AgentJ (Level 13)

Is there anything better than a day off in the entire world? 
 
If there is, its probably the gorgeous opening to Angel Beats! The song and animation are beautiful,  though it gives me a strong feeling that Tenshi is going to die by the end of it all... I don't think I can overstate it. The opening is amazing. Perhaps my favorite since the end of the first season of Code Geass, and that one didn't even have animation. 

Belied by the emotional opening is the content of the actual episode, which I found uproariously funny. The situation near the beginning with the pole-ax guy (name?) where the music began to play was so great that I had to go back and watch it again. And again. It doesn't stop being funny no matter how many times I watch it. I would really look forward to seeing a good dub of this, but even without the humor has been top-notch so far.    
 
The animators really succeed with the animation. The fight and explosion near the end are pretty and well-scripted. Also something I found impressive was that they do a good job making the attacks on Tenshi feel... uncomfortable. She's just this fragile little schoolgirl, who is being attacked mercilessly by all sorts of weapons and explosives. 
 
Very surprising was that while it wasn't shown on screen, one of the characters suffered a death violent enough to send other characters into bouts of vomiting. Since deaths are like Hersheys kisses in this world, you'd think nothing would surprise the SSS. I guess thats what happens when you're transported into a quicktime event from Resident Evil 4. Also surprising was that we got Yuri's backstory so early. That stuff usually doesn't happen until much later. 
 
Still... it all seems very formulaic two episodes in. You start with Yurippe sending orders, everyone battles Tenshi, and they live happily ever after. From the feedback I've gotten, I assume this must not be the case forever, but the formula is a bit distracting. 

I also feel like some of these characters remind me of others, besides the obvious Haruhi inspirations. Shiina the ninja has the same demeanor as Shiina the ninja from Tales of Symphonia. Otonashi's gay friend (:P), while not being quite the same character, has a bit of a certain combat butler in him. And is Otonashi Emiya, of Fate/Stay Night? I suppose only time will tell. But as I continue through the show, I get the impression that it started out as "lets throw all our favorite characters into one anime!". Not really a criticism, just an observation. 
 
I don't know if TK is from something else, but he's still awesome. He uses his horrible engrish so confidently. 
 
Edit: Am I the only one getting a "last supper" vibe from the ED?

Was there ever an anime more tailor-made for Adult Swim than this?  

Combine the adorable character models and witty humor of Genndy Tartakovsky's "Dexters Laboratory" and "Powerpuff Girls" with the maturity level of "The Venture Bros" or particularly nasty "South Park" episodes and you've got a show that has no reason not to be on Cartoon Network's Sunday night block. Its even segmented into two ~13 minute halves, just like old standbys like Dexter, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, or any other (good) cartoon of the 90's.   

However, don't let that Tartakovsky comparison fool you; this is still Gainax at the animation helm. And while the animation is very good throughout, it turns fantastic for

 moments at a time. The typical anime style is nearly entirely eschewed (save for the stereotypical-ish transformation scene) for the typical simple American animation, but it runs with an incredibly high frame rate with CGI added in nearly seamlessly.  The incredible animation is demonstrated in the second half of the first episode, with hundreds of police cars making their own movements in one glorious mass, not to mention all the acrobatic action shots (all cleverly obscuring Panty's lack of panties). Manga-style visible sound effects fly around incessantly. It really is a treat to watch. 

The titular characters are, for lack of a better word, certainly memorable. Stocking is hopelessly addicted to sweets, and Panty has an insatiable appetite for the Y chromosome. As fallen angels, they are given orders by their overseer, the priest "Garterbelt" in order to earn currency they can use to buy their way back into heaven.  



The show is fantastically crude. The first scene introduces us to Panty as she wakes up with some random guy. She then discusses "morning wood" with Stocking, before their dog-thing farts, causing the two to kick it so hard its brains and feces are left behind on the wall it hit. The rest of the episode demonstrates their abilities (granted by the items from which their names are derived) as they fight a giant poop monster. Their batmobilie is a pink hummer called "Seethrough" and their batcave exits into a cemetery. This is all in the first ~3 minutes.
 
I'm immediately a fan. Panty and Stocking is funny in an immature way, appealing to the teenager in me that loves Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo and Austin Powers. At least, before I beat it into submission again with more respectable comedy such as Dr. Strangelove and Hot Fuzz. So I'm an abusive father... 
 
The obvious references to american cartoons are often there and gone with a flash, but a few that stood out to me in the first sitting; 

• Their dog thing is Grrr from Invader Zim. I say obviously as someone who never really watched the show.
• Some very round eyes are borrowed from the Powerpuff Girls, mostly on background characters. 

I remember well all the hubub about Angel Beats! when it was making its initial run through Japanese TV. The main character was an obvious Haruhi Suzumiya clone. It could be nothing more than a "Sci-fi Melancholy". Opinions changed very quickly, but after watching the first episode, I was left with that very impression.  
 
Angel Beats!' main character, Yuri, is little more than a palate swap from being the infamous "god character" herself. She has the same peppy altitude, a legion of male and female archetype followers (my favorite of which so far is TK) and... a beret + sniper rifle? Okay, maybe she isn't quite exactly the same, but Angel Beats! had a very obvious source of inspiration. If it turns out that Yuri is in fact god, then... well... this might as well be Haruhi fanfiction. 
 
If Yuri is Haruhi, than that makes the evil, villainous, mischeveous, and downright despisable "Tenshi" is actually Yuki Nagato. That lengthy description seems to be the impression of Yuri's SSS (SOS?) Brigade, though through the eyes of the stereotypical protagonist Otonashi, Tenshi just looks like any typical unassuming girl..
 
And when I say "stereotypical", I mean in the worst way. Has there ever been an amnesic dead guy this boring before? I have to believe so. And while most of the characters are well designed, Otonashi almost looks like he was drawn differently, if not worse. Its as if they pasted some Fate/Stay fanart into certain scenes instead of giving the protagonist the proper animation treatment he deserves.  

The plot is fairly interesting, in that everyone at the school (seemingly the only location in the afterlife) is dead, stuck in limbo. They have options; join the "NPCs" that populate the world and live a normal life, eventually disappearing (and possibly resurrecting), or skip classes and be a punk to stay in this school-world. You can die over and over (as the protagonist does repeatedly in the first episode) and will simply wake up later, fully recovered from your injuries, and still in the afterlife.  The idea is used to good comedic effect, first as Otonashi asks to be killed to prove a point, then is victim to a 100 hit combo, and then by a hidden trap.  
 
So I'm not really sure what to make of this show yet. It seems like standard fare so far, not quite what I was expecting from all the praise I've heard. Then again, its rare that the first episode is reflective of a shows' quality as a whole, so perhaps I'm just being too judgemental. The animation is quite nice and it seems to have a certain level of style, but I'm... cautious. 

If you'd rather skip the lengthy "how (person x) got into anime", simply scroll past the break to get to the good stuff.  
 
There once was a young boy who loved Power Rangers with a great deal of passion. Every birthday and christmas, this boy would beg and plead for the latest versions of the robots and megazords, and enjoyed nothing more than to transform them, put them together, and take them apart. Then, this boy discovered Beast Wars on Cartoon Network. Nothing was ever asked for that wasn't the new Rattrap, K-9, Optimus Prime, or Depth Charge. The transforming aspect was forefront in his mind. So when he saw a commercial for Gundam Wing showing a robot change into a jet, well, that became the boys' new thing. And that was his first foray into anime.  
  
This boy (yes, its me) went on to discover Outlaw Star, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ruroni Kenshin, Ronin Warriors, and lots more Gundam. But that wasn't enough for the lad, so he begun to branch out in the directions available to him. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, FLCL, and Fullmetal Alchemist scratched the itch, but anime was turning into a full-blown rash. To satisfy it, the boy, now becoming a teen, resorted to print after reading an article about Shonen Jump in the local paper. It had more Yu Yu Hakusho, and that was reason enough to subscribe (six years later, the 19 volume series run finally ended, becoming the first and so far only multi-volume property to run in its entirety in the magazine). That first volume (volume 5 to be exact) opened up a whole new world, and the boy had officially become an "animeniac" at the ripe old age of 12.  
 
Suddenly, he had an entire bookshelf dedicated to manga (that hasn't changed, though the books are stacked two-deep), including exotic names like Bleach, D.Gray-Man, Buso Renkin, Black Cat, Hunter x Hunter, Hikaru no Go, and of course, Death Note. From there, I (can I please stop talking in the third person now?) further branched out, and as time went on, my tastes gradually, yet obviously changed, especially as I came into my own, hard-earned money. Negima and Love Hina became Hayate the Combat Butler and Air Gear, which became Black Lagoon and Welcome to the NHK, which became Monster, Mushishi, and Vagabond.  

 But as I became more involved in the black and white comic side, the animation got left behind. Toonami and Adult Swim, which planted the anime seed, began to cut back on the medium, leaving me to buy what I wanted.  Early paychecks picked up a number of series I was interested in, including Ergo Proxy, Elfen Lied, Evangelion, Gankutsuou, Le Chevalier D'eon, Samurai 7, GTO, Ghost in the Shell, and of course, BECK. But with a new work schedule and college to deal with, as well as an ever-mounting pile of video games, time for anime was restricted. Time to watch all these DVDs was restricted, and even today I own some shows that I have yet to watch (So sorry Tsukihime...).  
 
Not that I was some anime angel; like most fans these days, I obtained quite a few series through the internet. Black Lagoon, Bleach, and Fate/Stay Night were three such series. I own all three on DVD now. I caught Code Geass and Gurren Lagann through Anime News Network and Netflix respectively. They are quite high on my to-buy list. The idea is that I, save for extreme cases, later buy what I read or watch online. I've been reading Bleach online for 5 years now, yet have bought every english-released volume to date. This is true of every series I have read online. I find this to be a very important point as I detail my plans for this blog.  
 
You see, as a house-squatting college student at the ripe age of 21, I have spent the first day of every trip my parents take without me watching the entirety of an anime that I own on DVD in a marathon format. Through this strategy I have discovered the masterpiece that is BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, as well as Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo and Le Chevalier D'eon. I've also discovered some less amazing shows, like Peacemaker Kurogane, Green Green, and This Ugly yet Beautiful World (shudder). Two weeks ago, that show was Baccano! And, as I experienced one of the most confusing pieces of media I have ever put in front of me, I suddenly rediscovered my love for anime. I don't know if it was the animation, the great dub, or the humor, 
but something clicked, and now I find myself on the precipice of what seems to be a hidden valley of anime. Shows that I have put off or ignored for months or years, despite being greatly interesting or highly recommended. That ends now.  
 
 
 
 

I have put together a list of shows that I feel I have to watch, much like the list of games that I keep at Giantbomb. I'm starting with three relatively short franchises that have all made their mark in the past year.  

• Angel Beats!
• High School of the Dead
• Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt

 
I will watch each of them roughly simultaneously, posting my thoughts directly afterward. There will be days where I watch more than one episode, and others where I don't watch any at all (after all, my Sounders are my first priority :P)  

Also, if things go well and people don't rally for my head on a stake, I'd like to do some rewind posts at a later date, going through a show I haven't seen in years. I'll leave that to readers (if I have any) to choose from my library. Of those, preferred reruns would be Gundam Seed, FMA, Yu Yu Hakusho, Death Note, any of the movies, and of course, BECK.  
 
I'll have the first episode out sometime tonight. I'm really looking forward to hearing from anyone :P

Sorry, movies and manga are exempt. This list is for shows only. 
I have a number of critically acclaimed series in the on deck circle, so this list may change rapidly. Among those are Gurren Laggan, Darker than Black, Blade of the Immortal, Baccano, and Hetalia.

10. Yu Yu Hakusho