Life can be tough when you’re a teenager. Enter Tsukino Usagi, an average, if somewhat clumsy, junior high student whose voracious appetite for sweets and capacity for tears are offset by her enthusiasm for life. Her normal existence is suddenly turned upside down when a talking cat named Luna comes into her life. Suddenly, Usagi finds herself with the ability to transform into the superhero known as Sailor Moon. Fighting the occasional monster may be the least of her worries, though…

I finally found it! I sadly didn’t get to see the movie, but I’m grateful I get to hear Mami Tomoe’s theme in Japanese lyrics! I’ve heard the original from the series, and I never thought it could have gotten greater than that! But this OST has proven me wrong!

J’aime voyager avec Japan AirLines. Les repas sont délicieux, les hôtesses japonaises infiniment attentionnées, et les divertissements proposés sont excellents ! J’ai regardé et adoré le film live d’une magical girl de première génération, une pionnière du genre : Himitsu no Akko-chan (une des adaptations anime était arrivé en France dans les années 90 sous le nom “Caroline”, le manga original datant des années 60)

“Tekumakumayakon tekumakumayakon, fais-moi devenir adulte”

Akko est une petite fille de 10 ans, plus mature que les autres enfants. Très coquette, elle envisage déjà devant son miroir compact adoré quelle femme est aimerait devenir. Taquinée par les autres enfants et maladroite de ses pieds, elle fait tomber son miroir qui se brise devant ses yeux. Le soir, Akko pleure son miroir. Apparaît alors l’esprit du miroir. Pour la remercier de l’avoir tant chéri, il lui remet un miroir magique qui la métamorphosera à loisir. Seule condition : ne pas dévoiler son secret.

Magie en live

Tous les ingrédients sont là, et pour cause : ce film est l’adaptation du manga éponyme, authentique magical girl des années 60, une pionnière ! Je ne connais pas le manga originel (une des adaptations anime serait arrivé en France dans les années 90 sous le nom “Caroline”), mais ce live remis au goût du jour 50 ans plus tard est très réussi ! Le film est très drôle, l’actrice de l’héroïne adulte Haruka Ayase est émouvante (impossible de la rater, elle est en couverture de plein de magazines en ce moment, était dans le jury du Kôhaku uta gassen, je l’ai aussi vu dans un drama à la TV, …). Le scénario est étonnamment réaliste, moderne et complexe, l’histoire étant de sauver une entreprise en prise à une tentative de rachat par tous les moyens corruptibles. On oublie parfois qu’il y a pouvoirs magiques tant Akko se démène par ses intentions humaines. En apprenant à grandir dans ce monde d’adulte, et en gardant sa sincérité d’enfant, elle parvient à aider le héros à réaliser son rêve. Et même si le miroir se brise, Akko n’a plus besoin de magie.

Akko-chan est une formidable surprise pour moi ! Ce film est beau, touchant, il donne du courage et le sourire ; c’est exactement le genre de magical girl auquel j’ai voulu rendre hommage avec ma Fraisie. En l’espace d’un seul film, cette petite héroïne, si proche de nous, se fait une place en profondeur dans nos coeurs. Ce bijou de film sortira en DVD/Blu-ray le 16 mars 2013 au Japon, n’hésitez surtout pas à vous le procurer !! Pour moi, ce film est déjà culte !

Pour aller plus loin :

• Site officiel Eiga Himitsu no Akko-chan

Powerpuff Girls Z

Powerpuff Girls Z is the anime version of the American cartoon series, but was commissioned by one of the Japanese broadcasters. The premise of how the girls were created is the same, but the approach is entirely different. The difference is that it takes on more of the “Magical Girl” style of Japanese anime approach to the original series, giving it a cutesy, fantastical flair to the show.

Don’t ask me how I managed to get a chance to watch this series. What I can say was that it was pretty cool. The episodes were cool, but the overly glossy look was a bit much. It also didn’t have as much of the humor as the original show. This was just a minor complaint, but I chose to approach it as a completely different show.

Unlike the original version of the show, the anime version makes the girls a little bit older and places them either in Junior High or High School. I think if it was brought over to the States it could be a good continuation of the original show, it would be the one anime show I wouldn’t be too heartbroken if it was dubbed.

Girls. technology girls, sci-fi… and gratuitous butt shots. Eventually I’m going to do a post with just butt shots. That will show them.

Who’s this mysterious person? It’s her best friend. Yeah. Anyway, she’ll be motivation for later. I can’t wait to see how her character develops.

The little sister and crazed scientist introduced. Both excellent characters.

AN ENEMY! I knew it. Mysterious enemy only she can defeat. I like it, but I know it’s a little contrived. BUTT SHOT. (jk, what was I talking about?)

It’s too bright a show for a grandpa to die now. Oh well.

TRAGIC BACKSTORY! MYSTERY! uyessssss I’m so hooked. No sarcasm: Great stuff. Hope they continue it.

Her friend is shot down, a tech activates! TRANSFORM! lets do this thing!

Good episode. Surface is great I hope that the quality continues.

Target:

Reasons to Watch:
Visually dynamic, high action magical combat
A quintessential ‘Magical Girl’ experience

Reasons to Not:
Heavily reliant on anime tropes and stereotypes
Low episode count makes the pacing a little manic

Similar to: Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Cardcaptor Sakura, a long list of other Magical Girl shows.

Review:
Magical girl (Mahou Shoujo) series are a long time staple of anime.  Most Americans in my generation got their first taste of anime either from Dragonball Z, or from Sailor Moon, probably the most iconic magical girl show to cross over to the States.  The genre ranges from the uber-commercialized product placement, like Pretty Cure, to some of the most interesting critiques of anime as an art form, like the much lauded Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  These shows have huge appeal in their target market, 6 to 11-year-old girls, but also tend to be popular in the 16 to 30-year-old male and otaku demographics.  The same cross-demographic appeal is what has made the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic reboot so successful.

In contrast, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha was written almost exclusively to appeal to the older male demographic.  It uses tropes and storytelling tools more commonly associated with the giant mecha genre and characters pulled from an H-Game.  At the same time it retains much of the subject matter typical of other magical girl shows.  The combination of high action mentality and magical girl sensibility produces a uniquely fun series that escapes the worst of both of its parent genres.  So we end up with a show that packs in some fantastic action sequences right alongside significant social dramas and resolves both with giant lasers.  What more could a fan ask for?

Takamachi Nanoha is an average 9-year-old girl who stumbles upon a wounded ferret.  That ferret turns out to be the shapeshifted form of Yuuno Scrya, a mage from another dimension.  Yuuno discovered some incredibly dangerous ancient magical artifacts and was transporting them home when the transport ship went down and scattered the ‘Jewel Seeds’ all over Japan.  Yuuno had been in the process of finding and sealing them when one activated and created a powerful monster.  That same monster attacks again, forcing Yuuno to conscript Nanoha so he can make use of her latent magical abilities.  Using the Intelligent Device Raising Heart (Raging Heart in the English dub), Nanoha transforms and becomes a magical girl and quickly seals away the monster.

While inexperienced, Nanoha demonstrates a superior magical talent and natural affinity for spell combat.  She quickly pledges to help Yuuno recover the rest of the Jewel Seeds, if only to prevent the havoc they would cause in her world.  After sealing a few more Jewel Seeds, Nanoha is unexpectedly confronted by another magical girl, Fate Testarossa, who is seeking the Jewels for another, unexplained reason.  The two clash repeatedly for the artifacts, making up the bulk of the main storyline.  But in her heart, Nanoha believes that she and Fate should not be fighting at all.

Alongside the action plot, Nanoha has to reconcile her new responsibilities with her regular life.  Her friends and family both quickly notice that the mostly carefree girl they all knew is increasingly preoccupied with something.  When Nanoha refuses to talk about it or just shrugs it off, they grow increasingly concerned, even to the point where her friends, Alisa and Suzuka, confront her.  This B-plot is a great inversion of typical magical girl plots, both because those around her aren’t stupidly oblivious and because Nanoha never really resents her responsibilities or tries to avoid them.  The confrontation with her friends actually has some of the best written drama of the series, if only because the Fate/Nanoha relationship often comes off as forced or ill-scripted.

One thing that Lyrical Nanoha does really well is its magic system.  Although it isn’t explicitly stated in the series, magical powers are a naturally occurring phenomenon that can be scientifically analyzed and controlled.  To that end, all of the magic staves and wands that crop up in the show are actually powerful computers that focus and direct the abilities of their users.  This helps explain away the awkward period at the start of a show when the protagonist gets their powers, but should have no idea how to use them.  Nanoha is basically just a battery with motives, while Raising Heart does all the heavy lifting.  These small changes does a lot to contravene the old magical girl standbys, like attack callouts, transformation sequences and out-of-nowhere combat skills; which become command executables, boot-up sequences and pre-programed spells respectively.

This is where I should address the asterisk on the Fanservice Rating.  While Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha does indulge in just about every aspect of fanservice that has ever been associated with magical girl shows (and a few that haven’t), it manages to do so in a way that is just far enough off the norm to be clever.  It also avoids the absolute worst magical girl traits, such as monster-of-the-week episode structure and episodic plots.  There are still some aspects that will bother people, like the transformation sequences, a staple of magical girl shows where the protagonist dons her magical uniform via a stylized sequence that removes her street clothes and leaves her floating naked while the uniform magically appears.  The transformation sequences here are all the more awkward for the subject being nine years old, but to the show’s credit, the full sequence is only done three times.  But for the most part, the show strives to use the fanservice either for comedic value or to enhance the action, rather than to lower production costs or elicit cheap thrills.

Another small but significant problem is the show’s pacing.  Because the main plot needed to be crammed into 13 episodes, much of the subtlety and nuance of Nanoha and Fate’s relationship comes off as forced, artificial or patently ridiculous.  This is particularly true for people who aren’t familiar with how Japanese culture treats the ‘rivals’ relationship.  The pacing of the whole show is also a bit quick, forcing all of the characters to come to grips with sudden changes to the status quo very quickly.  These little problems become exacerbated when viewing the entire series in one or two sittings.  The natural pacing of a weekly broadcast television program does a lot to create space in the plot and allows the viewer to internalize new information.  When you crush five or six episodes into a sitting, that time just doesn’t exist.  It should be noted that many of these problems are fixed in the second season, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As, where the run was extended to 26 episodes.

Including Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha here is an attempt to bridge the pretty large gap between the shows that are considered marketable State-side, and the stereotypes that anime gets saddled with by the under-informed.  That gap is probably too big to be spanned by a single show, or even by the body of work these reviews represent, but Nanoha does a solid job of presenting a watchable, engaging show that is fully steeped in the themes and traditions of anime.  That doesn’t mean that you’ll like it.  I can heartily recommend the series to anyone who has more than a little experience with anime, especially if that experience includes shows that haven’t aired here.  For a neophyte though, there are better programs to cut your teeth on.

Note: Wooser is the yellow rat in the background.

Three words:

Give me more!

I watched the first episode and got so drawn into it that it only felt like a few minutes had passed instead of 24.  The animation quality seems pretty good and the plot seems very similar to that of Strike Witches and their enemy the Noise.  The enemy in this show is called The Alone.  They share a slight resemblance to the noise being that they’re black and red and use laser beams as weapons.

For characters as of this episode we have:

Akane (on the right) who’s the older of two sisters and is a second year middle school girl.  She’s the only one able to use the key her Grandpa gives her.  She’s got the typical peppy attitude most main heroines have in these shows.

Momo (on the left) who’s the younger, more financially responsible, sister who’s also good with cooking.

Next we have Aoi who’s Akane’s best friend and is returning to Blue Island after a visit to Oshima.

The final character of importance for this episode is Grandpa.  I’m not going to bother remembering his actual name because Grandpa works just fine.  He happens to have an experimental mishap which ends up reminding me of the Nanoha series.

Not going to say much more on this except the end of this episode had me saying “I want more!”  Magical girl anime is one of my favorite genres and this one is going to become a favorite show in that category.

So a thing happened to me today.  Not a good thing, not a bad thing just… odd.  I was on my way to meet up with some friends, saw that the five train was fairly empty.  There were a few random people sitting looking like New Yorkers do on subways (blank faced, robotic to the point of almost depression) and took a seat in what is deemed the priority seating.  Priority seating meaning if a pregnant woman or a differently abled individual were to step on the train and there were no other seats I should gladly acquiesce my seat to them.

Sitting across from me was a man in decent looking street clothes with a large suitcase packed to the brim.  He didn’t seem like a crazy homeless person, until he stood up and tried to get my attention.  He was mouthing something very aggressive and pointing to a sign which featured a woman and was about some sleep study or something.  He passionately continued to point and mouth something I couldn’t understand.   I took my head phones off and said “I’m sorry I can’t hear a word your saying.”

The conversation we weren’t having then progressed to this man pointing towards the rest of the subway car, back to the woman and then to his wallet which he rifled through until he produced a faded old MTA card.  Unless I was mistaken it was a onetime ride ticket in fact.  Dimmu Borgir no longer blasting in my ears I figured I’d be able to get SOME idea of what this man had been trying to convey to me but no he was in fact not emitting sound.  I was unsure if he was mute or simply a bad communicator.

Seeing as the rest of the subway car was empty I chose another seat in a slightly more populated area and continued to read the book I was reading.  The man continued to not communicate at me very aggressively from where he was and then leave at the next stop.

If the man had an issue with me he just needed to wait one stop.  Perhaps he was transphobic, pointing at the woman and the rest of the subway car as if to say “You’re not this, get off the subway,” but then why show me his old subway card?  It couldn’t be transphobia.  Perhaps the man was not a fan of the literature I was reading, which would be ridiculous because I’m most of the way through “God Save The Queen,” by Kate Lock and its quite good.  I don’t know what kind of books the man reads but action oriented supernatural thrillers with a romance element didn’t seem like his genre.  I am therefore left with the only one, and therefore the most logical explanation of what has just happened.

I have clearly missed the one chance I had in this life of becoming a Magical Girl!  That man must have been a prophet telling me “If you can understand my words, follow me at the next stop and you will gain super powers.  Don’t be like this woman up here, or any of these other normal people.  This right here is your ticket to true power and much like Sailor Moon or Modoka, you can have powers and fight evil!”  This is all very sad and unfortunate, but with all hopes someone hears this wonderful man’s call and becomes the savior of the earth, because sadly I was not able to hear his call.

Drawing by KoriMichele on deviantart (shattered-earth.deviantart.com/art/Forty-Years-of-Magical-Girls-260475246)

I was watching this documentary on Arina Tanemura recently (which I recommend taking a look at by the way, because they make a lot of observations about Tanemura’s work that I found myself nodding in agreement to, if you can get over the narrator’s voice XD). One thing that they talked about that stuck with me was about the feminine designs of her magical girls.

This woman’s job is ‘Shoujo manga researcher’. Damn, sign me up.

Totally unrelated, but S was my favorite Sailor Moon season in terms of costume, attacks, and…everything else, basically.

What’s also refreshing about magical girl stories is that this ‘feminine’ way of dealing with problems is shown as just as valid as the more forceful methods of other stories. In some cases, even, the focus is not on fighting at all, but on talking it out with the villain (like Princess Tutu, where they solve their problems with ballet) and finding a peaceful solution. And even in more ‘action’-y stories, the focus isn’t so much on the violence aspect as much as on the sort of “battle of wills”–the attacks are usually in the form of energy blasts and are generally kind of abstract, which means that the real combat is in the opposing morals of the magical girl and her antagonist(s). It’s a bit stereotypical to say that it’s more focused on “feelings,” but…yeah, I would say true victory of a magical girl is when her own force of will overcomes those of her opposers. That’s not to say magical girls can’t kick ass too, because they obviously do

Getting back to the femininity stuff though, it’s important to note that the girls are usually totally comfortable in enjoying ‘girly’ things. They like things like cooking, shopping, they fantasize about weddings, and worry about their boyfriend problems in between bouts of saving the world. It’s never condemned or shown as a weakness; you can enjoy these things AND be powerful. For this reason, Magical Girl series are usually considered feminist works, since they are works that empower girls because, and not despite, the fact that they’re female.

Cardcaptor Sakura was an interesting case, since there wasn’t much in the way of conflict. Great costumes, though.

This is most definitely biased on my part, since Mahou Shoujo  one of my favorite genres of manga/anime, but I definitely prefer these narratives to the manly shoot ‘um up kind of stories. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and I’ve been conditioned to enjoy these things more, but I like that it rejects the idea that feminine things are inherently associated with weakness. I also like that oftentimes, the conflicts aren’t quite as black-and-white. Since it’s more focused on the morals of both sides, you also come to understand the motives of those on the other side of the conflict. It’s not perfect, of course; it’s still firmly rooted in merchandising, just like most shows for kids, but it nonetheless promotes a slightly different mindset and gives girls something to look up to and enjoy, giving them their own power adventure; something that most media (western, especially) fails to do.

The plot’s so-so I guess…some girls meeting this weird creature called Kyuubey and in return for one wish, they would have to help hunt down witches. However, Akemi Homura [the black haired girl] is trying to stop Madoka from becoming a Puella Magi.[I'm not sure what you call them..but yeah.] I have no idea what’s so bad about Kyuubey, but somehow, I have a feeling that he’s not all good. o.o [forgive me if my summary/explanation is bad...I only watched till episode 2..o.o]

Kyuubey’s a weird talking creature. Who makes a contract with girls turning them into mahou shoujos..

The supposed witch which looks nothing like a witch. It looks part octopus, part slime, and part butterfly… .__. These witches apparently bring despair and negative emotion and such unto people and thus, is said that the cases of suicides and stuff happen due to witches.

Overall, I guess I still wouldn’t drop this anime..(for now)…[I read some spoilers about Kyuubey..>< and thus decided to continue on for awhile] O~o

I like their music and soundtrack and stuff though. owo