vivafruit

When I started watching Quiet Country Café, I was almost positive that the anime would be pretty much identical to the original anime in mood and tone. I was fully ready to post up a 4 sentence review saying something along the lines of, “This is exactly the same as the original. If you liked the original OVA, you’ll like this one too.” However, what I found was something that’s actually quite different, in its own subtle fashion. As I stated in my review of the original work, I found the original Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou’s mood to not only be calm and... See full review

To call Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou “slice-of-life” is quite the understatement, for this anime is not merely a “slice” of life; it’s the entire goddamn pie. Never before have I seen an anime that so single-mindedly focused on realism. The anime has no conflict whatsoever, but instead relies entirely on the general mood of the show to entertain the audience. What, exactly, is the mood of the show? Good question. Some may make the case that the anime is cheerful, but this, in my opinion, is not entirely true. While watching the show, I was also struck by an overwhelming... See full review

What is perhaps most interesting about this one is how close the anime comes to being a classic without ever actually becoming one. While watching Wolf's Rain, there were numerous times in which I could see the anime approaching the kind of exhilarating grandeur found in titles like Cowboy Bebop and Crest of the Stars. However, the show would always back away at the last minute, as if an invisible wall were preventing it from progressing any further. The anime certainly starts on the right track. I remember fondly of the days in which the average review rating on animenfo for Wolf's Rain was 9.8... See full review

For a good while now, in every review, I have always tried to explain exactly why I liked or disliked an anime. As time has shown, this is one of the more maddening principles that I have taken up. Occassionally, a case comes up in which I am at a complete loss to understand what factors influenced my opinion. Whisper of the Heart is such an anime. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about whether this movie is good. On the contrary, I am absolutely certain that WotH is a classic, and needs to be seen by everyone. What does perplex me, however, is exactly what makes this anime so incredibly... See full review

Story
Note: Nope, haven’t read the manga yet. Almost nothing is better than watching a show that exceeds all of your expectations. I jumped into this series expecting a polished rehash of the same old theme that almost all ecchi shows have: namely, one (or more!) cute girls inexplicably falling for an insultingly spineless Keitarou-clone loser. However, this GONZO work is not, by any stretch of the imagination, your average nerd-meets-girl. On the contrary, Welcome to the NHK! is a remarkably strange series – one that happens to be among the best... See full review

Story
The storyline is undeniably the weakest part of Uninhabited Planet Survive, and is the main contributing factor for why the show never quite seems to break mediocrity. There were numerous points at which the anime looked like it was improving, but the formulaic and predictable plot would always kick in and prevent this from actually happening. One of the major problems lies with the basic premise. At its heart, there are really only two major ways to execute a shipwrecked-on-random-piece-of-rock storyline like this one: a Lord of the... See full review

Despite a super conventional plot and an ending that goes on at least one episode too long, this is a great show. Like many of my favorite series, Toradora successfully transitions from comedy to drama; after a few episodes I was hooked and the trap only tightened as the series began to lose the jokes for good old fashioned love polygon angst. You'd have to be braindead to see the first episode and not know exactly how the series will end, but most people will be surprised at the surprisingly well developed cast that accompanies the predictable plot. The characters manage to be more than... See full review

They Were Eleven is a prime example of what awesome old-school anime should be: a work that overcomes its dated animation and sound through the sheer awesomeness of its over-arching story. Many "classics" of yesteryear have become obsolete due to their reliance on animation that has long since become absolutely awful. They Were Eleven avoids this pitfall neatly; although the animation is by no means sloppy, the clear focus is on the story, where all their efforts go towards providing extremely taut suspense. For the most part, they succeed. Like Black Jack (another anime that not... See full review

What particular qualities make a human being worthy of power? What particular qualities make a human being worthy of life? Can a person who is morally righteous and good be at the same time incompetent in leadership? One of the many strengths of Juuni Kokuki is how it spends much of its time answering these questions. Throughout the show, these questions are not only addressed, but are tackled with exuberance. The end result is a philosophical commentary that is unexpectedly perceptive and interesting in its analysis. Another major point in Juuni Kokuki's favor lies in its absolutely... See full review

Rose of Versailles starts strongly. Aside from introducing a likeable set of characters, the show sets the stage in a promising setting: France, in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Unfortunately, some absolutely asinine directing prevents the show from being anything but mediocre. The major problem with Rose of Versailles is not the general story in and of itself, but the delivery. Over the course of the anime, the show is sure to include several (repetitive) segments that focus on the desperate cries of the underprivileged, the tragic oversights of the ruling class, the... See full review

Story
This is the area that seems to be drawing the most contention. Some laud this movie’s story as touching and elegant, while others vilify it as convoluted, leaden and incomplete. However, although the criticisms are definitely understandable, the story is praiseworthy in spite of them (honestly, were you expecting me to say anything else?). The first thing to emphasize is that, regardless of what the plot summary may sound like, this is not and should not be regarded as true science fiction. While there are definitely sci-fi elements in the show, the approach that the director takes uses... See full review

Story
Why do you watch anime? Is it to passively waste away the spare hours of your life, or is it in the faint hope that the next anime you watch will actually make you feel something meaningful? At twelve minutes, La Maison en Petits Cubes will not waste much of your time, but it will move you on a profound and emotional level. Even at face value, the story is a clever and innovative science-fiction tale, involving a rising sea level that forces our protagonist to build his house higher and higher. When he inadvertently drops a precious item... See full review

Story
At its core, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo is really just a standard shoujo slice-of-life show. There’s the plucky, cheerful protagonist, there’s the myriad of possible romances just waiting to bloom, and of course there’s the lazy summer afternoons spent loafing around in idyllic Japanese suburbia. The closest analogue is most likely Ghibli’s own Whisper of the Heart. The only noticeable differentiation from its counterparts is a time-traveling plot device introduced early in the show. ... See full review

I’m pretty sure Ghibli is one of the only studios on earth capable of taking a storyline like this one’s and making something worthwhile out of it. The plot has a kind of meandering, silly quality to it that could easily have turned to tedium, but no; from the seemingly boundless resources at Ghibli’s disposal, the studio makes the movie work as a creative, lighthearted, and ultimately endearing show. Admittedly, the anime lacks some of the heartfelt poignancy found in some of the Ghibli’s better works (ie. Whisper of the Heart, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, etc.)... See full review

Story
Serial Experiments Lain, which Yoshitoshi Abe has also been involved in, shares a very similar story structure to Texhnolyze. Both start with a relatively unfulfilling storyline that explains nothing and expects the audience to infer much of what is going on. In the final half, the anime will leap off of the foundation that it has so painstakingly created and go in a totally unexpected direction, resulting in an ultimately satisfying experience. Unfortunately, this approach is inevitably what turns people off... See full review

Story
Writing about works like this is always a bit tricky, because the movie will at best appeal to a small percentage of the people reading this review. The challenge is always to make the show appear as repellant as possible to those that cannot and will not appreciate it, while at the same time recommending the movie to those that will actually like it. Essentially, this 1962 Tezuka short is not for “anime fans,” but “animation fans” – a subtle distinction to some, but a crucial one. Tezuka made the movie long before the stylistic distinctions that differentiate... See full review

I was joking with someone the other day that I’d rather watch weird anime than good anime, and then almost immediately afterwards I found myself watching this little number. Before I begin, I think it’s necessary to say that the sole redeeming quality of this show is that it’s bizarre. For some, this might be enough. Others… not so much.  When I say this is strange, I mean that, as someone who actively searches out this kind of stuff, this is the strangest thing I’ve seen since Cat Soup, three years ago. It’s simply mind-boggling that something like this... See full review

Why would I ever watch sports anime when I can just watch sports in real life? Immediatedly after learning that sports animes exist, this is probably a newcomer's most common reaction. Indeed, the argument is a sound one - why waste time on unrealistic, cheesy, and above all lengthy animes when the actual sports that they mimic are often so dreadfully boring? The answer, of course, is that what makes sports animes so good is not their mimicry of reality, but their enhancement of it. For one, the characters of a sports anime show are always much more likeable than the fluid injecting, pill pushing... See full review

Story
Of all the general themes in anime, one of the most thoroughly overdone ones is the “with friends, we shall prevail” motif. In these, the protagonist can only overcome some seemingly insurmountable task with the help of his or her group of friends. Even those who haven’t seen much anime can probably name at least one series that does this; they’re literally everywhere. One trait that sets Shinichiro Watanabe’s work apart is his refusal to accept this Japanese conformity. In his anime, all of the characters define themselves by their individuality, fighting for... See full review

Story
Note: I hadn’t read a single page out of the original Kenshin manga when I wrote this review. This is probably an important factor to me enjoying the show. Also, this review contains minor spoilers for Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen and the Rurouni Kenshin television series. There has been a lot of talk over whether this anime is “faithful” to the spirit of Kenshin. Admittedly, this show is a very strong departure from the TV series or even Reminiscence. While in the anime’s predecessors... See full review

Story
After several movies from Hayao Miyazaki that have been both narratively and visually complex, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea feels like a return to "classic" form. The film is simpler both in its plot and animation style, having more in common with My Neighbor Totoro than any of the great director’s recent efforts. The difference is so pronounced, in fact, that Ponyo often feels like watching a time-capsuled Ghibli from the late 80s. The film's story is one of Miyazaki’s... See full review

Story
Please Twins, if nothing else, is a prime example of missed potential. Here we have a truly brilliant premise that is pretty much completely ruined by its follow-up story and ending. So much more could have been added to the following episodes to keep the story interesting, but no: the plot instead sinks into autopilot, and the result is horrifically boring and uncreative. Of course, I am exaggerating when I say “truly brilliant premise.” Much like Please Teacher before it, Twins aims for pretty much the... See full review

Perhaps the most interesting anime to compare Planetes to is Last Exile - not for the similarities between the two, but for the differences. The two animes both attempt to show an alternate, futuristic world with a large cast of characters, but the actual approaches are radically different. With Last Exile, we are plunged into a chaotic world of war, intrigue, and power games. The first few episodes are incredibly bewildering (albeit in a good way), and we feel totally enveloped in the fantastically imaginative world that the anime is taking place in. Planetes, on the other hand, seems to almost... See full review

Story
Pita Ten's storyline suffers a fair bit from repetition, which only further reinforces the idea that the anime is an exceedingly shallow version of something better. A good deal of the jokes in the show is reused with little variation, and the episodic plot really begins to drag after a while. Aside from the first and last episodes, the anime is composed entirely of meandering and inconsequential subplots, which is something that Ive never really enjoyed that much. The final two episodes are actually fairly plot-oriented and end up being the most... See full review

Story
When a director decides to eschew the standard glitz that plagues contemporary anime, the quality of the story is really all that matters. In the end, the creator must trust that the tale they are telling is a good one, and that it alone will be able to keep the viewers' attention. As luck would have it, Hi no Tori has a more than respectable storyline. Narratives that are simultaneously simple and creative are difficult to come by, but this is certainly one of them. The show takes familiar topics and expands on them in a way that makes them feel fresh and new... See full review

Story
From the summaries I had read, I was expecting Paradise Kiss to basically be teenie-bopping wish fulfillment. Namely, the kind where an average chick somehow stumbles into an easy and comfortable lifestyle through little actual effort on her part, ala Princess Diaries. Fortunately, this is not an air-headed, chauvinistic Cinderella story of some girl swept off her feet from poverty into economic dependence and financial stability. Rather, at its core, this is a simple but compelling coming-of-age story, in which a previously ambitionless and enervated... See full review

Story
Understanding is overrated. Incomprehensibility is the new clarity, and contradictions are the new consistency. Confused? Good, so am I. Some stories can only be enjoyed through understanding, while others must be enjoyed through experiencing. Paprika, for one, firmly falls in the second category. Comprehending Paprika on an intellectual level is comparable to nailing Jell-O to a wall: the harder a person tries, the more hopelessly confused he’ll become. Those familiar with Satoshi Kon’s other works (particularly ... See full review

Story
Most people will find it hard not to compare this 20 minute OVA to Voices of a Distant Star; indeed, in many ways Pale Cocoon is the spiritual successor to the landmark 2002 anime. Each of them has absolutely stunning CGI and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. Even more significantly, both use science fiction motifs to tell extremely melancholic tales that leave me dazed and breathless every time I watch them. Up to now, I had always believed that Voices was a one time good deal – a unique and... See full review

Story
The strongest episodes in the Ouran High School Host Club are essentially nothing more than character development. In them, the show will take one of the characters and crack his very soul open for all to see. The standouts are by far Kyouya, a self-proclaimed egoist who ends up being anything but, and the identical pair of twins, whose need for personal individuality conflicts with their inability to relate to anyone else. Unfortunately, excluding both the brilliant beginning and the fantastic character-building episodes, much of the storyline... See full review

Story For series of this length, there’s a fairly intriguing piece of conjecture that I occasionally enjoy trotting around. According to the theory, no matter how awesome the original premise, no matter how charming the cast of characters, no matter how competent the studio, every long series will tank after about 75 episodes. As evidence, a myriad of lengthy anime can be cited that begin excellently and then slowly degenerate into recycled material and filler. Kenshin was excellent until some genius decided to deviate from the manga. Kodomo no Omocha was... See full review