Escaflowne (anime)

I just finished Escaflowne today (after maybe two years) so I thought I would give it a review. It's sort of like Evangelion; its a shojo mecha series that's definately better than average of both of those generes. It's the story of Hitomi, a girl from Earth, who gets teleported to a planet where Earth, or as they call it "The Mystic Moon" is in space, called Gaea. There she is aquainted with Van, a king with the mysterious mecha (or Melef as theyre called) Escaflowne, and eventualy plenty more characters with some relevence to the plot. Rivaling our heroes, is the evilish Zaibach empire, lead by a old guy obsessed with fate. It actualy has quite a bit of somewhat important characters. I don't think the character's are anything special, but the amount of them (theres more than are pictured) give it a cool atmosphere. Also, I think the setting is pretty cool; you get a good feel for a country with it's nations and such. It still cannot escape the fate of shojoness tho; predictability, love triangles and strong themes on love's power. Still worth seeing tho, because of it's elements that, in my opinion, put it a few steps above other shojo or mecha serieses.


Rating: 8.4/10

River's Edge (manga)

River's Edge being by the author of Helter Skelter, I made sure to check it out. It's pretty much just the story of three people (well mainly one but two of her friends are major characters): The person mentioned in the parentheses who'se pretty much just a normal high school (I think...) girl, a kid who gets bullied with quite a few secrets and a model. Our main character, like I said, is just a normal person, and she's dealing with these other two unique people's insecurities and different ways of life. We also just have a normalish (and well portrayed) high school story of love and life and such. I dont think the characters are quite as well drawn as Ririko from Helter Skelter, but this story does have some memorable characters, not to mention a story you can relate to more than that of a declining model. Like Helter Skelter, we get a very dark outlook on how people are capable of acting, just this time with more familiar characters. I really don't think this should be missed; it's a bit more accesible to the majority in my opinion than Helter Skelter, and extremely enjoyable though. Just don't read it while you're in a good mood if you want to keep it. I'm on a pretty good reading/watching streak right now :D

Rating: 9.5/10

Maus (american comic)

Yet again, a holocaust story. Except this time, it's an American graphic novel, and a pretty good one at that. I actualy read this before watching Schindler's List, and it's information on the holocaust and concentration camps really helped me understand the movie. While Schindler's List gives you insight to the holocaust by showing it, Maus is the story of a kid who'se learning about his dad's story of surviving the holocaust, so the dad is explaining things that happened to him, so it's a bit more direct in it's info. Along with our main character (Art Speigelman, the author)'s dad's story, we get the story of Art and his dad's failing relationship, which is a good story it's self. The comic being told with animals is one of the things that makes it interesting, because, I'm not sure if it actualy happened, but Art is making a comic about his dad's holocaust experiance in the story, so what you're reading is the result. One thing I noticed, was that the dad got luckyish at some points, then realized you had to be lucky to survive the holocaust. It has components like that, that make it seem all the more realistic. Read this, and see Schindler's List, and you will probably get a good holocaust fix (and you could always throw Life is Beautiful in there was well for a comedic break). For a very informative graphic novel that also has a good plot, this is great.


Rating: 9.4/10

Schindler's List (movie)

Ah, the classic holocaust movie, Schindler's List. We follow the true story of Oskar Schindler, a nazi who openened a factory and hired jews, saving them from the holocaust. This ends up taking up three hours though, by giving the story of just how bad the holocaust was (a somewhat overused story, but this movie pulls it off very well). If you want more info on the holocaust or are into it at all, see this movie for sure. While the movies mostly in black and white, theres some interesting uses of color in the movie (it was made in '93). Schindler though, isnt the most interesting character, but he has good relationships and plot events that involve him, which makes up for the bland characters. It's a pretty touching story that I think pretty much anybody should see for it's insight to the holocaust you can't really find done so well anywhere else. Of course, that's not what makes the movie; it's worth seeing for the rest of the movie alone. If you havn't already, see this movie.


Rating: 9.5/10

Blood: The Last Vampire (anime "movie")

(I'm glad it's the last one)

We'll start off with a sort of cool concept; one remaining vampire in the world (Saya) who fights off these vapmire-like creatures with a katana in a school girl uniform. It also has pretty damn good animation. Another cool feature is it's use of English and Japanese in different parts (A Japanese person in America) so we get the original Japanese version, just with subtitles in different parts. Where does this movie go wrong? Everywhere else. First of all, we have plot events that just don't even have any relevance. Saya's katana breaks and so she walks by a store that has one in the window and looks at it like she wants to steal it. Guess what? That katana's never seen again. Also theres cheesy poorly drawn relationships, like that of Saya and this nurse person she's trying to protect. It just doesn't have anything behind it. Also at the end (I'll put the following in italics to show a spoiler) when Saya almost kills of the last not-vampire, she feels a really un-necesary pity for it and it becomes good or something cheesy like that. Just don't waste you're time with Blood like I did. At least it's only fourty-five minutes... On a somewhat related note, the reason I end up giving stuff high ratings is because I usualy only read/watch stuff that gets reccomended to me that I think I would like. But when I read/see something like Blood, ill be make sure to get you to not watch it.


Rating: 4/10

Sophie's Choice (movie)

From hearing about Maryl Streep's amazing performance in this movie, I thought it would be worth watching. The movie starts Sophie Zawitsowski (Maryl Streep) and Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline) as two lovers and Stingo (Peter MacNicol), a person who just moved into their building, and their life as well as Sophie's dark past in a concentration camp as a catholic. While I think Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (didn't like the movie that much) was a better performance, Maryl Streep's acting in this was superb. Can you think of anybody who, just for one movie part, learn english with a polish accent, perfect polish, and perfect german? Thats what I thought. The present-day story is somewhat fun and lighthearted, until Nathan, normaly a kind person, starts getting into violent outbursts that just make life fun for nobody. Of course Sophie's past in the concentration camps arn't lighthearted at all, so overall this movie has a pretty dark mood, but some good lighter moments as well (like Sophie calling Stingo's seersucker jacket a cocksucker). Kevin Kline is superb in this as well, playing a character unlike his normal ones. A worthwhile movie, with Streep's acting aside, but I think this movie is necesary for the good acting in it.

Rating: 9.0/10

Animal House (movie)

Just finished watching the classic comedy Animal House, and decided to give it a review. Animal House follows the story of Kent Dorfrman (Stephen Furst) and Larry Kroger (Tom Hulce) , two not so popular colledge students and their joining of the Delta frat house, the worst frat on campus. Of course, these Delta boys arn't all that bad. Loveable leaders who don't let anything get in their way, and Jon Belushi (pictured) playing the crazy drunk guy fabulously. Now we have a fun story of "the worst frat on campus" and their fun adventures. Tons of classic lines like Belushi's "Did we stop when the Germans bombed pearl harbor?" A very fun movie to watch, and the king/first of all movies like Old School. Theres plenty of memorable characters and lines, and it has an overall fun feel to it.


Rating: 8.9/10

Paranoia Agent (anime)

Paranoia Agent is an anime unlike any I've ever seen before. The only spoiler free summary I can give, is theres a mysterious entity (his existance is one of the mysteries the series explores) called Little Slugger/Shonen Bat who hits people with his bent golden baseball bat, and in some way ends up saving them. Our main characters are his victems, and the detectives trying to solve the case. Pretty basic premise, but the mysteries this series has are very high in number. The great thing about it, is aside from a few crucial pieces of information, you have to figure everything out yourself, or at least come to some debateable conclusion. This series explores very interesting concepts, like existance, paranoia, depression, escape; somewhat depressing concepts and how they affect life. Much symbolism is used, and the series definately has its weird moments. Also, I've found the suspence in this series to be great on a few levels. One of the things that makes it so great, is as I've said before, things are rarely told to you so you're waiting for a new part of the mystery to think about instead of waiting for that key thing to be said. Paranoia Agent can probably be enjoyed by a wider audiance than something like Helter Skelter of Believers, but still has it's uniqueness. Definately worth while.


Rating: 9.3/10

She Got Off the Bus at the Peninsula (manga)

I usualy don't like manga one-shots, but here's one I think is definately worth a review. It's by the author of my favorite anime, Mushishi, and was reccomended to my by somebody whose tastes I hold in high regard, so I thought I should definately check it out. After I read it though, I didnt get much of a feeling from it, most likely because I didn't know what to expect. Because of it being a one-shot, I decided to read it again, and sure enough, I found it much better that time. I don't want to say too much about it, since it's only fourty-five pages, but its the story of a woman whose grandmother owned a shop at a peninsula where she was raised, and people would often get off of the bus and commit suicide. The owner of the store, the grandma in the past and now our main character in a way had the peoples life in their hands. Sometimes the grandma would talk to the people who she could tell were trying to commit suicide and get them to stop; now the main character is thinking about closing the shop but doesnt want to lose lives because of it. I think I didn't understand the story at all when I first started this, so that summary might help. It's a great story that deals with human emotion mainly, among other things, that won't make you cry but give you a different touched feeling. Since it's a one-shot, it should be worth anybody's time.


Rating: 9.3/10

Believers (manga)

I'll start off by saying Believers, like Helter Skelter is a very non-mainstream manga. It follows the story of three people in the mysterious "smiley-face orginization" (as you can see on their shirts) who are seperated from the outside world and the "enemy" (regular people) so escape all the sin in the outside world and become perfect people. One of their main beliefs is in dreams, which has some impact on the series. It also explores sexual desire in an intellectual way, which you probably can't find in any other series. What makes believers so good in my opinion is the believers are trying to become perfect people as I said earlier, but at many times are worse than their "enemy", and sometimes get more incentive to sin because of their isolation. It's definately a manga with a lot to think about, although I think the ending is sort of weak, which overall lowers my opinion of the manga, since the ending is what sticks with you. Something written pretty intelectually with some interesting themes; definately worth reading for people who can handle it, more for the themes it explores and the ideas it suggests than the story.
Note: I'm going to re-read this soon. It might call for a re-review.

Rating: 8.9/10

Cowboy Bebop (anime)

I'll start my review by saying I find this anime overrated, yet still worth its big critical acclaim somehow. Cowboy Bebop, while not a new genere its self (I can think of at least one anime like it...), is pretty unique. A previous description I've used for it which I'm quite happy with is a light seires with a deep shadow. It follows the antics of bounty hunters in space (cowboys) Spike, the main character, an ex-gang member with a dark past and sort of laid back personality, willing to face danger. His original companion is Jet, as described on the Bebop movie's special features "the mom of the series" yet hes a strong man. Then theres Ein, the above-average intelligence dog. Also included is Faye, the feministish girl who wont let anything get in her way and one of the more slimy characters in the series. Our final character is Ed, the genius hacker whose just a kid. The series involves, as I mentioned before, theyre experiances in bounty hunting and is overall very lighthearted but ends with a very dramatic bang. Definately worth watching the whole thing of, it makes the series better. You get likeable characters and a good exploration of their dysfunctional relationships. I think alot of its popularity comes from its mass (but not as massive as Haruhi at all) enjoyment; theres the fanboys who Spike's badassness to people like me who are into the relationships and spike's past. So this is worth watching by a wide audiance; watch Haruhi first but watch this next.


Rating: 9.0/10

Helter Skelter (manga)

This being one of my favorite manga, I thought a review would be appropriate. Helter Skelter is the story of a model, Ririko, and her tragic life and how it effects the people around her (mainly those people around her). Ririko is NOT a person you would want to be around, or work for like her manager, another main character. Ririko is quickly declining in popularity from her god status in popular culture and will not leave silently. Helter Skelter, like A Scanner Darkly, follows a more unconventional storytelling method (although Scanner's method was moreso), and is carried out geniusly. Ririko has to be one of the most realistic characters I've ever seen in anything, next to the characters in Haruhi. One thing about the manga is the art is sort of weird, but its not a downside for sure. Helter Skelter is not for everybody, but for people who can appreciate a story following unconventional methods, definately pick this up.


Rating: 9.4/10

A Scanner Darkly (movie)

Since I see so many movies, I thought I would add movie reviews to my blog, and am starting out with the movie I saw today, A Scanner Darkly. I'll start off by saying this movie strays far away from using conventional story telling. It takes place seven years in the future where everything is watched by scanners, and a new drug, Substance D is taking the world by storm. To quote the movie, "you havn't tried [Substance D] or you're addicted." The drug causes hardcore hallucinations as well as severe mental damage. The movie revolves around three addicts of this Substance D; the thing is, the leader of the three is an undercover cop. As I said before, the movie doesn't use anything close to conventional storytelling, and is quite weird due to the odd effects of the drug the movie is based around. It's sort of hard to review something I've never seen before, but I can say what I just did; its something never seen before. And of course there's the odd animation, originaly shot live then animated over. It has really interesting sci-fi aspects as well as good acting and some good comedy. Overall, I would say it was well worth the money, just not a favorite.

Rating: 9.0/10

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (anime)

My first review will be appropriately of what I think is a definate contender for best anime ever. First of all, nobody should miss this anime. It's a great blend of Comedy, Drama, Romance and some Action, giving you superbness in each genere; something almost no anime can claim. The series starts off as a decent comedy with really no selling point, but after the second episode, you start to get a feel for the series. It's about an eccentric girl, Haruhi Suzumiya and her SOS Brigade, a club she made that explores the supernatrual (but really does nothing) and their exploits; this summary didn't sound very appealing to me, but after checking out the anime its self, I realized the plot its self still wasnt that great. The characters, the best I've ever seen, were where the series really shined. From the eccentric out of this world protagonist, to the silent alien Rei-rip off (who I find a much better character than Rei), all our characters have thought put into them and you really end up liking them. A lot. This anime is a must for any self-respecting anime fan. It's versatility to tastes and excellentness in general make this a neccesary watch.


Rating: 10/10

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I'll be hopefully updating this in the future with anime and manga reviews. Here's a little bit about myself. My name is Sam, and I live in Santa Barbara, California and write all these reviews myself. My contact info can be found here
http://animesomething.bravehost.com/me.html
I'll almost always be on AIM. I try to update every day. Have fun!

Edit: Sorry for just reviewing good stuff...I'll try to start giving bad reviews, if I find anything bad I guess.