This entry was inspired by KyraChan's little debate over which is better, Pokemon or Death Note, and I argued that Death Note doesn't warrant talking about these days while Pokemon is still a talking point today but thinking over my comments, I realized that Death Note isn't the only anime like that and many anime that were popular during their initial run are barely mentioned anymore, so what happened to the anime that were once popular staples of the industry? Lets have a run down.
1. Akira & Ghost in the Shell
Akira used to be the one series other than Dragonballz that people used to say was the best but these days it's content has been done better by better shows. Equally Ghost in the Shell is highly rated but has fizzled out of form for the last five years, it doesn't help that it's a source of inspiration for The Matrix who for an icon of Sci-Fi film making hasn't budged since the Trilogy ended in 2003.
2. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, 90s Anime in General
Cowboy Bebop is highly rated as the greatest anime of all time and it's hard to argue that case unless your Japanese because in reality it didn't do as well back home as it did in America mainly because the content is more understandable to a Western Audience, but it hasn't done much not even warranting a mention these days. Trigun has a similar problem, in fact a good portion of 90s anime that's not set in Japan are not mentioned anymore.
3. Inuyasha
Inuyasha was once the most popular anime in the world way before Shonen Jump clawed back their crown but these days a good portion of young fans won't know what Inuyasha is or have only received it's legacy which isn't a pleasant one, but there's room on another entry on why that is another time.
4. Haruhi Suzumiya & Lucky Star
Remember when Haruhiism was a trend? Not these days, the trend plummeted as quickly as it came in and poor old Lucky Star is starting to be dragged into the same pit of oblivion.
5. Full Metal Alchemist
Has been permanently disowned by the fanbase because of Brotherhood which is obnoxious and very unfair.
6. Death Note & Code Geass
With nothing left to run on the series, the actual Death Note is not as shocking these days since Madoka Magica & Attack on Titan have been argued to be better shows. Code Geass hasn't had much mention in a while either.
7. Yu-Gi-Oh
The Abridged Series has labeled the franchise an absolute joke and has practically died a sudden death.
8. Other notable mentions
Negima has stepped out of the spotlight along with Harem Shows in general.
Slice of Life shows are not popular right now.
And while Shonen Jump still runs strong, the enthusiasm for it's top four shows is dropping.
Ghibli Films are still popular but are losing momentum and might find it difficult post Miyazaki.
Endangered
Gurren Lagann: Might be outclassed by it's owner's new show Kill-La-Kill.
Gundam: Providing it avoids becoming a toy anime it should survive.
Evangelion: Running out of ideas to flog without destroying it's credibility.
Fairy Tail: Since the threat of it being cancelled it's starting to lose momentum.
Sailor Moon: It might struggle against it's new rivals seeing as Madoka Magica has changed the playing field.
Tiger & Bunny: Considering how it ended, it's hard to continue from where it is.
Soul Eater: Hanging on for dear life.
Escaped
Black Butler: Gothic fashion is still in and is still a cosplay favorite.
Ouran Host Club: Is still popular surprisingly.
Berserk: Why? It's rubbish.
Higurashi: Not as much as the others but still holding better than most.
Rurouni Kenshin: Successful thanks to a good Live Action adaption.
Anyway you get my point, a lot of shows which were so high ranking back in their day are hardly mentioned anymore. It'll take a lot of time and effort to pin point why this has happened especially to some of the best shows of all time, but seeing as I've grabbed your attention it might be time to start reviewing some heavy hitters of the industry, so expect some big name titles in my next few reviews.
This is a review for Samurai Pizza Cats but to explain the title, that is the Japanese title for the show and this review is for that version and not the gag dub to avoid confusion. With that disclaimer done, here is my review on Kyatto Ninden Teyandee.
We begin the series in Edoropolis, a modern day city mixed with feudal Japan populated by robot animals. This town is led by Shogun Iei Iei Tokugawa whose pretty much lost all his screws in terms of mindset, his Prime Minister Korn is plotting to overthrow him with aid from a family of ninja crows led by Gennari & managed by Karamaru; they do so with various plots often involving a large robot Oppressing the people and using the Shogun as a scapegoat, or trying to uncover other things like weapons or large sums of money, anyway to overthrow the Shogun.
The Chief of the Palace Guard Wanko, decides to form a team of Ninjas to combat the evils of Lord Korn; they are the Nyankees who work under disguise as Pizza Delivery men at a popular restaurant called Pizza Cat which explains where that comes from in the first place.
The team of three consists of Yattaro who plays the typical hero lead and is usually the one to finish the battle with his final attack, Pururun the only female who to be honest is typical female lead material and Skashee the hopeless romantic that makes an ideal third character, to be honest not much changes in 23 years, we still get teams like that and one only has to look at Pokemon's regular lineups over the years to see.
The restaurant is managed by Otama who takes in all the communications and launches the Nyankees by means of a clock tower gun. Couple of other characters are Omitsu a kind sheep girl who sprays out missiles when she's upset, the rescue squad consisting of four other ninja cats with special equipment specific to certain situations, the spoilt Princess Usako, the mother & son who appear once an episode and state the obvious and the Narrator who always speaks with the same Tatsunoko catchphrase "Allow me to Explain"
The series is basically a robot of the week affair; the plot happens and the Nyankees sort it out and ending in the same way each time with only a couple of more important plots breaking the chain. There's some slapstick in places and the retro music stops the combat from getting repetitive. But there is one thing about this show which makes it so strange is that it was even dubbed at all.
This show is very, very Japanese and even translated into subtitles it's blatantly obvious that this show would be lost on an American Audience, especially when the Ninja Turtles were taking most of the Cartoon viewing at the time. The fact that Saban barely received any of the translation notes was a bit of accidental genius as the team then decided it was best to play it as a gag show to get around the fact that a) they had nothing to translate with and b) the weirdness could easily be shown as a gag series, the title Samurai Pizza Cats refers to the name of the restaurant crossed with the misconception that the characters were Samurai mainly due to their weapons consisting of Kitana, a flute & an umbrella with a sword inside it.
As a gag series in the states it surprisingly worked mainly because the Ninja Turtles made the Animal fighting shows popular and the 90s had so many different ones that Samurai Pizza Cats fit right in but how does the original hold up?
Well I'm not one for over done formulas this day and age but there is enough in the series to entertain everyone and if you can get past the heavy Japanese barrier it's very enjoyable.
Final Verdict: It's an easy show to watch if your an anime veteran but may be lost on a newbie especially when the original is packed to the brim with Japanese jokes, plots and themes. I recommend the sub for veterans who want to see what the original was really like and I recommend the gag dub for newbies and nostalgia fans who enjoy bonkers cartoons.
I'm usually immune to the strangest concepts but this one certainly makes a lot of effort to convince me that the Japanese are weird. Today's review is on Akikan.
Now be prepared for a weird plot.
Kakeru Daichi is a normal perverted guy until the can of Melon Juice he drinks turns into a beautiful girl who is called Melon for convenience sake.
He has been chosen for a government project called the Akikan Elect which is meant to decide which can is better, Aluminum or Steel, to decide this the Akikan's themselves must fight it out to decide but the story decides to do away with the fighting very quickly to avoid becoming Mai-Hime and become a comedy romance anime instead which doesn't really change things an awful lot.
The problem is Akikan seems to be caught between two genres, the novelty fighter & the romantic comedy, it equally doesn't help that it sometimes delves into harem territory especially as the cast grows more female characters.
But to Akikan's credit at least it tries to be different, the main male lead is not an accidental pervert but a full blown pervert which breaks the first law of Harem instantly, only two girls actually like him since Akikans only fall in love with their owners so it's less Harem and more simple love triangle.
The Akikans themselves are made up of a tsundere, a devoted servant and a super cute little girl. There are only three males in the story, one is the lead, one is the invisible friend and the other is a proud Yaoi character who's clearly in the wrong anime.
The other females are Yaoi guy's over worked secretary, the little Akikan's child minder, a feminist witch and a girl who seriously can't see how much of a pervert Kakeru is. And there's another Akikan but she's introduced so suddenly and so late that we barely get enough time to take her character in, with that in mind the ending is rushed and suddenly reverts to the action plot it started with.
It's habit of throwing in sudden changes is like the director suddenly remembering he's got a deadline and throws in something weird that ends up breaking the flow of the story, made more obvious by the sudden upgrade in art in Episode 11 or the constant breakdowns in serious tones for more of Kakeru's perverted mindset, it's a sheer mess that's poorly managed throughout. Finally to note, there is no dub, probably just as well.
Final Verdict: For such a bizarre concept it strangely manages to work but needs more care and a few more solid foundations to really work as a proper anime. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but it needs a couple of cliches. It's bargain anime at it's finest so give it a look.
And now for the Top 10 Best Pokemon, same rules apply.
10. Blastoise & Sceptile
These two are on this list for a special memory. Both are symbols of friendship from a dear friend of mine across the pond in Canada, we got each other animal necklaces, I had a turtle, she had a gecko. So if available to me, these two are always welcome on my teams.
9. Raichu
Pikachu's evolution is always underrated, yet every appearance it makes has always reminded Ash's Pikachu of what he's missing and Pikachu essentially fighting under the belief that he doesn't need to be a Raichu to be strong, plus he's the one Pokemon who nearly killed Pikachu.
8. Cubone & Marowak
It's not the most practical but damn is it awesome looking and also scary when you first see it as a ghost in Gen 1. There's also the mystery behind the Skull.
7. Nidoking
I'm a fan of big powerful Pokemon and insist on at least one in my team with every journey and Nidoking is usually first choice, honorable mentions to Steelix, Drapion & the mighty Wailord.
6. Sandslash
Sandslash is usually my best buddy for early game progress, plus I'll never forget the time he took down a Pokemon 30 times it's own level. If he's not beating mooks early on he's working as a HM slave. Honorable mention to Golduck for having the same job.
5. Ampharos
Ampharos has always been my favorite electric type, out of all my teams, he's on or at least been involved with seven of them, much in the same way as the next entry.
4. Lucario
I've trained at least three of them as permanent team members, Lucario's movie was down right memorable and even outside the movies he's still a bad ass. Come on one of them fights his trainer just to snap her out of a losing slump. You don't know awesome until you see a trainer deflect Aura Spheres with their hands.
3. Lilligant
If I want a grass type Pokemon, they have to be a powerhouse and nothing is more powerful than Lilligant, in my only attempt at the World Championships it was my only team member to successfully beat any of my opponents Pokemon. Plus it always looks attractive in fanart.
2. Blaziken & Infernape
It would be too obvious to make these two number one, both these fighting fire types have always been awesome to watch, every time either of them are on screen they always leave an imprint in my mind of how easy it is to make this franchise awesome. Infernape is the best Pokemon Ash has ever trained period and Blaziken wins more kudos by being a free Pokemon for X&Y.
1. Kyogre
Remember I said I like big powerful Pokemon? Well none come bigger than this beast. Kyogre is welcome in every team I make and I'll make sure I can get it to X&Y eventually. It fits my team requirements for Surfing, being big & powerful and the bonus of being a legendary. It's the most intimidating Pokemon you can lay your eyes on and I'll be happy to have it as my team player.
Now it's time for a double top ten feature to celebrate the upcoming X&Y Games, and the most obvious ones to do are the top 10 best & worst Pokemon.
These decisions are based on design, practical use for the games, personal experiences and how much I had fun training them or in the case of the worst list how much I wanted to release them; I will also be taking their anime appearances into account. So lets begin with the Worst List.
Bare in mind that I no longer play Pokemon professionally so I will not refer to stats or complex Pokemon game talk in these two lists.
10. Spiritomb & Sableye
I hate these two for the same reason, both Pokemon have no weaknesses due to being Dark & Ghost types, this means they can be exploited with Wonder Guard an ability that negates all non weakness attacks by hackers. I'm not a fan of hackers to the game especially when they exploit these two for easy wins, it's unsporting and ruins the game for everyone.
9. Celebi
I never understood the appeal of Celebi nor do I enjoy the idea of obtaining it. In the UK it's difficult to rely on Pokemon events because there was a period where we got none of them at all and I never got a chance to own Celebi, but like many of the other cute legendary Pokemon it's just toyline bait.
8. Deoxys
Speaking of legendary Pokemon, Deoxys has many reasons for wanting me to hate it. Destiny Deoxys is the weakest Pokemon movie in the Film Series, in at least one game it doesn't obey you for some reason and he's also the whole reason why every Legendary now needs a form.
7. Pachirisu, Plusle & Minun
I'm not a fan of Pikachu clones and it already looks like were getting a hamster one to join the growing cast, although I left Emolga off for actually being useful. Either these three get evolutions or even a Mega Evolution otherwise they'll never be on any of my teams. Plus does the move Helping Hand actually accomplish anything?
6. Dunsparce
Derpy Pokemon is derpy and is utterly useless, I even can't believe that Ash thought about catching one not to long ago.
5. Wobbuffet
Just as derpy and even more useless with the added bonus of being an anime regular. In a game where most high ranking matches are normally down to one hit kills, Wobbuffet is the least useful Pokemon in the games.
4. Snubbell
It looks like a Bulldog in a dress, who decided that was a good design?
3. Scyther
As awesome as it looks, it's the most disappointing Pokemon to train, an impractical flying bug with a way more superior Evolution. If you played Generation one you'll understand what I mean.
2. Keldeo
Okay this might get me a lot of backlash; I'm not a fan of Vic Mignogna. He voiced My Little Pony reject Keldeo and god was he annoying. The reckless young student trope is a horrid cliche and Vic Mignogna made it more annoying than it already was.
1. Vanillite, Vanillish & Vanilluxe
Yep the entire evolutionary line of the Ice Cream Pokemon. I can tolerate Garbage Pokemon, I can tolerate Sludge Pokemon, I can just about tolerate the new Sword Pokemon but an Ice Cream Pokemon, that really is scraping the barrel on ideas Game Freak.
