habit of butchering ending sequences, ruining the overall experience. Still, "Daybreak's Bell" and "Ash Like Snow" were pretty good as far as opening songs go.


If Ali Al Saachez's apperance suggests anything other than villian you may need your eyes checked. At the very least he can claim the series' "badass" title.


I haven't watched any of Gundam 00 subtitled, but Ocean Studios did a decent job with the dub. I would have preferred that Bandai went with Animaze, but Ocean Studios always seems to work on the Mobile Suit Gundam dubs. As I said it is a decent dub, not a great one. Brad Swaile in his role as Setsuna felt subdued, but he eventually becomes more talkative. Richard Ian Cox as Allelujah is a bit hard to bear at times. Not because Cox is a terrible actor but years of hearing him as Inuyasha leaves a less than stellar impression on his other roles. Still, he captures Allelujah's split personality nicely, even if I think "Tetsusaiga!" every time he utters an excited word. Another prominent voice from Inuyasha is Paul Dobson (previously Naraku), who plays Graham Aker. Paul Dobson is one of my favorite voice actors but his performance as Aker wasn't one of his best. One actor's performance was head and shoulders above the rest. Scott McNeil as Ali Al Saachez had the best performance. His deep, suave and surly voice captured the evil essence of Ali Al quite well. With that said, if you're not a fan of dubs Gundam 00 certainly won't change your mind.


Setsuna's Exia versus Team Trinity's Gundam Thrones. Surely even the main character can overcome a three-against-one fight?


Season one of Gundam 00 begins slow on action, light on character development and heavy on politics. But ultimately the series takes a grand scale approach by setting itself up to run over two distinct seasons instead of a continuous 50 episodes. In many ways Gundam 00 breaks from previous Gundam series while still managing to pay homage to its predecessors. At the same time Gundam 00 isn't that radically different from previous series by ultimately forming the Earth (Sphere) Federation and an opposing group. It manages to keep the Gundam tradition alive whilst giving the series a realistic, present day spin. Either way, if you've written off the Gundam series for whatever reason, 00 is still worth any sci-fi addict's time. With an explosive first season and an upcoming second season (Stateside) that promises to be even better, this series is off to a great start.

Star Ocean EX is a show that holds a special place in my heart. Not because this anime was particularly outstanding or even great (believe me, it wasn't), but because it took so long for me to finish watching it. I originally started this anime in the spring of 2004 and finally finished it in late December 2008. Taking four and a half years to watch a 26 episode series is a new record for me, although a variety of reasons led to the long delay. The most important factor was Star Ocean EX itself. The anime was just boring at times. Nothing kills my interest in a series faster than one that starts off strong but becomes a filler-like halfway through. Star Ocean's only saving grace, a strong ending, was hampered by a cliff-hanger meant to lead into a second season. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled before that second season was ever produced. In the end another video game based anime with some potential became a serious let down.



Star Ocean EX opens with the introduction of Ronix J. Kenni commander of the spaceship Calnus. Commander Kenni's heroic deeds, events from the first Star Ocean game, are briefly recapped by his son, Claude C. Kenni. While Claude greatly admires his father, he resents having to live in his shadow and being thought of as nothing more than the Commander's son. Determined to prove to his father he can stand on his own two feet Claude wanders off during an investigation on the surface of a dead planet. He comes across a strange coffin-shaped device and despite the warnings of his father and the crew, he proceeds to investigate it. As soon as he touches it Claude is engulfed in a strange green light and is instantly transported to the far away, but fittingly named planet of Expel.



Meanwhile, a young girl named Rena Lanford cheerfully waits for the one she refers to as the "Warrior of Light." It is a prophecy on Expel which explains when a great calamity strikes the planet a brave warrior from another world will come to vanquish the evil. He will come wielding a special weapon known as the "Sword of Light," as illustrated in a stained glass portrait in a special shrine where Rena often visits. As it turns out, Expel has been suffering from a series of natural and unnatural disasters that started when a strange meteor fell from the sky. Landing on the populated continent of El, it caused all of the local wildlife to turn into fierce man-eating monsters, and a set of disasters such as frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, and even drought. The problems that plague the planet become worse with each passing day, and everyone is at a loss on what to do.

Rena revels in the idea of the Warrior of Light, who will save them all as she picks flowers in a sunny field. The peaceful moment is shattered when a large gorilla-like monster attacks her. At the same time, Claude wakes up on Expel and is unable to use his communicator to contact the crew of the Calnus. So he wanders the field, and comes across a distressed Rena. Without a moment's hesitation he rushes in to save her from the monster. He ultimately incinerates the beast with his phase gun and the effect produces a brilliant beam of light. Rena then declares Claude to be the Warrior of Light, a title which he completely refuses stating he's no hero. After being allowed to rest at a local village, the village elder explains the planet's problems to the space traveler which began when the Sorcery Globe, that strange meteor, fell from the sky.



Ultimately after experiencing a series of problems directly related to the Sorcery Globe, Rena ends up joining Claude on his quest to find a way home. Along the way they end up befriending a magician named Celina Junes, a wandering swordsman named Ashton Anchors (who eventually ends up with two dragons fused to his back), a young inventor named Precis (who's not cool enough to have a last name), and a childhood friend of Rena's named Dias Flac. With the exception of Precis and Dias, the rest end up joining Claude and Rena in their travels. Everyone seeks something different, but they all settle on the ultimate goal of going to the continent of El to destroy the Sorcery Globe. Unfortunately for them, the Sorcery Globe is much more than a magical meteor. It turns out to be the work of an advanced race of people who intend to destroy all life on the planet in order to consume its natural resources. The resources are transported to them via a wormhole-like anchor point produced by the Globe itself. Once Claude and crew learn the true nature of the advanced race they set out to destroy the source of the problem.


Interestingly enough, the plot of Star Ocean EX is compelling, but the actual execution leaves much to be desired. The majority of the show is mired in disappointing plot points and character development. There's nothing wrong with character development, but it shouldn't come at the expense of an interesting plot. At times it feels as if the writers at Studio Deen stuck too closely with the useless RPG elements of the story. The boring side adventures and quests eventually make their way back to the main story, but the process takes way too long. An adventure to an island to find treasure here, a serious quest for a rare artifact there, and an arms tournament tossed in for good measure. I know the point of such episodes was to help develop the characters, their motivations, and define their relationships, but it all felt like filler. It also reminded me of everything I hate about slow-paced RPGs fully displayed in the form of an anime.

For all of the time that the series spends on character development, that aspect of the series is a mixed bag. Claude and Rena are definitely the two best developed characters and they are the glue that holds the group together. By comparison Celina and Ashton are much less developed but are able to grow beyond their initial reasons for teaming with Claude and Rena. Unfortunately, Ashton is stuck with the comedy relief role, although I suspect that his relationship with the dragons on his back (Gyoro and Ururun) would have been fully explained in the second season that never came to be. Dias is only found in a number of key episodes, but it is clear that he serves as Claude's foil. The mysterious wandering swordsman is the one who helps Claude grow the most as a warrior. Unlike the rest of the characters who for the most part are upbeat, Dias is often found brooding. His gloomy outlook on life is due to a tragic past that left him orphaned, but he provides an interesting contrast to the rest of the characters.

Star Ocean EX has colorful and vibrant animation that is aided by a fairly decent soundtrack. The quality of the animation itself is at its highest in the beginning and the ending episodes, while everything else in between is decent. Fortunately the series doesn't suffer from drastic drops in quality, which often plagues some of Studio Deen's lower budget shows, like Ginga Densetsu Weed. Other than the opening theme "To the Light," and the ending theme "Hearts," much of Star Ocean EX's music is easily forgettable. Despite there being two CDs of the show's soundtrack, it won't find a place on your must buy list.



The dubbed version of Star Ocean EX was handled by Geneon Entertainment and released on six DVDs by the end of 2005. In the later half of 2006 Geneon released a complete box set of the series. The individual DVDs and the box set are easy to find online, even if new copies of the series are no longer in print. I haven't watched much of the dubbed version, but I found the acting to be acceptable. Celina and Ashton's arguments are actually more entertaining in English (perhaps because of localization efforts) than in the subbed version. Claude and Rena's voice actors are good, but I haven't heard enough of the dub to make a solid comparison. Because I watched so little of the dub I can't suggest one version over the other. I can say that the dub didn't grab me as outstanding, so if you prefer subtitles Star Ocean EX won't change your mind.



In the end, Star Ocean EX was an anime with tons of potential. It had an interesting plot, decent character development, and nice animation. Instead that potential was squandered by writing that dragged the 26-episode series out for far too long and dependence on a second season that would never air. Viewers of the series, especially those who never played Star Ocean: The Second Story on the PS1, are left to wonder how the story ended. By this time, the original Star Ocean 2 game is well over ten years old but not too difficult to find, it averages about $40 on eBay. Luckily, an enhanced port of the game titled Star Ocean: Second Evolution was just released on the PSP in January (also about $40 as of this writing). This updated version of the game includes full anime cut scenes (animated by Production I.G) and a different set of voice actors from than the EX anime. While it is not a satisfying conclusion to the anime itself, it is a definite way to see the story's completion. Perhaps this is a fitting end for an anime that failed to deliver on a promising story.

As Peter Griffin would say, "Holy crap!" two Geek Babble columns in the same week?! I blame the increasing desire to write and a sudden amount of free time this week. Enjoy it while it lasts, I know I'm going to. You can also thank Geoff for this entry. He insisted that we (and by we I mean the entire Damage Control staff) write more about what we're playing, watching and/or doing entertainment-wise. So I felt now would be a good time to talk about a show that has grown on me since I've stopped watching anime on Adult Swim.


Religious symbolism or just an awesome sight to behold? Time will tell, I hope.

I've actually managed to make good on my promise to try out anime on the Sci Fi Channel instead of Adult Swim. At first that promise was born of sheer frustration with the network, now it comes from sheer indifference. I really don't want to spend my Saturday nights staying up until 2:30am just to follow three shows, not when I can see them on Youtube or record them to my DVR box. And with the recent removal of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit from the Saturday night lineup, AS' offerings just became a little less interesting beyond BLEACH, Code Geass R2 and Shin Chan. Thankfully, watching Mobile Suit Gundam 00 on the Sci Fi Channel's Ani-Monday block has not been as disappointing.

Season one of Gundam 00 is reaching the end of its run the Sci Fi Channel. In fact, there are only five episodes of season one left, and four of those five episodes will be aired on February 2nd. After February 9th, Gundam 00 will take a break for a few months (or more) before season two (which is currently ongoing in Japan) is aired. I had some initial doubts about this series, given how much I disliked everything Gundam after the 08th MS Team aired here, but so far Gundam 00 has blown those doubts away. With the possible exception of Code Geass, Gundam 00 is one of the most compelling anime shows airing on U.S. television right now.


Having one of these guys show up in the middle of your war also signals a bad day if you love war, that is.

Gundam 00 makes a clean break from the fictional futuristic years found in most of the Mobile Suit Gundam series. Instead, it is set roughly 300 years in the future (2307 AD), and takes some of its plot elements from the post 9/11 political atmosphere, i.e. the present. The United States, Europe, China and even Russia are still major players in this alternative future, although world power is organized by major regions, instead of countries. Conflicts over energy, the use of alternative energy, and endless conflicts in some Middle Eastern countries still persist. Space and the space colonies are a major component of Gundam 00, but this series remains grounded in a very plausible reality. In this plausible reality, the Gundams and their young pilots (called Gundam Meisters) are charged with the total elimination of war itself, via a private armed organization only known as Celestial Being. The goal itself seems lofty, abstract, and rather foolish at times, but like many of the other Gundam series, the Gundam mobile suit weapons are the most advanced around. In other words, none of regional powers' mobile suits are able to stand up to them in combat, and war eventually begins to decline through sheer force and fear.


If these three new Gundams (called Gundam Thrones) show up then everyone should prepare to be annihilated.

Naturally, the plot isn't that simple as the pendulum of power swings back and forth. The world powers that promote and as a result, profit from war rebel against the idea of peace. The four young Gundam pilots are almost captured as the major military forces of the world unites against them. To make matters worse, they are rescued by three new Gundam Meisters, with their own violent and extreme agenda for ending global conflicts. It is unclear if the new Meisters are an original part of Celestial Being's ultimate goals, or if someone else is manipulating the organization to further promote war. I won't spoil much, as I plan to review season one after it finishes its run on February 9th. But as the first season of Gundam 00 draws to a close, I can't help but wonder what the true intentions of Celestial Being really are, and where the plot will go next. Sure, I could Youtube or torrent the newest season two episodes, but that kills the joy of having something to look forward to on TV. With that said, if you've missed out on this show, do yourself a favor and watch season one before season two eventually airs. Unless you absolutely hate sci-fi and giant robot shows, Gundam 00 won't disappoint you.


Images courtesy of the awesome anime blog, Random Curiosity.