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No Game No Life (anime review)

No-Game-No-LifeTitle: No Game No Life Complete Collection on Blu-ray

Director: Atsuko Ishizuka

Writer: Jukki Hanada

Studio: Madhouse

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: July 28th. 2015

Format: Blu-ray / 300 minutes/ 12 Episodes

Genre: Gaming, Harem, Comedy, Drama

Age Rating: TV MA

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Synopsis:

On the internet, they’re legends: the tag-team duo known as BLANK, famed for their incredible game-playing skills. In the real world, however, the lives of 18 year old Sora and his 11 year old stepsister Shiro have been spiraling out of control. Now existing as shut-ins, they rarely leave their house and are unable to be separated without suffering panic attacks. Games, for them, are the safest retreat from reality. Until they win a chess match against a mysterious opponent known as Tet and find themselves pulled into a game bigger than any they could have ever imagined.

Now, in a world where the outcome of games determines the fates of both civilizations and species, they must defend Humanity in the ultimate challenge, vying against a host of otherworldly competitors for the right to rule them all! But if they fail, it means slavery or destruction for all mankind. No pressure, of course! Can two misfits who can barely handle their own lives somehow rise to the occasion and save the human race?

Commentary:

Oh no not another stuck in the game anime! Yep, that’s right it’s a mother story where the main characters get stuck in a game world. Can you say .hack, Sword Art Online and Log Horizon just to name a few already showing the way? I was already regretting watching No Game No Life before I hit play and the first episode left me feeling like I was right. I started off so self assured and pretentious that I really didn’t want to keep going. Well, to say the least I managed to stomach a few more episodes and found that my disillusionment was all mistaken. The series managed to do something I would have never expected, it ended up being good.

No Game No Life takes the stuck in the game concept and adds onto the smart player roll developed in Log Horizon and thorns it on its ear with Sora and Shiro. They seem to understand the game better than anyone else and things unfold in unexpected ways. This plot device helps save the show and take it to a level that both entertains and gives rise to questions about the series itself. I’m not trying to say that they intentionally write in gaps of understanding, but because of the way the series progresses it becomes clear that there were simple basics overlooked to make it all work.

Overall Grade: B-

No Game No Life is an interesting series that takes the genre to another level. It is just too bad that there are so many aspects of the series that slow it down or just derail it from time to time. The fact that the concepts are so strong should have lent it to not having to rely on fan service or moe, but these elements tend to stay rather close to the core of the series. There is also the artistic palate that disrupts the flow and visual aesthetics of the series. I found the overwhelming amount of blue and pink to be oppressive and distracting. In the first few episodes I found myself wanting to walk away because of the visual and conceptual aspects of the series. I have to say that the writing saved it from a rather gruesome death.

There is plenty to dislike about this little series, but in the end I found a fondness for it that I can only call baffling at best. For all you gamers out there who need some sex-appeal in your life then you just might find this series worth the time to watch 12 episodes. For all you fan service / moe fans you should be sold by the cover and I doubt if you will be disappointed. So, check it out and if you are not sure about the series you should wait until the 4 or 5th episode before you turn if off. I have a feeling that you will end up sticking around to find out how it ends. I know I am still wondering that myself.

Ninja Scroll on Blu-ray (anime review)

Ninja ScrollTitle: Ninja Scroll: The Motion Picture

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Studio: Madhouse

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Re-release Date: May 19th, 2015

Format: Blu-ray / 94 minutes / Feature Film

Genre: Action, Adventure, Edo Period, Historical

Age Rating: TV MA

Overall Personal Rating: B+

Synopsis:

Jubei Kibagami has always been the master dealer of death, but in rescuing a ninja woman from a monster he sets loose a chain of events that puts death in his own veins and sends them on a nightmarish odyssey through a surreal and devil infested ancient Japan. How do demonic possessions, an annihilated village, and a man Jubei thought safely buried in his past all connect? If Jubei can’t piece the blood-soaked clues together, his only consolation will be that he won’t live to regret it for very long!

Commentary:

Some films and series keep finding their way back into the spotlight  and consistently are begin resurrected just to try and make some more money. In the case of Ninja Scroll saw it most recent reincarnation in December of 2012 when it was re-released on DVD and now Sentai Filmworks has moved it onto Blu-ray. I know that I’ve seen plenty of older series and movies reproduced on Blu-ray and I am constantly stumped as to what difference it makes. For Ninja Scroll I see a little improvement in color and brightness, but overall I can’t say it is a hit for me. I almost like it on the original Manga Entertainment VHS version just because a gritty look to the film adds to its mystic.

Overall Grade: B+

I know that Ninja Scroll is a anime classic and the one thing that stands out is the action and battles. The simplistic violence that is presented comments on how cruel that time period was. The only thing that really makes a difference for me is the blatant simplicity these films and stories were created and written in the 80’s and 90’s. They thought that they were presenting some deep commentary, but in fact were playing to the basic fan base of the single males audience and gave us plenty of violence and sex to keep the viewer interested. I have a feeling that if they were to make it any more complicated they would have lost their audience and it wasn’t until later in the decade that it was discovered that deeper reflection or complicated plot lines really do make a difference.

Ninja Scroll is wonderfully animated and the action scenes are phenomenal but the plot is simple and only slightly interesting. I’m not sure how this latest iteration of the film is going to go over. I suspect that it will only be a item for the collector who wants to own it on blu-ray. I can’t say that the high definition doesn’t really make the film any better.

Ambition of Oda Nobuna, The: The Complete Collection (anime review)

Ambition of Oda NobunaTitle: Ambition of Oda Nobuna, The: The Complete Collection

Director: Yuuji Kumazawa

Studio: Madhouse

Author: Mikage Kasuga

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: December 16, 2014

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Historical, Harem

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Battle Girls: Time Paradox and Sengoku Collection

Synopsis:

Yoshiharu Sagara, or Monkey as he is known to Oda Nobuna and her retainers, thought he knew his Japanese history backwards, forwards, and upside down, but when he inexplicably finds himself in the past everything he thought he knew was wrong and he is in a very different history altogether! Not only is this timeline’s version of the legendary (and very male) Oda Nobunaga now the cute (and very female) Oda Nobuna, but one of the first things Yoshiharu manages to accidentally accomplish is getting one of the Sengoku era’s most important historical figures killed!

Still, what’s your best present course of action when you find yourself stuck in the past, having only a semi-reliable knowledge of one possible future, and there is now a vacancy in the history books? Aligning yourself with someone with the potential to become one of the most powerful warlords in any of Japan’s possible histories might not be a bad start. Provided, of course, that you can keep yourself from becoming too intimately involved in the cloak and dagger action during a time when the cloaks cover body armor and the daggers are paired with multiple swords! But that is just part of the risk you assume when your history becomes her story! Will Yoshiharu make it back to his own time? Will Oda Nobuna conquer Japan? You will have to watch The Ambition of Oda Nobuna and find out!

Commentary:
The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: The Complete Collection has four main plot lines: The Arrival in the Sengoku Period Arc, The Invasion of Mino Arc, The Kyoto Arc, and The Retreat at Kanegasaki Arc. While The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: The Complete Collection may look like your typical rom-com harem, this time there is a story line and interesting characters to enjoy. Each story arc lasted around three episodes and was wrapped up in that time. The story line follows the history that we know of with slight changes made when Yoshiharu time-traveled to the Sengoku Period. However, that does not mean that you will know literally everything that is going to happen. You will still be pleasantly surprised and will enjoy the series.

The characters in The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: The Complete Collection are your typical rom-com harem characters but they were well developed and a few were absolutely adorable. Goemon Hachisuka has an adorable lisp and will likely steal your heart for the series. Toshiie Maeda is another adorable one as she always wears a lion costume. Both of these girls look very young, but do not let that fool you as they can take care of themselves just fine. Oda Nobuna is a girl that had a very hard life and it shows at times as she is leery of letting people into her heart because as soon as she does they leave her. She also has blonde hair in this series, which suits her character’s personality perfectly. Oda Nobuna’s retainers all have personalities that fit the historical character they are portraying well and they add entertainment to the story.

The art work is well done and the battle scenes look realistic. The characters were drawn well and the voice actors did a great job. The opening song was catchy and the closing animation is where all the fan-service was placed for the series. There really was not much besides that.

Extras:

The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: The Complete Collection includes clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with English and Japanese with English subtitles as language options. I recommend the Japanese with English subtitles for this release.

Overall Grade: B

The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: The Complete Collection is an interesting series and I recommend it if you enjoy history.

Sunday Without God (anime review)

Sunday Without GodTitle: Sunday Without God Complete Collection on Blu-ray

Director: Hiromi Mizutani

Studio: Madhouse

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Oct. 21st, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes + 1 OVA / 325 Minutes

Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy, Mystery

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: B

Synopsis:

Fifteen years ago on a Sunday, God abandoned the world and closed the gate to Heaven, leaving the souls of humankind trapped in limbo. With the dead unable to rest and the living unable to have children, the world is slowly coming to a halt. The only key to mankind’s salvation rests with the Gravekeepers, mysterious beings charged with the task of sending the deceased to their final resting place.

Twelve-year-old Ai, one of the last children in the world, soon finds herself shouldered with the burden of becoming her village’s newest Gravekeeper. But beneath the village’s unassuming exterior lies a dark secret that is revealed with the arrival of a gun-wielding stranger in black. With her position as a Gravekeeper now uncertain, Ai has no choice but to set out to put the living dead to rest. But in a world where no one can die, is death truly the ultimate blessing?

Commentary:

Conceptually Sunday Without God is an interesting proposition. To pull it off and take the subject matter seriously would be very hard to do. In the early episodes things don’t add up as well as I wanted, but by the third episode things start to come together. I have to admit there is a twist up front I didn’t expect and part of me id not sure if it makes much sense. Anyway, the series does come together and provide some semblance of living up to its title.

The real strength to the series is the animation done by Madhouse. The look is classic anime with a cute girl being the main protagonist. And the rest of the characters either being sweet and cute or strange and somewhat bizarre or older and worn out. The overall style is somewhat typical, but there are moments when the look becomes a little rustic with a truly ethereal feel that is an important tie-in to the series.

Overall Grade: B

There are such great possibilities with the subject matter and in some ways Sunday Without God delivers and in others it misses the mark. I’m not sure why the main girl had to be so cute and simplistic. I think that if the story had been re-written to make all the characters older would have made more sense and also given the plot a dramatic edge that it is missing. For the most part I found it to be relatively entertaining and when I forgot about the plot it was down right fun.

To really enjoy the series I would tell you to leave the concept behind the story at the door and just sit back and watch it without any preconceptions. That way the cuteness and melancholy that is presented early on is received with a viewpoint that doesn’t jade the rest of the series.

if, you are looking for a series that makes you think, you might want to look elsewhere. If you are looking for a series that looks great and entertains at a level that is both fun and somewhat thoughtful, then Sunday Without God is a series that you will enjoy and should check out.