Hi I'm Dranzerstorm
You may remember me as a regular contestant on the caption battle contest.
Welcome to Retro Retrospective, my world dedicated to the old guard of the Otaku world; expect some reviews of the old & obscure, and in-depth geeky knowledge with the occasional top ten and I now have a logo.
Little info about me
Well I'm British and I'm in to all things animated and nostalgia.
I've grown up with every cartoon going and have watched hundreds of anime.
Oh and to answer a question I was asked once, no I don't wear glasses in real life, I would wear Loke's sunglasses though.
Welcome to the A-Z Review season; we first start off with the no comment vote winner, Aoi Sekai no Chuushin De, translated in English as World War Blue. Okay you might think this is an obscure anime title but in reality it contains a lot of well known video game characters in humanoid form. So from the picture below lets introduce you to some of the cast.
So from left to right we have... Tejirov: Blonde guy with the rod, likes to solve all his problems by filling the gaps with his long rod, he's also a colossal pervert as well as being a genius tactician, he represents Tetris. Opal: Archery girl, makes bad puns, is an expert archer but later becomes good at shooting energy blasts, she represents Fantasy Zone Opa Opa. Nel: Young girl with the claw, good at sensing her surroundings and reacting quickly to avoid attacks, based on the same Nel from Phantasy Star II. Gear: Blue haired shirtless guy, has super speed and is a little angsty, represents Sonic the Hedgehog. Myomut: Guy with the closed eyes and sweet sword, is a great hero but only says yes and no most of the time, represents Shigeru Miyamoto with the designs of Dragon Quest. Crystal: Girl behind Myomut, represents Final Fantasy series. Karvai: Pink haired girl with hammer, very happy girl, represents Kirby. Zelig: Guy holding the mask and dressed like a samurai, bit of a dick, great at gambling, represents Link from Legend of Zelda. Marcus: Big guy on the end with the mustache, is actually the villain of this series, represents Mario.
Okay to put the story into summary, this is about the Console Wars of the early 90s told as if it were an actual war and every character is fighting for each company they represent with name changes to protect the properties each character comes from, although for the sake of keeping things simple I will use the names of the characters the cast are based on to describe the plot.
Right at the beginning Sonic's best friend Tails gets killed by soldiers from the Nintendo Empire. Fueled by revenge, Sonic joins the Sega Army and quickly gets placed in a team with other friend Nel and reluctant archer Opa Opa, led by traveling mercenary Tetris.
Meanwhile the Nintendo Empire are having to fight traitors in their own ranks as Sega's rise to power starts creating chaos among the other nations.
Sonic's first mission leads him to Castle Hope in the Taito Nation where he must save Sega's Lead General Alex Kidd, who is later revealed to be Sonic's father; with no chance of saving Alex Kidd, Sonic absorbs his power and proceeds to wipe out the Castle, from there we begin the war in full.
Basically that's the opening from the first two and a half volumes of the manga as well as the short OVA.
So yeah this review is a work in progress and may change at a later date when I eventually finish the series, for now I can honestly say, I want to see where this goes. I especially like the designs chosen for the characters, especially Kirby's character being female, not the only Gender reverse character, Street Fighter's, Fire Emblem's & Pikachu's characters are also female. But overall I like how different they portrayed Sonic, he actually looks like a respectable hero with no arrogance to speak of and that's quite a positive image for a character that badly needs a reboot.
Final Verdict: I really want to see where this series goes, I'm hoping it lives up to my expectations, I wish it were more popular because it's doing a lot of good for these characters.
Welcome to the Endless Wardrobe, my updated news segment to say what's going on in my worlds. Now lets see what's coming up. Announcing a Special Review Segment
I'll be doing a segment known as the A-Z Review series and you guys can join in by picking the subject each time. You get to pick from an Anime, Game and Cartoon review. Obviously if there are no comments I shall write about something else.
Here is the first list covering "A" Anime Review: Azumanga Daioh
Cartridge Diaries: Ace Attorney
Cartoon Vault: Archie Weird Mysteries
No Comments: Aoi Sekai no Chushin De
In other World News
Fantasy Zone is still on hiatus but will be back shortly.
Victory Script will conclude it's current segment hopefully this weekend.
Walk of Fame will continue it's current theme.
That's all for now, remember to comment on which review you want next.
As voted by kita mikichi here is the Mega Man Cartoon review for the Vault.
Everyone knows the story of Mega Man by now, well those who've played the games at least; it's about a boy robot called Mega Man, who was created by Dr Light to fight off the evil Robot Masters of Dr Wily alongside his Robot Dog Rush and sister robot Roll. To compare it to another anime it's basically a cooler version of Astroboy.
In the mid 90s, Ruby Spears (The same Ruby Spears that made last entry's Rubik Cube cartoon) licensed the rights to make the Mega Man cartoon in collaboration with a number of Japanese animation studios; it's not uncommon for Japanese companies to lend a hand in animating with American studios and vice-versa; Anime series Big O being the biggest example of American influence on Japanese Anime but that's for another entry.
Now Video Game cartoons don't exactly have the most stellar history, there's a lot to name that failed miserably, and another load which were cheesy nostalgia trips that don't hold up well today with maybe one or two that do still hold up today. Mega Man would be in the latter categories for one reason only. It's the only Video Game cartoon that at least maintains it's identity.
To put this into context the only criticisms I can really give the Mega Man cartoon is Roll's design and the occasional derpy expression from Mega Man. Other than that there's not much else to point out; the rest of the show is insanely accurate to the games, even the opening theme sounds like the games' killer soundtrack.
In fact I've never seen the Mega Man cartoon appear on any worst video game cartoon list.
The problem is, a lot of shows in this genre always have to pass a barrier of abuse from fans who will constantly say it's not like the games. Mega Man actually gets a pass but at the same time it's also one of the more overlooked shows as the likes of Captain N, Sonic & Mario are more popular despite each having their obvious drawbacks. There's a case for taking risks as well and while Mega Man does make a lot of good decisions those decisions are too safe. Sonic's Nightmare world in the SatAM series was a risk that paid off, casting a wrestler to voice Mario paid off, you get the idea, Mega Man is too safe to be well remembered.
My opinion on it?
Well it's decent but I wouldn't say it's that memorable.
Next entry I'll be announcing a special run of reviews, keep watching folks.
40 Years Ago today, a Hungarian sculptor and architect named Erno Rubik invented the Rubik Cube, a puzzle cube where you have to match all the colored squares on each side. As a tribute to this frustrating puzzle cube I'd like to present the short lived 80s cartoon, Rubik the Amazing Cube.
In 1983, the animation house Ruby-Spears licensed the rights to use the Rubik Cube as a cartoon; the plot is about a magical Rubik Cube that when solved can turn into Yoda if he were trapped in a cube and sounded like a chipmunk with a cold. He used to belong to an evil magician but ends up in the hands of three Hispanic kids, which was bizarre to see during that time period as rarely were there any American cartoons with a cast of ethnic minorities making up the main cast and bare in mind that this was 17 years before Dora the Explorer popularized Hispanic cartoons proper.
Anyway once the evil magician is dispatched, Rubik helps the kids with their own problems throughout the series, whether it be kid problems or traditional adventures and mysteries, hey this was a Ruby-Spears creation alongside another show Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos which is somewhere on my long list of world entries. Anything they create is going to be pretty generic and borrowed from Hanna Barbara.
Rubik Cube wasn't alone during it's run as it was broadcast alongside the Pac-Man cartoon. This was during a time when early Computer Games were being raided for cartoons which led to the creation of the Saturday Supercade along with other early video game cartoons.
Now with lots to cover on this one lets put it to a vote for my next Cartoon Vault entry.
Your choices are. Pacman
Saturday Supercade
Dragons Lair
Mega Man
Captain N the Game Master
If there are no comments I shall do something else.
Until then have fun reading.
And now the final part, after this something completely different
Fuka Narutaki
Being there to make up numbers is not easy and Fuka as well as Fumika really lose out badly in the character department. However their epilogue story proves to be the biggest surprise of the series.
5/10 Score
Makie Sasaki
I can't decide whether I like this character or not, on the one hand her genki personality is very charming, on the other hand it can also lead to some of the most random scenes possible.
6/10 Score
Setsuna Sakurazaki
Our devoted body guard is by far the best character in the whole series and really should be the lead main character. Her relationship with Konoka is one of the show's shining moments. She also has some of the best action scenes in the whole series.
10/10 Score
Madoka Kugimiya
There to make up numbers and may have had something for Kotaro but it went no where and neither did this character.
2/10 Score
Satsuki Yotsuba
Satsuki is the type of character who fully makes use of her scenes when given to her. She's able to talk down the entire cast including Evangeline and gain their respect which earns my respect as well. A top candidate for Negi's bride.
7/10 Score
Chizuru Naba
Another person who can talk down the entire cast, this is someone who commands authority with a green onion and will happily use it when pushed. Sadly underused but like Satsuki does make use of her time on screen.
7/10 Score
Ku Fei
She's a two dimensional character but that's all she needs to be. Chinese Kaolla Su only needs to act as the martial arts genius and nothing more. Anything else she's done is not even worth mentioning and I can't understand her dub voice at all. However she's a strong candidate for Negi's bride.
7/10 Score
Satomi Hakase
I was hoping she would be more than two dimensional but sadly she's not, a boring eccentric scientist is all she'll ever be; she also borderlines Mary Sue territory especially around Chao Lingshen.
4/10 Score
Yuna Akashi
Probably the only member of the sports girls who isn't boring, her love of military really saves her from being two dimensional and makes her fun to watch, especially when she breaks out the model tanks.
6/10 Score
Chachamaru Karakuri
I normally dislike robot characters but Chachamaru is adorable. She goes through the process of developing emotions against her programming which may have been done before but when done well it can really make a character good; she's also kissed Negi the longest out of anyone.
8/10 Score
Evangeline A.K. McDowell
Last but not least we have the vampire Evangeline. She's another one who should be the main lead character but is not used beyond being Negi's magic teacher. Her introduction story is consistent in all versions of Negima making it the only plot point to remain unchanged. She's a great anti-villain and her childish reactions are gold.
9/10 Score
