DVD Review: Road trippin' with a wolf goddess

"Spice and Wolf" presents a merchant and a wolf god's hardships and struggles on a road trip to the north in 13 extraordinary episodes.

For an entire show about financial hardships and near bankruptcy, "Spice and Wolf" makes economic supply and demand exciting. The great appeal of this series lies with an unusual duo of protagonists surviving over poverty in a world resembling Medieval Europe.

The main character, Kraft Lawrence, is a wandering peddler who hopes to start his own business. However, he puts his plans on the backburner when he discovers a naked girl hiding in his carriage, with the ears and tail of a wolf.

This young woman, Holo, was the harvest goddess of the town of Pasroe. However, nowadays the villagers grow a bountiful harvest. They have converted to Christianity and they no longer need her help. She asks Lawrence to take her to Yoitsu, her homeland in the north. Although Lawrence was down on his luck, his luck may have changed upon meeting his new friend.

This series at first presents a romance for secularism. By the fourth episode, however, it becomes a plot of desperation against all odds. Lawrence discovers that someone named Zeelen cheated him out of his money with a deal to trade old silver coins for new ones.

Lawrence joins the Milone Company to safeguard his collection of old silver, but when Zeelen's associates capture Holo, the story turns into an undercover rescue operation to save Holo from the confinement of the Catholic church.

The show covers plenty of ground in just six hours. For a nearly convoluted story of mercantilism and avoiding bankruptcy, "Spice and Wolf" holds an extraordinary amount of spiritualism. Holo may bare all for her fanboys for much of the series, with explicit parts conveniently blanked out. However, she can transform into a humongous wolf in a matter of seconds. In spite of her immense power, she tries her best not to scare people away, by remaining in her human form.

The artwork brings back wonderful memories of "Princess Mononoke," with its huge wolf gods and remorseless violence during some important moments. Yet, this is a romance story at its heart. Holo and Lawrence hit it off with dialogue as compassionate and playful as the Woody Allen film "Annie Hall."

There is a humorous story arc at the end where their partnership turns into a love triangle, making for some subtle wars with words. The relationship remains as strong as ever, with two characters who grow ever closer as the show progresses.

"Spice and Wolf" is a rich story of creative conversations, love and financial retribution against corrupt companies. Certainly the plot can get convoluted at times, but "Spice and Wolf" remains the best and most consistent show for winter of 2009.

(English dub review)

Of course, a series about Medieval Europe doesn't sound as authentic without solid voice actors. Funimation's dub delivers on all levels. Not an ounce of playfulness or urgency is wasted from the characters. Holo sounds every bit as boastful and vivacious as her Japanese counterpart and Lawrence's English voice retains his cleverness and laid-back mannerisms.

It sounds every bit as good as you'd want a English dub to sound. This is voice acting at its best.

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DVD Review - Evangelion, you are (not) that bad

The new Evangelion movie conveniently packs the first six episodes with beautiful computer animation, exceptional foreshadowing and lots of blood.

Many fans complained that "Evangelion 1.0 - You are (Not) Alone" dilutes all the epic drama of the series. However, the film actually builds on the excitement by shortening all the quiet moments of emotional brooding and moaning.

The story is a simple tale that many anime fans know by heart. Shinji Ikari, a teenage Japanese boy, receives an invitation to help his father in New Tokyo-3. However, he soon learns that his father, Gendo, only invited him to risk his life fighting humongous monsters in a giant robot, known as an Eva.

Of course, a reasonable father wouldn't want his inexperienced son in battle, but Gendo is hardly reasonable. Shinji refuses at first, until Gendo brings a wounded girl to substitute. Shinji, unwilling to let this girl die in battle, decides to pilot the Eva. Thus begins a tale in which Shinji must risk his life and his sanity by fighting numerous powerful angels.

This is an essential, abridged version of Evangelion that people must see. The one-and-a-half-hour format of the movie actually exemplifies the series' strengths, by showing only the important parts of the story. As a result, "Evangelion 1.0" portrays a compelling vision of Japan on the verge of an apocalypse. The new film overshadows the TV show version with dull, dark color tones and a completely devastated universe.

"Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone" exemplifies intense violence. Most of the film's big-budget visuals are based on the astonishing computer-generated battles, explosions and beautiful monsters. The angels' death sequences will undoubtedly shock many people with gushing explosions, in which blood literally rains down after every battle.

In spite of the larger-than-life scope of the imagery, the human characters share close bonds in a variety of added conversations with extraordinary backdrops. The new architectural landscapes include skyline bridges hanging from skyscrapers hundreds of stories high. Although much of the dialogue hasn't changed, the mounting sense of responsibility is propelled with floods of bright red color during a crisis. The few touching moments between Rei and Shinji are cooled with soft, calming color palettes of fuschia and coral blue.

Although I am not a big fan of the new shortened editions of anime shows, anyone who watches anime has to consider watching "Evangelion 1.0" at least once. The massive scale of this production's high-caliber animation is too captivating to pass up.

(Dub review) With all this said, the English dub is laughably bad. Spike Spencer literally screws up Shinji's voice with girly-man whines. He sounds as bad as Johnny Yong Bosch when he started dubbing Renton in "Eureka Seven." The voice actors ruin the mounting scale of the upcoming apocalypse by treating everything like a Saturday morning show.

It's terrible. Truly terrible.

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Fatal blood+ transfusions

Did I say that "Blood+" was boring? Sorry, I lied. I was really bored of episodes 26-28 for a second, until episode 29 hit me with a hardball.

I can't spoil anything, but if this anime is as tragic as I think it'll turn out, then "Blood+" might turn out more depressing than many other action anime series.

Damn, one of my favorite new characters is now worse than dead. Phlegh...

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net

Blood plus too much other stuff

I'm finishing up the "Blood+" series finally. It might take me a couple weeks, so I'll look for other things to review so no one gets stuck waiting for me.

Unfortunately, "Blood+" is really dragging in its second half. I wish I could say this is an epic anime like no other, but all the big plot revelations took place at the end of part one. That's it. There's two vampire factions, a kid who is now a chevalier for Saya and some other group of black hoodies who were genetically engineered by humans. Unless something especially big happens, I'm not expecting too much.

I accidentally looked at some of the spoilers on other blogs, but I'll say the ending is good. However, don't expect me to say that this is the next "Fullmetal Alchemist." Or "Eureka Seven." Because it's not. Sorry.

So, while you're waiting for "Blood+", look forward to some reviews of "Honey and Clover" and "Gurren Lagann." Maybe I'll review some crunchyroll series if I have extra time.

DVD Review: Attack of the Anti-Spirals

The gratifying second volume of Gurren Lagann opens with the humans emerging victorious, but ends on the verge of a worldwide apocalypse.

The volume begins with Yoko and Simon mourning the death of their leader. However, the newcomer to the Gurren Lagann crew, Nia, changes the tone of the series for the better.

The girl announces herself as the daughter of the humans' enemy, Lord Lordgenomme. Although the crew planned to hold her hostage, she wins them over with her polite manners. More importantly, she supports Simon in opposing Lordgenomme's empire of female oppression.

Simon leads the humans to conquer the beastmen. However, in his dying breath, Lordgenomme hints that the Anti-Spirals from the moon will soon kill all life on Earth to prevent the birth of the Spiral Nemesis.

Even long-time mecha fans probably weren't expecting an apocalypse from this series. Based on all the times Kamina told Simon to pierce the heavens with his drill, you'd think this is one of the most boring, straightforward anime series ever made.

Thankfully, the series cuts the progressive momentum when alien forces possess Nia. Without giving away too much, the Anti-Spirals are hell-bent on sending their bizarre geometric spacecraft to eradicate entire cities. The big question is whether Simon or anyone will be able to stop them.

If this plot twist hadn't taken place, I would have written off this series as one-dimensional. Even if the story hadn't made the transition, I would still highly recommend this anime for its visually spectacular animation style. All the characters are drawn in a Superflat style, with cel shades lacking in depth. When the film is in motion, however, the characters express an immense range of emotions and intense action.

The robots especially leap out of the screen with exaggerated morphing sequences and brutal fight scenes. The most incredible battles take place as the Gurren Lagann team fights against the last of Lordgenomme's generals. General Guamme, a crocodile/armadillo creature, wipes out numerous mechs in a humongous top-shaped robot which spins a gigantic tornado. The final battles of the war of Teppelin are eye-catching spectacles that everyone has to see at least once.

Overall, "Gurren Lagann" is building up to a thrilling conclusion. I hope I can finish this series soon. I was upset that I wasn't able to see all the episodes in the CSULB Anime Club. Based on what I've seen, this series looks like it will end with a humongous bang.

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