Student Review Contest #13

[LadySage]

This week's theme:

OLD-SCHOOL

The anime you review must have started no later than 1997. I'm loosening my definition of old school considerably for the purposes of this contest because people are sadly unadventurous.


Rules:

1. One entry per person.
2. Only completed anime can be reviewed.
3. Reviews that are posted after the two week deadline will be disqualified.
4. Entries are final. Once a review is posted no more editing is allowed, regardless of whether it is still before the deadline.
5. The winner chooses the next theme and hosts the next contest.
6. Reviews must include at least a title, review, summary and grade.
7. The review and summary must be written by you.
8. No entering a review that has previously been entered in an Anime Academy Student Review Contest.
9. Fully clarify your theme. Do not be vague or over restrictive.

Guidelines
1. While it is not mandatory, including series details such as title alternatives; genre; company; format; dates; highs and lows; screenshots and a captioned screenshot, are looked upon favourably.
2. The preferred word count is about 300-500 words, as per the Anime Academy main page.
3. Previously written reviews are allowed to be entered as long as they don't break rule #8.

Submission deadline: February 14, 2007

[L-sama]

Ooooooooo...this sounds like fun! I think I've got just the anime.

Hopefully, this time I won't cause a tie by gaining the potential tie breaker vote like last time...:sweat:

[Sorrow-kun]

I gave you that vote, so...

Question: Does that mean the last contest will go down as a tie in the record books?

[C0MPL3X]

Yes. The winner of student review contest #12 will be joint winner; ladysage and sorrow-kun.

Since it's pretty pointless to hold a tiebreaker when there's only one vote separating the two of you, I thought it would be fair to give Ladysage a go at coming up with the new theme since you already had the experience twice. Sorry about that Sorrow-Kun but I don't mean you any offence and I know you'll forgive me for it.

[L-sama]

Anime: Dragonball
Genre: Action/Comedy
Company: Toei Animation/Bird Studio/Fuji TV
Format: 153 Episodes
Dates: 2-26-1986 to 4-12-1989

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i207/Tboneslim/dragonball.jpg
Group photo time!!

Summary: In a remote and wooded area, a young girl named Bulma is in search for mystical artifacts called Dragonballs. Scattered across the globe, these seven items, when brought together, can grant the collector any one wish that he or she may desire, even immortality. During her search, she runs into a strange little boy named Goku, who happens to have one of these balls. Together, the two start off on a new journey to become stronger and to find the remaining dragonballs

Highs: Good balance of action and humor; Doesn’t take itself too seriously; Some good fights

Lows: Dated animation; The last arc

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n92/shirobi/bgfbs.jpg

Grade: 82%


For those who have endured Dragonball Z and/or Dragonball GT and have yet to see the first chapter in this franchise, you’re probably groaning in discontent right about now. Fear not, for Dragonball is nothing like either of them and in a good way.

One huge reason why this anime holds its own is that the entire franchise is in its infancy. There are no Super Saiya-jin stages to worry about, and the fights aren’t stretched out to their barely tolerable limits. The various quests that the young Z-Senshi embark on are just that: quests. There are no interstellar enemies to fight (early on), and the majority of the time spent is on the team simply trying to find the dragonballs. The comedic element in Dragonball shines just as brightly and flows smoothly with the story. It works so well here, because unlike Dragonball Z, the world isn’t at stake in every episode. This allows the team to be genuinely humorous in their various situations.

For a twenty-year-old series, Dragonball looks the part. Time has taken its toll, as the art and animation haven’t aged very well. On the other hand, the fights are better planned out, particularly during the Tenkaichi Budokai. Instead of the “beat-down-to-the-brink-of-death-only-to-tap-in-to-a-hidden-power-and-win-at-the-last-second” routine, combatants actually have flaws and human weaknesses, including Goku. Some are actually enjoyable with comedic moments placed within them. As the series begins its final arc, however, we begin to sees shades of the future for this franchise. Fights begin to grow longer and longer and the comedy slowly begins to wane.

It’s a real shame that this series gets such a bad reputation because of its successors. Sure, it eventually parts into its lackluster sequels, but as the saying goes, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Dragonball is a fun series that should be worth anyone’s time, be you a newcomer or a seasoned veteran.

[L-sama]

Serving the dual purpose of bumping this, I have a question. Will there be a time extention for this contest, seeing as though I'm the only one to have an entry by the deadline mentioned in the first post?

[Sorrow-kun]

That deadline can't be right. It only allowed four days. I think she probably meant the 24th.

[L-sama]

Just making sure, becuase I was wondering why the deadline had already passed. Thanks for clearing that up :)

[L-sama]

Come on, people! The deadline is tomorrow for this contest. Let's keep this going :yes:

[Milkymagic]

Wow, I can't believe there's only one person competing right now, I'll try and watch something quick tomorrow and post a review (being I work the night-shift and all).

I've got to at least pay you back for Student Review Contest #7 (http://www.animeacademy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23445&highlight=Student+Review+Contest)! :D

[L-sama]

Wow, I can't believe there's only one person competing right now, I'll try and watch something quick tomorrow and post a review (being I work the night-shift and all).

I've got to at least pay you back for Student Review Contest #7 (http://www.animeacademy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23445&highlight=Student+Review+Contest)! :D

All right then, Milky. If it's a duel of reviews you want (again), then it's a duel you shall get! :duel:

I await your review eagerly :D

[Milkymagic]

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/Milkymagic/twilightq6.jpg
The name says it all.


Title: Twilight Q
Genre: Science Fiction
Company: Studio DEEN
Length: 2 OAV Episodes
Dates: 1987-02-28 to 1987-08-28

Synopsis:

The first episode titled "Reflection" is about a girl named Mayumi who's diving into the ocean and discovers a camera underwater, yet it turns out the film within the camera contains a picture of Mayumi with a man she hasn't even met. But that's not all, the camera was also a model not even invented yet, adding to the mystery of what that picture holds. The second episode titled "File 538" is about a detective who's hired to investigate a father and his daughter in an apartment complex, alongside the mysterious disappearances of airplanes in the sky during their flights.

Highs: Unique and challenging to initiated Science Fiction fans, interesting score by composer Kenji Kawai, visuals hold up for the most part outside the second episode's still scenes
Lows: The first episode is fairly ambiguous in execution and requires a bit of effort, the second episode has little going on visually along if you can't tolerate the mass amounts of dialogue, episodes can be too short for some

Review:

Twilight Q was a series intended to be anime's answer to the Twilight Zone as it were, and the series itself was also used as a tool to promote young directing talent from that time. Much to the Twilight Q's pleasure, it definitely nails the whole Twilight Zone mystique, but whether the execution is able to follow such an ambitious claim is something that couldn't find a solid answer after two episodes. After those said two episodes, Twilight Q was abruptly canceled, and the series itself was thrown into relative obscurity. How good is it really? Let's find out!

The first episode starts with our protagonist Mayumi diving in the ocean and discovering the camera, and she meets her friend and decides it's time to look at the film only to give off the amazing discovery told in the synopsis. After the mystery begins, so does it seemingly not end, as each sequence starts to become more distorted in its execution. Mayumi talks with people about the significance of the camera and even goes back to the area she found the camera, and then before she knows it, she starts traveling through time. And this is where the episode either shifts between obscure madness or artful analysis. In truth, I couldn't make an exact heads or tails of the situation, as each period Mayumi traveled to included a future meeting with the man in question and time traveling back to a historical period in Japanese history that was also equally mysterious. To add to the whole thing, the ending is entirely open-ended, meaning this particular episode is always open to interpretation with each viewing. When its all over, the story remains a nice mental exercise to play along with, even if its execution was a bit frustrating to get some results from initially.

File 538, the second story, shows the bizarre image of an airplane transforming into a carp in the sky. Yes, that might not make any sense, but that's what happened folks, we're greeted to the sequence of an airplane transforming into a carp, you've read correctly. Upon this odd phenomena, we see a father and his daughter having a casual ramen dinner together as they hear the plane come by. The father imitates their pet fish in the aquarium next to them as the daughter rushes to the window to scream "Fish! Fish!" at the sight of the airplane passing over their apartment complex. After this sequence finishes, the story to the episode begins with the detective who stays in the room next to this family to investigate them alongside the mysterious airplane disappearances, going through much deduction and philosophy in his quest to figure out what's going on. With plenty of internal dialogue from the detective, the viewer begins to see what he's pieced together with the events that have occurred to him thus far, and the information he's found that led him to that apartment in the first place. The second episode remains more enjoyable by far, though it might be less watchable for viewers who wish to watch a screen full of activity, as opposed to something akin to a historical documentary execution. That's right, many still pictures, and much dialogue contemplating the mystery in front of these images. But the episode animates during important sequences, and the dialogue proves rewarding if one can keep up with its intense assault of non-stop information. The twist at the end might fool you into thinking it's a cop-out, but in reality it's something far stranger and playful than one could take it for.

The series looks nice for the most part thanks to Akemi Takada's handiwork, with a quality OVA budget keeping all movements fresh and visible when needed. Kenji Kawai's score also adds a mysterious mood for those moments when the viewer has to put on their thinking cap and deduce what the heck is going on at that particular time. And last but not least, the directing from both Tomomi Mochizuki and Mamoru Oshii was actually quite good given the material, with efforts put forth to keep the mysteries within a challenging distance visually, and I especially commend the latter for putting up such an experiment despite the lack of visual punch.

Overall, Twilight Q is hardly perfect, but to the right viewer it can prove essential for a night of unorthadox viewing. With enough effort, both of these specimens can be enjoyed by the most hardcore Science Fiction nerds imaginable, but in the same token it has an inability to be enjoyed by the casual viewer with relative ease. A true mixed bag, but like all bags, there's always the possibility of finding something you like.

Grade: 80%

[Milkymagic]

Figured I'd post some commentary after the review just for good measure! :D

Did I mention that reviewing Twilight Q in a few hours was one of the craziest things I've ever tried? Ouch! does my brain hurt! I don't think I did too bad for a last-minute call, and I hope I didn't make any grievous errors that I failed to spot previously. But I'm going to commend L-sama and myself for giving this contest a go!

On another note, the second Twilight Q OVA is in my Top Ten Anime list, and remains a personal favorite to this day. However, as given the average, I didn't care as much for the first episode thanks to its difficult execution.

Hope you enjoyed this!

[ohtori_akio]

Title: City Hunter Season 1
Genre: Action, Comedy
Company: Sunrise
Length: 51 Episodes
Dates: 06.04.1987 - 28.03.1988

Synopsis

If you`re desperate and need a job done, write "XYZ" on the bulletin board at Shinjuku Station: that is a signal that you want to hire City Hunter. Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makumura make up the City Hunter team. Ryo is calm, cool, and an amazingly accurate shot. He is also the biggest lech since Ataru Moroboshi. Kaori is the sister of Ryo`s deceased partner and runs the business side of City Hunter.


Highs: Great comedic moments; Hot soundtrack and superb seiyuu performance

Lows: Episodic nature of the show can get irritating

Grade: 87%

City Hunter is one of those series that transcend time and generations as the winning combination of drama, action and comedy can be appreciated time and time again. This series has its aspects often copied (Cowboy Bebop being the most obvious one) and even the copies cannot go wrong with the winning formula. One who takes a chance on this series will not be disappointed as it has such a broad appeal that it is unlikely to be found lacking.

The animation quality of City Hunter still stands well nowadays because of the high production values this first series of episodes have as a standard. I think it is also clear that no shorcuts were taken when one first lays eyes on some of the breathtaking backgrounds of the Tokyo cityscapes.
The level of detail and mastery in creating these images already elevate this series from generic backgrounds found in more recent shows like InuYasha, Love Hina or Naruto.
The character design is just as pleasing to the eye as these backgrounds. Ryo Saeba looks a lot more like how a person would look then your usual highly stylised Shounen protagonist. The "Mokkori" ladies, including Saeko and Kaori, are also really well drawn and very sexy. With this level of eye candy, there was hardly a chance that it would not be a successful franchise.
The only kink I came accross while watching the episodes was that at times, the proportions on certain character were either strange or just wrong.

This series also comes with a fully kicking soundtrack that even surpasses the great animation. Both intros were incredible pieces of JRock/Pop. GoGo Heaven is probably the better one of the two as it really taps into the action/comedy aspect of the show. The standout track is of course Get Wild (a hit in its own right when released as a single in 1986 and recently reworked by the influencial TM Revolution), one track that taps shamelessly into the drama/romance aspect of the show to great effect!
The voice actors match the quality of the vocal tracks here with completely effervescent and infectious performances. Ryo`s voice actor especially has a lot of fun with his character and really draws the audience in.

The story of the show is that a sweeper is called upon to either protect persecuted *mostly* females or right wrongs that were done to them in the past. As such, this series is easily a very episodic one with a fairly static development all the way through (the only permanent change was the casting of Kaori).
Some people will find this to be a problem as City Hunter does not offer a plot that progresses much through its run. However, the episodic nature of City Hunter allows the audience to catch it sparringly and still enjoy the show just as much.

City Hunter is easily one of the best Shounen animes ever made. Its perfect mix of action, comedy and drama does what an anime is meant to do: entertain its audience. It`s probably not the most rewarding anime you will see but it is definitely one that you will forever appreciate. Out of the 51 episodes of this series only 1 was subpar. That is an incredible ratio; especially for a shounen title. Do yourself a favour - see it and enjoy it!

[Milkymagic]

Awesome, three reviews! I like the job you did ohtori_akio, always was interested in seeing the original City Hunter. Kind of interesting how all of our anime selections are from the late-80s, no?

But with the contest in limbo like this, it certainly does leave more room for anyone else to give it a try, right? :D

[AlterGenesis-X]

So, when is the deadline for this? Hasn't it already passed?

[L-sama]

Well, the date on the first post said the 14th of February, but that was too short of a time. I asked about that, and Sorrow said that it most likely was suppose to be February 24. If that's the case, then the City Hunter review is unfortunately ineligable. However, I'm not 100% sure about all of this, and we'll have to wait for an official word on what the true deadline is or was.

[Milkymagic]

Well, the date on the first post said the 14th of February, but that was too short of a time. I asked about that, and Sorrow said that it most likely was suppose to be February 24. If that's the case, then the City Hunter review is unfortunately ineligable. However, I'm not 100% sure about all of this, and we'll have to wait for an official word on what the true deadline is or was.

I'm sure Sage is busy, and I think extending the date even further would be a good idea to bring in more competition if you ask me. I think having three compete is better than two, but if Sage says no, I'm not going to object in the same token. She is the host after all.

[C0MPL3X]

I'd say L-sama the 1st entrant, can just go ahead and host on behalf of Ladysage. She's obviously either too busy or don't care so I'd be surprised if she has any objections to moving along the competition. But that's just what I'd do if I was in a competition, or allow someone to carry on for me if I was a host. Sounds rational to me.

[L-sama]

Fair enough. I'll be the surrogate host for the Finals. Since I'm doing this, shall I remove my review from the voting and hold onto it for a future contest, or is it still eligable?

[Mouse]

Fair enough. I'll be the surrogate host for the Finals. Since I'm doing this, shall I remove my review from the voting and hold onto it for a future contest, or is it still eligable?
Nah, you can't rig it just by making the poll. My suggestion would be to have a mod host it though.