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.
It's quite clear who the Cartoon Superpowers of this world are, if it's not Japanese, American, French, Canadian or British then you really start diving into unknown territory; Italy, Spain & Germany produce a couple, Russia is just weird and Australia according to some people are alienating children but if I were to say Argentina, you would wonder what cartoon I could possibly talk about?
Well presenting this week in Cartoon Vault, Argentine superhero Cybersix.
Cybersix began as an early 90s comic series about a genetically engineered superhero fighting her creators monstrous bio-weapons during nighttime while acting as a "male" literature teacher as a civilian identity during the day; as to why, she needs their substance to sustain herself and it acts as a form of revenge against her creator, it's all good.
The story goes, a former Nazi from the war named Dr. Von Reichter flees to South America in order to continue his genetic engineer experiments after the war ended. He created a 5000 strong army of cyber humans built to be perfect servants but did his job a little too well and gave them free will so he ordered to have the entire series massacred. The only two survivors were Cyber-29 who died before the massacre happened and the brain was transferred into a Black Panther and renamed Data-7, the other being Cyber-6 who managed to escape thanks to a slave. So were a short while into the plot and were looking at some pretty risky stuff here but the comic made no qualms about it's content; Cybersix's outfit was stolen from a prostitute, there's sexual content, the obvious Nazi references and in the comics she got her substance from draining her victims vampire style, it's clearly not for kids.
Thankfully the cartoon manages to tone it down enough to play without controversy. We go to the fictional Argentine city of Meridiana where to avoid being discovered, Cybersix adopts the identity of a "Male" School Teacher named Adrian Seidelman but it's not long before fellow teacher/love interest Lucas Amato gets dragged into Cybersix's battles. Also being dragged into the war is a kid named Julian and the panther Data-7 who switches to Cybersix's side very quickly. Von Reichter doesn't always do the battling himself, leaving it to his clone and son Jose and his army of mutants, this is where the slapstick for the cartoon comes into it as Jose and his goons are obviously incompetent but the story can survive without comedy.
This cartoon came in 1999, four years after Batman re-established a bit of action and grittiness in cartoons, however it's short run of 13 episodes makes it an under-appreciated gem of it's era. It was developed as a collaboration between Argentine & Canadian animation companies and had some animation duties outsourced to Japan's TMS Entertainment. It would broadcast in those countries along with America although according to my sister it also broadcast in the UK.
There is currently no DVD release but Discotek Media have the rights to it and hope to release in 2014. They are the same company who successfully released Samurai Pizza Cats in it's unedited Japanese form, so the show is in safe hands.
If I was to talk about a cartoon set under the sea then the first thing anyone would think of is Spongebob Squarepants but what if I was to tell you that there was another Undersea cartoon that not only predates Spongebob but is better. Today I talk about 1988 French Canadian cartoon Sharky & George.
Sharky & George are two private detectives who fight various gangs and villains in the city of Seacago; in fact the narrator often states that Seacago is the city of peace or something similar, either way this is how every episode starts.
The whole cartoon is a take on classic detective noir shows like Dick Tracy, Sharky even having a fedora hat like Humphrey Bogart.
Sharky is the pink shark often narrating each episode's plot. He's lazy and often driven by money, while George is the straight younger blue & yellow sidekick who keeps Sharky on focus.
A typical episode would have Sharky & George take on a case that usually involves one of a handful of villains including a Jellyfish & a Lobster. The series ran a decent length at 52 episodes and had a wide run in Europe & Canada.
The intro is very very catchy so give it a watch.
You know there really isn't much else to say about this cartoon; it's very straight forward in it's narrative and doesn't need much else. It's very much a cartoon of it's era late 80s, early 90s even though it relies on themes often shown in 50s cartoons. There is no DVD release anywhere and videos are rare treasures if anyone has them, luckily the show is relatively easy to find on Youtube so check it out.
Extra: As something that predates Spongebob by a number of years this show manages to pull off the Underwater World better than Spongebob does. The big difference is that the art style incorporates a number of dark areas that are common place in deep Oceans and add the fact that the characters look more fish than human makes it a more believable setup than Spongebob's world of fully clothed Sponges, Starfishes & Crabs.
Just to prove I haven't turned this world into a Pokemon World, here's an anime review of something completely different. Today I review Happy Lesson.
Happy Lesson is about a school delinquent named Hitotose Chitose who by a number of strange circumstances winds up with five of his school teachers living at his house as his mothers and he couldn't ask for better mothers; the glorious art design makes every teacher look extremely attractive and that even extends to the other female cast members outside the teachers.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that this is a harem anime but it surprisingly manages to subvert that stamp, while the teachers do like to take care of their adopted son to extreme levels, no one has ever overstepped the mark.
While it feels it can only work with one joke, the in-depth character backgrounds prevent that from happening as well. It plays everything so well that I have a hard time finding faults with it.
Lets look at our lovely teachers in name order as they each reference the first five numbers in Japanese.
Mutsuki Ichimonji - Classics Teacher, has a slight hidden temper beneath the friendly exterior and one of Anime's most beautiful women.
Kisaragi Ninomae - Science Teacher, basically a more interesting and less emotionless Rei Ayanami with explosions and wacky science.
Yayoi Sanzenin - School Nurse, traditional Miko complete with sword, run for dear life if you see her with ice.
Uzuki Shitenno - Art Teacher, Genki Otaku Girl, seriously needed one of those in my school.
Satsuki Gokajo - Gym Teacher, overly passionate with insane training regiments.
The support cast also includes Chitose's adoptive sisters Minasuki the younger sister who dotes on big brother and Hazuki the ever reliable older sister with a pop career and a bigger appetite than Son Goku. We also have Fumitsuki the girl with a crush on Chitose and Kanna the wacky science girl who also has a crush on Chitose and finally we have comic relief with Students B & C who act this way as a tribute to the deceased Student A. There's one more important character but that's on the season 2 review coming soon.
There's plenty to offer in this 13 episode series, the drama has plenty of emotion and can leave a few teardrops in the eyes, the comedy is so hilarious that you have to pause scenes just to calm down, the music is so upbeat that its hard to feel depressed and the dub is so well done that it never occurs to you that the actors they chose were not regulars of ADV's voice actors, some barely have any credits to their name. The whole thing is one complete package and will keep you entertained for hours.
Final Verdict: Definitely worth a watch, it does everything right and doesn't leave anything that can be criticized, if I actually gave scores this would be my highest rating at about 97%.
Welcome to another Endless Wardrobe news report and today is my birthday!
Happy Birthday
I'm 27 years old today, here's hoping for a good year and thanks to everyone who sent me Birthday messages today.
Now back to Business
Cartridge Diaries Pokemon X & Y Begins soon staring OC Giro & his assistant Samantha as they go through the Pokemon World of Kalos.
Walk of Fame will finish it's latest theme and continue moving onto it's next theme.
Victory Script continues with the Grand Ball Chapters as we go to each current character along with the completion of Sunny's chapter & Tsuki's chapter.
Reviews for classic elite anime will begin alongside a few I'm planning.
Cartoon Vault has a corker lined up.
I try and save Johnny Test from scrap.
While I haven't done many top tens for a while I hope to bring up a few more.
Speaking of Pokemon X&Y
A small follow up to the previous list of five likes & dislikes of Pokemon
The designs of the Gym Leaders & Elite Four have been a bit hit and miss, they don't really strike a cord with me.
The Fairy Type isn't too broken, I'm pleased that Poison types finally get an extra type to be strong against.
Mega Evolution is a nice addition and some of the designs have been brilliant, although without spoiling anything, a certain design is now going to be fanart bait for a number of months.
The Kalos Pokedex is huge, thank you Game Freak.
Customization is welcome but I dislike the time it takes to get decent clothes and one particular store I don't even know how to access.
The new Pokemon are good and there's barely 70 new ones, Gameplay over volume for this Generation.
Okay the default running is actually default Roller Blading, it's a little hard to handle at first but it's easy to get used to, although I wish it came with a slow down button.
One new thing I'd like to add is the concept of tipping. What benefit is it meant to give you? It's nice that you can use money for much more than just in game items and you actually do a job in a fancy hotel for extra money, but tipping in some cases feels a bit off.
There will be extra bits once the new anime premiers so keep an eye open.
Despite my age I don't actually hate modern anime but there are some trends that need to stop and all will be clear in this review on Majikoi.
Majikoi is based on a visual novel/hentai game where male lead Yamato Naoe a self proclaimed pervert can choose between a variety of girls who each know a certain combat skill.
It starts off in fantastic fashion with a big school battle between classes and were introduced to the cast one after the other, there are a lot of characters so it's better just to introduce the five love interests and Cookie the robot.
We start with Momoyo who is a larger than life and battle crazy girl, fighting with her bare hands and using super powers like a Saiyan warrior. Her sister is Kazuko who does nothing but train and for some reason is nicknamed "Doggy". Miyako is crazy as hell trying to sleep with Yamato at any moments notice, she's the one usually seen with Cookie the robot who looks very retro and usually gets dragged into everything. Next is token foreigner Christiane who other than speak gratuitous German is into old period dramas; and finally a character who will certainly be on the Walk of Fame very soon, her name is Yukie Mayuzumi; how do I put this? She speaks to her phone strap called Matsukaze who resembles a pinata horse but is actually historically the horse ridden by Keiji Maeda. It's unclear whether Matsukaze is a spirit or Mayuzumi is using ventriloquism to really express her real feelings without saying them herself, but it's a clever design and earns a lot of serious points in my book.
You can probably tell it's a harem series but it doesn't always stick to predefined tropes, Yamato never feels bothered by his female entourage (Even Miyako) and he's actually intelligent and is a believable character, the other male characters aren't so bland that you'd forget them either and there is enough good action and high tension fighting to really sell well so why the poor comment at the start?
Because it tries to be intelligent.
A basic rule for all harem anime is to have plenty of fanservice along with a genuine love dodecahedron or whatever number of girls involved.
Equally a basic rule for martial arts anime is to have intense fighting.
Both are dumb genres and don't require a thought process to enjoy it but Majikoi after the half way point tries to get political to the point where the series is trying to force us to care about the state of the country.
I get that political stories often get forced into martial arts anime to appear more intelligent but at least when they tried it they were easy to ignore because we still had good fighting; there isn't enough episodes in Majikoi to try something that complex when the harem stuff quite often creates sudden mood shifts, this includes the ending as well.
It's a shame, it had great foundations and a brilliant dub with allstar casting including actors I thought previously retired, but this series represents a major flaw in modern anime and a number of other shows I've reviewed recently, for everything they get right they then try something that ruins everything. In Mayo Chiki it was failure to resolve the plot, in Okami-san it was the need to build up a story only to fall flat when it realized it ran out of episodes, with Majikoi it was thinking that it's viewers were intelligent enough to understand a political story within a martial arts, harem anime based on a hentai game, again it runs out of episodes only after giving us the whole political story and you can't help but feel disappointed that you didn't get enough action or fanservice.
Final Verdict: Have to relegate it to budget anime I'm afraid, it makes you follow a plot that has no business in the show in the first place and your ultimately left unsatisfied.
