Raikoh's Reviews: Harmonie

The New Animator Training Project is a treat. Every year, we get short 25 minute snippets of some raw productions. They aren't trying to become a franchise or sell anything, which gives them a certain charm. Stories that are written just because somebody had a story to tell, and the very idea of wanting to train new animators means that they will no doubt have some great production values. Case and point: Harmonie.

Over the Rainbow, Out of Their Minds

So. Gundam Unicorn. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally over. Now, if you are a fan of Unicorn, I'd like to just ask a simple question: why? It has a laundry list of problems and outside of production values (and Marida's character) I haven't seen much to praise in it. Now, it isn't like it doesn't have good ideas. In fact, with more time to flesh things out (and if the writer showed some restraint) then it could've been great. However, instead, we get a ham-handed, preachy, downright embarrassing story that is probably the most overrated Gundam series I've seen - even more overrated than Zeta or Wing. Oh, and before anybody says anything about "well, did you read the novels?" I will say, "No, but I shouldn't HAVE to. It should stand on its own merits." But this isn't what I'm here to post about, no, this isn't a "review" by any means so much as me just sort of jotting down my impressions about the finale, "Over the To-" uhm, "Over the Rainbow." Spoilers ahoy.

Raikoh Reviews - Mazinkaiser SKL

*Disclaimer*

Due to the nature of Mazinkaiser SKL, it only is appropriate that the following review contain gratuitous cursing. I apologize if you are offended by this.

What do you do with less than an hour and a half of runtime in a mecha series? World building? Character development? Technobabble? FUCKING. PLEASE. If you're making an entirely self-contained mecha movie, the most important part is the robots, isn't it? Seriously, just ask yourself: how many good mecha movies are there that aren't connected to an existing story? Mazinkaiser SKL knows exactly what it wants to do, and that's something that I give it props for. Can you handle it?

Raikoh's Reviews: Shinkon Gattai Godannar!

Oh, boy, Godannar. The fastest way to sum this up is with two words: "Robots" and "Boobs." But if you can manage to get the stigma against fanservice that most anime fans seem to have and give it a shot, you'll actually find a pretty solid romance show shoved under the D-cups (well, that is assuming any of the women in Godannar wear bras). The fact that the title literally translates to "Marriage of God & Soul Godannar" definitely implies there's more to this show than just testosterone poisoning. Well, let's not waste any time, let's get to checking out what makes Godannar tick.

Raikoh Reviews - Azumanga Daioh

One thing I took a step back and asked myself when I decided to start writing up reviews was "how am I going to review comedy series, or slice-of-life ones at that?" Because, let's face it, most of the time those two genres aren't going to be story based. So I figure that maybe as a way to get my feet wet, it would be a good idea to find out how to make a review of pure comedy series. I'm going to spoil this review for you and tell you that Azumanga Daioh is one of my favorite comedies of all time. I've seen the anime at least twice and read the manga from start to finish about seven or eight times and I still find it funny. Why is this? Well, let me think...

Raikoh Reviews - Little Witch Academia

This review is mostly done to keep the blog active, and probably to help get it out there since I've been writing reviews mostly of really obscure stuff so far. So, Little Witch Academia, the first (technically second) major production of Studio Trigger. You know, that studio everyone goes nuts over since it has some of the crew from Gurren Lagann in it. It's a thirty-minute hand-drawn short, and has met with rousing praise from the anime community (though it's a lot more popular in the West). Is it worth the praise it gets? Well, yes and no. Let me explain.

Ranting About Flying Kicks

One example of probably billions.

It has many names and many variants, but I usually just call it a "Flying Kick." Sometimes I go a step farther and call it the "I know nothing about martial arts, anatomy, or physics stupid flying kick" or something to that degree, since flying kicks themselves are traditional martial arts techniques that have at least the smallest modicum of practicality (though not much). No, I do not like it. Never have and never will. Yet for some strange reason this complete anomaly, this attack that would never serve any practical purpose and doesn't look good is all over the world of fiction. So, then, I guess I need to explain just why this attack should never be used, or at least offer one very simple step as to how to improve it dramatically.