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.

Image courtesy of photobucket.com

DVD Review: Geass and the apocalypse

"Code Geass: Part Three" is a brutally violent masterpiece, examining the brutality of Lelouch's demonic powers.

In episodes 18-21, the series turns into a strange beast in a league of its own--a harem romance anime.

That's right. Just when "Code Geass" couldn't get even more zany, director Goro Taniguchi decided to add in situations in which all of the Brittanians and (Japanese) Eleven soldiers came together for the student festival.

Admittedly, the series almost gets too carried away with all the relationships between characters. For starters, Lelouch had a deeply romantic relationship with his sister Princess Euphemia of the Brittanians in episode 19. One of the Black Knights, Ohgi, has a relationship with a Brittanian soldier, Villeta Nu. Suzaku also has some feelings for the female hotshot of the Black Knights, Kallen Kouzaki. Lastly, Shirley's regaining her memory of her previous crush on LeLouch.

Without revealing too much about the ending, Euphemia first declares that Brittanians shall treat the Japanese as equals. LeLouch in his Zero costume meets with Euphemia and gets very close to using his Geass power, until Milly reveals that she is resigning from her position as princess. She wants to live with LeLouch and his little sister, Nunnally, again. But LeLouch's Geass power is much stronger than even he realizes, and the massacre after he takes control is the final straw, leading to a murderous scene.

It's fitting that C.C. is the angel of death, to say the least. C.C.'s bond with LeLouch is a proper one, because of the pain she felt as a witch in the past. And the final battles in Code Geass are stunningly beautiful and epic. Even though the animators tend to repeat the same animation, the drama plays out marvelously. "Code Geass" is a guilty pleasure anime, fulfilling every anime fans' desire for the destruction of a country symbolizing Western European culture.

"Code Geass" is probably one of the most emotional breathtaking series, throwing violent and romance together in some hodgepodge mix that is surprisingly incredible. It shouldn't work this well, but the voice actors pull off stunning performances and the visuals are amazing. Any anime fan should look into watching this series as an alternative to Fullmetal Alchemist.

This is only season one. Be sure to catch Code Geass: R2 (season two) on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block at 2 a.m., starting on November 8.

Image courtesy of bandai-ent.com

DVD Review: Geass faces inevitable tragedy

I never thought "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" could beat out other mech series in drama. Up until the end of part one, we had no doubt that Lelouche Lamperouge was an ambitious genius hell-bent on annihilating the Brittanican army.

But with part two of season one, "Code Geass" turns into an epic of heartbreaking tragedy.

In fact, I can't even mention what happens in the first disc, because it's that shocking and devastating. Let's just say that something horrible happens to Milly Ashford and Lelouch is left with a huge amount of guilt.

Despite all the tearjerking drama in the series, Lelouch is very compassionate. Although he still cannot fight in a Nightmare robot for the life of him, he has quite a few caring lady friends who help him out in this volume. The green-haired C.C. is the most loyal of them all, helping him in numerous ways.

For example, in episode 10, C.C. uses her body to shock a robot with the pilot's old heartbreaking memories, so that Lelouch can escape. Lelouch refuses to let her stand in one place, especially when Brittania Nightmares are headed their way. But when Lelouch puts his hand on her shoulders, he sees visions of C.C.'s own forlorn life, in which she was tortured in numerous ways. And for the first time, we witness romantic feelings between C.C. and Lelouch.

Anime fans will love this section of the series, revealing more emotional parts of the lives of Lelouch, C.C. and Milly. Somebody was bound to get their feelings hurt in this anime. We're also left wondering who C.C. really is.

Probably the real kicker in part two, however, is Lelouch's new rival, Mao. He has a Geass power that enables him to read the minds of other people. As one may imagine, the mind games between the two lead to some insane battles, and even a ridiculous episode where Mao returns in bandages.

Sure, it's hard to take "Code Geass" too seriously. After watching three episodes with Mao wielding extremely dangerous weapons, I couldn't help but laugh at all the crazy nonsensical violence. However, the drama in the series is very smartly played. And although most of the real emotional intensity comes from the shocking revelations in the series, the Japanese voice actors never overdo their parts.

So far, "Code Geass" is one of the best anime series this year. It's no surprise that "Anime Insider" named it the best of 2008. The emotional voice acting and complex plotline make it unforgettable.

Image courtesy of bandai-ent.com

DVD Classic: Gekigangar-3! I mean, Nadesico!

"Martian Successor Nadesico" could be called the Japanese version of "Star Trek," only with more laughs, more energy and cheesy jokes about retro robot anime.

Nadesico is partly a parody of Space Battleship Yamato, which involved the characters fighting in outer space against aliens known as the Gamila. In Nadesico, we have the same theme of people fighting against aliens, known as the Jovian Lizards. However, it's also more about a fictional anime show within this series as well.

Nadesico's plot centers around Akito Tenkawa, a boy who lived on Mars until the Jovian lizards attacked their colonies on Mars. His parents died, and he also lost a friend of his, named Ai.

But somehow, Tenkawa managed to escape. He lives on the Earth as a former robot Aestivalis pilot, but he doesn't want to fight anymore. He wants to be a cook! However, he's such a loser that he cries about his past even when he's cooking. Things change when he runs into Yurika Misumaru, his childhood friend. Apparently Yurika is the new temporary Nadesico captain, and Akito rushes over to help her fight the Jovian lizards.

Sometimes the plot just borders on ridiculous. After the liftoff of the Nadesico, Yurika's father tries to capture the Nadesico back, so that it can fight in the Earth's army. As nonsensical as it sounds, though, Yurika decides to head to Mars anyway, for the sake of her friend, Akito.

Yurika hardly even remembers Akito anyway--her only memory is her picture frame of him in a bulky suitcase. But anime fans can't help but love how bubbly Yurika is, even when she's totally clueless.

But Yurika is one of the most lovable anime heroines. Even though Akito doesn't want to be around her, he falls in love. Inevitably, it turns into a big romantic comedy. Yurika gets into some heated competition over Akito with Megumi Reinard, a former voice actress and communications officer. Yurika and Megumi has some laugh-out-loud momentts arguing in front of Akito in his robot, while Akito just watches their breasts in front of him.

There's so many different genres in this anime that it almost fails to conclude itself. Thankfully, director Dai Sato holds the series together with a cheesy retro robot series called "Gekigangar-3." Akito watched every episode with his buddy on the Nadesico, Gai Daigoji, before he was killed. Eventually, this silly anime-within-an-anime turns into a universal phenomenon, an anime which all the nations, including the Jovian lizards, love with all of their heart. Even the ship Nadesico holds an entire series screeening of "Gekigangar-3."

It's a very good thing that this series never takes itself too seriously. Even when the scientific time-travel and space travel concepts shot over my head, there were always funny "Gekigangar-3" jokes, as well as plenty of hectic jokes in which multiple characters argue over the love of Akito.

And yes, the ending might not tie together the entire series. Still, this anime is about growing up and respecting everyone's own views of an anime. After all, the Jovian lizards saw "Gekigangar-3" as a tale in which the evil empire always conquers the minorities. However, Akito and Yurika know that what really matters in anime is the passion of the characters, not just simplistic anime endings.

But "Martian Successor Nadesico" is truly a romantic comedy at heart. In fact, the humorous ending in which Akito is chasing after Yurika is probably the funniest use of teleportation ever. There's plenty of random jokes, but this is exactly what makes Nadesico a classic anime.

Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

DVD Review: Robot action at its best

There's not enough cool robot anime these days. Sure, we saw "Aquarion" this year, but "Aquarion" so wrapped up in partnership themes that it got corny very quickly.

Thankfully, "Gurren Lagann" brings "coolness" back in robot anime, with robots with sunglasses, duking it out to a hot distorted guitar soundtrack.

Although the CSULB anime club has previewed this series, it's worthwhile to remember how the story began. Simon is a digger, who spends his lonely life digging deeper into the earth to escape from the constant earthquakes. His parents died in one earthquake, leaving him as an orphan digger. He lives in Giha village, deep under the earth.

Simon befriends Kamina, a fellow orphan, who claims that he once lived on the surface world with his father. Unfortunately, he was too weak to survive there, so his father returned him to Giha Village.

One day, Simon finds a drill piece and a big face robot with a brain. He fetches Kamina to take a look, but the village leader catches them. However, just when the leader is about to punish Kamina, a humongous robot falls through the ceiling and attacks. A woman with a bikini-top, named Yoko, tries to stop it with her sniper rifle, but her shots are useless. Fortunately, Simon is able to plug his drill bit into a keyhold in the brain robot to activate it and destroy the enemy robot.

After a couple of near-death experiences with enemy robots, Yoko's surface-dwelling friends save them. They are all in a war against the enemy Gunman robots. Appropriately enough, Kamina is willing to lend them a hand with their robot, named Lagann.

The series is hilarious in the beginning. Kamina eventually decides to take over an enemy Gunman and name it Gurren. In some more funny scenes, Kamina decides to defeat their arch-enemy, Viral, by slamming the head right into the top of the Gurren robot. Hence, it combines to form...Gurren Lagann! The robot even has Kamina's trademark shades.

While the series is admittedly goofy, it features some of the most entertaining and laugh-out-loud robot transformation sequences in anime history. For example, Gurren Lagann's transformation sequence wasn't cool enough, so Kamina spends much of episode four making their combination look as sexy as possible, with flashing lights and everything.

But aside from the goofiness, the series is also astounding for the huge plot twist in episode 8. One of the characters unexpectedly dies, leaving many viewers to wonder how on earth Simon is going to rally his army to save mankind from the Beastman's Gunman army.

Even if this series is nowhere near as emotionally dramatic as "Neon Genesis Evangelion," it has lots of spirit. Most of all, it's the best feel-good series about a character who has to believe in himself in order to kick some major ass.

And by the way, this has the coolest music I've ever heard in an anime series. The soundtrack is filled with hot, awesome distorted guitar music and DJ scratches. There's no doubt that there's no cooler robot series than "Gurren Lagann." Best of all, volume 1 of the series features a whopping 9 episodes on two discs for only $27.

For all anime fans who love feel-good anime action, this series is definitely for you.

Image courtesy of kairu90.wordpress.com

DVD Review - Vexille brings technological apocalypse to Japan

Although one computer-generated robot film was already released this year, "Vexille" is more thoughtful and exciting than "Appleseed: Ex Machina." Despite the slow pace of the film, I loved watching this new prediction of an apocalyptic future of Japan.

At first, the film seems to go in the same direction as "Appleseed: Ex Machina," with intense robot battles and fast action. However, this movie decides to take a much different approach--this time, the robot force is investigating the use of cyborg technology in Japan.

According to the film, Japan isolated itself from the world in the year 2067. The entire island was secluded, and no foreigners could come in or out of the area. In fact, the movie shows that there is a flashing electronic security network called R.A.C.E. between Japan and the rest of the world.

The film centers around Vexille, a member of S.W.O.R.D., which is a military group that specializes in fighting in robot suits. Ten years later, her husband, Leon, found a messenger in San Pedro, California, who said that Maria needed him, and that Daiwa Industries is meeting at Mt. Fila on Christmas Day to discuss admission of their cyborg technology. Saito of Daiwa Industries escaped on an airplane. Although Vexille hung on to his leg, Saito chopped the leg off!

Later, some scientists explained that this was actually a cyborg leg, which is illegal under the United Nations restrictions. Eventually, the head of S.W.O.R.D. operations decides to act without United States authorization to investigate the nation of Japan.

Unfortunately, the mission doesn't go well. Leon's robot suit gets hit by a rocket, and Vexille's other members are killed. Vexille wakes up in a shocking new world of Japan. Tokyo has turned into a shantytown.

Vexille also meets Maria, who was Leon's ex-girlfriend in Japan. Maria was a U.N. investigator in Japan, but after regulations by Daiwa, Maria could not move out of Japan. Leon left for the United States, but Maria explains that Daiwa also did something else to Japan--they turned all the people into cyborgs.

According to Maria, after Daiwa Industries took governmental control over Japan, they gave all the people vaccinations. Unfortunately, these vaccinations were special chemicals that turned all their genes into robotic parts. While they are all human, when their eyes turn black, they will all turn into empty cyborgs who are forced to work for Daiwa.

And Japan is a wasteland. That's right, after Daiwa took over, they used up its natural resources. Now it has no mountains or rivers or greenery--it is all flat. This is sure one heck of a message to convert to environment-friendly energy sources, but it works very well. The depiction is incredible--I really loved the desolate world of Japan, with desert expanses and huge robotic worms made of scrap metal.

Vexille is a brilliant film from start to finish. The Japanese voices are incredibly compelling, and the computer-generated graphics are just as awesome. I saw many complaints that the graphics are not as good as, say, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." However, the director chose a style that used more cell-shaded graphics, to make it somewhat more cartoony. The images were probably rendered in this way to offer a sense of comic relief from the dark apocalyptic story.

But it's clear that "Vexille" offers excellent images and a brilliant story that paints a desolate future for Japan. Let's just hope that Japan doesn't get this messed up 60 or 70 years from now.

Images courtesy of seaslugteam.com

DVD Review - Mythology meets mecha in "Aquarion"

This year has already offered two robot anime series, and "Aquarion" may be one of the most unusual series. The anime packs robot-fighting and Greek and Biblical mythology together in a action series that is exciting, no matter how odd the blend is.

I never thought that an anime would even try to mix mythology and mecha action together, but "Aquarion" blends it effortlessly. It's also no surprise that this series is that good, because it is directed by Shoji Kawamori, who directed the excellent "Macross Plus" series. The series begins immediately with a narrative on the distant future, where Shadow Angels are returning after a twelve thousand years to eliminate all the humans of the world. Fortunately, the humans have managed to launch ships, called Vectors, to destroy these Shadow Angels before they send the humans to an alternative dimension. Only Element users can use Vectors. And, in the Transformers tradition, these Vectors can transform into a humongous robot, called an Aquarion.

Meanwhile, an escapee from an internment camp, is rumored to be long-forgotton descendant of the hero Apollonius, who saved the world twelve thousand years ago. This guy, Apollo, is the Solar Wing whom Silvia, one of the Element users, is looking for to help her get stronger as a pilot. However, they couldn't be any more incompatible--Silvia comes from a line of nobility and Apollo is a brash street brat who crawls on his hands and feet like a cat. However, he certainly has the ability to harness the Aquarion's abilities to the fullest.

Then again, his emotions of agony are so strong that he can cause the Aquarion to self-destruct. He also lost his best friend, Baron, to the shadow Angels in episode one. Not surprisingly, one of the Shadow Angels tapped into his emotions to cause the Aquarion to explode, destroying an entire city.

However, despite this dark turn of events in episode two, this is one of the funniest robot anime series I have ever seen. I especially love watching Silvia and Apollo fight over the controls of the Vector. Each the pilots are very recognizable in their physical abilities, too. Sirius, Silvia's sister, is a perfectionist and swordsman who believes that he deserves to be called the descendant of Apollonius. Hong is a female pilot who is suffering after an accident which put her boyfriend in a coma. Pierre is one of the hilarious pilots, who flirts with the ladies and tends to show off his flaming kick a little too much.

While these are only a few of the pilots of the series, they all are very memorable. I love the chemistry between Silvia and Apollo, who constantly tease each other whenever they meet. And unlike other robot series, this is an anime about teamwork. All the character constantly look at each other's actions in order to discover the Shadow Angels weaknesses. I loved the fourth episode, where the characters had to discover how to withstand a Shadow Angel's attack, in which the Angel reversed gravity whenever he beat his staff on the ground. Of course, the Aquarion was able to defeat the angel by tapping into the Earth's power, buried underneath the ground.

There's also a much deeper plot to it as well, one that implements Biblical imagery. The Shadow Wings are actually capturing humans to recreate the second Tree of Life. It sounds like a really twisted version of the Creation story. Nonetheless, this series is a true gem.

And it's not quite for kids either. There is a reason why "Aquarion" is rated TV-MA. Be willing to bear the brief moments when the characters are naked when they are merging the Vectors into an Aquarion, and the scenes after pilots trade places by transporting, when the female pilots are bare naked.