This should be a fairly straightforward review.
It feels like a normal episode as Sakura captures the arrow card but things start getting strange when Sakura wins a trip to Hong Kong.
During her trip, she keeps getting dreams of being hypnotized into being killed.
Warned of this dangerous premonition by Syaoran's mother, Sakura has to be guarded only for her to get hypnotized and drawn into another dimension by the sorceress Madoushi who mistakes her power for Clow Reeds.
Madoushi blames Clow Reed for ruining her life and demands he come in exchange for Sakura's friends not aware that he died, so the remainder of the film is Sakura and co surviving Madoushi's onslaught.
This is just an extended episode and not a very good one, Madoushi can be menacing but ultimately one dimensional, it relies way too much on premonitions which were always the weakest parts of the franchise and the English dub messed up the narrative to try and give Madoushi sympathy which doesn't work.
Overall it's not worth the extra run time of a standard episode.
Final Verdict: It's a weak extended Cardcaptors episode made worst by the dub which I usually find bad anyway, Madoushi isn't a strong enough written villain to be in the franchise.
Next up, a lesson in how not to make a romance series.
Keiichi Morisato is a college freshman who in an attempt to get takeout food, inadvertently calls the Goddess hotline which summons the Goddess Belldandy, thinking this is all a joke he makes the wish to have Belldandy stay with him, only for it to work.
Forced to move to a Buddhist temple, (because it's a male only dorm) Belldandy and Keiichi live out the series as a couple all the while Belldandy's sisters Urd and Skuld get drawn in to the temple as extra roommates all the while a force tries to separate Belldandy and Keiichi.
This OVA hasn't aged well and you can pin point a number of issues as to why this is the case.
Keiichi isn't a terrible protagonist when compared to others in the same position and a number of people would respond in the same way if their wish granter was Belldandy but apart from hobbies he's really dull.
And then there's Belldandy, the legendary 90s waifu and she's ten times worst. She has no personality beyond extreme kindness, she's like a Stepford wife, even when she is forced to fight she really doesn't do anything, finally her powers aren't clearly defined, yes a goddess can do anything but there has to be a guideline within their universe as to what these deities are capable of for world building and the OVA has no time to do this.
It would take over a decade to start from scratch with a TV series but the damage is kind of done. The story is weak, the characters are boring, only Urd and Skuld will get a laugh and the voice dub acting is weak but not terrible.
It's saving grace is the animation which is detailed and beautiful, something I wish they kept for the 00s tv series.
Final Verdict: It's a weak romance story who's only sin is failing to give it's characters a personality and Belldandy is basically the perfect waifu until you develop taste.
Time for another review, this time Dennou Coil.
In the not too distant future, Augmented Reality has started becoming mainstream, with the city of Daikoku designed to be half real and half virtual.
When Yuko moves to this mysterious city with her family, her virtual pet gets infected with a mysterious virus which starts her on a path of mystery and intrigue as she and other children in a group led by her grandmother investigate the true nature of Augmented Reality technology and how these events link to the disappearance of children in these virtual worlds.
This is definitely the most interesting concept I've seen for a while, especially when the technology for Augmented Reality is now close enough for this anime to exist in reality, so it comes off as a cautionary tale of what happens when you push that technology too far, like driverless cars in Ex-Driver or any anime where you get stuck in an online game like Log Horizon or Dot Hack.
Dennou Coil's only real issue is it's art style, the colour palette makes it really hard to tell the difference between real and virtual, also the world building does take time to establish but the payoff is worth it.
Not seen the dub, I assume it to be passable.
Final Verdict: A solid idea with decent execution, worth the time if you are prepared to watch the slow world building but the payoff is at least worth sticking with.
Now for something strange yet unique in Shounen Kenya.
Set in World War II as Japan joins the war in 1941, a boy named Wataru gets separated from his father attempting to hide from British soldiers in Kenya. Wataru later meets a Masai Tribesmen named Zega who helps him find his father, as the years of the war roll by, Wataru becomes a strong man under Zega's guidance later meeting a lost British girl named Kate, all the while avoiding hostile tribes, Nazis and dinosaurs. The group is often watched over by a giant anaconda.
This production feels like a magnum opus for the creator as it's stylised in a fashion that he is constantly drawing the film deliberately leaving unfinished animation along the way, it's a strange yet beautiful set up.
The way Africa is drawn is beautiful and gives the people of the continent a dignified look at least when compared to other works set in the continent.
And apart from the ending which is hard to tell whether it's meant to be symbolic of the use of the Atomic Bomb and the evils of man or the artist just felt like putting in dinosaurs, Shounen Kenya is an underrated beautiful piece of art that for an 80s anime film is more than worthy of standing among the likes of Tezuka and Miyazaki.
No dub, production is too old.
Final Verdict: An artistic film that deserves more recognition, a little weird in places but solid effort from it's creators.
Sorry if there's been a lack of activity, I've had to deal with an injury that's just making me more tired, I'll update Project 1000 tomorrow but for now expect a couple of posts.
Final Approach was originally a visual novel for the PS2; the story goes, the Japanese government are trialing a scheme that is meant to put an end to the declining birth rate by essentially creating tons of arranged marriages.
Ryo the main character gets dragged into the scheme when Shizuka literally crashes into his life by declaring herself as his fiancee but the stubborn Ryo refuses, so it's up to Shizuka to convince him all the while dealing with another girl who gets stuck in an arranged marriage of her own and of course as this is a harem anime there's a little sister as well, along with a childhood friend and a supporter.
If the characters look familiar, basically find a picture of an anime bride and you are guaranteed to find at least one of the five girls.
At this point lets do the harem check.
Shizuka Masuda: The character who starts the whole thing, overly affectionate to the point of being intrusive, she is backed up by her own security force to make impossible things happen, it's hard to feel sympathy for her after she takes intrusion too far, while it's nice not to see a tsundere main, what we do have is not great.
Akane Mizuhara: The little sister, she's just a few steps away from being a wilting wallflower but it never goes too far, in fact her presence is low.
Emiho Mutsu: The other love interest who gets stuck in her own arranged marriage, her opinions on the crazy scenario really puts the story into perspective and is easily the best girl.
Miki Moriya: The childhood friend who gets very little time to show herself off, basically she acts as the hammer to keep Ryo in check and also take advantage of the extra friends Ryo makes.
Yurika Meno: Is not in the harem as she dates and later marries Ryo's guardian Haru, she and Haru act as outsiders to the chaos, Haru actually puts Shizuka in her place when she goes overboard with her security force during a fight in the cafe.
You could easily write this off as another tacky harem show but it has a few surprising moments, as Ryo points out frequently, this doesn't feel real and his reactions are believable but it's undone slightly when the other girls are willing to take Shizuka's side not seeing how wrong it is to force a one sided marriage.
When it's revealed why Shizuka is doing this, there's no investment as it's episodes only run for 12 minutes and we don't see any smooth transitions between episodes.
Not sure if there is a dub but I haven't seen it.
I think you'll be better off with the game, at least the narrative there is cleaned up.
Final Verdict: It has it's moments, Ryo doesn't feel like a dumb harem protagonist and the chibi comedy is cute but with so little run time there's not enough investment to care what happens to the characters and you as the viewer won't easily sympathise with Shizuka despite the anime wanting you to.
