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WHITE BASE WIRES
3.26.03
by
Matt McConnel
Featuring
reviews of Sakura
Wars, Melty Lancer, Tsukikage Ran and Golden Boy
Sakura
Wars
More info: ADV
Rating: 
Unless
it is going to be ZOE: Deloros, let there be no more anime
based on video games. The balance so far is tilted so far
towards the bad and mediocre that there are really only about
two or three titles out there worth the cost of manufacturing,
let alone retail value. Sakura Wars' original story line was
mildly interesting despite its rather lack luster other qualities.
The follow up OVA series however, is abysmal and presents
none of the originals strengths, namely big action sequences
and halfway interesting character development.
Nominally
the plot is fairly straight forward. There are these demon
things that have invaded the world and they were beaten with
the power of the Industrial Revolution. Steam reigns supreme
in a bizarre alternative universe where World War I never
happened, the gas engine never quite got off the ground, zeppelins
range the skies, and demons attack. A heavy industrial concern
is trying to come up with a new weapon to combat the demons
should they return. To this end, they build several giant
steam-punk mechs that should work but refuse to. Until the
boss's daughter climbs in one. They deduce that it takes a
young woman of exceptional spirit to pilot these things, and
the search for the best candidates is on. Quite an eclectic
bunch too. A Russian via New York, a Hong Kong martial artist,
a French Aristocrat, a Korean tech wiz, the boss's daughter,
and the young scion of a samurai clan. Along the way they
pick up a young commander who really serves as glue and comic
relief, a sort of matriarch aide de camp, and the general
in charge of it all who is of course a blundering idiot except
in a pinch. Pretty stock especially when you consider the
demons, when they return, look like they got out of the wrong
end of H. R. Geiger's reject pile. Together the Imperial Flower
Combat Troop must face the odds of a demon invasion, mastering
their fighting skills, their own differences, and the outrageous
cover of being a theatrical players group at the Imperial
Theater. But they all find their courage and come through
in the end in their big steam powered battle suits.
The OVA
opens with Captain Ohgami, the glue/comic guy, preparing to
leave for no apparent reason. As he packs his things he recalls
a various stories from the past, one for every two members
of the troop. This means two thirds of the OVA series is in
fact recap of stuff that did not happen in the original series.
The final two episodes then deal with Sakura's mysterious
departure from the Imperial Theater under circumstances that
has a certain M-word being bandied about. In actuality, Sakura
is merely performing a marriage ritual for her family, she
is not the bride, but that does not stop the rest of the crew
from wildly speculating and trying to stop the wedding.
The original
series had robot suited action and characters that were moderately
interesting. The creators went to great lengths to make the
cast seem diverse in the form of accents and use of the characters
native languages. Sakura is the focus of course, and her reconciling
her own person with the near legendary entity of her father
who sacrificed himself to stop the demons is something of
considerable interest. In the OVA however, all this development
seems to be tossed aside in favor of the little stories that
provide little to no value whatsoever. Sakura is dumbed down
from her intelligent and introspective personality to be a
rather vapid second fiddle. Likewise, there are no battles
in steam powered battle suits. None. The only action scene
of note, and it does evoke the spirit of the original series,
is where the audience finally gets to see what Sakura's father
did. There are really only pale shadows of the original series
in the OVA, perhaps best exemplified by the opening to the
last episode where there is no talking, but just music and
images as each of the members of the Troop image what Sakura's
wedding would be like if they were there. Each individual's
ideas are colored by their own culture so that Sakura and
a shadowed male figure are seen in several different wedding
ceremonies. It really is a wonderful sequence, pity one has
to wade through so much garbage for it. In fact it is safe
to say that the last two episodes are in fact the only thing
worthwhile. In the last two episodes there is an actual story
and character development on the level of the original series,
as well as a nicely charge action sequence.
For anyone
who enjoyed the original series, and it does have merit, I
would encourage you to take a look at the last two episodes,
but do not bother with anything else on the discs. In fact,
better to just rent or borrow them, as there is not anything
worthwhile in the form of extras either. The only thing interesting
about any of the early episodes are the opening credits that
are not only well conceived, but also give the voice actors
their names on the front end, something that I think is long
overdue. I was really disappointed with the Sakura Wars OVAs
not because it was a waste of my time, but because the last
two episodes were worth my time and the rest was not.
Tsukikage
Ran
More info: Bandai
Rating: 
The tile
means 'carried by the wind', an apt name for a series that
displays all the qualities of wind: Pleasant, varying in intensity,
and elusive. Tsukikage Ran is a fine example of an anime that
you can just watch; there is no in depth storyline, or least
not one that is readily apparent, and there is plenty of eye
candy and comedy to occupy the lower echelons of the consciousness.
Though there is little to commend the series as a high work
of thinking man's anime, it is nevertheless enjoyable and
eminently watchable.
Tsukikage
Ran is based on a genre of Japanese filmmaking that can be
loosely termed as 'samurai drama'. For anyone who has seen
Akira Kurosowa's movies this is the sort of thing it is. The
closest analogy in Western movies would have to be something
along the lines of The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman. Tsukikage
Ran's take on this is to make it a comedy with the two principle
characters being female. Um, ok? Ran, our heroine, is a wandering
samurai who really just wants to be left alone with her sake.
This is not her fate however, as she is beset by trials and
tribulations not least of which is her tag along travel companion
the Lady Meow of the Iron Cat Fist style. Meow is very good
in a fight, but she is usually so flakey as to not even realize
the fight is going on. Ran on the other hand is very aware
of her surroundings, and despite her best efforts, and usually
because of Meow, she is constantly drawn into the affairs
of others. The two meet by chance, and Meow just keeps following
Ran after that.
Each episode
is an independent story, and while this may turn off some
fans dying for a sweeping epic storyline, the single story
stand alone works it its own way. Corrupt bar owners, unsavory
merchants, bandits, pirates, hired assassins, and even another
wandering pair of samurai and martial artist beset the duo
and each time justice prevails. This may sound trite, but
it really works because there is also an injection of levity
that keeps things going. While there is implication that Ran's
past may catch up with her, initially the episodic form works
very well.
Bandai's
production of the discs is good. The extras are average: the
stock trailers, openings, closings, etc. One feature that
is nice are the liner notes that give little snippets of detail
on various aspects of the period, genre, and show itself.
Beyond that there is really little to commend the disc extras-wise.
One thing
Tsukikage Ran does very well is the action sequences. The
action is fast, sometimes quite brutal, and there is a real
sense of sudden violence that never ceases to please. It is
not the prolonged and drawn out staring at one another followed
by a lot of running sideways with speed lines that so often
plagues this genre, but quick and into it. For a comedy that
has often very outlandish moments, the fighting sequences
are actually fairly realistic. It serves as a nice counterpoint
to the silliness that often pervades the rest.
Tsukikage
Ran is something that I enjoyed very much. It is a rare thing
to find a show, animated or otherwise, that does episodic
storytelling well. As devotee of a particular form of liquor,
for me it is whisky, I was particularly amused by the persistence
of sake in the series, as well as how it figures prominently
in at least one episode. What bothers me is the endless wanderings;
while I like the self contained style, there just needs to
be a little more meat. Something. Even in Lone Wolf and Cub,
for those of you familiar with it, there was a background
that, while important, only really came up now and again.
More importantly, where does it end? Does it just stop?
Melty
Lancer
More info: Bandai
Rating:
Melty
Lancer: The Animation. As opposed to what? The live action?
One can only shudder at the possibility. In actuality, the
animation is based on a series of Play Station video games
of little repute. Melty Lancer: The Animation picks up where
the video game's storyline effectively leaves off and casts
the viewer into the mad capped mayhem of a futuristic paramilitary
police unit. As a general rule, the anime or movie of a video
game will be significantly worse, and Melty Lancer seems to
be no exception.
The story
begins in the middle, and the apparent assumption is that
the viewer has already played the game all the way though.
The members of the now disbanded Melty Lancer unit (personal
side note. I am actually typing out the words 'melty' and
'lancer', feels wrong…) are being once more gathered together
for reasons that are not entirely clear, but are made horribly
explicit in the third episode. Anyway, rare pieces of DNA
have been disappearing at the hands of a criminal organization
known as Defiant. Though there are no fatalities in these
incidents, it makes the police look bad, and so a call goes
out to re-instate Melty Lancer. It is merely a PR trick though
as they are given substandard headquarters, aide, and apparently
commander. The commander is more than he seems however, as
is made head poundingly clear in the third episode. The plot
is primarily concerned with trying to catch Defiant, the Vanessar
Gang, and their erstwhile employers the shadowy ideologues
Iyonesco. There are other little bits thrown in like the commander's
background, the possibility that one of the team members might
not be a unique specimen, and other little things that would
have worked in a video game, but fail in a series.
The animation
is one of the good things about Melty Lancer, it is clean,
flows well, and actually uses itself as a medium. For example
when one of the characters is feeling woozy, the seconds after
her episode, the frames are fuzzy and indistinct as opposed
to the usually well defined cells. The use of CG is prominent,
but is actually well integrated. It is not stellar, but it
is better than a lot of stuff out there such as Pilot Candidate.
The voice acting is standard fare, good all round in both
English and Japanese. The script and story is where things
fall apart completely. At the beginning, one gets the impression
that this is going to be genre-deprecating humor. One of the
villains actually utters the words: "This week's amazing stupendous
mecha!" But then, a scant two minutes later, one of the other
characters turns the tide of battle by using what she learned
about vectors earlier in the episode. Such plot devices are
best reserved for animation designed for ages seven and under.
The DVD
itself is alright. While there are only three episodes on
the first disc, there are a lot, for Bandai, of extras: Glossary,
vehicle and weapon designs, promo spots, and more. One thing
that Bandai is to be commended for is their new format of
subtitling. While the default is the English dub, the subtitles
for the songs include not only the English, but the Phonetic
adaptation of the Japanese as well. Bandai started this a
while back with Love Hina, and it looks like they are making
it a mainstay for which many fans will be very pleased.
There
are good things about this disc, but none of them are anywhere
near justification for the price. The story is really sub
par, and I cannot help but wonder why they didn't just release
another video game. There are intriguing little tidbits, and
I am interested to see where some things develop, but not
enough to go out of my way for it.
Golden
Boy: Wandering Student
More info: ADV
Rating: plus
one for the charm
I'll be
honest, the first time I saw Golden Boy, I hated it. My usual
ratings and ravings abounded as I degraded its lack of characterization,
apparent lack of story, lecherous dilly dally, and just about
everything else I could think of. And that was just after
the first episode. Perhaps I am going soft, but after a few
years, sitting down to ADV's new two disc complete set, I
was surprised to find that while it had not changed at all,
it was actually quite charming.
The story,
or at least the premise, concerns 25 year old Kintaro who
is an odd job man who wanders Japan on his trusty bicycle
the Crescent Moon. Though he could have graduated from Tokyo
University's law school, he chose to withdrawal after completing
the curriculum, but before receiving his degree. Now, he is
student of life, and studies the world though an eager, if
lecherous and good natured, eye. Oh, and he is also a genius.
Quick on absorbing information, he invariably improves the
situation of those around him. There are six episodes in all,
and Kintaro becomes involved or at least obsessed with, a
new woman every time. Though the individuals react to him
in different ways, the majority revile him, they invariably
end up liking the guy for all his foibles. All the time Kintaro
is absorbing knowledge and chanting his mantra of: "Study,
study, study…" Sometimes he succeeds by accident, sometimes
by sheer determination, and finally by relying on those he
has helped before. Though each episode begins to seem formulaic
towards the end, the series is short enough, and deranged
enough to prevent it from becoming stale.
While
Golden Boy is charming over all, there are some significant
points that detract from it. For one thing, it was made waaaaay
back when ADV was still fairly young in the biz, and consequently
there is quite a lot of over lap in the English dubbing. Most
notably in the form of some of the women, three of which have
the same bloody voice. The animation is a bit of a shock to
anyone unfamiliar with anime in the early 90's and it goes
a long ways to showing how far things have come. While it
is well done, there are little inconsistencies that technology
has ironed out on more recent productions. This is not to
say the animation is bad, it is merely older. Finally, there
is the issue of the toilet. Kintaro has an obsession with
the damn thing (usually after the object of his lust has used
it). It is funny, in a really disturbing way, but it is a
gag very obviously directed at the male teenage audience Golden
Boy was originally designed for.
One thing
where Golden Boy excels is in the area of translation. ADV
could have made a direct translation of the Japanese and confused
people, but instead they made a rather direct translation
for the sub, and a figurative translation for the dub. What
this means is that the English dub is geared to the English
speaker, and the Japanese sub is for the purist. This is something
that ADV has done, and continues to do that is one of their
nicer features, especially in the era of the DVD.
The whole
experience is very much a shut your brain off kind of affair.
The humor comes fast and is often just so bizarre you have
to laugh for lack of any other reaction. The charm comes from
Kintaro himself who is one in the same, the fool and the wise
man. It is not a far stretch to say that he is molded after
the eight Taoist Immortals, all Kintaro is missing is the
penchant for imbibing copious amounts of distilled liquors.
Still, it is a fun show to sit down to an episode or two at
a time, and yes, you will find yourself suddenly wanting to
hop on a bike, start a random journal of observations, and
begin your own journey as a wandering student.
Matt
is our anime guru. Email him here.
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