You should know the name Satoshi Kon. Millennium Actress, Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika? The Hitchcock of anime decided after his first three movies that he had more ideas to play with, so what did he do? He dumped all his unused stories into a 13-episode mini-series that does to society what a starfish does to a fiddler crab. Look it up on Wikipedia – it’s awesome! And Paranoia Agent isn’t that bad, either.
The surrealist psychological drama centers upon the mystery of Shonen Bat (‘Lil Slugger in English), a mysterious young boy terrorizing emotionally cornered citizens with a bent, golden baseball bat. Ah, little league tee-ball; those were the days. Our lead detectives have no leads and each victim leads only to more dead ends as the murky legend of Shonen Bat reaches mythic, nearly super-natural proportions. The strangest part of these attacks: the victims lose their worldly troubles; their head traumas make them happier. Not very hard for the average Japanese cram school student, let me tell you. So just when you start to fear Shonen Bat, you start to respect him…then go right back to into being terrified, like a circus clown with a flamethrower.
Kon roped-in Seishi Manakami for the script. His goal was to shift perspectives by changing the main character in each episode, giving viewers a macrocosm of Shonen Bat’s influence. Each character gives a very personal POV into their individual case, personal struggle, and eventual encounter with Shonen Bat. Some episodes can be watched on their own as their characters have little relevance to the larger story. Such episodes are magnificent fillers, but Kon’s fingerprints are all over each of them. His grasp of human emotion, psychology and story structure are frighteningly accurate, which makes the black humor in Paranoia Agent even funnier and more poignant. If you laughed at Heath Leger in The Dark Knight, you’ll get a few sick chuckles out of episode eight.
What draws me to Paranoia Agent, from the old-fashioned detective to the reserved animator to the schizophrenic tutor to the fallen golden child to the lecherous reporter, was the pathos developed with every character. Every character is a case study for the psychological pressures of modern Japan. The situations are very believable and the stress of Tokyo almost becomes its own character as students, teachers, and the elderly are all equally pressed from all sides by the struggle to match society’s expectations.
As a testament to Satoshi Kon’s micromanagement prowess as a director, every episode features a repetitive sound that sets the pace and structure for the story. Speaking of sound, the bizarre pseudo-techno, dreamlike music of Susumu Hirasawa (Paprika, Berserk, and Millennium Actress) adds another level to this visual mind-screw into a scrambled but beautiful mess, like a naked rugby game during a hurricane.
During his interview on the first DVD, Kon mentioned his fascination over a child’s ability to create a stomach ache just to avoid going to school. Thematically, avoiding responsibility is the social and emotional paralysis that summons Shonen Bat. If you watch this series and keep “accountability” in mind, you will understand every symbolic shot in this series.
Obviously not for little kids, but this masterwork deserves at least a gander from any fan of Hitchcock, Memento, or Misery. For the ridiculously low price you can find it for, it deserves a spot on your shelf. The English dub is unmatched in its execution. It is exciting, dangerous, and visually dazzling stories like this that keep me watching anime.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Podcast Review Finally Posted
S'up guys,
Hope y'all are excited and bored, because Vampt Vo over at anigamers.com has released our podcast review of Ghost Hound. Take the poll to the left after you listen and let us know how we can improve for next time!
http://www.anigamers.com/2008/09/ani-gamers-podcast-005-ghost-hound.html
Hope y'all are excited and bored, because Vampt Vo over at anigamers.com has released our podcast review of Ghost Hound. Take the poll to the left after you listen and let us know how we can improve for next time!
http://www.anigamers.com/2008/09/ani-gamers-podcast-005-ghost-hound.html
Monday, September 8, 2008
Otaku Mex - Anime Geekery in Albuquerque
Albuquerque? Seriously? People living there?
I could not contain my excitement when this con chair e-mailed me back. I not only participated in game shows, masquerades, panels, and autograph sessions, but I finally had album number 2 "What's the Hell Your Heart" recorded.
More importantly, I met some of the most humble, generous and easy-going otaku I've ever seen. All you parents and first-time con-goers, thank you for coming along and having a good time. The staff made the whole weekend mellow. The food around the Southwest is incredible and drenched in green salsa.
To Andi and Krystal and Bear and Justin and Isiah and everyone else - I have never felt a power like this before; you guys put me up with ACTUAL anime industry celebrities and made me feel like an even bigger winner than John Goodman's tapeworm.
Our other guest, Kyle Herbert, Jan Frazier, Yamila, and Steve Bennett, you guys taught me how to carry the undeserved glory with dignity and open mindedness.
With my move to NY coming up, it's gonna get hard, but fingers crossed, friends.
New York Anime Fest.
Tekkoshocon 1/2 in Pittsburgh has invited me. What am I gonna do, say no?
SITacon
Zenkaikon
and then I'll poop!
To all of you from Otaku Mex, thank you.
Gratitude and sprinkles from the cupcake,
~Yo
I could not contain my excitement when this con chair e-mailed me back. I not only participated in game shows, masquerades, panels, and autograph sessions, but I finally had album number 2 "What's the Hell Your Heart" recorded.
More importantly, I met some of the most humble, generous and easy-going otaku I've ever seen. All you parents and first-time con-goers, thank you for coming along and having a good time. The staff made the whole weekend mellow. The food around the Southwest is incredible and drenched in green salsa.
To Andi and Krystal and Bear and Justin and Isiah and everyone else - I have never felt a power like this before; you guys put me up with ACTUAL anime industry celebrities and made me feel like an even bigger winner than John Goodman's tapeworm.
Our other guest, Kyle Herbert, Jan Frazier, Yamila, and Steve Bennett, you guys taught me how to carry the undeserved glory with dignity and open mindedness.
With my move to NY coming up, it's gonna get hard, but fingers crossed, friends.
New York Anime Fest.
Tekkoshocon 1/2 in Pittsburgh has invited me. What am I gonna do, say no?
SITacon
Zenkaikon
and then I'll poop!
To all of you from Otaku Mex, thank you.
Gratitude and sprinkles from the cupcake,
~Yo
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk
The Japanese studio Gonzo introduced a breakthrough in inter-continental television when it announced that two shows this season would be released online with English subtitles the same night as they premiered on television in Japan. So apparently they got my letters….Gonzo 1, Santa 0. Tower of Druaga can be found (and bought) legally by download or watched on the site at www.crunchyroll.com for fewer than three dollars an episode. Spoiler: it’s worth it!
Revolutionary marketing set aside, I found Tower of Druaga to be a magnificent classic high fantasy setting with memorable characters, ground-breaking scenery (gotta put a penny in the pun jar again), and a masterfully told story. This twelve-episode first season now owns my heart, hugging, teasing and scratching it like a middle school relationship.
Druga centers on a land ruled by King Gilgamesh, who, ages ago, scaled the Tower of Druga, the epitome of evil, and by using every cliché in the book, saved the princess and became king. Problem was the Tower still stands. Cities live in constant threat of the monsters that poor out of it, and much of the population dedicate themselves to becoming Climbers, adventurers who seek to climb the monstrosity and claim the Blue Crystal Rod on top.
Sounds like the set-up to every video game besides Pacman, doesn’t it? It is. In fact, Druaga was made in homage to an 8-bit video game of the same name. Just like in every story, our main character is a bright-eyed, loosely drawn “I-wanna-protect-my-friends-no-matter-what” type named Jil, whose only strength is his physical resilience and unbreakable shield. After being dumped from his powerful yet cold big brother Neeba’s party, Jil gathers a rag-tag band of losers in hopes of scaling the tower and becoming a hero.
This is a world filled with classes but no leveling up, magic but no MP. In short, Druga is a world where the video game is the world. Jil is joined by a dark-haired priestess named Kayaa, her patient powerhouse partner Amrey, the boastful aristocrat mage Melt and his assistant, Coopa, who is the greatest intern of all time. Once their party is assembled, they must compete with Uruk’s national army, a guerilla army of other Climbers, Neeba’s epic gang, and a malicious wind sorcerer.
So how did the script writer for Full Metal Panic, the character designer of Burst Angel and the director of Last Exile handle such material? With the tact, charm and humor of true fans. There are dramatic episodes which are well-written and full of pathos, but the true majesty of this series comes from the comedic episodes, which not only make video game references but turn the world into a classic 8-bit parody of the original game! I recommend episode five. That is all you need to know. Do not be scared away by the ridiculous delusion that was the first episode; it’s the greatest parody of action/fantasy anime I have seen this year.
Fantasy fans are in for a treat. Cosplayers should start milking this teat before next year’s season two premieres. Anime fans will have a great series to introduce their fantasy friends into anime. Why? Because the script, specifically its humor and ability to transform old jokes rather than rely on stereo-types and repetition. I stand in awe of Coopa’s comedic timing and golem-like strength that never gets addressed seriously. The animation is so pristine, I’d almost accuse Gonzo of putting all their eggs in one basket. Shading and weather effects are gracefully added, though the occasional computer-rendered monsters (Druaga himself, ew) prove distracting.
It’s a great climb, full of danger, magic missiles, dragons, knights, wizards, wizard interns, backstabs, and meaningful demises that builds up to the single most evil cliffhanger since the first season of Code Geass. Tower of Druaga wins, finds the Master Sword and obtains epic status.
Revolutionary marketing set aside, I found Tower of Druaga to be a magnificent classic high fantasy setting with memorable characters, ground-breaking scenery (gotta put a penny in the pun jar again), and a masterfully told story. This twelve-episode first season now owns my heart, hugging, teasing and scratching it like a middle school relationship.
Druga centers on a land ruled by King Gilgamesh, who, ages ago, scaled the Tower of Druga, the epitome of evil, and by using every cliché in the book, saved the princess and became king. Problem was the Tower still stands. Cities live in constant threat of the monsters that poor out of it, and much of the population dedicate themselves to becoming Climbers, adventurers who seek to climb the monstrosity and claim the Blue Crystal Rod on top.
Sounds like the set-up to every video game besides Pacman, doesn’t it? It is. In fact, Druaga was made in homage to an 8-bit video game of the same name. Just like in every story, our main character is a bright-eyed, loosely drawn “I-wanna-protect-my-friends-no-matter-what” type named Jil, whose only strength is his physical resilience and unbreakable shield. After being dumped from his powerful yet cold big brother Neeba’s party, Jil gathers a rag-tag band of losers in hopes of scaling the tower and becoming a hero.
This is a world filled with classes but no leveling up, magic but no MP. In short, Druga is a world where the video game is the world. Jil is joined by a dark-haired priestess named Kayaa, her patient powerhouse partner Amrey, the boastful aristocrat mage Melt and his assistant, Coopa, who is the greatest intern of all time. Once their party is assembled, they must compete with Uruk’s national army, a guerilla army of other Climbers, Neeba’s epic gang, and a malicious wind sorcerer.
So how did the script writer for Full Metal Panic, the character designer of Burst Angel and the director of Last Exile handle such material? With the tact, charm and humor of true fans. There are dramatic episodes which are well-written and full of pathos, but the true majesty of this series comes from the comedic episodes, which not only make video game references but turn the world into a classic 8-bit parody of the original game! I recommend episode five. That is all you need to know. Do not be scared away by the ridiculous delusion that was the first episode; it’s the greatest parody of action/fantasy anime I have seen this year.
Fantasy fans are in for a treat. Cosplayers should start milking this teat before next year’s season two premieres. Anime fans will have a great series to introduce their fantasy friends into anime. Why? Because the script, specifically its humor and ability to transform old jokes rather than rely on stereo-types and repetition. I stand in awe of Coopa’s comedic timing and golem-like strength that never gets addressed seriously. The animation is so pristine, I’d almost accuse Gonzo of putting all their eggs in one basket. Shading and weather effects are gracefully added, though the occasional computer-rendered monsters (Druaga himself, ew) prove distracting.
It’s a great climb, full of danger, magic missiles, dragons, knights, wizards, wizard interns, backstabs, and meaningful demises that builds up to the single most evil cliffhanger since the first season of Code Geass. Tower of Druaga wins, finds the Master Sword and obtains epic status.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Mnemosyne - The Daughters of Mnemosyne
Boobies! Bondage! Bloodshed!
And that’s just the opening credits!
I assume most of you are still reading…please ask your parents to leave the room now.
Due to the extreme graphic nature of this work of supernatural mystery, you cannot claim fandom to Mnemosyne without being labeled one of “those fans.” The kind that never leaves his basement except to post reviews of anime series like Mnemosyne. Nevertheless, every series deserves a chance to tell its story…right?
Rin Asogi’s day job as a jack-of-all-trades investigator is just a cover for her true identity. She, like a handful of other women around the world, has been touched by a time spore of the great tree Yggdrasil, the literal keeper of human memory. As a result, Rin is immortal (in both the Highlander and the Wolverine sense). Her habit of sticking her nose in criminals’ businesses makes her the target for extremely sick mercenaries. With each chapter of the six-episode mini-series, we learn another fact about her relationship to Yggdrasil and its plans for her while encountering the sadist of the day.
Due to Rin and her partner Mimi’s immortality, many years skip between episodes, going from 1990 to 2055, which was an interesting way to show Rin (and her fashion sense) as the only consistency over the years.
I like Rin. Built like Faye Valentine, iron-willed as Misato from Eva but somehow retaining her natural compassion. She assumes a very male role in order to protect her clients, but at the day’s end, she is still a woman grasping for affection. Her views on man’s fragility cause her to hold back many punches against the people trying to killer her. Though she can kick ass using an array of odd weaponry, including darts, chains and a shotgun-shell-loaded boxing glove, she gets her ass handed to her quite a bit. The ways she dies include, but are by no means limited to…
- Head trauma
- Shotgun
- Grenade
- Thrown through an airplane engine
- I-beam to the face
- Unnecessary surgery
No review of Mnemosyne would be complete without touching upon its key element: sadistic violence toward naked women. Good lord. Do not watch this anime while your parents, or people whom you wish to respect you, are in the same hemisphere.
Script-writer Hiroshi Ohnogi remained true to the original novel by sparing us no gory detail. The depravity in this series is enough to make Stephen King blush. Remember how those women become immortal? Men turn into powerful red-winged angels that dress like The Rocky Horror Picture Show meeting Hellraiser. These angels seek out immortals in order to embrace them in the throes of boundless sexual desire while literally chewing them to pieces.
Sex and violence become the same grotesque pulse that thrusts the story forward. Rin is persistently hunted by a seemingly immortal cyborg assassin who gets her pleasure from watching Rin squirm. Even worse is a fellow immortal named Apos, voiced in Japan by the same actor who does Gaara from Naruto. His boyish good looks don’t justify the pile of nude, impaled women he keeps in his gardens, hoping to one day add Rin to his collection, next to the tulips and the severed heads.
Since the nudity and violence are the aesthetic focus, the mysteries that Rin investigates are usually complicated and fluff that buy time between brutal slayings – don’t expect much from the mysteries, just be happy for the rare times that Rin is wearing pants and a shirt.
Still reading? It gets worse!
I actually like this series.
To see Rin beaten as badly as she is and still find the strength to fight back and protect her friends is downright inspiring, and I found myself choking from grief (as well as vomit) from the cliff-hangers that rock the second half of the series.
Obviously, this show is not for everyone. In fact, the people whom this graphic story is geared toward should probably register themselves at meganslaw.com. Still, I enjoy the soft ambience and electric guitar of Takayuki Negishi’s music, very reminiscent of the video game Parasite Eve. Visually, this is considerably low-budgeted, but the scene direction is superb. Shigeru Ueda (director of Blood + and Serial Experiments Lain) could have made the series extreme close-ups and talking heads, but he keeps the camera moving, focusing on Rin’s kinetic energy and honing time-passing montage sequences very well.
I will not openly encourage you to watch this show; but if you can handle the traumatic depravity of Elfen Lied and want older characters who don’t cry nearly as much, and you are mature enough to keep your hands where I can see them, seek ye the daughters of Mnemosyne.
And that’s just the opening credits!
I assume most of you are still reading…please ask your parents to leave the room now.
Due to the extreme graphic nature of this work of supernatural mystery, you cannot claim fandom to Mnemosyne without being labeled one of “those fans.” The kind that never leaves his basement except to post reviews of anime series like Mnemosyne. Nevertheless, every series deserves a chance to tell its story…right?
Rin Asogi’s day job as a jack-of-all-trades investigator is just a cover for her true identity. She, like a handful of other women around the world, has been touched by a time spore of the great tree Yggdrasil, the literal keeper of human memory. As a result, Rin is immortal (in both the Highlander and the Wolverine sense). Her habit of sticking her nose in criminals’ businesses makes her the target for extremely sick mercenaries. With each chapter of the six-episode mini-series, we learn another fact about her relationship to Yggdrasil and its plans for her while encountering the sadist of the day.
Due to Rin and her partner Mimi’s immortality, many years skip between episodes, going from 1990 to 2055, which was an interesting way to show Rin (and her fashion sense) as the only consistency over the years.
I like Rin. Built like Faye Valentine, iron-willed as Misato from Eva but somehow retaining her natural compassion. She assumes a very male role in order to protect her clients, but at the day’s end, she is still a woman grasping for affection. Her views on man’s fragility cause her to hold back many punches against the people trying to killer her. Though she can kick ass using an array of odd weaponry, including darts, chains and a shotgun-shell-loaded boxing glove, she gets her ass handed to her quite a bit. The ways she dies include, but are by no means limited to…
- Head trauma
- Shotgun
- Grenade
- Thrown through an airplane engine
- I-beam to the face
- Unnecessary surgery
No review of Mnemosyne would be complete without touching upon its key element: sadistic violence toward naked women. Good lord. Do not watch this anime while your parents, or people whom you wish to respect you, are in the same hemisphere.
Script-writer Hiroshi Ohnogi remained true to the original novel by sparing us no gory detail. The depravity in this series is enough to make Stephen King blush. Remember how those women become immortal? Men turn into powerful red-winged angels that dress like The Rocky Horror Picture Show meeting Hellraiser. These angels seek out immortals in order to embrace them in the throes of boundless sexual desire while literally chewing them to pieces.
Sex and violence become the same grotesque pulse that thrusts the story forward. Rin is persistently hunted by a seemingly immortal cyborg assassin who gets her pleasure from watching Rin squirm. Even worse is a fellow immortal named Apos, voiced in Japan by the same actor who does Gaara from Naruto. His boyish good looks don’t justify the pile of nude, impaled women he keeps in his gardens, hoping to one day add Rin to his collection, next to the tulips and the severed heads.
Since the nudity and violence are the aesthetic focus, the mysteries that Rin investigates are usually complicated and fluff that buy time between brutal slayings – don’t expect much from the mysteries, just be happy for the rare times that Rin is wearing pants and a shirt.
Still reading? It gets worse!
I actually like this series.
To see Rin beaten as badly as she is and still find the strength to fight back and protect her friends is downright inspiring, and I found myself choking from grief (as well as vomit) from the cliff-hangers that rock the second half of the series.
Obviously, this show is not for everyone. In fact, the people whom this graphic story is geared toward should probably register themselves at meganslaw.com. Still, I enjoy the soft ambience and electric guitar of Takayuki Negishi’s music, very reminiscent of the video game Parasite Eve. Visually, this is considerably low-budgeted, but the scene direction is superb. Shigeru Ueda (director of Blood + and Serial Experiments Lain) could have made the series extreme close-ups and talking heads, but he keeps the camera moving, focusing on Rin’s kinetic energy and honing time-passing montage sequences very well.
I will not openly encourage you to watch this show; but if you can handle the traumatic depravity of Elfen Lied and want older characters who don’t cry nearly as much, and you are mature enough to keep your hands where I can see them, seek ye the daughters of Mnemosyne.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Podcast with Anigamers
For anyone interested, Vampt Vo and I will soon be posting our podcast-style review of Production I.G's Ghost Hound at www.anigamers.com.
Is this the beginning of something far larger for Uncle Yo? Only time will tell.
Post your comments, let us know what we did right, what we did wrong, and how we can cater to YOU and be the best little podcast we can be.
In quick news, a shout-out to Otaku Mex in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the New York Anime Fest. Good times will soon be had by all.
Is this the beginning of something far larger for Uncle Yo? Only time will tell.
Post your comments, let us know what we did right, what we did wrong, and how we can cater to YOU and be the best little podcast we can be.
In quick news, a shout-out to Otaku Mex in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the New York Anime Fest. Good times will soon be had by all.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Wrath of the Ninja
Wrath of the Ninja: the Yotoden Movie is one of those classic anime that is quickly sinking into obscurity. Not quite as detailed or bloody as Ninja Scroll, not as political as Rurouni Kenshin and not nearly as silly as Naruto, this movie still strikes hard at any classic anime fan’s heart like a spring-loaded dagger.
To make this review interesting, we’re going to turn this review into a drinking game. Every time I mention a cliché in this movie’s plot, I want you all to take a drink from whatever you’ve got.
The Japanese Middle Ages: Our hero is a determined and level-headed young ninja woman named Ayame, the sole survivor of her village. Before the demons could consume her, her brother (in a drawn-out and much-repeated flashback) gives her the village’s super-awesome short sword with which she may rid the world of evil and stop the evil lord Nobunaga Oda from taking over the world. Along her merry way, she gains two friends, other rogue ninja who also possess legendary weapons: a spear and a long sword. They travel, smiting evil until it comes down to Ayame and Oda (now transformed into something that would make Inuyasha’s Naraku retch) and, having screamed the loudest, blows him apart in a big bright explosion, thus bringing the ending credits to the screen.
Though it is unfair to review Wrath of the Ninja without the three-episode OAV Yotoden, WotN is still a pretty solid example of fantasy ninja before chakra was introduced. The retro blurred backgrounds, mysterious supporting characters and destiny-babble do not subtract from the charm of this classic. What can really grind your nerves about this movie is the absence of originality; this is a great anime if you want to parody existing anime.
Granted, the pacing and odd transitions in time, as well as the emotional distance of the main characters makes this a hard one to watch with friends; rather than watching the screen, you may find yourself looking at your watch instead.
To make this review interesting, we’re going to turn this review into a drinking game. Every time I mention a cliché in this movie’s plot, I want you all to take a drink from whatever you’ve got.
The Japanese Middle Ages: Our hero is a determined and level-headed young ninja woman named Ayame, the sole survivor of her village. Before the demons could consume her, her brother (in a drawn-out and much-repeated flashback) gives her the village’s super-awesome short sword with which she may rid the world of evil and stop the evil lord Nobunaga Oda from taking over the world. Along her merry way, she gains two friends, other rogue ninja who also possess legendary weapons: a spear and a long sword. They travel, smiting evil until it comes down to Ayame and Oda (now transformed into something that would make Inuyasha’s Naraku retch) and, having screamed the loudest, blows him apart in a big bright explosion, thus bringing the ending credits to the screen.
Though it is unfair to review Wrath of the Ninja without the three-episode OAV Yotoden, WotN is still a pretty solid example of fantasy ninja before chakra was introduced. The retro blurred backgrounds, mysterious supporting characters and destiny-babble do not subtract from the charm of this classic. What can really grind your nerves about this movie is the absence of originality; this is a great anime if you want to parody existing anime.
Granted, the pacing and odd transitions in time, as well as the emotional distance of the main characters makes this a hard one to watch with friends; rather than watching the screen, you may find yourself looking at your watch instead.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
