Anime roundup!
So, nearing the end of the semester!
Our anime club finished up one series tonight, and one last week, so I figure I may as well put up my reviews.
Scrapped Princess
Long ago, Grendel, a prophet of the god Mauzel, predicted that a girl would be born. This Scrapped Princess would be a lethal poison that would destroy the world on her 16th birthday.
Pacifica Cathule is that Scrapped Princess. Watched over by her two foster siblings, Shannon the swordsman and Raquelle the magic-user, she tries to survive the hunt for her life, more intense now that she's 15. The group is joined by Leopold Scorpos, a baron training to become a knight, and several other characters along the way. And let's not forget Suppi-kun the dragon costume!
Starting out as a slightly generic fantasy anime, this series soon evolves into a more science fiction setting. I won't give spoilers about how, but there are quite a few surprises along the way. And, as all fantasy anime seems to have, giant mecha come along later, though in moderation.
My only big complaint is the amnesia storyline stuck smack in the middle of the series. It had the saddest part of the series, but I have to condemn it a little for hitting such a big cliche.
I also do wish they had at least explained where magic in the world came from, as there was obviously something to that...
4.5 miniature Suppi-kuns out of 5.
Stellvia of the Universe
Take a science fiction space anime. Turn it into a school for pilot cadets. Add in a varied cast of first year students. That's Stellvia in a nutshell, but it's so much more.
The premise is that, in the year 21-something, a shockwave from the collapse of a star hits the solar system, causing devastation and tinting the upper atmosphere green. Since then, preparation work has been done for the Great Mission, a defensive procedure to protect the solar system from the second wave of this explosion. While the first wave was only energy, the second wave is the actual debris of the destroyed solar system, and is capable of destroying our own solar system if not stopped. This is why space stations have been training pilots for the past two hundred years.
At first a group of troublemakers, the cast soon prove to be quite gifted in their own special ways. The main character, Shima (who earns the nickname Shipon after her first attempt at piloting sends her rebounding across the course 'pon-pon-pon'), seems to be a natural genius at piloting once she finally finds her place. Not only that, she's cute as a button.
As the series progresses, Shima finds friendship and even love, as well as exploring her piloting skills.
While the series has a slow start, there's plenty of action once the Great Mission begins, and lots of fun from spaceships and even a giant robot or two.
Again, I have only one complaint about the series. The aliens encountered at one point are never fully explained. I would have liked to know more about them.
A small warning, though. If you do not like cute anime, you may not like Stellvia. It's scifi, yes, but Shima adds a definite cuteness overtone to it. I happen to adore cute things, so I loved it.
4 sociopathic easy-going mysterious ninja Shakespeare-quoting Big Four members out of 4.
And here are the series we're going to be watching over the summer. If anyone has any good or bad opinions on them, I'd love to hear (but no spoilers!):
Crest of the Stars
Onegai Teacher
Tsukihime
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
Banner of the Stars
Onegai Twins
Narutaru
.hack//Dusk
Our anime club finished up one series tonight, and one last week, so I figure I may as well put up my reviews.
Scrapped Princess
Long ago, Grendel, a prophet of the god Mauzel, predicted that a girl would be born. This Scrapped Princess would be a lethal poison that would destroy the world on her 16th birthday.
Pacifica Cathule is that Scrapped Princess. Watched over by her two foster siblings, Shannon the swordsman and Raquelle the magic-user, she tries to survive the hunt for her life, more intense now that she's 15. The group is joined by Leopold Scorpos, a baron training to become a knight, and several other characters along the way. And let's not forget Suppi-kun the dragon costume!
Starting out as a slightly generic fantasy anime, this series soon evolves into a more science fiction setting. I won't give spoilers about how, but there are quite a few surprises along the way. And, as all fantasy anime seems to have, giant mecha come along later, though in moderation.
My only big complaint is the amnesia storyline stuck smack in the middle of the series. It had the saddest part of the series, but I have to condemn it a little for hitting such a big cliche.
I also do wish they had at least explained where magic in the world came from, as there was obviously something to that...
4.5 miniature Suppi-kuns out of 5.
Stellvia of the Universe
Take a science fiction space anime. Turn it into a school for pilot cadets. Add in a varied cast of first year students. That's Stellvia in a nutshell, but it's so much more.
The premise is that, in the year 21-something, a shockwave from the collapse of a star hits the solar system, causing devastation and tinting the upper atmosphere green. Since then, preparation work has been done for the Great Mission, a defensive procedure to protect the solar system from the second wave of this explosion. While the first wave was only energy, the second wave is the actual debris of the destroyed solar system, and is capable of destroying our own solar system if not stopped. This is why space stations have been training pilots for the past two hundred years.
At first a group of troublemakers, the cast soon prove to be quite gifted in their own special ways. The main character, Shima (who earns the nickname Shipon after her first attempt at piloting sends her rebounding across the course 'pon-pon-pon'), seems to be a natural genius at piloting once she finally finds her place. Not only that, she's cute as a button.
As the series progresses, Shima finds friendship and even love, as well as exploring her piloting skills.
While the series has a slow start, there's plenty of action once the Great Mission begins, and lots of fun from spaceships and even a giant robot or two.
Again, I have only one complaint about the series. The aliens encountered at one point are never fully explained. I would have liked to know more about them.
A small warning, though. If you do not like cute anime, you may not like Stellvia. It's scifi, yes, but Shima adds a definite cuteness overtone to it. I happen to adore cute things, so I loved it.
4 sociopathic easy-going mysterious ninja Shakespeare-quoting Big Four members out of 4.
And here are the series we're going to be watching over the summer. If anyone has any good or bad opinions on them, I'd love to hear (but no spoilers!):
Crest of the Stars
Onegai Teacher
Tsukihime
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
Banner of the Stars
Onegai Twins
Narutaru
.hack//Dusk