D.N. Angel review – vol. 3-4

For my review of volumes 1 and 2, click here

By the end of volume 2, D.N. Angel was starting to look like a decent series. With volume 3 and 4, though, it begins to turn into a great series.

Volume 3 has more love polygon antics, with Daisuke FINALLY realizing he likes Riku on St. White’s Day. An important family figure of Daisuke’s finally makes an appearence, but not before something bad happens to Daisuke, and Dark has to rescue him. Then, in a brilliant twist, yet another bad thing happens to Daisuke, and we begin to realize how crazy his mom really is. ;)

Fullmetal Alchemist review – vol. 1-2

With the recent volumes making it onto the USA Today top 150 booklist, one must wonder how this series started off. Even though it’s Hiromu Arakawa’s first work ever, it’s amazingly good. It improves over time, though; the first two volumes aren’t quite as good as the rest of the series.

Singer and songwriter extrordinare – Yui

(Not Yui Makino, and not Yui Horie. Just Yui. ^_^)

I absolutely adore Yui. She’s one of the most talented singers and songwriters I’ve heard, and she also plays guitar! How cool is that? I live in America, so I constantly hear stuff like ‘I love Rihanna she has such a great voice’ and ‘Fergie is so coooool!’ However, can either of those girls play guitar or write lyrics? NO. Plus, they both dress like prostitutes. :P

However, in addition to being talented and modest, Yui has gotten her music featured in the Bleach anime! She sang the 5th opening, Rolling Star, as well as the 5th ending, Life. Rolling Star even made it onto the Oricon top 10 charts!

I think, though, that it’s her lyrics that help make her so popular. Instead of typical anime theme song tripe like ‘We’re far apart, but I feel our hearts are close, even though our memories are fading,’ Rolling Star’s chorus goes like this:

“The world I want and see in my dreams

is peaceful with no wars or fighting,

But reality is full of troubled days

I’m saddened by these ROLLING DAYS.”

(self-translated, btw, I didn’t steal that)

The song continues to compare her dreams and wishes to the real world. Isn’t that deeper than songs about booze and women? Isn’t that easy to relate to? Many of Yui’s non-anime songs feature the same sort of painful realism.

I hope to see more albums from Yui-sama soon. Perhaps she’ll end up with a large U.S. fanbase someday!

EDIE: I forgot to mention that Yui starred in ‘Taiyō no Uta,’ a live-action movie. ^_^

D.N. Angel review – volume 1-2

Aaaaah, shojo… D.N. Angel was, believe it or not, the first manga I ever bought. I got interested in it after seeing some of the anime on Anime Network… and it’s shocking to see how much better the manga is.

Daisuke Niwa seems like a normal eighth grader, but on his 14th birthday, his mom forces him to become the legendary Phantom Thief Dark! His crush who rejected him, Risa, falls in love with Dark; but Dark, who’s using Daisuke’s body, likes her twin sister Riku. And then Riku begins to fall for Daisuke… What’s a teenager in a love polygon supposed to do?

Get caught in akward positions with the totally hot Commander of the Special Armed Forces, of course! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

D.N. Angel is almost completely shojo, with only occasional shonen cliches (Risa falls on Daisuke in the pool, for crying out loud.) Like many shojo series, though, its main weakness is its characters. While Daisuke, Riku, Satoshi and Dark are all fairly likeable, Risa’s probably one of my least favorite anime girls ever; she’s shallow, bratty and kinda stupid. Takeshi’s a one-dimensional wanna-be reporter, and Daisuke’s mom and grandpa aren’t really any more interesting. Wiz, however, is so adorable that he almost makes up for all that.

The plot remains fairly… how should I say this… juvenile and repetitive for the first volume and a half. Daisuke gets all worked up over Risa, Risa or someone else does something that makes us hate her/him, and Dark steals something and Satoshi tries to catch him. Minor things happen to advance the plot. It’s not until the middle of volume 2, though, that things change: Satoshi indicates that he knows Dark is really Daisuke, Riku starts to like Daisuke, Risa and Daisuke have a fight, and everything changes for the better… we think.

Normally the art in a manga can’t make or break its quality, but I must note that despite Yukiru Sugisaki’s crowded pages, her art is above average. Her bishonen aren’t just short-haired men with pretty eyes, they have their own unique character design quirks. Examples would be Satoshi’s glasses and Daisuke and Dark’s wild hair; I could name more, but they don’t show up until later volumes. Also, Sugisaki-sensei’s expressions are excellent, which helps make Daisuke all the more lovable. :)

Though it starts off fairly poorly, D.N. Angel improves considerably by the end of volume 2. I even know some guys who enjoyed this shojo/fantasy series. Read it unless you hate shojo.

CJ’s rating: 7 out of 10 California rolls

Possibly objectionable content: A locker room scene, and there’s a little kissing and cursing. Minor stuff though; I’ll give this a 12+ age rating.

Randomness of the Week: CJ’s Top 10 Anime Boys

Me and Jenni were talking about this via email last week, and I’m bored, so I’ll go ahead and randomly post it here:

1. Lavi (D.Gray-man)

2. Lelouch (Code Geass)

3. Hitsugaya (Bleach)

4. Kakashi (Naruto)

5. Ed (Fullmetal Alchemist)

6. Roy (Fullmetal Alchemist)

7. Allen (D.Gray-man)

8. Hughes (Fullmetal Alchemist)

9. Komui (D.Gray-man)

10. Rock Lee (Naruto)

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai – ep. 1-5 review

I’ll start this review off with the word that describes this series best: scary. Of course, anyone who’s seen this series, fan or hater, could’ve told you that. This series has its reputation for a reason. Satisfyingly scary without being too ridiculously bloody, Higurashi season 2 isn’t a sucky sequel – though I have yet to see the original, so I can’t say if it’s better than its predecessor.

At first glance, the series seems like a standard harem comedy – Keiichi moves to Hinamizawa and befriends all the girls and does fun stuff with them, there’s moe fluff, blah blah blah, etc. But that’s not the interesting part: its merely icing on the cake for the male viewers.

No, the interesting part is the conspiracies, alleged aliens, and a ‘patron god’ of Hinamizawa that we learn about in the first episode. Episode 1 is a flash forward to the present (the series is set in 1983) and some detectives are investigating the tragic Great Hinamizawa Disaster, a bizzare event that left one survivor: Rena.

Episodes 2-3 are fairly normal; basically, Keichii and the rest of the club he’s in run around and play games. But there are moments between Satoko and Rika that indicate something is wrong, and that someone is going to die. Satoko confronts Rika about weird conversations she hears late at night, but Rika says nothing’s going on. In episode 3, Satoko begins to see a strange man following her, and tells Rika about it, but she tells Satoko she’s paranoid.

Then scary things begin happening toward the end of episode 4, and I won’t say how the 4-episode arc ends in episode 5. I will say, though, that you probably won’t see anything coming unless you paid very close attention in episode 1. Also, episode 5 leaves many questions unanswered; I hope the next story arc answers some of these questions a little more.

Though it has harem elements, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai is a horror anime through and through. I’d recommend it to almost anyone. By the way, don’t walk through the woods alone after the festival… >;)

CJ’s rating: 9 out of 10 California rolls

Possibly objectionable content: Blood (though no real gore,) some cursing, and a lolibait moment, but all that doesn’t compare to how SCARY this is. *shudder* My age rating 15+ minimum, possibly higher if you’re easily scared.

Kioku Creations/RL stuff updates

Assuming I don’t get uber-discouraged at MatsuriCon, everything is still on track for Kioku Creation’s January ‘08 premiere at Ohayocon. An updated list of things we’ll be selling:

+ Eureka chibi t-shirts

+ Timcampy plushies

+ Bookmarks

+ Scarves (Akuma, Ed Elric’s symbol, others)

+ Prints

If you have any reccomendations, post them here!

Also, I start school September 4th, so updates and reviews will slow down a bit. I will be at MatsuriCon the 7th and the 8th, so no new posts then, either.

Eureka Seven manga review – vol. 1-2

YEEESSSSSS I’ve wanted to do this review for a long time!!!! Yes, I’m reviewing another shonen series. I’ll do something shojo-ish soon, I promise. :)

Anyway, Eureka Seven’s story goes like this: Renton Thurston is a bored 14-year-old who loves lifting – basically surfing on thin air – and will do anything to get away from his boring hometown. One day, he gets the chance to join his heroes, Gekkostate, when a young girl, Eureka, and her robot crash through his roof! By providing the final piece of the girl’s robot, Renton unlocks its full potential, and gets to help Gekkostate… with their laundry and paperwork.

Eureka Seven is a fun, fairly lighthearted series through the first volume; then things pick up in volume 2, and the plot’s twists and turns completely hook you. After all the standard character introductions, there’s drama that rivals most shojo manga. Example: learning of Gekkostate’s military background makes Renton begin to doubt everything he ever thought about his rebellious heroes, and he takes it out on Eureka. As the tension builds, things begin to look like they might amount to something bigger.

The characters’ personality traits add to the chaos. Eureka is relatively emotionless, but her feelings for Renton begin to confuse her as time goes by. Holland, the leader of Gekkostate, is short-tempered and serious, and totally revenge-oriented at times. Dominic, who works for the military, is a coward who decides to abandon his charge, Anemone, rather than disobey orders.

As for weak points, the only thing that comes to mind is the whole clichedness of Renton getting to join his heroes. But the cliche gets twisted by how Renton has to work his butt off doing trivial chores, so I’ll give it credit for that.

Despite that the Eureka Seven manga follows a different plotline than the anime, it’s certainly as good as it. So far, it’s a good series for fans of shonen sprinkled with romance.

CJ’s rating: 8.5 out of 10 California rolls.

Possibly objectionable content: A parody panty shot (among other things,) violence, intense scenes and some mild cursing. Bandai gave this a 13+ rating, and I agree with that.

Chrono Crusade review – ep. 1-4

I was actually introduced to Chrono Crusade by a close friend and fellow anime fan on DeviantART. I’ve been intrigued by this series for a long time, but I didn’t get to watch even the first disc until just recently. Now, however, I’m glad I saw it.

Rosette Christopher is a nun – more specifically, a firearm-toting nun who fights the forces of evil with her sidekick, Chrono (also spelled Chrno). She lives in a convent with her various friends, and goes on occasional missions, all with the hope of someday finding her brother Joshua. But things get complicated when people begin to find out that Chrono is really a demon, and the appearance of people called ‘Apostles’ just adds to the danger…

Chrono Crusade’s strongest point are its action and its characters. Every episode reviewed here has dynamic battles against demons, with guns and explosions and everything an action fan could want. The characters themselves add to the fun: Rosette is a loudmouth clutz with a soft side for… well, almost everything; Chrono is oddly adorable and somehow does a decent job keeping an eye on Rosette. Sister Kate is a spaz who seems to enjoy yelling at Rosette, and then there’s Joshua, who we see once in flashbacks and then again in the present day. Judging by what little we’ve seen of him, I think he’ll turn out to be an interesting character.

The plot so far has small twists and turns, like how a demon betrays his master in a somewhat gruesome fashion in episode 4. Then we find out the truth behind Chrono and Rosette’s relationship, and details that seem meaningless are given significance. The first four episodes are fast-paced, but never seem to rush things too much.

It seems, though, that the series never takes the time to fully explore its characters. Granted, these are only the first four episodes, but the writers could’ve gone so much farther with Rosette’s fondness for Azmaria, and her friends’ sudden fear of Chrono.

For an action series, though, Chrono Crusade certainly manages to make its characters believable and well-rounded. The high level of action certainly doesn’t hurt things either. Now I just need to read the original manga…

CJ’s rating: 8.5 out of 10 California rolls.

Possibly objectionable content: Rosette shakes her butt at Chrono once, but that’s nothing compared to the level of blazin’ barrels and overall violence. The religious content brings this series up to a 14+ from me.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight review: vol. 1-3

In their attempt to infect every form of Japanese media, the creators of .hack// decided to do a manga. While it wasn’t a bad idea, the final product kinda makes me want to kill the entire .hack// series with a butter knife.

A quick summary: Shugo and his sister Rena are newbie gamers in ‘The World’, an MMORPG played with cool headsets. Rena won a set of legendary character designs for them to play with, but those designs don’t help them in a battle against a giant monster- Shugo gets killed trying to protect Rena.

And THEN he gets brought back to life by a mysterious young girl who kisses him and gives him a magical bracelet. Pure lolibait. When he wakes up, Rena has been rescued by a hot swordsman, who’s actually an administrator (but the kids don’t know that, of course.) So Shugo and Rena set out to investigate the weird things that have been happening in ‘The World.’

Though the above scenario is mildly cliched, it sounds interesting… but then nothing happens the entire first volume. Other characters (mostly female) are introduced, but we get almost NOWHERE in Shugo and Rena’s quest to solve the final mysteries of ‘The World. The first volume is basic harem crap, with a Tanabata festival chapter and an item-hunting chapter. Tiny bits of information are sprinkled in the chapters, but things don’t really pick up until volume 2.
And the characters themselves don’t help matters, either. Shugo’s pretty much your standard harem victim hero, with his ‘I wanna be strong and protect Rena!’ attitude, and Rena herself is pretty boring when she’s not scolding Shugo for being a perv. Mireille is a hyperactive treasure hunter (though we get to see a different side of her in volume 3), Hotaru is a cutsy, kind-hearted player from the United States, and Ouka is your standard buxom warrior chick. The only character that I have some liking for is Komiyama, a nerd from Shugo’s math class who plays as ‘Komiyan the Third’ and has a crush on Rena.

In volume 2, we meet the odd, clingy and somewhat dangerous daughter of Aura (the chick who Shugo kissed in volume 1) and Shugo has to help her find her mom. Then some administrators start chasing Shugo because they think his bracelet (that Aura gave him) is a cheat item. Komiyama turns Shugo into the authorities and accidentally gets Rena involved. Then volume 3 turns the standard RPG-type fare on its head… and I won’t really say what happens for fear of spoilers. I will say, though, that volume 3 almost makes up for volume 1.

Nothing, however, can make up for the occasionally sloppy art that infects all 3 volumes. Eyes get lopsided, lineart gets warped, and there’s a ton of SD and chibis. At its best, the art can make a scene’s mood more intense, and really bring the characters to life, but that happens pretty rarely.

I often get the feeling that the .hack// manga was made to cater to gamers. Average manga fans won’t get too much out of this cliched, half-baked series. If you just read the third volume, you might end up liking it. Maybe.

CJ’s rating: 4.5 out of 10 California rolls

Possibly objectionable content: Crazy amounts of fanservice and anything else you’d normally find in a harem series. Of course, there’s also blood (it’s an RPG, heh-llooooo) but ther’s no cursing that I can remember. 13+ is Tokyopop’s rating, but I wouldn’t let anyone under 14 read it.