|
WHITE BASE WIRES
10.15.03
by
Matt McConnel
Featuring
reviews of Aura Battler Dunbine, Fruits Basket, Revolutionary
Girl Utena, Rune Soldier, Variable Geo and You're Under Arrest!
Aura
Battler Dunbine
More info: ADV
Films
Rating: 
While
a vintage anime, Aura Battler Dunbine comes from the same
cut, as well as many of the same creators, as the three Robotech
series (I say Robotech, but in fact mean Maccross, Genesis
Climber Mospeda, and Southern Cross) and others such as Orguss.
Dunbine is in one of the same a part of these, and yet apart.
On the one hand it featured stunningly original mecha designs
and a deep storyline, while on the other it suffered from
the melodrama and heavy psychedelic pastel coloring so prevalent
to the period.
Show Zama
is mystically transported via the Aura Road to the world of
Byston Well. It really begins that abruptly; from there, Show
and the viewer are introduced to the strange world that has
begun to integrate its own mystically life force (aura) based
industry with the high technology of 'Upper Earth' or the
so-called real world. People from Upper Earth, though a rarity,
are not uncommon visitors to Byston Well, and through these
transplanted persons that the Aura Battlers have been built.
While the natives can pilot them with conventional controls,
it takes a person from Upper Earth to allow the Battlers to
realize their full potential as aura powers machines. Show
is not alone, an American (with a rather racist view on the
world) named Tod is brought the same night.
While
initially in the service of the lord Drake Luft who brought
them to Byston Well, Show finds out there is more to the new
world than initially revealed. Complex political maneuverings
take place behind the scene eventually finding Show involved
in an attack on a neighboring fiefdom and him questioning
the rightness of his actions. Show switches sides to join
another noble family in opposition to Luft, but he is still
involved with Luft's growing ambition to rule the kingdom
and the machinations of other lords.
The political
activities of Aura Battler Dunbine remind one of Dune in their
complexity, underhandedness, and blatant disregard for anything
but personal gain. However, instead of the main character
being one of the families, it is an outsider. Furthermore,
the writers took great pains to make the motives for all the
goings on unclear so that even after Show betrays Luft's men,
it is still unclear if he is on the 'right' side. Likewise,
the character relations are startlingly complex for a show
whose contemporaries played the school yard game of 'I know
someone who liiiiikes you'.
The English
dub is solid with good cast choices except for the poor guy
they got for Neal Given, he can't seem to decide whether or
not he has a Scottish accent. The Japanese is vintage, and
unfortunately falls too far into the melodramatic for my taste.
Speaking of vintage, the animation is good, albeit annoyingly
pastel, and while sometimes the quality can slip (as is want
to do in a weekly television show) it remains more or less
consistent with few stock footage clips.
Aura Battler
Dunbine is a fun series to watch, and especially evokes the
nostalgia of the late 70's/early 80's without feeling too
childish. The mecha designs alone set this series apart, they
are original as to be seen no where else with the possible
exception of the Invid from Robotech. If you can sit through
the horrid 80's J-Pop opening, it's worth it.
Fruits
Basket
More info:
Funimation
Rating:
Strange,
compelling, hilarious, and stunning are all words that equally
describe Fruits Basket. I had been hearing quite a bit about
it for some time, and finaly a copy arrived for review. I
must admit what I had heard made me a little worried I would
not like it. For one thing, it is purely shojo; the art, story,
and characters are completely in the girl's style. For another,
it seemed like a rip off of Saint Seyia and Ranma. As it turns
out, though my fears were not entirely unfounded, the actual
product is so incredibly beyond the sum of it's formulas that
it stands firmly on its own two feet.
The story
is this: Tohru Honda is a girl who has recently lost her mother
in an accident. She falls in with the members of the Sohma
clan. The clan bears the curse of the zodiac, meaning that
in every generation 14 members of the clan take on a form
of the Eastern astrological calendar. Horse, snake, monkey,
etc. Why 14 when there are 12? Well, there are two members
who don't quite fit that mould, the clan's leader who bears
the 'core curse' and who is slowly dying because of it (he
does not transform, but is just generally an asshole) and
Kyo who bears the curse of the cat who was tricked by the
rat into leaving it's place in the zodiac. Because of this
Kyo and Yuki (the rat) are pretty much constantly antagonistic
despite their close age and interests. Tohru finds herself
in the middle of this, and a bit of a triangle develops between
the three. The other characters move in and out through this,
some major, some not, but over all of this, the clan head
has decreed that if Tohru screws up, she will have her memory
erased.
The dubbing
in English is marvelous, and the voice casts in both languages
really give it their all. Both performances are equally energetic,
though I do recommend listening to both because there are
differences in the way the characters are played that, while
subtle, make for some interesting repeat viewing. As for the
art, well, it is stock shojo. Biiiiiig eyes, trendy school
uniforms, and hardly an ugly mug in the bunch. But that is
not important here really.
The transformations
are really secondary to the story, although they can lead
to some interesting scenes. Ultimately, the story is more
about the characters than their adventures. The comedy is
fast paced, and usually pretty self/genre deprecating. Occasionally,
especially near the 'end' of the series the drama takes over,
and the usual conventions of a shojo show swing in, but for
the most part the drama is secondary to the insane antics
going on.
Speaking
of the end. There really is not one, it just sort of stops,
though I have been told the manga (still not in translation)
continues. The major love triangle is not entirely resolved,
though I must admit, the guy I was rooting for seemed to come
out on top. Fruits Basket however, is not about the destination,
but the journey, and it is an enjoyable one. FUNimation has
really pulled a winner with this series, and it is fervently
hoped by many, many fans (yours truly now among them) that
they will continue it.
Revolutionary
Girl Utena
More info: Central
Park
Rating:
The story
of the anime (released in Japan contiguous to the manga) is
the same as it is in the manga, so I won't reiterate the story
in this review. Instead, I want to focus on some further observations
made in the course of viewing the anime and what the anime
has to offer that the manga does not.
Music.
Um, duh, it's got sound, but to be perfectly honest the voice
acting in both English and Japanese does not impress. Instead,
it suffices and serves to present the fascinating plot. The
music however, is almost a secondary character. Shojo has
always had an affinity for the poppy kind of tune, but in
Utena it is utilized in a much more subtle and sometimes even
dark manner. Granted, it is still awfully poppy, but it does
enhance the series as a whole.
I don't
quite think the writers understood the meaning of the term
'revolution'. Yes it means change, usually innovative or even
drastic, but in the dialogue it sometimes seems more like
it is being used in its more sinister context, that of violence,
blood, and revolt. Odd in a series that is so obsessed with
conformity. (scratches head)
Anime
suffers from a problem that often does not appear in manga,
the stock footage. While there is really only one stock scene,
Utena climbing the stairs to the dueling field, it is used
EVERY time, and can feel old after a couple of three. That
having been said, the animators did a very good job of telling
the story in their own way, and in their own medium. They
realize they are dealing with motion and not just transferring
a manga to screen. The animation is fluid, smooth, and wonderfully
textured in the backgrounds, something that animators the
world over many times leave by the wayside. I think this is
really one of the strengths of producing the manga simultaneous
to the anime, the artists can work off of and with each other
rather than the one having to rely on a finished work of the
other.
There
are bizarre little scenes that occur while Utena is at her
locker. They are silhouettes behind a red stained glass window
(rose motif of course). They are often humorous seemingly
non-sequeters, but they do still tie into the episode, but
they can be a little jarring.
The story
is just as compelling (and is actually farther in the storyline
in the hands of CPM than Viz) and is still probably one of
the best things to make it over in the past couple of years.
CPM has also been kind enough to provide some very handsome
boxed sets of the series as well as the movie which, though
I have not seen it, looks very interesting.
Rune
Soldier
More info: ADV
Films
Rating: 
Louis:
A name that inspires visions of nobility and grandeur; the
jazz of the city of St. Louis, the court of the Sun King,
and other great things of beauty that a re conjured up by
the French name. You will find no such grandeur here. Louie
is a bumbling apprentice magician, better with his brawn than
brain, who hooks up with the prototypical fantasy adventuring
group in an attempt to prove that he really is a great hero.
Louie
is the adopted son of the head of the Magician's Guild, he
is however, not an especially talented magician, that role
is better left to his best friend (and perhaps future love
interest) Ila. Louie however wants to follow in his father's
younger footsteps and become a great adventurer. To that end
he lands a job as nominal magician (and default porter) to
an otherwise all female party of Melissa (cleric), Merrill
(thief), and Genie (big sword wielding warrior). Hilarity
ensues.
I say
that in sincerity and sarcasm, because while much of the series
is funny, there are some just downright stupid aspects to
it. For one thing, I've never bought the bit where the bumbling
hero, who otherwise has nothing to offer, suddenly comes up
with the solution. There are other, little, irksome things
that crop up now and again, like the cleric constantly making
the admonition 'It is against my will,' but mostly these are
fantasy anime conventions thrown in there by way of imitation/parody.
At its heart, Rune Soldier is a parody, it is a romp through
an otherwise perfectly normal fantasy world. To this end,
careful viewers may note some stylistic similarities in character
designs to Record of Lodoss War. The style is updated, but
it is there.
The voice
acting is decent all round, but the real interesting thing
is the translation. The English dub has a few added bits that
were probably thrown in to please an American audience. It
is worth watching the dub if only to hear the line, "Say hello
to Louie the hero, and my friend, Mr. Pig!"
Like I
said before, this is really just a romp, and little else.
There are undertones and over currents that run throughout,
but there really isn't an ongoing storyline to speak of. Run
Soldier (and for the life of me, I can't figure out how they
got that name) is a fantasy comedy that is easily in the same
ilk as Sorcerer Hunters, Those Who Hunt Elves, and Legend
of Crystalnia. Oh wait, that last one wasn't a comedy, it
was just silly; regardless, if you are just looking for something
fun and not especially serious, then Rune Soldier will fit
the bill just fine.
Variable
Geo
More info: ADV
Films
Rating: Yes, we have no bananas
This is
without any doubt, one of the worst animes I have ever seen.
While the animation is good, Variable Geo's art exists only
to display the nubile pen and paint renderings of wenches
in combat. Part DragonBall Z, part LaBlue Girl with all the
bad script those two imply, Variable Geo is downright embarrassing
as an example of anime.
Variable
Geo is a tournament where waitresses compete for ten million
dollars and the losers of a match have to remove their clothes
(handy huh?). But there is a sinister side to the tournament
and its backing corporation (isn't there always). Yuka must
battler her way to the area to save her best friend from the
clutches of an evil… Well, that spoils the ending doesn't
it.
Consisting
of three half hour episodes, Variable Geo has little to nothing
to offer story wise. It is all too predicable, except when
it actually takes a chance and then it is just confusing because
there are plot holes the size of the San Andreas. Battle after
battle, strip after strip, bad dialogue after worse. The entire
purpose of the scanty Tekken/DBZ style plot is to forward
the heroines into more confrontations to expose more skin.
There
is better HANTAI than this out there people! I cannot stress
enough the mind numbing stupidity at work here. I cannot also
stress how much you need purchase a bottle of some cheap hooch
to go along with this, because that is the only way you will
be able to sit through this result of long, tried and true
bovine digestion. To my knowledge, I have only conferred a
no banana rating once before, and I gladly do so now in warning
and testament to this barnyard steaming fly attractant.
You're
Under Arrest!: Mini-Specials
More info: ADV
Films
Rating:
Bokuto
Police Station is home to an insane collection of characters
who make up the cast of You're Under Arrest. You're Under
Arrest is one of those long running, but slow burning franchises
that actually began as a manga back in the late eighties.
It has aged well, and as this installment shows, it is still
not ready to kick the bucket of obscurity.
There
isn't really a plot, there are instead many plots. Five episodes
are divided into four mini portions of about 10 minutes each.
Personally I am a great fan of the short story and short film,
so I ate each of these up with glee. The characters are established
early on for those who are not familiar with the series, and
each mini-episode stays easily within itself providing an
enjoyable bite of comedy. The two main characters are Miyuki
and Natsumi, and while most of the stories focus on them,
the supporting cast is not sidelined utterly and supports
the mini's well. The dialogue and voice acting moves well,
and doesn't hang around much, because it can't do that in
less than 10 minutes.
The animation
is solid and consistent, running into problems only when a
lot of moving background is involved, and even then, there
is quite a bit of effort to cover even this up with other
techniques and alternating shots. The English voice acting
is definitely some of the better work ADV has produced this
year, and the Japanese voice actors throw just as much of
themselves into the work as the American. The translation
is fairly literal for the subtitles, and justifiably liberal
for the dub, but both get the right message across.
The drawbacks
are two: First, the episodes sometimes end more with an air
of dieus ex machine than with resolution; and second, a lot
of the stories deal with the distinctly Japanese comedic themes
of lechery, voyeurism, and other oddities of society. The
encounters are funny, but often one gets the sense of 'oh
gad, another lech that the girls are going to beat up'.
It's hard
to render a verdict. The mini-specials are fun, well paced,
and enjoyable, but they just end, there is no over plot to
tie them together, but then again, there wasn't supposed to
be. The shorts are satisfying, but only in a short term way,
not like Loony Toons, or some other short format anime. There
is nothing to pontificate on here, it is just fun and humorous.
Matt
is our anime guru. Email him here.
|
