Journey to the West is a classic of Chinese Literature and anime has been known to adapt it into many forms, today's review is one of these forms as I review Saiyuki as written by Kazuya Minekura.
The story is about a monk named Genjo Sanzo who through fate is joined alongside three demons consisting of the Monkey King Son Goku, the half demon Sha Gojyo and the man turned demon Cho Hakkai; their mission as ordained by the heavens is to travel to India to stop the resurrection of the Demon Ox King Gyumaoh, along the way they must fight numerous malevolent demons along with dealing with their tragic pasts and in some of the slower episodes just general goofing off; the journey would normally be on foot but for some reason Cho Hakkai's Dragon, Jeep can become an actual road worthy Jeep, so the entire series is one big road trip and that's where it loses it's value.
Don't get me wrong, this depiction of the Saiyuki four is by far the most Badass to ever be conceived but after so many episodes they still haven't sorted out Gyumaoh, not Minekura's fault as health has been an issue but the franchise has faded somewhat in popularity in recent years, in fact I became too exhausted watching the series to warrant continuing beyond the Gensoumaden and Reload series.
For what it's worth, the fact that the cast in this Saiyuki is led by a chain smoking monk, a womanizing kappa demon, a pig demon with a drivers license and a Monkey King with a serious meat bun addiction, does make a change from the alternatives we've had over the years which also includes Dragonball, and that's what makes this series special, it had the balls to take a classic story and give it the anime makeover it really deserved in an era (Late 90s, Early 00s) desperately needing some originality beyond taking a well known warrior class like Pirate or Ninja and making it awesome.
Yeah it's too long, the drama gets too heavy, the so called final boss is never actually fought and having two different dubs is relatively off putting, but you still enjoy what's on offer regardless.
Final Verdict: Saiyuki is lots of fun and by far it's best depiction in anime but it's length is intimidating and can be tiring to watch after a while, so only watch/read to it's current chapter if you're committed to finishing the story.
Now we come to an anime that's not afraid to bare all for it's viewers, it's time for High School DxD.
The story begins at a girls school turns co-education for unknown reasons but it's not important. We focus on the life of Issei Hyodo, a typical high school pervert but as it usually is with these ecchi harem type anime, he's apparently got a good heart.
Luck seems to hit him early on when he ends up on a date with a girl but ends up being killed by said girl as she reveals herself to be a fallen angel. Issei gets revived by the lovely red haired devil Rias but in exchange he becomes a devil as well, although this isn't a bad thing as he also finds out he has a cool power he never knew he had and the fallen angels want it.
After a few battles, Issei joins the Gremory household as a pawn alongside other devils that assist Lady Rias, all of which have nicknames of chess pieces as it follows a strong chess motif, this also includes a former nun named Asia Argento who joins after the first half of season one. In the second half of season one Issei beats down a noble devil to reclaim Rias from an arranged marriage; there are two more seasons after this.
Now when this anime began, I was skeptical because it was going to be another one of those shows like Akikan where you have an obvious pervert with a good heart but the lead female is the ultimate tsundere but this time we don't get that from Rias and thank god for it, otherwise this show would suck.
Saying that it does take a while to get going but once you get stuck in, you're left wanting more by the time Season one ends.
Yes it plays a lot of shameless ecchi moments, and never shys away from showing full frontal nudity, well the DxD does refer to breast size after all; but as a bonus we get decent action, mostly well written characters and a story that rarely resorts to horrid cliches. The music is incredible and the dubbing is really well done and we even get a few comedy references from other anime. My only question is, can it manage to avoid the dreaded curse of Season 2 downfall? Well we'll find out at a later date.
Final Verdict: While looking like a typical show of it's genre, High School DxD manages to surprise it's doubters by focusing on the action and plot with the bonus of ecchi. This is one ecchi where you can feel proud to say "I watch it for the plot"
Yesterday we lost a comedy legend, the great and charismatic Robin Williams; and today's Cartoon Vault review looks at one of the animated features he starred in, Ferngully The Last Rainforest.
In a Rainforest in Australia, fairies have lived for centuries away from the world of humans and it is believed that humans are extinct thanks to a demonic being named Hexxus, that is until Crysta out of curiosity discovers that humans could in fact still be around as she sees in a distance black smoke coming from Mt Warning. Along with Batty, a deranged fruit bat who has escaped a science lab, they go and investigate the black smoke to find some humans cutting down the Rainforest; through a sudden reaction to a falling tree, Crysta shrinks a human male named Zak and along with Batty go on a crazy adventure which involves escaping the local wildlife, teaching the fairies human culture such as cheesy 90s music and going through the compulsory love scene between the lead characters with Batty providing the comic relief perfectly executed by Robin Williams.
Unfortunately a tree Zak accidentally sprayed earlier is in fact the tree Hexxus is sealed in, which is promptly cut down, releasing the rather flamboyant smog monster Hexxus, voiced by Tim Curry. By using the bulldozer to his advantage, Hexxus lays waste to the Rainforest but the fairy folk not willing to see their home destroyed, combine powers left by the elder fairy as well as having Zak stop the machine in order to end Hexxus' rampage. But before he can be defeated for good, Hexxus leaves us a sinister piece of Nightmare fuel as he transforms into a skeleton with a body of oil but when he consumes Crysta he's then consumed by a new sacred tree which finally puts an end to Hexxus.
Crysta comes out alive, resizes Zak and takes her place as the new leader of the fairies and so ends Ferngully.
Now this film is obviously a "Save the Rainforest" kinda film, during a time where supporting such a campaign was fashionable but it becomes a bit skewed when the fairies make growing new trees look easy, even in the face of a monster like Hexxus who looks like the personification of pollution that Captain Planet would be proud to fight. The plot struggles to get the message across and the experiences in the first half of the movie are confusing and add nothing to the story, in fact this film would be a write off if not for Robin Williams' performance as Batty to give us some brilliant comedy moments.
Robin Williams can create some bizarre characters whether it be the Scottish cross dressing nanny Mrs Doubtfire or the Blue Genie of Aladdin, if you removed these characters from the equation of their respective films then I doubt any of these films would see success and Ferngully is no exception.
"Cause you're only given a little spark of madness, and if you lose that, you're nothing" - Robin Williams 1951-2014 RIP
Partly inspired by one of the entries, these are the characters who can wear absolutely anything, these characters never stick to one outfit for very long, they always change clothing frequently and have plenty to choose from, so without further delay lets begin.
Honorable Mentions
Elizabeth Midford from Black Butler
Always appears in a different dress each time she appears, if it weren't for restrictions in the time period she'd wear every type of dress going.
Isaac & Miria from Baccano
They wear a different costume on every heist but the series is too short compared to the other entries who come from longer series.
Any Idol or Precure Anime
Because naming them all would not make this list very interesting.
10. Toru Kouno, Yuujirou Shihodani and Mikoto Yutaka from Princess Princess
Our first entries are the only male entries on this list, saying that these pretty boys can pull off absolutely anything whether it be male or female clothing, a testament to the art design this anime has.
9. Naru Narusegawa from Love Hina
As the artist's favorite, Naru gets the pick of pretty much every costume going including anime only, manga covers and promotional art exclusives. It helps that Ken Akamatsu is a cosplay otaku and that his wife is the inspiration for Naru.
8. Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon
While all the Sailor Scouts go through a decent wardrobe of clothes, Usagi gets bonuses for using disguises and battle costume upgrades, heck she even pulls off a very convincing male in the manga.
7. Lum from Urusei Yatsura
The only entry on this list to have more costumes in promotional art than her actual anime, it's something which Rumiko Takahashi did alot of which would transfer into Ranma 1/2, in fact for a long time Lum was the face of anime itself.
6. Honey Kisaragi from Cutey Honey
Honey is a master of disguise and will show case any costume when the situation calls for it, in fact her trademark catchphrase often involves her showcasing her disguises before becoming Cutey Honey.
5. Yuri from Dirty Pair Franchise
Yuri is an interesting case because a good majority of her wardrobe appears in one episode of the Flash series if only to spoof how many outfits she's had over all series in the franchise even those outside of Japan with the Adam Warren comics.
4. Rebecca Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash
Appears in a different outfit every episode and some of her DVD cover costumes are spoofs of other anime characters like Gendou Ikari or cultural icons like Bruce Lee and the Terminator.
3. Sakura Kinomoto from Card Captor Sakura
This is the only entry to actually have her own personal fashion designer in Tomoyo, not by choice and Tomoyo is a little too eager to dress up Sakura for all her battles. Saying that, this is the most diverse set of Magical Girl costumes ever assembled in one show.
2. Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail
She has an armor for every occasion and battle, she even uses her magic to change into regular clothes, she even has special outfits she only gets out when the situation calls for it such as her legendary bikini and her wedding dress. I hate this word but Erza is a real fashionista.
1. Fujiko Mine from Lupin III
This women has appeared in disguises so often that one wonders what she really looks like normally, this even became the subject of her own TV Series spinoff. While previous entries have multiple clothing and one trademark outfit, Fujiko Mine just wears everything and anything, even her trademark catsuits are diverse.
Having watched this movie recently, I think a review is in order.
Fairy Tail is one of my favorite anime series about the exploits of the Wizards Guild bearing the same name but traditionally anime movies don't quite live up to the same standard as the tv series, so here's how this movie went.
Before the movie even starts, it's worth looking over the first morning short beforehand where the title character Phoenix Priestess Eclair accidentally brings to life a stuffed toy made like a bird called Momon whom she doesn't like, it shows a normal day where Eclair works as a fortune teller but after an altercation where she loses the Phoenix Stone she has to shelter away from attacking wolves, the next morning Momon is beat up and the stone has returned safe and sound and they become friends, so now we can begin the film proper.
The movie starts off in great fashion as we see Eclair run away from an assault of people who want her dead, after this rather silent scene we see Team Natsu fail to capture a bandit but since Eclair is the main focus she inevitably ends up meeting up with Lucy who takes her back to the Fairy Tail Guild.
Eclair who is traveling to a dangerous region of the world is guarded by the Fairy Tail Guild despite her hatred of magic but with this being the Fairy Tail guild, Team Natsu has no problem helping.
So after a day of shopping including Gray's streaking, Natsu pigging out on food and Erza buying a wedding dress (don't ask her why) the plot finally gets going when a mercenary attacks Lucy & Eclair leading to a hilarious scene where Lucy ends up butt naked. A quick trip to see Eclair's father later and we return to the guild hall only for it to be demolished by the Carbuncle mercenaries who are working for a stuck up King. They succeed in capturing the Phoenix Stone as well as Eclair and promptly fit it together to summon a great evil monster which destroys everything insight which Natsu and co defeat as well as the Carbuncle Mercenaries and so ends the film. (Non Spoiler Version)
For a film it runs quite well, characters don't feel weakened to accommodate an obvious filler story and many of the best moments come from the comedy and the drama. The fight scenes have poor pacing as we don't stay long enough in some battles to really grasp what's going on, particularly the fight between Natsu and Dist seemed very lacking compared to Gray and Erza's fights and this was meant to be the main villain vs the main character.
Dubbing is top notch as always and I'm happy to see Jessica Calvello return to voice acting especially after almost destroying her vocal cords doing Excel Excel. Her voice work as Eclair was one of her best performances to date.
So that's the Fairy Tail movie, maybe I'll review the main series at some point.
Final Verdict: It's definitely worth a watch if you enjoy a decent story but if you've come for action, there's not really enough to satisfy.
