*Blog post started on October 6, 2020.
It seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel in terms of my exhaustion. Lets just hope it is not depression. Eva the Cat has been a little too cozy with me at night even after nearly hugging her to death when I was stoned and New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" came on. She shared the bed with me and Skimbleshanks yesterday, so either her or I is pretty down.
I went to bed before 10 pm last night. Was I tired after a bunch of errands went south, yes. Red Box sent an email me to me about a free movie promise while making it impossible to gain the promo code (You know enough about me.) which is very frustrating when you find a movie that would need to go on NinetyForChill.com. Auntie Anne's pepperoni pretzel nuggets were the only option that close to closing time, so it was not the fun Hot Topic order pick up mall trip. Never mind the awkwardness of flirting with a girl who wants me to meet them for the first time by coming into their workplace wore my brain out. It is probably best to wait till I need to replace a worn pair of Chuck Taylor's.
In the end, my previous night concluded with me not even finishing my D.P. Dough calzone, a first. Fortunately, I was able to watch some anime the previous night to have content ready to review. That at least took my mind off how do I ask for my poker winnings after embarrassing myself with C-word littered rants fueled by half a fifth of 100-proof moonshine. It was an impromptu game night after I had finished my shift at the retailer. All I had time to do was change, so visiting a liquor store for seltzers was out of the question. I just grabbed what I thought would not need a mixer.
At that party and from my ex who thinks I am going to ruin my life in Peoria tonight, I have found that my under two-minute movie reviews have drawn people to my blog. This means that I should go and make a quick video for this "Blue Seed" review. Guess I will need to swing by Japan House during a lunch hour for proper ambiance.
Yuzo Takada's Blue Seed
After a construction night gas explosion in Tokyo that was seemingly triggered by the presence of Kaede Kunikida, the Japanese government has come to the realization that the Aragami, ancient demons who terrorized the country centuries prior, have returned. The reason for their return is because the Kushinada family that stopped the demons had given birth to twins thus awakening the monsters.
Before they defeated these monsters, the Kushinada would sacrifice a daughter to appease them. The Aragami are dependent on keeping this bloodline alive when there is not a spare daughter to kill. Now that there are/were two they can be a little more liberal in their movements and destruction. Kaede was one of the twins who was separated from her sister Momiji Fujimima for her protection.
During the past 15 years, the Aragami have laid low and picked up on some modern scientific knowledge. This has provided them the means to cancel the curse the Princesses Kushinada had placed on them. It is suspected this allowed them to kill Kaede without any consequences. If they use this method to kill the unsuspecting Momiji, they are free to destroy humanity.
Humanity's salvation can play out one of two way. If they decide to sacrifice Momiji, the Kushinada and Aragami die. The other way is that the Chief Director Kunikida, Kaede's adopted father, and his Terrestrial Administration Center and the Aragami assigned protector of the bloodline, Kusanagi can fight them to the last to protect the remaining princess. Since Momiji is a naive high schooler wanting to get the most out of life regardless of the inconvenience she can be, the prior option is very tempting.
When I was old enough to get into anime beyond "Dragon Ball Z", "Sailor Moon" and "Voltron", my primary source for what was being released was "DieHard GameFan" magazine. It introduced me to video game adaptations like "Street Fighter 2 V", "Street Figther 2: The Animated Movie" (my introduction to KMFDM), and "Battle Arena Toshinden". Most of the coverage at the time was devoted to those being distributed by Manga Entertainment (now a Starz subsidiary) and the defunct ADV Films, so I was well aware of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Ghost in the Shell". In 1996, everything else came across as an after thought to the critics, including the not quite as beautiful or dramatic "Blue Seed".
At this time for ADV Films, this and "Evangelion" seemed to be the only TV series that they were importing, so if you bought a tape from this distributor, you were going to see a trailer for one of them. "Evangelion" was my first anime obsession, so it was inevitable that I would succumb to purchase a "Blue Seed" tape. The theme song was awesomely tacky, so $25 bucks did not seem like it would be a total waste.
As it turns out, I had bought the first four episodes three times over, first on VHS of course. Once there was DVD box set, "Blue Seed" was one of my rare anime DVD purchase (I was a creature of habit.). When my little brother's high school friends stole my DVD's, eBay allowed me to piece the series back together at a reasonable price. Upon this revisit, the flaws and redundancies were picked up on, but this is the type of anime that fan service catering should look like (unlike "Agent AIKa").
The characters in this series all seem to be one note, but if a joke calls for it, a ridiculous subversion of the one dimension is almost immediate and rewarding. It plays out like a manga in that sense where a single frame can totally change the tone with different art style, but the reader knows it is just a joke for the moment and does not effect the rest of the tale. You may say that is fourth wall breaking. Fan service is kept separate from the story, not distracting like "Agent AIKa" showing every woman's panties in every shot. My biggest mistake with this rewatch was that the episodes just played after each other unlike the original VHS tapes that ended with a wacky for the sake of being wacky cartoon (kind of like the previews for the next episode of "Hellsing").
With quickly changing art styles, the generally poor animation quality is forgivable. The colors are just flat which were common for mid-90's Japanese cartoons and until you get a character transformation for a joke, the characters are very static. To its credit, the scenery can be very broad and feature a lot of elements, and it is impressive that it all looks good. Soundtrack is the only other element I can think of, at it is pretty solid.
It was really unfair for "Blue Seed" to be distributed along side "Evangelion". The story is epic, but without the intensity of "Evangelion", there will just be a tendency to ignore it. "Evangelion" is the best animated television show ever. The score was magnificent and it was beautifully animated. Nothing in the mid-90's could compete.
"Blue Seed" is a solid anime for its time on the level of contemporaries like "Gundam Wing" and "Tenchi Muyo!". It is fun take on demon themed series and its willingness to throw in jokes and fan service makes it accessible to about anyone. This series is not a masterpiece, but we all needed something to tide us over as we waited for "Bubblegum Crisis 2040", "Samurai Champloo", and "Claymore". This is "Witcher" after "Game of Thrones" but before "WestWorld".
@AnimArchive - Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment