Review | Anime | Wolf's Rain

WOLF'S RAIN : 200 years in the future, wolves have been
declared instinct on Earth, now ridden by wars. In reality, wolves still exist
by hiding themselves among humans by taking human form. When a rebellious
wolf named Kiba wanders into the city looking for the Lunar Flower of an
old wolf legend, three other wolves band together with him on a search for
the Paradise ruled by wolves. The obstacles that await their journey are
horrific woodland creatures, Paradise-seeking warlords, and a crazed wolf hunter
determined to rid the world of any and all wolves.

Wolf's Rain has gained widespread fame in the anime world, and though it's not the most cheerful anime available, it's definitely one of the most action-packed.

The world of Wolf's Rain exists two centuries from today's world, and it's exactly the future forewarned; wars, big and small, in every corner, with only the rich and highly-placed living comfortably. The tales of the four protagonists begin in a town called Freeze City, when in wanders Quent Yaiden, who has been obsessed with killing wolves since he witnessed a pack of wolves destroying his home and killing his wife and child. With the help of his wolf-detecting dog Blue, Quent travels from city to city checking every corner for traces of a wolf. This only gains him ridicule from citizens, who try to convince him wolves no longer exist, but Quent is well onto the fact that wolves have every capability of hiding amongst humans.

Simultaniously taking place are the tales of the city's only known wolf citizens, Hige, Toboe and Tsume, oblivious of each other's existences. They are finally brought together accidentally when a lone wolf named Kiba wanders into town, seeking the way to Paradise. He follows the scent of the Lunar Flower, the key to opening Paradise, which eventually puts him on the unfortunate path that leads him to Quent, who immediately shoots him. Kiba is not killed, but is discovered resting under a tree and is taken to a laboratory to be examined. After all, it's the strangest dog they've ever seen. The Lunar Flower turns out to be Cheza, a girl that is half human, half flower, that was created by a noble using a form of alchemy. Cheza's current state is an inconvenient one; suspended in the lab by tubes, and unconscious until she is awakened by Kiba's presence. It seems Kiba has finally found what he came for, until Chesa is kidnapped by Darcia, one of the three most powerful nobles known to the anime. In order to recover her from Darcia and his fiendish intentions, he ultimately meets Hige, Toboe and Tsume, who detect the Lunar Flower as well. They don't hit it off immediately; two are anti-social and prideful, one (the primarily disliked one) is a peacemaker, and one couldn't care less. The one thing keeping them together is their ultimate goal: Recover Cheza and unlock Paradise.

I am as great a fan of anime as I am its music, and I will be honest in saying that the soundtrack of Wolf's Rain remains one of the greatest anime soundtracks I've ever had the privilege to listen to. It was the opening theme, "Stray", that led me to begin the series, and it was the underscore that kept me connected. The music can be serene, haunting, mournful or mystical; a few songs have succeeded in containing all four key elements at once. One of my favorite anime composers, Yoko Kanno, lends her talents to the soundtrack with impressive blending of instruments and sounds, common for her music. Wolf's Rain also selects excellent vocalists, including anime regular Maaya Sakamoto, for its songs to narrate the wolves' stories with beautiful and idyllic lyrics. If the Wolf's Rain anime turns out to be the wrong cup of tea, I hope that will not discourage you from picking up its incredible soundtrack.

Wolf's Rain is a perfect blend of common fantasty and wartime conflict. Not being a mecha fan (at all), I was a little turned off by the use of mechanics at the beginning of the series, but my curiosity led me on. Despite my dislike for mecha, this series holds an excellent amount, only using mecha when it's needed to support the story, rather than using it just to show off the artists' free time or the animators' talent with shiny metal. The series requires lots of patience, however, as it is very slowly paced because of the complexity of the storyline. Kiba and his new pack have a long journey, and the producers are definitely making sure to chronicle every last detail down to the last bona fide meal our protagonists manage to scrape together.

If you're not the biggest fan of bloody violence, you may want to pass this one by. The series sports wartime violence and wolf/human, wolf/wolf conflicts. Wolves are consistently injured severely during battles and attain bloody, sometimes graphic, wounds. There are also conflicts involving several human characters; characters are shot, stabbed, blown up, and of course, attacked by wolves. Wolves are seen biting human body parts, mainly the neck and other vital regions, killing them. The series becomes bloodier as it nears its completion.

Wolf's Rain is a great blend of sci-fi fantasy and action, with plenty of guns thrown in, accompanied by mutated wildlife and a bleak depiction of the future of our planet. If you enjoyed Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, this anime may be one for your list.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Review | Anime | Vampire Knight

VAMPIRE KNIGHT : The prestigious Cross Academy offers a
special Night Class to certain students of the academy. The Night Class is
unique because it is inhabited entirely by vampires, unbeknownst to the Day
Class students. To keep peace and reasonable distance between the vampires and
humans, prefects Yuuki and her best friend Zero are hired, and work to ensure
that Day Class students never discover the Night Class students are vampires,
and most importantly, that the vampires don't lose control of their urges to
feed on human blood.

While attending an anime con last year, my friend and I sat down for a 3-episode preview of Vampire Knight, which had just been released in Japan the week before. Along with Monochrome Factor, Vampire Knight was added to my list of animes to check out.

Vampire Knight sports the common "haunting Gothic elegance" element throughout, and plenty of beautiful vampires that make Edward Cullen look like a convenience store clerk. Yuuki is fortunate enough to have the strongest of the vampires, Kuran Kaname, as one of her dearest friends. Yuuki has had a crush on Kaname ever since he saved her life from a rogue vampire - which are know as "Level E Vampires" - when she was a child. It is unclear whether her crush is an actual romantic crush or more of an academic sisterly crush, but because Yuuki is a prefect responsible for keeping the screaming fangirls at bay whenever Kaname emerges from his dormitory with his Night Class classmates, it makes it that much harder to stare at him.

Naturally, Yuuki's orders to not bombard the Night Class gentlemen go in one fangirl ear and out the other as they trample her to get to the sparkly vampires (no thanks to Aido Hanabusa, who just fuels their fangirl fury with his witless charm as he waves and flirts.) Fortunately, there to intervene when Yuuki loses control is another good friend, Zero Kiryuu, who was taken in by Yuuki's family when he was orphaned by a Level E vampire. Zero's cold personality and frozen glare is powerful enough to stop even screaming fangirls dead in their tracks, and send them running back to their dorms. Zero's disposition is so cold, even Yuuki, whom he considers his best friend, has trouble getting through to him. It doesn't help that Yuuki's belief that not all vampires are evil clashes with Zero's firm reckoning that all vampires, regardless, are scumbags.

Vampire Knight is the definition when the question of the closest anime version of Twilight comes up. The only difference? Vampire Knight is actually good. Too much bloodsucking, perhaps, but it's watchable. The artwork of Vampire Knight is very unique and recognizable, and in turn assists tell the story in a great way. It's playing with fire if you intend on making an anime and don't use the right animation. Many believe the animation style of an anime is irrelevant to the series, but this is not the case. In order to tell the story properly, your animation must match the story in many ways, otherwise the viewer tunes out. Vampire Knight successfully harnessed the right animation style for their anime, thus creating a brand new smash hit in the anime community.

Parents should know there's plenty of blood (naturally, where there are vampires, there's blood) and violence, courtesy of the Level E vampires. Once you finish season one, you should move straight along to Vampire Knight: Guilty, the second season of Vampire Knight, which a lot bloodier as we near the completion of the series. Yuuki's blood is like a drug to vampires, which can smell her a mile away, and Kaname's willing to do anything to prevent her blood from being taken, and is not above resorting to violence.

Vampire Knight is a must if you're trying to stay in the anime loop, because where there's an anime fan, there's probably a Vampire Knight fan somewhere in there. Enjoy, and don't go out at night.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Review | OVA | Le Portrait De Petit Cossette

LE PORTRAIT DE PETIT COSSETTE : College student Eiri Kurahashi receives
shipments to his family's antique shop, when he comes across a beautiful antique
glass, and in the glass, he begins seeing visions of a hauntingly beautiful girl
named Cossette d'Auvergne and the tragic end of her life. Eiri ultimately falls
in love with the ghost of Cossette and becomes obsessed with freeing her from
her cursed state. Cossette accepts Eiri's wishes, and Eiri becomes entrapped in
Cossette's gruesome world and must now suffer for the sins that bind Cossette to
her fate.

At first glance, the imagery of Le Portrait De Petit Cossette (The Image Of Young Cossette) is enough to draw in plenty of attention because of its dark but majestic composition, and probably Cossette's choices of Elegant Gothic Lolita dress as well. I thought at first that this was a short series, and was surprised to learn that it's actually an OVA of the manga of the same name. That may have been the problem.

Le Portrait De Petit Cossette starts out with an indirect introduction to our protagonist Eiri, who works, as it would appear, by himself at his family's antique store. Changes in Eiri's personality makes his college buddies suspect there's a girl wandering around somewhere in his mind. Well, yes and no; there is indeed a girl Eiri can't keep his eyes off of, but this girl happens to be merely an entity that appears to him in a Venetian wine glass that found its way to the antique store the week before. The entity is Cossette d'Auvergne, the daughter of a rich aristocrat from the 18th century. Eiri can't peel his eyes away from Cossette's simple life on her family's estate playing out for him in the glass. Eiri does suspect at first that the image of Cossette may be a figment of his mind due to illness, or perhaps a few too many, but when Cossette's life finally plays into her death, Eiri realizes exactly what's going down: that girl IS a ghost, unjustly killed by her painter fiance, Marchello Orlando. Desperate to free Cossette's soul from the torture of her prison within the world of the glass, Eiri accepts the pact offered to him by Cossette, in which he is brutally punished for the sins of Marchello.

With the bleak and dreary atmosphere of the show, plus its haunting music and plot, why not indeed? The first thing you expect to find (or I did, anyway) in Eiri's purgatory is an elegant finish to the curse, which would match Cossette's cushy lifestyle surrounded on every side by her parents' vast land and beautiful home. What we get instead is a blood show reminiscent of Braveheart, and that may have been the downfall of this show. Sure, everything needs a little blood to make it real, but too much unnecessary blood just makes it annoying. There's blood at the beginning that's useful to the plot, but as the episodes drag on (literally, drag), there becomes so much pointless use of blood, it gets a little ridiculous. There are several points where it would appear that there's just blood in the scene because the crew felt like putting blood there. It just stopped getting disturbing after the 10th event of exaggerated blood spewing lasting a good 5 minutes.

The show's assembly was overall pretty terrible. I think the problem is that what should have gone into a few dozen episodes were instead put into 3, and the editors appeared to try hard to fit the telling of 30 episodes' worth of material into an OVA, and the final compression make the series way too repetitive to watch. I admit I got a little tired of watching Eiri lose gallons of blood he shouldn't even have at this point.

I don't know that any child would express interest in watching this OVA, but I would definitely not let them check this one out. There are several scenes (well actually, the entire OVA) depicting very graphic, fantasy-occult-style tortures with lots...and lots....and lots....and lots of blood. Characters also appear nude in a few scenes, but private regions are shaded or at a distance and can't be made out. The OVA is overall very disturbing and one I suggest the family should stay away from.

Speaking of staying away, if you don't like violence, repetition, or ridiculous and pointless blood, you should probably pass by this one. It just didn't work as an OVA, it should have been a full-length series, that probably would have helped it a lot, because each episode is around 40 minutes long, and there are so many special effects and conversion into dream-like states, you'll start to wonder if you're watching an anime or getting high. There's just too much for the brain to swallow, and what should have been given in small doses was taken way overboard.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

Review | Anime | Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino

GUNSLINGER GIRL: IL TEATRINO : Artland picks up the story of
the Social Welfare fratelli in this sequel to the popular anime 'Gunslinger
Girl'. The Social Welfare Agency has picked up the trail of the ruthless
terrorist organization the Five Republics, and in reply sends their fratello
assassins to infiltrate the group. But when Triela is defeated in combat by a
Five Republics assassin named Pinocchio, the Agency has their work cut out f0r
them as they try to find a new approach to capture the man powerful enough to
overthrow the Agency's undefeated cyborgs.

Nearly 4 years later, the fratelli are back, with a new director, new networks and even a new studio with a very different art style. I was inspired to begin the Gunslinger Girl series, actually, after hearing the Il Teatrino series' theme song, which I discovered somewhat accidentally while exploring Gendou's music directory. Already a KOKIA fan, my curiousity and expectations lead me to the show's beautiful, spirited theme Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi and ultimately the Gunslinger Girl series. After listening to the song in repeat about ten times, I managed to turn off my player long enough to watch an episode, and I had since been hooked.

After taking less than a week to finish the first series, I began "Il Teatrino", which continues the story of the Social Welfare Agency's ongoing war with the Five Republics terrorist group. A new art style almost makes you believe it's a new anime (Wikipedia is even armed with the characters' appearance comparisions), and in many ways, it is. The gunslinging continues, as do the emotional struggles the girls have, but the story lies mostly on the shoulders of a new assassin named Pinocchio. His family is slaughtered by an enemy group, and upon discovering he is the only survivor, he is taken in by the group's leader, Christiano, who trains him to become a ruthless assassin beginning at age 10. Pinocchio eventually becomes a determined killer, even going so far as to kill the unarmed young daughter of an enemy fighter in his early years. Despite this event continuously haunting him, he strives to follow his father figure Christiano's orders at all costs.

After a raid by the Agency, Triela fights one-on-one with "Pino", and to the shock of Triela and the Agency, she is defeated. Triela does not handle this well, as this is the first time she has been defeated. She begins to train herself to exhaustion in order to become stronger for her next encounter with Christiano's assassin.

This series, despite picking up from the first season, is actually in many ways not connected to the first season at all. Everything is new, which you can see by watching it, because the pace Il Teatrino is a lot slower, and at times, annoyingly slow. A lot of focus is put in unnecessary things a lot of the time, and this series seems more centered around Pinocchio than the cyborgs and the Agency. Pinocchio's one of those characters that you can't really put your finger on; his nonchalant, cold, and overall bland personality makes him a hard pill to swallow.

Fans of Gunslinger Girl will definitely want to pick this one up, but I wouldn't get overly excited, because the series certainly doesn't. It's very serene in the long run, and you don't have to worry about whether or not you're receiving a bigger dose than you need. You'll either watch until you think you've watched enough or you'll watch until you get bored and stop. That's the reason it took me nearly a month to finally complete, unlike Gunslinger Girl, which I finished within the week. Definitely one for your to-watch list, but grab a seat.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Review | Anime | Gunslinger Girl

GUNSLINGER GIRL : The Social Welfare Agency of Italy, on the surface,
rehabilitates those who have been physically injured. Underneath this harmless
disguise, they are an anti-terrorist organization with a grotesque specialty:
Terminally ill young girls that have been orphaned or abandoned are taken from
their bed-ridden states in the hospital and given cybernetic body parts along
with a thorough erase of all memories of their previous lives. The Agency trains
the girls as obedient assassins and teams them up with agents of the Italian
Government. Despite their conditioning, they are still young girls, and they
struggle with their emotions outside of the demands of the organization that
treats them merely as mindless tools.

I almost didn't watch this anime, for fear that it would be yet another Magical Girl rip-off about scantily-clad lolicon crime-fighters. I was surprised to find, however, that this was not the case at all; this anime is actually far from the typical bubbles and melon soda of anime youth and cuts straight into the darker side of the world. In the end, I am very pleased with this anime and happy I gave it a chance.


The anime centers primarily around the Jose/Henrietta fratello (Italian for 'siblings', a term used in the series to refer to the agents and their cyborgs) and Henrietta's struggle to express her feelings for her handler Jose. Jose is considered an oddball by many of the handlers at the Agency because of his loving treatment of Henrietta, choosing to treat her like a person rather than a machine. While it draws in confusion from the handlers, it gains longing from the cyborgs, who wish their handlers would treat them with the same respect that is given to Henrietta by Jose. Many of the cyborgs have strong feelings for their handlers, some of platonic respect and some romantic. The issue is, Jose happens to be the only handler in the Agency that expresses friendship towards his cyborg; Jose's handler co-workers treat their cyborgs as tools, and even refer to them as such, despite any attempts or desires the girls may have to form a bonding with their agents.

In addition to their strict military training, the cyborgs are schooled like regular girls, and are often tutored by fellow cyborg Triela, who is one of the older cyborgs in the series, aging at the time of her conditioning about 15-16. Typically the Agency only conditions young girls barely 13, stating that children are easier to condition and live longer, but Triela becomes one of the only exceptions, and the reason for being so is explained later in the dark sequel of the show, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino.

Conditioning is easiest for children because of the development of their minds; their pasts and all memories are simple to erase and it doesn't take much effort at all to make the children completely obedient to their handlers at a stage in their lives when they need a figure to look up to. Conditioning of the cyborgs is not a frequent process, however, whereas the more the conditioning is increased, the shorter the lifespan of the girls become. Because of this, if a handler dies, the Agency won't recondition their cyborg to obey another trainer; the cyborg will merely be scrapped or kept for experiments.

The aptly named series does boast plenty of blood and violence, so this may be one to steer the kids away from completely, despite how interesting the "girls with guns" topic may seem. Even without the violence, the pace of the show and the complexity of the Agency's tasks probably won't keep a child attentive for long. Older fans of anime will probably draw out a lot more enjoyment, however, for the dramatic plot and beautiful storytelling on a brand new meaning of children being desperate for attention.

You won't want to walk by this one at the store, violence fan or non, if you enjoy the occasional mist in the eyes with some brain food thrown in. Gunslinger Girl is a wonderfully told story and a joy to watch. Another one for your Plan-To-Watch list.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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The Light Before We Land (opening theme)

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Review | Movie | The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME : Makoto Konno is a typical high schooler
who spends most of her free time playing baseball with her friends Chiaki and
Kousuke. On a day when nothing seems to go her way and everything leads to
disaster, she has an encounter with a mysterious man in the science lab of
school, and is suddenly endowed with the ability to leap through time. As she
goes back to various points in her week to fix the problems she runs into, she
begins to realize the terrible adverse effects that amount from her alteration
of time.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was very recently released on DVD in America, and was shown on several college campuses across the United States. Upon discovering an advertisement on an anime website about the movie, I decided to have a sit-down and watch the film.

Even though it was not a big box office smash, through kudos from viewers and film critics, "Toki o Kakeru Shōjo" soon soared to large heights and did considerably well thereafter, despite not being advertised as much as other 2006 anime features.

The movie begins simply and paces simply, but once Makoto's run-in with a shadowed figure in the science lab sends her flying onto a strange nutshell, the time debate begins. Makoto's most trusted adult figure appears to be her aunt Kazuko, who instead of brushing off Makoto's time-leaping dilemma, actually becomes the one who suggests Makoto's experience was a genuine journey through the fabrics of time. At first Makoto thinks this impossible and denounces it, but once she begins to take literal leaps that would otherwise severely injure her, she discovers she can really travel to any time she wants. And how do you reckon a tardy, accident-prone girl with bad grades use a time-bending power?

Naturally, this is all working out quite well. All of Makoto's accidents are instantly fixed, and she is not above hooking her guy friends Chiaki and Kousuke up with girls who watch them from afar. She doesn't mind bragging a little about it to her aunt, either. Her aunt's speculation, however, turns out to be a true one: You can't just one piece of the timeline; if one thing changes, everything changes. Makoto soon realizes this the hard way; to avoid her cooking accident, she switched with a classmate who ended up having the accident instead of her, and this earned her classmate school bullies that mocked him for destroying the kitchen. The next problem? The battered boy wants his revenge, beginning with the girl who made him switch with her in class.

Her relationships with her school friends are tested, and some sparks even fly, but Makoto is determined to fix everything. Despite her attempts, a wrench is thrown in by her new discovery: She can only leap for a certain amount of times before her ability goes away forever.

This movie tells a great story and pulls its weight at a great pace. Makoto's comedy turns to drama as time unfolds itself and Makoto begins to question the source of her ability. The reviews were definitely correct about this one, and the awards were well deserved.

Parents should feel fine about showing this to their kids, although it doesn't contain elements that may interest very young kids. This may be a movie for the middle schoolers of your family and older.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is beautifully put together and plays out the fable of how every drug has its side effect in a lively, humorous and touching way. This one is unquestionably going to my anime collection, and I think it'll make a great addition to yours, too.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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