loads of anime pt2

More of these anime mini-reviews.

no. 6

I'm not sure this was quite what I was expecting.

I basically bought it on the strength of the first 2 episodes and what essentially happens is that after that it takes a bit of a left turn and goes in a rather different direction.  Well, I say that - it retains the same basic thing that I thought it was about, but it then includes a bunch of stuff that was rather different and not quite what I was expecting.

The inclusion basically relates to these wasp things that kill people.  It's part of a whole environmental strain to the story that, as I mentioned, is kinda included later, but wasn't part of those first couple of episodes.  It's also not a particularly satisfying part of the story.

The bit I "signed up for" was to do with a perfect city that is rotten to the core and a kid who is dissatisfied and finds out what's going on.  I mean, I'm not saying that was some super original story, but it's the kinds of dystopia stuff I really like.

I'm also not saying that the other stuff broke it, it's just a found that part less satisfying - it had quite a bit of religious mumbo jumbo wrapped around it.

Anyway, the important bit is the characters and No. 6 really excelled at this, with some really interesting characters who were developed really well.  I'd therefore recommend it, though it's quite 'grown up' and cerebral, rather than being an action-packed adventure.

bunny drop

Bunny Drop is an interesting one as it's difficult to put it into a genre and thereby let people know exactly what it is.

This isn't massively helped by the fact that the anime concentrates on the first half of the manga.  I mean, this is good in some ways, but the second half of the manga is more easily categorised.  Although, to be fair, the categorisation is part of what makes the second half of the manga somewhat controversial.

Anyway, the series is about Daisuke, a guy who adopts Rin, who is, in actuality, his half-aunt.  I know, bit weird - basically, his grandfather had a child with his housekeeper, so in a technical sense the child is his half-aunt, but she is around 6 years old where he is in his thirties.  When his grandfather dies, they essentially discover the child and the rest of the family doesn't want to adopt her due to the shame associated with it, so Daisuke takes her in and raises her.  So what genre does that fit in?

Anyway, the anime series is beautifully done.  It is not 100% faithful to the manga, but takes the key elements and bases the story around them, tweaking to suit the structure better.  The artwork is very pretty and it doesn't go quite as "70s" as the manga does, which was always a weird look given it's set in the modern day.

baka and test

I have to confess to being massively disappointed with baka and test.

As is my usual way I watched the first couple of episodes as a sampler and enjoyed them quite a bit, so I decided to buy it, as it was a licensed series.  It came out on Blu Ray and there was a second series and an OAV too, so I bought all of them.

My problem with the show really stems from the fact that the bit I found most interesting and amusing - the class fights with the avatars actually ends up playing a relatively small part in the show proper.  I mean, there are some stretches where it's key, but there are also long stretches where there's none of that.

It's also becomes quite reliant on running jokes - particularly in the second series - and I have to confess I found many of these unfunny and even in some cases a bit annoying.  I mean some were okay and I did find some bits of the show amusing, but not enough to really justify the purchase.

It's weird - I also found the main character quite shouty and annoying, and he's like this from the start, but I don't recall thinking this when I sampled the show.  I think part of it might be that the US dub version was even shoutier - I'm not blaming the dub as "ruining it" or anything, the Japanese character is shouty and annoying, it's just not quite as bad.