Sunday, August 9, 2009

Sailor Moon Super S: The Last Filler Season

Episode 1 --- Episode 2 --- Episode 3 --- Episode 4 --- The Movie

Because there may have been too many gender and individual personality confusion in S, Super S seems to try to keep the premise pretty simple like the first series. There does not seem to be much to for the character to discover about their enemy, they just know they have to defeat them. And there was something about a Pegasus and Chibi-Usa which is so cute, it's diabetic.

Perhaps the creator, Naoko Takeuchi, felt he needed to get back to basics to please an audience who did not care for the prior season. This would be worth it for the extremely dark series, Sailor Stars, that Takeuchi does not want released in the States. He feels that Sailor Moon should maintain its status as a kids series in the US, and the last season would change our perception of it and even the marketability.

I admit, guys who transform into female super heroes, those seem like tough toys to make. Since I'm not a SM toy collector, I definitely need to make the time to find the fansubs of my favorite Sailor Moon incarnation. Until then, I guess I got to make due with Super S or spend the cash on Revolutionary Girl Utena. It's a pricy road to the top of the Otakus.

Episode 128: Meeting of Destiny: Pegagus' Nancing Night

Chibiusa has a dream where she wanders into a forest, and finds a mysterious pegasus (Sorry for the weak adjective, but I don't know how else one would describe a new character we know nothing about and build suspence at the same time). The pegasus seems to appreciate th
e meeting, but tells Chibiusa to keep it as a secret. After Usagi gets her up they go to witness a solar eclipse, but during the darkness, something weird is happening. A new group of out-of-this-world being are trying to take over Earth, but they need to capture Pegasus who lives in beautiful dreams. The assailants for this job the Amazon Trio, their first target Nazuki.


This series doesn't seem as dark as Sailor Moon S which some fans may prefer, and it still uses the concept of the villains that send a new demon to be defeated by the soldiers. I'm sorry, but that does get a tad old. Since the episode is trying to introduce a new premise, it can't take the time to let the soldiers interact with each other properly which was a problem with the first episode of S. It does have its moments, and you can't help but like the Amazon Trio, but this is one of the weaker episodes of Sailor Moon.


Episode 129: Super Transformation Once Again


Reika has returned from Africa only to prepare to go to school in Europe. Her boyfriend Motoki doesn't feel the relationship can work, so he is avoiding Reika no matter how much
pleading Minako and Usagi can muster. In the mean time, Tiger Eye trying to make up for his past failure decides to see if the weak spirited Reika has the dreams that contain Pegasus.


The episode lets all the soldiers be themselves, but one does hope to find them in weirder situations. Fortunately, the characters they're dealing with are pretty interesting, so nothing is really lost. I do wish Chibiusa got a little less to do though. Maybe its just me, but I wouldn't want to be taking romance tips from a ten year-old. Of course that might be a gal thing. I guess Sailor Moon getting a new transformation is what makes the episode really worth while.

Episode 130: To Protect Mother's Dream


Usagi's day has just been ruined when her mother refuses to make another Lemon Pie since Chibiusa ate her share of the last one. Chibiusa does feel a little guilty, but Usagi's mother does make her feel better by showing her some photos of Usagi as a child to show how similar they are to each other. Mother decides to go and get some more lemons to make more pies where she runs into a red hair guy who claims to have mistaken her for his missing mother. I would say something smells fishy, but that would be the wrong member of the Trio.


Now this is the kind of situation I like to see Usagi in. It's also good that another member gets in on the dream capturing. Add a cute photo album and you get the best episode in the series thus far.

Episode 131: The Amazon Trap


Hawk Eye has developed a new cage to capture Pegasus for the next time it decides to save the soldiers' butts. All they need is bait, so Tiger Eye decides to try getting a chance to see the dreams of Naru, but his seductive ways do not seem to conquer her feelings for Umino. That is until he claims to only have three months to live.


It would be a fair assumption that the shorter the summary the more I liked the episode. This episode also contained Umino acting like...well Umino which only adds to its comic edge. It's also good that the Trio was working as a team, but the episodes fight scene leaves more to be desired.


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Saturday, August 8, 2009

Robotech II: The Sentinels...I Think This Is Tied to SDF Macross.

Alright, obviously Robotech: The Macross Saga wasn't the best Japanese Animated show from the 80s, but it is indeed a reason why anime is so popular. I've been in heaven ever since Ted Turner (I refuse to hear bad comments about this great capitalist who also gives us Braves Baseball and the n.W.o.Hollywood) put Robotech on Cartoon Network along with Voltron and Sailor Moon. Yes, a lot of it is pretty corny. Two words Min Mei, but its the only drama that we've seen in an animated show in the U.S. that isn't on HBO at 10:30 at night.

Robotech II: The Sentinels gives us a few answers to some questions never answered or needed more closure from the First Robotech Generation despite it doesn't answer how the hell Dana is blond. If your a fan, it's worth $20 to see it, but otherwise don't expect to see something that can compare to Macross II and Plus. Unfortunately if your a fan, you'll be pissed to see how much more the Saga could have held, making you want to say screw Bowie, Louie, Zor, and Dana.
It's been anywhere from 7 to 9 years after Cyron rammed is battle cruiser into SDF 1 and 2, but fortunately the human kind is ready to prevent another apocaliptic war, and plans to send the SDF 3 to meet with the Robotech masters to try preventing any cultural misunderstanding. Major General Rick Hunter does have two difficult task ahead of him. The crew will get some help from the Zentradi running the Robotech factory which includes Commander Britai, but obviously there are those who are opposed, so Rick and company will have to deal with this.

There is a second part to this story though. The humans aren't the only ones looking for the Robotech masters. The Invid (yes you'll see these bad a****) are commensing a hostile takeover of their home world. Basicly the earthling are going to run into the ugly guys soon, but they are too concerned about making Rick and Lisa wedding perfect to worry about it.

The film is entertaining, but I wouldn't recommend this to any none Robotech fans which includes Macross fans. There isn't much for drama, humor, and there is hardly any action. It plays like a normal TV episode which it shouldn't if you have to fill 90 min. The runtime isn't that big a deal because it plays out in defined acts. Also the animation seems to have been intentionally drawn a little more like American animation which loses the original charm.

Fans (like me) will probably enjoy a lot about the old characters and the fact we see little Dana and Bowie along with the other new characters in the film. Sadly, we never see the Invid and humans clash, the ending is very anti-climatic. How was Robotech's second generation story be completely told when you still have characters in a story before it. If your not a fan, you'll struggle through Robotech II: The Sentinels, and if you are you'll curse Harvest Gold.


Friday, August 7, 2009

Macross 7: The Motion Picture in all of its 30 minute glory

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I guess the stereotype that all Japanese find small things to be exceptionally cute.

Macross 7 is the first actual fansub anime that I've ever bought, so bare with me if my review becomes a tad confusing. This video is the first motion picture which runs a little over a half hour length, so I'm kind of pissed that I paid $20 for this, but this is indeed Macross. Maybe even a little to much Macross.
I've always considered the music to be the reason for any Macross series, but I didn't expect a rock opera. Aside from that this title is pretty cool. The tone of this series isn't as deep and serious as Macross Plus, so it's more like traditional Macross (SDF and 2) which some may prefer. The songs may get annoying, but if your a Macross fan you should enjoy this and we can only hope that some major distributor picks this title up. It may be more expensive, but some people are too lazy to search for subs, so it'd be the only way to expose some people to this series.
Basara has crash landed after defolding on a snow covered planet. There are not many people on the planet who seem to care for musicians, but a little kid, Pedro, seems to be familiar with Basara's band, and he can hardly control his bodily functions when he's around his idol. Basara decides to take the little guy on a flight where he soon gets into a sing off with a Zentradi, Emiria. Fortunately their battle gives the Song Patrol a vague location of to start their searh, but it also attracts the evil Protodevlins, an enemy that can only be defeated by song.

Sorry if my review isn't too deep, but there isn't really a lot to this film. The story is good, but when I buy a movie, I do feel I deserve a little more than 30 minutes, but as an episode in a TV series it's excellent. One does get a chance to know the characters the film is concentrating on, Emiria and Basara are both pretty cool, but you won't learn much about the other characters in the series. Also the over use of pop music and of Pedro can get under your skin. No matter what you think of how the songs are used, the music is great and so is the animation. The artwork is as good as PLUS, but maybe a little work can be done on the color. Of course this is supposed to be a lighter series than PLUS, so maybe the animators were just making sure of that.