Appleseed Ex Machina
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
Released in 2004 with soundtrack a featuring paul oakenfield and bassment jaxx, Appleseed was the epitome of modern CG anime. The story did not follow the original manga but stood as a loosely related movie interpretation. The brainchild of Masamune Shirow (pen name) of Ghost in the Shell fame, Appleseed was the story of Duenan Knute, a freedom fighter from outside the post war utopia of Olympus. She is taken into the city and embarks on an investigation involving mammoth destruction and action sequences. No story spoilers here. Anyway, the reason for the review is not Appleseed.
It’s Appleseed Ex Machina, released October 2007, again, masterminded by Masamune but produced and highly influenced, it seems, by John Woo. Yeah! The Woo! Woohoo! Complete with opening sequence doves and slo-mo scenes at every turn.
Masamune and Director Shinji Aramaki (love that name…) have created here what many people will conclude is an anime influenced by the Matrix, Deus Ex, a little of the Borg, Ghost In the Shell and more.
To give Masamune his dues, Ghost in the Shell was created long before and seems to me to have heavily influenced The Matrix (especially Kusanagi). To that end, the apparent influences showing up in Hollywood, rooting from anime are an endless list. Appleseed Ex Machina is thoroughly what is says on the tin. A well deserved sequel to Appleseed with updated CG and fantastic Direction and Production from all involved. 8/10.
P.S. Check out both the websites. They look gooooood. 8D
Tags: Anime Reviews
Ghost in the Shell, SAC, SAC 2nd Gig & Innocence
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
Continuing the manga reviews I start a couple of months ago. There’s been a few films in between but nothing worth reporting on. Years ago I bought the Ghost in the Shell video. I was stunned. It was a fascinating and deep story in a cyber-terrorism filled near future. There was grand original ideas, new technologies and visual themes way ahead of its time. Years later, Trinity and Co in the Matrix Films didn’t seem so original to anyone that had seen Kusanagi and crew diving out of windows, throwing spider lines, jumping, bouncing, flying, running with super-human ability. I’ve heard it said that without Ghost in the Shell there would have been no Matrix. I’m inclined to agree but for a different reason. Thematic. Technologically there is nothing amazing new in Ghost that hasn’t been explored in various cyberpunk novels over the last twenty years – from advanced prosthetic bodies to thermo-optic camouflage. I feel it is more the visual themes and presentations of technologies and concepts that may have influenced the cyberpunk attempts in Hollywood. From Kusanagi’s free-fall dives to the Tachikoma’s white-washed cyberspace meeting area (á la Neo’s first introduction to his residual self image).
Stories: Section is a high profile Public Security anti-terrorist team created and commanded by a government civil servant on a Stand Alone level. This is where is gets a little deep. The Mental Stand Alone Complex explored throughout the films and the series would require an essay in psychology by itself. It stems from a philosophical thought experiment into that the psychological and philosophical structures of AI will be like when connected to and involved in regular communication with the humans and internet of the future. Everyone has memories which may be downloaded and duplicate but we have only one Ghost (any remember Lawnmower Man?) which may not be duplicate. It is initially theorised that only organically created living being have a Ghost but where do you draw the line? If a human’s memories and Ghost are moved to a man made cyber brain and their entire body can be replaced with prosthetic implants then what makes us alive. This is the deeper subtext explored throughout the stories.
Not to disappoint Anime testosterone junkies that are already falling asleep, there is plenty to keep the action flowing from spider-like battle tanks that swing between building, cyborg soldiers that can shut off pain receptors, political intrigue and, of course, Major Kusanagi. They don’t come any hotter than this. Kusanagi is a full female prosthetic soldier and the operational head of the Section 9. Cold, confident and rock-solid. It’s always nice to see a good looking lady beating the crap out of the bad guys.
So, if you can keep up with (or ignore) the political depth of the stories this is a set of films and series’ not to be missed!
Tags: Anime Reviews
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie – Review
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
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OOH YEAH! Beyond Cool…
First off, this is like a 2 hour episode that would fit pretty much anywhere in the series so if you haven’t seen the series then I would say see that first. No a disappointment in sight. I saw the series in Japanese with subtitles but the English audio was spot on. Not only was this a fantastic addition to the series but a great film in its own right. The crew of the Bebop are off to hunt one of the slickest bad guys yet. Together with yet another female interest for Spike, its a satisfying story. Not sure why Jet wasn’t on the cover but I guess Spike and 2 girls is enough. The fights are great, more intense than the series and Spike is given the main focus. Jet, Faye and Ed feature more as supporting characters, naturally, as the 2 hour limitation means there’s a lot to fit in, in terms of character building. The writers have done a great job of capturing the spirit of the series (unlike the Escaflowne movie) and I would thoroughly recommend this to any and all Anime movie fans.
Tags: Anime Reviews
The Vision of Escaflowne Review
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
This is a review of the series. You can find an in depth review of the movie at
http://www.lizzard.net/Escaflowne/review_movie.html
This is the one of the most glamorous, romantic fantasy stories made in Anime form. Hitomi is a school girl with the ability to read fortunes from Tarot cards. She has inherited a pink jeweled necklace from her grandmother that reacts to her emotions and anxieties. One day this reaction opens a doorway to another world and so begin the adventures of Hitomi. Apart from the slightly irritating fact that she spends most of the season in her school uniform, this is series is difficult to fault. On come the heroes, princesses, dragons, flying ships, space craft, dark emperors, talking beasts, giant robots and a race of winged humans. What more does a fantasy story need? This is real a visual treat! It may not be the best series ever created but it is definitely one of the most enjoyable. A classic and timeless story of love, revenge, adventure, reconciliation and (probably above all) philosophy and expectation of life.
The movie, however, is a complete re-write of the series from the beginning. Some people say it portrays the character and philosophy of the series in a film. Personally, I feel it was just an act of milking the last drop from the cow. Worth seeing if only to see a darker Folken, with super powers (?!) and some heavy fighting with the what looks like a slightly more advanced Escaflowne. The movie has great artwork that recreates a deeper, darker Gaea.
Tags: Anime Reviews
Cowboy Bebop Animated Series Review
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
Cool. That’s the only word to describe Cowboy Bebop. Cool visuals, cool choreography, cool ships, cool clothes, cool bad guys – even cooler extras and guest characters!
The story isn’t anything to write home about (I know I’m going to get a lot of grief for that comment) but the overall construction oozes sophistication at every turn. Even the opening sequence is worthy of a modern art award.
A couple of hundred years from now humans have spread across the Solar System and settled just about everywhere. Crime is rife and the powers that be have glamourised the capture of criminals across the planets. They have a regular TV Spot where they advertise new bounties on criminals.
The Bebop is Jet’s ship. Along with his partner Spike (on the right here) they chase bounties to survive. Along the way they pick up a few stragglers and spice things up a little. Spike is gunfighter and a martial artist with precision control and timing (usually!). Jet is an old ex-cop with metal arm and massive build – he owns the Bebop.
Spike story develops a little too late in the series for my taste but there are plenty of adventures up until that point. The reason for my dislike of the story structure is the sudden endings towards the end of the series, almost as if the producers told the writers to tidy up the story before the final curtain call. Not that this diminishes the experience of the series at all. It reckon it will always be in the top 5 of most peoples favourite series. Quality Anime.
There is a Cowboy Bebop Movie that I will review seperately.
Tags: Anime Reviews
Trigun Review
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
I don’t think there’s a single Top Ten Anime list which doesn’t include Trigun. As with any series it’s difficult to review without giving away major story points.
The series follows the adventures of a pair of err… well insurance assessors I guess. As riveting as that doesn’t sound I’m happy to say that this is one of the best anime series I’ve seen. The Insurance girls are on the trail of one Vash the Stampede, the most wanted outlaw on the planet. They are joined by this bumbling happy go lucky gun fighter on the left as they follow the trail from city to city.
The story takes place on a desert planet with sparse human settlements, apparently at the beginning of colonisation. Due to a lack of governmental organisation, each town’s legal problems are dealt with by the local sheriffs. In that way the towns and cities develop an old west type of structure with a wonderful mixtures of old and new technologies and weapons.
The characters are rich and clear and the bad-guys aren’t too 1 dimensional. Everyone has their own deep story and episode after episode the stories weave together and build up to the final confrontations and discoveries. Some say it’s better than Cowboy Bebop, some say it isn’t. The visuals are old and jump, even lazy in places, nowhere near the glamour of Bebop. Some of the acting is a little over cheesy and the main story develops a little slowly for my taste. But somehow it all mixes together to form a very addictive and entertaining animated series with some classic and unforgettable characters.
Wikipedia reports that Trigun X: The Movie is finishing pre-productions. Can’t Wait!
Tags: Anime Reviews, MovieReviews
Anime Reviews
Posted by Kushal | Filed under Uncategorized
I recently caught up with a backlog of anime series’s that I had been hording for some time.
I’ll update this with reviews of each series as I finish.
Tags: Anime Reviews
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