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Psyren vol. 16 (manga review)

Posted by :Patches On : May 4, 2014
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Psyren 16Title: Psyren vol. 16

Author/Artist: Toshiaki Iwashiro

Distributor: Viz Media

American Release Date: May 6th, 2014

Format: Manga

Genre: Action, Supernatural, Shonen

Publisher Age Rating: T+ for older teen

Overall Personal Rating: A-

 

Synopsis:

Miroku Amagi is in the habit of using his powers to toy with the lives of other humans, but Ageha isn’t going to stand for it anymore. What will happen when the two foes pit their incredible powers against each other?

Ageha’s fellow Psionists and the Elmore Wood gang attack W.I.S.E’s capital to rescue their friends, and Kyle and the others find themselves in a desperate struggle for their lives against the Star Commanders. Fortunately, the long-lost Oboro appears just in time, as do Matsuri and Kagetora, who have finally made it to Psyren. As the melee intensifies, Ageha confronts Miroku Amagi alone to settle the score once and for all.

This is it, the final volume. Don’t miss the action.

 

Commentary:

Psyren 16 does something that very few series manage pull off with their final volumes and that is the ability to bring it home and have it all make sense. The story unfolds and an action packed battle that reveals everything but at the same time leaves the door open for more interpretations to come. I’m not saying that you will walk away not feeling satisfied or left feeling like something is missing. Rather, I believe you will find this volume very well developed and properly completed.

I love the way Ageha manages to take on Miroku Amagi and unravel his entire plan. The others do their best and are able to stand their found, but it all comes down to Ageha and how well he can do. I can say that the way this final battle is put together comes across well and compared the rest of the series it stands out as the best so far and of course it should be.

Overall Grade: A-

Psyren has been a tail of two cites for me. I found the early volumes to be rather slow to develop and the pacing was way off. As the story developed things really came together. This brings us to the final volume where everything needs to come together and sure enough they do. The pacing was just right and the way it is wrapped up was done in a rather nice job, even if it could have been a little cleaner I still really enjoyed it. Toshaki Iwashiro managed to create a rich and action packed world. For anyone thinking about taking on this series all I can say is stick with it the final product stands along side other series like FMA or even Bleach with it only being shorter. This is truly a top notch shonen series and worth a try.

Arata: The Legend volume 17

Posted by :Joann On : May 1, 2014
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Arata 17Title: Arata: The Legend volume 17
Author: Yuu Watase
Distributor: Viz Media
American release date: 3-11-14
Format:  Manga
Genre: Action, Shonen
Publisher Age Rating: T ( for teen)
Review Rating: B

Regular highschool student, Arata Hinohara, found himself transported to another reality, having changed places with Arata. Now they must live each other’s lives and stop the sinister plot to bring down the government.

Synopsis:

The battle with sound and music continues with Hinohara against Kikutsune. The people from the village have come to help, but with the lack of instruments, they will have to use their voices to support Hinohara. The balance of power edges back and forth until Kikutsune transforms into a demonized form.

The volcano in the village begins to erupt. Hinohara and his companions will band together to save as many as they can. This seems to spark a change.  A villager declares that Hinohara is the reincarnated King of Hinow. Hinohara’s friends begin to ask questions about something he had said earlier. And, what is his connection to the Kando forest? Is the time right for him to explain his reality and are they ready to believe it?

In modern Japan, Arata is on summer break he has gone with Oribe to Oninaki Island. They know she is in danger so he is keeping close. Oribe’s extended family runs a lodge on the island, and she will be helping out. Her cousin, Maya, also works there. The cousins don’t really get along, and now with Arata in the mix,  jealousy has made an appearance.

 

Commentary:

This was my first time reading Arata. I researched the story online before I got started. The first thing I noticed was the difference in the look from other manga. It isn’t drastic, but there is this quality of shading that I enjoyed, perhaps it was only for the change, but it seemed closer to an artist putting a bit more into it. It was evident that the drawings weren’t always consistent, but the author actually notes in the back end the use of assistants and how much they actually get to draw/design. The over all look of the manga is successful.

Volume 17 picks up in the middle of the fight with Kikusune and dives into the first Sho battle. In this regard, I don’t think anything was resolved in taking a real step to an outcome. To me, the battle of sound didn’t work so well. It was as if it was trying to be epic and heartfelt, but it came across as a bit silly. An important thing that did come to light was the demonized forms have come out. Now we can see the power the other side has. The game has really stepped up and the pages have a lot of action.

What I like most about Arata is that we get two stories in one. The modern day real person involved in an alternate world with magics helps transport the reader, to have the protagonist like himself, as if it could really happen. Not so unlike Harry Potter when a modern day kid gets involved in a magical world. This volume saw quite a difference in what was happening. From a serious, life and death situation with Hinohara which is the bulk of the book, to a drastic surface change in modern Japan where Arata is on summer break surrounded by beaches. The tone here is lighthearted with possible romance in the air, but there is trouble brewing, far away from ordinary.

Overall grade: B     Now we delve deeper into the mysteries that have created the situation. Is everyone going to be able to believe what they see and hear?

The Third: The Girl With The Blue Eye

Posted by :Patches On : April 30, 2014
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The Third: The Girl with the Blue EyeTitle: The Third: The Girl With The Blue Eye

Director: Jun Kamiya

Studio: Xebec

U. S. Distributor: Nozomi / Lucky Penny

U. S. Re-Release Date: April 1st, 2014

Format: DVD / 24 Episodes / 600 Minutes

Genre: Sci Fi, Action, Adventure, Romance

Age Rating: 15+

Overall Personal Rating: A-

 

Synopsis:

In a devastated world overrun by monstrous bugs and ravaged by outlaws, there’s only one person to call when you really need a job done right: Honoka. With a sixth sense for danger, sword skills second to none, and a smart-aleck A.I. tank by the name of Bogie, she’s ready to tackle any job and solve any problem for her clients. But while crossing the desert one night, she finds a young man alone in the wasteland. It’s the first step of a journey that will challenge even Honoka’s amazing skills to their very limit!

Commentary:

Even though this series has already made its rounds it is great that Nozomi has re-released it. Most of us are familiar with Trigun but not as many knoe this series. From my point of perspective it has just as much entertainment factor as Trigun and in some ways gives us story that carries itself better than expected. The pacing of development hist on all cycles. We discover the hidden secrets about Honoka and also get a great feeling for how she thinks at the same time. We also discover the secondary characters at the same time and because of the way the series unfolds it becomes very easy to stay with it. Each of these rich characters add a very important link in the story that not only gives us people to connect with but a group of compadries that we really want to see make it through to the end.

One of the real strengths of the series is the way it was written. The story comes to us in two separate directions at the same time. No only do the characters unveil themselves, but was are also given entertaining plots to each part of the story that build upon the last one to make the series stronger as it goes. Each segment tells us something more important about Honoka that comes into play in the end and prove to be more important that originally portrayed. The Thrid: The Girl With the Blue Eye is a great reminder of series that have been around for a while.

Overall Grade: A-

When looking for a series that gives plenty of action and also provides full cast of characters you want to root for the you should pick up The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye. The animation might give you a pause because it will apear a bit dated, but trust me once you get into the sotry you will not even notice. The story stands on its own. From discovering the hidden secrets to Honoka to the truth behind the rulers of their world and why there are the techos taboos. Lots to learn about and plenty of action to get you there. These are the keys to a good series and this one has it.

 

 

One Piece Collection 9 Anime Review

Posted by :Joann On : April 25, 2014
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One Piece collection 9Title: One Piece Collection 9
Director: Hiroaki Miyamoto
Original Creator: Eiichiro Oda
U. S. Distributor: FUNimation
U. S. Release Dates: April 15 2014
Format: DVD / 24 Episodes / 600 minutes
Genre: Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Shonen
Age Rating: TV14
Overall Personal Rating: B-
Synopsis:
After escaping the marine base, G8, the Straw Hat Pirates found themselves on the unusual Long Ring Long Land Island. As the name of the island suggests, all the plants and animals are much longer than normal, either by being tall or long. Luffy, Chopper and Usopp decided to explore the island, where they find a small house. Living near the house was what at first glance appeared to be a Giraffe, but turned out to be a very tall horse. As magnificent as this horse was, it wasn’t the most interesting thing near the house, for Luffy came across what he thought was a couple of moving trees. Taking them to be hostile, Luffy swiftly defeated them causing a small old man to fall from the sky.
Apparently what Luffy thought was trees were actually tall bamboo stilts that the old man, Tonjit, had been stuck on for the past ten years. Tonji explained that he was a stilt enthusiast who got stuck on his ever growing bamboo stilts, which caused him to be separated from the rest of his village that had long migrated to one of the other nearby island. Once a year the tides are low enough that people are able to move from one island to another, however the tide is only low long enough for the migration to be possible on horseback. So with the help of the tall horse, Tonji plans to return to his village within a few years’ time. However his hope to return home is short lived, for Foxy the Sliver Fox, captain of the Foxy Pirates, captured Tonji’s horse with no apparent reason and without that horse he would have to wait for over twenty years for his village to return to the island he was currently on.
While Luffy was dealing with the captain of the Foxy Pirates, the Straw Hat crew was dealing with them. The Foxy pirates were requesting that the Straw Hats play an unique game know as a Davy Back Fight. The basic rules for this game are fairly straight forward: if the other crew accepts the challenge, they will compete in a series of three events; after each event, the winning crew then takes one member of the opposing crew to join their own. A Davy Back Fight can only be accepted by the captain of a ship, and although the risk of losing one of his crew mates isn’t one that Luffy would often take, after the attack on Tonji’s horse, he was provoked into accepting the challenge before he knew what he was doing.
Commentary:
One Piece is a series of over the top action, with an interesting variety of characters and One Piece Collection 9 falls flat on that. Although the Foxy Pirates are a bizarre group, they lack substance as characters, especially when in contrast to the enemies from the previous story arc. Actually this whole story is a big step down, they were fighting a man who called himself God, now they are playing red light, green light.
Now I’m not saying that this collection of One Piece is unenjoyable, but it isn’t that up to par with the rest of the show. When I first read this story arc in the One Piece Manga, I actually enjoyed it. It was a short fun break from the action, but because there is filler arc in that anime that comes before this, the fight with the Foxy Pirates just feels tedious. As mentioned, the fight with the Foxy Pirates is short, and only takes up about half of the episodes on Collection 9. However the rest of the episodes are two smaller filler arcs, so ultimately the rest of the episodes are ever more tedious.
Overall Grade: B –
Although One Piece Collection 9 was rather uneventful, it was still somewhat fun to watch, which is what One Piece is about, but ultimately all these episodes can be skipped with no loss to the viewer whatsoever.

Review written by W. V. S.

The Familiar of Zero: Season One Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : April 25, 2014
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The Familiar of Zeroreview provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: The Familiar of Zero: Season One Complete Collection

Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki

Studio: J.C. Staff

Author: Noboru Yamaguchi

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks / Section 23

U.S. Release Date: April 8, 2014

Format and Length: DVD / 13 Episodes / 325 Minutes

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, School, Harem

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Shakugan no Shana and Toradora!

Synopsis:

Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere’s name is so long and her spell-casting skills are so poor that everyone at the Tristain Academy of Magic just calls her “Louise the Zero”. Louise’s humiliation only increases during an important second-year test, where the other students summon up mythological creatures as their familiars, and she inexplicably summons a human named Saito, a totally normal teenage boy from Tokyo. Now she’s stuck with him and Saito’s stuck with the lousy life of being a familiar. Except, maybe there’s more going on than meets the eye, because Saito’s not prepared to accept the social inequities that Louise and other aristocrats consider the status quo, and he may not be quite as normal as everyone thinks. And the reason Louise is so bad at magic might just be that she has yet to figure out what she is good at. In fact, they might even have the makings of a great team… if they can learn to stand each other first, that is!

Commentary:

When first picking up The Familiar of Zero, at first glance it doesn’t look to be much more than a standard cliché love comedy, harem anime. It has all the usual suspects, and has kind of the same set up. The standard leads are the under-developed tsundere, the well endowed easy girl, the quiet bookworm that you know could kick butt if she has to, and the unsuspecting innocent girl. All these are old cliché character archetypes, all used over and over again, over many series. In all truth, these clichés hold pretty firm throughout the series. But it was not the cliché characters that made this series fun to watch, it was how well they were utilized. The first thing you will notice different from the status quo is the male lead. In most harem love comedies, the male lead is beta, shy, and socially inept, and we always wonder what the girls see in him. Saito does not properly fit that mold. He is hardly the mamma’s boy we expect. He’s a bit of a playboy, seems to have guts, and never backs down if he feels spited. Oh and he had no issues flirting with the ladies, a typical teenage boy, for once. Outside of that, the character development is a bit lacking. The story is based in a cliché setting, a school named Tristain Academy of Magic, seeming quite similar to a very popular children’s book about a boy wizard. You know the one. Of course this looks to be a standard middle ages european style setting. And the magic is based on basic elementals, nothing new here. But all the cliché stuff hardly detracts from the series. Its strengths are the character interactions and the comedy anyway. At first you will probably watch The Familiar of Zero with a bit of reluctance, but that will all vanish quickly as the story picks up.

Louise, a member of a high ranking noble family with a history of producing powerful mages, seems to be the odd ball of the family, having little to no magical ability. As a second year student, she must, as all the others must, summon a familiar, to be a lifetime companion. She is extremely worried, because she is so inept she couldn’t summon a hungry cat, standing in front of her with a piece of meat. As the others summon their familiars, she prays and cowers in fear, praying she will be able to summon anything. As she does, everyone watches in astonishment as she manages to summon a boy. A peasant boy. In a world where peasants basically are slaves to the nobility, can anything be more embarrassing than summoning a peasant boy? Anyway what is done is done, and she has to keep him. The rules forbid she do anything else. Saito, confused after being ripped from his world to this one, is quickly surprised when Louise seals the deal with a kiss. Saito is quite reluctant in his new role, as a familiar. He has no regard for the hierarchy that is in place, separating nobility from peasantry, and practically enslaving them. It does not help that Louise treats him like nothing more than a dog. Of course Saito seems to be completely useless, being a human and not a creature, he seems to have little to offer Louise as a familiar, until he insults a peer of Louise’s names Guiche, and does not back down from a challenge to duel him. The comedy quickly picks up and becomes the main stable of the show. The story line does have its good points, but at times you may find it predictable. But even so, you will laugh.

Extras:

The Familiar of Zero includes extended episode previews, Japanese promos, clean opening and closing animations and Sentai trailers as special features.

Overall Grade: A-

Even with all its clichés and predictability, The Familiar of Zero, is a well done comedy. Also a quick note to Sentai Filmworks, please release the seasons that follow this one unlike the last company that released this title. We beg you.

07-Ghost Volume 10 Manga Review

Posted by :Patches On : April 21, 2014
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07-Ghost 10“The Radius” Title: 07-Ghost Volume 10

Story: Yuki Amemiya

Artist: Yukino Ichihara

U. S. Distributor: Viz Media

U. S. Release Date: May 13, 2014

Format: Manga, supernatural, adventure, 200 pages

Age Rating: T for Teen

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Synopsis:

Even though he becomes sick, Teito is adamit about taking Capella to find his mother. They and Frau head to the town of Neel but things seem wierd when they try to find the place she is supposed to be.  Surrounded by forests, the entrance seems to be hidden.  Capella’s mother is deep in a farce to trick the enemies who are trying to steal away the land from the rightful heirs. There is more behind the plot, something supernatural is at work.

As this arc finishes, the rest of Capella’s story is revealed, but is that going to be enough for Capella and Teito to accept his mother and forgive her.

There is a Hawkzile race in  Barsburg. Teito talks Frau into entering so that they can use the rack to get into district 1 without going through inspection. Teito needs to see Princess Ouka again.

 

Commentary:

07-Ghost is a series that has both positives and negatives. It is almost as if the writer brainstormed elements that would exists in a good story, and works to find a way to get them all in, whether they really fit or not, leaving little room to fully explain or experience any of them. Then, to make it exotic or edgy, or something, use Christian terms and German words in ways outside or vaguely connected to the original meanings.  All of this makes the story kind of stutter around and a bit jumpy.

My favorite part of this series it the overall look of the drawings. It is edgy with well defined blocks of black and white. The linear edges are dynamic and create dramatic images but sometimes the design elements take over and the reader has to figure out what everything in the picture is.

 07 Ghost isn’t anywhere near my favorite series, but I am committed to see it to the end. It is darker than I usually read, but with the artwork and  knowing about other people who are into the series is what keeps me going. As the main character, I don’t really connect with Teito, but this is also something I keep expecting to change. I liked Capella the most, but I think we will be seeing less of him. I guess I expect something will turn around in 07 Ghost. I expect to like it and I don’t know why. It somehow portrays that something great is going to happen and I want to see what that will be.

 

Overall Grade: C+

Cuticle Detective Inaba The Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : April 20, 2014
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Cuticle Detective InabaTitle: Cuticle Detective Inaba The Complete Collection

Director: Susumu Nitsukawa

Studio: ZEXCS

Author: Mochi

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks / Section 23

Release Date: April 29th, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / 12 Episode / 300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Parody, Absurdity

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Synopsis:

In a world where half-human, half-animal chimeras live and work alongside normal people, there are sure to be a few bad apples in the bunch. Unfortunately, criminals who are only half-human means there are often non-human clues that leave the police stumped. That’s where lone-wolf detective Hiroshi Inaba comes in. He’s literally part wolf and has the amazing ability to extract critical information just by examining or tasting a sample of someone’s hair!

Of course, that ability has also resulted in Inaba having a little bit of a hair fetish, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for his two assistants. Well, at least the cross-dressing one isn’t complaining much. And it’s nothing compared to the strange tastes of Inaba’s nemesis, the omnivorous, half-goat crime boss Don Valentino, who has an appetite for green legal tender instead of tender young greens!

Inaba’s sworn to cut Valentino out of the criminal flock before the Don can wolf down more ill-gotten dough, but he’s going to have to chew his way through a lot of evidence to get his goat. Can sheer dogged detective work put the baaaaad guys behind bars?

 

Commentary:

In a long line of parody series, Cuticle Detective Inaba comes out of the shoot blasting away with absurdity and parody. The silliness that ensues sticks with the series throughout. The rather odd group of characters that take us through this rather crazy show are at the core of the absurd humor and constantly prove to be over the top at every turn. This over the top approach is both the strength and weakness of the series. With the show being all about the humor I would say that it hits a home run because it is funny. But, on the other side of the coin this pushing the envelop of silliness also makes it very hard to stay with the series for any period of time. I enjoyed it and grew very tired of it at the same time. I know that this seems impossible, but after just a few minutes of the switch back and forth from real world and chibi world along with the change from the plot driven story to just flat out stupidity also tired met out.

As for the quality of the animation, I can say that ZEXCS does their standard fin job of bringing us a visually entertaining show. The look and feel of the animation styles fits perfectly with the series, but as with the writing and series itself the animation betrays the viewer by making it just a little too schizophrenic even with the humor being the star of the show.

Overall Grade: B-

There are plenty of other parodies out there that stand high in their way to both hit the high marks without being overly schizophrenic. If you look back at series like Stg. Frog or Lucky Star you get a good feeling of how this balance is created. Cuticle Detective Inaba brings home the humor so many fans love. So, if you are looking for a good laugh without any real emotional connection this series is for you.

 

Ebiten: The Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : April 19, 2014
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Ebiten: The Complete Collectionreview provided by Katie

Title: Ebiten: The Complete Collection

Director: Hideki Okamoto

Studio: AIC Classic

Author: Kira Inugami and SCA-ji

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks / Section 2

U.S. Release Date: April 1, 2014

Format and Length: DVD / 10 Episodes + OVA / 275 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Ecchi, Parody, Harem, School

Industry Age Rating: 17 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Maria Holic and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Sometimes friendship is all about chemistry! And sometimes chemistry is just about blowing stuff up!

Synopsis:

What do you get when you take one group of crazy fan girls with questionable grips on reality, toss out all rules of proper social behavior and mix them together in a basement with more twisted anime parodies and allusions than you can imagine? Besides a recipe for disaster, hilarity ensues when you meet the members of the Astronomical Club where mayhem rules and the wall between the real world and total fantasy crumbles at least once every five minutes.
Commentary:

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Or so the old adage says. Ebiten: The Complete Collection takes this concept and completely warps it to something that can only be described as beyond over the top. Parodies are hard to accomplish and are often done incorrectly, becoming nothing more than a mockery of what they intend to pay tribute to. For the most part this is not the case. The story revolves around the adventures of the members of the Ebisugawa High School “Asstronomy” Club. That’s their spelling, not mine. Gotta love Japanese wordplay jokes. It’s a small club that’s not really all that popular, has few members, no budget or funding, an absent teacher adviser, being shoved into a small room in the basement of the oldest part of the school, and has a club president who does not participate, and wants to disband the club for any reason she can find. But all that doesn’t discourage the members from their daily activities.

Ebiten: The Complete Collection’s story mostly revolves around Kyouko Todayama, the unofficial head of, and most outspoken member of the club. Her only check is Hasumi Ooba, club vice president, and she really only intervenes when Todayama goes too far. But that scale is full of blurry lines and undefined limits that nearly don’t exist. And with little adult supervision, since the teacher sponsor, Shouko Oomori is more interested in ‘pursuing’ her love life, and her lover for that matter, than doing her job, she leaves her cat Oomori Neko Sensei in charge, and of course, the cat rubberstamps everything with a “nyan”, the adventures get quite crazy. Followed by Rikei Hiromatsu, the quiet and obedient member with a strange fetish, Hakata Kanamori, the club’s ditzy cosplayer, manga and dojinshi collector, and easy target for jokes and fan service, and freshman member Itsuki Noya, the story revolves around the club’s atypical activities, which has little to do astronomy, minus a small reference from time to time. Throw in Izumiko, aka Elizabeth, an unexpected visitor from a different school, Yuka Iseda, the unsupportive club president, and member of the student council, and the poor unsuspecting man Shouko is stalking, and you get Ebiten: The Complete Collection.

Though the story is a bit off the wall, chaotic, changes from a bit from one episode to another, and kinda seems written as they went, there was lots of humor to be had. Of course the story line was second to the parodies, and had to change a little to match what they were doing a parody of. Each episode parodies a different anime, and some of the parodies followed the characters themselves. When watching it, I found myself more concerned with trying to figure out what they were doing a parody of, than how consistent the story line was. Ultimately I did find it difficult to pick out a few of the animes they were doing a parody of, because at least half of them never made it here, or are old and have been forgotten, having been out of print since the 90s. At one point I had to look it up online to find a few of them, but for some reason I enjoyed doing all that. Normally if you have to work to understand something, they are doing it wrong, but not in this case. I have to mention though that I am old enough to remember most of the older animes they parodied, so I did have that advantage, and it added even more enjoyment, remembering the early days of anime, before it was cool, mass produced, or easily obtained. Also I need to note that there was fan service, quite often just to have it, but it’s nothing really excessive or over done.

Extras:

Ebiten: The Complete Collection includes Heart Throb Hot Springs, Japanese commercials and promos, music videos, clean opening and closing animations, and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features.

Overall Grade: B

Ebiten: The Complete Collection will make you laugh with all the parodies they use in each episode. You have been warned.

From The New World Collection 1 on Blu-ray (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : April 18, 2014
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From the New WorldTitle: From The New World Collection 1 on Blu-ray

Director:  Masashi Ishihama

Writer: Masashi Sogo

Studio: A-1 Picture

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks / Section 23

U. S. Release Date: April 15th

Format: Blu-ray / 13 Episodes / 325 minutes

Genre: Sci Fi, Romance, Supernatural, Drama

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: A-

 

Synopsis:

Born into a world a thousand years in our future, Saki and her friends Satoru, Maria, Mamoru and Shun have lived their entire lives in what seems to be a perfect utopia. Not only is their small, idyllic community overflowing with clean rushing water and abundant green foliage, but almost all technology has been rendered irrelevant by the magical power of “Juryoku,” the psychic ability to materialize anything one desires. But when Saki discovers a long-lost artifact from the past, the facade of their world is shattered and the cracks that split the foundation of their reality threaten to swallow them whole!

Faced with a bloody secret history of how their world really came to be and thrust into a nightmarish new paradigm, Saki and her companions are confronted with dangers they never knew existed and a series of choices that may change the fate of every intelligent creature on the planet – human and otherwise!

Commentary:

From the New World took me surprise and at the same time left me scatting my head. Within 10 minutes I was hooked and by the 4th episode I was wondering what happened to that cool, intriguing and enigmatic  show that I ha been watching. The series takes on a interesting view of our future as a species and how we cope with the potential of our own minds. Of course there is a very dark side to this, but what we first see is a rather bucolic world that seems to have found a rather strong balance with the world we live in. As we travel through the series we discover what lies beneath and some of the rather strange ways humanity has decided to deal with the stress of the  powerful abilities that have moved history in an unexpected way.

The animation starts off impressive and slick. It proves to be well suited for the Blu-ray format, but as the series progresses it show different phases of quality. There was even a couple of episodes that remind me very much of the most recent version of Casshern Sins with the hard edge and quick movement cuts. The different phases of style end up both bringing into focus the drama and also highlighting some of the weakness of the series. In an effort to make the series more rounded there are a few episodes that introduce us to some rather freaky creatures and also shows off how the rest of nature has evolved. Even though there are some important plot devices and structure for the series there is also a level of poor writing and somewhat sloppy storytelling.

Overall Grade: A-

There have been several new series released this year with much fan fair, but I would say that From the New World has something to offer that those heavily marketed series just don’t have the depth of From the New World. There are also some rather odd aspects to the series that I didn’t particularly enjoy, but overall it is an outstanding series that takes you on a trip that makes you wonder what is going on and keeps you wanting to see more.  I can honestly say that I am seriously looking forward to the second half of the series

Fairy Tail Part 9 Anime Review

Posted by :Joann On : April 12, 2014
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Fairy Tail part 9Title: Fairy Tail Part 9 Anime Review

U.S. Distributor: Funimation

U. S. Re-Release Date: March 25, 2014

Format: DVD / Blu-ray combo pack

Genre: magical adventure

Age Rating: 14+

Overall Personal Rating:

Synopsis: A-

There is to be a contest for the Fairy Tail Guild members to see who can move up to be an “S” Class wizard.  A group of contestants is  chosen and they in turn  select a companion to help them. The Guild Master Makarov takes them all to the scared ground, an island belonging to the Fairy Tail Guild.

A series of challenges are set up . The Guild members now must compete against each other since there will be only one winner. Those teams which are eliminated make their way back to base camp to wait.

During the trials, one team encounters an odd young guy. He has a dark vibe, but is sad and moody, often crying. Not worrying about it, they move on to complete the challenge. However, worse things begin to happen as a dark force seems to permeate the island. Now instead of trying to beat each other, the Fairy Tail Guild must pull back together as one to fight the dark enemy at hand.

 

Commentary:

Fairy Tail still retains all that was good in the beginning even with it being so long, with no end in sight. There is a variety of elements in this series that helps it appeal to a wide audience. From action to comedy, mystery to magic, there is many interesting pieces to this well woven show.

Fairy Tail is a large cast, each arc seems to add a primary and secondary character. Few, if any, actually disappear for good. Still, even with so many personalities, it is all successfully juggled. In Part 9, they changed things up a bit. When the contestants picked a partner, it created new teams and the interpersonal dynamics that go with it. As Erza is already “S” Class, she can’t be involved with any of the regulars. The large cast also has an interesting variety which surely has someone that the viewer can connect to.

As a series, there is a pattern developing with the arcs. They battle against unbeatable foes, which of course they defeat, sort of, sometimes they do comeback or they make friends with them. Even with this, I still enjoyed what is going on with this arc. It isn’t finished yet, so I’m only assuming that is will continue as normal. I don’t want to mention any names with what is happening, or who partners with who, as this is part of the fun. There is a finer sense of being part of a guild and loyalty, and not just with in the small friendship groups. Team effort will be vital (like usual).

Visually, Fairy Tail has a lot to offer too. There is a variety of animation styles, which really help set the moods and action. The magic has a different look than the action. Now and then, there are some of the most inventive and incredible perspective shots. As always, the costuming is great. I did find some of the misplace fan service during dramatic moment annoying. The music support is also well done.

There was some interesting things going on with the characters, the  most mysterious was with Mest. I like the way that it unfolded with him. A also like it when Makarov gets involved. His confrontations are more magic against magic rather than magic as battle enhancers. We also get to see a bit of his past.

Fairy Tail is really revealing itself to be deeper and complex  as a series. This current arc ties into elements and characters of long ago episodes.

Now we must sit and wait for  part 10 so we can finish the arc!

 Overall Grade: A-    The story of “The Little Engine that Could” times 500,000.