WHITE BASE WIRES
10.29.02
by
Matt McConnel
Zone
of the Enders: Idolo
Rating: 
More Info: ADV
Films
One can
only suppose that the makers of Zone of the Enders not only
wanted to make an anime off of the successful console game,
but also take on the venerable Gundam franchise. The intensity,
quality, and effort put into this initial OVA, Idolo show
hallmarks that one does not find in many other series save
Gundam itself.
The premise
is very much like Gundam; Mars is technically an independent
state, but no more independent than Poland or any other East
Bloc country during the Cold War. They are dominated socially,
politically, and physically by Earthlings. The desire to free
Mars leads the Martian government to begin experimentation
with a new ore discovered on one of the moons. This ore presents
unique properties, not least of which is the ability to interface
and react to a human. Second Lieutenant Radium and his friend
Sergeant Viola are called off their duties as pilots to participate
in the Idolo Project. A new form of LEM (read: humanoid mecha)
that utilizes the reactive ore has been developed and Radium
will test it. Test it he does, with phenomenal results; so
good in fact that he and the prototype Idolo seem to get into
synch with each other, to the point that Viola cannot pilot
the craft. The project has not gone unnoticed by the ever
omnipresent eye of Earth, and with the help of a traitor on
the project, the base is destroyed, and Radium must pilot
Idolo one last time to save his fiancé who is taken hostage
in the fray.
The first
thing one notices about Idolo is that it is VERY pretty. Eye
candy abounds, and the animation is smooth. The mecha and
character designs are clear, crisp, and consistent. The viewer
is treated to magnificent space battles, some real quality
mecha action, and even some rather disturbing imagery in a
church. Unfortunately, this means that for the entire budget
spent on the animators, the writers were not given much to
work with beyond the plot of the video game, and this OVA
is supposed to predate the video game by several years. While
the writing staff is to be commended for doing as much with
what they had, it remains an anime based of a video game trying
to unhorse a similar genre piece; there is little pizzazz
and innovation, nothing new is offered, and the situation
is made even worse by a dumbing down of the dialogue in the
dub.
There
are two exceptions to this mediocre storyline. One is the
very real fact that someone who grew up on Earth has a higher
muscle density than a Martian. Martians are physically weaker
than Earthlings. This translates into Earthlings being referred
to by Radium as 'like Hercules', and the metaphor of capricious
god-men come to ground carries throughout. Similarly, Idolo
is described as a form of magic, and Radium has been given
the powers of a magician. This too carries through well. However,
for some reason ADV saw fit to remove most of this sort of
dialogue from the dub. This is trend that I sincerely hope
ADV backs off on. Specifically the fact that several of their
recent productions bear the hallmark not only of Americanization,
which can be good in a way, but of a less intelligent story
due to the dropping out of subtleties that they obviously
bothered to translate because they appear in the dub. Cost?
Or perhaps the need to cut the English to fit the animation?
No answer is clear in Idolo.
While
I thoroughly enjoyed the pretty pictures and imagery replete
in Idolo, I must say that I was turned off by the dialogue,
especially since I turned on the English subtitles while watching
the English dub. The story also struck me as being far too
close to the Gundam side of things for comfort. At times it
seemed that they were really trying to make a Gundam-killer
out of a video game's plot. Mind you, a video game known not
for its intensive storyline, but for its pretty graphics and
less than stellar interface. It is a damn space shoot-um-up,
and while it makes for a pretty piece, it leaves a lot to
be desired in the story end of things. In fact, all I can
see this being of use for is to provide some much needed back-story
to the video game, and to the planned expansion of the Zone
of the Enders into a full blown series due out this coming
January.
Zone
of the Enders: Dolores
Rating:
Delicious Bananas
More Info: ADV
Films
Dolores
is NOT Idolo. There is a marked difference between the two,
and Dolores gets the better of it. Basing the story off of
a secondary character in Idolo, Dolores picks up five years
later with a more intricate storyline, much better writing,
and some really great fun. Be aware however, that Dolores
is merely a romp, but it makes no pretensions to be anything
else; however, where Idolo failed to break free of the genre,
Dolores accepts it, and makes it its' own.
The story
is five years following the debut of the orbital frame prototype
Idolo. The main scientist on the project, Rachel Links, had
a husband and two children on Earth, and it is these three,
along with a rather childish orbital frame Dolores that the
story centers around. James, Rachel's husband, blames himself
for letting his wife go back to Mars to work on her project,
and his children blame him. He is a space transporter, or
Ender, who pretty much drinks his life away. When he takes
a job moving an anonymous piece of cargo only to find that
the contents, Dolores, knows and sings a lullaby his wife
knew. Then a member of the inspection team opens up with a
gun on his comrades, and tries to kill James as well. When
James evades death in Dolores, he is framed for the murder,
and his children are implicated as well.
There
are no less than four factions here: James, Noel, Leon, and
Dolores; whoever put Dolores in the box and sent her to James
in the first place; the Earth government, specifically the
investigative arm, Wired and its manically deranged chief
inspector; and a rather shady character and his chief strong
arm who could represent terrorists, the Martian government,
or perhaps even both.
To compound
this is the fact that Dolores has a rather nasty tendency
to become less her usual lovable and childish self when faced
with combat. Her normal appearance and demeanor change to
become as cold and calculating as Idolo is throughout the
initial OVA. Combat does not apparently trigger the change,
only dire circumstances, but nevertheless, it is disturbing
especially because it does not happen very often. The three
central mysteries are all equally engrossing. Who sent Dolores,
why, and what is she? Who framed James, Leon, and Noel? And
then, at what point do these two lines of intrigue converge,
as they most almost assuredly must. This is one of the major
strengths of Dolores, a careful attention to a well crafted
mystery. While at one point the protagonists are on the run
from Wired, then all of a sudden a mysterious orbital frame
swoops in, and destroys the pursuing LEVs, only to turn on
Dolores herself after helping her. The pilot is none other
than the strong arm who we have not seen in two episodes,
and who has not in fact made any direct action in four. While
this is a bit confusing, it is a deliciously slow burn.
The other
strengths of Dolores are in the little things. Dolores, while
being marvelously designed artistically, is a fascinating
character in and of herself. She is a child in a super weapon
who in one in the same well aware of what she can do, and
yet not at all. The idea of an adolescent in a grown body
is carried through in the person of all three of the other
protagonists. Noel is still childish in ways, and so is her
brother Leon. James recognizes his shortcomings, and tries
to make them all right in a one big happy family kind of a
way that no one appreciates, let alone his own children. The
heavy handed approach taken in Idolo is left behind here for
a lighter touch; humor abounds, though is not so omnipresent
as to make the entire exercise a farce. Furthermore, the story
shows significantly more crafting than its predecessor, and
this is perhaps the most pleasing of all. Decent writing,
although ADV continues to dumb the dialogue, with some really
good voice acting makes for a seamless flow of the plot. Nothing
is wasted, and this is perhaps the other great strength of
Dolores, the integration of story, writing, voice acting,
and characterization.
Dolores
is really a romp at its heart. Unlike Idolo, there is no since
that this is forced out of a video game or otherwise; Dolores
is its own series on its own two legs. Here there is real
potential, and the realization of the potential is something
that hopefully will continue. I was surprisingly pleased with
Dolores, especially since it relies so heavily on Idolo. There
are flaws, but not anything worth the mention really, they
do not detract from the overall enjoyment. This is what a
sequel spin off is supposed to be.
Lupin
the 3rd: The Legend of The Twilight
Rating: 
More Info: Funimation
The world
of Lupin is part Carman Sandiego, steam punk, Indiana Jones,
Tintin, and a healthy dose of Hayao Miyazaki's original work
on the subject of Lupin the gentleman thief, Castle of Cagliostro.
Humor, action, and a unique animation style lend Lupin 3rd:
Legend of the Twilight a completely satisfying wachability.
Based
on a French novel detailing the exploits of a gentleman thief
in the early days of the now defunct 20th century, the Lupin
series has become more of an ensemble effort by a whose who
of Japanese animation. Began in Castle of Cagliostro by Miyazaki,
Lupin and his 'gang' (in actuality a loosely knit circle of
adventures who really just end up running into each other)
have been on no less than eight outings, only two of witch
have been commercially translated for the US audience (and
remain in print). Pity really, as if these are any example,
this is one hell of a ride.
Lupin
receives half of a diamond called 'the Twilight', and is instructed
by the dying Don of a rival criminal organization to go to
Morocco to retrieve the lost treasure of the Geltic tribe
that the whole diamond will open. Pursued by his erstwhile
hunter Inspector Zenigata of Interpol, not to mention the
androgynous leader of a ruthless band of assassins, Lupin
arrives in Morocco to find that he is only at the beginning.
The characters
are what make the story. While the plot twists and turns trough
what can only be worthy of a summer blockbuster (ala the Mummy
2), the unforgettable characters make off with the imagination.
Lupin is sweet natured, albeit larcenous; his faithful retainer
Jigen is quiet, perceptive, and always in the nick of time,
the deranged, yet honorable, samurai about town Goemon, and
the lovely temptress Fujiko. Not all the characters are introduced
at once, but gradually, and with good reason. In fact, it
is safe to say that no step in the plot is taken without good
cause to advance. This may sound odd initially, as the story
can place some rather wild demands the viewer, but they are
justified eventually.
The animation
remains consistent with the original 1979 work, but it markedly
improved in cleanliness and clarity. In fact the only complaints
that can be leveled against the piece is that the story does
have a tendency to drag briefly in some places and that in
the flashback sequences, done in a wonderful old silent movie
style, the Arabic is translated into Japanese subtitles. Furthermore,
the credits remain in the original text and the song is not
subtitled. These are really minor as I expect they will be
fixed in the final commercial release.
All in
all, quite satisfying, especially if you enjoy the Indiana
Jones/Alan Quartermain/Mummy kind of fare. The characters
are what carry the day, and barring a few speed bumps of plot,
the whole experience is very enjoyable.
End
of Evangelion
Rating:
although I'm still miffed . . .
More Info: Manga
Entertainment
Fundamentally
Evangelion is a series about the interaction of humans. Yea,
sure there are giant robots, angels, and a conspiracy to make
Fox Mulder cream his pants, but that is beside the point.
When the series ended Japanese fans were outraged that the
final two episodes brought conculsion to only the characters,
and not the plot. There was a bit of a toss out as exactly
what was happening, but beyond that, it was all the redemptive
montage. Shinji finaly breaks down the barriers that hold
him in place and joins the rest of humanity in the next aspect
of eveloution, the merging of all conciness into one. In End
of Evangelion, the more rabid action fans get their desires
as there is blood, guts, and explosions aplenty in an attempt
to bring a more action packed climax to the series. When GANIX
decided to re-do the ending they also decided to change things
up a bit…
SPOILERS!!!
But necessary, promise.
Shinji
ops to leave out of the collective, and only he and Auska
are left as separate entities, while the rest of mankind departs,
or sticks around, it is never made terribly clear. What is
clear is that the decision to focus more on the apartness
of people rather than their potential for union brings an
entirely different tone to the series as a whole.
May the
following serve as fair warning to anyone who plans on watching
End of Evangelion. It is possibly the most disturbing and
gruesome piece of animation you will watch without asking
for the anime BEHIND the counter. Evangelion brought a reputation
on itself for being edgy and pushing the envelope of Japanese
television. For this reason it will never be aired in the
States; furthermore, the creators decided apparently that
since the fans were baying for blood, they would have it.
One of the major senses that End of Evangelion conveys is
its attempt to shock you. After the first few encounters with
gore however, the brain numbs, and is set up for more psychological
shocks. It is possible that this is intentional, but considering
the series as a whole, it really seems more like the writers
lashing out at the fans more than anything else. Granted,
the jolts to the system are well placed, and used well, but
even up until the end, the prolific use of the color red and
the blood motif is just too omnipresent to have much effect
at that point. Blow after blow of visuals bombard the screen
until it is just too much to take and the mind seizes up.
What is
effective are the incongruous scenes that make up an essential
building block of Evangelion. Seeing everyone in the world
popping into orange LCL liquid to one of the more haunting
love ballads conceived by the mad scientists of j-pop as their
AT fields, the wall of the soul and body, collapse is both
terrifying and beautiful. The sudden cut to real life film
while Shinji and Rei have their final conversation is similarly
off setting. These schisms between the expected, reality,
and taste begin to grind on the viewer by the end, even if
most of them are visually stunning.
Auditory,
End of Evangelion leaves nothing to chance. As with the series
the use of silence and sound is excellent, resembling more
of a French art house flick, than an anime based on a television
series. The dubbing by Manga Entertainment, who it might be
added out bid the series incumbent company ADV for the rights,
manages to wrest several ADV mainstays from their contracts.
Shinji, Auska, Commander Ikari, Misato, and Dr. Akagi are
all the same voices as the ADV dub. In the other roles, Manga
went to great lengths to preserve the illusion of using the
same voice actors, and then in other characters, the pretension
was dropped. In either case, the voice cast is strong, and
the old hands really get to expand into new aspects of their
characters, and this is a real treat to watch, in either the
English dub or original Japanese.
Personally
I liked the series Evangelion. I was really annoyed at the
ending of it mostly because I felt the conspiracy and religious
implications had not come to a head. There was that small
part of me however, that niggled at my brain stem that the
object of the conspiracy was to bring about the competition
of man, the joining of all souls into one. While the object
was to break down barriers that hold us apart, the A(bsolute)
T(error) field as it is called in the series and movie, it
bugged me that the ideal was absolute integration. I was much
more interested with the conflict and complementation of the
Buddhist idea of 'En' and the Judeo/Christian imagery with
their associated implications of end time. With the End of
Evangelion I was similarly disappointed because nothing really
changed. It seemed a lot like a choose your own adventure
novel, or a computer RPG, sure you get choice A or B, but
you still do C no matter what. For one, I am quite happy working
through my relations with other people, misunderstandings
and all, without subsuming myself into a collective. What
really kills the ending though, is the final moments; right
after Shinji in Unit 01 breaks out of the super-being formed
by the mass death and rebirth of the population of the world,
there is a semi-flash back to Yuri Ikari and Fuyutsuki talking
about the nature of the EVAs. The EVAs are the last human,
as Adam was the first. No matter what happens to humanity,
EVA will endure to prove that humanity existed, and what we
were. There is a magnificent shot of Unit 01 floating in space
with the Lance of Longinus above and fade to black. Ahhhhhh…
What the hell is this with Shinji and Auska on the damn beach?
It tries to be an artsy ending when none was needed. The implication
of a new beginning and the future of humanity uncertain, yet
assured is made with the second to last scene. To be bombarded
with the implication of Adam and Eve reborn as these two flakes
is a bit much for even the most devoted Evangelion fan. The
implication that these two are the only ones who did not accept
the union with mankind is just too much to swallow in the
end. The double edge of desire to be close and yet safe from
harm, referred to early in the series as the 'hedgehog's dilemma',
is well enough laid out by the movie itself, it need not be
hammered in by the final scene. All this having been said,
I really did enjoy the movie: The visuals are unrivaled in
the realm of anime cinema, and the relentless pace provides
the desired effect of leaving the viewer breathless by the
end; various loose ends of the plot are tied up; the crew
got to really let loose with some of the more adult and gruesome
aspects of their ideas; and finally, the creators got to explore
another possible track with a larger budget. In the final
reckoning however, they may have changed a lot, but some of
the basic problems unfortunately remain.
Dai-Guard
Rating:
but I am looking forward to the rest because the character
development is interesting.
More Info: ADV
Films
In the
recent tradition of comedy and parody at the old guard genre
there have been several bright spots. Dai-Guard is not one
of them. The premise smashes together the giant city smashing
robot motif with buracracy and business. Hilarity ensues in
this Office Space meets Getter Robo hybrid that just crumbles
under its own weight.
12 years
previous the earth was attacked by extra-dimentonal giant
monsters named 'Hederodines'. Conventional weapons were more
or less ineffective, so the only sure way to kill one of these
things was to make the exponential leap to nukes. The solution
you ask? Why, build a giant robot of course; Dai-Guard was
conceived and built with the intention of fighting these creatures,
but as soon as construction was finished, the Hederodines
vanished. It is a good thing too, because the contract was
sold off to the lowest bidder a near fly by night operation
called 21st Century Security; they are a band of squabbling
board members with unappreciated and underpaid underlings
who go about their maze looking for the cheese that does not
exist. Are you laughing yet? Yea, I thought so.
Let me
be fair; the art is good, and the voice acting in both dun
and sub shows a lot of effort. Some of the characters are
interesting in themselves this however, cannot compensate
for the utter lack of sincerity in the script and overall
plot. Unlike, say, Martian Successor Nasdecio, there is no
charm, not balls to the walls commitment. I should say, there
is no commitment on the part the writers; the commitment is
there as far as the voice actors and artists are concerned.
Also, there is total commitment to the action. It is all you
could want in your giant city smashing robot anime, and then
some. The effects of the metal buckling on Dai-Guard in the
first battle sequence are really well done. Here is where
the reality of a bureaucracy and reality actually works to
the advantage of Dai-Guard. The robot has to be repaired,
transported, funded, etc. so when Dai-Guard moves, and when
the fight is over, it is a big operation. There is only a
slight sense of this in other giant robot anime, for instance
Neon Genesis Evangelion. But with Evangelion, the focus is
on the pilots, and not the ground crew.
Mostly
there is too much of bureaucracy. It would not surprise me
in fact to find that the whole thing is just a special hell
in the Chinese Underworld. The main characters must muddle
through dealing with the stogy old guard and higher ups of
not only their own superiors in the company, but also the
military as well. While I don't necessarily like the comic
Dilbert, I can see the humor; Dai-Guard kills it with impunity.
Apparently the same situations and establishments that drive
the characters mad in one scene is suppose to provide a laugh
in another.
I actually
have fantasized about an anime that had more focus on the
little guys and the backbone of these sorts of things, but
Martian Successor Nasdecio did a good job of it, and Dai-Guard
tries to hard to do the little and big guys. Working in the
business that I do, I understand the frustration that a giant
corporation's bureaucratic structure can produce, but by the
same token, no organization that I know of, save perhaps the
federal government of an industrial nation, can be this bad.
Matt
is our anime guru. Email him here.
|
