Thursday 10 April 2003

Pic of the day: High speed trench coat flying anime! And more! Konnichiwa, otaku!

New anime fansub review day!

Yes, today's entry is all about Japanese animation (kind of like cartoons) translated by fans. So, I will forgive you if you don't read. On the other hand, I guess my reviews reveal some things about me. And this site is all about me, right? My monument to myself! So, off we go. And for the rest of you: See you another time!

There is a slew of new series being translated now. It seems to me that the fansub groups compete about translating the same series, which I think is a waste of time. Most of them are readable, so they should share the work between them and take some time off by the pool. Anyway, here are the ones I have seen recently:

Platinumhugen Ordian: Oh no! It is mecha! Eww! Disgusting big robots blowing things up, in a weird and unpleasant future. I hate dystopia (the opposite of utopia, dark and unpleasant fantasy worlds). I had read that Platinumhugen was different, a mecha with a warm and human tone. Hmm. Perhaps that refers to the couple of micro-scenes spliced in seemingly at random featuring human girls with unnaturally large milk glands. And yes, there is also a bit of talking while not wearing the big stupid fighting machines. But it is very very mecha, and as such it must die! Death to all mecha! Death, destruction and eternal oblivion! Die, mecha, diiiieeee! OK, I think you get the point by now. Let's move on.

E's Otherwise: Another dark and unpleasant city of the future. But this is mitigated by the psionics. Yes, the characters here adhere fairly closely to the GURPS Psionics handbook, although they have pretty high power levels. That's fine by me, that's where anime really shines. It's so delicious to see people doing all the stuff I do in my dreams: Fly, teleport, move objects by looking at them, stuff like that. And they also have some bright and colorful auras sometimes. I wish I could make those in my dreams too. Perhaps I will learn it if I watch enough. And! White trenchcoats! Boys, don't ever fly without trenchcoats. Tights and capes are soo last millennium! The only way to fly in style is with trenchcoats. Kawaii! It's not a fetish, really it isn't, it's just that with colorful tights and capes you establish a separate superhero identity. With a trenchcoat, you are still yourself. You're still human, only with special powers. It's kinda like X-men only more so. And it helps that while the powers are over the top, they are fairly limited in numbers. You don't suddenly turn into a green troll or living metal or some such. Highly recommended so far (watched 2 episodes).

D.N.Angel: Despite the scientific name, it is actually an old family curse(?) that settles on one male in each generation, allowing him to become the black angel known only as Dark. Dark flies with his black wings and do crimes that actually have a purpose but of course is misunderstood. The innocent, shy and infatuated boy can't get any, but Dark has the girl swooning at first look. What's with the worship of criminals anyway? I hate it. Not that this is a Japanese thing, European women's literature has had pirate worship since around the time the last of the dirty creeps was hanged. Anyway, I don't like it.

Matantei Loki Ragnarok: My irrational dislike for evil and demons doesn't bode well for this story either. Demon detective Loki Ragnarok is supposedly based on northern European myth ... but in the first episode, the name Loki is the only sign of these myths, with which I am intimately familiar. And he is not even acting in character. While Loki of Norse myth was a great problem solver, he was an even greater problem maker. The worst you can say about Loki after episode 1 is that he is a bit whimsical. But then again, he is incarnated as a rather small boy. I'll probably give this another episode to prove itself.

Stellvia (of the universe): Another dark, leafless and unpleasant future ... except the people here have cooperated to rise from the ashes and build a new world. The symbol of the new world is the military space academy of Stellvia, a city in space. Here goes a couple hyper teen girls determined to prove themselves. (They look like 12, but being Japanese they are probably more like 16. They act no more than 12 though.) The intro to the first episode is worth downloading it for all on its own: It shows the impact on Earth of an exploding supernova in our galactic neighborhood (an event that could happen anytime between now an 50 million years from now in real life). In the anime, this happens in the 22nd century and mankind survives, although on a dark and barren world. Watch it before going to bed. If you don't hate science fiction, I recommend this series. It is also very decent, at least so far.

Narue no Sekai: In a bright, colorful, present-day neighborhood with flowering trees and short-skirted school uniforms, a 14 year old boy has not yet found love or even really begun to miss it. On the other hand, he finds a puppy dog. Then a girl in the parallel class attacks the puppy dog with a baseball bat, and becomes his girlfriend. Except the puppy is a dangerous space alien, and she is a human-alien crossbreed with vaguely defined superpowers and a fondness for reading women's magazines in the shop. Upon getting a glimpse of her panties, our male lead decides he has got a girlfriend. (The viewers get an even better view of her panties. What's with Japanese and panties anyway?) Funny, whimsical and light-hearted are words that describe this anime. It is also entirely like something I could have written myself. Except the panties thing with 14 year olds, I sincerely hope. Still, highly recommended (unless you are allergic to panties).

You can find links to these fansubs at AnimeSuki.com. (At least until the government closes the site and arrests all implicated.) That's it, folks! Ja ne!