sci-fi Archives - Page 2 of 3

More quick drops: Aoharu x Kikanjuu, Classroom Crisis, Etotama

Regular readers should be used to me failing to make it through even the first 10 minutes of most anime shows by now. At least it helps me get through my massive backlog faster, right? The most recent victims:

Aoharu x Kikanjuu: I tried it when it started airing and didn’t even make it past the point where Tachibana’s friend Hotaru starts groping her. I liked the whole fiery school council president schtick, but the vulgarity ruined the moment. This time I tried again and made it to the point where Tachibana confronts the guy who won’t shut up about breasts. More vulgarity and more talking than I was hoping for from this kind of show. If I have to struggle this hard to make it to the 10-minute mark then the show doesn’t have a future with me. Dropped.

Classroom Crisis: I wanted to like this, since it was trying to do something different with the sci-fi and the high schoolers also being employees tackling a hostage crisis while flying into space etc etc, but in the end there was just too much going on. Even worse, the transfer student they saved ended up being a huge jerk – but a jerk with a point i.e. they wasted too much money on the rescue + butted their noses in where it didn’t belong. Nevertheless the dumb, money-wasting “passionate” kids and their teachers are going to be portrayed as the good guys while the sensible jerk Nagisa is slowly going to be won over to their side and so on. And there’s going to be all this business intrigue and drama and stuff going on. Not interested, pass.

Etotama: Etotama was a cute and silly show and not nearly as fanservicey as I’d expected (in fact, hardly fanservicey at all). I liked Takeru’s stoic reactions to Nya-tan’s silliness, though it probably won’t last once he gets to know her better. It’s just that this is one of those shows where one episode is really enough. Nya-tan’s antics are cute enough for one episode, but I can see them getting real old real quick, so I’d rather leave Etotama with good memories. Maybe one day when I’m really bored I’ll watch another episode. Until then!

Gunslinger Stratos anime review (surprisingly enjoyable)

Sometimes it pays to keep your expectations low. As soon as I heard Gunslinger Stratos was based on a videogame, I mentally shook my head a little bit and thought “Okay, let’s see how bad it can get.” Maybe because of that it wasn’t bad at all and I actually enjoyed it more than I’ve enjoyed a lot of other recent shows.

Story (according to Wikipedia): In 2115, the country known formerly as Japan has been split into two parallel worlds: the Frontier S (Stratos) and the 17th Far East Imperial City Management District. When the two universes are starting to fuse into one, the government of each worlds initiates the Operation Stratos, a world-scale protocol wherein a handpicked group of gunslingers, mercenaries, and special individuals, each from the two universes, will be sent in the year 2015 to alter the past by eliminating the other side until only one group survives, erasing a parallel universe in the process.

The story revolves on a group of gunslingers, each from the two universes who participate in Operation Stratos, particularly on a group of four childhood friends: Tohru Kazasumi, Kyōka Katagiri, Kyōma Katagiri, and Shizune Rindo, who all must confront their own flaws and differences when they battle their alternate selves in order to survive.

It’s an action show, but the action was neither very good or very bad, just enough to get the story across. It was easy enough to see at a glance who was doing what to who, and the action sequences had an efficient blend of flash and practicality, i.e. seriously trying to kill the other person, not just firing bullets into thin air.

Deaths are telegraphed well in advance, but at the same time writers aren’t scared to rack up a pretty high body count. This adds a lot of tension to the show because right till the very end I wasn’t sure which, if any of the main characters were going to survive. Would one of the Tohru’s make a heroic sacrifice? Both of them? One of the Kyokas? Would someone get sniped right at the moment of victory? You’ll have to watch it yourself to find out, but Gunslinger Stratos is one of the few shows I’ve watched recently that kept me guessing right to the end.

The characters are perhaps best described as stereotypes with a twist. Hero Tohru starts out as the usual namby-pamby hero, but when he has to step up to the plate he does so with remarkable aplomb, proving to be even tougher than the “hardcore” rival Tohru. His love interest Kyoka, both Kyokas in fact, are both girls of action despite their cutesy looks. They’re not afraid to get down and dirty in action and they’re both quick to do something about their feelings instead of dragging the show out with “Will they won’t they” nonsense. The other side characters are largely forgettable, but when the main cast is this strong they’re enough to pull the show along.

The story was very fast-paced even for a 13-episode show, feeling almost rushed in places. The advantage of that is there were no wasted episodes that made you feel “Well that was a big load of nothing.” The reveals come fast and hard, it’s not one of those shows where a mystery is introduced in episode one and only resolved in episode 95.

When questions are raised they are answered fairly quickly, then new questions come up and those are answered too. The story as a whole was quite satisfying and well-resolved. Everything’s wrapped up in this one show, none of that “Go read the manga/light novel/wait for season 2 to find out what happens next” stuff. Sure there are a few things you’d probably need to play the game to get (like the full role of the Katagiri Corporation and background data on the two worlds) but you don’t get the sense that the anime is made for fans of the game only. It’s approachable to all.

Long story short, you should probably watch Gunslinger Stratos if you like shows where stuff actually happens, and quickly too. Watch if you like action and romance that goes somewhere. Avoid if you’re looking for a deep, involving story or lots of character interaction/dialogue/comedy.

Kyousougiga episodes 1-2, dropped

Too weird and disjointed for me, I guess. I was following along with the weirdness in the early parts of episode 1 of Kyousougiga, or so I thought, then they lost me in Kyoto when the kid turned into an adult and started fooling around with some random floozy in an apartment etc etc.

Still I thought I’d try one more episode to see if they would at least explain what’s going on. Okay, I get that there are several worlds out there and there’s an organization that takes care of those worlds and the girl Koto that showed up is part of that group and is looking for her sensei at the same time. But. I don’t like Koto at all, especially at her bratty kid stage, which is all episode two focuses on.

I watched up to the part where she was brawling with some kid at a shrine and then dropped it, though I did skip forward a bit to see that some mysterious people think she’s special somehow and want to get their hands on her, I think. Which means there’s going to be even more focus on Koto for the rest of the series, which means I’m better off dropping it while I’m ahead.

Annoying main character, adult situations that don’t fit the rest of the show, lots of weirdness that isn’t explained in a straightforward fashion (I hate weird series), all equals a recipe for a series I’m going to hate. I’m not even interested enough in what Kyousougiga is about to read summaries online. The whole thing just left me feeling frustrated and mildly irritated. Pass, on to the next show!

Metropolis (Osamu Tezuka) manga review

Another Osamu Tezuka manga! From 1949 too! After Dororo, Metropolis is probably the least bad Tezuka work I’ve read, but that doesn’t mean it’s all that good either.

The blurb:

From Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy, comes Metropolis, the legendary 1949 graphic novel that inspired the animated fame that floored audiences and critics alike. In a not-so-far-off future a beautiful, artifically created girl — unaware of her non-human background — wanders alone in a world populated by humans and by the slave-driven robots who serve them as she searches for the non-existent parents she believes must exist. Tezuka’s key theme of the nature of humanity in a technological society is framed in bold relief, as well as his wry allegorical observations of the Cold War that was escalating when he created Metropolis. A brilliant work of wit and wisdom — and guest-starring some friends you may recognize from Astro Boy! — Metropolis is one of graphic fiction’s most enduring tales.

As with Lost World, he also claims to be unfamiliar with the 1927 movie of the same name that the manga is suspiciously similar to. But since Tezuka is the “god of manga” or whatever they like to call him, no one bothers to dispute his claim. Personally I think he copies both originals, but that’s neither here nor there. Let’s just evaluate the manga as we have it.

TBH I don’t remember any observations on the Cold War, except for the part where a scientist speculates that humans become too advanced they might end up destroying themselves. I wouldn’t have realized it was linked to the Cold War if the back cover hadn’t pointed it out. The part about Michi “wandering alone” is not quite accurate either, since for most of the manga s/he is in the constant company of friends.

That’s the other thing – strictly speaking Michi is neither male or female. There’s a switch in her throat that changes her gender when pressed, but s/he spends most of the game in male form, so I’m going to call him ‘he’ from now on. Michi is an artificial created by an evil Red Party …. ohhh, Red Party. Communism! D’oh, now I get it. Is Michi supposed to represent nuclear power gone out of control? Interesting.

Anyway, this fact is hidden from Michi for most of the story. He seems to be a mild-mannered sort of kid, but when he finds out the truth he goes totally berserk and destroys much of the metropolis before meeting his end. This turn of events is rather sudden because Michi had been such a happy, friendly child before, but I suppose the signs were there early on. Besides he wasn’t really human and he’s immature to boot, so it’s not quite fair to expect him to react with human rationality. “When science is misapplied, innocents suffer,” is what Tezuka seems to want to say.

My overall opinion of Metropolis is “Unrealized potential.” There were a lot of things that didn’t get the attention they deserved. Duke Red and the motivations of the Red Party, for example. The reason for Duke Red’s obsession with the statue that Michi looks like (no, it’s not his kid like Wikipedia claims). The friendship between Ken and Michi needed a little more exploration. The character of Emmy kind of came out of nowhere and went nowhere. Just because Duke Red is dead doesn’t necessarily mean the Red Party is done for. The ending is cheesy and rather abrupt. Poor Michi killed a lot of people but it’s okay ‘cos he was just misunderstood, aww. NOT.

In the author’s notes at the end of Metropolis, he mentions that he had to cut out a lot of things at the end of the manga, which goes a lot way to explain how sudden the events of the last third of the book are. There’s a lot of time wasted fighting giant Micky Mouse lookalike rats and running from KKK-dressed henchmen that would have been better served focusing on Michi, IMO. So the explanation that Tezuka meant to devote more attention to more important matters but never got around to it is a plausible one. I just think he cut the wrong things out of the manga when he had to, but I’ll buy his excuse that he was pressed for time.

So yeah Metropolis an interesting little story that doesn’t really go anywhere. At least it doesn’t contain any offensive content like Ayako, plus it’s a complete story in one little volume. It’s worth a read if you like standalone graphic novels or just want a light introduction to older scifi manga. I’m still on the hunt for what makes Osamu Tezuka so special, though.

Outlanders volume 2 manga review

All right! Volume 2 of our not-all-that-romantic space opera! If you need a quick summary of Outlanders story, I provided one a few days ago when I talked about volume 1 a few days ago. It’s the story of the unlikely rivalry->friendship->romance between an Earthling photographer and a scantily-clad alien invader princess. I’d like to add “hilarity ensues” but the body count is a little too high for that.

And it only gets higher as the alien forces launch an all-out assault on Earth. Europe in particular suffers catastrophic damage. But the day is saved thanks to Tetsuya’s boss Aki, who has uncovered the mystery behind the secrets of the world. Said mystery turns out to be magic. Witch magic, to precise. And Aki herself is the reincarnation of the witch Jilehr and she’s now helping Great Leader Neo repel the invaders and get revenge on the aliens for persecuting witches all those years ago.

I must say, that kind of shadow government isn’t really what I was expecting. I’m not quite sure what exactly what I was hoping for, but Witches! Magic! Reincarnation! wasn’t quite it. I guess I wanted the human race to fight back using its wits and resilience and maybe a super-weapon born from said wits and resilience. Magic is just a little too easy, you know? I dunno, I’ve kind of lost interest in that side of things now.

Meanwhile Tetsuya and Kahm continue their uneasy relationship, beginning with Tetsuya held captive on Kahm’s ship and ending with the two of them on the run in Germany after their ship is shot down. Along the way they meet a German girl named Raisa who is eager to turn Kahm into swiss cheese for killing her family, but is eventually persuaded by Tetsuya’s charming good looks to help them instead. It never fails – when it come to manga, no matter what kind of far flung location a Japanese man finds himself, the locals are quick to overcome any initial reluctance and then fall all over themselves to help. Manga is pure wish fulfillment. But you knew that already.

Anyway, by the end of volume 2 we’ve found out what exactly the problem is – the aliens lived on earth for a while, they left, the humans (who may or may not have been there all along) took over, and now the aliens want their property back. But the humans have squatters’ rights, basically, so they’re not letting go without a fight. Princess Kahm has proposed that Tetsuya marry her so the two races can live in peace. Tetsuya isn’t entirely adverse to the idea, but just then a few of Kahm’s lackey run into trouble and need to be saved. And that’s it for volume 2!

Outlanders is 8 volumes long in Japan and about the same in English, so we’re long way away from the ending. I have a feeling the number of casualties are going to be huge by the time the series is finally over. Tetsuya will probably end up saving the day somehow or the other (I told you, wish fulfillment, the day must be saved by the Japanese) and then we’ll see whether he gets the girl or not. I’m not in a rush to finish Outlanders, but maybe I should clear it off my plate quickly so I can watch Dungeon de Deai wo Motomeru. We’ll see.