Wolfe: Baccano! バッカーノ!

Wolfe reporting.

Just finished Baccano! last weekend, and it's actually been about a week without anime for me. Real life got busy. Sadface. Fortunately, I have a history of anime, so I'll be able to keep pumping out reviews, even if at a slower pace than before (closer to the weekly deal until life slows down a bit). The word Baccano is Italian for a "racket" or "ruckus", which, in and of itself, is a pretty decent description of the anime. The genre is, in my opinion: action, comedy, dark, adventure. I'm also introducing a brief section on "OP" (Over-Powered) which will not contribute towards the overall grading. So, let's get started!

I give it a 12.5 / 13! (=96%)

Concept: Well, the setting is back in the 1900's, but when it comes to the actual underlying concepts... {WARNING: SPOILERS} Oddly enough, the viewer doesn't really catch onto the actual underlying concept for a few episodes. If a certain elixir is drunk, one becomes immortal-- they stop aging, and, if harmed, take only a handful of seconds to recover fully. They can still be killed, but only temporarily. The only way they can truly be killed is if they are "eaten" or "devoured" by one of their fellow immortals, in a ritualistic act. Also: if an immortal is within earshot, other immortals have to use their real names (so as to be identifiable to each other). That's about it for the concept, in all honesty. It's the plot that's got more things going for it.

Introduction Sequence: 2 / 2. I thought the introduction was a bit long, but it was spoiler-free, and the song was (I guess) catchy. During the introduction sequence, they generally do a few brief clips from previous episodes, so as to remind the viewer that [x] and [y] happened previously. All the characters shown in the sequence are major characters, if this gives you some idea as to what I'll be talking about under "Plot". Link: Opening Sequence.

Animation Style: 2 / 2. I liked this animation style; it was very Steins;Gate-ish.

Examples:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/Ensuing/Baccano_1-1.jpg

http://www.animeclick.it/prove/serie/Baccano/Baccano21.jpg

Music: 1 / 1. I didn't necessarily dig the music, but I know there are loads of fans for this type. It often fit the mood well enough (to my disdain), with a cheery upbeat sensation to it. Link: Baccano! OST.

Plot: 3.5 / 4. Does this anime probably deserve a 4? In the eyes of most (being a popular anime, apparently), it probably does. I agree that it is well-done, indeed, but I found the introduction too slow-paced, the ending leaving a bad taste, and the progression either too simplistic or too complex. The plot itself is a complicated matter, definitely, most of the anime (episodes 1-13) revolving around what happened during a train ride. Each of the characters have a backstory, and each backstory is investigated with varying degrees of precision. You start off completely disoriented, and, piece by piece, work out exactly what happened where, with who and why. It is my opinion that the first episode was very poorly done, which is why I mark it down half a point in this category; the second episode (and beyond) was far an improvement. Episodes 14-16 were a bit odd to me, and I can't help but wonder if they weren't added in afterthought (as I would have been content with the climactic ending to Episode 13).

Characters: 4 / 4. I really, really disliked two of the characters (comic relief) for a majority of this anime, slowly desensitizing to them and eventually almost enjoying their screen time. But, I am not a fan of comic relief. (Side note: best as I can tell, it is solely because of these two characters that the anime was so well-received). However, character development was ever-present, each character thoroughly thought-out and displayed well, unique and with their own characteristics and backstory. In the introduction sequence, each character you see is a major character. In this particular anime, Characters and Plot cannot be untangled, for each has an arm around the other-- it was an interesting feel, quite unusual. However, whether or not I liked the characters, they were well-put-together and deserve credit as such (*cough* Roxas *cough* S;G *cough*).

OP: Good grief, some of these characters were OP. If you read past my spoiler warning under Concept, you'd understand only a small portion of how OP other (shall I say "normal") characters are. There's bullet deflection, physically-impossible feats, and some people took wounds far better than they really could've. Ladd Russo is my main example, although... AGH! I can't say the name of the other one without spoiling anything, apologies. There are others as well, of course, but those two especially.

If you like anime with a '90s feel to it, with comedy relief, action, adventure, and, yes, darkness (and by that I mean blood), then you'll enjoy Baccano! immensely. It's well-made.

Wallpapers:

http://gallery.minitokyo.net/download/344748

http://gallery.minitokyo.net/download/460114

http://www.wallcg.com/download/99040/baccano-high-quality-and-resolution-original/

AMV's:

These are some of the best AMV's I've had the pleasure of viewing!!
"Miss Murder" - EPIC!
"Ugly is Beautiful" - Great lip work!
"Rumble in New York" - Excellent newspaper work!
"Give Me More" - Decent!
"Don't Stop Me Now" - Ladd Russo Tribute

Where's everyone else? It's nice and lonely.

Next time: Dunno! We'll see what I feel like reviewing next.

Steins;Gate Review - Roxas

Hey, Roxas here with another review. For this anime I watched the subs, but I recommend watching both the subbed and dubbed versions, as both add their own flavor, both of which are very nice. I am in the process of watching the dubs right now. Now, on with the review.

H.G. Wells once said, "Man . . . can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way." This is the main idea that is illustrated in Steins;Gate. We all ponder the famous what ifs of time travel, and this anime puts its own interesting twists on this topic. I will mention that this anime was based off of a sim-game of the same name, and it shows. So buckle up lab members, and don't forget the three secret words before we jump into this review. El Psy Congroo!

Premise - Alright, so this story mainly revolves around the character Rintarou Okabe, a.k.a. Okarin, a.k.a. "Hououin Kyouma!". This guy is an over dramatic, paranoid, and slightly crazy self-proclaimed mad scientist. He believes that a large organization has taken over the world through time machines, and he must stop them. To help Okabe in his quest are his lab members Mayuri and Daru. These seemingly harmless and ignorant friends eventually find themselves entangled in a web of darkness, murder, and corruption. The premise, while seemingly simple in the beginning, becomes all the more intriguing as the full weight of events is seen as time goes on.

Animation - Watching this, you can tell that they did not have a lot of money to spend on the animation for this anime, but even though it is pretty average, it is done well with what they have to work with. Things stay fairly nice, and the world sticks with a more realistic look.

Plot - It is really hard to talk about the plot without spoiling anything, so I'll do my best to keep this free of spoilers. This plot was very up and down for me. At times, this show would be brilliant, and at other times this show made me want to fall asleep. When this show first started, it was quite boring, with episodes consisting of odd interactions and very little character or plot progression. It picks up after a few episodes, becoming both suspenseful and funny. These episodes contain some awesome and hilarious moments, and really endear you to the characters, except Mayuri, a.k.a. Mayushii, she's just annoying. After these great episodes, this anime reverts to a boring sim-date feel. These episodes consisted of having to get something for a woman, interacting with the woman, and having her fall in love with the main character, get the item, then repeat with a different woman. These episodes bored me to death. The worst part of this is that little plot or character development appears at all. Now we transition to last few episodes. These episodes are amazing, and most certainly make up for the previous episodes. These episodes are intense, and have a darker feel. And you will definitely have those "Ah! I get it!" moments. There is also an OVA episode, and it is terrible. It is a "fun" episode that is completely irrelevant, and very boring, but I am not putting this into consideration for the score, as it is merely a single OVA.

Characters:
Most of the main characters are very well done, specifically Hououin Kyouma. Very few times have I ever seen such a natural evolution of a character. I felt very connected to him the whole time, and he always seemed to be a person you could actually meet. Another job well done in this part are the character interactions between Kyouma and Makise Kurisu. Their relationship evolves beautifully, and also felt very real through its entirety. Kurisu is a very well done character, and was surprisingly dynamic, given the plot situation (don't worry, no spoilers). The other "main" characters, however, did not feel so natural. Mayuri felt like a cookie-cutter and static character throughout, and her character development did not do much to pull me in. She has one or two moments of depth, but on the whole feels like a facsimilie. Granted some of the reason Mayuri never really develops past her shallow self is due to some plot elements, but even so, Makise was bound by the same plot rules as Mayuri was, and Makise was quite developed. Daru fared better than Mayuri at times, but not of his own merit. A certain interaction with another character gives him a nicely added dimension. I won't really go more in-depth for the other characters, as these are the main ones. Let's just say, they don't develop that well either, except maybe for Suzuha Amane.
  
Verdict - With all its ups and downs, in the end, Steins;Gate is a solid anime that you should certainly watch, as long as you don't mind that it doesn't have a lot of action.

Score - 8/10

Wallpapers:

images.alphacoders.com

imgbase.info

images2.alphacoders.com

gallery.minitokyo.net

AMVs:

Great cutting on this one!

Cool effects!

Wolfe: Corpse Princess / Shikabane Hime (屍姫)

Wolfe reporting.

I watched Corpse Princess (aka Shikabane Hime) a while ago. 屍姫 : roughly translated, it's "dead" and "princess". I'm also starting a new category, "Concept", based off of Roxas' "Premise", that doesn't hold any weight (any negatives or positives will be attributed to "Plot"). I found the anime by a suggestion from Claymore, one of my classic cornerstones in anime. And, in all reality, it's very similar to Claymore. While it's arguably not a "great" anime, I liked it, especially the darkness and the bad guys (the Seven Stars). The genre is labeled as thus: romance, horror, action. While the romance seems fairly hollow/shallow to me, I very much enjoy the horror, and the action is fairly straightforward (Claymore with guns, effectively). So, let's get started!

I give it a 8.5 / 13! (= 65%)

Concept: I'll start this out by explaining (best I can) about the concept of a Shikabane in the first place. A Shikabane is the name for someone who died and hung onto life because of a powerful regret or obsession-- it's very rare, so just because someone has a powerful regret/obsession doesn't at all mean that they'll become a Shikabane upon death. Shikabane can sometimes look the same, but oftentimes have very different appearances-- very much akin to the Awakened Beings in Claymore. Also like Awakened Beings, the Shikabane are superhuman in strength, size, etc.-- like a spirit that is also solid, if that makes sense. They are prone to changing form. Humans basically can't harm them (and maybe not see them either-- it's been a while since I've seen the anime). So, basically, when someone has died and is turning into a Shikabane, if a priest (that's the best word I have for them) is there, the soon-to-be Shikabane can willingly choose to serve them, then transforming them into a Shikabane Hime. Shikabane Hime are able to stay in this world due to Rune (life-energy) provided by the priest. Shikabane Hime are used to hunt Shikabane (again, like in Claymore, where half-Yoma half-human Claymores hunt Yoma). Their incentive? Once they kill 108 Shikabane, they get to go to Heaven (whereas killed Shikabane are certain to go to Hell). Shikabane Hime are nearly invincible, able to survive very very grevious wounds, only able to be killed by having their brain destroyed or by being chopped up into little tiny pieces. Extra card: Shikabane (not Shikabane Hime) have a curse, an ability they can use and/or have to use (and that's about all I can say on that without spoilers).

Introduction Sequence: 2 / 2. I don't necessarily think it's the best intro by a long shot, but it has all the elements I like. It doesn't spoil much, accurately portrays the anime, is fast-paced, has eye-candy action and a song that's okay. Link: Opening Sequence.

Animation Style: 2 / 2. I enjoy this animation style. Absolutely no chibi here, assuming I recall correctly. It's right up there with Steins;Gate.

Examples:

http://img.zimabdk.com/uploads/13776650852.jpg

http://static.minitokyo.net/reviews/1722_2.jpg

Music: 1 / 1. I'm actually making assumptions by giving it this rating-- I recall the music setting the tone perfectly well at dark/horror parts, and yet, the OST is pretty bland/generic. Link: Shikabane Hime OST.

Plot: 2 / 4. I very much enjoyed the second half of the anime, but the first half was incredibly lacking. I'd have given it a "0.5" were it not for the second half. If I was reviewing just the second half, I'd have given it a "3", maybe. There was some romance throughout, but it was very hollow/shallow; it didn't land well, and, as Roxas'll tell you, I can normally attach to characters very easily. There was a lot of action, and the action was actually very good. Simplex and straightforward, but good. Like swordfighting in Claymore, Shikabane Hime fight Shikabane with guns (and I do believe there are a few sword-users). There were some very dark and twisted parts to this anime, and I absolutely adored these-- for these, I was definitely willing to overlook the poor romance. I also adored the bad guys! The main bad guys, the Seven Stars, are very slowly introduced, shrouded in mystery for the first half of the anime. I'm especially a fan of three of the Seven Stars, but naming them and their abilities would be quite the spoiler, sadly. The plot follows the main girl character, a Shikabane Hime, but the camera (so to speak) mostly follows the main boy character (who I don't really like, sorry).

Characters: 1.5 / 4. The characters weren't very good, and I reckon that was the issue. I mean, I'm in complete adoration of the Seven Stars, but they're the only characters I liked. There were some temporary characters that I liked, but usually they aren't seen long and are never seen again (hard to explain why). Some characters were weak, and others were overpowered (although, happily, not nearly as much as the Seven Stars). Some characters were obviously eye candy (women). I will say that Raki (from Claymore) is almost exactly alike to the main male character. He's something of a crybaby who's in love with a powerful girl, who has these overly-optimistic ideals regarding "no war", "no pain", "no death" scenarios. The women are touched that he cares for them, etc. etc. Shallow and hollow, really.

If you like the dark and twisted, a long lead-in, and untouching romance, then this is the anime for you. As for myself, I just liked the dark and twisted (and, eventually, the bad guys).

Do excuse my constant Claymore references. This anime truly is ever so similar to Claymore.

Wallpapers:

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/20800000/makina-shikabane-hime-20891770-1024-768.jpg

http://cdn.madman.com.au/images/series/series_15818.jpg

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo186/slayer545/snapshot20081205011024.jpg

http://baratijasblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/10cbe66a2c93e2af22e302667cfa9bc6.jpg

AMV's:
EPIC AMV
AMV (Thriller)
AMV

We miss Baldr. He'll show up. Eventually.

We have a new admin in the house!! His name is Demothis ("deemo"+ "this" as in "thistle"). He's been an Animehead for a long time! (As Japanese doesn't exactly have a "th" sound, the closest I can manage is デモせ). Welcome!

Next time: Baccano! I'm not quite done yet, but it'll likely be my next review, unless I manage to pump out one within two days somehow.