Alright so here’s one post to cut down on my backlog of completed yet un-reviewed series. Though since I watched this over like 2 days in the summer, I feel like I should rewatch it before I try to make a serious critique… La~ too late.
I’ll be doing this in the usual organized way; here goes.

PRODUCTION IG

!!!!!!!!!!!! Alright, alright. I am such a Production IG fangirl. And this isn’t even a review category. But still, when it comes to reviewing a show by Production IG, the first thing you have to say is that it’s by Production IG and that they are undeniably filthy. Filthy in the good way of course.

PLOT: Summary

Back on track here. Toshokan Sensou translates to “Library War”. Sound nerdy? Oh yeah. But it’s not, really. Despite the weird name and unusual premise, I enjoyed watching this short 1 season show (12 episodes). Might bring to mind a currently airing series called “Armed Librarians”; as far as I know, they’re totally different. Toshokan Sensou is like war in as pure a form as possible. I don’t think Armed Librarians is even about war… Anyway, in Toshokan Sensou the Japanese government has pulled a Hitler and decided they want to ban and censor Japan to the moon and back. However, the Japanese libraries have enough power to oppose this new attack on their collections. So basically you end up with highly organized battles being fought over books. Quite interesting, really. Add to this our main character, holdonletmelookuphername Kasahara Iku, the first woman to join the Library Defense Force. The story centers around her and her encounters as a member of an army-like defense force. Free speech for all! Based on light novels by Arikawa Hiro.

PLOT: Execution

I think it’s a very fresh, original and interesting idea. I love near-future dystopia-esque things like this. Of course it’s not really a dystopia. But it’s close enough to satisfy me. And it’s not like dystopias are ALL I care about. The problem with the plot execution here is that Toshokan Sensou just tries to tackle too many things in too short of a timeframe. It’s like; the moral issues of censoring, the struggle of war, romance, relationships with parents, finding and doing what you want in life, growing up, gender difference issues, overcoming obstacles in the workplace… within 12 episodes? No DUH it’s rushed feeling! I guess you could say it’s the same problem as Jyu Ou Sei, although really Jyu Ou Sei had a LOT more problems… (I still love you, Jyu Ou Sei!). I think even just 4 more episodes would have left the series some room to stretch and think about which aspect of all the many possibilities it wanted to focus on. Am I talking about this show like it has a mind of it’s own? I’m sorry, I always swear I’m not going to do that… JEESH this paragraph is long already. Wrapping up… pacing isn’t the best, too many things to think about.

ART & ANIMATION

Unusual style, not unusual like Gankutsuou or anything, but there was an interesting line variation technique used for a sort of shading effect… in short, there were some really thick lines and some really thin lines. It had a unique feel, but it wasn’t screaming in your face “WE’RE COOL”. And as always, it was lovely. CONSISTENTLY lovely. Fufu, ProIG~

MUSIC

It took a few episodes, but I definitely warmed up to the OP and ED. I feel like I’m not being cynical enough. Am I being to nice because I can only remember the good parts? This is why I should have rewatched it first! Ahem. Anyways, as usual I can’t remember the BGM, but I know that it wasn’t bad because BGM actually stands out more the worse it is. Anyone else thinking of certain cheesy moments in Inuyasha? OH and the OP animation was cool.

CHARACTERS

Iku was definitely cool. I can’t remember who I was comparing her too, but in a recent post I used her as an example of someone who doesn’t start out completely competent, but who definitely isn’t annoying. Oh yeah, it was Mai in Ghost Hunt. DAMN she was incompetent. Anyway, definitely a good main girl character. I mean no one can match Balsa, but she was definitely solid. Naive and still learning, but that’s realistic; which is good. However, there wasn’t much development in the other characters. If it had been the kind of show where the character development is all about the main character, it would have been okay to leave the others alone for a bit. But I didn’t feel like Iku got a whole lot of development either. Must be cause of the goddamn 12 episode length again. Gahhhh extend it 4 episodes, will you?!

Dojo kind of reminds me of Otani from Love Com. Just a little though, in retrospect. Maybe it’s cause he’s short..? Yeah, their relationship also seemed like they WANTED to spend more time there but couldn’t because of the series length.

ZENBU

Everything. All in all; I did enjoy watching Toshokan Sensou. There’s definitely some things in there like censoring that will make you think a bit. But I think mostly I would say it’s “diverting”. It’s so short, and so fast-paced; I ended up watching it all in basically 24 hours. Maybe it’d be better to watch over time? I’m not sure. But I think it’s definitely a good single-season show to watch, if you need something to fill time with. Also, any librarians out there? You should definitely give this a watch. I don’t know how realistic it would seem to a librarian, but if they had a sense of humor I’m sure they’d enjoy looking into it.

Side note: May just be cause I watched it in summer, but very summer-y! =) Sigh… I miss summer so much.

I strongly suspect that Honey and Clover creator Umino Chika, while on her way to deliver character designs for Eden of the East, decided to “spice up” the lives of the members of Production IG. How else can I explain how good Kimi ni Todoke has been?

Not to take anything away from the original creator of Kimi ni Todoke, Shiina Karuho, seeing as it’s her strong story and nice character designs that they’re working with, and certainly Production IG has always been known for its high standards of animation quality, but KnT is a beast unlike any other unleashed by the Igg (that’s how the cool people pronounce it, you know). Rather than using their expertise to make a more fleshed out and realistic-looking show, as one might expect from the studio that brought us Ghost in the Shell: SAC, what Production IG has managed to achieve is a show that truly looks shoujo in a way most anime have not, including perfectly good works such as Cardcaptor Sakura and Itazura na Kiss.

There’s a very strong understanding by the staff on this show as to when to utilize the more visually two-dimensional and emotional elements and when to incorporate a three-dimensional sense of spacing among the characters, and it, and the result is that it achieves that pastel and wispy shoujo manga feel while still making sense as an animation. In a way it reminds me of 70s-style shoujo, only with less emphasis on the melodramatic, and more technical skill on the part of the animators.

And even if you don’t care about all of that stuff I just said, note that Kimi ni Todoke is still very good, and does a good job of murdering cliches with an 80 lb. battle axe, which I will assure you is the perfect metaphor for this show. Good shoujo, from Igg to you.

Slow and steady wins the race, right? Hrm… I’m getting to the fall shows, I promise. I’m getting to them. But hey, on to Kimi ni Todoke.

As I’d hoped, I think I’m going to be liking this more as it goes on. And you KNOW that about 75% of the reason I’m watching it is because PRODUCTION IG is so awesome. I can’t say it enough. They are in a completely different league. I love them.

This episode was centered around “Changing Seats” and how Kazehaya is super nice and all that. I like how this isn’t just a “high school anime”, it’s actually an anime about high school. It seems like each episode will have a theme of a different part of Japanese high school. I think that helps freshen this slightly dead-end seeming plot a little bit.

There were still a few cringe-worthy moments in this episode, but I can get over that. The classic finding-an-abandoned-puppy part… god… And it still doesn’t seem too realistic to me; but anime isn’t usually. We should be used to that by now.

I’m liking the little friends group that’s forming right now. I think the two Bando-esque girls are a lovely addition (excuse the Nobuta wo Produce reference there).

So yeah, I’m feeling more positive about this now. Or I might just be in a good mood. I’ll be putting up my episode 3 post soon, too; but I’m really not sure if there’s enough substance to actually keep blogging every episode. Of course, I will write a review.

On a side note,

DARKER THAN BLACK! Only 3 episodes left ~ I’m excited for the new season, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch it weekl by week without biting my fingernails off.

SPITZ é uma banda de pop/rock que teve o seu inicio em 1991 com o album “Hidari no Kokoro/Biidama”. Porém, foi só em 1995 que eles começaram a ter maior reconhecimento no cenário musical japonês, logo após o lançamento de seu 11º single: “Robinson”. Desde então eles fazem bastante sucesso por lá e hoje em dia o SPITZ é considerada uma das 20 maiores bandas japonesas de todos os tempos.

O último single lançado por eles foi “Wakaba/Mamoru san” em novembro do ano passado. Agora, o SPITZ está de volta e lançou dia 26 de  agosto o seu 35º single que foi intitulado de “Kimi wa Taiyou”. O single está disponível em apenas uma versão e possui apenas duas faixas: a faixa-título e a b-side “Okera”.

“Kimi wa Taiyou” é o tema principal de um filme chamado “Hottarake no Shima ~Haruka to Mahou no Kagami~” (ホッタラケの島 ～遥と 魔法の鏡～), que é uma animação em CG da Production IG.

O filme conta a história de uma garota chamada Haruka (dublada pela atriz  Haruka Ayase), que após perseguir uma raposa misteriosa, acaba se perdendo em uma ilha situada em outra dimensão. Nesse local desconhecido, chamado de Ilha do Esquecimento, estão todos os objetos que as pessoas vão deixando de lado ao se tornarem adultas. Lá, Haruka descobre todas as coisas que ela perdeu durante sua infância. O filme estreiou no Japão dia 22 de agosoto. Veja o trailer do filme:

Voltando a falar sobre o SPITZ, recentemente eles anunciaram que irão lançar dia 4 de setembro um DVD ao vivo chamado “JAMBOREE TOUR 2009 ~Sazanami OTR Custom at Saitama Super Arena~” que incluirá filmagens do show da banda que ocorreu em janeiro deste ano.

Tracklist:

Bom, achei o PV de “Kimi Wa Taiyou” bem simples  e muito fraco. Tanto o PV quanto a música não me agradaram muito. Mais fica ai a dica! Minha nota para o PV é 2/5. Confiram:

Abraço e até a próxima…

ANN – Halo Legends to be Animated by 5 Japanese Studios

The BONES, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation anime studios are animating Halo Legends, a DVD anthology of seven short films based on Microsoft Studios’ Halo game franchise. Microsoft’s creative staff is approving the visual and storytelling. Two of the creative directors are Frank O’Connor of 343 Industries and Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed). Aramaki’s short will cover the history of the Spartan warrior class from the games. Studio 4°C will animate two 30-minute shorts about “the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe.”

Warner Brothers will release the anthology on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and digital distribution in early 2010. A trailer is planned for the Halo panel at San Diego’s Comic-Con International on Thursday, and Xbox 360 users can see a preview this fall on the Xbox Live service.

Source: Los Angeles Times’ blog via IGN

You gotta be shitting me.

Production I.G is making an anime based off the Tales of Vesperia PS3 game coming out in Japan. The anime seems to be a prequal before the game recounting the stories of Yuri and Flynn as Knights. If only there was a confirmation of a US release I can finally sell off the 360 game and enjoy the extras coming in the PS3 version.

Buy the JP Game from: Play-Asia

Episode 12 Final

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Episode 11

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Production IG nous promettait une série au scénario original vers laquelle toutes mes attentes s’étaient tournées. Higashi no Eden était la seule attraction véritablement digne d’intérêt en ce triste printemps. Kenji Kamiyama et toute sa clique se sont arrachés pour nous offrir un thriller intense et diablement ficelé. On en ressort peut-être avec un arrière-goût d’inachevé mais des films sont prévus et si leur contenu n’est pas encore bien défini on les attend déjà de pied ferme.

Higashi no Eden c’est d’abord une série qui en jette visuellement. Les villes sont représentées dans les moindres détails, la réalisation est dans l’ensemble très aboutie et propose de somptueux tableaux. J’ai eu un coup de cœur pour l’utilisation des couleurs lors de la soirée que passent ensemble Akira et Saki à la fin de l’épisode 2. Le design des personnages m’a aussi agréablement surpris : là où on pouvait s’attendre à un style sobre et réaliste, on a des personnages frais et attachants grâce à des bouilles qui rappelle comment Chika Umino a dessiné les personnages d’Honey & Clover avec des visages typiquement mignons, proéminents et arrondis, de larges bouches et un petit nez discret. Les deux héros sont ainsi particulièrement attachants notamment grâce à l’utilisation de SD ainsi que des quelques idéogrammes dont la présence m’a surpris.

Parlons-en des héros. Higashi no Eden, c’est la rencontre entre une jeune étudiante nommée Saki et Akira. En situation délicate devant la maison blanche, Saki est sauvée par Akira, un Japonais amnésique et énigmatique : il est nu et ne possède qu’un revolver et un téléphone portable en mains. Je n’ai guère repéré d’autres personnages charismatiques mis à part peut-être Itazu, le gros geek qui reste cloîtré chez lui car on lui a volé son pantalon… Akira est amnésique. Un thème d’apparence peu original mais qui a une signification essentielle dans la série. Le personnage est difficile à cerner : tantôt sérieux, tantôt déjanté, toujours mystérieux mais il n’en est pas moins sympathique. C’est aussi un charmeur en quelque sorte et qui fait souvent l’apologie de son Johnny. Saki est un peu dépassée par les évènements et a du mal à suivre Akira à travers ses péripéties. C’est une héroïne timide, typiquement féminine à la recherche du prince charmant qu’elle est persuadée d’avoir trouvé en la personne de Akira. On apprend aussi sa situation familiale, le complexe qu’elle nourrit à l’égard de sa grande sœur dont elle affectionne le mari ainsi que son entrée dans le monde du travail. Une petite héroïne tout ce qu’il y a de plus sympa.

La bande sonore est d’une qualité rarement égalée : les mélodies et chansons se fondent admirablement bien à chaque scène et leur belle présence contribue à rendre l’ambiance encore plus rafraîchissante. Kenji Kawai a fait de l’excellent travail, comme à l’accoutumée. Les génériques sont aussi très bons, j’ai particulièrement apprécié l’opening anglais interprété par Oasis avec un côté psychédélique qui n’est pas pour me déplaire.

Higashi no Eden c’est surtout un scénario qui se veut très concept : le héros est amnésique et a en sa possession un téléphone portable qui lui donne les pleins pouvoirs. Il se lance donc tête baissée sur les conseils de Juiz (la voix au téléphone) dans une affaire dont il ignore tout des tenants et aboutissants et l’on apprend à ses côtés à la manière de Saki le rôle qu’il a joué dans l’attentat terroriste ainsi que sa véritable identité. Une trame qui peut donner lieu à de nombreuses péripéties mais je dois reconnaître que la série nous laisse quand même sur notre faim car si on apprend par petites gouttes les ficelles de l’intrigue, il n’est que peu fait utilisation du portable alors que c’est sur cet objet que la fascination du spectateur est fixée. J’avais l’impression au sortir des 11 épisodes que j’avais appris les bases d’une sombre affaire d’organisation employant des agents nommés « seleçao » et utilisant un portable « noblesse oblige » affublé de 10 milliards de yens pour devenir le messie qui sauvera le Japon mais que le récit me laissait en plan. J’espère que les films nous offriront une véritable suite.

De l’action, de la tranche de vie, de l’humour, un triller original et ficelé, difficile de trouver le moindre défaut à la série. J’ai quand même l’impression que l’intrigue autours de la chasseuse de Johnnys était quelque peu HS même si elle introduit Akira aux amis de Saki. C’est un risque étrange pour une série qui compte seulement 11 épisodes, surtout que la dame semble avoir des ailes. Bizarre car Higashi no Eden n’est pas une série fantastique. On est finalement aussi loin d’avoir fait le tour des seleçao… La trame semble simplement mise en place avant les films.

Les séries les plus courtes sont souvent les meilleures et Higashi no Eden prouve à ces feignasses de studios qu’un projet original est souvent un succès. A creuser car il n’y avait rien à sauver ce printemps. Regardez tous cette série, c’est un ordre et ça se laisse si facilement regarder…

• J’ai mis en place une page qui proposera des galeries de screens et où vous pouvez déjà vous emparer de 78 aperçus d’Higashi no Eden pris par mes soins.
• Comme vous pouvez le voir, pas mal de changements sur Citron Fraise. C’est les vacances quoi… Je vous invite à faire un tour dans les Archives où j’ai rassemblé et illustré toutes mes vieilles critiques .
• Prochain billet : un gros plan sur Tsukasa Hojo, depuis le temps que ça me travaille…

Animation Production - Production I.G.

Director/Creator – Kenji Kamiyama

Eden of the East is the latest project by the team of Production I.G. and Kenji Kamiyama who most notably directed the critically acclaimed Ghost in the Shell T.V series. It is so far an 11 episode series with 2 movies planned, the first “The King of Eden” is due out in Japan on the 28th November 2009.

Set in current day Japan the show involves a game surrounding a select group of individuals, “Selecao”, who have been chosen to save Japan. The founder of this game believes Japan is in stagnation and needs a revolution and he has charged 11 individual with 10 billion yen and a phone that will execute any requests. The show revolves around Akira Takizawa who is one of the Selecao and Saki Morimi who is a member of a group called Eden of The East. If you want further information about the plot take a look at my previous episode summaries.

This is the kind of show that entirely appeals to my tastes, I love the mix of mystery and believable science fiction set in modern day Japan. The technology involved in this show is not as crazy as what we have seen in something like Ghost in the Shell but has more to do with the internet and applications surrounding it. Eden of the East is a group who have developed an image recognition software and utilise the public to effectively tag people and objects. It is accessible on mobile phones and puts into focus possibilities for real life application. This aspect is not a main focus but gives it some depth along with the mystery elements surrounding the premise of the show.

One of the main underlying themes is the societal problems in Japan surrounding the NEET’s. But this isn’t a show like Welcome the the NHK, it has some upbeat attitudes towards them and they are involved at various points in the series. Akira utilises the strengths of theses NEET’s as a collective to try and save Japan. Other Selecao have different ideas on how to save Japan such as missile attacks on the elderly and NEET’s. Some buckle under the pressure or the greed overtakes them with 10 billion yen to spend. The actions of the Selecao sum up the different views on the current state of the society in Japan.

Go out of your way and watch this show, there needs to be more like this.

Rating - A-

Genre - Mystery, Science Fiction Length – 11 Episode series Year - 2009

]]> http://animereviewers.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/eden-of-the-east-11-the-east-goes-on-further/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:11:01 +0000 Zooi http://animereviewers.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/eden-of-the-east-11-the-east-goes-on-further/

Episode Summary

This final episode wraps up many of the remaining mysteries and sets it up for the first movie, The King of Eden.

• Akira used the NEETs as a collective workforce to evacuate people from targeted areas before the initial “careless Mondays” missile attacks. However the evacuated people were suspicious of them knowing where exactly the missiles were going to fall.
• Akira deflected the blame of the attacks to himself in front of the NEETs who were then sent to Dubai to shield them from the public eye.
• To prevent the upcoming missile attack Akira used this time the collective minds of NEETs to come up with solution.
• Akira believing he can’t just make the public believe this latest attack attempt was the fault of terrorists makes himself King/Prince of Japan. “And just like that he became a prince, in a country with no kings”

It’s tough making a final episode for a TV series where you satisfyingly resolve enough of plot but keep it open for future development. I think Kamiyama has done as good of a job as he could with a 11 episode series (around 4 hours total), with such a short amount of time it is hard to develop characters and flesh out this alternate reality. A full series review will be up soon.

Episode Summary

This episode has demystified much of the plot and is wrapping up the 11 episode season. We find out that the game that the Selacao are participating in has been set up by Ato Saizo (Mr Outside), the president of the ATO Company, who has been an major political and economic influence in post WW2 Japan. The reason as to why he set this up is believing the current state of Japan was not not going anywhere and needed a revolutionary change.

The three Selecao pictured above are planning to launch another missile attack this time with 60 tomahawk missiles. They aim to eliminate elderly and slackers (NEETS). And on cue the NEETS are back from Dubai and apparently without clothes. Good to see the unique censoring method back again as it was last seen in episode 1.

The only aspects left to tie up are what is going to happen with the missile attacks and who the hell the supporter is.

Episode 10

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Episode 9

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I though this episode in particular was well paced with the right balance of reveals and suspense throughout the episode.

Episode Summary

Two new selecao are introduced. Mononobe a middle aged former bureaucrat and Yuuki a young man around Akira’s age.

Yuuki is reveal to be the one who “fiiled Japan with holes” with the careless monday missile attacks. However it is uncertain as to the circumstances. He is referred to as “the hero who is trying to prevent hundreds of thousands of millions of people from being wiped out by missiles“. Is there another missile strike planned in the future?

More information is revealed on Akira’s past as he gains access to past activity messages. Some of the messages are below in reverse chronological order.

• Memory wipe program download from ATO Harima Neuroscience labs (900 yen)
• Nippon Pacifico Sea Freight Full Container ship x2 Charter (16 million yen)
• Shibata Industries Sea Container x500 (47 million yen)
• Destination Dubai Round trip freight rate (298,252,497 yen)
• Appeal to the MFA for the personal security of 20,000 people (5000 yen)
• Convenience store meal delivery for 20k people for 2 weeks (136,000,000 yen)
• Change the caption on street side monitor (3000 yen)
• Propaganda Truck x150 (50,000,000 yen)
• Large Charter Bus x100 (1,300,000 yen)
• Obtain police uniform 1000 outfits (7,350,000 yen)

So from this we know Akira prevented any causalities in the missile attacks by evacuating people from the targeted area. And loaded up 20,000 Neets to Dubai for an unspecified reason.

Activity messages from selecao 10 (Yuuki) were also revealed -

• Bomb the ordinace-designated cities and the six major cities of Japan (990 million yen)
• Hack Surveillance Satellite
• 60 tomahawk missiles
• Induce Preemptive attack

Rating – 8/10

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