I'm looking to review an anime every day this week, keep on the look out.
Futaba has just moved from the city to the coastal town of Shizuoka where she meets the eccentric Hikari, lacking self esteem and very introverted, Futaba is drawn into Hikari's diving club with a brother sister duo and a very unique teacher, Futaba's life of mundane is now a journey of beautiful friendships and discovering life through diving.
This is the most slice of life you can possibly get in anime, not surprising as it's the same author as Aria, an equally relaxing slice of life; this means that there is literally nothing really major going on and the only developments are the friendships on display and the lessons learned from it, but there is beauty in escaping into this kind of world as life continues to be challenging.
A dub would break the immersion so is not recommended assuming it has one.
Final Verdict: A wonderful story that is super relaxing and laid back with a friendship as beautiful as the very ocean, it's slow for a good reason so may not suit everyone, especially if you are after a more proactive experience in anime.
I'm writing this from a hotel room at a con.
Sei is a burnt out office worker who suddenly gets summoned to another world in a summoning ceremony, the summoning of a Saint that will save the world of Salutania from a growing plague of monsters.
Sei however is summoned alongside a younger girl; the Prince ignores Sei and declares Aira, the other girl as the Saint.
With no way back along with the Kingdom having impeccable manners, Sei stays and goes into medicinal floral research where her high work ethic and affinity for healing magic makes her a vital part of the research team, but when she saves Captain Albert Hawke and his soldiers from near death and career ending injuries with miracle healing, it becomes more apparent that Sei is really the Saint.
This had the potential to go downhill pretty fast but ends up becoming a nice change of pace for an Isekai by being more focussed on the Slice of Life elements and letting Sei discover her powers carefully on her own, at no point does the anime feel like it's going to take any bad turns, even if Captain Hawke's army are pretty weak and even when Prince Kyle tries to weasel his way out of his mistake.
The ending however is a cheap cop out as it does rob Sei of some of her character.
The dub is really good though especially Celeste Perez who gives a fantastic Sei.
Final Verdict: A charming isekai for those sick of the usual tropes but the ending does feel like a cop out.
This is how I best remember Kenshin.
Shinta was just a poor boy who got abducted by slavers but miraculously survives an attack from bandits, he is found by the master swordsman Hiko Seijuro who bestows him a more fitting name for the era, Kenshin Himura.
He is warned that the Hiten-Mitsurugi style would kill him or his master but before he can finish he gets recruited as an Ishin Patriot in the battles for the Meiji Restoration, at just 15 years old, Kenshin is dubbed over night Battousai the Man Slayer.
He would eventually cross paths with a woman named Tomoe who he hides with when the revolution stumbles, they would fall in love but Tomoe has her own agenda as Kenshin slayed her fiancee, said fiancee leaving a scar on Kenshin's cheek.
An ambush nearly kills Kenshin but Tomoe jumps in preventing Kenshin from being killed by an assassin, guilty of murdering the very woman he loved, Kenshin is left with a second scar as Tomoe marks his cheek as her dying action.
As the Meiji Restoration ends, battousai fades with it, becoming a legend with nothing more than a scarred old samurai, (28 years old at the start of the TV series) wandering the lands with a failed sword, no longer possessing the murderous intent he once had.
To compare the OVA prequel to the TV series is night and day, this is how I was first introduced to Rurouni Kenshin, dubbed Samurai X on western release, so you can see why I often judge Rurouni Kenshin's erratic shifts in tone as being a bit much.
This was a passion project start to finish, the Meiji Restoration is a real historical event in Japan's history, apart from Kenshin, every samurai in the revolution were real people and portrayed correctly from accounts of that period.
There's no punches pulled either as the full weight of the period is portrayed as a bloody era of conflict, I'd go as far as saying it's so well done that I forget that I watched the dub as the dialogue is kept to a minimum, it's a little heavy on exposition but it's understandable when discussing a real life event.
Final Verdict: A gritty samurai drama far removed from the authors more unconventional story of redemption, Trust and Betrayal is one of the best representations of the bloody era and Kenshin himself who could be any real nameless samurai from said era.
Before I begin, I watched and read Rurouni Kenshin long before the creator's unpleasant crimes came to light. This review will only judge the quality of the work not the person who drew it.
Kenshin Himura has been wandering the lands for many years, the older than expected samurai was formerly Battousai the Man Slayer, taking out every foe possible bar the Shinsengumi, he eventually crosses paths with Kaoru Kamiya, a woman who teaches a more peaceful sword art compared to Kenshin's own Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu which he practices with a reverse bladed sword to stop killing and atone but still defend himself should he find himself attacked which is frequently.
Joined by a former bandit, a thief and a medic dubbed a witch, the band of misfits and outcasts setout to stamp out remaining corruption from the remnants of the wars that Kenshin fought, everything from ninja, former Shinsengumi, pretenders to the Man Slayer title and finally the brother of the lover that Kenshin slain.
Kenshin draws alot of comparisons to Trigun with a man wandering around trying to be a pacifist but is constantly drawn into conflict, the difference being that Kenshin's world has more political weight to it as actions often have a much wider effect on the world, it's a very well written story certainly in the manga but the anime had more than it's fair share of problems ranging from poor filler arcs, a poorly executed final season, frequent tonal whiplash and a lacklustre dub.
When it does do something right, it becomes quite compelling and gripping to watch, the ending also comes with a conclusion while sad is strangely fitting.
That's the crux on which I judge Rurouni Kenshin.
Final Verdict: A fantastic samurai story in the manga but the anime suffers with unbalanced tone, poor story structure and an inability to take things seriously especially with that first opening theme, it can do decent fight scenes but that's about it.
Sorry ADVfilms month hasn't really pumped out much, there's alot of anime to come next month so that'll make up for it.
Sukeban Deka is a much bigger franchise started in the mid 70s about a delinquent school girl turned undercover cop.
The anime starts with Saki being asked to go undercover in her old school to get to the bottom of a mysterious coach crash that killed half the students, Saki initially refuses but she's told to do it or her mother faces the death penalty.
Bitter at having to do cop work, she's partnered with Jin who gives her a more powerful yo-yo with a police badge inside, her job is to bring the Mizuchi Sisters to justice, she plays low for a bit even letting herself take a beating and tolerating the advances of obsessive nerd Sanpei and making friends with Junko whom she saved earlier in the episode.
Things get complicated for Saki when she's framed for Junko's kidnapping while Junko gets drugged and killed off by the Mizuchi henchman.
Saki quickly dismantles all the Mizuchi Sisters clout along with their father with help from the teacher that initially arrested Saki.
Things reach a climax as Remy the eldest sister kills off her family leading to a final showdown with Saki.
They really crammed alot in two episodes, the art style keeps the presence of a shojo style series but takes on as much action as possible and really sells Saki as a big threat and a delinquent.
It's a solid entry into the franchise.
The dub is laughably bad but not out right terrible.
My only real complaint is that the Mizuchi sisters are too close to Go Nagai creations rather than anything unique to the Sukeban franchise.
Final Verdict: A solid entry to a very much forgotten yet very important franchise to the whole concept of female anime characters.
