Sunrise Inc. News

Hellloooo Vicers! Good to see your smiling and happy Friday faces again for this titillating Dunce Cap episode. Well, not really because that would be weird, but you get the point. I'm here today to provide y'all with my thoughts on one of my favorite anime. This is a recent purchase from Best Buy that I paid less than $7 for because of coupons and gift cards I saved. Anyway, I'll get on with the show by presenting to you, Bandai Entertainment's Anime Legends DVD release of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (season 1/R1)!! All hail the United States of Japan!

WARNING! This video contains explicit language. Also, this video is not edited in any way.

     

Please feel free to provide suggestions for an anime or manga for me to talk about and I will do my best to oblige. Also, if you are curious about anything discussed in this-or previous-episode(s) don't hesitate to ask me for more information/opinions.

Last episode: Demon King! Demon King! Demon King!

-Will McQuigg ( sotyfan16) is your everyday anime/manga enthusiast. You can also find him on Twitter ( bildo_88).

Super Duper Mini Review

 


  Kurokami, aka Black God and aka Kurokami: The Animation, is an anime based on the ongoing manga of the same name, which is written by Dall-Young Lim and illustrated by Sung-Woo Park.  There are 23 episodes and one OVA created by Sunrise.  The show was directed by Tsuneo Koboyashi and written by Reiko Yoshida.
 
 
Genres: action, drama, fantasy
 
 
Plot Summary
 

In this world, there are three identical looking people in existence who split between them an energy-like force called “Terra.” This energy can be attributed to the amount of “Luck” or “Life Energy” that an individual possesses. There also exists beings who observe the human world, maintaining the balance of Terra, known as the “Coexistence Equilibrium.” These beings possess ability that surpass that of a normal human being and reside in hiding in places known as the “Pure Place” in tribes. They are called the Terra Guardians. This is a tale of battle that begins with a chance meeting between a human boy named Keita and a young Tera Guardian girl named Kuro.

 
Pros:

• A solid cast of characters.
• The art style kinda has a dark/griddy feeling in some spots and light/happy in some spots.  It was a nice blend of the two.
  
• Really interesting concepts used in the show like the Doppeliner System and the whole contract thing was neat.
  
• Tons of fight scenes through out the show which aren't to shabby.
• Some nice twists as the show progresses.
  

Cons:

• A slow start.
• While some of the twists were nice, some of them have been done before.
• Some events in the show were predictable.

 
Fun Facts & Notes:

• In the manga Keita is a 19 year old freelance computer programmer.
•  The manga is created entirely by a Korean manhwa team led by both Lim and Park. They would occasionally make fun of the fact that none of them were fluent in Japanese in omake segments drawn at the end of each manga volume.
  

 
 
If you are into modern day action/fantasy shows like Shakugan no Shana or Fate/Stay Night, I say give this show a try and see how you like it.




 
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurokami  
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10262
 
 
Don't forget to check out my ongoing blog for my Super Duper Mini Reviews and my written reviews.            :)
 

What's a Super Duper Mini Review? Well, since I'm taking a break from written reviews, I decided to put a short list of what I liked and didn't like about the shows I review and put down some notes and fun facts as well. For some info about the show like genre, plot summary, etc., I borrow some info from Anime News Network, Wikipedia, and of course our wiki here on Anime Vice.  

I've been thinking for a while now and I have finally decided, I'm going to take a break from my anime/manga reviews.  What I've decided to do is to do mini reviews and list some things I liked, didn't like, and a few notes about the show.  Just making it really plain and simple.  Why am I doing this?  I just don't have the dedication to do long written reviews right now.  Maybe at some point I will do them again, but for now I'm going to take it easy and do these mini reviews.  I should note with these reviews I will NOT be attaching scores to them, so these will not be in the reviews section of the site, only the forum and my blog.  So I hope you find these new mini reviews enjoyable.    :)

 

Mini Review - Mai-Otome

Mai-Otome (aka My-Otome) is an anime series produced by Sunrise.   Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino.  It is a spin-off show of Mai-HiME with a new setting, but with some of the original characters from the first series, some with different personalities, as well as new characters.  Negima! and Negima!? comes to mind with a series that has done something similar to this.
 
There is the main show, Mai-Otome, a sequel, Mai-Otome Zwei, and a prequel, Mai-Otome 0~S.ifr~. 
 
Mai-Otome is an action, fantasy, drama, romance show with themes of magical school girls and yuri.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Plot Summary:

Arika Yumemiya has traveled far in search of her goal: the prestigious Gualderobe Academy. This is the school where young girls are trained to become Otomes, protectors of royal leaders throughout the lands. Here, Arika makes plenty of friends, but some enemies know something about her past that she does not. Nevertheless, her spirit and determination will keep pushing her forward. --- Adapted from its predecessor, Mai-HiME, this series is not a direct sequel, but an alternate universe setting featuring some of the Mai-HiME cast (though with different personalities).

 -- Anime News Network
 

 
 Pros:

• Like Mai-HiME, the music is fantastic.
• Good fight scenes.
• Interesting concepts used in the Mai-Otome world.  Otome, slaves, etc.
• It was fun seeing the Mai-HiME characters with different personalities.
• While it is a school setting (the main series), the world of Mai-Otome makes it enjoyable.
• The ending is not as cheesy and bad as Mai-HiME.
  

 
Cons

• When compared to Mai-HiME, some of the new characters aren't as memorable as the ones from Mai-HiME.
• A slow start before it starts getting enjoyable.
  

 
Notes:

• I recommend watching the prequel LAST as it will make more sense.  I started out with the prequel first and I was kinda lost.  Then I started the main series and thought "Wait, what happened to the girl in the prequel?"  After I finished the main series and the sequel, it made more sense.

 
If you are looking for a new action, fantasy show with a school theme and you don't mind magical girls, I say check this out and see what you think.  You don't need to watch Mai-HiME before you watch this though.  If you do, then you will get a little fanservice (not the ecchi kind) with the characters from the first show as some of them have the same personalities and some of their moves are similar to the first show.
 
For more info, check out the Wikipedia page.  Watch out for spoilers.
 

What's next?

I decided to check out Rosario + Vampire next.  It seemed like a fun harem show with the supernatural twist it has.  I know it's one of Kelleth's favorite mangas/anime so hopefully he wont hate me if I talk shit about it.         :P

ANN reports that animeanime.jp reports that Sunrise wants to simultaneously release Gundam Unicorn worldwide. This has me psyched. Sunrice has yet to announce a release or distribution method though. It could be a full series, an OVA, a movie, a flip book, pictures we see on passing cars to give us the illusion or animation, etc. I'm betting on a short 12-26 episode series, which we'll get streaming, but Sunrise could surprise us.