And this second one has ones from between the years 1971-1977,
though it doesn’t have all the years, it still has a lot of
classic work (including the original Cutey Honey and Zambot 3):
They’re in FLV format, so they aren’t too big. Â Amazing stuff. Despite the modest file sizes, there is a lot of material here. A lot of things I never saw anything of before. Must find out what the amazing WWII air battle show is. Also a few things I first encountered on foreign satellite TV, like the “Wandering Sun” from 1971, a story about a girl guitarist/singer.
I never heard of .flv format before, but my codecs had no problem playing it. Old Anime
Well, I’m still following Kaichou wa Maid-sama! but am thinking that it’s rather lost its way and it could have been better as a 12-episode series.
Hakuoki Shinsengumi Kitan didn’t end at 12 episodes, it just stopped in mid-story and starts again with a second series sometime in the next few months.
Angel Beats!had a decent ending and is a series worth watching.
As for the summer season, I checked some reviews, and I’m only watching one new show, the excellent Occult Academy. Â Funny, characters you can care about, an end-of-the world situation, and at least one really cute girl.
I also tried the well-reviewed High School of the Dead, but with its scenes of slaughter, and fan-service involving half-naked highschool girls being gnawed by zombies I found it a bit much for my tastes.
Nearly 3 months since I started watching the Spring season. Â I’ve continued to watch Kaichou wa Maid-sama! which continues to please, Â also Hakuoki Shinsengumi Kitan, Â Angel Beats!, which develops in a rather surprising way, and (courtesy of Crunchyroll) Ichiban Ushiro no Daimayou and Durarara.
Admittedly I followed “Ichiban Ushiro no Daimayou partly” because it was on Crunchyroll so I didn’t have to download it, but some of the episodes were good, and there is an acceptable amount of fan-service. The ending is just irritating and I struggled to remember who some of the female characters were; there were so many of them… Â The fiery Junko however is rather likeable.
Durarara continues to be the best of the bunch, even though it has shifted its focus from Celty, now rather a wasted character, to the three teenagers Mikado, Anri, and Masaomi.
Working! About part-timers at a restaurant. So irritating that I only watched half of the first episode.
Heartcatch Precure Another series in the “Futari wa Pretty Cure” universe. For addicts only, I think.
K-On! Series 2 The same five girls as in series 1 re-appear. In this episode they mess around and fail to recruit any new members. Seems a bit lacking – so far I see no reason to watch this rather than re-running the earlier series.
Mayoi Neko Overrun! Bizarre school comedy involving cats and cosplay. Even after watching it I don’t know what it’s about and I’m not sure I care.
Giant Killing A brilliant Japanese soccer player returns to Japan to revive the fortunes of a failing Japanese soccer team. Might be good – check it out if you are a soccer fan.
B Gata H Kei This was trailed as a sex comedy about a 15 year old virgin girl who intends to have 100 sex partners. I hadn’t memorised the Japanese title so when I downloaded and viewed yet another 1st Ep, the stunningly crude dialogue and the clumsy sexually-charged situations took me completely by surprise. Partway through the episode I’d had enough of this dodgy tripe, and switched off. Now removed from my computer. Apparently this is broadcast at 1am in Japan, so heck knows who it’s for – certainly not well-behaved Japanese school students who would be in bed asleep at this hour. If you live in the UK you might be wise to give this one a miss, and check out the vaguely-drafted legislation made active earlier this week:
If you come to the attention of the plods as a weirdo who watches stuff like this or the equally toxic “Kiss x Sis“, they just might make an example of you.
Another mixed bag but there may be some worth following:
Mizuki
Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Ayuzawa Mizuki is the school student president, and because of family circumstances (her father deserted the family), she works part-time at a “maid cafe” in another district. The school enrolment is 80% boys, and Mizuki enforces the rules with a firm hand, which doesn’t make her any more popular with the boys, whom she seems to dislike anyway. One day she is discovered at work by the school’s most eligible boy, Takumi Usui, much to her dismay. However, instead of exposing or blackmailing her, he just hangs around, staring at her, and even helps her out with a couple of problems. Looks like this will be a pleasing shoujo romantic comedy. Despite the maid thing, there’s no overt fan-service.
Chizuru
Hakuoki Shinsengumi Kitan In Meiji-era Japan, while disguised as a boy, Yukimura Chizuru goes to look for her father, who has gone to work on Kyoto and then stopped writing to her. She is chased by some toughs, and then witnesses a fight between them and some supernatural monsters. She finds that she has been captured by the Shinsengumi. (At this point non-Japanese viewers, or readers, should do some Googling to get themselves up to speed with who the Shinsengumi were. While their portrayal in this anime is liable not to be accurate, they were a real Japanese sword-wielding militia formed in the turmoil of the Meiji restoration forced by the arrival of powerful foreign forces. They were involved in some factional fighting.) Some of the Shinsemgumi seem slow to catch on to Chizuru being a girl, despite her overtly feminine face and mannerisms, for the subtitles in the Aoi-Anime sub refer to her indiscriminately as “he” , “boy” or “she”. It turns out that the Shinsengimi are also interested in her father’s mysterious disappearance, and instead of rubbing her out as an inconvenient witness, they decide to keep her as a permanent guest, still dressed as a boy.
So far, this anime has a strong and consistent period feel, and some nice character designs. I found the first episode rather confusing – to untutored Western eyes, Chizuru at first glance is obviously a girl. (Non-Japanese viewers may be slow to realise that what Chizuru is wearing is supposed to be typical boy’s clothing of the period). I’m still not sure who the supernatural fanged guys were or who was fighting who, except that the ones chasing Chizuru apparently died.
Angel Beats! The lead character Otonashi is dumped (like the viewer) straight into a world where a girl, Yuri, wielding a large gun, exhorts him to pick a weapon and attack an silver-haired girl below. Otonashi refuses, and approaches the girl “Angel”, but it seems he says the wrong thing, for she sprouts a blade and fatally stabs him. After at least one painful re-incarnation, Otonashi learns that the girl/warrior “Angel”  is controlling a world consisting essentially of one school, and passing on those in it to be re-incarnated – not necessarily as people. Allegedly. Otonashi is persuaded to join Yuri’s armed group, which is resisting being re-incarnated. In a bizarre second half of ep#1, an all-girl band plays in the school hall while Yuri’s gang hold off Angel with machine-gun fire, and the dinner tickets they staged this battle to capture swirl through the air like autumn leaves.
Arakawa Under the Bridge The protagonist Ichinomiya Kou is the heir to a vast and powerful corporation. A real high-achiever, Kou lives his life by the philosophy of never owing anything to anyone. Unfortunately while crossing a bridge one day he is hassled by punks, and ends up falling into the river and being rescued by a mysterious girl, Arakawa, who claims to be an alien. It’s not hard to guess what happens next. She refuses Kou’s extravagant offers and in return for saving his life merely asks that he stay around and love her. Which puts her in control of his life. While living like a down-and-out under the bridge, Kou is introduced to another wierdo, who is wearing a kappa suit. While this might have potential as an oddball comedy, after 22 minutes it’s already becoming irritating.
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimayou The hero, Akuto Sai, happily arrives as magical academy where his ultimate ambition is to be a high priest. Unfortunately, at the medical screening, a cigar-smoking talking bird divines that his future career will be… Demon Lord. A hundred years previously, a Demon Lord raised an army and messed everything up, so this news rapidly gets around the school. Everything Akuto says or does thereafter is mis-interpreted by the students as evidence of demon lord-ship. There are some good touches in this episode: the gag about the health check being performed by a chain-smoking bird, the very prickly relationship between Akuto and Hattori, a sword-wielding girl in a very short skirt, the trains on magical tracks, and Hattori’s friendship ceremony using her sheathed sword. There is also a fair amount of crud, like the fanservice, the fact that everyone in the series is an idiot, and the arrival of a clutch of a whole bunch of violent magical girls in the closing minutes, and the suspicion that this will become another tiresome harem comedy. So which way will it go?
DVD – The Exquisite Short Films of Kihachiro Kawamoto (Kimstim, 2008, 99 mins, NTSC, subtitled)
Hunter: "The Demon"
Kawamoto has been making his stop-motion puppet animation films for half a century now. They draw on ancient Japanese legends , Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku doll theatre, and 20th century short novels, to create art films with a uniquely Japanese poetic character. Kawamoto learnt his skills at the legendary Kratky Studios in Prague under the mentorship of Czech animator Jiri Trnka.  The results are quite different from the popular Japanese anime which uses cell (and latterly computer) animation and is influenced by manga comics and early American cartoon animation.
The DVD contains seven short films varying in length from 8 to 19 minutes. I might have seen one of them previously: “Dojoji Temple” in which a young monk on a spiritual journey encounters a mysterious woman whose frenzied passions turn her into large white serpent. The monk hides under the temple bell, but the serpent, wreathed in flame, wraps herself around it, and when the bell is lifted, only the monk’s charred corpse is left. (and if you think this sounds weird, you should see the other short films on the DVD)
An essential DVD if you are interested in animation as art.
I forgot about printed sources when writing the previous post.
If you are interested in anime movies and OVAs from 1983-1995 then “The Anime Movie Guide” by Helen McCarthy (Titan,1996) is just what you need. There’s also “500 Essential Anime Movies – The Ultimate Guide” by Helen McCarthy [2008] (not seen).
The Anime Encyclopedia by Clements & McCarthy is a larger work (pub.2001, 550pp) which claims to cover Japanese animation since 1917. Hovever its coverage of prewar anime is slight; of the first 30 titles in the AniDB list, it namechecks six and gives detail on none. It does review the famous propoganda movie “Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors” (1945) and its 1943 prequel, but almost all other reviews are post-1960. There’s a later edition (2006, 896pp) (not seen) which reportedly has “added quite a bit of material on prewar and wartime anime.”
A quick run-down of some of the new season: it’s said than no Japanese animation is entirely without interest, but with several of this season’s offerings that observation is put to the test!
Katanagatari – (trailer). Samurai swordsman fantasy stuff – didn’t pique my interest.
Dance in the Vampire Bund – Irritating TV show in opening episode, but in the last scene we meet some sexy-looking, under-dressed and violent female vampires, so could be worth following if this is what you like.
Ookami Kakushi – transfer student arrives in town full of mystery, and immediately finds a cute girl hurling herself at him, and other students seem to like him too. However the opening credits are full of supernatural violence. Do we want to explore the mystery, or are we just too irritated to care?
Chu-Bra – about a schoolgirl who is fascinated by adult underwear. If you are a teenage girl, it could be quite educational; if not, best just leave quietly…
Sora no Woto – about a girl who joins the army and gets herself posted to a troop of female soldiers, with the idea of learning the trumpet. Setting is a cod-European pastiche. The lead character, Kanata, is utterly and irresistibly cute – but hold on a moment – this is from the same pen as “K-on!” and the character designs are rather similar, so maybe just digging out “K-on!” and re-running it might be a better idea.
Baka to Test to Shokanju – set in a school where the thickest students get the worst facilities, but can challenge the elite classes to a contest to swap rooms. Contains many of the usual school comedy elements but very funny, could be worth following.
Cobra the Animation – Old fashioned all-action sci-fi adventure. Note that the under-dressed female eye-candy are scrumptious and definitely Women, not schoolgirls, so no need for embarrassment about your viewing tastes if you’re over a certain age.
Durarara!! – at last something decent this season. A well-paced opening episode that delivers a lot of exposition and introduction of characters without getting bogged down. The background is the streets of Tokyo by night, there’s some violent action from a masked black motorcyclist, and an on-screen blog that comments on the events. Plenty of reasons to look forward to episode 2.
The City of Lost Children – Jeunet & Caro. A fantastic live-action French movie by the creators of Delicatessen. It’s full of fabulous stuff: in a seaport, children are stolen by a group of blind men wearing cybernetic “eyes”, nasty Siamese twins send out a group of children to steal valuables, and a group of clones experiment with dreams. In a comic-book touch that will doubtless appeal to fans of Japanese animation, the principal character “Crumb” is a clever, resourceful and pretty young girl clad in a red dress. She helps “One” the side-show strongman track down a stolen boy, his “little brother”.
Most of the characters are grotesques, and in one case I had to resort to the “extras” to confirm that the actor really looked like his on-screen character and wasn’t digitally altered! Judith Vittet who plays Crumb is just brilliant. Though only nine years old when the movie was made, she was very professional and apparently corrected the continuity of the other young actors. Ron Perlman as “One” is also very good.
“City of Lost Children” looks fantastic, contains lots of cool scenes and unlike many fantasy films doesn’t have a plot that insults the intelligence of a five-year old, though it is a bit obscure in places. One of the best fantasy movies I’ve seen.
Sasameki Koto: I’m still following this story of romantic relationships among girls. The self-absorbed Ushio still hasn’t realised how Sumika feels about her.
Nyan Koi: Amusing story about a boy, Junpei, who is cursed after damaging a roadside cat shrine, with the result that he can understand what cats say, and has to fulfill 100 cat wishes otherwise he’ll turn into one. At the start of the story he secretly is attracted to his pretty classmate Kaede. However as the series progresses one gets to feel that there is a harem thing going on, as while he may be cursed by the cats, he is also attracting a following of good-looking girls.
Kimi ni Todoke  (=Reaching You): A charming story about the friendship between the shy and awkward Sawako and popular boy, Kazehaya. Sawako has difficulty in relating to other people, and at the start of the story has no friends. Her classmates just think she’s weird, and  persistently mis-pronounce her name as “Sadako” (the name of a creepy character from the “Ring” horror movie). They spread rumours about her occult powers (she hasn’t any, of course.) Kazehaya wants to date her, but Sawako is so lacking in self-esteem that she just doesn’t get it when he says he wants to see her over the summer. Gradually she opens out and makes friends with other girls while falling in love with Kazehaya.
Cross Game: Still watching this. A new character, Akane, has appeared. Everyone thinks Akane looks startlingly like how Tsukishima Aoba’s dead sister would look now if she was still alive.Â
Aoi Bungaku Series: adaptations of classic Japanese stories. Soseki Natsume’s “Kokoro”, Osamu Dazai’s “No longer Human” (Ningen Shikaku) and and “Run, Melos!” (Hashire Melos). RyÅ«nosuke Akutagawa’s “Hell screen” (Jigoku hen), RyÅ«nosuke Akutagawa’s “The Spider’s Thread” (Kumo no Ito), Ango Sakaguchi’s “In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom” (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita).
Running order:
4 episodes for ningen shikkaku/No Longer Human
2 for Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita/In the Forest, under cherries in full bloom
2 for Kokoro
2 for hashire melos/Run, Melos
1 for Kumo no Ito/The Spider’s Thread
and 1 for Jigoku hen/Hell Screen
Manga artists Takeshi Obata (Death Note), Takeshi Konomo (Prince of Tennis), and Tite Kubo (Bleach) will be involved in the animation’s designs. The first one, which was a grim adult tale set in early 20th century Japan, seemed a bit long and depressing. “In the Forest…” is totally different in style and content, and is superb. “Kokoro” is different again, and again superb. “Run, Melos” is excellent. It refers to an ancient Greek story about Melos.Â
Dropped: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun: a story about some girl students at a college of magic in a magical alternate world. Well-realised and funny. I enjoyed it, but dropped it mainly because there wasn’t an interesting ongoing story. If lesbo groping is your thing, you’ll find it here rather than in the yuri animes reviewed on this page.
They’re in FLV format, so they aren’t too big. Â Amazing stuff. Despite the modest file sizes, there is a lot of material here. A lot of things I never saw anything of before. Must find out what the amazing WWII air battle show is. Also a few things I first encountered on foreign satellite TV, like the “Wandering Sun” from 1971, a story about a girl guitarist/singer.
Durarara!! – at last something decent this season. A well-paced opening episode that delivers a lot of exposition and introduction of characters without getting bogged down. The background is the streets of Tokyo by night, there’s some violent action from a masked black motorcyclist, and an on-screen blog that comments on the events. Plenty of reasons to look forward to episode 2.
Kimi ni Todoke  (=Reaching You): A charming story about the friendship between the shy and awkward Sawako and popular boy, Kazehaya. Sawako has difficulty in relating to other people, and at the start of the story has no friends. Her classmates just think she’s weird, and  persistently mis-pronounce her name as “Sadako” (the name of a creepy character from the “Ring” horror movie). They spread rumours about her occult powers (she hasn’t any, of course.) Kazehaya wants to date her, but Sawako is so lacking in self-esteem that she just doesn’t get it when he says he wants to see her over the summer. Gradually she opens out and makes friends with other girls while falling in love with Kazehaya.