Is Subaru wor—I mean Is Houkago no Pleiades Worth Watching?

Product placement and subtlety get along like Tibetan Maque in a Spain shop or however than goes. Personally, therefore, I feel that if, for example, Gainax made a deal with the Subaru to make a magical girl anime where the main character is literally named Subaru, the girls fly on broom like 'drive shafts' complete with Subaru hood ornaments, grilles, and engine noises, and the title of the anime is either Wish Upon the Subaru or Afterschool Subaru—at least I can say they're being upfront about it.

Subaru is a young girl whom, after stumbling into an extra-dimensional club room and subsequently, an extra dimensional botanical garden, becomes part of an effort to gather engine fragments to restore a space octopus' ship while foiling a mysterious young boy from the same fragments for some unknown reason. So in all honesty not only did massive amounts of product placement fail to hinder my experience—it enhanced it.

Houkago no Pleiades feels less like a car ad that Gainax wrote a script around and more like an idea that Gainax tailored to fit a car ad. See if there was one thing that surprised me coming out of this it was that this show was good. The characters fit into familiar archetypes without feeling like cut and paste jobs, they aren't defined by singular character traits and development occurs internally rather than as a result of an external force. As a result any character development feels natural, not forced down our throats. No characters change fundamentally, but important internal conflicts are resolved as the plot progresses. 

While the blend of CG and 2-D artwork can be jarring (especially earlier on, where there are a lot more closeups of characters in their CG form), in general the animation looks stellar and plays well with the over-the-top style Gainax is going for. Make no mistake, while the plot may seem simple on paper (and to an extent is in practice) the anime really builds to a satisfying climax. I don't wish to say more because to over-hype leads to insurmountable expectations, which always ruins a series for me. 

The other thing I found refreshing about the series was a lack of fight scenes. There is action, but it's kind of more like watching that one game with the flying balls from Harry Potter (except a hundred times larger in scale) than a traditional fight scene. It's more like a series of races; where the opponent takes the form of the aforementioned mysterious boy and some natural obstacle. It allows the anime to succeed at keeping a lighthearted tone throughout the series without ever breaking immersion. 

Lastly the characters are all well acted, despite having little to no star power present. The soundtrack, while not having that one track, managed to keep me engaged, and after listening to it a bit more I'd be lying if I said it wasn't damn good. 

So is Houkago no Pleiades worth watching? Yeah I'd say so. If you've made it all the way through this, I doubt you can be as pleasantly surprised as I was, but I do think that it does enough to separate it from the crowd and make for one hell of a ride—pun intended. 

Thanks for reading, favorite, share, I'll be you best friend, g'night.

Jyu-Oh-Sei and Potential

 Jyu-Oh-Sei is a mess. I've been sitting here trying to think of a catchy hook, but an hour's lollygagging and a pot of a coffee have net me that monolith of a statement. That's what it is though...boom.

Adapted from the 1993 anime of the same name Jyu-Oh-Sei, follows twin brothers, Thor and the other one, who are jettisoned to a prison planet called Chimaera after their parents are killed by the government. Filled to the brim with all sorts of flora and fauna united under the banner of human devouring horrors. Thor must figure out a way to rise to the top of the gladiatorial society and become the Beast King. Only then will Thor gain answers, closure and vengeance.

This anime is all about the peaks and troughs. At its highest, Jyu-Oh-Sei is utterly captivating; BONES quality animation and choreography gives way to action scenes that are made all the better when coupled with a fantastic soundtrack from Hajime Mizoguchi (Vision of Escaflowne, Jin-Roh) and meaningful stakes. Throughout the first half of the series, effort is put into making the world feel alive and dangerous—a kind of back to roots world where humanity doesn't toss wine at the masses from the top of the food chain. This is emphasized by a main character who feels genuinely helpless.

Thor doesn't feel so much like someone who shapes the world around him as he does someone caught in the current of something much greater. For some he matters as much as a grain of sand, and is treated as such, for others he represents a pawn used for some grand ambition, and still others genuinely care about him with an ulterior motive. Even with all his ambitions, Thor is constantly barely eking out victories without some assistance.

All of this meshes together to create a cohesive package that acts as the perfect setup to a grand sci-fi adventure. One filled with warring factions, political intrigue and the gradual acclimation of power...but then it kinda stops. One time-skip later and everything's gone sour.

Thor is suddenly calm, collected, has become an accomplished swordsman,  and used his education to improve the quality of life in his clan drastically. All of this he did off-screen. Thus instead of seeing a young brash ambitious Thor turn into this calm stoic badass, we get the beginnings of that before being spring-boarded into a completely different character. The new Thor looks and sounds to be in his twenties (although officially sixteen) and is perfectly equipped to handle any situation with nary a trace of fear or panic.

                                  Damn good OST though.
It's not just Thor that gets shafted, the plot suddenly takes a dive into the romantic as we are introduced to a character I can only describe as the love vertex. After three episodes of characterization, here's what I got; she likes Thor and Zagi and wants to have her own reverse harem. Of course Thor falls in love with her at first sight and of course she really only exists to create the story more tragic. The anime then makes a suicidal charge back to the plot as though it were Gallipoli. The final two episodes create more questions than they answer and provide a kill 'em all ending without the development to make me care all that much.

Jyu-Oh-Sei is one of those anime/manga that would've benefited from a longer run-time. If the time-skip had been filled and some of the ending re-worked we could've had a hell of a story. As it stands Jyu-Oh-Sei is a story with great potential, but which ultimately never lives up to it.

Thanks for reading, would love a like, favorite etc. Goodnight.

Is Bokurano Worth Watching/Reading?

Bokurano:Ours really is a 'the manga is better' snob's wet dream; not in the least because the director dislikes the series himself. We're talking rewritten characters, reworked plots, and an ending leaves me about one dead character short of satisfaction. Complete with a tone that is 4kids level of lighter and you have quite the conundrum. Yet different doesn't necessarily mean bad, and thus the question is posed—is Bokurano worth watching? 

Bokurano is 2003 manga by Mohiro Kitoh which was latter adapted into a 2007 anime with about four out of the total eleven volumes left unpublished. It follows the tale of a group of fifteen teens who after stumbling into a typical Konami workplace, are instructed to sign a contract in order to play a new experimental game. A game where you and your friends pilot a giant robot and fight aliens. 

 
The twist is that if you lose you die in real life...because this is real life. No worries though since a clean victory also nets you a one way trip to the grave. Realistically, you're less a pilot and more a living battery. A loss means that your entire universe goes tumbling down the drain, so at least there's that. Also not getting in the fucking robot isn't an option; either you're teleported back to the machine or you stall for forty-eight hours and the universe still ends. On the bright side, there's no always-on DRM, but day-one dlc is present—so if you end up with a crapshoot giant mech, you only have yourself to blame.

As well as serving as fuel for the Ferrari F12berlinetta of the giant mech world, the characters are what drive the story. Each has their own reasons to fight in the machine; some do it to protect the ones they love, others use it as a tool of revenge and one doesn't do anything at all. What's so refreshing about the approach is that both you and the characters are completely certain of their inevitable fate. Unlike many other dark series, the work is not about trying to survive in a world where the chances of you not dying a grisly death are right up there with hitting it big with Mega Millions and more about confronting certain death.

When I say that the plot is formulaic I want to stress that I don't mean to a attach a negative connotation to the phrase. Like Eva or Raxephon (to a much lesser extent) the anime is a dark twist on the monster-of-the-week style super robot shows of days past. A typical arc usually begins with the death of the previous pilot after which a voice is heard by the next pilot. Most of the remaining time will be spent letting the viewer/reader get acquainted with the pilot, as well as giving us insight into how this person deals with their fate. While not all of the arcs got me totally invested in the pilot, enough did that I would've cried a river if I wasn't so jaded by Ideon. 

So is Bokurano worth reading/watching? Without a doubt. The real question is which one to go with. There are a number of factors, but most of them come from my heavy manga-leaning bias (seriously if you are going with the anime, go back and read ch 46-48 for the best fight in the series) That basically boils down to one question; how dark do you want it? On the scale of things, the anime is more of a light roast moccaccino while the manga is more a black dark roast. Some characters are rewritten to make them more sympathetic or lighten things up a little. While the general consensus is that the manga is better, I will say that the fights in the anime are a sight to behold and personally I found them easier to follow. 

Whatever the case, thanks for reading! Here's your reward.Unlike aforementioned mech, I don't run on your lives, but favorites, likes and follows all help stave off the hunger.

Is Strike the Blood Worth Watching?

 Okay let's not bat around the bush; Strike The Blood is stupid. Better than your average stupid, but stupid nonetheless. Don't come here for any kind of philosophical game of badminton, or to see Akatsuki-kun's journey of self discovery and life-changing epiphanies. It's an action harem in almost every sense of the word. However I think that there are a few key distinctions that set it apart from its counterparts.

Okay, honestly I could not spice the premise up with anything less than a ghost pepper. So anything on my part is going to be a reiteration of the wiki article on the thing...here's the link though...

To start with the show really de-emphasizes the school-life aspect of the main characters lives. Instead the anime creates a series of stories that strike a balance between the more episodic style one commonly finds in western series and the more arc based style that many shonnen are based around. The result is a series that has a feeling more akin to the likes of A Certain Magical Index than to other school-based action harems.

Unlike A Certain Magical Index, though, the anime initially makes us think that, as the Fourth Progenitor (Super-vampire of sorts?), Akatsuki is the vampirical paper-weight that will tip the supernatural scale of power, no-one really gives a shit. Therefore there are a grab bag of different arcs included. These can range from battle with ancient mech spider tanks to time traveling dragons.

Honestly it really is the plot arcs that drive the show, the animation is fine, but never jaw-dropping—likewise for the music. Everything has this really weird multi-colored outline around it during fight scenes, which either adds or detracts from the visuals. Y'know honestly I was leaning more towards this show being worth watching than not, but it really is a bog-standard show. The only thing it really has going for is its plot structure. Even then, something like Raildex does the same, but with better characters and fight sequences. It does have a nice OP though.

                                      
 Is Strike The Blood worth watching? I'm going to leave this on a maybe because it is better than a lot of other action harem shows and its attempt to focus on plot-lines rather than harem hijinks is admirable. Admittedly it does follow the beaten path readily on the fan-service side of things... On the whole there are better ways to spend your time with this. Thanks for reading! Likes, favs and follows are nice. Hope to see you next week! 

Note--Sorry for this not going up on time. I'm away on vacation and thought I had scheduled this to be published automatically last Saturday.   

Is Garo The Animation Worth Watching?

The Animation is a phrase that a would've granted the anime coupled with it a trip to the firing squad, a couple of years ago. Of course that was before Ping Pong: The Animation not only escaped the orbit of the phrase but managed to make Ping Pong the most exciting thing since sliced bread. And that's not nothing. But while the advent of Ping Pong left me in a state of pleasure bordering on orgasmic, it was unable to quell my fears completely. So the question remains; does GARO escape from break free from the toxic grasp of its subtitle or will it pull a colony drop? 

With his mother burned at the stake as he was born and being the heir of a set off golden wolf armor that compels him to hunt monsters that feed on humanity's penchant for greed, a lust for power, and the other kind of lust, Leon would be the ideal poster boy for a hug donation drive. Coupled with a father that feels it his solemn duty to produce an heir to his own magical set of wolf armor, Leon should have more than enough reason to be that angstiest teen to have ever angst. Thankfully Leon substitutes than angst with anger and vengeance, and instantly becomes smoldering stare incarnate. Together with his father and allies he will gain in the future Leon will battle the sinister puppet-master of a totalitarian regime while struggling with his inner turmoil and 90's anime haircut.

GARO is kind of a like a fine wine; one that takes approximately 12 episodes to taste like heaven in a bottle. Pretty much everything is improved by the end; be it characters, pacing, stakes or fight scenes. To put this in perspective—it took me half a season to finish the first twelve episodes and half a day to finish the rest. 

Special attention is given to making Leon the most unlikeable dick in the first half, only so they can make the contrast in his character all the more stark by the end. Even his relation with his father, which seems like a vehicle for some needed comic relief is developed to a point where it felt real. The second half brings in a cast of characters that stay around for more than an episode and are able to be developed to the point where they matter both to the viewer and other characters. Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when they die. 

Animated by MAPPA the anime isn't a bad looker, although opinions may vary as to how well the copious amounts of CGI work during the fight scenes. At worst it's tolerable; at best it's this 

With both openings performed by JAM Project, the anime is no slouch in the sound department either with an OST that does its job well. 

So is GARO worth watching? If you can get through the first cour then definitely. With a great cast of characters, some damn good fights, and a world that grows darker with every passing episode, GARO makes me all the more anxious for second season coming this fall.

So thanks for reading! Likes follows and the likes are appreciated and with about fifteen minutes to midnight I've barely made good on my weekly update thing. Hope to see you again!

Is Punchline Worth Watching?

24 hours. That is how much time my brain has rolled Punchline around in my thoughts like the world's most engrossing (or insidious) ever-lasting-gob-stopper. AND IT'S NOT OVER. Minutes before writing this I was in the middle of a manime fest which would culminate in the finale of Stardust Crusaders, when Kenshiro popped some mook's head like a cherry. Then I started thinking about nosebleeds, followed by asteroids, followed by Punchline. So let's review this then; in my mind it's been awhile (precisely 544 days) since the last review that could be summarized by a single 'OMG GUYSH GO WAHTCH THIS ANIME! !!! !! !111!111 ! AMAZING IT"S SO GOOOOOOOD!'.

Punchline is one of those anime that sounds rough on paper. A comedy, ecchi series about a boy who lives in a building with a bunch of girls, all of whom have some quirk. The guy gets a nosebleed at the sight of panties and an asteroid ends all life on Earth shortly afterwards...wait, what? Oh and he's also a ghost, courtesy of a bus-hijacking crash, and is on a mission to retrieve an ancient Indian text called the Nandala Gandala that will allow him to get back to his body which time-traveling spirit has possessed. 


So after the first episode I was like 'Okay. So it's going to be one of ridiculous oh, Japan-sort-of-anime-with-fanservice-as-an-added-bonus. Been there, done that. But I love them sorts of anime, so here's to Punchline!' Yet the further I got, the more I realized: I Absolutely love this show. Every episode had something to further this crazy jigsaw of a plot, and  the characters began to grow from Invaders of the First Dimension, to rounded three dimensional characters to whom I had gotten extremely attached. The stakes of this anime are literally world-class, but I found myself more preoccupied with Uchikoshi  butchering the main cast than I did most of humanity.

The plot itself is in need of some kind of award from the E.L. Doctorow Society. Imagine someone shredded your laundry and then proceeded to knit an outfit straight out of Vogue; I'd be slightly exaggerating if I said that Punchline's plot is as impressive, but I'll be damned if it doesn't come close. Much like the characters, the plot grows more complex with every episode as so many seemingly unrelated threads interweave to make a completely cohesive narrative all leading up to a finale that was as satisfying as it was bizarre.

It's got quite the cast too. Armin, Asseylum, Asuna, Tsumugi, and the queen of tsundere herself, lend their talents to bring the residents of Korai House to life. Add to this the talent of Mappa (whom are quickly ascending my totem pole of studios, what with this, Shingeki no Bahamut and Zankyou no Terror) and a composition by Tetsuya Komuro (Vampire Hunter D) and you have yourself quite the contender for anime of the season (shutupkekaisensen).

It's not perfect, sure. Any number of plot-holes are present in a given episode, it's quite possible I'm being a tad hyperbolic when I call the character fully three dimensional (though I maintain they're at least 2.75 D) and the jury's still out on whether the fanservice is entirely necessary. In truth though I found these to be so much white noise in the face of such great story, characters, soundtrack, animation and stupidity. 

Thanks for reading! Here's where I'd normally ask you to like, favorite, etc. Instead I'll beg you to follow this link to the nirvana that is World Conquest Zvezda Plot. Also watch punchline. Goodnight.

*note* 
If you're wondering where the thing on Fractale went, then know that I've come to realize it was garbage. Basically a couple page rant—not funny, not useful.

Should You Watch Tokyo Ghoul?

Alright well, let's get this over with quickly, okay? I've got better things to procrastinate on.

Ever wondered your neighbor might taste like if garnished with a side of brussel sprouts along side a side of backed potatoes?

Yes? Cool, well you might not get through all of it before the fuzz bust down your door, but it's better than twiddling your thumbs.

No? Really? This would have been so much easier if you had been honest y'know.

Anyhow the anime details the life of Ken Kaneki, just your average guy, who has the hots for a girl who goes to cafe he frequents. She turns out to be interested in him too. Just in a different sort of way. Long story short, she tries to eat him, he turns into a ghoul.

She's voiced by Kana Hanazawa?!

While it does fall into some familiar grounds when it comes to pacing, with 10 episodes out now, and only about two or three more on the way, you'll be pulled up from your cliffhanging a lot quicker than I was.

That being said the anime surprised me in ways I wasn't used to. Putting aside the cliffhangers and tendency to give arbitrary power-ups like the whole thing was meant to be an anime version of Mario Kart, the it displays a surprisingly griping storyline that has not failed to keep me on the edge of my seat.

A conflict that I thought would be filled with cartoonish mustache twirling villains against sweet-as-lambs misunderstood cannibals has turned into the sorta the same thing, but better. While the issue is sort of like the whole abortion thing, in that I know that it's supposed to be more centered in the grey, but is the sort of thing that we'll look back on and laugh at (Seriously, you don't see any pro-life anti-masturbation marches to protect the innocent sperm that lies wasted on someone's sheets), it again managed to surprise me.

Neither the ghoul hunting 'doves' nor the ghouls themselves are painted as wholesale evil nor stomach-turningly innocent. You can tell that there are actual people on the teams on both sides and that the actions of the few do not necessarily represent the mindset of the many.

It also helps that the ghouls themselves aren't just a bunch of helpless damsels in distress, but pose a significant threat to Doves and humanity in general.

Yet for every ray of light there's a patch of rain, least that holds true in Belfast. So we come to the other part that's not so great, the freaking fight scenes.

You might be surprised that I'd say such a thing, given that the studio behind it practically built its reputation on fight scenes. But while the weapon designs are interesting and suitably blend the horror element and badass nature of the ghouls, our main character is such a pushover that if the anime was set in Chicago, we'd have the first anime to star a human kite.

Seriously though, here he is fused with a quote on quote 'S' level ghoul, but, for some arbitrary reason, can be damn picky about when he actually wants to actually use his godly powers and when he wants screw around a bit more because the beautiful face-print he was busy painting would look better in a more vibrant shade of red.

That being said the animation quality of the fight scenes themselves are actually pretty good. They may not blow your mind (especially while SAO II and Captain Earth are still airing) but I've been pretty entertained so far.  

Speaking of the main character, he's surprisingly not too bad. Aside from the fact that his pacifist nature would make Gandhi hurl a copy of 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience' his head, his development is handled well.

For the most part he feels like the everyman that they're trying to portray, and as someone who really liked Mirai Nikki, I can appreciate that. In fairness to him he isn't as bad as Yuuki or Shinji, which is like claiming George Bush is competent relative to Caligula, but for what it's worth he generally stands up for what's right and puts others before his own safety.

The other characters are actually pretty phenomenal. Sure they aren't so complex as to need a Navajo code breaker to gain any understanding of them, but then they're side characters. So for side characters, I felt that they got enough development to flesh out their profiles to the point where their scenes were enjoyable to watch.

There are many ways to make interesting characters and one sure-fire way to do so is to give them one distinguishing trait and pump it up to 11. That's how we get characters like Gourmet whose voice actor combined with the animation and this image

makes him one of the most over-the-top characters until Nicholas Cage dubs a Trigger anime. What's great about a lot of the characters is that they start off interesting because of their singular overblown trait, and then slowly grow more complex as more subtle traits are introduced.

To give an example one ghoul who we think is just an asshole, suddenly turns into a nice guy and then back into an asshole. Later on we learn that he, like everybody, has someone he cares about that tethers him to his humanity. What's interesting is that it isn't some childhood friend or something, it's just someone who he met who managed to show him that, like ghouls, humans aren't as black and white as he has grown to believe.

But characters aside, let's get to the big one; the make-it-or-break-it; the plot.

Now as I've said before, I think the main conflict of the story is handled well and hasn't failed to keep me engaged, and even after a few paragraphs my opinion hasn't changed.

Coming into the show, I had one fear, and that was the pacing. This is studio Pierrot we're talking about. Who, as far as I know, are the only video game developers who work exclusively in the the anime industry, because it seems like they create anime with a 50:1 action to plot ratio.

Yet even while I wait for the the next twenty minute respite from hanging of cliffs, I will say that this is honestly one of the most well paced shounnen anime Pierrot has ever produced. After again referring to above joke about George Bush and Caligula, hear me out. The action scenes never drag on too long and no character ever feels as though they're just there to get bashed around a bit before becoming the most overpowered thing since the the Strike Freedom's personal rave party. The episodes give enough plot to let you know that it isn't Evil May Day, and yeah...

So do I like it? Yeah, I do. Interesting characters, a gripping plot, dual morality, pretty pretty animation combined with some pretty kick-ass fight sequences make for a pretty good all rounder. If I had any criticism it would be that it doesn't do anything outside of the morality that made my jaw drop so fast and hard that it would crack the Earth's crust. The characters are good, the animation is good, and plot is engaging. Nothing revolutionary, but I don't think it has to be. It's enjoyable, and for me that's enough.

Thank you for reading all the way to the end. Likes, Favorites but most importantly commenting are all things that I'd appreciate very much.

My thoughts on Captain Earth

Captain Earth is an anime done by one of the best anime studios behind original (non-adaptations) projects. Studio Bones, aside from doing some excellent adaptations, has created some of the most innovative and fresh anime out there. From the comic-like Heroman, to the intriguing Darker than Black, to my one of my all time favorites, Eureka 7, Bones has always created series that felt fresh. Everything they've brought to the table has been excellent (if a bit confusing).


Yet Captain Earth just...isn't. Bones has set the standard for original anime. It has proven time and time again that a stand-alone can be just as good, if not better than one adapted from a manga/light novel/ whatever. They set the bar for themselves with some of the best anime ever to air on American or Japanese television. 

Let's start with what the anime does right—the animation. The animation is amazing. Hands down the best looking show spring season. The work poured into this shows everywhere. From the fantastic fight scenes, to the attention of detail poured into electronics, the anime is pure eye-candy. Despite any of the flaws I'll get into later, I'd say that it's worth watching for this alone. 
The other thing it does very well is the pacing. While I have more than a few quips about the plot, the pacing of the anime is done very well. It really does feel like an adventure, a wild goose chase that spans the entire globe. It manages to make the mood and tone of every episode feel fresh, while still keeping the momentum of the plot going. This is where Bones has shown that it has grown in its storytelling ability. Eureka 7 had a slow start, and while I think that the first 10 episodes were central to making the anime what it it was, they could've had a little bit more plot injected into them to keep us going. Darker than Black was able to give its series an episodic feel, having plot points that were able to resolve themselves in a reasonable time, but because of this forced viewers to continuously relate to characters more complicated than a physics textbook. 

Wait...does that mech have—

 Captain Earth manages to strike a happy balance, with each episode having its own plot arc, and still managing to give enough plot to make the viewer aware that the bad guys aren't just taking a day off to let our heroes dick around for a bit. 

If you believe this show to be god's gift to anime, stop reading here. This is where all of my criticism begins. Keep in mind as you read this, that I do not hate this anime. Yet because I have seen what the studio can do, I'm prepared to judge it a little harsher than, say, Studio Arms. 

Let's start with the plot. It's not that it's bad, again, just that it's convoluted. I'll get into why this is in the next paragraph, but before I do, I need to point out a few things with the structure of the plot. The whole plot is, for lack of better word, basic. When you get down to it, it's a bunch of aliens who want to destroy Earth. Yet the anime doesn't want us to know this. To hide this they throw a bunch of confusing vocabulary to make you think that the anime is more complex than it really is. 

Flawed it may be, but it's like Miley Cyrus that way. Even if it does everything else wrong at least it looks...nevermind

Speaking of which, the damn vocabulary in this anime. You see while I was busying myself complaining about how confusing the first episode of Mekaku City actors was, my friend pointed out that Captain Earth was just as, if not more confusing. I called bull. Why? Because I had seen other anime Bones had done. They were all confusing, but that was okay. You didn't need to know what most of the terms were in the anime because they were concepts. It's the difference between a missile and the Tea Party. No, trust me, it'll make sense. You don't need to know what the difference between a cruise missile and an atomic bomb is. You don't need to know the difference in mechanics to understand that they blow things up. Rather you need to have a basic understanding of what the Tea Party is and what it stands for to make its implausible actions seem slightly less implausible. 

Half of the problem lies in the fact that there is supposed to be political intrigue. Politics is hard enough to follow with an understanding of the parties involved! What is Salty Dog? What is Macbeth Enterprises? What is Global? What the f*ck is a high density libido charge? It doesn't help that they're all named after things from Shakespeare. While what Eureka 7 by making everything in their anime a musical or surfer reference (the generic term for a mech is named after a freaking amplifier) this just...isn't as witty. What was so great about that style of doing things in Eureka Seven was that it was so ridiculous. Who in there right mind could take an anime that is a giant tribute to surfing and music seriously? Yet it worked. We were able to take it seriously and still appreciate all of the references. Allusions to Shakespeare are overdone! Musical and surfer references aren't! Bones already did one giant Shakespeare allusion with Blast of Tempest, we don't need more! It just feels like they're trying to make it out to be smarter than it actually is with all these allusions!

Yeah! You use that High-density Libido...Why, Bones?! Why?!

The other half of the problems I have with this anime would be the characters. Without a doubt there have been worse. Yet being having slightly better character development than your average harem anime isn't good enough for Bones!

In all seriousness, I have to give them some credit; the side characters are interesting. Bones has always been great at giving the little guys some screen time, and it's no different with Captain Earth. They don't just feel like red shirts, they feel like...people. Sure they're not as three dimensional as Hei or Holland, but they don't have to be. They're side characters. Yet they're fun and likeable. They get ample characterization.

The same cannot be said for the main characters. While Teppei seems to be interesting, everyone else seems to be stuck on a two demensional plane. Daichi, the main main character, is your typical goody-two shoes. Hana is fills the roles of ms. moe, the tanned/black girl and comes in a close second for ms. fanservice with one of the villains. Akari is the quirky comic relief computer geek, who thinks she's a magical girl. 

Pandering? Why, whatever do you mean?

The villains share sort of the same fate. They're motivation is survival, and they're justification is that they're higher beings than the humans they feed upon. That's lazy, Bones. Really lazy. Just give us alien Nazis! At least that would be funny! Dewey Novac's motivations were interesting, if warped, and Darker than Black never really had a clear right or wrong. They're justification for their actions is riddled with holes, and doesn't provoke any kind of food for thought of any kind. The villains don't even try to justify their positions with their own twisted philosophy. Not like General Zaroff, or the Joker. They're better just cause.

Aside from the main duo, other villains pop up as part of the planetary gears (I have no idea what it means either). They all have a singular thing wrong with their lives, or to put it simply; they're one dimensional. One girl lives only for speed, another for the sole purpose of being recognized. They all are so singular minded, that they're boring. Rightfully so; each only gets an episode dedicated to them, and only half of that has them getting screen time. 

This is where the pacing fails. This anime should've been 50 episodes in the same way Awakening of the Trailblazer should've been gundam 00 season 3. It doesn't have time to develop characters, or lengthen plot arcs. I remember people complaining about the absence of actual mechs in Eureka 7, but that was the beauty of it. Why is Gundam better than any of the many other mech anime out there? Is it because of the mechs? No! Eureka 7 put characters and plot above action. It's fifty episodes helped to draw out the characters, to give each of them personalities. It gave them time to have the soccer match, to have the prank episode on Renton, to have episode surrounding the farmer and his wife. Did these add anything to the plot? Did they provide the action we were hoping for? Nope, but they gave the characters depth and made us more attached to them. 

Captain Earth doesn't have the time to do this. It can't stop and smell the roses, it's too busy trying to get where it wants to go.

I'd say it's worth watching, though. Even with all its flaws, it is fun. It has great animation, and good enough world building so that I care about the different terms. Who knows, maybe they'll pull a fast one. Maybe all of my complaints will be resolved. Hell, I still thought Eureka was only slightly above average at episode 10, maybe it'll blow me away next week. I have hope that Bones will provide.

Thanks for reading, as always. It's much appreciated, as are follows, likes and whatnot. Hope to see you again!

Go watch!

What? A review? With my procrastination? So once again it's 2014. I mean I really don't need to be repeating this, it's been like a month... So what other great anime are out there?

Hamatora-- An anime smelling of sweet nostalgia is not something that I find to be very common these days. Especially when said anime has the words 'the animation' attached to it. In fairness this anime is not even adpated from something. It was planned from the start; a mixed media project. In any case, the anime breaks it up a bit by having almost no fanservice, a compelling plot, a good old getbackers/ darker than black story, and the most psychedelic action sequences I've seen in an anime.

 Noragami--

A god, a cat, and a katana walk into a bar. Noragami in a nutshell. Not only does this anime have one of the weirdest concepts I've ever seen (broken only by sodas that can transform into girls) it also is just awesome. It's a lot of fun. Animation is smooth, script isn't the best, but Hiroshi Kamiya (voice of ararararararararararararagi, Izaya, and the one most of you would know Levi) definitely makes up for that. He plays the role of Yato, the flamboyant god working to become famous by making a shrine out of 5 yen donations. It also helps that Yuki Kaji is in here. Admittedly I've only seen three episodes, but this anime is looking promising.

Engaged to the unidentified-- I actually have no clue idea what to make of this anime. It's not blowing away, but it's strangely addicting. I really want to know what's going to happen next. It's got me reallyintrigued and I don't really know why. It's a funny show, not My Mental Choice, but still funny. Characters are fun to watch, though not fleshed out enough as of yet for me to truly pass judgment. Okay whatever, it's fun! You'll enjoy it! I'll save everything else for when I review it!