Anime Reviews

[YourAverageJoe]

The series' major flaw is definitely the fact that it was released too soon, and then caught up to the manga, and instead of going all YEAR OF THE FILLER like Naruto, they just went with some schizophrenic bullshit that in no way goes with the lore established by the manga at that point. B-

[Protodude]

Well, it was intended to be 51 episodes from the start, and even though it follows the manga pretty closely at first it's pretty evident that it was going to be different. Also, the only schizophrenic bullshit that felt out of place to me was where the gate led to. Have you seen the movie, revolverocelot?

[Revolver Ocelot]

youraveragejoe said:

The series' major flaw is definitely the fact that it was released too soon, and then caught up to the manga, and instead of going all YEAR OF THE FILLER like Naruto, they just went with some schizophrenic bullshit that in no way goes with the lore established by the manga at that point. B-

Oh god. I'm sorry if I offend you, but shit like this pisses me off so much. An anime deviating from a manga isn't a flaw. It's called an ADAPTATION because it fucking CHANGES. People need to acknowledge the fact that anime and manga are two different mediums that aren't necessarily intended to mesh and GET OVER IT. Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, but the more experience I have with anime and the people who watch it, the more "manga reader" becomes a synonym of "whiner".

Also, the only schizophrenic bullshit that felt out of place to me was where the gate led to. Have you seen the movie, revolverocelot?

Yep.

[Donkeyboy]

I actually love the anime series far more than I did the storyline of the manga. I don't know, it seemed a little more human to me, rather than mystical-magical-bullshitical.

However, the movie I didn't like so much. It felt like it wanted to tell a story that was three times the size of the time constraints of the film.

Or, at least that's how I see it.

[YourAverageJoe]

All I can say is that after the first 26-or-so episodes the storyline got into a huge mess.

[zogbog]

I demand a basket ball anime that takes place in a boys school!
One must exsist right?

[Protodude]

Slam Dunk? Buzz Beater? Real? I know Slam Dunk doesn't take place at an all-boys school (though the team is all boys), but I'm not sure about the other ones.

[Warchief Onyx]

youraveragejoe said:

The series' major flaw is definitely the fact that it was released too soon, and then caught up to the manga, and instead of going all YEAR OF THE FILLER like Naruto, they just went with some schizophrenic bullshit that in no way goes with the lore established by the manga at that point. B-

The manga and anime were intended to be different from the beginning (and it shows by the number of things different in both). Think of them as parallel universes to each other.

I actually like that the FMA anime does its own thing rather than be a direct manga adaptation. I actually prefer it to the manga.

[Revolver Ocelot]

Giniro no Olynssis: Tokito

Studio: Toei Animation

Director: Katsumi Tokoro
Writer: Yuichiro Takeda
Producer: Satoshi Matsui & Takao Yoshizawa
Composer: Yuugo Kanno
Designer: Hisashi Hirai (characters), Hitoshi Fukuchi, Masahiro Shimanuki & Yoshikazu Miyao (mecha)

Released: October 5th, 2006
Genre: Adventure, Mecha, Romance, Sci-Fi
Format: Continuing TV series
Runtime: 12 episodes, 25 minutes each (300 minutes)
US License: None



It happens more and more as time goes on. Things get unoriginal. It is unavoidable. There are too many people making things and coming up with new ideas is not all that easy. So, after awhile, you start to expect certain things. You take your movies, TV shows, novels, and even anime with a grain of salt, because a certain level of predictability is to be expected. But, there comes a point at which a work of entertainment will push that element of acceptance a bit too far. Giniro no Olynssis[/i] is such a show.



The year is 3567. Things have changed quite a bit. Human civilization is a mere shadow of what it once was, having been reduced to groveling before the might of a mysterious race of machines called Gardeners. Small pockets of rebels use captured and modified Gardeners to resist these automated oppressors, but the balance is severely lopsided and the outlook for humanity does not look good. One day, however, all that changes…



Tokito Aizawa is a teen and one of the members of the rebel group fighting the Gardeners. On this fateful day, he has a chance encounter with a young girl named Tea (pronounced “Tay-yah”) and her mysterious robot called Silver, with whom she has some kind of physical and mental bond. Tea immediately takes a liking to Tokito, and refers to him as “Koichi” for some reason. This causes problems between them and Misuzu, another rebel who feels she has dibs on Tokito because she has been at his side longer as the oh-so-cliché pushy little sister type. To further complicate things, when Tokito starts piloting Silver, he seems to draw the attention of the Gardeners’ master, and the situation begins to deteriorate quickly.



From start to finish, Giniro no Olynssis[/i] is about as predictable and cliché as they come. It uses every staple plot device it could have possibly crammed into its meager, 12-episode run. While it is unreasonable not to expect a certain level of plot recycling from any work of narrative entertainment these days, Giniro no Olynssis[/i] is a bit ridiculous. It is likely you will be able to foresee the coming of every twist and turn a mile away. By the show’s halfway mark, the ending and the truths regarding Tea and Tokito are pretty obvious.



Now, this would not be a total loss if Giniro no Olynssis[/i] at least had some good action to make up for its lack of originality, but no dice. If you have any extensive experience at all with the mecha genre, every punch, kick and laser beam in the show seems telegraphed. Like the plot, you have seen it all before, and too many times at that. The only cool parts involve Serena and Schwartz, the dark and much cooler counterparts to Tea and Silver.



So we have established that the plot is pretty boring, but how does the show look? Certainly, there are people out there who will watch a show, if for nothing else, good animation. Well, no dice again. While I would not say Giniro no Olynssis[/i] is ugly as a whole, there are definitely certain elements of it in terms of design and fluidity that are indeed ugly. First, let us discuss the good; Hisashi Hirai. Hirai comes hot off of finishing Gundam SEED Destiny[/i] and still delivers excellent, though eerily familiar character designs (Tea = Lacus, no question). Not so excellent are the mecha designs. The Gardeners look pretty ridiculous. Some of them remind me of something you would see in an old Mega Man game. The titular Olynssis robots do not fare much better, looking like big guys in elaborate Mardi Gras costumes.



The animation is not all that great either. The quality is very inconsistent and sometimes the proportions get a little whacky. The show looks great in still images, but in motion, its mediocrity becomes obvious. To round out the technical aspects of the show is the music. The music is the one thing that really stands out in Giniro no Olynssis[/i]. Composed by Yuugo Kanno (no relation to Yoko), the soundtrack in the show is an original, whimsical, melodic breath of fresh air and entirely worth listening to on its own should there be a soundtrack out for it.



Giniro no Olynssis[/i] is not a bad show, per say. Aspects of it are bad, aspects of it are good, and those aspects combine to make an ultimately mediocre show that has already been largely forgotten on top of hardly being noticed to begin with. Unless you are a BIG fan of Hisashi Hirai or you are so mecha-obsessed that you will put up with anything to see giant robots blow shit up, I cannot really recommend Giniro no Olynssis[/i].

- Shalashashka

Story: D
Animation: C
Design: C
Music: A
Direction: D
Overall: C-
Sub or Dub: N/A

OP: “destiny” by ChiYO
Your pretty standard, sensational J-pop opening. C

ED: “Saraba Seishun no Hibi” by The Inazuma Sentai
A really nice, slow song. Great guitar work and lyrics. A

[YourAverageJoe]

revolverocelot said:

The year is 3567. Things have changed quite a bit. Human civilization is a mere shadow of what it once was, having been reduced to groveling before the might of a mysterious race of machines called Gardeners. Small pockets of rebels use captured and modified Gardeners to resist these automated oppressors, but the balance is severely lopsided and the outlook for humanity does not look good. One day, however, all that changes…

Let's see; generic futuristic setting (seriously, mecha needs more punk punk,) Oppressive alien government (makes for great character development, but come on,) of course there's La Resistance just for kicks, a strangely heroic main character, which at this point gets kind of grating.

Have I spent too much time with that wiki yet?

[Ace Whatever]

Unless you're adding examples to it like I do then no.

[Revolver Ocelot]

s-CRY-ed

Studio: Sunrise

Director: Goro Taniguchi
Writer: Yousuke Kuroda
Producer: Hisanori Kunisaki, Keisuke Iwata & Shinichiro Kobayashi
Composer: Kotaro Nakagawa
Designer: Hisashi Hirai

Released: July 4th, 2001
Genre: Action, Martial Arts, Sci-Fi
Format: Continuing TV series
Runtime: 26 episodes, 25 minutes each (650 minutes)
US License: Bandai Home Entertainment



Watching anime can be a taxing exercise. It can mentally exhaust you. A lot of anime strives to be poignant, bombarding you with all sorts of existential questions and metaphors, making you chase after red herrings, forcing you into long, drawn out conversations and debates about what inner meanings are implied with each episode. Sometimes, you just need a break from all that shit. This is where shows like s-CRY-ed[/i] come in.



Kazuma is a young tough guy who takes odd jobs to support his typical little sister/love interest whom he cohabitates with. Secretly, however, Kazuma is an Alter User, a person who is capable of wielding powers summoned from another dimension (see: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure[/i]). There are many Alter Users on the island where Kazuma lives, called “The Lost Ground”. The Alter Users appeared after an event called “The Great Uprising”, which was a geological phenomenon that occurred under mysterious circumstances 16 years ago. In particular, two warring factions of Alter Users have developed; the Native Alter Users, who are feral and typically outlaws, and a special group of Alter Users called HOLY under the employ of an organization called HOLD.



HOLY seeks to end the threat of the native Alter Users and clean up the island. Naturally, this has led to a war. One HOLY member in particular, Ryuho, is very ambitious in his campaign to eliminate the native Alter Users, and with his highly advanced Alter, he defeats his enemies quite easily. Until he meets Kazuma, that is. From the moment Kazuma and Ryuho meet, they absolutely despise each other, and the conflicts that result from this hatred are the main focus of s-CRY-ed[/i].




To sum it all up, s-CRY-ed[/i] is about people with super-powers beating the everloving shit out of each other. It is as simple as that. While that may sound off-putting to some, for those anime fans who do not feel that they are “above” being entertained by pure, visceral violence, s-CRY-ed[/i] is going to be a very entertaining ride. Now, that is not say that s-CRY-ed[/i] is completely mindless and lacks any merit outside of action. The progression of the story is actually pretty good, and there are many surprising twists here and there. There is also a surprising bit of character development. But honestly, what more would you expect from Goro Taniguchi, the man who gave us Infinite Ryvius[/i]?



Of course, s-CRY-ed[/i] has its flaws as well. The centerpiece of the show is obviously the amazing fight scenes. Do not go in expecting Dragon Ball Z[/i]. The fights here are a lot deeper, more intense, and have way better choreography. But it is obvious that many of the other elements of the show took a back seat to the fighting. In particular is the pacing of the show and its structure. It gets pretty jumpy at times, and we lose track of certain characters for long periods at a time. Also questionable is the ending. This is a 26 episode show, but the real ending takes place in the 24th episode, the latter two being epilogue. These are pretty minor structural flaws, however, and s-CRY-ed[/i] remains entertaining and engaging throughout its run.



Hisashi Hirai, whom did the character designs for Infinite Ryvius[/i], works with Taniguchi once again here. Hirai does an excellent job making each of the characters distinct. His designs are unique and his art style is very clean with sharply drawn lines. Although the animation quality is sometimes inconsistent, s-CRY-ed[/i] looks amazing most of the time. Hirai gained a lot of recognition with this series, and a year later, he was hired to design the characters for Gundam SEED[/i], which secured Hirai’s place in the alumni of modern character designers.



Composer Kotaro Nakagawa makes his first major appearance in an anime TV series here, and he enters the business with explosive success. Since s-CRY-ed[/i], Goro Taniguchi has used Nakagawa for every one of his shows. He is the John Williams to Taniguchi’s Steven Spielberg. And it is easy to see why when you listen to Nakagawa’s music. First and foremost, Nakagawa is all about variety. He hits you with every genre out there, and he utilizes styles that you almost never hear in anime, such as Latin music. Nakagawa’s hectic, complex compositions carry along the fight scenes beautifully and further add to the intensity that goes into the show’s confrontations. To round out the sound category, s-CRY-ed[/i]’s dub is not too hot. English voice actors have never been good at doing GENKI!!, and there are also some pretty big miscasts (Steve Blum as a 16 year old?). Stick with the sub.



So what you have here is a show you are either going to love or hate depending on how you feel about action. If you are jaded with it, it is pretty much a guarantee that you are not going to like s-CRY-ed[/i] much at all. If you have an appreciation for great action, however, then you are almost assured a good time with s-CRY-ed[/i]. It is a great show with great direction and some truly amazing choreography. Its stark contrast with the sedated yet extremely deep Infinite Ryvius[/i] shows that Goro Taniguchi is a versatile director who can play on both sides of the field.

- Shalashashka

Story: B
Animation: A
Design: A
Music: A
Direction: A
Overall: B+
Sub or Dub: Definitely sub

OP: “Reckless fire” by Yasuaki Ide
Catchy song with Latin strings. B

ED1 (1-25): “Drastic My Soul” by Mikio Sakai
Somewhat decent slow song with hilarious bad Engrish. C

ED2 (26): “Tabidachi no Kane ga Naru” by Mikio Sakai
More of that heavy, Latin influence that permeates throughout the show. Good music, but Sakai's quivery lyrics suck. C

Interest in this anime? Buy it here!

[Shellshock]

I just discovered this anime thread and it's turning out to be quite convenient. Thanks Ocelot. Keep it up.

What do you guys think of that new Macross OVA "Robotech Shadow Chronicles"? What is it about?

[Revolver Ocelot]

sh3llsh0ck said:

I just discovered this anime thread and it's turning out to be quite convenient. Thanks Ocelot. Keep it up.

Thanks.

What do you guys think of that new Macross OVA "Robotech Shadow Chronicles"? What is it about?

I hate to sound like a purist, but any Macross metaverse stuff that has "Robotech" in the title and isn't the original series, I tend to stay away from.

[YourAverageJoe]

Ah, s-CRY-ed, the show that made spinning in random circles cool. Nice article! :thumbsup: