On the 11th April 2019 the world lost a genius of the anime world, Monkey Punch creator of Lupin the 3rd one of the most renowned creations in the medium, so today this review is in honour of Monkey Punch.
RIP Monkey Punch 1937-2019
Lupin is up to his usual cat and mouse antics between himself and Zenigata this time taking place in Brazil, but there is a religious cult known as the Nostradamus Sect in the middle of an operation to capture the daughter of business tycoon and presidential candidate Douglas.
Julia the daughter of Douglas just happens to be on the plane that gets hijacked along with Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko and the Brazilian soccer team. With Julia kidnapped Lupin goes to the great Earth building to try and find out what the kidnappers want, it turns out Douglas has the real book of Nostradamus and the Sect want it in exchange for his daughter and to resign his candidacy as President.
Knowing that his uncle almost succeeded in opening the vault, Lupin goes to his prison cell to try and obtain a means to get into the vault himself all the while being pursued by the sect.
Meanwhile the sect brainwashes the Brazilian soccer team to set up the bombs all around the Earth building.
After escaping his own near death, Lupin returns with his gang to try and get into the vault where the final act is played out.
It's classic Lupin action with the stakes much higher than a typical episode, it's fun, action packed and a little ridiculous.
The dub is top notch with some great work from Funimation.
If there's anything I didn't like it's probably the villains, their plan doesn't really make sense as one seems to want the World and the other wants it destroyed, which would've been fine if they weren't on the same team, fairly minor though and doesn't take away from the spectacle.
Final Verdict: Lots of fun and good old classic Lupin action, a worthy addition to the film series.
I seem to be back on my search for that one anime gem among the pile of bad titles and it's now taken me to Wild Cardz.
Based on the PlayStation game of the same name, Wild Cardz is about a strike team called the Crown Knights who defend the Card Kingdom with their card based powers.
Our team are Coco Hearts who can use explosions and telekinesis.
Casa Clover who has the muscle.
Joe Diamond who has super speed.
And their leader Sunday Spade who controls the castle defences.
The peace is broken by a giant chess piece destroying the Kingdom so the Crown Knights go out to try and stop it even though it takes them most the OVA to figure out that it is a god damn chess piece.
I find it hard identifying who are villain is meant to be as about a few minutes into episode 2 another chess piece joins in and fights the other chess piece the Knights are trying to stop, further complicating things is a group of ninjas led by a temptress and a very racist Chinese caricature. There's also a joker who seems to just want to watch the chess pieces fight.
My brain is exhausted after all that and the ending tries to pull a cliff hanger when one character appears to be dead.
The dub is awful, no one can act, lines get botched, voice editing is bad, whoever voiced the Chinese guy should never be hired again and Apollo Smile is also in this. (Ulala from Space Channel 5, the so called "live action anime girl")
Final Verdict: This is just messy action story telling, it's hard for me to get invested with no clear villain, so it makes the OVA drag it's heels when there's no investment to be had in the battle, not helped by god awful voice acting.
I need a drink.
After treating my brain to an overload of uncomfortable thoughts lets tone it down for Carnival Phantasm.
For Type Moon's 10th anniversary it was decided that they would take their popular franchises, Fate Stay Night, Tsukihime and Melty Blood and turn it into a laugh out loud fun OVA, poking fun at it's characters and throwing them into a number of absurd situations.
For a show like this it comes down to familiarity and gags as to whether you enjoy this or not; each episode starts at a cafe owned by Neko humans who kick start the madness and ends with Taiga and Ilya concluding the madness.
So just a selection of what to expect:
The adventures of Phantasmoon
Dating games going wrong
Saber gets a job
Berserker goes shopping
and many more.
Personal favourite is Tsukihime beach volleyball and Holy Grail Grand Prix.
It's not essential to know these characters or their series to enjoy but some gags fall flat if there isn't such familiarity with the shows; Tsukihime cast in particular can be plagued by this and there are one or two cast members which didn't need the screen time.
No dub but probably wouldn't work with one and the opening theme is the catchiest in anime history.
Final Verdict: it's fun entertainment with something for everyone.
It's always the ones you least suspect.
With a title like "Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl Senpai", the expectation is that we'll get a harem comedy about bunny girls, instead we get a show that deals with the darker elements of adolescence.
Sakuta sees a bunny girl moving around a library but no one seems to be able to see her but him. This is Mai, a teen actress who appears to be disappearing from the minds of the world; suspecting a phenomenon dubbed Adolescence Syndrome, something he himself has experienced following a rumoured incident, Sakuta decides to help Mai eventually developing romantic feelings for her, but Sakuta later becomes a magnet for more victims of this unusual condition, sometimes explained in theoretical physics including a reference to Schroedingers cat.
To list all the different phenomenon, we have: Becoming invisible to the world, repeating the same day constantly, creating another version of yourself, body swapping, creating a being as a coping mechanism and amnesia formed through a traumatic experience.
I concede that this anime is written incredibly well and all characters particularly Sakuta, Mai and Futaba are written very well but the subject matter can hit a few nerves if you've had similar experiences especially in the digital age of cyber bullying or feelings of being invisible which personally is something I've had trouble with since my breakup.
And although not highlighted by the anime directly there is a darker implication of suicide as well made all the more disturbing when you see the bruises appear on Sakuta's sister Kaede.
No dub, but would be worst for it as it really pays to have a gentle voice tone to amplify the plot elements something American voice actors lack at times.
Final Verdict: Don't be fooled by the title, you won't get what it says but you will get a show that really makes you question reality which depending on your taste in anime can either be depressing, thought provoking or surprisingly heart warming if a little bit tear jerker.
I promise a happier anime to follow this.
About time I bashed a 2010s anime, this is Demon King Daimao.
Akuto Sai is a wide eyed student hoping to graduate as the top student of a prominent magic academy but his world gets turned upside down where an aptitude test determines him as the future demon king. Ostracized by his fellow students and attracting a harem consisting of a ninja, an android, a witch, an occultist and a childhood friend who likes flying and stripping, Akuto decides that the system created by god needs destroying.
This series is messy, whoever was in charge of editing needs to be fired because the plot is so disjointed you can't tell where you are in the story and you feel convinced you missed an episode or two.
The actual harem is weak, Junko especially makes Love Hina's Naru look like a decent character in comparison.
I'm also puzzled as to why it takes place in a magic academy as it quickly drops that plot in favour of a corrupt government conspiracy, fate of humanity and ninja clan betrayal, they couldn't even rip off Harry Potter correctly and don't get me started on the ending.
Dub is cookie cutter of the time.
Is there anything I like? The student council has it's moments as does Akuto and the dragon Peterhausen but it's not enough to save this train wreck.
Final Verdict: They couldn't even rip off it's inspiration correctly, they couldn't get a decent harem, they couldn't make the action interesting and the ending is a kick to the balls, they couldn't even edit it properly. So yeah, this is proper anime trash and not the good kind.
