Hey doods and peeps. Welcome to another episode of The G-Views. There have been 5 anime catering to both sci-fi and yuri fans. I already mentioned on in BRS TV and if you’ve been following my episodic analyses at the castle, you know 3 more. The 5th one will be a surprise but for now let’s dive right in with my review Senki Zesshou Symphogear, or “Strawberry Zesshou Symphogear Panic” as I like to call it.
Tag Archives: magic
150th G-View: Uta Kata
Hey doods and peeps, welcome to another episode of The G-Views. This next show is another one of those anime that explores human emotions, similar to the likes of Shigofumi, which I already covered last year. How well does this one delve into the subject matter? Let’s take a look at Uta Kata.
101st G-View: Kore wa Zombie Desuka?
Hello and welcome to the G-Views, where creativity is respected and Dokuro-chan is rejected. After a week long break, I’m back and ready to roll. So this time let’s take a look at a show that I’ve been eagerly awaiting to review since its 6th episode. This is the Zombie show. I’m too lazy to write “Kore wa Zombie Desuka?” over and over so Zombie Show it is.
89th G-View: Kannazuki no Miko
Hello and welcome to G-Views, where SoL reigns supreme, moe is respected and Dokuro-chan sucks poopie. Well, I’ve been wanting to review this show for a long time and I think that the time has finally come. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, one of the most legendary yuri anime in history, Kannazuki no Miko.
Genres: action, drama, magic, psychological, romance, supernatural, shoujo-ai
Themes: mecha, yuri
Objectionable content: Significant (bloody violence and/or swearing and/or nudity)
Number of episodes: 13
G-Rating: 6/10 as an action mech anime, 10/10 for ChiMeko.
Plot Summary: The highborn Himemiya Chikane is cool and aloof, the perfect young lady of good breeding. Kurusegawa Himeko is devoted to her, and secretly her friend. Their lives are undisturbed in their school, until an ancient evil suddenly rears its head. To combat it, Chikane and Himeko must take on the roles of shrine maidens of the Moon and Sun.
Let me get this out of the way first. As far as an action anime with mechs go, this one just plain sucks. The villains are generic and uninteresting, the mechs themselves aren’t memorable and completely out of place in an anime like this and the action scenes are too short. You could have pretty much just had the heroes and villains fight each other without mechs. Would have made the action portion less ridiculous and slightly more tolerable.
Now as for ChiMeko…
It could not be more amazing, enthralling, fulfilling. The whole series is about the relationship of Chikane and Himeko (who is unaware of Chikane’s true feelings for most of the series), and how Chikane, foreseeing the awful fate that awaits either her or Himeko, will do anything and everything necessary to save her beloved’s life, no matter how painful it is or how much she must sacrifice. This series will tie your emotions in knots, but it will all be worth it in the end (just be sure to watch until the VERY end).
This couple has been the source of yuri discussions in the nation of a years. You would not believe how big this show’s thread is, how much has been discussed about this couple, the action portion’s crappiness and the decisions made by both Chikane and Himeko throughout the show.
Believe me when I say that both girls go through the series. Joy, glee, excitement, fear, pain, sorrow, doubt, confusion, rage. You name it, they’ve experienced it.
Like I said about the threads, the discussions on the decisions made by both ladies is quite large. Some feel sympathy while others feel that a different path could have been taken in order to reach the climactic finale. Oh the finale…wow…just…wow. It remains one of the most romantic moments in anime I’ve ever seen. A cheesy setup, but it’s the dialogue spoken that touched my heart. Sure, others may disagree. To each their own, right? the point is that ChiMeko is the main reason to watch this show. this show pretty much defined the phrase “What I would endure for yuri”.
The music: Once again, classical + Yuri. Also, the addition of KOTOKO’s songs increases the coolness of this show’s soundtrack.
The animation: Hit and miss. It’s hard to explain but sometimes it does exceedingly well and other times it doesn’t impress. It’s all about timing with this one.
Characters: The villains of the show are the 7 members of the Orochi. Yes, it is associated with the evil 7 headed dragon. Each of the seven Orochi fit easily into archetypes, consisting of a sociopath criminal, an unintelligent brute, a former Japanese idol, an anti-social mangaka, a catgirl, a seemingly betrayed friend, and a disillusioned nun. They are extremely discordant with each other and do not coordinate attacks on the miko until the middle of the series. that’s all you need to know about the villains. Sure the 1st head and the 7th have a history together but other than that, the other heads don’t do anything special in order to get your attention, except maybe the 2nd head.
Souma Oogami: the male lead who is best known for 1 thing: his manly screaming of Himeko’s name from the top of his lungs. This guy really does yell himeko’s name out loud when she’s in trouble. I do admit that aside from that, he’s not so bad as a male lead. In fact, some fans sympathize with him for all that he’s gone through. I don’t blame them. Even though I’m a ChiMeko fan for life, HimeGami wasn’t that bad while it lasted.
Aside from this guy, there are two other characters worthy of being mentioned because they’re awesome.
Otoha Kisaragi: Chikane’s personal maid, Otoha is loyal and devoted to Chikane. When Himeko comes to live with Chikane, Otoha immediately notices the bond between the pair and grows intensely jealous, angered at Himeko for taking Chikane away from her and hurting her mistress. Aside from playing a humorous role and some very weighty scenes of her own in the series, she is a support character who clarifies how Chikane reserved her feelings for Himeko alone.
Makoto Saotome: Himeko’s friend and roommate, “Mako-chan” is an athletic girl, one of the best runners on the Ototachibana track team. Sure her role is small compared to other characters on the show, but her appearance definitely left an impression on the viewers.
The other characters serve their purpose and no more.
BTW, this is another show where I don’t mind the English Dub at all. It’s good in my opinion. Nothing spectacular but good nevertheless.
In conclusion: For those interested in witnessing a majestic showmanship of an intriguing yuri relationship, watch this show, provided you can stomach the bad mech action in between. Trust me, if you can, you’ll be richly rewarded for your endurance.
61st G-View: Getsumen to Heiki Mina
Hello and welcome to G-Views, where SoL reigns supreme, moe is respected and Dokuro-chan sucks poopie. If there’s one thing I learned from this anime is that space alien bunnies love baseball. Let’s get right down to it with the incredibly obscure, yet enjoyable gem, Getsumen to Heiki Mina.
Genres: comedy, magic, science fiction
Themes: alien, bunny girls, magical girl
Number of episodes: 11+2 super rare EX episodes.
G-Rating: 7.5/10
Plot Summary: After establishing contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, it was found that humans were the only race to develop various sports. The number of alien sports fans grew dramatically, and the most fanatic of them regularly harass stadiums for taking part in a game, or demanding a good show, etc. Finally a treaty was settled, ruling all interferences towards other planets’ cultures illegal. Rabbit Force, a group of rabbit-themed henshin girls, became responsible for enforcing the treaty and capturing any offenders.
Superheroine Bunny girls who battle against alien rabbits who invade the Earth and chaos trouble through Sports Media, primarily Baseball for some reason. They do try to interrupt other sports but Baseball seems to be their favorite. The ironic part takes place when it is revealed which sports the alien rabbits are actually good at.
The music: apart from the OP and ED, there’s really nothing memorable on the show, maybe the transformation music.
The animation: Well, it’s fanservice, but thankfully it’s really harmless. It doesn’t hurt your sanity or make you complain about it at all. Just the basic big boobs, nothing alarming. Big boobs are pretty common in anime nowadays so let’s just live with it, as long as it doesn’t get out of hand. Other than that, the rest of the animation is pretty good.
The characters:
* Mina Tsukuda
Mina is a regular high school student who has recently become an announcer for “SpoLuna”. After making a terrible impression on her first day on the job, she is told that she will be given the chance to redeem herself by interviewing a famous baseball player. During the interview, an alien attacks, and the Rabbit Warrior Otsuki Miina arrives to save the day. Unfortunately, she is overpowered, but a strange flying baby called Nameless awakens Mina’s powers, and she becomes Tsukishiro Miina, another Rabbit Warrior. After defeating the alien, she becomes a rather reluctant member of Rabbit Force. Ironically she hates carrots even though her transformation is activated by consuming a carrot and saying the Miina transformation activation phrase ‘Ju-Jitsu’.
* Suiren Kōshu
One of Mina’s fellow announcers. She is very wise and level-headed and Mina looks up to her.
* Daisuke Kiryū
Mina’s other fellow announcer. He’s supposedly a professional Rugby Player.
* Katō D
The director of SpoLuna. He gets angry with Mina when she leaves work (to become Tsukishiro Miina) or makes a simple mistake.
* Escartin Mutsumune
A pink-haired girl with a long bang that moves about on her head. She despises Mina, and is always trying to sabotage her, as she is jealous of her being an announcer. Mina thinks of her as a friend though and never notices her schemes.
Rabbit Force
All: Like normal rabbits they have red eyes when they transform. They get rabbit ears and tails, some have triple tails. Unlike typical magical girl shows they don’t use items to transform. They eat the vegetable or fruit they are powered by (normally rabbit food) and say an activation phrase ‘Ju-Jitstu’ Their weapons are fired from a moon base and attached to their triple tails.
Mīna Tsukishiro
Tsukishiro Miina’s weapons are two high tech carrots that are attached to her triple tail. These have morphed into various forms including a multiple missile launcher and a hammer. Ironically, her alter ego hates carrots.
Mīna Ohtsuki
She is the first member of Rabbit force introduced. Her weapons are a pair of high tech beets. These have transformed into a pair of clubs and a large baton. Her Miina costume looks more like a battle suit as opposed to the other Miina’s whose costumes looke very much like average clothes.
Mīna Minazuki
Minazuki Miina’s weapons are two high tech tomatoes which are attached to her triple tail. These have morphed into a miniature tomato bomb launcher.
Mīna Tamamushi
Her weapons are a pair of high tech cherries. These do not transform, but she does use cherry bombs. Unlike the others she has no bunny tail.
Mīna Satsuki
Although her transformation is activated by blueberries, her weapon isn’t based on blueberries. Unlike the other Miina’s she uses an average military bazooka. There is a reason for this, which is revealed in her debut episode.
All of the characters are pretty cool in their own ways. The one thing that has bothered me is of all the magic girl shows that I’ve seen and the little helpers who guide the heroines, why would they pick a chubby baby-shaped alien, with bunny ears inside a peanut suit? Weird.
However, my personal favorite characters on the show are the main character’s parents. They don’t play an important role. They’re mostly found in the kitchen, cooking and discussing the latest situations that Mina’s in. The humor in this pair is that whenever the mother starts a conversation, it always ends with the father becoming a nervous wreck. what’s usually the mother’s reply? “Insert topic here” has always been Mina’s dream.
The show’s pace is pretty straightforward and most of the battles (excluding the final one) sort of feel like a “monster, or in this case alien” of the day types. The character development mostly comes from Mina and Suiren. There is a twist however, that actually doesn’t make this show one filled with “Bathroom Breaks”, thank goodness and that gives it major bonus points.
In conclusion, this show isn’t for everyone, but it’s not a bad show either. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something new. I mean, how weirder can it get than Bunny girls fighting Alien rabbits who do nothing but ruin sports events for their own personal gain?
P.S.: Remember kids, always eat your fruits and veggies. They’ll make you big, strong and equip you with tomato rocket launchers. and Carrot Hammers. Lola Bunny, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!
