Best anime openings for Christmas insanity (part two)

After the Black Friday madness, it's time to continue with my list of the top 26 opening sequences for anime shows. Moving onward to number 20...

20. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, first season
This opening looks more like one of those 70s romance shows, like "That Girl" or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." The characters dress up with considerable class. Even the juxtaposition of the drawings make them look like high-end individuals. It's still a classic for me.

No moe show has stirred as much controversy as the second season of Haruhi. This show isn't an ordinary experiment in shoujo anime anymore. It is guaranteed to test your toleration for anime boredom.

Yet, this is also why it's one of the more important shows of the decade. There's no other show that will amuse you and disgust you as much as Haruhi. If you're into camera tricks and classy cinematography, get season one for $35. Season two is also available at a more expensive $49.

19. Super Dimensional Fortress Macross
Not too many of the old mecha show openings lasted the test of time. However, almost every old anime fan remembers this grand opening for "Macross."

This is another one of those really corny intros where the singer has to sing the name of the show. The epic scale of the orchestra and the electric guitars makes the show much larger than life. The hero of the series, Rick Hunter, also looks incredibly cool as the star pilot of the series.

Most of the DVDs are still available on amazon.com. You have to make sure to buy only the grey copies with the words "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross," though. This was one of the shows that was first released with a terrible English dub and none of the original Japanese audio, so make sure you find the proper version.

18. Death Note, second opening
People don't usually hear about death metal bands in Japan, so this was an excellent intro that showed off the random, schizophrenic sound of Japanese metal. It also included some of the edgiest visuals for an anime opening.

It doesn't make much sense, but it truly captures the dangerous atmosphere of "Death Note."

In case anyone is wondering, Funimation recently released the Death Note episodes in two box sets. Each part is available for only $28.

17. Hidamari Sketch x365
I didn't even consider putting "Hidamari Sketch" into the list until I saw the second opening. The show easily trumps Haruhi and "Lucky Star" with a cheery, hyper intro that captures everything that makes it so special.

This intro included everything. The characters show off their name stamped on their faces and arms. We get to see all the characters, from the weird principal to the caterpillar mascot. Panels from the comic are even flashing by at high speeds.

Sure, this intro copies the flying character sequence from Azumanga Daioh. Twice. Yet, no one can argue about how the animators neatly synchronized all the letters, numbers and character motions to match the fast music.

Seasons one and two are available on amazon.com for $36 each.


16. Xam'd - "Shut Up and Explode"
Xam'd is one of those shows that you have to watch, just because it looks cool and surreal. This opening happens to have the hardest-hitting post-punk song I've ever heard in an anime.

There's plenty of things that just look great. The giant Xam'd monsters that are destroying buildings. The unique motions of the characters to the hip music. The person who probably lured people in the most is the girl who looks like a cross between Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa. Come on, you have to watch a show just because this girl's image was inspired by two of the best Hayao Miyazaki films of all time.

Xam'd is available in two box sets. The first box is available for $37.

In another week, we'll look at numbers 15-11 on the list.

Images courtesy of photobucket.com.

Anime preview: The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya

 




The last episodes of the second season of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" mix mischief, emotional angst and science fiction in a fascinating story.

Despite the general disgust of the "Endless Eight" story arc, the last part, "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya," is well worth a second look. Although fans hated this series after "Endless Eight," they definitely have to stick around to watch Haruhi produce a student film with the S.O.S. Brigade.

The story is simple. Haruhi Suzumiya wants to do something with the club for the school's cultural fair. For whatever reason, she decides she will hold a film screening for a movie.

And of course, Kyon and the other group members have to participate in it. They don't have much of a choice, considering that the fate of the world depends on Haruhi's satisfaction.

This film, of course, is a direct reference to the student film spoof in episode 0 of the first season. This was a cheap, but laugh-out-loud funny movie with Asahina as a battle waitress.

Now, some people might think the film process might be boring. However, Haruhi makes things especially interesting, because anything she wishes has the possibility of coming true. She is a god, after all.

As we saw in the "Endless Eight" saga, Haruhi has the power to change all possible laws of time and space, rendering her as more powerful than even Lain Iwakura from Serial Experiments Lain.

Unlike Lain, Haruhi has no idea she has these powers, making the anime even more chaotic. Haruhi manages to talk store owners into giving her props and film equipment. She even manages to find a colored contact lens for Asahina to wear.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of this series after the "Endless Eight," no one can deny that "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is the most unpredictable anime series ever made. It has the tendency to switch from a comedy to a dark drama instantly. The characters are constantly on the edge, especially in this story arc. Everyone is literally hoping that no one dies because of Haruhi's imagination.

At the same time, the story carries a deep, religious theme. In the 13th episode, Kyon and Haruhi go completely emotional, arguing over how they should film the movie. However, he knows that the film is much more productive than anything that the guys at school are doing. It's a touching love story with a god, even if it is very unconventional.

The second season is definitely a must-have series. Despite how much people hate "Endless Eight," this series is a serious reflection on the otaku culture of Japan as well as the fate of a post-war world. It is extremely volatile, because Haruhi is such an unpredictable character who has the potential to explode with anger and destroy the entire fabric of the the universe.

At the same time, it is a comedy. It will probably be one of the most infamous comedies ever created. With the grand implementation of special effects, science fiction and emotional angst, there's no telling where this anime will go.

Images courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.com

Anime preview: The Endless Eight!

I figure I have to write about this sometime. I don't want to, but I will.

The second season of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" rolls to a repetitive, but intriguing start with a series of eight episodes of nearly the same scenes.

For anyone unacquainted with this series, the first season started an anime craze. It's a simple love story between high school students Kyon and Haruhi Suzumiya. Suzumiya, fascinated with beings from outer space, starts a club known as the S.O.S. Brigade. The mission of the club is to search for psychics, time travelers and aliens. Ironically, the club has attract an odd trio of students: a psychic named Itsuki Koizumi, a time traveler girl named Mikuru Asahina and an invincible alien named Yuki Nagato.

They all stick around to please Haruhi, who happens to be a god. The fate of the entire world rests on Haruhi's well-being. Kyon's destiny is to make sure she is always happy, so that the world doesn't self-destruct.

Season two actually starts fine in episode one with the "Bamboo Rhapsody" story. Mikuru engages in a stellar time travel episode, in which Kyon and Mikuru jump back three years in the past to help Haruhi make some mysterious chalk drawings on the ground. The episode is an intriguing head-trip which leaves Kyon wondering whether he actually inspired Haruhi's fascination with aliens, psychics and time travelers.

Then the series take a serious downer. Sort of. Episodes 2 through 9 focus on the "Endless Eight" story arc. This is an adaptation of a two-chapter story in the manga, in which all the characters are trapped in an endless summer vacation, which takes place between August 17 and August 30. This is due in part because Haruhi doesn't want the summer to ever end.

The characters soon discover that time keeps shifting back two weeks from the end of August 30, because something in the time continuum is missing. Mikuru is the only one who knows exactly what is wrong, but she can't give away anything, because it's classified information.

This is actually a cool mind-trip, if it only went on for two or so episodes. However, Endless Eight plods on through a draining saga of eight episodes of nearly the same events. This is definitely the story arc that will test the patience of the most devoted anime lovers, who would rather watch something different in every new episode.

One could possibly say that the producers of the series wanted introverted anime addicts to analyze themselves and find some sort of deeper meaning throughout their own lives. However, it's more likely that this story arc resulted from difficult infighting within the Kyoto Animation studio over the direction of the series. The first season's director, Yamamoto Yutaka, said he only wanted "Endless Eight" to run for two episodes and apologized to the fans of the series. Then Kyoto Animation fired back with a statement saying that they have disowned Yutaka.

Regardless of whether anyone hates or loves the "Endless Eight," the entire arc is a horrific experience within itself. The obon festival's music is an eerie, soft flute tune that looms over the series like a scary dream. Even the voice actors give some shocking variations in their performance, especially in the last episode of the Endless Eight. Asahina is hardly understandable as she bawls her eyes out reciting each line. It's clear that Asahina, Koizumi and Nagato are emotionally exasperated from the entire experience.

Watchers will be forever divided over whether the story is a representation of the emptiness of the kawaii culture of anime or a total mess caused by company in-fighting. The bigger question is whether it will forever be remembered as a mind-tripping masterpiece or the biggest waste of time in anime history. I'm leaning toward the latter, but only time will tell whether it will be known as an experimental classic, as "Neon Genesis Evangelion" was.

No matter what anyone thinks of it, though, it is certainly a nerve-wracking experience which will test the patience of everyone who watches it if it ever is released in America. And that's a big "if."

Click here to see how much the Kyoto Animation studio hated the Endless Eight.

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net

DVD Review - Feeling a little Lucky...Star (part four)

Lucky Star is culminating into a comedy masterpiece, with the over-the-top store employees and Minoru Shiraishi's goofy ending songs.

I'm sure everyone already knows I've said that this series is okay and not the greatest I've ever seen. Yet, the art sequences and characters have some pretty funny sequences after a small lull in excitement on the third DVD.

For example, episode 13 is a humorous Valentine's Day episode. Konata and Tsukasa pull off some really clever dating game jokes, in which Konata fantasizes an entire scene in which Kagami runs off to give giri (obligation) chocolate to a guy she likes. She says, "Excuse me for the chocolate having a distorted shape," and the guy says in a romantic, handsome voice, "Silly girl, what's more important than shape is the fact that you gave it to me." Of course, this is all before we realize that it's all a scene in Konata's imagination.

Episode 14 introduce's Konata's little cousin, Yutaka Kotabayakawa. Yutaka is the tiny, shy new high schooler who just moved into Konata's home. She's very cute and she often gets more than a little creeped out by Konata's father, who leaves the bathroom door open when he's on the john. Yutaka also gets more than a little embarassed of her police officer cousin, Yui, who tells Yutaka that now that she's graduated, she should go out for a drinking party.

Just so you know, Japanese people really aren't like Konata's family. Still, this show is really, really funny.

This show also has plenty of fun April Fool's jokes. In episode 15, Konata tells Kagami that she's already finished with her homework, before saying, "April Fool's!" Really, Konata should just do her homework...

In episode 16, Konata's friends visit her working her part-time cosplay job at a maid cafe. Konata practically becomes their "servant" for a day and does a stunningly accurate impersonation of the grumpy Haruhi Suzumiya. It's especially fun to watch Konata's snobby impersonation and Kagami's strict attitude butt heads against each other. However, there's nothing more enjoyable than Konata's impersonation of the famous Haruhi Suzumiya ending credits dance. Talk about epic.

Meanwhile, Akira is getting very, very moody and mean in these recent episodes. It's still funny, although it has a dark satirical edge criticizing the honor system of film production in Japan. Akira especially goes postal when she's only given one short line in her script for the Lucky Channel segment. Thankfully, the producer gives Akira a special karaoke part in the next episode to cheer her up. Unfortunately, she only sings at a deserted karaoke room with no one except Minoru Shiraishi and a waiter serving drinks.

Boy, it's hard out there for a Japanese actress. Thankfully, the cast still has tons of fun shooting the live action ending clips for the show. Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi includes some of the fun video clips in which they run around Hokkaido with Super Soakers. They also film swordfights and wedding scenes...hm...

Lucky Star makes for a great anime-style sitcom show. Certainly, it's a little more grounded in the real world than Haruhi is, but it has plenty of great jokes involving Yu-Gi-Oh and countless other dating sims. It gets better and better as the series moves on, and volume four had the greatest variety of parodies, everyday jokes and cosplay dancing.

Image courtesy of moggling.com

DVD Review: Ouran romance picks up with Tamaki

It's not typical for a girl to be the center of attention with a bunch of guys in a romantic comedy without sparks flying. Thankfully, "Ouran High School Host Club" manages to make the girl the most likable ordinary girl I've ever seen in an anime.

As the female protagonist in "Ouran," Haruhi is the coolest ordinary girl, who helps all her guys out in unexpected ways in volume two.

The second DVD of "Ouran High School Host Club" picks up where the series left off, in the beach trip which followed their trip to the tropical resort. As usual, the men are entertaining the women. However, something changes the entire tone of the series in episode nine.

Two men try to sexually assault the Host Club's girls. Haruhi tries to stand up to them, but she gets thrown into the ocean. Thankfully, Tamaki saves her from drowning.

Still Tamaki is clearly worried about Haruhi's safety and argues that she shouldn't have stood up. He wants her to act more like a woman, but Haruhi is refuses, leading to an awkward dinner scene. Eventually, Haruhi starts to acknowledge that she really is a shy girl who could use her guy friends. And sure enough, Haruhi admits that she does have feelings for Tamaki.

I don't always like romantic comedies, because they're a little more conservative in tone. The female characters are a little excessively subservient to their boyfriends, to the point where I wish they would look for more fishies in the sea. But "Ouran High School Host Club" succeeds with a different message--that it's okay to be an ordinary girl. And even though the upper-class guys of Ouran Host Club are rich ladykillers, it helps to have an ordinary girl to distract them from their lavish lifestyle.

And there are lots of hilarious jokes about the rich folk. As in episode one, the Ouran Host Club is still extremely fascinated with the taste of powdered coffee. The Loubella Girls Academy also comes in a great episode, in which they try to attract Haruhi into their club with their hilarious dancing sequences and flashing neon signs. They also pull off some hilarious yuri (female homosexual love) sequences, in which one of them sports a fake moustache.

"Ouran High School Host Club" may be a ridiculous romantic comedy, but it surprised me with an ordinary female character supported by her rich boyfriends. Even though I still have a few misgivings about Haruhi's flat chest, she's definitely one of the best anime characters of recent years, making this one of the best anime romantic comedies of all time.

By the way, there's a great extra on this DVD. Funimation managed to squeeze in the English voice actors' outtakes in recording for Ouran High School Host Club. These are hilarious outtakes for every episode on this DVD.

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net

DVD Review - Romancing at Ouran High School

I shouldn't like "Ouran High School Host Club" that much. I doesn't have a serious overarching plot, and it is almost too whimsical for its own good. However, those are the same reasons why I like Ouran so much.

The anime features so many silly parodies of male love and bisexual gender-bending anime, making it one of my absolute favorites.

The plot is very simple. Haruhi Fujioka, a poor student at the rich upper-class Ouran High School, is really anti-social. One day, he wanders aimlessly into Music Room B-3, home of the Ouran High School Host Club. In this club, the male members entertain female guests with all the romantic flirting and tea they could possibly get.

How does Haruhi get into this club? Well, on his first meeting with them, he just happens to accidentally break an expensive vase which costs 50,000 yen, or about $500. To pay back his debts, he has to become a member and entertain the female guests.

It doesn't seem like much of a concept at first, until we learn that each member has his own method of flirtation. Tamaki Suou, the president of the club, is the most attractive and passionate of the members. Kyoya, the vice president, is the cool and collected businessman of the club, always finding merchandise to sell to the female guests. Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin are the two twins who attract women through their yaoi (male homosexual) romantic relationship with each other. Mitsukani Haninozuka, or Honey-senpai, is the cute boy who attracts them with...um...his cuteness. And Takashi Morinozuka always tags along with Honey as the quiet but protective cousin of Honey.

But Haruhi is pretty much the star of the show. He is labelled the natural rookie, for his androgynous gender attributes. Actually, Haruhi is not exactly a male, as revealed in episode one. However, she can dress up as a male and possess the best qualities of male and female characters. Haruhi is the one who helps her fellow members out the most, whenever they're feeling down. She's also the most emotionally sensitive member, she can tell the difference between the Hitachiin twins and she has a love for tuna.

Perhaps this is the least serious shojo anime I have ever seen, but because of this, "Ouran High School Host Club" is one of the best. Even when the plot is serious, Haruhi and the gang are so fun. In episode four, the Hitachiin twins argue against each other, over which one is the better one. Whenever they fight, they throw nearly everything in the room at each other in a comical sequence, even throwing Honey-senpai and Takashi across the room.

This series also has a laugh-out-loud episode, in which Haruhi has to go through a physical examination at the high school. Tamaki is most concerned, because if the school finds out Haruhi is a girl, then she cannot remain in the club. He's a little protective of her, and evens goes to such great lengths as to disguise himself as Haruhi for the exam.

This is the most fun I've had watching an anime in a while. It's great to watch an anime which doesn't involve serious social issues and violent battles. Who knows--it might be the best of the year.

Image courtesy of beconfused.com