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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 2:00 am Reply with quote
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid - Blu-ray review.

Movie - 4.5 / 5.0

Fans familiar with the FMP! franchise should know what to expect. But for those who don't, Full Metal Panic! (yes the exclamation always goes at the end every time outside of Fumoffu), is a series based on said light novels following the adventures of.. well, a lot of people. Sousuke Sagara is the main character: a soldier since childhood, 17 to the present day of these stories, and is an officer of the special-ops/military mercenary police group known as Mithril. At one point or another, he had to infiltrate a high school to serve as bodyguard for a girl named Kaname Chidori who is a person of interest to a lot of shady organizations for reasons I won't go to spoil. In performing his duty, though, a lot of the franchise's charm comes from many different angles. To this day, there are 3 different series in the following order: Full Metal Panic!, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, and Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. FMP! is a mix of action, comedy, drama, mecha, military, mystery, and science fiction for 24 episodes. Fumoffu is 100% comedy with no relevance to the central plot established in FMP! and is 12 episodes. TSR is a continuation from FMP!, runs for 13 episodes, and while it still has some of those trademark comedic elements, it's also the darkest of the 3 in terms of storytelling, plot, and violence. Depending on your tastes, you may prefer one of the post-FMP! series to the other, or if you're like me you'll take them at face value for what they are and for what they bring to the table in terms of presentation/continuity. That being said, I really like TSR because of its grittier story. Back when it first came out, I was amazed by its production quality (Kyoto Animation, who did this and Fumoffu, as opposed to Gonzo who did FMP!) alone, but in telling a more brooding and emotionally taut story, I think it added a lot more depth to some of the characters, particularly Sousuke, Kaname, and Tessa. The events that befall each of them really progress their personalities for the better, and I feel it makes them a lot more mature if you consider the facts that, 1) they're all still teenagers, and 2) given the physiological gifts they possess, the maturity that they gain in this series kind of equalizes their characters to the scope of the plot for possible future anime adaptations. If you've yet to see TSR and are intrigued by the stuff they hinted at in FMP!, this is definitely worth checking out.

Video - 4.5 / 5.0

- Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
- Video resolution: 1080p
- Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

TSR was produced in 2005 by Kyoto Animation and was animated digitally in SD, so this is an upscale. However, for an upscale it looks pretty darn amazing. I still own the single DVDs and artbox from the series' initial release, and I have to say the video quality is astounding in comparison. The actual art style and animation were considered to be of very high quality when this series first came out, but despite upscaling the SD animation into 1080p, there's actually quite a bit to like about this presentation. First, and foremost, I love the coloring. Colors are very vibrant from the various shades of hair color to the numerous backgrounds for all the exotic locations they show from the Middle East, to Japan, and to Hong Kong. Black levels are excellent as well with some very detailed shading techniques in some of the darker scenes or whenever some of the Arm Slaves endure scuff marks from battle. Contrast is handled especially well revealing some great detail in closeup shots of peoples' faces and delineating the lines in their clothes, hair, and other finely drawn areas. Particularly, you could look at any of the hairstyles of Sousuke, Kaname, or Tessa since they have a lot of layers drawn into them on a general basis. Or for even better detail, check out the scene when Gates is putting a CZ-75 into Yu Lan's mouth. You can see all the lines in her teeth (as graphic as the scene is), but only goes to justify the really high production value even more. But for all the pros that TSR's video has, there are a couple of noticeable drawbacks from the fact that the source material was SD. Banding (which never really bugged me) is apparent from time to time in the digital paint they used for the solid background colors that aren't black. And because a lot of the line art was drawn digitally, you can also see a little bit of pixelization which, again, can be attributed to the source material. But aside from completely re-animating the series, I believe this is as good as TSR is ever going to look. Pretty much any action sequence from the first or last episode are my go-to scenes for reference. There's a lot of action and movement on the screen and a lot of color as well for either one.

Audio - 5.0 / 5.0

- English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Subtitles
- English

In addition to the higher quality animation, TSR also gets a boost in the sound department by getting the 5.1 treatment. As I've mentioned in other anime series reviews, it's a major upgrade when Japanese studios give their shows a bona fide 5.1 mix from the start. Contrary to what the English dubs do in creating a matrixed "fake-5.1" using 2.0 sound masters, it's just not the same unless the show was genuinely designed to be that way. Thankfully, though, the people at Kyoto Animation decided to really immerse the viewers by putting a lot of effort into the sound design. To start off, we get to hear the lovely vocal work of Mikuni Shimokawa in the series' opening. I've been a big fan of hers since she started singing for the first FMP! and absolutely fell in love with her voice when I heard an acoustic version of the opening from Grenadier, so hearing her in lossless audio is a great way to kick things off. And then there are the sound effects of the show itself. Episode 1 puts us in the Middle East where Mithril is trying to overthrow some dictator, but in the process has a lot of gunfire, explosions, and Arm Slave battle. Directionality and separation should be the most apparent thing you notice first as bullets fly across the rears, while helicopters pan in the front with the radio and non-radio dialogue staying crisp and clear in the center channel. High and low ends are also handled especially well with a good deal of thought going into the the size and weight of the shells and casings of all the various guns being fired. In the last episode, we get a great test of dynamics when the Lambda Driver on the Arbalest gets used quite a bit. In addition, there's also a great amount of LFEs from all the Arm Slaves involved in that particular sequence. As for everything in-between, directionality is generally balanced depending on the type of scene playing out, be it at the school with crowd noise and bells in the background, cityscapes with random happenings, or the general ambiance of Toshihiko Sahashi's excellent score. Considering that, again, this is ONLY a TV series, I'm quite happy with the way things turned out and that FUNimation was able to provide lossless audio for which ever language tickles your fancy.

Extras - 5.0 / 5.0

- Bonus Episode 000 (SD; 5:52)
This is something of a preview for the series. It shows Mithril saving some hostages from a terrorist about to execute them and was supposed to be a lead-in to the full-on series. It's pretty dated given the fact that the series has been out for so long by this point. Interestingly enough, though, while the footage itself is in SD, the audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

- Bonus OVA: "A Relatively Leisurely Day in the Life of a Fleet Captain" (HD; 29:26)
A bonus episode to end things on a cheerier note. It's something akin to the nature of Fumoffu with a lot of funny, fluffy, upbeat humor and even a little bit of fan service. The plot has Tessa getting inebriated from something Mao gave her, which then results in the captain sleepwalking half-naked, hitting on Sousuke, and eventually retracing her steps to find a special item she lost on her drunken-endeavor. In her short journey, she interacts with the crew and we see a lot of situational humor involving a bad recipe, some stolen anime, and some hilariously misunderstood dialogue at the end. Fans who enjoy the style of comedy from the franchise will like this one a lot. It's presented in 1080p with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track as well.

- Dawn of the Light Novel (SD; 26:02)
A small look at the light novel medium where its compared to anime as a distant cousin, of sorts. While it's not quite as thick as novels, nor does it have as many illustrations as manga, they try to portray it as something in-between and as a fairly well-received form of the same kind of material. In addition, this feature follows creator Shouji Gatou around the offices of Kyoto Animation as he takes a look at the anime's production and talks to some of the crew. It's pretty interesting to see, as I now have a better idea of how their animation is so damn fluid.

- Location Scouting in Hong Kong (SD; 2:26:22)
Yeah, that says 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 22 seconds. Ported over from the DVDs, this 7-part videography chronicles the scouting they did to storyboard and illustrate the latter half of the series. The commentary provided is by creator Shouji Gatou and director Yasuhiro Takemoto and was recorded after the series had already ended. Content-wise, there's a lot they talk about. It's a little unorganized, but they cover a range of topics including the general architecture of Hong Kong itself, how they wanted to implement said backgrounds into the anime, their thoughts on some of the particular scenes in the anime, and then a LOT of goofing off in-between. It's not a constantly informative process, but it's informational enough when they get to the point and even pretty funny when they're just being candid. I wouldn't recommend watching too many parts in a row, though. The camerawork a little too shaky and gave me a headache after so long.

- Creditless OP (HD; 1:31)
- Creditless ED (HD; 1:30)
- Trailers

Pretty much everything from the DVDs is ported over aside from the episode commentaries by the Japanese cast and crew, which is a little disappointing. Even the reverse cover says the commentaries are on here, but the slipcase and original cover says otherwise, which is too bad.

Overall - 5.0 / 5.0

The Full Metal Panic! anime franchise is a fun series. It has a lot of quirky humor, some intriguing military and mecha elements and a great voice cast (in Japanese anyway). FMP! has a good balance of the two, while Fumoffu takes all the comedy and exaggerates it into a very entertaining frivolity. The Second Raid, however, gets back to the main storyline and does so in a much more violent and gritty fashion. Some people may not like the more dramatic turn some of the characters take, namely Sousuke and Kaname, but I think it adds a lot of maturity to them and a lot of potential for future development. I haven't read any of the light novels, but I'm really hoping they continue to adapt them someday. With much better video and audio than its DVD counterpart and most of the extras ported over, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid comes highly recommended.

EDIT: Fixed some spacing.


Last edited by Tony K. on Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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Cam0



Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 4884
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 4:29 am Reply with quote
Finished The Tower of Druaga series a while back and gave it an excellent rating. I watched it dubbed. I'm not really sure why it was so good. Somehow I was immersed to it's world. I did watch the whole 2nd season in one day.

And started watching Romeo x Juliet dubbed. Well I watched 13 episodes in one go and all I can say is that it's incredibly good. The soundtrack is amazing and every episode has been intense. It's onward to becoming another excellent title for me.
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Botan24



Joined: 30 Apr 2011
Posts: 684
Location: Northern Michigan
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 6:49 pm Reply with quote
I've hesitated about posting in this thread because I can be terribly long-winded when it comes to getting my thoughts down. But, I'll give it a shot and try to keep it brief.

Alphabetically, because I'm going through my Netflix queue:

Baka and Test season 1 - I love to laugh, I love a show that wants me to laugh. That's definitely what Baka and Test seems to have going for it. There isn't must substance otherwise, even the story follows the basic outline. But, that doesn't come off as a downside. It holds its own quite nicely.

Casshern Sins - on the other side of the coin, there's this. Does this ever start off slow! But, by episode 4 or so, it finally grew on me. However, Casshern is extremely hard to identify or sympathize with. At least, he is for me. Even at episode 12, I still really don't care about him. But, the rest of the characters and the world fascinate me. I hope that this has a happy ending, in that the world is saved. Side note: the animation is fantastic and I'm really digging the rough, extremely thin character designs.

Fairy Tail - Sigh, I've started watching another shonen that has a million episodes. But, I love this kind of show! The over-the-top style, calling out attacks, super power ups, etc. It sucks me in, and I feel I'm right there, watching it all play out. Side note: I really like the look and feel. It almost seems like a less gothic version of Soul Eater.

Hero Tales - Extremely predictable action/adventure show. I'm planning on finishing it, but probably won't rate it any higher than Good. Everything in this show is average: music, animation, story (and that drags in some parts). An observation: there seems to be a lot of subliminal fanservice here. The male characters are shown with their shirts off a lot (seems like every episode), and in their loincloths about every three episodes. And its not like its important to the story that they need to be half naked. But, hey, I'm not complaining! Wink

His and Her Circumstances or Kare Kano if you prefer - Sweet little show. I really love the story. There is a lot of character development here. For me, that's what makes a truly enjoyable viewing experience. If I'm going to give a show an Excellent rating, it has to have that aspect. So, its pretty much a given that I'll being grading this highly.

X - I like this. But, as I am only on episode five, that could change. It feels like this show has a lot it wants to lay out. But, depending on how it goes about doing so, I may or may not enjoy it. As of right now, layers are being peeled back slowly. More characters are being revealed, more questions being raised. And through it all the protagonist keeps saying, "Look, I don't give a damn! I just want the sword. Give it to me already!" While that's a change from the whiny, crybaby male lead, it's still not that refreshing. In fact, it comes across as annoying. Side note: the characters are all gorgeous; men and women alike. Such pretty people feels fake, but its not bothering me enough to ruin the story.
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Cam0



Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 4884
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:41 pm Reply with quote
Well I finished Romeo x Juliet, 2 days it took. Not a record, but still 24 episodes in 2 days isn't something I usually do. It wouldn't have required much for this title to receive the full 10/10 Masterpiece rating. Hard to say what it was lacking, but I won't give one too easily. So I'll give it excellent. This anime didn't leave much room to breath. 24 episodes, yet every episode was so intense. No fillers, no boring episodes and a good ending if a bit predictable. The dub was great and the soundtrack was the finest I've heard for a long time.

I guess if I'll give Romeo x Juliet an excellent rating I'll have to drop the rating on The Tower of Druaga to very good (from excellent). I did feel like it didn't much deserve it. I guess I'll remember from now on what an excellent title should be like. These are so rare I seem to forget.
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suicideshorty74



Joined: 26 Aug 2011
Posts: 22
Location: America
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:50 pm Reply with quote
I've been watching the simulcast of Guilty Crown, Fate/Zero, and Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere.
Guilty Crown and Fate/Zero are amazing, but Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere is a little boring and slightly confusing with the locations and the general concept of what is happening.

I just started to watch Shiki and El Cazador de la Bruja.
Shiki is interesting and I have a feeling that it's going to be really good.
El Cazador isn't bad but the story hasn't really developed too much in the first 10 episodes.
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Errinundra
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:37 pm Reply with quote
suicideshorty74 wrote:
...El Cazador isn't bad but the story hasn't really developed too much in the first 10 episodes.


It never does. Consider it as a sort of road movie meets girls with guns. The developments are leisurely, at best. The last couple of episodes address the background story but there's not a lot to it.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2171
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas... I didn't expect anything from this and only picked it up because I read somewhere that a character has Aizen-like powers. Well, that's not true. I picked it up because I was hella bored and didn't feel like watching any new anime from this season. I'm actually liking this a lot. The story is kinda meh and I don't really like any of the characters, but it's kinda dark and the action is dumb fun. The "dumb fun action" shows that I usually watch, Bleach and Naruto, are kinda meh right now so this is filling in a nice spot. Plus the full English "Tears for Fears" sounding intro is pure win.

Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector... this is like a goofy version of Gundam 00. I actually thought it was going to be like the chibi super robot dolls that I've seen and was expecting that but it's pretty violent and there is pure silliness like tons of service shots and mechs with nipples and capes.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:10 pm Reply with quote
I'm in Harrisburg right now and I've noted that the local public transportation is run by the Capital Area Transit Authority, whose buses are regularly referred to by the abbreviation CATBus. I wonder if I'd be allowed to ride for free if I were to say that Totoro had sent me.

Last week I watched Heat Guy J; official series of ANNCast and poster child for the excesses of the bubble as well as why Geneon fall down, go boom. I had prior interest in the series and had seen in on MTV many moons ago in awful super-stretch-o-vision, but I admit that the frequent references to it on ANNCast did encourage me some.

There are two stupid things about the packaging that I'd like to whine about before I comment on the series. Firstly, the volumes have only titles, not numbers. I determined the order by looking at the episodes numbers on the back, but it's a needlessly inconvenient approach. Second, some putz decided to make the artbox that comes with special edition of the first volume fit only the first half of the series and put the rest in a second artbox. This is also inconvenient as it lowers the convenience of having an artbox to handily store a whole series and looks less impressive than a single box. I presume that this was a small, desperate measure to try to sell just a few more premium units of a boondoggle.

Nevertheless, despite some dumb packaging design and a troubled reputation, I enjoyed Heat Guy J. Even on ANNCast it was mocked for having cost as much as Fullmetal Alchemist to license, not because of its quality.

Heat Guy J has a strong musk of film noir to it. The gruff looking android in a fedora and trench coat should've made the clear. Suffice it to say that I approve highly of such future noir style. The series is good looking generally; the never seemed to flag conspicuously, but I admit to being a poor judge, and the series looks distinctive. Heat Guy J's city of Judoh borrows amply from New York City, including a headquarters for the leads that does a pretty good impersonation of the Flatiron Building. The music is mostly just adequate.

Heat Guy J feels like a really mature series. The characters are almost all adults and there are few conspicuous flights of fancy despite the science-fiction trappings of the series. It’s strange that this series got its only television airings on the supremely adolescent MTV.

The series is chiefly episodic, especially in its first half, which did faintly recall Cowboy Bebop, although Heat Guy J hasn't quite the flair and endearing qualities of my untouchable beloved. The stories draw upon traditional noir themes and styles. There are dead relatives, past sins, pangs of guilt and plenty of stuff from the Ellery Queen playbook. It isn't much for narrative innovation, but it gets these stories right and adds just a touch of futuristic flair to each. More of a story builds in the second half, which nicely implicates many events from the earlier stories, thus making things that were pleasant enough on their own feel more worthwhile.

Heat Guy J has very straightforward, but satisfying characters. Robot detectives like the titular J almost always appeal to me. I’m not sure why, but somehow their earnest, eccentric artificial humanity is usually really fun for me to watch. J is interesting because he looks like a middle-aged man and skirts being like some awesome robot uncle or something like that. His chief gimmick is lines of the form, “A man…(verb)… (noun).” He plays well off of Daisuke Aurora, the lead character, for whom he serves as a suitable foil, although I only found him adequately interesting otherwise. It’s all a little preposterous, but it feels fitting to the film noir aesthetic of the series. I also particularly liked Ken Edmundo, a classic grizzled, slightly older detective who, at least at first, seems resentful of the special division that our leads belong to encroaching on the jurisdiction of his regular police, but the series doesn’t overplay this and gradually moves him in a more sympathetic direction. He’s a slightly cranky, old-school officer of the law, although he does have blue hair.

The initial antagonist is the mafia boss, given the title of “Vampire,” named Clair Leonelli, who is very firm in the lunatic category. He laughs, is casually malevolent and has a gimmick involving hand grenades, yet he doesn’t stay as an entertaining, but sometimes tiresome archetype the whole time. Certain dramatic events send his character in a very different place that’s surprisingly sympathetic and pretty interesting. There’s another antagonist who takes the lead later on, but he’s only adequate at being coolly menacing. I admire that he’s a low-key sort, but he also thus failed to be as worth remembering as Clair.

The female cast isn’t too much to talk of. Heat Guy J got some of film noir’s sexism along with the rest of its qualities. It’s not really malicious or overt sexism, but with scarce exception, the female characters are at the rear, to be admired longingly and at best to offer occasional help or emotional support. None of them are thrown down on a bed with their short torn open or anything, but even though the dames ain’t treated too badly, this is a man’s story.

ikillchicken wrote:
errinundra wrote:
Battle Angel

Encouragement to watch this came out of the blue thanks to Ikillchicken and others in the recent thread dedicated to older series that deserved a reboot.


Ah, well I'm glad you enjoyed it.


I have a copy sitting in a box awaiting the right moment and am looking forward to watching it. It's part of something of a 'special occasion' selection that I have in reserve.


errinundra wrote:
suicideshorty74 wrote:
...El Cazador isn't bad but the story hasn't really developed too much in the first 10 episodes.


It never does. Consider it as a sort of road movie meets girls with guns. The developments are leisurely, at best. The last couple of episodes address the background story but there's not a lot to it.


I never really could make much sense of some parts El Cazador de la Bruja's story, but I still really liked it even so. I probably could've watched even more episodes of Nadie and Ellis wandering around in the desert. I really dug them as duo and Ricardo was cool as Hell. It's a series best enjoyed as the animated equivalent of an afternoon nap. Lazy, aimless and really relaxing.
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:43 am Reply with quote
Cam0 wrote:
I guess if I'll give Romeo x Juliet an excellent rating I'll have to drop the rating on The Tower of Druaga to very good (from excellent). I did feel like it didn't much deserve it. I guess I'll remember from now on what an excellent title should be like. These are so rare I seem to forget.
Anime hyper That happens to me sometimes too! Every now and then I'll watch 3 or more shows in a row that turn out to be worth dirt, so if the next show I watch is even mildly entertaining the starvation for a good show will warp my impression Anime hyper

I recently finished re-watching Death Note. I started it again partly because I was in the mood for an intelligent thriller, and partly because of the Rivals Tournament. I wanted to double check that it was as good as I remember it being, and that is a resounding YES!

I also checked out Lupin III: The Secret of Twilight Gemini, and if you're a Lupin fan it's worth the watch but it isn't anything special. It had some classic Lupin/Zenigata interactions that I always love, and surprisingly Zenigata for once actually had Lupin caught. If it wasn't for a 3rd party's interference he actually might have ended up in jail. A fun watch and entertaining enough.
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Cam0



Joined: 13 Dec 2009
Posts: 4884
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:01 am Reply with quote
Tris8 wrote:
Anime hyper That happens to me sometimes too! Every now and then I'll watch 3 or more shows in a row that turn out to be worth dirt, so if the next show I watch is even mildly entertaining the starvation for a good show will warp my impression Anime hyper


I know, rating is so hard sometimes Laughing.

Anyway I started rewatching Nodame Cantabile because it's been a long time since I watched it and I haven't seen Paris or Finale yet.
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suicideshorty74



Joined: 26 Aug 2011
Posts: 22
Location: America
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 4:50 pm Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:

errinundra wrote:
suicideshorty74 wrote:
...El Cazador isn't bad but the story hasn't really developed too much in the first 10 episodes.


It never does. Consider it as a sort of road movie meets girls with guns. The developments are leisurely, at best. The last couple of episodes address the background story but there's not a lot to it.


I never really could make much sense of some parts El Cazador de la Bruja's story, but I still really liked it even so. I probably could've watched even more episodes of Nadie and Ellis wandering around in the desert. I really dug them as duo and Ricardo was cool as Hell. It's a series best enjoyed as the animated equivalent of an afternoon nap. Lazy, aimless and really relaxing.


I had a feeling that El Cazador would be because it was made by the same person who made Noir. The story didn't really develop until very late in the series and it was a little weird, but I still liked it. I do like El Cazador even though the story is weak, and I'm still going to finish the series just to see how it all plays out.

Nadie and Ellis do make a really good duo, that is the main reason that I'm watching it. And I also agree that Ricardo is awesome. By the way, does Lirio ever speak or does she just smile and laugh the whole series?
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asimpson2006



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 3151
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 5:53 pm Reply with quote
Surrender Artist wrote:
I'm in Harrisburg right now and I've noted that the local public transportation is run by the Capital Area Transit Authority, whose buses are regularly referred to by the abbreviation CATBus. I wonder if I'd be allowed to ride for free if I were to say that Totoro had sent me.


I see what you did there. I never ride the buses since I have a motor vehicle myself but if I ever did I might try that. They would probably think I am crazy and not let me on the bus.
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
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Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:02 pm Reply with quote
And, about 135 km east of Melbourne we have an entire Moe city, complete with a Moe primary school and Moe Heights kindergarten.

Back to the core purpose of the thread...

Mezzo Forte

Having appreciated Kite I've been meaning to watch this for a while and a recent thread about that OAV finally pushed me over the line. Mezzo Forte largely forsakes the disturbing beauty of its spiritual predecessor and, in its place, serves up dollops of, often violent, comedy. In fact, playing it for laughs rather suits the over-the-top violence that director Yasuomi Umetsu so relishes. Regardless of the laughs, it doesn't ever forget it's film noir credentials, giving us a trio of morally suspect protagonists - the members of the DSA or Danger Service Agency - who take on the local crime king and his gloriously vicious daughter at the behest of an old man who isn't what he seems.

I watched the uncut version and, as in its earlier counterpart, the two hentai scenes were presumably added to suit the production company Green Bunny. Also like the earlier OAV, the scenes are pretty much unnecessary to the story. That said, they don't jar as badly as Kite's, although they are totally devoid of the prevailing humour even if Yasuomi Umetsu manages to play with our expectations in both instances. I do have a couple of other issues with those scenes. One is the common pornography trope that women enjoy rape. The other I'll mention below.

Where Kite centred on the plight of Sawa, as both victim and predator, seeking to escape her dismal circumstances, Mezzo Forte follows a more simple route of competing villains trying to outwit each other. Sawa's countepart, the garishly orange Mikura, is a marvellous character who, no matter how confused she may be by events, always takes charge of procedings - usually by busting a few heads. It's all done with considerable chutzpah and usually to comedic effect. The biggest problem with the sex scenes is that she suddenly steps right out of character to become the passive plaything of her assailants. If she were acting in character she'd be breaking balls, not giving head.

The sadistic Momomi, daughter of crime king Momokichi Momoi, is a memorable villain who, for all her crazy antics, never spoils things by laughing. At one point she spoiler[berates a troop of minions for failing to do their job, goes into an adjoining room, borrows a gun from one of her bodyguards, returns and shoots them all]. Somehow Umetsu then makes a gag out of spoiler[one of them not dying immediately]. Very clever.

Although Mezzo Forte is more entertaining than Kite it lacks its visual poetry. Nor is it as startling, despite all the violence. Where Kite was a radical departure from the then prevailing Girls with Guns formula of gleeful mayhem, as espoused by the likes of the Dirty Pair franchise and Gunsmith Cats, Mezzo Forte is an emphatic return, albeit with the violence ratcheted up several notches. Rating: good.
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
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Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 7:51 pm Reply with quote
Finished watching Tweeny Witches and it was pretty good, but frustrating. The quality of both the writing and the animation were see-sawing the entire time. A couple times the animation was so lacking that they just showed a still picture of a character while the audio kept going, and switched to still pictures of other characters as the speaker changed. Really, really cheap and lazy there. But I have to say I loved the character designs, the art and design of the entire world; dark yet still colorful with a look that matched perfectly with the wonder of discovering magic and it's inhumane origins.
Rating: Good

Also finished watching Full Metal Panic The Second Raid and now spoiler[Gauron is my favorite villain of all time. Even on his death bed he's still playing mind games and acting like the alpha. And what a bastard, to lie through his teeth about brutally murdering Kaname just to provoke Sousuke. And the way he said it with a smile and a song.... dang Gauron, you are really one of a kind.] Also, I've never been a fan of Kaname and her senseless tsundere-ness, but she was completely badass when spoiler[Yui (Fong or Long I can't remember which) came to kill her and she was able to escape by luck and the skin of her teeth.] That impressed me. But the rest I wasn't that big on. Wasn't a fan of Sousuke being all emo. The more serious tone took away from the show as well. It's at its best with light-hearted fun at its core.
Rating: Good
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 11:49 pm Reply with quote
Watched the first episode of Nurse Witch Komugi on Crunchyroll to check if was worth buying. Yes, yes it is. With a caveat: it's decent on its own, as a more otaku-targeted magical girl, slightly tongue-in-cheek show, but the what makes it really hilarious is when you know all the characters from The SoulTaker, and now see them in totally different situations and much friendlier attitudes.

By the way, the encyclopedia says there's a Komugi special that is also licensed. Is that on the DVD with the OVA series? The Complete Collection is listed as 120 minutes, which looks like 5 x 24 minute episodes. So am I gonna have to dig that up through more dubious means (like the sequel OVA)?
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