Today we look at a movie from everyone's favorite pirate crew the StrawHats as we dive into the film Strong World.
We begin with a breakout as a veteran villain escapes the marine's prison going by the name of Golden Lion Shiki, a pirate captain who used to fight Gold Roger back in the day.
Later on with rumors of the East Blue facing several vicious attacks, the StrawHats decide to return to East Blue to save it but a chance meeting with Shiki whisks the crew off to a number of floating islands which ends in the crew getting scattered about the islands with Nami getting captured by Shiki, after battles with some fantastic looking monsters and a round one defeat to Shiki, the StrawHats descend on the stronghold and promptly kick ass in style.
Eiichiro Oda provided much of the support for this film personally but to be honest his contribution is less improving the story and more drawing as many fantastic animals as possible which don't get me wrong, it's his biggest talent as an artist but it didn't warrant extending the film's running time, it doesn't help that some action scenes are a little rushed, but the one scene that saves the film is the epic moment when the StrawHats all dressed in suits descend on Shiki's palace surrounded by hundreds of pirates and promptly blast them all to pieces with high powered guns; One Piece is often criticized for being less pirate and more fantastic adventure but that scene reminds us that Luffy and co are pirates and not to mess with them, it truly is one of One Piece's finest moments.
As for everything else, Shiki is a decent villain, his henchman are pretty terrible and we could've done without Japanese slapstick or fart shoes, I know One Piece does comedy pretty well but that stuff is more at home on the Muppet Show.
Dub is good but I prefer the subtitled version.
Final Verdict: It's a longer version of all the other One Piece movies, even with Eiichiro Oda's support, this doesn't break any new ground but the stuff it does well is really well done and makes the experience worthwhile.
I'm feeling better so I can now post my review on Watamote, also to save time I'm just going to modify my last post as it's pretty much setup for reviewing this anime.
Tomoko is a new high school girl hoping to be popular just like in her Otome games, however reality isn't so generous as poor Tomoko is a social outcast finding it very hard to talk to people not helped by a look which tells the world that she's an insomniac or pumping drugs and just generally trying to fit into a society that's no longer as simple as it was back in middle school. With this in mind, Tomoko tries her best to find ways of becoming popular with each one failing miserably.
Now this anime can be taken in three ways, a comedy or a study of social anxiety or a mixture of both, which has led to some criticism that opens it's audience to some uncomfortable truths about themselves as some anime fans are social outcasts and I'll admit that I sometimes dive into that category as I hate my own company.
On the other hand, the forbidden love child of Keima Katsuragi & Sunako Nakahara, Tomoko is someone you want to see succeed, from moments when she loses her fatigue lines, to a good day with her blossomed buxom best friend, to a moment of kindness with her brother, to a hug that the audience have been wanting to do since episode 1, you want to see her succeed and yes it is another 12 episode anime but you do actually want to continue the manga afterwards to see if she does succeed. The dub is top quality but you'll find it difficult dropping the sub version as Tomoko's original voice is rated one of the best. Also the music is incredible, definitely one of my favorite opening themes in recent years.
Final Verdict: Approach this anime the same way you approach Welcome to the NHK and other anime with similar protagonists, you may get some uncomfortable reminders about yourself but you also get a hero that you want to see succeed, more so than the harem kings and queens who don't deserve it.
Definitely worth a watch.
After some tearful farewells to a number of celebrities, we start the year proper with the first anime review, the Devil is a Part Timer.
The king of evil, Satan has conquered the world of Ente Isla, until the brave heroine Emilia defeats him and his army. Forced to flee, Satan ends up in modern Japan with his General unable to maintain his demon form and stuck with no money, no job and no place to live, not to mention a lack of understanding of the world he's just entered. Satan under the Japanese name of Sadao Maou now works for the unsubtly named fast food restaurant MgRonalds which he seems to take pride in, thinking that by succeeding in MgRonalds would allow him to climb the ladder back up to being king, however the hero Emilia under the Japanese name Emi Yusa follows Satan to Japan and is also working a job as she to fails to understand how Japan works.
Emilia who constantly reminds us that she's the hero remains constantly suspicious about Satan's new found groove and decides to stalk him, whether it's following him home or trying to deter Satan's work colleague Chiho not to fall in love with him. Later other devils, angels and even the church get in on the situation trying to take advantage of Emilia and Satan's situation to eliminate them.
If this anime is meant to teach me anything, then it's obviously trying to tell me that "you can't judge everything as Black & White", throughout the 13 episode run, those who have been after Satan always use the "Because he's evil" excuse to try and kill him with only Emilia actually having a plausible reason to actually go through with it but in doing so seals herself in Japan for good with no way home so she just annoys Satan instead.
The anime doesn't do serious, so it's hard to take the message it's giving seriously as certain characters who are meant to be bad ass come across as extremely pathetic such as Alciel's constant irritable bowel syndrome, Crestia Bell's sorry attempts at blending in along with Sariel's unsubtle attempts at trying to spy on Satan using the unsubtly named Sentucky Fried Chicken and is it me or does Sariel look suspiciously like James from Team Rocket with a black eye.
It's not that the anime isn't funny, it's hilarious in places but the jokes wear thin and by the time you end the 13 episodes, the show outstays it's welcome and while the show is clearly unfinished it doesn't encourage you to follow the manga afterwards. Should they make a season 2, there's a lot of work that needs doing but the dub certainly doesn't need changing as it's to the usual high standards of Funimation.
Final Verdict: It does what it set out to do, "create a weird scenario for Satan to be in" but the jokes it comes up with get exhausted and doesn't encourage you to keep going. I give this show a tentative recommendation as other shows have done better things with Satan.
Now on to the final leg of the tribute as we finish off 2014's deceased from October-December.
Kazuko Yanaga 1947-2014
Veteran voice actress known for being the dub voice for Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon and Jamie Lee Curtis as well as voice work on many anime series.
Rokuro Naya 1932-2014
Veteran voice actor who provided the dub voice for Professor X and Squidward Tentacles. Most recognized for his voice work in Crayon Shin Chan.
Bunta Sugawara 1933-2014
Veteran actor who provided voice work for Spirited Away and Tales from Earthsea as well as the inspiration for One Piece's Admiral Akainu
Ralph H. Baer 1922-2014
The Father of Video Games. Developed the first home games console and game in 1966.
Martha Goldman Sigall 1917-2014
Inker and Painter for Looney Tunes for over 50 years.
Norman Bridwell 1928-2014
Author of Clifford the Big Red Dog
Robert Taylor 1944-2014
Award winning animator, writer, producer and film director known for his work on Talespin, Fritz the Cat, Goof Troop and Aladdin the King of Thieves among others.
Hidetoshi Nakamura 1954-2014
Veteran voice actor known for numerous Gundam roles among hundred others. Also Pepe Le Pew's dub voice.
Christine Cavanaugh 1963-2014
Veteran voice actress of Chuckie Finster from Rugrats, Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, Gosalyn Mallard from Darkwing Duck, Bunnie Rabbot from Sonic, Oblina from Aaargh Real Monsters, Babe the Sheep Pig along with many others.
Progressing onwards with the tributes we come to those we lost from July-September.
Dick Jones 1927-2014
Veteran voice actor who voiced Pinocchio in Disney's adaption among hundreds of other roles.
Shuusei Nakamura 1935-2014
Veteran voice actor whose credits include Star Blazers and Gatchaman.
David Weidman 1921-2014
Animator whose works included Popeye and Wacky Races.
Scott Ciencin 1962-2014
Novelist who wrote novel adaptions of Kim Possible, Transformers, Buffy & Angel, Jurassic Park and Silent Hill.
Liz Holzman 1953-2014
Award winning Film Producer, Director and Writer whose works included Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain.
Buster Jones 1943-2014
Veteran voice actor whose credits include Doc from GI Joe along with roles in Captain Planet, Tranformers and Real Ghostbusters.
Douglas E. Smith 1960-2014
Video Game Designer of Lode Runner and one of the pioneers of Level Editing in games, also key player in the localization in the west of the Secret of Mana series and Chrono Trigger.
Robin Williams 1951-2014
Legendary Comedian whose roles include the Genie in Aladdin, Fender in Robots, Batty in Ferngully and Ramon in Happy Feet among many other memorable film roles including Patch Adams, Flubber, Good Morning Vietnam, Hook, Good Will Hunting and Mrs Doubtfire.
Stan Goldberg 1932-2014
Comic Book Artist who worked for Marvel and Archie Comics. Also helped design the default color schemes for the Fantastic 4 and Spiderman.
Iemasa Kayumi 1932-2014
Veteran Voice Actor whose Japanese Dub roles include the films of Frank Sinatra, Donald Sutherland, Christopher Lee, James Stewart, Ian McKellen and David Carradine. Also voiced numerous anime roles.
