Anime Review: The Vision of Escaflowne

High school student Hitomi is transported from Earth to the magical world of Gaea, where she meets boy prince Van Fanel, and is caught up in his quest to unite the countries of Gaea against the ominous Zaibach empire. On the way, she discovers a hidden ability and strives to unravel layers of mystery surrounding Van, his past, and the giant machine known as Escaflowne.

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When you take an idea that by itself is nothing new in the medium of entertainment it can be challenge to build on that idea in a way to make a quality show and not just be run of the mill. While the basic premise of Escaflowne a high school girl being sent to another world is not new by any stretch of the imagination, it does show that by putting in the effort to develop on the basic idea and adding in some different genre concepts without doing it half assed you can have an excellent series that is enjoyable to watch.

So what makes Escaflowne so enjoyable? Well there are lots of things that make Escaflowne as enjoyable as a series. The first one is the cast of the series. These are not just two dimensional stock characters that have standard motives, no the cast members feel like real people and by the end of the series you can feel for all of them. The show does give off the “these are going to be standard characters” vibe early on but with some very strong character development through the series but the end they characters become more than they are when we first meet them. The one aspect of the character development that needs to be mentioned is the strength of the female characters in the show. Instead of just existing to provide fanservice for the viewers or just be stuck to stereotypical roles the females characters are in fact quite strong as characters. In fact I am going to go out in a limb here and say that the fact that we have a strong female lead character and the few females supporting characters are also so strong is that if the writer of the show made these females weak, the whole show itself would have been ruined completely by this.

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Anime that could use a sequel Part Three

Disclaimer: The following article may contain spoilers for the shows discussed below. If you have not watched the shows listed below or are in the process of watching them please read careful. Areas with Spoilers will be given white colored text so if you want to read it then highlight the text that is hidden.  Some images used here in these upcoming articles may be NSFW so please read at your own risk if you read this blog at work.

Welcome to the last part of these three part series on anime shows that could use a sequel.

Kare Kano

What is the show about? Yukino Miyazawa is really, really vain, and loves to hear people praise her. She’s always been the best at everything, and always tries to look perfect. But when Yukino goes to high school, she’s finally upstaged–by Souichiro Arima, who scores better on the entrance exams and instantly snatches the attention of the class. By accident, Arima finds out that Yukino is just pretending, and this starts off a series of events that lead to Yukino and Arima falling in love. They then have to cope with a lot of obstacles in their relationship.

Why does it need a sequel or prequel? (SPOILER ALERT) It is well known and documented that the mangaka hated how Gainax handled the source material so it just ended and not give it a proper ending. (SPOILER END)

What type of sequel does it need? Another twenty four episode series would be great to bring the rest of the manga to life and give it the end it so desperately needs.

Chances of this happening: Well since the mangaka hated the Gainax adaption I doubt it that another series would be allowed or a continuation of the series from where it left off.

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Mobile Fighter G Gundam

What is the show about? In the Year FC 60, much of mankind inhabits space colonies which orbit the Earth. Dominance over the colonies is decided once every four years by a large tournament in which each nation sends a single representative to fight the others with a giant robot called a Gundam. Domon Kashuu is selected to represent Neo-Japan in one of these tournaments, but he fights less to ensure his nation’s victory than to find his brother, who has been blamed for the deaths of Domon’s parents and the disappearance of a very dangerous weapon, the Dark Gundam or Devil Gundam.

Why does it need a sequel or prequel? (SPOILER ALERT) The series does come to an end but does state about seeing you in the Gundam Fight 14. There were also a manga series of the 7th Gundam Fight created so there could be some material there to work with, or potentially working with the past fights and giving some information there. It would also be interesting to see the next Gundam Fight championship. (SPOILER END)

What type of sequel does it need? In traditional Gundam fashion at least a forty nine to fifty two episode series would be needed.

Chances of this happening: Since a manga of the TV series came out in 2010 there always could be a possibility of this happening, but I doubt it.

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Sekirei (includes both seasons)

What is the show about? Minato Sahashi is extremely intelligent, yet due to his inability to cope under pressure has failed the college entrance exam twice. As a result he has been branded an idiot and loser by many. One day after talking to his yet again disappointed mother he comes into contact with a girl named Musubi who was under attack. The girl runs but takes him with her and soon finds that Minato, while unknown to him, is an Ashikabi, one of the mysterious set of masters that have the genetic trait that can become partners with some of the 108 cute girls, buxom women, and bishōnen called “Sekirei”. The reason for the partnership allows the Sekirei to use all their power to win in the competition held by the mysterious MBI corporation.

Why does it need a sequel or prequel? (SPOILER ALERT) Season 2 ends with the bad guy blasting off the MBI building into space. The game is not over by any means. (SPOILER END)

What type of sequel does it need? I would love to see a twenty four to twenty six episode series be created that gives a more in depth look with the cast and the terribleness of the Sekirei plan.

Chances of this happening: Likely, it has some moe elements and is fanservice driven so it would likely sell well in Japan.

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Suzuka

What is the show about? Yamato Akitsuki travels to Tokyo alone to study in one of the high schools located within the area. He lives in with his aunt who operates a public bath solely for the ladies in the local district and begins his normal high-school life. One day, he chances upon a girl in school and is immediately mesmerised by her beauty. He is shocked when he realize later that the girl, Suzuka, is actually living next door to him. From then on, Yamato’s ordinary life begins to change little by little

Why does it need a sequel or prequel? (SPOILER ALERT) The TV series ends with Suzuka and Yamato finally being together as a couple. The manga however continued after that going on about Suzuka’s leaving Japan to study in the United States for a year and Yamato’s dealings with other females who have an interest in him. There is also Suzuka and Yamato continuing their relationship and eventually ending up starting a family and getting married.(SPOILER END)

What type of sequel does it need? Twenty four to twenty six episodes would be good to bring everything completely to its end.

Chances of this happening: The mangaka has mentioned before that he would like to do more Suzuka but it was not clear if he was referring to doing more of the manga or another TV series. The former is possible the latter is unlikely.

This concludes my three part series on anime titles that need a sequel.  I hope you enjoyed reading these three articles.  Check back tomorrow for a special article regarding sequels.

Bandai Entertainment closing (sort of)

Today Bandai Entertainment announced that it will stop offering new DVD’s BD’s and manga.  From the news article on ANN

Bandai Entertainment, the subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) that handles anime and manga in North America, will stop offering new DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and manga releases next month. It will continue to distribute in its existing catalog lineup, but it will no longer produce and distribute new releases as of this February.

Instead, Bandai Entertainment will focus on licensing rights to other companies, particularly in digital distribution, broadcast, and merchandising. The company will be restructured as a result, and most of its contractors and three of its five fulltime staff members will be laid off. ANN will publish an interview with Bandai Entertainment President and CEO Ken Iyadomi on Tuesday.

Releases in Bandai Entertainment‘s current catalog will still be available after February, and Bandai Entertainment plans to produce new stock on these existing releases, if needed, until their respective licenses expire.

This really is a sad day for anime fans in North America.  I love Bandai even with all of their mistakes they have made I still love them.  My earliest anime DVD purchases where from Bandai.  Hell for a while Bandai DVD where the only titles in my anime DVD collection before.

The closing of any anime licensing company is bad, but one such as Bandai, which has been around for a while, is especially sad.  Therefore, the question that remains now is once their licenses for the rest of their shows end who will get the shows to license rescue.  I am sure Funimation, Sentai and probably Media Blasters will pick up something in the future.  The Gundam stuff will pretty much be a moneymaker for anyone so I think Sentai or Media Blasters will probably get them.  I could see Funimation getting K-ON! in the future.

I will post tomorrow a more in depth look at Bandai and how they affect me as an anime fan over the years.

Bandai Entertainment November 2011 Releases

Bandai Entertainment’s November releases have been added to RightStuf and are now available for pre-order. The reason they’re just revealing November releases when we’ve already gotten December from Funi and Sentai is because Bandai is just slow like that.

November 22

K-ON! Vol.4 DVD
K-ON! Vol.4 Blu-Ray
Star Driver Part 1 DVD (Sub-only)
Star Driver Part 1 Blu-Ray (Sub-only)
Tekken: Blood Vengeance DVD

2011 Spring Anime Challenge Review: Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens

An art student named Jin Mikuriya carves a statue from the wood of the Kannagi tree only to have the statue come to life in the form of a goddess, who has now taken over the statue. He and “Nagi” work together to destroy the impurities that are gathering in the town.

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Plot:

Kannagi has some tough shoes to fill as a show that is aimed at the hardcore otaku fans, but also attempts to appeal to the non-otaku fans at the same time.  As a show that has to do both it does an adequate job with attempting to please both groups.  There are clichés that most would find in shows aimed at the hardcore crowd.  We have a harem, a cooking contest, the childhood friend who also is a potential loves interest, the otaku who claims he is not an otaku, etc.  Even though these aspects to exist in the series they are not to the degree that they would be executed during the show.   The clichés are touched upon and used but they do not go full head on with any of them.  Even the harem aspect is explained and each girl has a reason to try to be with Jin.  Given that the otaku clichés do exist, those who are not fans of these clichés will be annoyed that they do exists in the show.

In a surprising note, there is some character development present to the main cast of characters.  Each of them has a reason to do what they such as Nagi who as a deity is her job to rid the land of impurities and to determine who she really is.  Given that this is a 13 episode series, this type of development is not usually found in a series that is the length of a standard anime season.

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