Grave of the Fireflies

In Japan, Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbour Totoro were shown as a double bill. Children would go on school excursions to see the two of them, and they are both very important films.

Grave of the Fireflies is about Seita, a boy whose mother dies in an air raid towards the end of World War II. He goes to live with his aunt, who becomes increasingly cold towards him and his four year old sister, Setsuko because they are not "helping the country". It becomes too difficult for him to continue living there and as a result he takes Setsuko and goes to live in an abandoned bomb shelter.
He struggles to keep Setsuko and himself healthy in an increasingly inhospitable country without compromising his morals or damaging his pride.

Generally films like this are supposed to show the good times before the war, so that one may see the horrors unleashed and what not. This film is ninety minutes of unrelenting wartime agony. However, it shows that the conclusion of a war does not mean the conclusion of suffering, and that frequently the aftermath is the worst part for the citizens of any country involved.

Grave of the Fireflies is semi-autobiographical; the obviously fictional parts can be read metaphorically. The hardness of the times, the light that they try to find; the meaning of the fireflies themselves.
It's a powerful film, but it might be lost on warmongers. The militarism that people cling onto for comfort, which then turns to stoicism and then to simple rudeness ... it's important to see what war does to people. Although, admittedly, war was different sixty years ago.
Seita just tries so hard, but sadly it's not hard enough.

This is a Studio Ghibli film, and in the designs it looks it, but the characters somehow seem more real. They're ruddy, and not so defined by black lines. The colours of the ruined, fire-bombed villages blend and contrast with the untouched, green villages.
Its other contrast is with its sister film, My Neighbour Totoro. Not only were they shown together, they boast similar settings: traditional country villages, fifty years apart. The sad parts of Totoro were lightened by happiness; Grave of the Fireflies is essentially the opposite of that. Different views of fate.
They're both simple, but Grave of the Fireflies is indeed more complex.
Watch them together; it is an excellent contrast. The light and dark balance each other, but it's not so much white noise.

The translation is not perfect; the subtitles frequently don't translate "niichan" (brother) as well as they should, stripping a way part of the relationship between Seita and Setsuko. She refers to him all throughout the film as "niichan", but every time it is translated to Seita, which does not reconcile the visual with the audio - and Seita always refers to himself as "niichan" around Setsuko, in the context of "Now your brother's going to do this for you", which simply becomes "Now I'm." It's a subtle difference, but it gives a different feeling. (I know that "you're not supposed to complain about translation unless you know both languages completely", but the presentation of names is reasonable grounds for criticism to me).

It may polarise, but it's an enormous film: the kind you leave to visit again in years to come. It's an important lesson to learn with surprisingly little judgement offered for its subject matter.

Cardcaptor Sakura - episodes 13 to 20

Sakura gets up to all sorts of mischief in these episodes that feaure her summer holidays, framed by the ending and beginning of trimesters at school. These episodes allow Shaoran to grow some more. His density, his sensitivity and eventually even his sense of embarrassment come around; he is human after all!

Shaoran's first act is that he starts to help Sakura without criticising her. To capture the POWER card, he interferes but lets her take the credit. This episode also crams in more penguins. Both the aquarium and the zoo stock live penguins, and they are a popular choice of decoration at the Penguin Park (with the King Penguin Slide) and also at Twin Bells, the cute store.

The gender questioning comes into place with the reverse gender Cinderella, featuring Toya as Cinderella and Yukito (inexplicably - it doesn't seem to be a pun) as a magical can of mackerel. Shaoran and Sakura's reactions from the audience are brilliant. The faces that these characters can pull are amazing. This episode also features the most blatantly obvious line so far: "It's one of the seven most mysterious things about this school: that Kinomoto and Tsukishiro don't have girlfriends."

Following all of this, Kero-chan gets drunk and mouths off about Sakura to an alligator statue.

In Sakura's holiday period, many good things happened, involving Sakura and character building. There's also a "controversial" episode; controversial to stupid people. The idea that Fujitaka would let Sakura into such a dangerous situation is just moronic; he's a generally good father, despite his failure to notice that he has an additional house guest (although possibly he's too polite to pass comment). The elderly man who he is allowing Sakura to spend her days with is her great-grandfather, you idiots! Something like this would not happen without good reason! No one would let Sakura be lured into a pedophile's lair!

Then, when Meilin comes in, a whole new side of Shaoran is shown; his embarrassment, his apologetic side. Something good has come of him, and more good will come of him yet. And Kero-chan's maths homework - gold!

Subtitle complaint: they should not have used the term "Jell-O". It is distracting, even if it is American brand recognition.

Leave it to Kero-chan changes appearance; the opening is not near as nice, because I liked Kero-chan's "in your face reporter" appearance. The ending with the kotatsu is great, because Hisakawa's "ona!" is almost violent in its delivery.
The segment now also encompasses book reviews.

Gundam Wing - Episodes 22 to 30

Some of the best episodes so far! It took a while to get around to them. New music accentuated the dramas. Zechs reappears, but in a capacity that I am happy with. He mentions that he himself has a dual personality, but he is more conscious of it than Lady Une - who turns it on and off probably without realising (although understanding the triggers).
Her duality is such that she probably doesn't even recognise her other self ... and her dedication to Treize's ideals, rather than any political faction, is admirable.

Seki Toshihiko's performance when he thought he was dying was extremely well done, and the ambiguity of the scientists, and the ambiguity of now even Treize. The only person who seems to be a straight and clear character is Relena; her singlemindedness is actually admirable rather than annoying.

The rest of the story here is fairly interesting, with each of the pilots co-existing for purposes other than giant things.

After a ten episode absence, Relena makes her return to the stage. That translated to two and a half months without Relena, as the crow flies. Her return comes in the form of a recap episode. The episode after that was also a recap. The presentation made up for the shortage of new material. The first episode featured voice overs from Relena and Heero, which were nice reflections of the characters, and the second featured the same from Treize and Zechs. The new material is naturally the most interesting part, particularly Treize's reflections on Lady Une, who became one of my favourite characters once promoted to diplomat status.

The Sanc Kingdom episodes introduce the most blatantly evil character in town, Dorothy. That's the only problem with pacifists; they're too trusting ... and if they're not they're secretly building up armies of robots just in case. Old habits die hard, it would seem; although Noin would like to live in peace, she can't see how that can happen without war.
Relena's youth allows her to become the leader in world pacifism, because she has not been conditioned by years of politics; as it has been said, if one does not know that they are incapable of doing something, they may very well do it.

The meeting of Sally Po and Noin was also an excellent occasion; rallying the two strongest female characters together was a marvellous idea.

To write up Gundam Wing in such large quantities is difficult, espcially as among so many it means I'm writing without credibility. Gundam Wing constantly changes; its march of development and lack of stagnation makes it entirely worthwhile.

Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko II - Episodes 1 to 3

I really did not like this more than the first series. I did not like it at all.
Despite its OP set in the wild west, and its first ten minutes at waterparks, this isn't an alternate universe, it's a direct sequel. Everything that was wrong with the first three episodes remains as such here, although if it was possible less happens in these episodes.
Madoka is just a vehicle for tired shiny forehead jokes, and Ayano and Momiji are just ... there. Yohko is self assured to the point of infuriation ... and then Lote-chan of the first series drops in for fun. In the place of characterisation there's long stretches of nothingness, as is the case for action scenes.
The idea of space war, not addressed since the first episode of the first series, becomes even more clumsily addressed as the episodes wear on. The horror based second episode had a few moments of atmosphere, but a couple of moments can do nothing to save this.

For anime made as recently as 1997, Yamamoto Yohko is ugly. The colours are all washed out, and the action sequences (described by some as "exciting dog fights") are nothing more than blue and red lines against a background of stars. The four moments of fan service in both series were disappointing and failed to serve their purpose.
It's a pity that such a talented cast was wasted on this production. Hayashibara Megumi, for one, is worse than she has ever sounded. It's not about casting against type - she can do agitated characters quite well - it's just ... this role sucked.
I fell in love with Okui Masami through Shake It, the original theme of Yamamoto Yohko. It was a huge betrayal of my trust.

Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko was definitely not to my taste. It's one of the more loathsome things I've watched in my time. Its inconsequential nature leaves a terrible taste in the mouth, despite the distinct feeling that in the last 90 minutes you watched nothing whatsoever.
Although it's very cheap, I'll give it that.

Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman

Another in the long line of OVAs - and this time a corporate sentai parody!
Shinesman tells the story of a team of office workers who fight for justice and workplace contracts and whatnot. Actually, it's never explained why such a force is necessary, or where the monsters come from.
But when the aliens from Planet Voice take on the guises of the heads of a rival organisation planning to merge with Right Trading, the Shinesman team's company, they ... It's difficult to put this story into words, so I won't bother.

Shinesman is a low key satirical affair, which hints at a deeper drama that never quite surfaces. The jokes are never explicitly played out, they're simply there.
The voice casting was extremely deliberate, with each character's surname matching that of their seiyuu. Let me tell you, they chose some pretty good surnames for these characters. The problem that the public has with the Shinesman team is that their colours are dull - salmon pink, moss green, sepia and grey? Those aren't heroic colours at all! Only Shinesman Red makes an impression on the young audience, and Matsumoto tries his hardest to be a true office worker.

Good satire takes itself seriously while poking fun all the while. It's a very fine line, and Shinesman walks it with style. It's not the most uproarious thing ever, but the inspiration that the characters take from Yota when he says "It's your job, and I respect you for that" is sweet and funny. It also plays against type, because children who are being deserted by those who have to go off for a higher cause are generally sad and disappointed.
It's for this reason that the means that they use to defeat Princess Shiina's first monster is both touching and hilarious - the highest point in the two episodes. These aren't typical "reasons to fight", and the "business card cutter" is not going to be defeating any monster any time soon.

The characters are attractive, the voices are nice, and the songs are great traditional hero pieces. The translation isn't quite literal enough at times: "No no no tax!" becomes simply "no tax" and "Go, Shinesman! Shine, Shinesman!" is simply "Go, Shinesman, Go!". But mostly it all makes sense.

Sadly, the interesting (and dramatic) storyline never reaches a conclusion, coming from the same school as Dragon Half: an incomplete OVA that lives on in (untranslated) manga form.
But if you can get it cheap, it's probably worth the effort.

Cardcaptor Sakura - episodes 11 and 12

Two episodes featuring Tomoyo's mother in a row. The way that she got around her hatred of Fujitaka to be nice to Sakura was a lovely gesture that shows that she's not a completely imbalanced individual. The idea that Sakura's family is quite isolated was odd; that they're just three people who can not rely on anyone but each other (and, of course, Kero-chan).
Sakura feels loved but also that she doesn't know much about her father, that Sonomi could actually tell her something was very nice indeed. Although it's animated in quite a silly way, Sonomi is a pretty emotional character. Unfortunately, her daughter inherited her creepy stalker ways.

"Sakura's Never Ending Day" was good because it taught children of the dangers of failing to save their role playing games. Kero-chan must have an awful lot of time on his hands. This episode showed the first card that Shaoran caught, but the reason for his ownership provided by the subtitles contradicted the animation. TIME was the most conventional card of them all, and Shaoran is still at the point where he condescends to Sakura with alarming frequency.
Still, enjoyable for all of its Kero-chan antics.

Also, Iwao Junko's Tomoyo has the highest pitched voice of any character I've come across, I believe!

Cardcaptor Sakura - episodes 5 to 10

Sakura-chan kawaii!
Li-kun hidoi!
(these are the notes I took to jog my memory on these episodes)

The first thing I didn't like about these DVDs came to light in "Sakura, Panda and the Cute Shop". I had my suspicions that Mitsuishi Kotono guest starred, but the credits were only attributed to the prime cast. Much as I love my guest seiyuu, the DVDs are very nice otherwise - especially for a series released in the same year, and by the same company, as Battle Athletes Victory.
"Cute Shop" was otherwise a nice episode, although it raises questions about the time/space situation of the cards, and the shop owner's story was perhaps a touch dramatic, but it had to be a situation that children would be interested in.

"Sakura and Memories of her Mother" was an episode that I contained myself for - and then burst into tears at the last minute. (As yet, however, nothing has matched the crying streak of the final three episodes of Fruits Basket). This episode also revealed more about Toya, who until now had been little more than a mean big brother ... and suggested that perhaps magic runs in the family. "Sister complex" was also hilarious ... and sweet in an odd way.

The important event was the introduction of Li Shaoran, Sakura's slightly gay rival and love interest, who will be with the series until the end. At first, he's an arrogant little sod, and Kero-chan hates him - hilarious finger biting comedy! He blushes around Yukito and loses his motor skills - hilarious vaguely suggestive comedy! He's cruel to Sakura - that's just mean.
With a character as surly as Shaoran, there's only room to grow - and Sakura looks up to him despite himself, because she's such a friendly character.
Also Shaoran's introduction allowed the introduction of his foil, Yamazaki (until now you could be forgiven for thinking no boys went to Sakura's school), who holds many hilarious scenes in future episodes. Compulsive liars are great, when they have someone as ignorant as Shaoran to lead.

Finally, "Sakura and the Sports Day of Flowers" suggests that the Daidouji family is just the slightest bit unhealthy. Despite the static nature of the important scenes in this episode, they translated into animation very well. I also got the feeling that any episode about Sakura's mother will make me sad.
Leave it to Kero-chan is becoming an increasingly great outlet for Hisakawa Aya, with her breathless coverage of Li Shaoran's traditional clothing a stand out.

Cardcaptor Sakura is amazing because it has so much unrealised potential but has already revealed amazing amounts of its quality. It's a shining anime, full of levity but with just enough darkness to suggest that Sakura can't cruise forever.

And I was right about Mitsuishi Kotono.

Gundam Wing - episodes 13 to 21

The Gundam pilots, and the story, have started their shift from Earth to space. These episodes become more focussed than any before, and for the most part are highly compelling.

In the earlier episodes, the writers compensated for the fact that the five pilots and their opposing factions weren't really geographically or contextually placed near each other by writing in short scenes of exposition which did little other than to tell the viewer that that character was still there. Now the only characters featured are those relevant - so Relena can disappear for six episodes at a time, or there can be episodes almost entirely about her. It's a much better way to approach the series because there's a greater concentration - two or three character groups per episode, rather than five, six or seven.

As for the content of the episodes, the characters get to say more and are breaking out of their moulds as the dolls of Treize. Even Zechs, who actually works for Treize, is starting to act independently. The way that each of the five work both independently and as a group allows for many interesting dynamics, and the pairs are always shifting. Allies in one episode can be enemies for the greater good in the next, as not just
Zechs' turns are great, as his own moral code is revealed, which is precisely what one likes to see in a "villainous" character. Zechs and Relena are two of the more interesting characters - they both have histories, which is more than can be said of the pilots, who chief appeal seems to have lied in their blank canvas nature.
Noin's handling of a delicate issue between the two was rather awkward, and sadly Relena has not been seen since - and of all the characters, she has the most room to grow.
The symbolism in the Zechs scenes was meaningful without being cloying. His flight towards inevitability, perhaps freedom, was almost moving. I'm hoping that Zechs won't be showing up again.

The best thing that has come out of space so far is Lady Une. When she first appeared, my first thought was 'ooh, new character'. It was a total shock when she introduced herself as Lady Une. Instead of the vicious, singlemindedly loyal woman of Earth, she is attractive, kind, pacifistic and persuades with more than explosives and firearms.
The fact that she herself can't reconcile her dual nature is sincere and perhaps the most compelling plot point so far. It's difficult to see the resemblance between the two - Sayuri even altered her voice (Une is, they say, stronger in her uniform).
Lady Une is also the source of the series' most confusing Japanese - it seems that Lady is actually part of her name, rather than a title. In the first episode featuring her, she was called "Miss Lady", and later on she is referred to literally as "Colonel Lady Une". The subtitles artfully dodge this issue, but it's still audible.

Now that Heero is starting to voice opinions and act on his own initiative, Trowa is becoming more ambiguous, Duo becoming dangerously angry, Quatre becoming less pacifistic and Wu Fei ... more without place, Gundam Wing obscures as it reveals, giving more reason to go boldly forward.

Cardcaptor Sakura - episodes 2 to 4

Well, I'm watching this and Gundam Wing concurrently, making for an interesting cocktail.

There is nothing to hate about this program. There is a remarkable amount of detail for a program made for a younger audience: of course, CLAMP has always made broad appeal manga, and they could have traded on their name to earn a budget this well used. CLAMP actually had an above average involvement in the project: Okawa Nanase actually wrote the scripts for at least the first four episodes, and Apapa Mokona's costume and card designs are retained. One of their repeat anime liaisons, Takahashi Kumiko, adapted the characters from Igarishi Satsuki's original designs, which made for something much cleaner. The manga was occasionally hard to follow because of the complicated line work.

Fortunately, by the end of the second episode Sakura seems to have been cured of her reluctance to capture cards, and her friendship with Kero-chan is not tenuous. Given more of an opportunity in these episodes is Tomoyo, whose fascination with Sakura would be unnerving if it wasn't so hilarious.
When Tomoyo and Kero-chan team up to stalk Sakura, it's the greatest thing ever!

One of the great aspects of the series is the constant changes of costumes. Other than the uniforms, the characters can be counted on to be wearing a vast array of clothing. It cuts down on stock footage and also gives each episode its own uniqueness. In fact, Cardcaptor Sakura actually gives more detail to its story than the manga, so it could be one of the best anime projects of recent years: there's just so much going for it.

I'm looking forward to Shaoran coming in - his reactions around Yukito should be priceless!

Gundam Wing - Episodes 9 to 12

These episodes are so far from my original take on the series that it's very hard to finish the old words at all. I'll just say that the first eight episodes were good enough to warrant pursuing the series to completion, and from then on it has become really enjoyable.

After all five Gundam pilots got to know each other, Gundam Wing found firmer footing. Until this time, it was a series of plot threads that were interesting and hinting at cohesion, but really the episodes had a distinct formula: the first half of the episode would be about Heero and Relena, and following the eye catch there would be short scenes for all of the other characters.

That Zechs actually got to fight the Gundams gave him more of a reason to be. And although soon thereafter the pilots disbanded again, there is more of a sense of unity about the thing.
The splinter factions continue to be interesting, and now it feels like the whole thing is going somewhere. The bishounen aren't too broody, although Wu Fei's philosophy makes little sense. Relena is also a much better character now that she has focus and doesn't talk to herself all the time and demands that Heero come out and kill her.

The potential of the earlier episodes is starting to be realised. Before I couldn't consider it as approaching a space opera. But now, it's well on the way.

Cardcaptor Sakura - episode one

I couldn't resist and just put the first DVD in the player for "sampling" today.
Now this is truly something great!
Forget anything you heard about Cardcaptors; this is not it.

Basically it's a magical girl show about Kinomoto Sakura who opens an ancient book, freeing the magic cards within. The guardian of the cards, Kero-chan, demands that she get them back lest they wreak havoc on the world!

The first episode of Cardcaptor Sakura is little more than a cursory glance at the life of Sakura, but it's not a heavy introduction episode. A surprising part of the way it was presented was all of the music. It almost never stopped, like the episode was simply the unrelenting spirit of Sakura.
Essentially it was a preview of what was to come, setting up her homelife, her school life and her "professional" life.
Reluctant heroes and heroines are starting to get a bit old, however, but I think they're a staple that will forever be with us. As long as they can overcome that, it's okay.

The light of the series is Kero-chan and Sakura! Their rapport is great, and Hisakawa Aya's voice is just spot on. Ogata Megumi really had the teenage boy voice downpat by then, too.
Tomoyo is presently very over the top and obvious, in a good way, and there's just a visual richness to the series that was lacking before (for reasons unknown, back in the day I watched several thousand episodes of Cardcaptors).

There's a magic to Cardcaptor Sakura: CLAMP magic. It's just like one big splash of colour at this point.

Gundam Wing - episodes 1 to 9

This is coloured because I could not finish it until after I had seen later episodes.

Gundam Wing is the Gundam that, if you listen to what "they" say, you aren't supposed to like. It's the Gundam that brought the franchise as a whole to the US, despite being one of the series least representative of Gundam as a whole.
It's not as bad as people make it out to be, and it's certainly not the dreary anime purgatory that has been suggested in the past.
This is a 49 episode series with a three OVA follow up, so it might take a while.

The story goes something like this: people left the Earth in order to live freely in colonies in space. The Earth government then tried to impose themselves on the colonies, and so the colonies retaliated by dispatching bishounen in mecha to sort out all of their difficulties. At the same time, the Alliance that runs the Earth is undergoing major shifts to repair relations, and the evil OZ organisation is attempting to overrun the whole damned system.
The idea of 'Pretty Boys from Outerspace' might seem laughable, but there's a bit more to the series than this. There are several political factions, and each has several splinter factions. There's enough to keep interest piqued beyond the simple brooding teens also on offer.
Zechs is the most interesting of all the characters, and it's clear that he will be a splinter of OZ. The mixed morality of all of the "villains" is a good source of intrigue, although it's clear that not all of them are quite so ambiguous, to the benefit of some characters and the detriment of others.
In these episodes Noin seems to be a very strong, moral character, but Lady Une seems to be nothing more than a vicious woman without reason.

The mechanical encounters are very basic affairs at first, posing no threat to the Gundam pilots at all. Only in episode nine, when Zechs takes on Heero, does there seem to be any tension at all.
There's more than enough "action" in Wing, but the motivations and manipulations are far more interesting. The Gundam pilots are always getting themselves lured into traps - they fight, in the end, for the benefit of their opponents. Luckily enough, they eventually catch on. Plot devices eventually fade away as, of all people, Wu Fei tells the others what fools they've been.

The music, from favourites like Two-Mix, is a definite highlight. It gives a romantic, electric feel - like most other things in these early episodes, it hints at a greater promise.

These episodes should be compelling enough to convince people to continue watching Gundam Wing; it gets much better.

Orphen - episodes 13 to 24

The second half of Orphen has a twist at the very beginning that sets the tone for the rest of the series. It was a very good twist, but the episodes that surrounded the turning point were animated oddly, with Childman never looking quite right.

Cleao's relationship with Orphen becomes very important, not in a romantic way but in a caring way. In fact, so much so that Majic seems to have become rather extraneous to everything - that there is only room enough for four characters: Cleao, Orphen, Azalie and Childman. Majic does get to do some things, such as his time in the library, but the early promise he showed as a sorceror becomes ignored as the episodes progress.

Dortin's heart was always a nice thing to see, and her/his/its compassion for Bloody August was touching. Of course, the whole fake nudity thing is always annoying. The snowy mountains were a great setting for the last few episodes, and while some of the threats were dispatched of with no difficulty, it was a satisfying series. Even the giant tree episode didn't seem so bad.

When I watched this the first time I was obsessed with video quality, but I was able to appreciate the subtler nuance of Orphen this time around. At times there was a genuine sense of wonder about it. Its final bold move was to actually finish the story with half an episode to spare - which allowed for a very nice wrap up.

Orphen II might find its way here soon, and I hear that it's less of the same. If there's more Volcan and Dortin, I simply can not complain.

Plastic Little

Now this is what a one shot OVA should be like!

When this came out in Australia all those years ago, it was classified R (NC-17 to you Americans) simply because of all the nudity that was in it. Reading about it, I totally missed the sci-fi aspect and imagined that it was anime about two girls who lived together quietly and had lots of baths and then one of them went crazy and killed some men in dark suits to protect the other.
If you ask me, the anime I created in my mind was actually pretty good. The Japanese film love/JUICE was like that without the violence.

What I ended up with was nothing like my imagination, but it turns out that the real Plastic Little turned out to be enjoyable nonetheless. There's just something about it. It's about "Pet Shop Hunters", who ride their ships through the sea of clouds to find rare animals to sell to collectors. Tita is the seventeen year old captain of this crew, and when she saves the life of Elysse, daughter of a great scientist, the government tries to kill them all.

The plot isn't important in Plastic Little, it's the feeling. What a feeling it gives: the energy of the anime industry before there simply stopped being any money to go around.
Urushihara Satoshi's designs are very attractive, and he is a man who is renowned for his attention to the details of the chest. Character exposition in a giant bath allows for endless pans from chest to face, and everytime a woman gets shot they have to be patched up ... so his talents certainly don't go to waste.
The city in the clouds was a beautiful place, and the atmosphere was just amazing. The ideas of flying ships that were also submarines was cool, and no time was wasted on explaining the world. It was just as it was. The action was well done, and the friendship between Elysse and Tita was warm.
The few moments of humour, and the nosebleeds ... it was all worthwhile. The score was also quite good, although the DVD menu played a piece that was unfortunately nowhere in the OVA itself.
The characters were broad but nice ... the whole project just gave me a nice feeling.

47 minutes of enjoyment, without any sour aftertaste, Plastic Little is a whole. It's hard to wax lyrical on such a simple pleasure.

Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko - Episodes one to three

I'm growing tired of silly OVAs. This is the second OVA starring Hayashibara Megumi to have disappointed me in a row.

Basically, for reasons inexplicable an engineer travels 1000 years into the past to pick up high school girls to fly ships to compete for mining contracts. In the first episode they pick the fourth girl for the squadron, then in the second they have reached the end of their season and decide that they deserve a break. In the third, something kind of good happens, but why?

Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko is totally without substance. It's true that there have been other things to lack substance before this, but some of them had redeeming features. This OVA gave me nothing to think about or to enjoy - the space dogfights were essentially all the same and animated in a way that suggested inertia. Although that's not terribly accurate: there was essentially one fight and nineteen that were alluded to - all of them glorious victories!
There was no threat of anything, the characterisation was almost non-existent (and poor Hayashibara Megumi played the fall girl) and the fan service was weak. Very weak.
It's a shame that Shake It, one of Okui Masami's greatest songs, was wasted on this. The third episode had some kind of good content, but it sprang from nowhere. Just roses in space.

There are another three episodes on the disc - Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko II - which seems to be an alternate universe retelling. They say it's better. And it would have to be. Yamamoto Yohko was a lame series with no reason behind it and one truly hilarious joke.

Battle Athletes Victory - episodes 23 to 26

The final arc ofBattle Athletes Victory is the polarising section of the series, dividing fans of the rest between "It's a bloody outrage!" and "Best final arc EVER!" Anime fans never do things by halves.
I think that it was a nice, fitting conclusion to a totally enjoyable series. Despite the same problems that faced the series before, there was no end to the rocking.

Inexplicable gender roles, bizarre mutations and incomprehensible character changes were prevalent in these last four episodes, but they still managed to be some of the best. So much happened in them, and they succeeded in reconciling the casts from both the Training School and University. The only disappointment with these last sixteen episodes was the sparing use of Wong Ling-Pha. Otherwise, everything was good.

The symbolism was obvious but never too strong, and Akari's final growth was liberating.

The only truly bad thing was the slaughtering of the ending for DVD purposes. Great series, lousy DVDs, but good price for such lousy DVDs.
Battle Athletes Victory rose against the odds and stood away from the OVA (to the point that I can't remember how the OVA ended). Great voice acting, design, comedy, characters (no matter how wonky they were) and drama made a series well worth returning to in years to come.
It may annoy some, but it will charm just as many others, if not more.

Battle Athletes Victory - episodes 11 to 22

Akari goes to University Satellite, but on the way her shuttle gets hijacked by terrorists!
The terrorists were a great crime trio, with the traditionally incompetent leader (his tendency to ramble is hilarious) and the completely stupid threats and demands.
While it makes sense to hijack a shuttle with perceived VIPs on it, it makes less to hijack a shuttle packed solely with battle athletes.
The introductions of Anna and Kris came at this appropriate juncture, with Anna being a victim ("Silly faces make you embarrassed!") and Kris being nowhere near the sensibility level she once was at.
The new Kris is hilarious. Rather than the "nudity for laughs" approach, we get the "inexplicable instant lesbian love for laughs" approach. There's more to Kris than that, but to have her introduce herself to a ship occupied by terrorists and students as "[Akari's] lover" is an effective intro, as is Anna's embarrassing alien greeting dance.
Anna's discovery of the terrorists was animated with just the right level of absurdity, and the athletes' entry into university was definitely memorable and proved that Grant Oldman is the greatest man in human history.

Over the following episodes, Akari's problems seem to be the opposite of her old issues: that is, she is too independent and doesn't trust her team mates to work with her. In fact, the whole team consists of some of the flightiest students ever.
Fortunately, Akari comes to her senses, but the completely wonky characterisation of this series comes to a head several times. Jessie can't decide whether she's supportive of Akari or if she simply hates her, and she's frequently written in whichever way it suits the story.
When Anna's dark secret comes out (which is far more disturbing than the OVA's totally bizarre revelation), it's disappointing that there was no hint of her competitive side before. When she was losing all the time, she didn't care this much.
Similarly, Mylandah is initially portrayed as the rabid monster of the OVA, but then seems to grow a healthy rivalry with Lahrri as opposed to an obsession. Still, she should not have gone unpunished for beating the other athletes into comas with tennis balls. That is just not what sports are all about.
Wong Ling-Pha's presence is, by its very nature, a waste of potential.
The possibility of losing too much in the character shift from Antarctica to the Satellite was not as devastating as it could have been.

Still, the characters are fun, and Mister Miracle (as voiced by Ishizuka Unshou) is a marvellous character. The episode in America shows some wonderful scenery and atmosphere, and some very good music that would not have fit anywhere other than future New York. It's interesting that New York of 4999 has slums and gangs, but the Japan that is shown is nothing but rolling countryside. I suppose that the debris had to go somewhere.

The Great Competition plays out well, and the spiritual developments are interesting - although Battle Athletes Victory shows a strong disregard for religious practice when it interferes with sporting prowess.

Despite any of the small and confusing inconsistencies, Battle Athletes Victory is almost wholly entertaining. The final episode arc looks to be very little on the serious side.
(yes, I know it's cheating to write a whole arc at once)

Battle Athletes Victory - Episodes 8 to 10

With the closing of the tenth episode, the training school arc came to an end. This series' episodes come in sets of three more than literally, with each being a mini-arc itself.

Episodes 8 to 10 were the finals. It's interesting that in each training school of 100 plus students, only three get through to University Satellite. This makes for a really cut throat competition, and it's completely clear why Ling-Pha goes to such extremes to win everything that she enters. It's just a pity that the truly competent can see right through her.
Both Akari and Itchan went through a large amount of pain in this episode, and the dependence that Akari has on other people is disconcerting. The theme in this type of program is usually "Run for yourself" or "Play for yourself" or "Sing for yourself". Hopefully Akari will learn this, because her tendency to hide in a cardboard box when things aren't going her way gets tired.

The triathlon was a great event. Ayla, who was one of the more interesting characters, is developed quite well in her final episodes. She comes from a very thinly veiled communist country - the sort that breeds people to become athletes above becoming people. The way that we see that humanity has rubbed off on her, and that she can swim for herself, that was good. She also had the strongest relationship with Jessie, who is disturbingly random in her allegiance.

Akari's weariness and sudden determination were inspiring and led to many well animated scenes. At the end of the tenth episode, Victory is now at the same place that the OVA began. Seeing as only three people move on to University Satellite, it's essentially like bidding farewell to our Earthly favourites - but Anna and Kris have their own charms, as we well know.

Wong Ling-Pha forever!

Battle Athletes Victory - Episodes 5 to 7

Akiyama made the transition from ultra comedy to ultra drama seamlessly. He really is a skilled director when given the right material.

There were definitely some confusing moments, where the timeline jumped back and forth some months and Jessie didn't seem quite the same as before (but the Night of Woong-A-Ji may have changed characters for one night in order to bring them together against a common ... evil?).
Akari learned a few things about herself - that she didn't think that she could live up to her mother's image, and despite hiding behind the "I'm trying!" attitude, she was actually holding back (perhaps to avoid disappointment).

When she realises the problem through some incredibly good Hisakawa Aya Itchan speech, she decides that she will get better, that she will unleash the hidden talent. And when she actually does get better, and she most certainly does, Itchan realises that she is jealous of what she has awakened in her friend.
The result of that is truly horrifying.

The other thing of note here is Ayla, who is a hilarious character because she has no sense of humour and is very literally minded. She produced some wonderful scenes.
While it's sometimes hard to track the relationships in a series so coloured by competition, Battle Athletes Victory looks like it has it all. Except for eye catches, damn them.