Tsunami.No.Anime

There are few times when I watch a show that I sit there and think to myself, “Am I honestly watching this?” To which I answer, “Yes, I have no idea why but I also don’t really feel like stopping.” Bubblegum Crisis 2040 is one of those shows. I can’t think of a better show to watch and feel a constant bang of wtf-itis than this one. Spoiler: No, Silya will never get a grip (and she gets laid so don’t bother thinking that she needs to).

Bubblegum Crisis is a remake of an OVA done in 1992 and can best be described as an excuse to put naked girls and mecha in the same show. The story is that after a major earthquake in Megatokyo (the real one, not the pedo one), robots called Boomers become a common place necessity around the world as replacements for manual and dangerous labor. Having rebuilt Megatokyo and made it into a colossal economic hub, boomers are heralded as both great helpers to man and also as subhuman trash. Little does the populace know that boomers can go mad and start killing for no reason. A small group of women, in “hard suits” known as the Knight Sabers, fight to defeat these mad boomers and protect the citizens.

Of course, thats just the first half of the story. There’s also a lot of butt rock, some badly thought out conspiracies that never fully materialize, constant PMS, random singing that can best be described as an alto cat being strangled, and a technological singularity. But really, the only reason to watch is girls with boobs in mecha outfits.

The characters in BGC2040 are all one dimensional. The moment you mean the character and note their peculiarities they will not change for the rest of the show. Silya will always be a fruit cake. Linna will never be sure what to do. Nene will be cute and a 5th wheel. And Priss will be a bitch (though she gets a soft side eventually, but you see it coming from a mile away). The men in the story either get killed, fall for one of the chicks, or run away so they don’t matter.

The realism of this show is hardly worth mentioning. At every turn there is something so impossibly ridiculous that even the best of us who can suspend their disbelief will, at least once, go “wait a minute, thats not possible!”. Thousand of gallons of liquid nitrogen freeze an entire building and its contents at one point in the show.. that is, the entire contents, minus the 5 humans who were directly below the tanks when they burst… Yeah. But to be fair, the whole concept of humans creating artificial intelligence that becomes its own species and finds itself into the world is pretty interesting and they pull it off quite nicely.

Honestly though, the show isn’t as bad as I make it out to be. Remember, this show was made in 1998 when cyberpunk was the style to have. BGM2040 is probably the definitive anime series of that era (the pinnacle being Akira). THe band, the bad music, the bad computer graphics, the annoying sound effects, the retarded episode titles and name plates, and the open, ambiguous ending they all make sense when you stop and think what the date was. I thought to myself at least once, “Were we really this weird 9 years ago?” And the answer is yes, yes we were. So taken in context, BGM2040 is actually a pretty good show.

Overall, even taking into account the context, concepts, and the amount of boobs, the show falls short of overcoming its mediocrity. But thankfully for people who love 1998 it just evened out. I am thereby giving Bubblegum Crisis 2040 a 2.5 out of 5 stars. “technological singularities are fun! so is impending nene + boomer rape” – From my notes on the show

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Wow, its taken me a week to write this review. In that time of procrastination I kept thinking one thing: What in the world can I say about Pani Poni Dash? There’s just so much.. stuff in it but at the same time a whole show about nothing. So here is my attempt at reviewing one of the most hilarious and ridiculous animes ever. Spoilers: lawl.

The plot of Pani Poni Dash is best summed up as such: Genius Becky, an 11 year old graduate from MIT, teaches a high school class in Japan fully of weirdoes. Hilarity ensues. Really, thats the plot. Nothing else of significance happens in the show. There is no plot, at all. However, what it lacks in plot it makes up for in sheer amounts of funny.

The humor of this show is hard to pin down. Most of it comes from three sources: 2chan, anime and manga references, and obscure cultural references. All three of these make the show extremely unfriendly to people who have either never been near something like 2chan or 4chan or have little experience with the Japanese geek culture. There are so many of these references that there are whole wikis and documentation devoted to explaining them to the viewer. (some subbers put the notes at the top of the screen so have the pause button ready) Even so, there are enough weird antics to go around even for the connoisseur of pratfalls and bad puns.

If nothing else, this show has some great characters. Each main character has a unique trait that they keep through the whole show. There is no development to speak of, but this doesn’t mean you cant like them anyway. The traits all come into play in the seemingly weirdest places and add much hilarity to whatever situation the cast is in. Here are my favorites. Becky is a precocious preteen who is extremely tsun-tsun (look it up) but very cute. Himeko is a complete airhead who likes crab and saying “Maho!”. However, I would have to say the best character for me at least was Ichijou. Im a sucker for non-sequiturs and Ichijou is probably the queen of the unexpected. Her quasi-insanity coupled with her serious expression and calmness no matter what happens crack me up something fierce.

Obviously this is not a normal review because of the lack of normal things I focus on in anime: story and characters. But that doesn’t mean that a show lacking in either or both of these areas cant be great. Pani Poni Dash! is something that every anime lover, internet fruit, or culture otaku (yes the descriptions are intentionally jumbled) should probably watch. Sure, you wont get half the references even if you are told what they are, but you will still laugh. I did, a lot. Therefore, Pani Poni Dash! receives a prestigious 4.5 out of 5 stars. MAHO!

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If there’s one thing I learned from watching Jigoku Shoujo its that persistence pays off. After seeing the artwork and reading the premise of the show, I watched a few episodes and almost dropped it. I’m so glad I didn’t. After watching the entirety of the first season I can honestly say I loved the show despite its obvious repetitive nature. Hooray for Ai! Spoilers: There are recurring characters in the show besides Ai.

Jigoku Shoujo is a traditional Japanese ghost story with circumstances beyond anyone’s control but yet still under the control of other humans. There is a website, accessible only at midnight, called the Hotline to Hell. If someone who feels like they are a victim goes there, they can type in the name of their antagonist and to have sent to hell. Enma Ai then appears and tells them that they must untie the red string on the straw doll she gives them for the contract to be complete. However, should they untie it, besides their antagonist being taken immediately to hell, they too will be condemned to hell when they die.

Perhaps I should point out now that this show is extremely repetitive. The above scenario plays out in basically every episode. Victim shows up and feels wronged, they contact Ai, they wrestle with whether or not to pull the string, then they pull it anyway. Seriously, this happens in every episode. Even I, who ended up loving the show, almost quit watching at episode 3. It wasn’t until I made a crucial change of perspective in episode 5 that I began to love the show.

The real story in this show is not the people who appear for only one episode and act out their vengeance. The story in Jigoku Shoujo is all about Ai. From the start it seems she is an emotionless girl who just keeps doing the same thing over and over. However, this is her job, her duty, and her curse. Once you realize that, you begin to understand the gravity of the repetitiveness. It has a purpose: to make you empathize with Ai. In every episode you see something new about Ai, something subtle and small. Sometimes her eyes get big, she betrays a tiny bit of emotion, or she says something with a slight inflection that wasn’t there before (like when she asks the person if they would like to see death). In the wake of the overwhelming repetition of vengeance, the tiny insights into Ai’s feelings make her all the more mysterious and intriguing. When she does finaly display emotion explicitly it is powerful, beautiful, and terrifying. I personally began to question why Ai would follow her contractors around silently, why she contacted the Shibatas (the recurring characters who show up in episode 8), and why she seemed so sad all the time. Her character became an all encompassing mystery that I wanted to solve.

Ai’s sadness, and the overall theme of the show, is simple: the human desire for vengeance. Every episode you see the same tragedy play out even though you think “this time maybe they will see the error of their ways.” Before they are left to decide, Ai always shows the victim a taste of what hell will be like when they die. Despite this, they always pull the string anyway to exact vengeance on their antagonist. Trivial matters like stealing or betrayal seem to be far worse than an eternity in hell. Some victims are relieved of abuse for one lifetime to be carried to hell when they die. This trade off is a result of the delusion of vengeance, that nothing could be worse than the situation at hand. This is the driving force behind everything you see and everything Ai feels.

Is it right to send someone to hell when they have done wrong? This drama plays out between the Shibatas through the series. The daughter believes that the antagonist probably deserves it and that being sent to hell in the long run to be relieved of a temporary pain is worth it. The father disagrees and wants to stop Ai from continuing her work. Ai all the while stays silent about her feelings but betrays them in her actions. At the end of the season the point is made: no one is immune from feeling vengeance but we all have a choice to act on it or not.

Overall, the unraveling of the mystery of Enma Ai is what makes this show so good. Granted there is a fiercely repetitive nature to this show, but if you can get past that in get into the heart of the story there is a hidden jewel in the silent red eyes of Ai. The emotion and drama of Jigoku Shoujo (as well as the 2 nights of constantly restless sleep due to my mind trying to decipher Ai) garner this show a 4 out of 5 stars. Heres to an equally Ai-filled second season. いっぺん、死んで見る？

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In the first of the reviews that will be coming out like a flurry the next few weeks as the 26 episodes fall series finally come to an end, I meet probably one of the most unsatisfying animes I have ever watched. Filled with amazing potential at the beginning of the show, Pumpkin Scissors does nothing but disappoint all the way till the end. Honestly, the experience of watching was like watching a man slowly being sucked into quicksand. Spoiler: There’s nothing to spoil.

Pumpkin Scissors is the tale of an army war relief unit. After a devastating war, the country is left in political and economic chaos. In order to combat the poverty and dissatisfaction within the population the army created Section III, Pumpkin Scissors. This elite section devotes it self to such tasks as: feeding the hungry, exposing drug rings, and digging up plot points that are never explored.

Perhaps the most notable point of this anime is the obvious lack of any real plot. If you look at the synopsis I just gave, thats the whole show. Besides the episodic nature of the unit helping those in need, there is virtually nothing else in the show. This wouldn’t be so bad if that was it. But the story eventually digs up several references to the war that was never explained, an on going military cover up of.. something, an arms and development conspiracy involving the corporal, and a masked society that is apparently running the post-war underground with ties in the nobility. But besides their hinting at, absolutely nothing is explained or resolved. The seemingly wise old Captain Hunks of Section III knows something is afoot and apparently knows what it is, but whatever it is is never divulged.

The characters in this show were also pretty boring. The Corporal is the most interesting as he comes from a mysterious Section IX and looks death in the face all the time. He also apparently was nothing but a killing machine created by R&D, which he wants to forget. He is weak minded and relies on everyone else for support in spite of the fact he is bigger and stronger than everyone else. The 2nd Lieutenant is hot, but thats about it. A noble by birth but a warrior at heart, she represents justice in the show between a corrupt aristocracy and the poor commoners. Unfortunately, she’s about as shallow a character as she is hot. She expounds long, annoying speeches which have the power to sway whoever is listening and never really develops as a character outside of that. The rest of the cast is generally inconsequential or are comic relief.

Really, the show lends itself to setting up for another season which doesn’t exist. The numerous plot threads and the lack of any resolution in any of them reminds me of the worst anime ever: Sword for Truth, only this doesn’t have any lesbian sex. To keep from being totally negative about it, Pumpkin Scissors does dwell a lot on the issue of commoners versus nobility; an issue that is brought up in several titles. If I had to take anything away from this, it is the sense of the animosity that dwells within the hearts of the Japanese people towards the traditional imperial court. Basically, luxury for them and poverty for the commoners (especially if you take into account the post-war sentiments of WWII). I could be totally wrong, but this is what i took from it.

Overall, unless there is a second season (I would have mixed feelings about this) of Pumpkin Scissors, the show was a tragic failure. Too many unresolved questions, shallow and annoying characters, episodic, the list goes on. I genuinely feel betrayed having watched this since September and having it end like it did. Because of this, Pumpkin Scissors gets a 2 out of 5 stars.

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There are rare kinds of scores in anime. Sometimes you have great anime that you want to gush about. Then you have the terrible anime you want to rant about. And then there’s a rare sight: an anime so mundane that it warrants neither praise nor condemnation. This is the case with Mermaid Forest. Spoiler: Don’t trust mermaids, ever.

Mermaid forest is a series of short stories that center around a man named Yuta. It is said that if you eat the flesh of a mermaid you gain immortality. Thus, having eaten the flesh of a mermaid, Yuta has been alive for 500 years, searching for a way to return to his humanity. In the present day, meets another immortal named Mana who is about to be eaten by mermaids since they in turn eat humans to keep their eternal youth. Yuta saves Mana and together they search the land for answers to their future.

Unfortunately thats all there is to the plot. I have said before in my exposes on the last episode of Otogozoushi and all of Blood+ that the struggles of what true immortals must be going through is very interesting. If nothing else, Mermaid Forest focuses on this aspect of Yuta’s character. He hates his immortality and wants to just be human again. While he could die if his head was cut off, he wants to grow old and die peacefully. When he finds Mana he is told by a mermaid that it is impossible for him to return to normal. After the initial shock though, he seems to accept it and decide to build a future for himself and possibly Mana.

Character development is basically void in this saga. Since the only character to appear in all the episodes is Yuta and he’s been alive for 500 years already there isn’t much growth or quest he has to undertake. Most of the stories are short lived and don’t give him time to rise to any occasion or discover anything profound. Instead he mostly reminisces about the past and the hot women he never lived with as well as saving Mana from being killed/kidnapped/eaten (which she is constantly getting herself into).

There are two things about Mermaid Forest that I will always remember: If you find a mermaid, kill it before it kills and eats you (and try to eat it if you feel lucky) and that everyone in Japan has access to mermaid in some manner. Yuta is constantly running into people who have mermaid in a jar somewhere and are using it to gain immortality (which never works). The sheer absurdity of how many people he finds like this is overwhelming at times until you remember that he is 500 years old and we are probably only watching the highlights of his life.

Even so, the show was interesting. The fact that people year for immortality, but the one man who has it has been mourning that fact for half a millennium. The loneliness is a major theme in this show. Yuta has outlived all his friends and lovers and has only gotten close to a few people. Also, the introduction of the true legends of mermaids from Japan (and subsequently England since I went and looked it up) were a nice find. Ever since I was small I was under the impression that mermaids were good (Disney). But in fact, every culture that has a mermaid legend has them being murderous and harbingers of bad omens.

For 13 episodes, Mermaid Forest wasn’t that bad. But without a plot and no character development it wasn’t that good either. It had its moments but really it was something that was mediocre and dull. Thats why Mermaid Forest gets a score smack dab in the middle: a forgettable 2.5 out of 5 stars. I will never be able to look at Ariel the same way again.

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