DVD Review: Lively dragons ruined by confusing story

The first part of "Dragonaut" falls apart with an overload of substories, main characters and lots of explosions.

To be fair, "Dragonaut" has a very simple plot which can be summarized in a single paragraph. Pluto's moon is sending dragons to destroy our planet. Our only hope is the Dragonauts, who pilot dragons born on the Earth.

Within this story is a whole slew of subplots. The main story focuses on Jin, a teenage boy who survived a horrible shuttle crash with an asteroid object. Two years later, he runs away from home and almost dies. He gets saved by Toa, a pink-haired girl who can transform into a dragon.

Many groups, including the ISDA and the Guillard New Emirates, want to capture Toa. Thus, Toa tries to keep Jin away from her, so he doesn't know about her destructive past. Of course, Jin can't let that happen, because he's in love with her.

Thus, the story should have played out in a basic fashion. However, the massive number of characters and subplots pile up to make one of the most complicated stories ever heard in an anime.

For starters, the ISDA owns a bunch of dragons. However, these dragons can transform into an anthropomorphic human form, with a special character name. Oh, and there's some special dragons known as the originals, who crash-landed on the Earth to do something with dragon eggs.

By the time a new species of neo-original dragons arrive on Earth, you won't even want to bother trying to understand it all. Nearly every character finds a way to double-cross their friend, forcing the anime to enter a mega apocalyptic sequence with explosions, evil factions, vengeful dragons and a whole slew of arch-rivals who want to ruin the world.


The series had immense potential. It started with a bunch of flashy, aerial fist-fights, transforming dragons and a love story. The girls looked unbelievably sexy, with ridiculously big breasts and curvaceous bodies. The main characters even had a clean look, wearing surfer-style clothes.

However, this is ultimately all that the series has. Part one of "Dragonaut" starts off as a fresh, exciting action series, but it winds down into an extremely convoluted plot that only truly dedicated fans would figure out. "Dragonauts" disappoints everyone with a lame script and a storyline with too many snags.

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net

There will be blood. Buckets of it.

I was going to finish up with Dragonaut, but then I remembered that I haven't finished watching "Baccano!" yet. The box set of "Baccano!" will be released on Dec. 30, in time for the post-New Year's sales.

The series is an incredible one, based around the conversations in-between fighting fatal battles with knives, guns and explosives. If my final article doesn't slow down my schedule, I should finish watching the anime sometime tomorrow.

So look forward to a review of one of the bloodiest series ever made.

Missing the Daily 49er

Well, it looks like I'm finished with the Daily 49er. I already miss working with everyone.

I'm probably going to update this blog more often, now that I have more free time. Breaking up with one of my favorite papers in the world is hard to do. I've labored with countless numbers of great people on the Daily 49er staff.

I love putting stories on paper. Electronic journalism just isn't as rewarding as the effort put into publishing literature in print. There's so much to enjoy about producing these pieces of precious paper every day.

Anyhow, I wish my staff members the best of luck as I venture into the real world. Geez, reality bites.

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

DVD Review: Gondolas and love for the city

I love "Aria," and even after 37 episodes I really want to see more.

The second half of season two is surprisingly charming, with a smorgasboard of touching scenes and reunions.

Aria's 37 episodes of over 15 hours of relaxing gondola drama and comedy might seem a little long-winded. However, the series mixes things up with some big tearjerkers. The first tearjerker takes place in the 15th and 16th episodes in a long farewall story arc to Akari's gondola.

The memories are priceless. The flashback clips in these episodes include precious moments of Akari when she first starts paddling backwards on her gondola. Among the memories is the first time the gondoleer passes her first exam on a course.

As the series moves on, it becomes more and more difficult to pick a favorite character, because each one has a special moment in part two. Aika has an especially emotional moment when she finds the hairstyle she likes, rather than copying Alicia all the time. Her best moment takes place when she takes the time to visit her boyfriend, Edward, just to see if he likes her hair.

Unlike season one, there are moments of compelling suspense. Episode 20 takes Akari on a journey to transport a ghost, who is rumored to have "spirited away" anyone who takes her to San Marco Island on a gondola. This is an episode based almost entirely on visuals and moods, but the ending is a touching tribute to "My Neighbor Totoro."

Even though the theme of spreading happiness is repeated throughout the series, "Aria" never gets old. Somehow, director Junichi Sato finds ways of showing messages of thankfulness without getting too overbearing. Unlike Ghost in the Shell or Fullmetal Alchemist, "Aria" focuses on the beauty of a city. Everything, from the urban legends to the warm parties, is a portrayal of childlike playfulness.

Even the joke episodes are completely over-the-top with humorous twists. Akari talks with her cat, President Aria about alternate universes and says that maybe if he slips in the little space between th,e stairs, he'll enter an world with different types of characters. The curious president decides to slip through the stairs, but the new world is a lot more frightening than anyone might expect.

The series ends with a Redentore festival in the fall, to celebrate the passing of the old season and the start of the new. However, the series doesn't end with the classic new year's day celebration. Instead, Episode 37 focuses on Alicia, Akari's mysterious mentor. When Akari asks Alicia what kind of person she wanted to be when she was a child. Oddly enough, Alicia starts rolling a snowball without answering Akari. Other people soon start helping the two women roll the snowball to make a humongous snowman.

Alicia's response at the end of the episode is a lovely conclusion that sums up the entire message of "Aria" in a few simple words. Even if "Aria" is still a big fluffy collection of sweet, cotton candy stories, it is a wonderful series nonetheless.

On Haruhi

I'm still fascinated by the whole Haruhi fiasco. Sure, it was eight episodes of madness, but it was also an unusual experiment that hasn't been tried in anime before. After all, almost no anime director would dare to string together eight episodes of nearly the same thing.

Most hardcore fans, especially Americans, hated the Endless Eight with a passion. However, I think it was also a test to force the otaku community to analyze their own reasons for watching anime for hours on end.

In the Answerman column of the Anime News Network, Adam Bruck gave some intriguing comments on the Haruhi Endless Eight.

"While the 7-week and counting repetition of Endless Eight is not good in any sense of the word, the fact that Kadokawa and/or Kyoani went this direction at all and the overwhelmingly negative public response make the situation very interesting.
Haruhi, of course, was a mega-hit that reached sales numbers and fandom seen only by shonen and giant robot anime. The fanbase was full of very obsessed people who helped the series sell a million CDs and DVDs and tons of character goods. It's incredible that a company would willingly destroy such a franchise. From a business standpoint, Endless Eight seems like exactly the wrong thing to do; from a fan's standpoint, it's depressing to see the continuation of an amazing first season turn out like this.
However, the fan reaction provides an interesting social experiment - what happens when you severely piss off a group of obsessed, introverted, hardcore Otaku who basically live for this stuff? (I know most Haruhi fans aren't like that, but the most vocal ones are.)"

Like many fans of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," I have trouble deciding whether to like it or hate it. However, I really respect Kyoto Animation's stance. It's really hard to release eight episodes of endless repetition, but the series has gone far in yanking people out of their comfort zones. Unfortunately, if I say that I love it, I'm certain that some people will inevitably troll me for my views.

I'm thankful that very few people comment on this blog, for my sake.

Image courtesy of randomc.animeblogger.net

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