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Comet Lucifer (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : January 22, 2017
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Category: Reviews

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Title: Comet Lucifer: Complete Collection on Blu-ray

Directors: Yasuhito Kikuchi, Atsushi Nakayama

Writer: Yūichi Nomura

Studio: 8-Bit

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Feb. 14th, 2017

Format: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Fantasy, Mecha

Age Rating: TV MA

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Synopsis:

Sogo Amagi has spent a good portion of his young life looking for rare crystals in abandoned Giftdium mines, but it’s not until he’s lost in the ruins beneath his own home town that he and his friend Kaon make the most incredible discovery of all: a giant crystal with a girl trapped inside! Things only get wilder when the girl is unexpectedly freed.

Suddenly, the mines are invaded by giant robots controlled by a secret military organization, which is in turn fought off by a mysterious being made of crystal!

That leaves Sogo, Kaon, and their friends scrambling to figure out what to do with Felia, a red-eyed girl with strange powers who doesn’t even speak their language!

They need to figure everything out quickly, because unless they can unravel Felia’s secrets and learn why the military is after her, their whole planet may be in danger of complete annihilation in COMET LUCIFER!

Special Features: Garden Indig’s Train Shorts, Music Videos, Clean Opening and Closing Animation.

Commentary:

Within a few minutes I had a wave of other anime flood my memory. Comet Lucifer is a clear derivative of several there anime and in some ways it fails to live up to the standard that has been set before it. In other ways it manages to give us a story that entertains and intrigue. I understand why Sentai didn’t spend the money to dub Comet Lucifer and also understand why it didn’t take long to go from Crunchyroll to Blu-ray.

There is plenty of decent mystery and tension in Comet Lucifer. Although the area where it falls apart for me is in the character development and attempt to provide some comic relief. I did like the way Felia attached herself to Sogo and Kaon, but also felt like there was a weak attempt to create a real family between the three. It is not until late in the series that there seems to be a sense of connection. Even with that connection there are plenty of question that are left open.

Overall Grade: B-

As much as I wanted to really like Comet Lucifer and did enjoy some aspects of the series, but all in all I bound it to be forced and overly contrived. The series doesn’t have the feel of Fractle or even the odd the special connection that is found in Last Exile.

I tend to really enjoy these fanciful stories and love the way they tend to unfold. Comet Lucifer has much of the key aspects needed to be a fine series. In the end it does some things really well, but the total development of the characters leaves some things out which ends up hurting the overall strength of the series.

If you are a fan of fantasy anime that is a hidden love story the you should like Comet Lucifer just let it flow over you and do try to make it fit the trope it comes from.

Busou Shinki-Armored War Goddess: The Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : January 14, 2017
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Category: Reviews

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review provided by Andrew & Katie

Title: Busou Shinki-Armored War Goddess: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray

Director: Yasuhito Kikuchi

Studio: eight bit

Author: Masahiro Yokotani

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks/Section 23

U.S. Release Date: February 14th, 2017

Format and Length: DVD / 13 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Slice of Life

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Angelic Layer, Rozen Maiden, and Chobits

Juggling four girls at once is never easy, even when they are small enough to actually juggle!

Synopsis:

Some guys wait their entire life, and then some, to meet the girl of their dreams, but high school freshman Rihito is already living with four of them. Plus, they are almost always ready and willing to help him with whatever difficult task their “Master” needs to be handled. So, how did Rihito get to be so darn lucky? Well, while Hina, Ann, Ines and Rene may not be exactly high maintenance, Rihito does have to make sure they are lubricated regularly and recharge their batteries as needed. He does this because they are Shinki—tiny, six-inch tall, customizable androids (Now would be a good time to get your mind out of the gutter.) But do not let their tiny size fool you because these little ladies have more than full-size intelligence and emotions, there is also friction because each one would prefer to be Rihito’s favorite. Make way for the sparks that are going to fly as these battery powered princesses take charge of Rihito’s world.

Commentary:

Busou Shinki-Armored War Goddess: The Complete Collection is an anime series that was produced as an advertisement for the Shinki action figures and as such it is an original storyline written for said figures. With that being said, I thought Busou Shinki-Armored War Goddess: The Complete Collection was an average Slice-of-Life anime. The story follows the four Shinki as they perform their daily chores and the trouble that they always find themselves in. You can watch any episode after the first one and it will make almost perfect sense. Being as this was an advertisement there was not much character development but you do get to see an example of each Shinki by the end of the series. Rihito basically treats his Shinki as if they were human and the Shinki take really good care of him. Basically the Shinki are depicted as cute, tiny androids living in an apartment in the middle of Tokyo.

As for character development, there is none. Rihito is basically seen as a generic avatar that the target audience can relate to. Ann is the caring character who is pure of heart, Rene is the clumsy big sister, Ines is the tsundere character who is mean but cares deep down inside and Hina is the cool loner girl who cannot relate to the rest of the cast. I basically saw every overly done character type in one anime. I did enjoy the Christmas episode though because it showed how much the Shinki care about Rihito and at the same time it showed how much Rihito loves his Shinki.

Extras:
Busou Shinki-Armored War Goddess: The Complete Collection includes Japanese promos, clean opening and closing animations, and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series is available in Japanese language with English subtitles.

Overall Grade: B-

Busou Shinki-Armored War Goddess: The Complete Collection was produced as an marketing tool for the Shinki figures and I have been noticing this has been the case for a few series created around this time. When I began watching the first episode I was expecting this series to be pretty good as it reminded me of Angelic Layer and I really enjoyed that series. Within a few episodes I realized that while this series has potential it was never expanded on and really leaves something to be desired.