DVD Review - Bloody murder in Baccano!

When I started "Baccano!", I said it was very confusing for an anime. However, as each consecutive DVD reveals the plot, I can't help but think that this series is amazing.

Though it's one of the goriest anime I've ever seen, volume two of "Baccano!" is a brilliant time warp, filled with brutal mob wars linked to a scientific experiment gone mad.

By time warp, I mean that "Baccano!" has jumped around in time in the 1930s setting. Some parts take place on a train, some parts take place in New York and some parts take place in the 1770s.

You heard me--episode seven takes place where the story began, in 1771, on an old European ship. With the help of the alchemist Maiza Aviro, a group of people attains immortality through a special elixir.

With these powers are many life-threatening risks. Each new immortal person has the ability to suck out a person's body and knowledge into his/her body by placing a hand on the person's forehead.

These are shocking new revelations that put the entire storyline of "Baccano!" into perspective. Thus, many of the main characters have the ability of rebuilding their body parts even if they die. We already know that Maiza Aviro in the 1930s is now a member of the Camorra mafia. And Firo somehow attains the same abilities as Maiza. Oh, and Szilard is an old evil crony who just sucks in all the people into his body for himself. And he wants to sell elixirs for immortality. What a punk.

It's almost too difficult to figure out which character is most significant, since each one has different philosophical standards in their use of immortality. However, probably the most significant ones are Firo, Szilard and Maiza. However, this series, like the American TV series "Lost," features s so many excellent side characters as well.

One of these characters, Jacuzzi Splot (how the hell did he ever get that name?), is a crybaby who has probably killed too many people in his lifetime. Fortunately, he still manages to muster up the courage in the train to confront Ladd Russo, the grade A sadist who killed some of his gang members.

Oddly enough, though, Russo is more interested in the conductor who was savagely murdered, so Russo and Splot's fight will have to wait. Meanwhile, some creepy monster, called the Rail Tracer, is absorbing countless immortal people inside the train.

As one can see, each episode is a tough-to-follow string of situations. While this is confusing, the anime still holds down the fort with some of the most unforgettable characters. Comedians, such as Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, pop in and out dressing up as zany Indians and cowboys. They may have a grudge against the mafia--they've already stolen most of the Gandor inheritance. Then again, they're too happy-go-lucky to really care about who they steal from.

And it's hard not to love them--they just want to perform good deeds to make up for their sins. They cheer up young Eve Geonard in 1931, who misses her swindling big brother, Dallas. Isaac and Miria also crack some funny jokes to cheer up Jacuzzi on the train in 1932, before they get ready to bust the heads of the train murderers.

At the same time, the immortal characters make for brutal mafia members. They're not just powerful--they just cannot believe in any religion at all. Dallas shouts at his poor, innocent sister whenever she prays to God. Perhaps they're really afraid that God won't forgive them for their mischievous life throughout 200 or so years of living.

This is a multi-faceted storyline with so much sheer complexity that it's brilliant. It's a must-have anime for any action fan. Although the scene where a demon chops Szilard's head in half is brutal, the regeneration scenes immediately after the murder makes for fascinating eye candy. Who ever knew that chopping off a limb and regenerating it would be so damn cool?

Image of Jacuzzi and Nice courtesy of funimation.com

DVD Review - Lucky Me! It's Lucky Star (part two)

Although "Lucky Star" was a little hit-and-miss in its first four episodes, volume two really nailed my funny bone with some sneaky anime jokes.

Let's face it--"Lucky Star" is not exactly original--most of its jokes are only funny if people have seen the anime series which the characters reference. However, these make for some very elusive inside jokes.

For example, episode 5 introduces us to Yui Narumi, Konata's cousin. Yui is a police officer, seen patrolling the summer festival. However, she spends more time playing carnival games with Konata and the kids, and eventually gets dragged off by her superiors.

Yui has some clever jokes--in episode 6, she engages in an Initial D-style race with someone who passes her on the freeway. It's an intense-looking race, until we notice that Yui is only driving at 45 mph. Talk about heavily dramatized!

Oh and let's not forget the elusive Neon Genesis Evangelion joke, in which their teacher, Nanako, drinks a can of beer and re-enacts Misaki as she says "CAAAAAAH! This is delicious!"

Konata's struggle to do her homework makes for some awesome jokes on the same caliber as Calvin and Hobbes. Konata usually ends up taking a short break playing an MMORPG online, which usually turns into a really, really long break. Sometimes Konata finds an extremely rare item, and she decides to spend all night using it with her guild. Other times, Konata chats with her teacher online on the same MMORPG. Who knew that Konata's teacher plays the same MMORPG?

Episode 7 is a great parody in itself--Konata spends her time acting like Sachiko in "Maria Watches Over Us." She re-enacts the famous sensual opening scene where Sachiko unties her classmate's neck tie and reties it again. Konata also spends a disturbing amount of time trying to hit on her classmates.

Maybe Konata should stop watching anime--she's almost too hooked on cosplaying and acting as her favorite anime characters.

Tsukasa also gets a new cell phone--but like any person who isn't acquainted with modern technology, Tsukasa doesn't even know how to type in someone's name in. Her phone plays anime tunes in the middle of class. Eventually, the phone dies out when it enters the washing machine.

Lastly, Konata gets the last laugh in the episode 8 in the last relay race. Miyuki finishes the relay, and Konata remarks that Miyuki conveniently won by using her breasts to hit the ribbon as a fan service moment.

The Lucky Star gang also has a blast mutilating their own karaoke version of the Dragonball Z theme "Cha-la Head," at the end of episode 5.

Sure, only anime nerds will probably understand these jokes, but this anime has some of the best anime-oriented jokes ever. While this is not the must-have anime series for everyone, it is the best anime series for anime junkies, and "Lucky Star" deserves credit for some of the best jokes about anime.

As a fun extra, the music composer for Lucky Star, Minoru Shiraishi, continues his random journey through Kyuushu in "The Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi." He dances and sings the Lucky Star theme and the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya theme in the most inconvenient places on rocky coasts and cliffs. According to director Yasuhiro Takemoto, these scenes will be used in the ending sequence for Lucky Star. Already, Shiraishi's making a fool out of himself, so the end product should look pretty goofy.

Image courtesy of audibble.wordpress.com

DVD Review - The City Gets Darker

Volume three of "Darker Than Black" provides two fascinating episodes taking a look inside the gigantic wall and two exciting and dramatic episodes about Yin's past.

The first two episodes cover parts one and two of "Within the Wall, When You Recover Something Lost...", in which Li Shengshun (a.k.a. Hei) undertakes an investigation inside the Pandora agency, which is scientifically studying the phenomena of Hell's Gate, whatever that is. He's searching for the Meteor fragment, a large lens with mysterious power. He befriends Nick Hillman, a scientist who has a telescope which could see the stars through the fake night sky. But he also has other secrets.

The other two episodes cover both parts of "On a Silver Night, the Heart Does Not Sway On the Water's Surface." In these episodes, someone from a rival syndicate steals the observer spirit of Yin, the silver haired girl who has the power to spy on people wherever there is water. We learn that she is actually a lifeless doll who was once a pianist in Finland. Her piano instructor visits her, ready to take her back.

This anime has a great storyline which looks further and further into the disaster which led to the creation of Hell's Gate and the Contractors. Hei's infiltration into Pandora as a janitor is one of the more perplexing stories, involving Nick and his mysterious sister, who is a spy for Hei's syndicate. Certainly the Meteor fragment had made Nick's own wish come true, as shown at the end of episode 12, but at the expense of his life in the real world.

More fascinating, though, are Hei's memories of the aftermath of the creation of Hell's Gate, which obliterated the entire city within the wall. Scientific examinations in Hei's mind also introduces a mysterious girl with green hair in a flashback. Could this girl be Hei's sister, the girl shown briefly in the introduction of episode 12?

Probably the most emotional episodes were 13 and 14, which circle around Yin, the silver haired girl in Hei's syndicate. As the syndicate's field supervisor, Hei keeps Yin merely as a doll with an observer spirit, to spy on the city. However, when a Russian Intelligence contractor steals Yin's spirit, Yin wanders aimlessly around the city, recalling her life as a piano player and her dark memories of her parents.

Although this part of the series almost too much storyline in two episodes, it still manages to remain surprisingly emotional. Huang is all too eager to kill Yin for exposing herself to other syndicates, until he discovers that Yin has emotions.

However, we still don't know exactly what PANDORA is, or what the hell Hell's gate is. Hopefully the series ties up these mysteries soon.

Image courtesy of bj0rn.animeblogger.net

Re-release mania

In case anyone hasn't noticed, anime companies are slowing their release of new anime. Of course, no one should be surprised, since the current economic recession has kept so many people from buying anything expensive nowadays.

In April alone, there's only about two or three new series being released by anime companies. Only one of them, "D. Gray Man," is an A-list anime. All the other releases are re-releases of series from the last two years, such as "Gankutsuou," "Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory" and (shudder) "Moonlight Mile."

So don't be surprised if I'm reviewing old anime for a while. On the plus side, I get to catch up with all the anime I haven't seen yet, such as the third and fourth voyages of "One Piece" and "Death Note." Who knows--I might even take a swipe at reviewing all the seasons of "Inuyasha," if I get lucky.

DVD Review: Basking in the sun on a gondola

"Aria" is one of the more unconventional anime series, relying on a nostalgic peaceful atmosphere in a ocean planet named Aqua.

Despite the lack of a gripping plot or heavy emotional performance, "Aria" stands on its own as a momentary Venice-like vacation anime.

And like Venice, the main characters paddle gondolas through the city of Neo-Venezia. It was formerly Mars, but thanks to modern technology, the planet was flooded and terraformed with loads of ocean water. Thus, it's not Mars--it's a oceanic paradise.

And the atmosphere is almost too beautiful to pass up. So beautiful, that the series almost completely forgets about the plotline. But the background artwork and character designs are so wonderful that this series doesn't really need a plot to succeed.

Technically, the main character, Akari Mizunashi, is training to become an Undine, which is a professional gondolier and goddess. However, she spends more time relaxing and telling lovely tales about how Aqua was formed from the immense floodwaters. She also spends plenty of time relaxing with her friends--including the blunt and competitive Aika Grandzchesta and the shy prodigy Alice Caroll.

They're supposed to be working for competitive gondolier companies. Akari works for the Aria Company, Aika works with the Himemiya Company and Alice with the Orange Planet. If they really are competitors, though, they really don't act like it. After all Akari, Aika and Alice all end up befriending each other. Even their superiors, Alicia, Akira and Athena act more like old companions rather than squabbling executives.

To give a sense of how relaxing this anime is, Akari spends the first episode taking a the young, fussy girl, Ai, on a tour through Neo-Venezia. Ai spends most of her time complaining about how boring the trip is, but Akari's optimism cheers her up as she continues through the tour. When Akari runs into Ai, the two spends time quizzing each other about the history of Neo-Venezia. Near the end, the cut Aria Company's cat and mascot, President Aria Pokoteng, drifts off into the ocean. Thankfully, Akari's superior, Alicia, sails by on a gondolier to save the little guy.

This anime is filled with so many cute characters and so much gorgeous scenery that it doesn't need to have a plot. "Aria" might be the best utopian vacation that anime fans may ever have. Near the end, however, director Junichi Sato gives us some of the most beautiful anime scenes I've ever seen. Anime fans get to watch the Akari, Aika and Alice travel to the countryside to meet lovable Grandma Akino, the mother of all Undines. The three Undine mentors, Alicia, Akira and Athena, also tell their trainees how they first met and trained together.

But the most surreal sequences take place in the end of the series, when Akari literally crosses an old bridge that takes her through another dimension. In fact, in the dazzling final episode, Akari meets up with some cats who could very well be Aria's spirits from long ago.

It's a wonderful series with hot springs, snow bugs, intense gondola training sessions and reflective, nostalgic scenes of tranquil oceans and ethereal landscapes. Sure, it's a fantasy series, but it sure is one of the most beloved fantasy series ever seen--surpassing all other shojo series with the best visual landscapes to grace an anime.

Image courtesy of rightstuf.com

Distracted by The Watchmen

I'm about to finish a review of "Aria" season one, but I have to say that I was really disappointed by The Watchmen. I mean, Zach Snyder paid way too much attention to all the "In your face" action and the super-intense gore. The actors also sounded way too dramatic and vicious for this type of film. After two-and-a-half hours of ad nauseum, I had enough.

In fact, I almost felt like I wanted to quit watching anime after that film. But I felt somewhat better after watching "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" again.

However, the film was so needlessly explicit. I mean, we didn't HAVE to have a dark close-up shot of Rorshach hacking that cleaver into someone's head, or the excessive blood-splattering after someone cut off a guy's hands with a power saw. And the graphic novel didn't have so much annoying cold music from "The Matrix" to make it sound so much more hardcore than the novel was.

God, I just needed a barf bag after that film. It traumatized me so much. Blech.