Anime REVIEW: Kamen Rider SD

If there’s one thing you’ll constantly see Kamen Rider fans question it’s why the franchise has never received some sort of anime adaptation. Whether it be an adaptation of the popular Kamen Rider Spirits manga or something wholly new, there is definitely an eagerness to see what Kamen Rider could do without the limitations that come with a tokusatsu series. After all – if it worked for Kikaider it can certainly work for Kamen Rider too. What many people don’t mention however is that Kamen Rider HAS in fact received an anime version in the past – albeit not in the way many people would have hoped. Kamen Rider SD is a one-shot OVA from 1993, based on the manga series of the same name. As the name suggests, it stars comical super-deformed versions of the various Kamen Riders battling against a unification of their enemies working under the name ‘GranShocker’.

Anime REVIEW: Ghost in the Shell: Arise

In terms of iconic anime franchises, it’s hard to get much bigger than Ghost in the Shell. Though originally a manga series by Masamune Shirow, the perhaps better-known 1995 anime film adaptation directed by Mamoru Oshii proved heavily influential and is widely recognised as one of animation’s greatest offerings. The film also spawned a sequel, as well as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – a separate continuity television series that ran for seasons and had a few movies of its own. Partly in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the franchise, Production I.G. produced Ghost in the Shell: Arise, a brand new retelling by Tow Ubukata (who created the similarly cyberpunk Mardock Scramble) spanning four OVA films. These films were also re-released as a 12-episode series bearing the name Ghost in the Shell: Arise – Alternative Architecture, featuring two brand new episodes to lead into yet another movie – this time simply bearing the name Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie.

Anime REVIEW: The Boy with the Guitar: Kikaider vs. Inazuman

Following his time on the Android Kikaider live-action series, lead actor Daisuke Ban immediately went on to star in another superhero creation of Shotaro Ishinomori - the moth-like energy mutant Inazuman. Like Kikaider, Inazuman also had its own accompanying manga series with notably differed from the its live-action counterpart - in this case even featuring a different protagonist and design for the hero. While the two never properly crossed over in live-action, an issue of the Inazuman manga saw the heroes cross paths. This issue was then adapted as part of the Kikaider anime series in 2003, becoming the one-off special The Boy with the Guitar: Kikaider vs. Inazuman.

Anime REVIEW: Alien Defender Geo-Armor: Kishin Corps

At an anime convention I attended over the summer, Alien Defender Geo-Armor: Kishin Corps (or Kishin Corps for short) was summarised to me as "people fighting aliens and Nazi robots that shoot swastika lasers". With a description like that, obviously my interest was piqued and I immediately went home to download the 7 episode OVA series.

Based on a series of light novels by Masaki Yamada, Kishin Corps is set in an alternate history, specifically during World War II. Amidst the war and destruction, the planet is also hit by an alien invasion, but the two sides seem content on continuing their war despite this aggressive new threat.

An orphaned teenager named Taishi suddenly finds himself at the center of a struggle over a mysterious black case entrusted to him by his father, Professor Tokamura. The case contains the controlling mechanism for one of the giant Geo-Armor Robots, and the Japanese Kanto Army, the alien invaders, and the Kishin Corps all want to recover the device. Between the spies, the armies, the aliens, and the Giant Robots, Taishi is in for an epic adventure - that is if he can survive it.

So with only seven episodes (well, eight if you take into account that the first is twice the length of the rest) you'd think Kishin Corps would stick to relatively simple story, whilst remaining engaging to the audience? As far as I was concerned, it didn't really achieve this at all. The episodes were really drawn out, with the action usually taking place in the last five minutes or so of each episode. Now I know that not every mecha series needs to have gratuitous shots of explosions (as much as I'd like it to), and that Kishin Corps is much more a "gritty" war-time piece, but any series that's going to have GIANT ROBOTS as a centrepiece needs to have some sort of money shot.

The characters themselves are pretty balanced, but none of them ever struck me as particularly interesting. The antagonists are pretty one dimensional, just your cliché evil soldiers with pointy noses and scars. The aliens are extremely bland - looking like humanoid turrets from the Portal video games, but lacking the personality. Or any personality at all for that matter. Why exactly the aliens are there in the first place is never quite explained, and the OVA has is pretty open ended, meaning a lot of questions remain unanswered. With more time to spread the story across and less dialogue heavy exposition, Kishin Corps could have been a bit more interesting.

Which brings me to the question of why exactly Kishin Corps needed to be set in an alternate WW2. Other than the presence of Nazis (read: generic villains) the show also has the bizarre concept of having Eva Braun as a scientist who ends up joining the Kishin Corps. Other historical figures like Albert Einstein also pop up throughout the course of the OVA, but even then it doesn't feel like the setting is particularly integral to the story - any sort of fictional war or villains could have achieved the job just the same. Maybe even better, since its backdrop only worked as some sort of surreal incentive to watch the show in the first place.

The art style is...eclectic. While some of the characters seem particularly well designed, others are really simple by comparison - to the point where they don't really feel like they belong here. Characters with normal eyes and faces interact with ones with exaggerated proportions and black dots for eyes. And besides the aforementioned cliche villains, whoever designed the characters for Kishin Corps clearly thought that Taishi would look four years older by just stretching him. No, not quite.

The mecha designs are mixed. While the aesthetic certainly suits the tone and feel of the OVA (particularly the Nazi Kishin - the Panzer Knight, despite its lack of a proper swastika laser), the mecha won't really win any awards for being memorable.

This turned out to be a particularly short review, because I genuinely don't have a lot to say about Kishin Corps. It wasn't quite what I expected, and while I gave it a chance the whole viewing experience was ultimately boring. The series clearly had an idea of exactly what it wanted to do, but at the same time didn't quite have enough time to pull it off - resulting in a dull, dialogue heavy show that's settings and antagonists merely seemed there to promote interest in the first place. Kishin Corps isn't a completely awful OVA series, but as far as political flavoured mecha dramas go, there are some much much better choices out there.

Anime REVIEW: Bubblegum Crisis

Bubblegum Crisis is possibly the first anime I ever heard about. When I was younger, any VHS I bought released by ADV (so the Sonic the Hedgehog and Tekken movies) always had an advert for it, and even then it always looked like something I'd enjoy. So here I am, years later, watching the original Bubblegum Crisis OVAs for the very first time. These eight episodes were released between 1989 and 1991.

The series takes place in the year 2032 in the city of MegaTokyo. Japan is still slowly piecing itself back together after the destruction of the Second Great Kanto Earthquake. The Genom Corporation, known for their intelligent labour robots (called Boomers), took a major role in the rebuilding of Tokyo, and as a result has become one of the largest corporations in the world. While the Boomers are supposed to serve humanity, in the wrong hands they are a deadly threat. Enter the AD Police force, who are tasked with dealing with any Boomer-related crime in the city. The only problem is that due the influence Genom have, the inability of the department to deal with certain threats due to politics and red-tape often shows.

Enter the Knight Sabers - a mysterious all female fighting force clad in hi-tech armour that deal with the Boomers in situations that the police can't. The team is made up of Sylia Stingray, the leader of the group and wealthy business owner; Priss, a popular rock singer, and the loose cannon of the group; Linna, an exercise instructor in her alter ego; and Nene, the group's tech, who also moonlights as an AD Police office worker. There's also Mackie, Sylia's younger brother and the group's mechanic.

What really sold this show to me was its style. Bubblegum Crisis takes heavy influence from the film Blade Runner, and this is illustrated in both the noir cityscapes of MegaTokyo and some of the more subtle (or not so subtle) references dashed throughout the show. Its opening, in which lead character Priss takes to the stage with her band Priss & The Replicants (see, there's one already!) launches you straight in with both fantastic art that still holds its own today and also the other thing that Bubblegum Crisis excels in - the music. While the background music again owes a lot to Blade Runner, the vocal tracks are female-vocal 80s J-rock at its very finest (with many of the songs performed by Priss seiyuu Kinuko Ohmori).

Coming back to the art, alongside the dark cityscapes Bubblegum Crisis has some great character designs on offer. The Boomers are shown to be hulking, robotic brutes while the Knight Sabers are quite the opposite - curvy anime babes in simple yet highly effective armour. The Hard Suits are certainly one of the more memorable pieces of anime design from that era, and arguably still one that's equally significant today. The fight scenes are nicely animated, with smooth motion and enough explosions to prove that the girls here kick far more ass than the men do.

Despite its retro charm and beauty, there are quite few problems with Bubblegum Crisis. The main issue is that the stories are all very self-contained, and as a whole lack any overall substance. None of the episodes specifically centre around the Knight Saber team, instead focussing on characters newly introduced each time, with their own predicaments somehow involving the team. Back story is non-existent, and the team's battle against the corrupt Genom corporation never reaches a conclusion. Its shame really, because plenty of the Knight Saber's history would have made far better episodes than some of the plot lines that did make it into the show. The episodes themselves are often too long to house the actual plots they contain, making scenes drag until you finally get the explosive climax where the Knight Sabers finally take on some Boomers (this is the formula for pretty much every episode by the way). After the final battle is concluded, the episodes pretty much stop - making the endings seem even more abrupt. The final episode ending is rather disappointing in that while it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, it doesn't give any closure to anything at all either.

So to summarise - Bubblegum Crisis is a slick piece of retro anime charm that has some great art and a brilliant soundtrack. Granted it's definitely a case of style over substance, but at the same time it certainly shows that they don't make sci-fi/cyberpunk anime like they used to.

Anime REVIEW: New Getter Robo

Getter Robo is a franchise I've been meaning to look into for a long time. As a fan of both super robot animes and other Go Nagai works (particularly the Mazinger franchise), it's something that would probably tick all the right boxes with me. Since I wasn't particularly in the mood to start with a 51 episode series from the 1970s (although I might revisit this later), I decided to start with something a bit more modern. 2004's New Getter Robo is an alternate retelling of the Getter Robo story, and was an OVA series that ran for 13 episodes.

Taken from anime-planet;

Humanity is under attack by the Oni - fierce demons of unknown origin - that can only be defeated by Dr. Saotome's Getter Ray-powered robots. However, these robots are only a stopgap, buying time for the next generation of Getter-powered robot: Getter Robo. Able to change shape into three combinations to suit the current task, and vastly more powerful than its predecessors, Getter Robo requires three pilots to fully utilize it. Dr. Saotome selects three interesting individuals for the task: Ryoma Nagare, a headstrong martial artist; Hayato Jin, a power hungry terrorist; and Benkei Musashibou, a bear of a man who has turned to the way of Buddha. Together, these oddly-matched teammates must find out where the Oni come from and stop the threat that they pose.

Unfortunately the story is by far the weakest aspect of New Getter Robo. It often seems to be going in an interesting direction, but I can't help feel that perhaps the writers attempted too much into a 13-episode show. There is a hell of a lot going on (including ancient demons and time travel in the past and future among the typical super robot science fiction and over the top action) without very little explanation behind it. Villains change hands with very little build up it, and in reality the villains are about as thinly developed as they come. Initially I really liked the three main protagonists - who were about as stereotypically manly as anime males can get, but as time went on I even began to lose interest in them. Ryoma, as the main character of the show, receives the most development, but eventually lulls into the stereotype of the crazed anime hero. Its a somewhat important story point, but at the same time makes him feel a little one dimensional until the series comes to its (rather interesting) conclusion. Hayato is introduced as a complete psychopath, killing pretty much everyone and everything in his path, but then without any real explanation goes through a complete character change, becoming probably the most reasonable (and sanest) member of the trio. And Benkei, well, other than some light comic relief moments he was never that interesting in the first place.

What this anime clearly wants to do is be loud and obnoxious - and it does this in spades. The violence is completely over the top (with multiple blood drenched decapitations and even monsters getting their spines ripped out), the fights are long and numerous, and the screams of "GETTER BEAM" and "GETTER TOMAHAWK" are loud. Action-wise, its the heart and soul of the super robot genre and a style that Go Nagai has not only nailed, but also help create.

As a huge fan of Go Nagai's character/mecha designs and art style, visually the show was a treat to watch. Getter Robo, much like Mazinger Z, has a very important place in super robot/mecha history - it was the first anime robot to be made up of multiple components and combine. What's interesting about Getter Robo is that its made up of three different ships (the Eagle, Jaguar and Bear) and that they can combine in different ways to create three different Getter Robos. Getter-1, the most iconic of the three, is certainly the show's main highlight. Go Nagai's retro styled, simplistic robot designs really come to life with modern animation technology and Getter-1 is sure that everyone's eyes is fixed on it when it appears. Getter-2 and 3 are much less memorable designs, but I do like how different they are from Getter-1 - which is even more impressive when you consider that they're made from identical components. Getter-2 is far skinnier and has a giant drill for an arm (which is always a plus if you know me) and Getter-3 is squat with tank treads for legs/feet. Each Getter unit is designed for a different style of combat and that is reflected in their attacks. The other robot designs and monsters featured in the show are nothing particularly special, but this helps the Getter stand out much more - so whether this was intentional on the staff's part, it does work quite well.

With a soundtrack from veteran super robot musicians JAM Project - music is one of the areas New Getter Robo does manage to succeed in. However, the show's opening theme (entitled 'Dragon') can only be played over a fight sequence so many times before it begins to lose its impact. And since it's played over pretty much every major fight in the series (so at least once an episode) by the time you've reached the show's big climax all power and effect the music is supposed to have is long gone.

What New Getter Robo lacks in depth though it certainly makes up for in over the top violence, gore and robot vs monster action. If this is what you're looking for in a series, then I can't recommend it enough - but I was certainly left wanting more. This will by no means be my last foray into the world of Getter Robo, but I can't say its off to an excellent start. New Getter Robo is certainly a very accessible start for people looking to get into the franchise, but I can't help feel that there are probably much better options out there.

Anime REVIEW: Detroit Metal City

A relatively short OVA series comprising of 12 15-minute episodes, Detroit Metal City tells the story of Soichi Negishi, a shy and gentle young man who dreams of a career as a pop musician. Dreams don't pay the bills, so he ends up as the lead singer and lead guitarist of a death metal band called “Detroit Metal City.” In stage costume he is Johannes Krauser II, rumored to be a terrorist demon from hell, to have killed and raped his parents, to wield his giant death penis with abandon, etc. etc. Negishi despises DMC and all that it stands for, but so help him, he's a terrific performer and can't walk away from that. As DMC's star rises Negishi tries to satisfy both worlds, but can't. On top of this he has to deal with a love interest who loves Negishi's (failing) solo work, and dislikes DMC and his alter ego Krauser, and a foul mouthed record company president who constantly keeps him in his place.

It's extremely foul mouthed, some of its implied content is very explicit, but by god is it brilliant. In DMC we have a fantastic tongue-in-cheek look at the world of death metal and its musicians, and the feeling that not all the legendary "monsters of metal" are what they are cracked up to be. The split personality style of Negishi is played very well, and sometimes its easy to forget that he and Krauser are actually the same person.

My only two complaints about the series are these. Firstly, the episodes do become rather repetitive and formulaic quickly. Each episode is split into 2, making the series in reality 24 7-minute (approx.) shorts, and the majority of them follow the pattern of Negishi trying to quit DMC, something happening to make him angry and return, making Krauser more popular than ever or something to that effect. However sprinkled in are some GEMS of episodes like DMC's battle against a femenist punk band, or the series conclusion where American metal god Jack Ill Dark comes to Japan to "destroy" DMC. The second of my complaints in that while this final episode is probably the best of the series, it fails to provide any closure on anything. Maybe this is because the manga is still ongoing and there's a chance for new episodes in the future, but right now I was certainly left wanting more.

If you don't mind a bit of terrible sounding (in a good way I promise!) Japanese death metal and A LOT of swearing, then the wholly original DMC is something I certainly think you should check out. However if you're not so keen on these things, I think you'd better avoid this, or you'll spend alot of time covering your ears (or shutting your eyes since it appears on subtitles!)

Anime REVIEW: Macross Zero

Macross Zero is five episode OVA series released in 2002 to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the franchise in Japan. This mini series is instantly set apart from its predecessors as it is in fact a prequel to The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, giving some insight into happened before the war between humanity and the Zentradi began. Set in the year 2008, one year before the events of the original series, Zero depicts the final battles of the U.N. Wars between the U.N. Spacy and the Anti-UN forces, and is also set in the South Pacific, where the titular alien spaceship crash landed 9 years earlier. Amidst the violence, a U.N. Spacy pilot named Shin Kudo is attacked by a strange enemy aircraft that can transform itself into a robot. Crash landing on Mayan Island he learns that this remote island and its peaceful native inhabitants hold a great secret linking them to the alien space ship and would become the focus of the war, whether they like it or not. Shin eventually returns to his carrier fleet and joins the Skull Squadron, who also operate brand new transforming fighters, the VF-0 Phoenix. He trains and engages Anti-UN forces operating from a converted ballistic missile submarine as both sides fight to locate and control alien artifacts, with the peaceful and agrarian Mayan caught in the middle of the war.

Despite its stance as a prequel series, I would in no way recommend this as a jumping in point for anyone looking to get into the series. Key moments aren't exactly given any great detail, such as the crash landing of the SDF-1 taking up all of a minute at the beginning of the episode and then not really being mentioned again. The story and characters in Zero aren't really much to write home about, with Shin just filling the typical "pilot" role than every Macross series has (but less memorable), Sara Nome (Priestess of the Mayan Island) hostile and her younger sister Mao more outgoing and cheerful. As the story progresses you begin to understand why Sara is so hostile toward strangers and the violence of the outside world, but even this feels like it could have done with far more fleshing out. Even the infamous alcholic womaniser Roy Focker (from SDF) coming across as rather mundane. The staple Macross love triangle (this time between Shin, Sara and Mao) is horrendously underdeveloped, again leaving me wanting more and wondering if Zero would have been better off with more than just 5 episodes to make the characters that much more interesting.

While the story is ambitious and clever, tying in Mayan mythology to mysterious alien artifacts, it requires far more attention than the standard programme. Blink and miss just one subtitle and you may find yourself confused by the legends of the Mayan people and just how exactly this 'birdman' fits into the story (this happened to me several times, having to watch sequences several times just to get a basic understanding of them). Even as I write this now I'm not entirely sure on all of the mythology behind it. Zero also plays around a bit with details from the original series, with Focker's love interest Aries Turner researching the idea of humanity being created by a Protoculture. Now I always preferred the idea that humans had no concept of the Protoculture until it was explained to them by the Zentradi in the original series, so the mentioning of this so early in the Macross timeline fell a bit flat. Not only this, but the transition between episodes leaves alot to be desired, especially between the fourth and final episodes, where it felt like I'd missed out on an entire sequence!

Since I've covered one staple of a Macross series formula (the love triangle), its only fitting that I should address the second, the music. However it's largely superficial, with only a few tribal-esque pieces and orchestral tracks to speak of. While I don't want to knock this because it is far more fitting to the tone of the series and the orchestral soundtrack is stunning (especially in the series' climax) for a Macross series this does feel a little disappointing.

But despite this there are some positives to Zero, these mainly being both the art and animation of the series. This is probably the best Macross has ever looked, and it is apparent from the get-go that the budget for this series must have been pretty high. The character design and scenery are marvellous, from the luscious bright colours of the Mayan island to the grimey greys of the military ships and the pale blues of the high altitudes. The Valkyries are given full CGI treatment for the first time, which really amps up the visuals. The jagged metal design of the anti-UN's SV-51s contrast really well with the UN Spacy's VF-0s. If you're looking for some eye popping air dogfights with fighter planes that turn into robots, then Macross Zero is certainly something you need to check out. The final battle with the alien 'birdman' is definitely one to take note of. Speaking of the series ending, it's very ambiguous, but if you're interested in the fate of the some of the characters it would go on to be very briefly discussed in Frontier, but apart from that it's anyone's guess really.

Macross Zero is ambitious, but due to its plot inconsistencies and overall dullness and confusing nature of the story it still manages to fall flat of other Macross stories. This is a series that will perhaps make more sense on multiple viewings, but from just the one viewing I found myself lost and disappointed. The aerial battles truly were a thing of beauty though, and these help save the series from being one to avoid. If you have a few hours spare and/or are interesting in watching mecha battles linked with Mayan mythology, then Zero is certainly something you should look into.