Tag Archives: review

Princess Tutu

Well, I just upgraded to WordPress 2.5 and what better way to celebrate than to give an anime review?

Well, not so much a review as a strong urging to go watch Princess Tutu.

If you:

  • Enjoy fairtales
  • Enjoy classical music
  • Enjoy ballet
  • Enjoy tragedies
  • Enjoy happy endings
  • Enjoy stories

Than you should watch Princess Tutu. No review I could give would possibly give this series justice. And like everyone else will warn you – do NOT be fooled by the title. Princess Tutu is a genuine work of art that even goes so far as to use the original choreography of the ballet that it references for when the characters dance.

But I will give you a few tips for watching Princess Tutu:

  1. Listen to everything Ms. Edel says. Every word that comes from her mouth is important.
  2. Do not be put off by random animals appearing as main characters- accept them without doubting. It will all make sense.
  3. Watch the entire 26 episodes. If you start to lose interest, push forward. It’ll be worth it.
  4. Have a great love of stories.

Now what are you waiting for? Go grab the box set just released and watch it while you can! You won’t be disappointed.

The Light and Dark - One of the best reasons to watch this series, right there!

Zombie Loan

Well, I finished Zombie Loan and I rather enjoyed it. The animation is smooth, the plot line is interesting, and it has a fun cast of characters. From the serious Shito, to the determined Chika and the adorable Michiru – it’s a fun ride.

My only major fault with the series is the same one I’ve had in the past with these shorter series like Black Blood Brothers and Loveless – mostly the lack of ending. The last arc had a definite ending – but the overall main plot was left open. Since there is a manga (assuming its released in a timely fashion) this isn’t too big of a problem. I can always read and find out what happens.

Anyway, here’s a big review of each of the arcs – spoilers included. Read on if you care to. ^_^

Continue reading →

Zombie Loan Anime Initial Reaction

Started watching Zombie-Loan today and got about 1 and a half episodes in before coming to the conclusion that I could watch this series alone for two things:

Chika-kun and Shito-kun.

Not only do they feature that lanky-boy animation style that I love, but they’ve got a winning combo of Voice Actors. Shito as Takahiro Sakurai and Chika as Kenichi Suzumura together in every episode win in my book everyday. It’s the perfect combination of a smooth, slightly airy deep voice, with an accented medium-pitched whine (that manages to never be annoying.)

Anyway, first episode got me hooked and I’ll report in on whether or not the rest of the series was up to par – there’s a Manga out also that I might have to check out.

 

Death Note Dub – Episode 2

“I am Justice!”

It’s official; I think my favorite dub voice is Sayu (Kelly Metzger). And Watari (French Tickner) wasn’t too bad either. And to be honest, I really liked Lind. L. Taylor’s (John Murphy1 ) performance, too.
However, it’s sort of sad when your favorite voices are for bit parts that barely have speaking roles, so without further ado: everyone else.

Souichirou Yagami: His voice was decent enough, maybe a little dull but it wasn’t horrible. I’ll give him more time before I really make a judgement call.

Touta Matsuda: If anyone competed for my favorite character in the series, it would be Matsuda. Ryo Naitou did an amazing job as the average, youthful Task Member. He had little inflections in his voice that were wonderful. However, I’m not a fan of Vincent Tong as Matsuda for the moment – he’s not playful, or dumb enough. Matsuda’s always had a light, child-like personality. Than again, he hasn’t had a real chance to show off yet. We’ll give Vincent another chance in the next few episodes.

L: Believe it or not, I was never that attached to L’s original voice actor, Kappei Yamaguchi. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t exactly crazy about it either. So, I’m happy to announce that I enjoyed Alessandro Juliani’s version of L very much. It has age to it, without being too old – which works really well because it reminds me L is in his mid-twenties. I hope that it continues to be so pleasant in future episodes. And for the record – L’s computer synthetic voice was a shock. It was so high pitched and well, effeminate sounding that I almost laughed. Maybe they’re foreshadowing L’s little crush2. :D

And to recap some old friends:

Light: You’ve disappointed me Brad Swaile. Your crazy laugh is too airy/rasp – it’s barely there. At first you were tolerable, but now the more I listen to you the less I like it. *sighs*

Ryuk: …a tad bit better.

See y’all for Episode 3!

  1. John Murphy will also be playing the English role for ‘Mogi’ later.
  2. L has a crush on Light. He does. No one will convince me otherwise.

Death Note Dub – Episode 1

Well, watched the Dub of Death Note’s episode one today at adult swim here. I’ve been pretty anxious about the dub since I first heard it was airing, if only because the Japanese cast of Death Note was top notch.

But I digress, let’s talk about the cast! Episode one is basically Ryuk and Light so this’ll be a light entry.

Light: His Japanese actor, Mamoru Miyano, is amazing in his own right despite not having a long list of roles. His vocal range is superb and his voice is easy on the ears. For the English version they chose Brad Swaile. Having only heard Swaile play the part of more, ‘whiney,’ characters, I was worried that Light’s voice would be made more annoying than anything. Regardless, he surprised me with a decent performance and I look forward to his crazy laughs. If Quatre from Gundam Wing was anything to go by – at least Light’s laughter will be up to par.

Ryuk: Shidou Nakamura was the perfect Ryuk. He had a gruff voice, a great ‘hyuk’ of a laugh, and it carried a playful tone that did the shinigami1 justice. However, as nice as Brian Drummond is at playing the part of characters such as Vegeta from DBZ and Zechs Marquis from Gundam, I was disappointed in his performance as Ryuk. It was too smooth, too serious, and rather dull. I can only hope that it gets better as the series progresses. – Though, I will give him one line: “Juicy?” That was pretty good.

In conclusion, Light was decent and Ryuk was disappointing. I can only hope the rest of the cast makes up for it. Most of them are actors I’ve never heard before, so they have hope to be good.

  1. God of Death, Grim Reaper