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.
When I started Project 1000, There are types of anime I was not expecting and 12 Sai Chicchana Mune No Tokimeki is one of them.
Shortened to the title Age 12, it follows the school lives of a class of 12 year old kids as they contemplate the next stage of their lives a.k.a puberty.
The focus is on the two young couples Hanabi x Takao and Yui x Hiyama as they discover evolving feelings of romance in an environment of immature boys and girls.
I knew full well this anime was not made for me and the fact that I've not been in a classroom for 15 years is not helping, if I was to base it on it's own merits it's cute but clearly missed the point of 12 year olds but that's not a fair assessment, so I want to present this to the viewers. I want to ask anyone who has recently finished school or have a young sibling aged 12 or even a teacher of that age group, how much of this is Bull Shit?
I ask because I'm too old to know what 21st Century borns do in school now, to make this review fair and make an honest recommendation, I'm asking if the content of this anime is accurate or a load of crap.
Final Verdict: I think it misses the point on the subject matter but I'm also not the right person to ask, so I present it to the reader to ask if this is worth anyone's time?
Took a week but NieA 7 is ready to go.
This slice of life comedy/drama revolves around the lives of cram student Mayuko, freeloader alien NieA and the residents of Enohana.
Mayuko is a poor student who can barely afford a decent meal who lives in the upstairs of an old bathhouse, along with NieA a freeloader alien obsessed with food and building UFOs from junk.
In this world, aliens have made contact and are already living among humans with some aliens becoming living stereotypes of certain cultures in order to better understand human culture, notably the crazy Indian shopkeeper; aliens in this world are identified by their antennae, the better quality antennae the higher on the hierarchy you are, however NieA lacks an antennae making her an under 7, a term used to describe low class aliens.
A typical day in Enohana is Mayuko dealing with the daily shenanigans of the locals along with NieA, then after episode 6 we deal with six episodes of depression as we witness a full cycle of Mayuko's social anxiety before normal service resumes on the last episode, nothing is resolved, no questions are answered and you'll be asking for alot of time back.
Not to say it's bad, you do learn alot about mental illness and how narrow minded society can be in dealing with these problems, but the first half made this out to be a gag comedy and to sit through the second half was like reading a newspaper after watching Looney Tunes. You forget why you laughed and are suddenly feeling depressed over whoever died that day or whatever crappy thing the government does next. It's not so much a mood whiplash rather a mood kick to the balls.
Saw the sub and heard NieA's voice and was glad not to have seen the dub.
Final Verdict: Being honest you wouldn't lose anything by stopping after six episodes of the anime, unless you're into social commentary on anxiety, discrimination and stereotyping you're better off skipping the second half of the series.
I think it's safe to assume my last few reviews have covered remakes so here's another one.
In 2040, robots called boomers have taken over most basic jobs but some start going rogue and causing problems with the AD Police stuck for answers, a vigilante group of women in mechanical hard suits come in and destroy the boomers.
After witnessing such an event, Linna Yamazaki seeks out the vigilantes known as the Knight Sabers in a bid to join them and put an end to the rogue boomer problem.
This version doesn't deviate too much from the original 80s version in terms of story but the art style is well updated to reflect the cyberpunk setting of the world. It also gives the characters more dimensions than their 80s counterparts, even characters traditionally not well liked get a well deserved upgrade, this is especially true for everyone who isn't Priss who was always an awesome character in the 80s original but her edgy upgrade in this is strangely welcome despite the reputation of so called Edgelords of the era.
Dub is solid and way better than those in the original.
If I had to compare them directly, I always felt the original was more fun and the situation of the day was always a compelling watch; Tokyo 2040 while the design is much better and more art appropriate for the setting it does lose itself in the lore and can drag in the middle especially when were forced to deal with Sylia's brother.
Final Verdict: Tokyo 2040 is better made, better with it's characters, has a setting that works for it's cyberpunk aesthetic and is better voice acted, it just let itself down a bit on story.
