The Skull Man

The Skull Man is, in many ways, a very typical BONES production. Gorgeous, stylish, evocative, and compelling with amazing bursts of action. It's also riddled with loose ends and unanswered questions and full of a supporting cast that are far more interesting than the "main" characters, many of them clearly gifted with incredibly deep back stories we never get a glimpse of. It manages to simultaneously be surprising and tritely predictable.

The first few episodes suggested some kind of anime mixture of Batman and The Count of Monte Christo from the point of view of an outsider, a reporter trying to track down a brutal vigilante with hints of supernatural power. Add in some anime tropes of a spunky female sidekick and a mysterious old man who seems to know everything that's going on but refuses to say anything straight out and you have a pretty standard concept with the usual high production standard from BONES. I was expecting a formulaic and probably episodic show that would peter out mid-way through.

The show had an oddly compelling character to it, however. Maybe it was the somewhat retro feel to it with character designs that were clearly an homage to old classics or the strange, anachronistic pseudo-alternate history setting but the first several episodes manage to maintain a surprising momentum despise a startlingly slow pace (in hindsight). Very little is revealed about the histories of the main characters or the Skull Man himself. The supernatural elements of the show even come racing into the forefront when people start transforming into man-beast hybrids and having big knock-down, drag-out fights but the show still manages to maintain silent on what's really going on.

When it does start spilling the beans, though, it doesn't stop. The cast is fleshed out and the pacing picks up quickly, but more importantly The Skull Man keeps the audience guessing with a constant stream of red herrings and twists and turns that throw the original premise on it's ear, only to throw out the new premise as well. Conspiracies appear and collapse only to be replaced by another organization. Secrets are revealed - and then exposed as fakes themselves. This never feels cheap; instead, it keeps the otherwise simple, standard anime hero fighting monsters fresh and interesting.

Not everything gets resolved in the end. In fact, the ending is a huge, gaping hole begging for a sequel. The core storyline does get wrapped up, but many subplots receive little attention and some of those conspiracies introduced are clearly a platform for a further chapter in the series. Looking back, The Skull Man doesn't quite add up to more than the sum of its parts and it isn't really anything new, but it is all put together in a rather fresh way and is a great deal of fun.

Definitely recommended in general, especially for anyone who likes a bit of atmospheric action, likes guessing at what's "really going on," and can handle a very open-ended "conclusion."

based on full series, 13 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube : Crunchyroll

An end to silence

So things have been pretty busy lately and I've clearly fallen off the whole daily-writing thing.

I flew out to Boston for my old love Anime Boston and then bummed around town afterward seeing old friends and family. It was wonderful seeing all my old con buddies again (there really is something special about the bond forged in the chaos of a con) and since I wasn't running things this year, I even got to enjoy The Pillows's concert. It was a huge ego boost in general and I felt quite reinvigorated.

When I got back, I turned around and it was time for Sakura-con. I've still managed to avoid that urge to get involved in running it (mainly 'cause I don't know anyone behind the scenes) but it was fun to hang out. I saw some of the industry people I didn't have time to meet up with at Anime Boston and had fun showing some friends around, and got to meet some new people as well. It also made me love, miss, and appreciate Anime Boston all the more, too.

And now that I'm back in the real world, work's been pretty damn busy. I've pretty much been head-down focused on trying to get event review and placement taken care of in time for event registration to open up on April 20th. There are still thousands of events to go through. It hasn't been a fast process by any means.

When I'm not working (either at work or at a con) all my time's been taken up by hanging out with friends who distract me with Rock Band.

So this all boils down to me having to admit that I can't keep up with a daily schedule, which should have been obvious to me quite a while ago. I'm going to try transitioning to a weekly schedule and see if I can keep my thoughts and ideas straight.

The experiment continues...

The Skull Man, episode 2

Set in an alternate history Japan that doesn't seem to be too divergent yet, The Skull Man comes across as Batman from the other side: a reporter returns to his home town on the trail of rumors about a "Skull Man" who attacks people in the night, leaving a trail of bodies behind him. Aside from a brush with the mysterious figure during a brief fight, it has yet to get very supernatural or even feature much of the titular character. Instead we follow the reporter as he tries to track down leads on the vigilante and runs across a variety of people with their own agendas and interest in whatever is going on in the town.

Being a BONES show, it is of course wonderfully animated. The designs feel a bit retro, but work well enough and are really the only thing that really the only thing that seems vaguely "alternate history" so far, inconsequential backstory notwithstanding. So far its been content to build rather slowly, however, and hasn't been particularly flashy.

That relatively reserved pace means that there is little to gauge the show on so far, but it's been pretty solid, again, like most BONES shows. It remains to be seen whether it will ultimately come together better than many of their past works or if it will end up feeling like a bit less than the sum of its parts, full of great characters (often with the supporting cast being far more interesting than the main characters) and bad-ass fight scenes but never really quite gelling for some reason.

For now there is some novelty to be had in having no information about the vigilante and his quest for vengeance, learning everything along with the reporter. The characters have shown glimmers of depth beyond their archetypes as well, and BONES is always good for a ride at least, so I'll give this some time to play out.

based on 2 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube

Oh! Edo Rocket, episode 2

There's just a little bit of everything in here. A cast of ridiculously wacky characters sporting designs from a spectrum of completely different anime live in the poor district in Edo, trying to scrape a living with their "frivolous" trades: dancers, doll-makers, entertainers, fireworks makers - they've all had their passion and livelihood either banned outright or heavily discouraged by a controlling state and overzealous magistrates. Into this mix jumps a gorgeous woman (Sora) who also seems to be some kind of supernatural beast. She wants to build fireworks that will fly all the way to the moon.

Oh! Edo Rocket is definitely a frenetic, crack comedy. The jokes come fast and furious, and the show is happy to shift setting, tone, and art style just as quickly. Computers and TVs are pulled out in ancient Japan for dramatic effect whenever it'll help with a punchline. Flashbacks are re-enacted in the present. Whatever it takes.

Oddly enough, though, the most intriguing part of the show are the "pokemon fights" between Sora in her beast form, some other supernatural monster and a collection of armored ninjas every bit as eccentric as the poor entertainers. There's some plot about the other monster killing people and Sora getting blamed for it and the ninjas hunting them down but it's still very vague. The fact that it's interesting, however, and not just an interruption in the constant comedy stream bodes well for it developing into something worthwhile, however.

Recommended for comedy fans and for anyone able to keep up with the pace and style. Those character designs in the screenshots aren't their chibi or SD forms - that's how they look all the time. I'm enjoying it so far. It's another one of those titles I've been meaning to catch up on for the longest time.

based on 2 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube

Hatenko Yugi, episode 3

It's not entirely clear what's going on in this show. Rahzel is kicked out of her house with just a blind-folded teddy bear and a command to "see the world." She comes across an oh-so-myseriously-sexy albino-with-issues (and a gun) named Alzeido. They go on random adventures together (inexplicably joined by the playboy Baroqueheat) and learn the value of friendship and true love. Or something. Also, she has vague magic powers that seem to involve shooting generic energy blasts and the playboy can turn his hand into a... sword... thing. And don't worry about keeping any sense of time or space or tension during the fights, 'cause there is none.

It's got all the classic shoujo elements: a cheerful heroine, a silent-but-sexy type, and an overly affectionate hunk. The meandering "plot" and the lack of any distinct setting, per se, makes it difficult to follow - as do the stilted and heavy-handed references to Mysterious Pasts for both the bishis - but the actual dialogue was surprisingly sharp enough for me to give it a little time to develop. Our heroine isn't a swooning ditz, she's a reasonable bad-ass in her own right and her exchanges with both her gigolos are surprisingly entertaining. She's got a sharp tongue and so do they. Perhaps even more importantly, they don't insist on continually denying obvious feelings for each other. While they all certainly enjoy putting on the act that they don't care about each other, they all ultimately admit it and that gives Hatenko Yugi a leg up on my female harem shows.

Unfortunately, that's not really enough to overcome the show's central flaws. The hunks (and even Rahzel herself) are set up with intensely dramatic, mysterious and tragic backstories and we know this because we are told so. Flat out. Repeatedly. Usually by Rahzel herself. The accompanying heavy-handed metaphors drag whatever episodic plot they're foisted upon, giving everything a childish feeling at odds with the often dark and brutal subject matter. The undeniable gravitas is just shoved down the viewer's throat. It's possible it might have worked with some kind of central plot to hang on to, but instead it all collapses under its own meandering weight.

It's a shame, as I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Rahzel bickering with her man-whores. Fans of shoujo with a high tolerance for "Isn't that tragic?" who are looking for something a little different will probably find something to enjoy here, but everyone else can probably give it a pass. It could develop into something good, but with the level of storytelling presented thus far, it'll likely come at a high price.

based on 3 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube

Bokurano, episode 10

It's a classic "only in anime" premise. A group of kids on a summer learning vacation think they're all signing up for an advanced video game but it quickly becomes clear that the giant robot they were riding in to fight alien invaders is very much real. What's worse, they learn that each of them will be required to pilot in turn - and only once, because once they defeat the enemy, the pilot dies. It's a classic giant robot battle, but the young kids all know that they will die once they get behind the controls.

We still haven't found out what exactly this invading threat to the world actually is - monsters show up and the kids are summoned. The pilot is decided by whoever personal chair gets picked and they are thrust into battle, though they usually have some time when they know that they've been picked but before the actual fight begins. That's why we get a look at their life and how they spend their last few days. What they say good bye to and (ultimately) why they choose to fight instead of running away.

Obviously, the show has a rather dark tone to it. Not unlike the creator's other manga-turned-anime, Shadow Star Narutaru, the show gets rather surprisingly dark and brutal, putting it's children through the ringer. The difference here is that the show is expected to burn through the cast at a steady rate and punches don't need to be pulled since it can just move on to the next kid. Without anyone to stick around and have to take all the abuse, the tragedy doesn't really pile up to unbelievable levels either - aside from the basic "giant robot pilot sentenced to death" conceit. Perhaps it's because I haven't ready the original manga, like I did with Narutaru, but Bokurano doesn't seem to feel as stifled or constricted in fully exploring what's going on with its characters.

It's unclear whether this will all build to something cohesive and it is admittedly rather formulaic so far: a new pilot is picked, they muse about their life and we get a glimpse of everything that was going wrong around them (and sometimes what was going right) and they ultimately decide to fight to protect something they love - or they screw up horribly and we find out that they should have been protecting someone. There's also the looming specter that the director of the anime came out and said he hated the original manga and ended up getting canned from the project for it. Not exactly inspiring a whole lot of confidence, but it's still an enjoyable show with a lot of potential. Any show willing to kill children gets some points.

based on 10 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube

Mnemosyne, episode 2

Well, we got an explanation, but I'm not sure I want it anymore. Apparently our buxom, bad-ass, hard-drinking (and in this episode, a raging lesbian) heroine Rin is immortal because her body absorbed a "time spore." Her loli partner is also immortal, by the way. But only women become immortal - when men absorb a time spore, they turn into superhuman beasts driven only by their base instincts. And they're called "angels." Female immortals have an uncontrollable sexual attraction to these angels, only to be "embraced" and then eaten alive by them.

Astounding. I have to admit I'm a little impressed. It takes a lot of creativity and chutzpah (mainly the chutzpah) to take that many ridiculous cliches and throw them out there with a straight face. There also some plot about a girl's brother turning into an angel and some assassin who demands to be paid in rare stamps, as well as some more indulgence in pain porn, but the exposition is the real point of this episode.

I'm half-tempted to continue with the show just to see how ridiculous it can get (and because it is gorgeously animated), but episode 2 managed to remove just about everything of interest from the show and replace it with cartoonish lesbianism and a monster that would have been embarrassed to be in Devil Man. It's basically hentai without the sex. What's the point in that? Not recommended unless that's what you want.

based on 2 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube