July 18, 2008

Bonen no Xamdou - 01

Filed under: Finished Series:/Bonen no Xamdou



Short Synopsis: Our lead character unknowingly gets involved in a large war between two countries.
Highlights: Very solid storytelling and animation.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Ah, why not, I’m going to blog this. This episode was just too good to ignore. I don’t have a PS3, so I have no idea how the new episodes will come out, but I’m going to be covering the new episodes as soon as I find a non-out-of-synch version of them. I’m going to drop blogging Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~ Natsu no Sora (though obviously I have no intention to stop watching that one).

In any case, the first thing that this series reminded me of is “Eureka7 meets Overman King Gainer”. It’s quite an interesting combination between the dark mood of the former and the bright and light mood of the latter. This was a typical example of a first episode, meant to kick off the series with a fast-paced start. Lots of things happen at the same time, and it’ll probably take a few more episodes until things start making sense.

Of course, a young male who suddenly becomes the most powerful warrior through sheer luck (at least that’s what it pretty much looks like) is a very overused plot-device, but what interests me the most in this series is the world it created. I’m a big fan of series that create their own cultures and customs, and one of the great things of anime in general in my opinion is all the different cultures and settings that they explore.

Macross Frontier - 15

Filed under: Finished Series:/Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: This episode closes off the first half and introduces the second half of Macross Frontier. Oh, and in order to fill up time, it stuffs in a bunch of recaps.
Highlights: Thankfully tries to be more than a recap.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
Like expected, the previous episode marked the end of the first half of Macross Frontier. So indeed, what better place would there be for a recap than at this point? Still, I’m surprised at how much new content did make it into this series. We get introduced to two strange voices inside a strange ship (which my limited Japanese couldn’t understand, unfortunately), Grace returns in a new body, and she and Brera recruit Ranka for their next job.

Alto meets an old Zentradi, who likes mode trains and apparently is connected to him, and at the same time the love-triangle also progresses a bit. Te recap-parts were also much less boring than expected, since the creators stuffed the best-animated scenes all together, making it a visual feast and the best tracks of the series were also played. This is indeed what a recap should be: more than just repeating what happened before in the series.