Shigurui: Death Frenzy (Shigurui) [2007] — 8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1233119/

This anime can be summed up in one word. TENSO! (for those of you who don’t know the meaning, just do a Google image search and you will quickly learn) it was like watching the entire series with your eyes bulged out of your head. The entire thing was intense from the start to the end. Hell it even made snowman intense.

Seriously though it was actually surprisingly good. However, you have to like films that involve martial arts, specifically the way of the samurai, no ninjas, not Bruce Lee, fucking samurais.

The story was so intense that the most I could watch in one sitting was two episodes before I had to give my body time to relax. I have never had any series/movie do this to me. There was literally no time at all that the series let up. Just when you think it does and you see a snowman, it’s like “oh thank god, I can relax” but the something fucked up happens and you are back to being on your guard.

The story was AWESOME. One of the best samurai stories I have ever seen. It was however so complex that I still have a ton of unanswered questions though, but mostly in a good way. There is also no way for me to summarize or even gives hints at the story though, it’s just that complex of a story.

The animation was top quality. Not the best I have ever seen, but the artwork, the cinematography, the genius of it all is probably the best that I have ever seen in an anime.

This is again one of the best, most complex animes I have ever seen. But you will be tense the entire time. I think I have a muscle on my back that has a knot in it from being so tense while watching this.

The only thing that really pissed me off was the ending. It was not what I was expecting, but it also never answered my question about the very first episode. And the ending was not nearly as epic as the rest of the series. For such an amazingly strong series, it sure finished with a weak ending. Or at least it seemed that way to me. Maybe I need to watch through it again to understand it better, but it just seemed weak.

All in all if you love anime, the way of the samurai, or just really great, really complex stories, then this is for you. Just make sure to watch it in Japanese with subtitles, the English version is a wussy sauce by comparison.

Total Score = 8

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o kakeru shôjo) [2006] — 7

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808506/

This came from a different friend who had recommended a bunch of anime to me. And fortunately this one peeked my interest from the get go. I had heard of it before, but I was never able to find it. Fortunately he leant me his copy and I have now finally watched it.

Right off the bat, from the title alone you already know that this has to do with time travel, yes? Alright my biggest problem with any time travel movie is why do they have to drag on to the part where a person obtains the ability to travel through time? It takes so long that it’s kind of boring having to wait for it to happen. However sometimes it is needed to see the different things that happen as a result of time travel. This is the second case. It actually goes back into the same events and changes their outcome to see what happens differently.

Now it never really explains why all of the sudden the main character all of the sudden gains the ability to “jump” though time. (She literally has to run and the jump to time travel) It’s all mind boggling, but you are figuring it out with the main character at the same time that she is.

Now when you actually find out it’s going to either be a “That’s Awesome!” or a “Seriously? They went there? /sigh” we had both in my house when we watched. But either way it’s not bad. It’s actually rather cute.

All in all if you like time travel and anime, then this film is defiantly for you. If not then this movie is still enjoyable, but you may not be completely immersed it in.

Base Score = 6
+1 for time travel
+1 for an unexpected ending
-1 for having a slow beginning
=7/10

5 Centimeters Per Second (Byôsoku 5 senchimêtoru) [2007] — 1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0983213/

This was yet another anime that a friend had recently told me about, and with how good the last one was I was looking forward to this one. It turns out that I was dead wrong.

This is basically a story told over the course of 3 episodes (the movie was presented that way) about high school Japanese students and their love lifes, or lack thereof. I never really got into it because it was boring as crap. Literally there was nothing entertaining that happened the whole time.

To start off, it’s the story of how one guy got separated from the one girl he loved in middle school or some such thing and had to take a train to go and see her before he moved so far away that they could never see each other again. Turns out that it was about 25 minutes of him taking trains. No joke. Literally 25 minutes of film time went to this guy navigating trains. And they call this director visionary. I call that boring as fuck.

The second story was about a girl who wanted to get with a guy who always had his head in the clouds and she would wait till he walked to the parking lot and then they would ride home together. I don’t remember much more than that because I turned it off.

That’s right, it was so boring I stopped watching it. And the movie is only 63 minutes. I’m not even sure if you can classify it as a movie being that short. But I was bored to tears from about 5 minutes in.

I will say that it was some of the most beautiful artwork and animation that I have ever seen in an anime, but it was wasted on a boring film. It would be like when George Lucas developed the (at the time) blue screen and someone used it to put a plant in front of it and a sunny background. Totally stupid use of the technology.

All in all I would avoid this like the plague. Don’t waste your time, your money or your life. Take my lead and just turn it off.

Base Score = 1
+0 I turned it off
=1/10

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem [2003] — 8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368667/

I had a friend highly recommend this to me. I really wish I would have researched it a bit though.

Heres the thing, do you like, or love Daft Punk? Then you will love the ever living crap out of this movie.

It is basically nothing but a huge music video. There is absolutely no dialog in the entire movie except what is in the songs, which is genius, except for the fact that I hate techno, and I hate Daft Punk even more.

It was still intriguing for the first 30 minutes. I couldn’t take me eyes off of the screen and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. But after about the halfway mark I was bored beyond tears, the story went from amazing, intriguing and I wanted to know “What happens next?”, to “holy crap, how much longer until this is over?” It was one of the biggest turn arounds in a movie I have ever experienced. And that’s also about the point that I realized that the entire soundtrack was done by one artist and also that it was techno. Then I started putting 2 and 2 together and found out that it was Daft Punk and immediately searched for the gun that I don’t own so that I could end my own life.

But then it got better again and I went to put away my gun. Then the ending was what really got me. I nearly dropped my jaw when I saw the ending. One of the best twists I have ever seen in a movie. Really.

All in all this movie was great, boring, exciting, hateful, well really my whole range of emotions was in it. And the ending more than made up for the slow part. I would recommend this to anyone as long as they know its techno first.

Base Score = 6
+1 for no dialog
-1 for Daft Punk
+1 for a huge range of emotions
+1 for an extremely unexpected ending.
=8/10

The Cat Returns (Neko no ongaeshi) — 8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347618/

I love everything Miyazki and when I got this film I was under the impression that it was a Miyazki film mainly because it was made by Studio Ghibli(which is Miyazkis company) but its not a Miyazki film. Miyazaki was nothing more than a producer, which in movie terms means he’s the bitch. He’s the one that finds the funds for the movie, tries to get certain actors in it, yadda yadda yadda, its basically the “Hey! I need something done, but I don’t have a person hired for exactly that reason, get the producer to do it!” bitch.

But even then, Miyazaki had his hands in making this movie and you can see that it shows. Its not nearly as good as his other films, but it is still good in its own right. Not to mention that if you are a cat lover of any sort, then you must see this movie.

The story is basically that of a girl who is always late, lazy, and never really wants to do anything, but one day a cat is crossing the street and she saves it at the last minute. The cat then thanks her speaking in plain language to her, and says she will be rewarded. Anywho insanity ensues as only Studio Ghibli can deliver and the next thing you know, the main character is in cat land. And is about to be married to the one she saved. Yes that’s right, even Studio Ghibli cannot abstain from bestiality, I’m sorry i meant inter-species erotica.

But it only gets even more entertaining from there. The ending almost had a tear of joy run down my cheek, almost.

All in all, its that type of movie where there’s massive adventure, and then at the end it just touches you. Its really good. I won’t ruin the ending here, but it actually left me thinking, which is a good thing. Not to mention that there was absolutely no slow parts at all, the movie was incredibly well paced, and if you like animated movies at all, this one will at least keep you entertained until the end.

Base Score = 7/10
-1 for not being directed by Miyazaki
+1 for being Studio Ghibli
+1 for inter-species erotica
= 8/10

Dragon Ball – Piccolo Jr Saga ep 123-153 — 7

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088509/

First off i did not see myself finishing off this series as quickly as i did. I literally flew through this Saga by comparison. But even saying that, this Saga was 31 episodes long. and there were a lot of things covered. I have broken it up into several sections.

Firstly, after the last encounter with King Piccolo, at the end of the battle, King Piccolo spat out an egg and it did in fact turn into Piccolo jr as i anticipated, what i didn’t anticipate was that it was basically a carbon copy of King Piccolo, and this character is actually the Piccolo that later turns into Piccolo in DBZ. So with that being said, for simplicities sake, I’m just referring Jr to Piccolo.

after King Piccolo made his wish, he destroyed the eternal dragon, so Goku was searching for a way to revive him so that he could wish his friends back to life. He found out that there was a place above Korins tower, this is Kamis lookout. Kami is the protector of Earth, and is also the one who created the dragon balls and the eternal dragon. Turns out this is also where Mr. Popo shows up. Long story short, Kami revives the dragon. Then Goku is forced to train with Kami/Mr Popo for the next 3 years. Just enough time until the next WMAT (World Martial Arts Tournament). Then the next thing you know, its the next tournament and everyone is grown up. Suddenly Goku is an Adult as is Krillin, and everyone else looks the same exact age.

At the WMAT there are a few surprises, ChiChi makes it into the finals, as does a cyborg Mercenary Tao. All in all though, it really boils down to what you think will be Goku and Piccolo, but that’s not true. There is actually one fighter in disguise who is Kami. (for reference, Kami and Piccolo are the same being, they had to split apart, so one is pure good, the other pure evil) Kami tries to stop Piccolo, but ends up failing and the rest is left up to the final match, Goku and Piccolo. Of course the tournament was long and drawn out, it was interesting and fun to watch (I’m a sucker for the tournament sagas) but the real battle begins at the final match.

The battle between Piccolo and Goku lasts for a good portion of time. Its also where the power-ups take several episodes to occur, so for 2 episodes Piccolo is sounding like he is either being raped by a tree, or like he is taking the largest shit ever witnessed by a human. Definitely not needed, or entertaining. but there are 4 different times where Piccolo produces so much power from one of his energy attacks that nuclear explosions happen. Not once, not twice, 4 fucking time. no joke. and on the last one its of such a magnitude that the entire island that the WMAT is held on becomes leveled and all that remains is dust. yet somehow even though there were 4 nuclear explosions, the arena floor is only covered in dirt. Its still there, but skyscrapers, and villages, and well THE WHOLE FUCKING ISLAND IS VAPORIZED! somehow the arena floor seems largely untouched. Anywho Goku wins(no shit, right?)

Then when you think the saga should be over since Goku won and all, no, it keeps going, it went on for so long all i could think of was, damn. Why is this shit still continuing for at least another 6 episodes, what the hell can you add on to the end of a huge battle that will make it all worthwhile to keep on going for that long? the answer? absolutely nothing. Its all about how Goku and Chichi are going to get married, and then the Ox-Kings castle catches on fire, so Goku and Chichi have to run all over the world trying to get one mystical artifact just to put the flames out on the castle. Nevermind the fact that Goku can survive 4 nuclear blasts, give him some fire and he can’t go through it. Anyways, after some long drawn out bullshit to put out a stupid fire in a castle, Goku and Chichi get married and thats the end of the series.

But ohhhh wait, even Akira Toriyama knew that he was going to continue the Dragon Ball series and even left you with a teaser at the end saying “If you want to see more adventures of Goku and friends. stick around for Dragon Ball Z!” fuckers. so cocky that they know they will get a sequel. thats like selling someone a car thats ganna break down so you know you will have to see them again. Ok, bad example, but i think i’ve proven my point.

Base Score = 7
-1 for surviving 4 nuclear blasts
+1 for WMAT
-1 for power-ups taking multiple episodes
+1 finally seeing how Goku grew up
-1 for still not having any idea how Piccolo joins Gokus team
+1 actually wanting to see more dragon ball, even after the last review i couldn’t wait to stop watching it for a while.

= 7/10

Dragon Ball – King Piccolo Saga, ep 102-122 — 7

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088509/

So this is where the constipation scenes start. You know the ones where a character “powers up”. They just stand there making funny faces like they are massively constipated trying to push a log out the size of a polar bear. Ya that one.

This is also where the energy battles start, not the ones where 2 Kameamea Waves hit each other and they fight over which one goes through. No, just the fact that Akira Toriyama decided it would be more fun if they shoot lazerz (pewpew!) and get glowing apparations to make themselves look more powerful.

Also this is where the series ran out of human-like enemies (since they main characters all were finalists in the World Martial Arts Tournament) so what did they go with? Aliens, mother fucking aliens. How generic can you get?

So they bring in King Piccolo, a Namek (which I’m not supposed to know at this point) and he causes all types of trouble. Even with the above mentioned ‘problems’ this is also where Dragon Ball fall into the regular pattern that we are used to seeing all throughout DBZ. The pattern of Goku beats the ever living crap out of the previous enemy, or it ends in a draw, and then proceeds to find an enemy that can kill him in one hit. Then throughout the saga Goku trains and gets better. Then when he meets up with the enemy again he wins, but only after seeing his clothes ripped into shreds, and one of his eyes acting lazy.

OK, enough with the bashing, all in all i liked this Saga, this one was not as good as the previous Saga, but that’s mainly because I like tournament sagas more than any other because i like to see how they play out. There’s always intense moments in them, not to mention that you will always know who will end in the final match, but you don’t know how.

Also this Saga surprised me because at the end of the last Saga i thought i knew what the wish would be for, but i was wrong, King Piccolo actually got a wish, and he wished himself younger, which the eternal dragon granted. But after King Piccolo got his wish he destroyed the eternal dragon. I thought it couldn’t be done. I know the dragon somehow comes back though because i have seen DBZ, i also know that Roshi, Krillin, and Chiaotzu all come back, so the dragon has to be alive, or somehow they get other dragon balls and wish the eternal dragon back to life.

Also once King Piccolo was defeated, he let out another egg and spat it at the icy land area, which I’m assuming turns into Piccolo Jr (since the next Saga is called Piccolo Jr Saga) and they have to fight another Namek all over again.

All in all though I did enjoy it and i look forward to finishing off Dragon Ball with the last Saga and then take a break from any Dragon Ball for a while and watch something else, like M*A*S*H or The Twilight Zone, or anything not Dragon Ball. But i must finish the series.

Base Score = 7
-1 for “power ups”
+1 for no wave fights
-1 for knowing that certain characters will become alive again
+1 for being hard to put down after halfway through the Saga.
= 7/10

Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo) — 10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0876563/

I love the Shit outta anything Miyazaki, i have seen the vast majority of his films and i only didn’t like one of his films and even then My Neighbor Totoro was still pretty good, if not extremely slow.

Like all Miyazki films, the intro will confuse you unless you have seen the movie before and this is no exception. The entire first 20 minutes of the film had no spoken words, so it was all about interpretation and the journey that the director wanted to take you on.

The Little Mermaid, a story most Americans love and grew up with, was the base inspiration for this movie. In a way i want to view it as the Japanese version of the Little Mermaid, but its not. Similar, yes, the same, nononononono, its far from differnt, but you can see where he got his inspiration from for sure.

Now i loved this movie, and it might be my favorite Miyazkai film to date, I’m not really sure since all of his movies are amazingly awesome, but I wont ruin the story for you, so you’ve gotta go and watch it yourself.

Basically it tells the story of a fish-like creature that finds its way to the surface of the water, and eventually gets caught up in a garbage tanker and gets shoved into a jar. A human boy finds the jar and from there, i will not say anymore, even though its extremely hard for me to stop here and not say anything more about the story.

Lets just say that during most of the movie i was experiencing what most others might call, a childlike sense of wonder while watching this movie. My mouth was in a permanent smile from ear to ear from the first 20 mins in until the end of the film.

This movie also made me laugh a lot during it, and It was just flat out awesome from start to end. I recomend that everyone who has a slight taste for animated films, and anyone who just wants to smile from start to end should definatly go out of thier way and watch this movie in theatres while its still around.

Base Score = 8

+1 for Miyazaki

+.5 for a retelling of the Little Mermaid

-1 for a light amount of dragging on during the beginning of the movie after the boy finds the jar

+.5 for Liam Neesan

+1 for a childlike sense of wonder

= 10/10

Dragon Ball – Tien Shinhan Saga, ep 84-101 — 8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280249/

I know that this is not the beginning of  the Dragon Ball series (the original, not Z, not GT) but a while ago, and before i created this blog, it came upon me to watch the original series. I like DBZ growing up, but never saw how it all began, so one day i decided to get them and to start watching them. So I will pick it up here and continue with it till the series is finished.

This is the 2nd tournament saga in the DB series and being so used to DBZ i had no idea that Tien was originally a bad guy. It seems impossible to me now to even figure that he was once bad. Although through the course of the tournament, Roshi finds a way to convert him out of the path of killing, and into a good path, he does it using only words, and the words drive into Tien so deep that he starts loosing it.

As is with most of the tournaments, you already know who will make it to the final round thanks to a simple plot, Tien and Goku. but there are always small surprises on the way, or basically just things to bring up the emotions of the combatants so that the fight seems more intense.

This was also he saga where each person had enough energy to actually do more than one energy attack, so this is the birthplace of the famous, scenes where characters ‘power up’ for 3 episodes it feels like making noises like they are trying to pass a giant rubber poop monster through their bowels. but since this is the beginning of those days, it actually was very well balanced, and they only used the attacks sparingly by comparison to how much they do in DBZ.

All in all this saga was not to bad, and at the end of it they gained 2 allies, Tien and Chiaotzu. But at the end of the saga, someone came and stole Gokus dragon ball, and while doing so, he killed Krillin, it never showed who or what killed him, but krillin is no longer alive, and someone has stolen a dragon ball. I guess it left it open for the next villian! and also the next wish on the dragon balls.

base score = 7

+1 for well balanced fighting

+1 for getting some backround on DBZ and how Tien and Chiaotzu came to be

-1 for knowing what the next wish on the dragon balls will be.

= 8/10