So we come from a mecha anime game review to a very very cutesy anime in Hamtaro, lets see what we can learn from this.
Hamtaro is about a group of hamsters who go on random adventures while their respective owners are not around, meanwhile the secondary plot revolves around Laura's day to day life who is of course Hamtaro's owner.
This show is very innocent, the threat level is extremely low, the cast of characters both human and hamsters are well designed and easy to enjoy. It's hard to find any criticism regarding this anime but equally it's also difficult to praise anything as nothing really stands out as spectacular.
Yes it's a cute series but it suffers from the same problem as Tiny Fairy Snow Sugar in that you can work out what goes on pretty quickly and the rest becomes predictable but unlike Tiny Fairy Snow Sugar the predictable nature doesn't ruin the experience and doesn't prevent you from watching it.
But there is something I've only just realized about Hamtaro; the cast of Hamsters is very similar to the cast of Animal Crossing as many of the hamsters share character traits with the weird animals of Animal Crossing, not only that but Hamtaro predates Animal Crossing by four years, so I wonder how much influence it gave Nintendo's weird franchise.
Final Verdict: It's safe and innocent but also very enjoyable, it will become boring after a while but don't let that spoil the experience before hand, there's no real bad thing to say about Hamtaro.
Now we come to a series I really had trouble watching. It's Full Moon o Sagashite.
Full Moon is about a young girl named Mitsuki, who made a promise to an older boy named Eichi at the orphanage that she'll become a famous idol singer, unfortunately she has throat cancer and needs an operation to remove the danger, unfortunately worst news follows when two Shinigami, dressed up for an anime con, show up and tell Mitsuki she has one year to live.
Mitsuki then decides to chase after her dream, which gives the Shinigami problems as she may not want to leave the living world quietly, so male Shinigami, Takuto transforms Mitsuki into a 16 year old with full health which allows her to pass the audition and become a full idol singer, but from then on it just gets more complicated.
Full Moon looks like a happy series and the art style never fails at grabbing attention but there is a serious heavy theme of suicide involved in this story.
Now Shojo stories are no stranger to taking things seriously when they need to, just look at Sailor Moon for an example, but Full Moon is uncomfortable.
The way Shinigami work in this universe is that in their lives as humans, they committed suicide, so this can be considered other world community service; now it's hard to go into details as it spoils a lot of the story, but lets just say that the details are somewhat gruesome in context and shouldn't be suitable for young girls, but since it's Arina Tanemura, you're hundred percent guaranteed a happy ending regardless of what happens in between, that's just her style.
It doesn't become any easier when the design and tone for the anime is so colorful and happy that the serious scenes feel almost out of place.
On a more positive note, at least the music, the core part of the anime is fantastic.
So personally I find Full Moon hard to watch, but for years the Magical Idol or even the standard Idol genre has always been hit or miss, a collection of pretty, colorful costumes and pop music masking overly angsty undertones.
Final Verdict: Take it or leave it I'd say, there's enough to enjoy but be warned it can get very heavy on the angst.
Excel Saga is one of the most famous gag anime of all time, a template for every series that followed, but being the first to do something may not have been such a good thing as I shall now explain.
Excel Saga is about Excel, a loyal servant to Lord Ilpalazzo who is trying and failing each episode to takeover the world, each taking place in a certain genre of anime popular at the time. Other stories within this wacky universe include, the mishaps of three civil servants, a Mexican foreign worker's brush with the afterlife and the misadventures of the Director Nabeshin appearing for the first time in animated form. Excel is later joined by Hyatt, a very sickly woman from space and Menchi, a stray dog that becomes an emergency food supply.
Every episode is packed full of gags and reference jokes, except one episode which was purposely made serious. So why the big problem?
It's made in 1999, which is 15 years ago and nearly every relevant joke is lost on today's audience; I am glad that DVD releases carry video notes to explain the references but it's more rewarding to find out yourself.
For example, while some references are easy to point out, like the Fan Service episode and the American episode, there's another ten that won't be, such as the Baseball episode and the Rich Traveling Girl episode.
That's not to say the show is bad, it's actually one of the funniest anime shows of all time and massive respect to the dub actors for the hard work they put in, especially Jessica Calvello who nearly destroyed her voice doing Excel. But sadly this show is lost on today's audience, as it's now become too old to make any sense to the current generation of anime fans.
Excel Saga is in serious need of a reboot and in this era where even Sailor Moon can come back, it's worth looking at again.
Final Verdict: It's a fantastically funny show and deserves a watch, however in this era, it's horribly dated and the gags will be lost on the current Generation of Anime fans.
Throughout my childhood I grew up on Nicktoons much in the same way I grew up on Disney & Cartoon Network, but there were a few gems that I missed mainly because I lost a lot of interest in cartoon channels when they started running out of ideas or thinking that kid sitcoms are worth more money.
One of the gems I missed was Danny Phantom.
Danny Phantom is by Butch Hartman of Fairly Odd Parents fame, which seems to play against type being a superhero cartoon but Hartman seems to manage just fine.
The story is about Danny Fenton, (I see what you did there) an unpopular teenager who attends Casper High School in the town of Amity Park. (Barely into the review and already there are two reference jokes)
Danny's parents are working on a ghost portal to try and bridge the gap between spirit and human worlds when it doesn't work until Danny's friend Sam persuades him to switch on the machine only for Danny's DNA to get fused with Ectoplasm, making him half ghost. After fighting a malevolent ghost, Danny decides to become a superhero in order to stop other evil ghosts, alongside friends Sam and Tucker.
This setup is familiar to anyone who's been watching Kim Possible & American Dragon, as the cartoon is pretty much those shows, only done by Nickelodeon instead of Disney; its another example of Nickelodeon jumping on a current trend but unlike Nicktoons sad ripoff of Regular Show, Sanjay & Craig, Danny Phantom not only works but manages to surpass it's rivals by being original.
In theory the setup shouldn't work, being a half ghost should be impossible even in the most mixed up cartoon world, but credit to Butch Hartman, he does it well.
Even when the most obvious character tropes are used to make up the cast, it's not immediately obvious when viewing the characters on screen.
For example, Sam is essentially Goth Lisa Simpson, but first impressions don't give that image so it makes you want to watch her more, the same can be said about other characters such as Jazz, Tucker and Danny himself.
The action can vary between good and predictable but never becomes boring as the diverse cast of villains can often save a bad episode.
Overall Danny Phantom is a good series bordering on great, it has a well written cast of characters, along side good music and an easy to digest plot. I only wish I viewed it when I did.
You know religion would be a lot cooler if members of the church kicked some serious ass and thanks to Chrono Crusade that's exactly what you get.
The year is 1928, Jazz is King, Bootleg Whiskey flows like water and the nations idle rich have discovered a dangerous new past time. Summoning Devils! To combat this growing threat, a new order of holy warriors have been formed. And their greatest agent is. "Sister Rosette Christopher, Order of Magdalene at your service" "The wet blanket is my assistant Chrono"
I'm sorry I had to do the opening of the old ADV Films Trailer, it's so cheesy and can open a review better than what I can think of.
Anyway, Chrono Crusade takes place in 1920s America at the height of prohibition and there's been a rise in demon activity so Rosette along with Chrono must stop the demons. Chrono is more than a little runt voiced by Greg Ayres, he's actually a demon who made a contract with Rosette who hopes to save her brother Joshua who went mad and petrified everyone after putting on Demon horns. Using a special watch, Rosette gives up her life force to allow Chrono to fight at full power. Rosette is hardly helpless herself having joined the Magdalene order as a nun who can wield guns for exorcism, which is as awesome as it sounds. Not long into the story, Rosette & Chrono come across Azmaria, a young girl who is actually an Apostle, a unique human with holy powers. After saving her, more demons join the equation including a group from Chrono's past.
Chrono Crusade has a great story, it's very good at setting a tone, it's not afraid to pull tearjerkers, drama and comedy in the same episode, similar to what Full Metal Alchemist does.
It's not perfect, there are a number of fight scenes which are poorly edited giving the impression that they constantly ran out of time and rushed the process. Plot twists are a little predictable but on the plus side it's an epic story and top quality dubbing makes it all worthwhile and lets not forget the ending, I won't spoil it but make sure you have a tissue box handy.
Final Verdict: This anime can make you feel everything from sadness to joy and is definitely worth picking up. Dubbing is more effective as it's set in America and doesn't work very well in original Japanese.
