Inuyasha

Synopsis

See original review.

Review

Inuyasha is the kind of show that many fans love to hate. Some of Inuyasha's most regularly ridiculed elements include its obscenely long duration, its propensity to re-use animation during action sequences, as well as the fact that Kagome never wears anything but her school uniform while battling demons. Hell, some people simply despise it because of the insane level of popularity it is amassing. Despite its failings, however, Inuyasha is a show that more than compensates for its weaknesses by virtue of its strengths.

For starters, the plot, though not particularly deep, is rich and satisfying. Much of the story's movement is very methodical, weaving itself smoothly through various situations that are intended primarily to deepen our appreciation of Inuyasha, Kagome, and their companions. Moreover, despite the tremendous length of the show, there are plot-twists aplenty that keep the narrative fresh and engaging well after we understand its precise eventuality.

However, as the series wears on, filler episodes become more common and dampen some of the viewing pleasure. The filler episodes generally occupy one of three niches: monster-of-the-week episodes, comedy and/or romance episodes, or some combination thereof. The monster-of-week episodes are by far the most annoying and are easily the most fit for cattle fodder. However, the filler with a romantic/comedic slant are, in my humble view, among the most memorable filler in all of anime. They do a tremendous job of further fleshing out the stellar characters (more on them in a moment) and their various relationships while still being laugh out loud funny. I am still rolling from the antics of episode 68, titled "Shippou's Battle Royale", in which we become reacquainted with the Thunder Beast Clan by way of its last surviving member. I won't spoil the fun here, but suffice it to say that if you don't find said episode very funny (for me it was nearly hysterical), I reserve the right to inform your psychiatrist of your impending bout with depression.

Deeply tied with the story of Inuyasha are its superior characters. Like most of Takahashi's work, Inuyasha has a penchant for emphatic characterization. Indeed, much of the plot here is dedicated exclusively to endearing us to the cast and deepening our concern for them on an almost personal level. When I watch this show, I feel pain when Kagome's heart aches over Inuyasha's affection for Kikyo and joy when both her and Inuyasha move closer to one another. Moreover, I feel strongly for each and every one of the other main characters. One of the best and most intriguing individuals though, is Inuyasha's older brother Sesshoumaru, a full-blooded dog-demon that initially has a tremendous disdain for not only his half-demon brother but also for all of humanity. His growth during the series is slow but deeply interesting as his dark, brooding persona becomes gradually lighter, making it difficult to call him good or evil in any conventional sense.

The aspect of Inuyasha most deserving of contempt is the animation. That isn't to say that it is bad in any sense. In fact, it is quite good. However, the immense difficulties that exist in animating such a long action show are formidable for even the heartiest of budgets. As such, when an action scene can be reused, it probably will be. For example, many of Inuyasha's special attacks, such as the "Soul Scattering Iron Claw" or the "Wind Scar", have used the same animation from the very beginning of the show. Another thing done to presumably save money during action sequences is to create the illusion of action by freezing and then panning an image while adding sound effects. It is a weak substitute for action but if it saves us from simply having to deal with horrible moving art, I am all in favor of it. This effect is much less prevalent the further one progresses in the series, likely a consequence of the switch from conventional animation to CG-assisted animation that occurs somewhere in the middle of the series. Despite my criticism, the art is mostly lovely and evocative in terms of both the characters and settings. Along with the mostly ambient background music, the attractive artwork goes a long way in helping further establish some good atmosphere.

So what do I have to say to all those that despise Inuyasha out there? Well, you are of course free to your opinion, but my impression is that sour frame-rates, some rehashed animation, and a long run on television do little to ruin a title that has a worthy storyline and so strong a cast of characters. Granted, the show has problems that are significant enough to tarnish its luster slightly, but in the end, Inuyasha still shines nearly as brightly as an untainted Shikon Jewel.

Take the show down a notch or two if you simply aren't too fond of Takahashi's characteristic flair in storytelling. — Derrick L Tucker

Dragon Ball

Synopsis

In this world there are seven Dragon Balls which, when all brought together, summon the legendary dragon Shen Long. He grants the one who gathered the balls together one wish and then disappears for a year, scattering the Dragon Balls across the world with him.

A young teenage girl named Bulma hopes to use these Dragon Balls to wish herself a boyfriend, and finds one of the balls in the hands of a mysterious boy with a monkey tail known as Son Goku, twelve years old and living out on his own. But Goku does not want to part with his ball as it is the only remaining memory of his dead grandfather, so Bulma recruits him to find the rest of them with her. Together they'll bump into many strange friends and enemies, on their quest to find all seven Dragon Balls.

And that's just the first tenth of the series. Later parts of the series involve Goku fighting off enemies who want to use the Dragon Balls for evil purposes, who stops these people with the help of his friends.

Review

Not to be confused with the other two series that followed it, the original Dragon Ball series is often overlooked, as most people call it "kiddy", "light on fighting", and "nothing but fan service".

Oddly enough, although not as big on the fighting aspect as its sequel series is, Dragon Ball does more in nearly half the length of its sequel series, both in terms of fights and with its characters.

Unlike in Dragon Ball Z, for example, Goku isn't the number one powerhouse, nor does he randomly disappear for long stretches of time between sagas. The show IS about him, and he fights many people just as strong as him, as well as stronger, over the course of the series. His never-give-up attitude and endless optimism makes him a likable, albeit strange, character, and watching him progress from a moderately strong fighter to one of the strongest on Earth is definitely worthwhile watching.

Also, unlike in Z, battles don't stretch out forever: the longest fights on these shows are during the tournaments and Piccolo saga, and even then, there's enough variety in the people/creatures Goku faces to keep it from getting boring or repetitive. And rarely are there filler fights just added in for the sake of making the show longer: most every fight counts. And while you don't have to watch all of them to understand what's going on in, missing quite a few may confuse you after a while. Fortunately, Dragon Ball is not heavy on plot, so even then it's not a big deal.

What it is heavy on, though, is development, and the characters that do so. If you've only watched Dragon Ball Z, you'll be in for a shock to know that Krillin and Goku weren't always friends, or that Yamcha was a desert bandit, or that Master Roshi could be that perverted, or that Bulma, or even that Piccolo once looked entirely different! Watching how all these characters change over the course of the series to more mature, likable characters is entertaining (especially seeing those who hated Goku the most end up being his closest friends. Aw.).

Speaking of things that are "developed", there's certainly a lot more fan service here than in Z and GT. You'll see lots of female flesh in these series, whether from Bulma herself, or from Oolong's transformation, or from Roshi's perverted thoughts/magazines. (Although I watched the edited version of this anime, I have seen the manga, and I know what they cut out.) It's not very extremely offensive (Oolong and Roshi quite often are punished for their perverseness), but this may still turn away female fans, reinforcing the stereotype of how guys in the Dragon Ball series are a bunch of perverts, and that all the girls are whiny brats who complain about how the guys are a bunch of perverts. It's a very wrong message, but one that is often received to those who look at this series with a closed mind. Dragon Ball isn't just about fights and fan service, and it's too bad others think this way.

Fortunately, the animation and music is nothing to be shameful of, featuring an art style that literally mirrors the manga (but in color), with some surprisingly good music and songs here and there. It holds up quite well for a series from the mid-1980's. As for the dub...well, it's not terrible or anything, but FUNimation's trademark writing and voice acting will either grow on you, or turn you away from the dub completely. At least this time they kept in the Japanese music.

Air Gear

Title: Air Gear

Genre: Action

Company: Toei Animation

Format: 25 episodes

Dates: 4 Apr 2006 – 27 Sep 2006

Synopsis: Ikki Minami, leader of a petty high school gang, spends his days as an anonymous high school delinquent. After being severely beaten by a rival gang, he discovers a pair of Air Trecks “high-performance inline skates” and immediately finds himself hooked to this latest trend. With this discovery, he unearths an underground scene full of like-minded fans, competing to the best. With nothing but his pair of skates and innate talent and ability, he begins to climb the ladder with the inevitable goal of being the “Air King.”

The Highlights

Animation: High quality and stylized.

Soundtrack: Possibly one of the best; absolutely phenomenal.

Story: Completely unravels and lacking in coherency.

Ending: Nonexistent.

At first, Air Gear makes no effort to conceal its blatantly shounen premise. This by itself isn’t necessarily horrible since the result can be exceptional; however, the end result is nowhere near the caliber of such shows as Fighting Spirit and Gantz. Instead, the series suffers from a severe lack of genre identity, and ultimately its ambition exceeds its limitation.

Firmly falling into the action genre, much of the enjoyment relies on stylized animation to relay the impact of the events on-screen. Thankfully, Air Gear excels in this, with remarkably clean and smooth animation. This is complemented by its soundtrack, which is unbelievably well done; the smooth techno tracks are not only extremely catchy and high quality, but complement the feel of the show almost perfectly. Both visually and aurally, Air Gear manages to convincingly establish an urban setting, which helps portray much of the action that occurs throughout the series.

Despite its outstanding production values, the major fault of Air Gear lies in its excruciatingly poor storyline. Initially the anime tends to be very solid, if not particularly profound, and the fast-paced street races and visceral excitement made for a very enjoyable beginning. However, about a quarter of the way through, the anime decided to try and distinguish itself from other shounen anime and embark on a much more epic storyline. Unfortunately, while the plot does indeed become much more ambitious, the originally laudable execution quickly turns into a mishmash of random plot twists with little coherency or connection to the overall plot. On top of this, the original focus of the show was completely tossed aside; the contest-oriented nature of the AT battles is phased out, and replaced with literal fighting so the anime basically becomes DBZwith rollerblades.

On top of the abysmal shift in plot and execution, several new characters are suddenly introduced into the plot very abruptly, and each bring their own convoluted history and storyline. Instead of developing the characters and bringing out their backstories gradually, the information is simply thrown out there and ultimately becomes inconsequential to the plot. Frustratingly, all of this confusion and chaos culminates in a terrible ending which explains nothing and ends with no closure whatsoever. Characters are suddenly discarded and never appear again, some suddenly change their allegiance, and in general all logic is tossed out the window.

I tried to like Air Gear, I really did. The amazing soundtrack, animation, and decent plot structure in the beginning all added up to the making of a very entertaining, if not extraordinary anime. However, as the series progressed, the director tried to do just that: make an extraordinary and genre-breaking series. While they should be applauded for their ambition, it ultimately leads to a show which achieves little of what it set out to do, and fails in capturing what made it enjoyable in the first place. Ultimately, Air Geartries to fix what isn’t broken, and thus comes up short as an anime.

Sailor Moon

In 1992, 14-year-old Usagi Tsukino made her debut on the Japanese

television series Sailor Moon. Usagi didn’t

seem to be the stuff of which heroines are made: She confessed to being

something of a klutz. She overslept and was late to school almost every day.

She did badly on exams, and was so easily distracted, she made Dug in Uplook focused.

Yet Usagi altered the course of animation and fandom on both

sides of the Pacific. Naoko Takeuchi’s 1991 manga and the original 43-episode

program “Bishojo Senshi Sera Mun” (variously

translated as “Pretty Soldier, Guardian or Scout, Sailor Moon”) led to

additional broadcast series, theatrical movies, video games, stage musicals, a

live action TV show and a stream of license products.

In 1995, DIC reworked the storylines of the animated series

to make it more acceptable for younger viewers in the US. Prior to Sailor Moon, anime fandom had been a

boys’ club: Few girls frequented comic book stores or the odd little shops that

dealt in anime paraphernalia. But when American girls began tuning in to Sailor Moon, the audience grew rapidly,

leading to the release of more shojo (girl’s)

series and a boom in anime fandom among young women.

Usagi believes she’s just an ordinary junior high student until

Luna, the talking cat, explains she’s really one of the Sailor Scouts charged

with fighting evil and finding the lost the Moon Princess. (The name Usagi(“Rabbit”) emphasizes her link to

the moon: In Japanese folklore, there’s a Rabbit, rather than a Man in the Moon,

who pounds rice into mochi.)

In the first half of the initial season, Usagi and Luna find

two additional Scouts: The brilliant Ami, who is Sailor Venus, and shrine

maiden Rei, who becomes Sailor Mars. Also on hand is the dashing, debonair hero

Tuxedo Mask, who comes to Usagi’s aid when needed. Together, the Sailor Scouts defeat

the unsavory servants of evil Queen Beryl, who pillage the delicate feelings and

energy of vulnerable humans for their dark overlord.

Although Sailor Moon

presents a message of female empowerment, it’s wrapped in what Americans would

regard as old-fashioned girly-girl idioms. she adores deserts and nurtures

crushes on various guys. Although she invariably triumphs over the evil-doers,

Usagi whines, fusses and sheds tears like a lawn sprinkler in critical

situations. Ami is calmer and more sensible; Rei, bolder and more outspoken. In

every episode, Usagi transforms into Sailor Moon, just as Clark Kent ducked

into a phone booth to change clothes in every Superman cartoon.  Instead of

a cape and tights, Usagi sports a mini-skirted schoolgirl’s uniform (which

resembles a sailor suit), gloves, a tiara, a magic wand and high-heeled boots

on her impossibly long legs.

She’s still a klutz, but when she declares, “In

the name of the Moon, I will punish you!” it’s no empty threat. Her

tiara becomes a sort of weaponized frisbee that reduces supernatural evil-doers

to dust. Ami and Rei fight with bubbles and fire. The repeated storyline of

fragile young girls drawing on hidden reserves to defeat powerful villains

echoes countless fairy tales.

This new set from Viz restores the original storyline. The

pace feels slow by American standards, and the episodes are often repetious.

But for the legions of Sailor Moon fans

they represent the genuine article, untainted by rewrites and censorship. There

are a few minor racy moments: under the spell of an evil Tarot card, the nerdy

Umino flips up their teacher’s skirt and tries to kiss Usagi. But the series

would have trouble getting a PG-rating today.

Manga artist Takeuchi originally intended to make Sailor Moon a short, 14-chapter adventure.

But when it proved so popular, her editors convinced her to expand it, and the

anime followed suit. More than two decades later, the influence of Sailor Moon is still evident. In the

current hit fantasy-adventure “Fairy Tail,” the formidable wizard Erza dons her

magical armor in a transformation scene that recalls Sailor Moon.

Never underestimate the staying power of a pretty girl in a

sailor suit.