no rental again

Due to a weird alignment of rental periods and days in the month I didn't have a rental DVD to watch yet again this week.

However, I have been watching some anime, so I thought I'd give some brief thoughts on those instead.


Claymore

I noted when I mentioned I was watching Claymore how close it was to the manga, and this proved to be the case right up until the last few episodes, when it departed somewhat. Though even there it wasn't a massive departure.

The real difference was that it jumped ahead to a confrontation that's likely to finish the manga, but still seems many volumes off even today.

I have to say that even though the anime did stick very close, what it added really made it worthwhile. It sounds daft, but the use of colour and animation really did add an extra layer, and the soundtrack was especially clever.

Funimation also did a cracking job with the dub, so I really enjoyed it. My enjoyment was such that even though the end of the show wasn't really an end (it screams 'second series') I still liked it.


Giant Killing

I watched Giant Killing via crunchyroll.

I'm not entirely sure why I chose this as the series to watch over the other stuff that's on crunchyroll. I think part of it was that where it ended was very early in some major plot arcs, so I was intrigued to see how they played out. Also it seemed like the exact sort of show I should watch on crunchyroll - quite entertaining, but nothing I'd ever buy.

The plot arcs mentioned developed pretty well and I enjoyed the first 12-15 or so episodes quite a lot.

However, after that point I have to confess my enthusiasm flagged. The problem was that the beginning had been quite detailed and followed everything, but then later on it skipped ahead big chunks of time. Also, a bit like Claymore it didn't really end. It didn't skip ahead to, for example, the last match in the season or a cup final.

I mean, the last match is showed was important and climactic, but in a mid-point of a bigger arc way, rather than as a proper end to the season. In other words, like Claymore, it felt like a second seasons would be needed.


Strike Witches

Strike Witches did end properly, although it too set up a sequel, though in this case I know the sequel exists, so that's not too bad. And as I say, this first season did end with a proper conclusion.

In fact, it ended with what was a pretty clear conclusion. A lot of the time in anime endings can be quite weak and from what I understand this reflects cultural attitudes and differences - the Japanese tend to prefer things that way, if you will.

I was actually quite surprised with myself over Strike Witches as I watched the whole thing across 2 days. The reason for this heavy watching was because I really enjoyed the show.

To be frank, it's packed full of fan-service, and I don't just mean of the ecchi variety, though there is plenty of that. No, this has huge aerial battles, genuine humour, geekiness, and just about everything else you'd want to be in a show. But the key is that it doesn't feel cynical.

Let's put it another way - they've worked hard to give it a coherent and interesting plot instead of just relying on the fan-service to bring in the viewers.