Let's Talk Anime : All things Death Note

Ok before I start on the "Let's Talk Anime" post, I'd like to say that the reason I didn't do a "Retro Review" on Monday was because of 3 reasons. 1. I was busy playing Eternal Sonata. 2. I couldn't think of a game to do a "Retro Review" on and I didn't feel like sifting through my game collection. 3. It was Anzac Day and it's one of the few public holidays that has a real reason for existing and I was distracted by all the Anzac news reports. Anyway back to the topic at hand.

This week I thought I'd jump back into the popular waters and fish up an anime people adore and this on came up to the boat. Ok I admit I'm using stupids descriptive words for choosing Death Note but I felt creative... kinda. Anyway Death Note is my choice and I'm sure most people have already watched it, and if they haven't they should watch this after reading the mangas.

Death Note's description on the back of the mangas is,
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects-and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light's noble goal succeed, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

The series of mangas and the anime are essentially in 2 parts The first part is Light's battle against the world best detective L which is considered the best part of the series. The first part of the series introduces the main characters and has some of the best mind battles ever made. The second part of the series is Light Vs L's successors Near and Mello. In my opinion the whole series is good from start to finish but a lot of people say that the second part is weaker but those people are L fanboys. The series is a good murder mystery with a supernatural influence that culminates into a great series. Now there are a few extra thing in the Death Note series which are pretty much fanboy only things. The live action movies "Death Note" and "Death Note the last name" were a more focused version of the mangas without the Near and Mello chapters put into it with L eventually capturing Light. This movies are great but definitely made for L fanboys. More proof of this is in the 3rd live action movie "L change the world". Which focuses on the events after L captures Light and has him help a child would becomes Near and is the key to stopping virus from destroying life. "L change the world" was also made into a book and there is another book called "Death Note another note" which I honestly haven't read or own, but I will end up getting them. The main reason I don't have them is because of the fact that they are not really part of the main series and I spend my money on games more then books. Finally there's the Relight OVA series which is an abridged (not a parody abridged series) version of the series through a different perspective. Yes the are worth having even if you own the series because it helps get a little more in depth with the series while recapping what you've already experienced. It's a great series and everything related to it is great so you can't go wrong.

Death Note is AWESOME! Everyone should watch it if they are over the age of 15 and this is more enjoyable if your in your 20s and like crime dramas because this series is a crime drama that is well written and the mangas are better. Seriously the mangas are better then the series and is longer then the anime in terms of events. I suggest getting both and if you want you can get the novels and live action movies but there not crucial to the story in anyway. It's a series of older teens and up so it's better suited for people 18 and up but some younger people 15 to 17 years may like it but it's not very likely. It's a must own series regardless.

Let's Talk Anime : Everything Fullmetal Alchemist

Ok This week I talk about Fullmetal Alchemist, an anime that creates itself a unique setting that if plagiarised would be easily caught. I like this series and the newer version Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood which is essentially same thing but closer to the manga. Well it's this weeks choice.

Fullmetal Alchemist is the story of 2 boys, Alphonse and Edward Elric who are alchemists in a world where alchemy became the 1 true science and in an attempt to resurrect their mother Alphonse lost his body and Edward lost his left leg. Edward then gave up his Right arm to bring back the soul of his brother and bind it to a suit of armor. Now the brothers Elric are on a quest to find the legendary Philosopher's Stone, the one piece of alchemic material that has no laws of equivalent exchange bounded to it so they can restore their bodies back to normal. Also Edward has new prosthetic limbs called Automail which is why he got the title Fullmetal during an exam he took to become a state certified alchemist.

The story has a whole lot of stuff going on in it and for those who want the basic story start condensed should watch FMA Brotherhood. I love this anime. Mainly because of the world in which they live intrigues me and the story is well written. Admittedly the story of the original run series is a bit of a hike to get through but it is enjoyable and the new FMA Brotherhood, while condensed during the first 10 or so episodes does have some extras to it, plus people who watched the original will notice a lot of differences. The characters in the series are enjoyable and the villains are complex while being easy to read. The series is very story driven but it does have some action in it. I like it for the story more then the action and I also liked the movie which didn't feel like it was there to squeeze money out of fans, but to finish the story in a satisfying conclusion. The OVA on the other hand was a was of money! No new content worth talking about at all. It was released to squeeze money out of fanboys and I fell for it as well. Trust me don't bother wasting money on it because the videos on it are a virtual tour of duty as an alchemist, a stupid video of an Alphonse statue in Japan, a chibi rap up part for the FMA movie and a short with 3 kids who look like kid versions of Al, Ed and Whinry going to visit Grandpa Edward Elric aged 100 and you see a bunch of look alikes of characters from the series at different ages, nothing special at all.

FMA is a great series in my opinion and FMA Brotherhood is good as well but you are forgiven if you don't want it since you own the original and movie. It's a series that targets mid teens and up and I recommend both series when FMA Brotherhood gets released. I still say avoid the OVA unless you want it for collections sake.

Let's talk anime : Dragonball Z

Ok well I thought I'd talk about the anime everyone recognises as anime when you ask if they've ever watched an anime. I honestly am not a big fan of the series but I figured it needed to be done regardless. Well either way this week I'm talking about Dragonball Z.

Well the series is a long and arduous experience to say the least. I've seen every episode of every DBZ series other then Dragonball Kai which is DBZ but removing some of the more boring episodes. Dragonball Z is the continuation of the Dragonball saga continuing at least 5 to 6 years after Dragonball and starts with the arrival of Goku brother Radditz yadda yadda yadda, everyones seen the series so I don't need to explain. Now admittedly DBZ is a good action anime with awesome supernatural fights but the story telling is sub par. Especially since it's all fights and cheesy dialogue and the show got very sucky after the Cell Saga. I honestly think they should have stopped after that but Akira Toryama just didn't want to stop. The hardest sagas to sit through are the Buu sagas and the Freiza saga. The best are definitely the Android and Cell sagas because it has the best fights and the story while still a lump of crap isn't as bad here. DBZ is a bat sh*t crazy series that is definitely meant for 10 to 15 year olds because I enjoyed it as a kid when it first aired on Cheese TV in Australia but now I can stand it because it's just rubbish. Dragonball was good in both action and story but it's continuations were just crap, especially Dragonball GT. I honestly hate DBGT more then DBZ because it's just a tacked on series that had a crappy story, crappy fights and especially crappy characters like the Para Para Brothers.

DBZ is good for boy... BOYS! Adults won't be interested and adult who saw this as kids probably wont enjoy it as much as adults because of being exposed to stuff that has good stories like Dexter, True Blood and other various adult TV shows. I wouldn't recommend buying it on DVD unless you got kids.

Let's Talk Anime : Soul Eater

This hasn't been released in Australia just yet but in April you will get a chance to see it and I have seen the series in Japanese and the first 13 episodes in English and I'm collecting the mangas. Soul Eater is a different concept to the usual animes made and it's this week's Let's Talk Anime topic.

Ok here is a basic bit of information on the show/manga to give you an idea on what your in for. Maka Albarn and her weapon partner Soul Eater are students at the Death Weapon Meister Academy—DWMA (,Shibusen) or simply the Academy for short—located in the fictional Death City, in Nevada, United States. The school has many other students including Black Star with his weapon partner Tsubaki, and Death The Kid with his twin weapon partners Liz and Patty. The school is run by Shinigami/Grim Reaper,Death himself, as a training facility for weapons and the human wielders of those weapons, the meisters. Maka's goal, along with the other meisters, is to have their weapons defeat and absorb the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch, which will dramatically increase the power of the given weapon and turn them into Death Scythes, weapons capable of being used by Shinigami/Grim Reaper/Death . In the universe of Soul Eater, witches are powerful beings and the natural enemies of DWMA, as almost all of them have a destructive nature and desire chaos.

That's just the basics but the story is full of comedy and action and isn't meant for kids. It's definitely a 16+ age manga/anime and it's characters are all great. Trust me if you watch this you will enjoy it, with it's sexual references both verbal and visual, it's humour and action packed fight scenes you'll want to watch it again and again. The series starts with introduction episodes to the main characters and a basic idea of what the show is about and then around episode 8 I think when Crona and Ragnarok appear is when the actual plot and story build up. The second season is better then the first with more story driven episodes and the characters evolve in to more adult characters and when the final battle starts in the last 3 or 4 episodes of the series, you really see the difference from when they started and the final battle is awesome! One character I should mention is Excalibur. He's a weird weapon who will get a laugh out of you. He's a weird character who shows up a couple of times in the series and I like him.

Soul Eater is a good anime because it isn't the same as other series. While most series in anime/manga are similar to another series, Soul Eater is an original idea that isn't derived from anything I've ever heard of before and I think that this series could become very popular with the right publicity and being aired on a channel people will actually watch. I recommend every anime fan buy this series because it's just so good and if you miss out on it, your going to regret it.

Let's Talk Anime : Buso Renkin

This is another Shonen Jump manga series turned anime. Buso Renkin is made by the guy behind Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin Nobuhiro Watsuki, but unlike that series Buso Renkin is not as focused on the extreme action as Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin. This week I talk about an anime that actual is very accurate to the source material, now that's weird huh?

On the back of the mangas the little blurb says, High school student Kazuki Muto had no clue what he was in for when he rescued damsel in distress Tokiko from a monster known as "homunculus." Disguised as humans-who actually eat humans-homunculus are malevolent creatures that affix themselves to people's brains, and once fully grown, the only thing that can annihilate them is a weapon called Buso Renkin!

Yeah this description on the manga doesn't explain it very well but on the back of the first DVD collection says this. High school student Kazuki Muto thinks he's saving a girl from a monster, but it turns out that he's the one who needs saving! Kazuki is killed while fighting a homunculus, a malevolent creature that feeds on humans. The girl, Tokiko Tsumura, revives him by replacing his heart with an alchemical device called a kakugane. With this device Kazuki can create his own Buso Renkin, an alchemical weapon in the form of a huge lance capable of destroying homunculus.
With his new weapon in hand, Kazuki decides to join forces with Tokiko to eliminate the homunculi and destroy their master, the strange eccentric Papillon Masked Creator.

Now that description is a lot better then the mangas. Anyway the series is an action romantic comedy which has a lot of action, but it doesn't dominate the series completely. The action scenes are cool especially the fights against Kazuki and the god like Victor. The comedy is funny but appeals more to teens around 14 to 18 and the romance in it is between the two leads but isn't mushy like you would think. I like how Kazuki's friends refer to it as "Strawberry time" when Kazuki and Tokiko go missing together because it's just not something you'd hear at all in western culture. The series has a multitude of characters you can't help but love especially the flamboyant Papillon and the energetic Captain Bravo who calls himself that because and I quote, "because it's cooler that way". It's a short 26 episode series, but it's a good series that doesn't get boring or drag on til doomsday and as mentioned it's around 90% accurate to the 10 volume manga series.

Buso Renkin is an anime that has enough of everything for almost all audience and being a PG rated series it's suitable for everyone, but younger kids should have parents there to supervise I suppose. Anyway it's good fun to watch and I highly recommend this for DBZ fans who want something different or any anime fan. It's a good series and I like both the manga and anime and having both is recommended for the full story, but the anime is only missing a couple of chapters from the manga that aren't important but still worth reading none the less.

Let's Talk Anime : Halo Legends

Halo Legends recently came out and has mixed opinions about it, Halo fans especially. This weeks Let's Talk Anime is going to be on Halo Legends, which is one of a couple anime movies that is an American IP taken to Japan to get the anime treatment. It's 7 shorts from some of the biggest anime companies.

The box says on the back. This sweeping science-fiction saga delves into the rich Halo universe with seven exciting stories(told in 8 parts) focused on Master Chief's mysterious origins, the Spartans' advanced combat capabilities and the tense rivalry between Spartans and Orbital Drop Shock Troopers(ODSTs). Created in collaboration with some of the world's leading animators from Japan, Halo Legends draws you into the center of humankind's ongoing battles with the Covenant, dynamically depicted in cutting-edge animation styles that deliver breathtaking visuals and gripping adventure. Go beyond the game - and join the roll call of Halo Legends.

Sounds interesting huh? Well let me start by saying that this really is meant for Halo fans, so if you aren't one the stories will not be as significant to you but you may still enjoy it since it is designed for those who haven't played Halo to try and get them into the games.... but that may not work. I've talked with some Halo fans about this movie and they had mixed feelings. Some of my friends loved it because it gave them more understanding of the universe and a couple were Japanophoic about it before they saw if and hated it after watching it. I honestly liked it. The Halo legends first story is 'Origin 1 & 2'. This is both an introduction to the Halo universe and history lesson so people can understand how the games idea came out. This part is good because it sets the theme of the movie and tries to bring the viewer into the story. The second part is 'The Duel' which is a water coloured dabbed looking short that looks better in standard definition then HD. It looks at the Covenant elites culture, which looks very Japanese and is the origin of the Arbiter as a heretic in the Covenant ranks. It's a good short that will make people who like a samurai action film excited during the fight scenes and it's definitely made for action fans. The third part is 'Homecoming' which is one of the best ones on the DVD and the story focuses on the Spartans' origins and on a female Spartan who goes home to find a clone taking her place and receives a little bear from the clone that was originally hers. This part has the Halo shooty stuff in it but focuses more on the flashback of the Spartan in the firefight. The story is well told and I honestly wish they would have made it longer. The mid point part is the not so serious short 'Odd One Out' This one is a short that breaks the seriousness of the rest of the movie with a story about Spartan 1337... yeah, anyone who is fluent in cyberspeak, gamer talk or idiot should have worked out that it's Leet which is idiot/cyberspeak/gamer talk for elite. It's story is of Spartan 1337 falling off the back of a ship to land on a planet colonised by humans. He gets attacked by some kids pet dinosaur and he fights a cyber-brute in a over the top DBZ kind of fight with a couple of teens who look like the were designed by an Akira Toriyama fanboy. It's good because it throws the seriousness to the side to give a short enjoyable laugh. The fifth part is 'Prototype' which is about a soldier known as 'Ghost' who has a problem with showing emotions and fights to save a small unit from a Covenant attack in a prototype mobile armor. It's action packed and the story isn't in focus that much but it looks good. Part six is 'The Babysitter' which is about a squad of ODST who are given the task of sniping a 'Prophet' and teaming with a Spartan who will take the shot and the teams sniper doesn't like it. The story is ok in this, but it's one of the weaker parts in the story department. The final act is 'The Package' which is just a high octane CGI short that appeals more to the Halo fanboys more then the rest of it. What little story there is, is a squad of Spartans lead by Master Chief are tasked with rescuing a scientist from the Covenant fleet in the sector. The crowning moments in this are the First person perspective scenes with the Halo 3 HUD and it's all action with no substance. Like I said this will appeal to Halo fanboys more because of the CG and lack of story. Overall all the parts make a good movie, but it's hit and miss depending on the viewer.

To be completely honest if you are a Halo fan you will get this for collection and you'll probably like it. If however you have never played Halo, you may still enjoy this but there is a lot better things to watch.

Let's Talk Anime : Yu Yu Hakusho

This week I'm going to talk about one of my favourite animes that wasn't very popular for some strange reason... probably because of the first 5 episodes. Yu Yu Hakusho is a oldie but a goodie and the manga is pretty good too.

Let's start with the plot. The anime is about a teen punk named Yusuke Urameshi, who get's killed in the first episode. He wakes up to realise he's dead and Botan the grim reaper, pilot of the river Styx is there to tell him that he can come back to life if he passes a trial that Enma Jr aka Koenma gives him. After a bunch of stuff that nobody gives a crap about the real start of the show happens in episode 5 or 6 when Yusuke finds out he has spirit powers and can see demons from demon world. Yusuke is then forced into becoming spirit detective and fight demons with his rival turned friend Kuwabara, the demon fox Kurama and Hiei a character with such a weird origin story that you got to wait until the final saga to find out and there's a tournament in almost every saga and so on. Look in my honest opinion if you want to watch it, watch episodes 1 and 2 then skip to 5 and watch the recap and continue from there.

The show has a reasonable amount of violence for a Shonen Jump manga series turned anime and it's got a fair few one liners that can get a good laugh out of you. Voice acting in it is great, but if you watch it in Japanese then it wont be as funny or good overall. The series as I said has a tournament in almost every saga! The first tournament is short, the second IS a saga and the final saga's tournament is very short. Yusuke's party members in the show Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama add variety to the cast with differing personalities. Kuwabara is an idiot who is loyal to his friends, loses his temper quickly and has a thing for blue haired girls, Hiei is a demon who is dark an mysterious in appearance, has super speed and highly skilled at killing and always seems to act like he doesn't care, but is kind hearted to a small degree and cares dearly for his sister and Kurama is an intelligent demon who is level headed and powerful with such a weak looking exterior, he's clearly the most powerful of the 3 allies of Yusuke and even though he looks weak and compassionate he's not exactly like that in battle. The series will get some laughs out of you and the violence is good, but the story isn't as good as the rest. The story isn't bad mind you but it takes a back seat for the most part since there is so much action going on. This anime is meant more for a early to mid teen audience, but still enjoyable as an adult and admittedly there are a lot of better anime's out there, Yu Yu Hakusho is worth a rent to watch it at least.

Yu Yu Hakusho is good, but not great as an anime and the manga isn't much different either. It's a series for teen boys who want violence and even though this has violence that's well done, they'll just run to DBZ anyway. If your willing to give it a watch it's going to be one of those anime's you like or don't because it's audience isn't big like DBZ, but proves that it's still worth a watch.

Also whether you like the series or not you should watch Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged on Youtube from Lanipator. It's hilarious and I've yet to find a friend who didn't like it when I showed it to him. Lanipator also has a blog that you can check for info on the series and other stuff here.

Let's Talk Anime : Evangelion 1.01 You are (not) alone

This week I'm going to talk about Evangelion 1.0 You are (not) alone, which is a redefining of Neon Genesis Evangelion with a lot of the "boring" parts removed... or at least that's what some people have described it as. It's part of a series of movies called 'Rebuild the Evangelion'.

First off let me start with mentioning that I love Neon Genesis Evangelion. I own all the original DVD release, directors cut, movies and the Platinum release. This movie as an Evangelion fan came under 2 categories for me, good for people who haven't experienced Neon Genesis Evangelion and mildly disappointing but mostly good for original fans.

The plot of Evangelion 1.0 is Shinji Ikari is sent for by his estranged father, Gendo at the beginning of the film. As he wanders around the town, which has been shut down over an emergency announcement, he is caught in the crossfire between the U.N. army and the fourth Angel. Rescued by Lt. Colonel Misato Katsuragi, Shinji is brought to Tokyo-3 and NERV headquarters, where he is pressured by Gendo, NERV's Supreme Commander, into piloting the Evangelion Unit-01 against the Angel because the other Evangelion pilot, the mysterious Rei Ayanami, is too injured to do so. After the initial fight, Shinji is taken in by Misato as her new housemate and enrolled in middle school. The film portrays Shinji's attempts to "settle in" with his new found life alongside Misato, Rei, and the other characters while continuing to defend Tokyo-3 and the world from the coming Angels.

Unfortunately the English dub of this was a disappointment for me when it came to voice actors because the only originals to come back were Shinji Ikari's voice actor Spike Spencer and Misato Katsuragi's voice actor Alison Keith, but there performances weren't as good as in the original anime series and movies. Also the voice actors chosen from FUNimation for the other rolls were hit and miss when it came to the roles. As far as the overall quality of the voice acting it's so different to the way the original was recorded and fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion like me will have noticed that only an extremely small amount of dialogue seems to be the same and you'll end up running the original dialogue in your head as each familiar scene comes up and thinking 'What the...? This doesn't sound right?' and that's because the script was re-written for the Japanese version and it's 2 different dubbing companies that did the series and Evangeion 1.01. Honestly I think that newcomers to Evangelion will enjoy this while long time fans will love the look and flow of the movie but have gripes about various things, depending on the fan.

As far as the movie goes I recommend watching it regardless of seeing the series or not, but fans who haven't seen it you will enjoy it, but complain about different things. Also if you have seen the series, the story of the movie covers the first 6 episodes and if you don't watch it you don't need to feel like you have to.

Which do you prefer? The Rebuild the Evangelion movies or the original anime?

Let's Talk Anime : D.Gray-man

This is my new set of blog posts called "Let's Talk Anime" which is a set of blogs where I talk about the many animes I've watch and/or read the mangas of. For my first one I'm going to talk about D.Gray-man, an anime that a lot of people say has elements of other popular manga/anime.

The blurb on the back of each manga says this "Set in a fictional 19th century England, D.Gray-man is the story of Allen Walker, a 15 year old boy who roams the Earth in search of Innocence. Washed away to unknown parts of the world after The Great Flood, Innocence is the mysterious substance used to create weapons that obliterate the demons know as akuma.

Now first let me start by saying straight way that this anime is best enjoyed with the mangas as well because the manga continue after the series and and the anime has stories not in the mangas. I would also like to mention that FUNimations voice actor choices for this anime aren't as good as expected but doesn't ruin it overall. Trust me watch it in Japanese first and then watch the English version and you'll see what I mean. Unless you've watched it in English only, then you should watch the Japanese version anyway and you notice that some voices don't match like The Millennium Earl who's Japanese voice is far superior to the English voice. This anime is targeted at ages 15 and up and does have some violence in it but to be honest, the combat isn't bloody or gory but is exciting to watch the first time around. The story will grab your attention and is enjoyable but you need to be into supernatural stuff to enjoy it and unfortunately it's only 103 episodes but that's because during writing the manga series Katsura Hoshino, the person behind D.Gray-man got sick and it slowed down the progress of the mangas, which is still ongoing and has 19 Japanese and 16 English mangas released so far and manga 16 continues after the anime at chapter 157.

D.Gray-man is a good anime in my opinion and is worth checking out, but as I said it's an anime that is enjoyable if you like supernatural stuff and having the mangas fills in some gaps and continues the story further. The Wikipedia page says the genre is Dark Fantasy/Action.

What do you think of D.Gray-man?