I initially felt compelled to watch this series because of its first director, Mamoru Oshii. Oshii is known for his creation of the long-running Kerberos franchise, directing the Patlabor animated series, and (of course) directing my favorite film of all time- Ghost in the Shell. To me, Urusei Yatsura is really segmented into two parts. Seasons 1 and 2 were animated by Studio Pierott and a number of the episodes exhibit that overly-philosophical vibe that Oshii is known for. Seasons 3 and 4 saw a bit of a shift as Studio Deen took over the animation role. These were directed by Kazuo Yamazaki, whose style I actually ended up appreciating more than Oshii’s by the end. That’s no surprise though, as Yamazaki also directed Maison Ikkoku, which is another series that I hold in deep regard.

The story of Urusei Yatsura is very loose and centers around the misfortunes of one high-school student- Ataru Moroboshi. Ataru is a self-described playboy and one of the most one-dimensional characters that you will ever encounter. Because of his incessant lust for women and inability to take no for an answer, he spends the majority of his time hitting on, creeping on, or being a bit too touchy-feely with every woman that he encounters. In the pilot episode, his life is changed forever when an invading alien race decides to pay a visit to his home. The Oni people (lead by Mr. Invader) have decided to invade Earth, but they are giving its people a fair chance. Out of over 7 billion potential Earthlings, their supercomputer has randomly selected Ataru to play a game of tag with someone from their own race. His opponent is Lum Invader- a bikini-clad Oni princess and the daughter of Mr. Invader. Needless to say, Ataru is immediately on board with the prospect of chasing after her. He eventually succeeds in grabbing her horns and saving the Earth, but now faces a bigger problem. During the commotion that follows his victory, there’s been a slight misunderstanding. Against Ataru’s wishes, he’s now inexplicably married to Lum and will spend the remainder of the series dealing with her jealousy towards other women.

Rest assured that the entirely of that last paragraph only contains story content from the first episode. The remaining 193 episodes don’t really offer much in the way of a central narrative. What they do offer is the pure insanity that surrounds Ataru as he repeatedly encounters misfortune, suffers for his infidelities, and emerges each week having learned no valuable lessons. As I mentioned before though, Ataru is a pretty unsavory human being. The fact that he has little to no redeeming qualities, never learns his lesson, and is completely impervious to discouragement makes watching his antics incredibly enjoyable. There’s also the overwhelming irony of his relationship with Lum. Despite being obsessed with women and spending each episode trying to hook up with them, he’s already engaged to a woman who cares about him and who’s envied by every other male at his school. This envy ends up causing Ataru even more issues as Lum’s unofficial group of admirers (calling themselves “Lum’s Stormtroopers”) repeatedly take their anger out on Ataru because of the way that he treats her.

Before you decide to go head-first into the series, there are a few things to be aware of. One: there are no rules. Anything that can happen, will happen. Since Lum is an alien, she’s brought with her a number of alien devices and objects that can do things seemingly impossible to us on Earth. For example, in one episode she uses a miniature time machine to transport herself (and eventually Ataru) back into the past. This device allows her to shrink down to a near atomic level and use a cup of tea as a portal to the past. Another episode has her baby cousin, Ten, using a fertilizer from his planet to grow a plant that gains sentience. Other instances come off as less alien and more supernatural. In one of the earlier episodes, Ataru’s rival Mendou takes a picture of him using a cursed camera. This transports him into another dimension that can only be accessed from a random window within his classroom. Really, it’s best to throw out all ideas of reality and go in expecting anything.

Second- there are zero consequences. Any unfortunate or horrific occurrence in the series is completely forgotten about in the proceeding episodes (with some minor exceptions). To give you an example, in one episode Ataru’s psyche is changed into that of a woman’s. In another he actually becomes a woman. In yet another he transforms into a giant bear. There are also a multitude of episodes in which his house is completely destroyed beyond repair. None of these events ever have lasting effects and simply exist in the moment for the sake of a quick gag. With no rules and no consequences, I think that one of the liner notes from the original AnimEigo releases translated the series title perfectly: It’s Japanese for “Totally Insane”.

Ataru’s dad is the only real victim in this series.

The art style of the series evolved gradually across all 4 seasons and this is evident if you watch them all in order. Season one was initially aired in short, 11 minute segments between other shows. In fact, the first 20 or so “episodes” are actually each comprised of two smaller ones. Likely as a result of this and the fact that Studio Pierott was still pretty green at the time, the quality of season one’s artwork and animations is a bit lacking and shows a number of noticeable flaws and shortcuts. Mind you, there are definitely some more detailed shots, but things really start to improve in the later seasons. By the end of the last season, putting a picture of Lum from first and fourth seasons side-by-side shows a night-and-day difference. In my mind, this kind of adds to the show’s charm and allows you to watch the series grow and mature over time.

When I say that the series matures, I mean it. While I love Oshii’s style and appreciate his direction in the first two seasons (and second movie), I must admit that I found seasons 3 and 4 to be far superior. Season 4 was actually my favorite, but both of these later seasons really ramped things up. For one, the character development (for everyone but Ataru) is noticeably better. Characters like Shinobu, Mendou, Ryunosuke, and even Megane are a lot more fleshed out than before. Shinobu in particular receives her own little story arc involving a fox, which is a nice change of pace since the focus is mainly on Ataru and Lum. I would also argue that the various scenarios laid out in each episode tend to be more interesting in these seasons. If anything, I’d say the fact that the series continues to improve with each subsequent season is reason enough to keep watching.

Rumiko Takahashi is arguably best known for creating Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2, but her first venture into creating manga continues to stand on its own two feet today. Urusei Yatsura remains just as enjoyable now as it was 37+ years ago. As one of the earliest examples of a magical-girlfriend anime, it tries to be so many different things at once and does a fantastic job with all of them. There are a plethora of comedic moments, a generous sprinkle of romantic ones, and a perfect dash of serious ones that help each episode stand on its own. Because of this, the viewing order really doesn’t matter after season 1 since all the major characters have been introduced by then. If you’ve never seen the anime or read the manga, I’d highly suggest doing one or both. Unfortunately, there are currently no paid streaming services that allow you to watch the anime. Having said that, with VIZ releasing new deluxe editions of the manga this year, perhaps we may see the anime get re-licensed and made available for streaming as well.

The post Anime of the Past: Urusei Yatsura appeared first on oprainfall.

When it comes to Cardcaptor Sakura, I can clearly say I’m smitten. I am the worst kind of fanboy when it comes to the manga group Clamp, and Cardcaptor Sakura is the cream of the crop for me. I’m sure most fans of manga or anime have at least seen some sort of Sakura in one way or another. You may have seen a screencap here, fan art there, or manga of some sort pop up in your favorite nerdy hangout spots since Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the most popular shoujo series out there. If you haven’t delved into the world of CCS , then never fear, I can get you up to snuff when it comes to our magical girl in question.

Cardcaptor Sakura was released in manga form by Clamp, an all-female manga group, in May 1996. Clamp had been around since the 1980s and was already established in the world of manga for works such as Captain Tsubasa, Saint Seiya, Tokyo Babylon, and Magic Knight Rayearth. When Rayearth was nearing completion, Clamp was asked to do another series of manga. After much deliberation, Clamp decided they wanted to do a magical girl series that their readers could relate to. At the time, their biggest demographic was elementary and middle school girls, so Clamp eventually decided on a story that would include many struggles their readers might have been facing at this transitional point in their school and home lives. Production began soon after and Sakura became somewhat of a Clamp staple and one of their most recognized series.

Clamp at Anime Expo 2006.

CCS‘ story revolves around main character ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto. Sakura is the youngest member of her family and attends Tomoeda Elementary School. Our heroine begins the series as a very normal ten-year-old girl who is popular among her classmates, gets decent grades, excels at sports and has household chores to keep up with.  Sakura lives with her father, Fujitaka, who is an archaeology professor at the local college, and her brother, Toya, who attends high school next door to Sakura’s elementary school. Sakura’s mother, Nadeshiko, died when Sakura was only three years old. Nadeshiko’s death is a recurring event in the series because the story as a whole tackles themes such as love, relationships and coming to terms with situations beyond your control. But, we will go over this shortly.

At the beginning of the series, we follow Sakura as she has a typical day at school. Upon returning home she has to cook dinner and do family chores. While cleaning the basement, where her father keeps his archaeology artifacts, she stumbles upon “The Book of Clow.” When she opens the book she is knocked backward by the force of the magic cards stored inside. The cards fly wildly and escape from Sakura’s home. Sakura rightly has no idea what to make of this until she’s confronted by Cerberus, the beast of the seal, and is informed of the gravity of what her actions have done. Cerberus, nicknamed Kero-chan, is weak due to the absence of the Clow cards. He is powered by the element cards of fire and earth. There are 52 cards that Kero-chan tasks Sakura with collecting but Sakura refuses. He then explains that with the cards loose, the Earth is doomed to a horrible fate. Sakura still refuses his request until she witnesses for herself what the cards can do, so she begrudgingly agrees to become the appointed Cardcaptor.

Sakura discovers Clow cards.

The one thing I really enjoy about this series is that the Clow cards themselves aren’t just some unexplained magical MacGuffin that powers the story along and gives Sakura purpose, unlike some other magical girl series. From the very start, the origin of the cards is presented. The cards were created by an eccentric magician named Clow Reed. Clow Reed was the greatest magician in the world before his death, and each card represents something Clow Reed’s ideas embodied. The cards themselves can be used for attack and defense, such as The Windy, a wind element card, or The Shield, which is a protection card. Clow Reed also made cards such as The Song and The Flower which produces song and flowers respectively, which at an initial glance seem useless but Sakura uses these cards throughout the series to strengthen relationships. Clow Reed also created Cerberus, and the later Yue, who is another guardian of the Clow cards. Both Cerberus and Yue have a tremendous amount of love and respect for Clow Reed.

Clow Reed from Cardcaptor Sakura.

As stated before, love and relationships are a huge part of what Cardcaptor Sakura represents. Also, what do you think a typical girl around Sakura’s age is dealing with? Ding ding ding, that’s right! Girls typically at this age are falling in love, having crushes, trying to maintain positive relationships with friends and family, and dealing with life on a daily basis in this awkward time in their lives using the skills they process to the best of their ability much like the skills Sakura obtains from collecting the loose cards. Slow clap deserved for Clamp for personifying this crucial time in every child’s life into something fantastical yet relatable!

Another part of the series is Sakura’s relationship with her best friend Tomoyo. Tomoyo has an undying love for Sakura and is her biggest form of support. Tomoyo has no magical ability but documents Sakura’s actions on camera and makes her magical girl costumes. Tomoyo’s actions definitely represent a borderline romantic love and not just friendship. However, Tomoyo is very mature for her age and realizes that she cannot ever be romantically involved with Sakura, but continues to always be there for Sakura in her time of need. Clamp never specifically puts conflict between Sakura and Tomoyo, but they use Tomoyo as a source to drive Sakura’s ambitions. Tomoyo’s safety is often placed in danger because of the Clow cards, and Sakura must fight to protect her best friend. This plays largely into Cerberus’ warning that the cards will bring a horrible fate onto the world.

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero-chan having a pajama party.

Sakura also has to deal with a confusing relationship with an older man. It comes to light that Sakura is deeply in love with her brother’s best friend, Yukito. Yukito’s existence plays an important role in this series as a whole, and Sakura has to come with terms that her love is infatuation and for the wrong reasons. This ends up being very painful for her towards the end of the series. Much like many of us growing up, we have misdirected feelings for those around us. This hurts but ultimately serves as a form of growth in our lives.

CCS also introduces Syaoran Li. Li-kun is a bloodline descendant of Clow Reed and is also trying to collect the Clow cards. He serves as Sakura’s rival for most of the adventure. However, toward the latter part of the series a relationship between the two grows. Sakura interprets this relationship as his friendship. However, romantic love is brewing in young Li’s heart. As the two begin working together more to collect more cards it creates a really uncomfortable dynamic between the two, but in a good way. You really start to feel for Li and his heartache for not being able to tell Sakura his true feelings.

Li-kun wanting to tell Sakura his feelings.

The  anime can be pretty comical, but it will suddenly whip you into a deep dark alleyway in seconds flat with all these themes it brings to the table. It is not uncommon for characters to start crying in a lot of the episodes. One notable thing about this anime is it has a lot of filler. This is not uncommon for anime in the mid to late 90s, and each episode usually ends with Sakura capturing at least one card. The initial anime had a 70 episode run. This isn’t too bad of a length, and Sakura ends up collecting all the Clow cards by the 45th episode.

I like to think that the first 45 episodes are representative of Sakura’s childhood. This is her transitioning from childhood to becoming a more mature person, like a growth spurt. Episodes 46 through 70 focuses mostly about her becoming her own person. The way these episodes represent this is by having the Clow cards unable to connect with Clow Reed’s magic and spirit due to Sakura’s actions. They are becoming just normal, non-magical, cards and in order to save them, Sakura needs to become her own magician. Each one of the episodes in the later part of the story shows Sakura transforming them from Clow cards into Sakura cards. She’s no longer piggybacking off Clow Reed, she is now liable for the choices she makes. Many of us went through this as we grew during Sakura’s age because we stopped falling under our parent’s identity and we became our own people with our own identity.

I just really love this series. At first glance, it seems like it would be just a standard magical girl series full of fluff, but it’s so much more than that. CCS brings up important commentary regarding what it is like to grow up during one of the most crucial points in our lives. Clamp did an amazing job of executing this feeling in an art form and I feel that you owe it to yourself to dive into Sakura’s world!

On that note, I will say that Cardcaptor Sakura did have a run on American television. If you choose to watch the anime, the English version does some weird things like leaving a few episodes out. The localization teams for Sakura also changes a lot of the character’s names to English names. They Americanize a lot of the show with rewrites, so it is suggested that you should watch the Japanese version with English subtitles to get the real experience. Plus, this is just one of those series where the English voice acting is terrible, like a lot of anime from this time period. The manga is safe from such edits, though, so it’s really your choice on how you’d like to enjoy CCS.

Thank you so much for reading! I did leave a few things about the series out like the relationship Sakura’s father had with her mother. Also, I left out the paranormal undertones that fuel the series with Sakura’s brother, Toya. Not to mention how I would go so far to say that Clow Reed really is the main character of the story, but I’ll let you come to a conclusion of that yourself!  I feel that these plot points are best experienced with the series as a whole. Plus, CCS has a couple of movies, too! The movies go along with the everything pretty well, so I definitely can recommend them if you haven’t seen them. There is a new Cardcaptor Sakura in the works, what do you think about that? Let me know in the comments!

The post FEATURE: Growing up with Cardcaptor Sakura appeared first on oprainfall.

To say that there are a lot of anime out there would be the understatement of the century. The anime world is a very vast one and as a result it is very easy for us to miss out on a great series, or make a premature judgement on a series just because we saw some promotional art and assumed it was one thing only to find out it is something else when you watch it. This list is about anime we felt are very deceptive in regards to their art style or promotional material. The choices here reflect both my own experiences along with the ones from some of the staff here at Operation Rainfall. I have also included Crunchyroll links to any of the shows that happen to be available there. To kick off this list we have:

Excel Saga

“One look at this series and you think it’s a fairly lighthearted comedy anime. I’m just going to say, nothing will prepare you for the amount of insanity that will occur on screen! They even made an episode that was too ridiculous to be aired on TV.”

-Justin Guillou

Humanity Has Declined

“The bubbly visuals didn’t prepare me for a loaf of bread committing suicide.”

-Tyler Trosper

Neon Genesis Evangelion

“Cool Robots, great opening music and amazing art! I Assumed Evangelion was going to be a nice fun mecha anime that will make you feel good at the end of every episode. I was wrong. OH BOY was I wrong.”

-Justin Guillou

Vividread Operation

“I thought it might be a weird magical girl show, and while there are elements of that, it’s also a well done action anime with some slice-of-life elements and a sci-fi twist. It also does not take itself too seriously all the time, something I feel happens a lot in action anime. There are some dark elements to it, but it never feels overbearing to the overall tone of the show.”

-Andrew Mathieu

Maid Sama

“It looks like an ecchi show with no plot until it totally goes full shojo with character development.”

-Quentin

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 

“I’ll admit the first time I saw promotional artwork for this show, I was not interested. It did not look like something I would like. My friends insisted that I give it a chance so I did. It started off to be exactly what I thought it would be, then episode 3 happened…”

-Justin Guillou

Case Closed

“This is the modern day equivalent to Scooby Doo and Sherlock Holmes if there ever was one. On its surface it seems like this silly anime with a grown up turned into a kid and he has to solve mysteries with gadgets that seem out of Inspector Gadget. But once you get into the series you get one of the most satisfying detective shows you may ever watch, animated or otherwise. This show just nails drama, tone and suspense easily and is able to build these things off the backbone of a silly yet interesting premise that never fully escapes focus of the show. It deals a lot with murder, which is what landed it on Adult Swim, which was not great for it in my opinion. I understand it may have been too dark for kids, but again not so dark that it should be considered an adults only show. It definitely isn’t as adult-oriented as something like Law and Order. Either way, an awesome show that may come off as juvenile, but is a really good, mystery solving drama at its core.”

-Andrew Mathieu

Anime is such an interesting medium in that they can totally get away with being deceptive. In many cases, it actually enhances the show and turns what would have otherwise been a cliche forgettable series into one that really sticks with you after the final episode aired. I am sure there are many great examples of series that could fall under this category so let us know what are some anime you saw that turned out to be completely different from what you expected it to be?

The post Don’t Judge These Anime by Their Covers appeared first on oprainfall.

I recently had the chance to speak with Michele Knotz. You may recognize her as the voice of Jesse from Pokémon starting from season 9. She also does the voices for Snivy and Pokémon Trainer in Super Smash Bros Brawl. In this little interview she discusses her experience being part of the cast for the long-running anime and just her life as a voice actress! Check it out below:

OR: Hello there! This is Justin here from Operation Rainfall and with me today, I have:

MK: Hello! This is Michele Knotz! Voice actress Extraordinaire! Actually I am most notably known as the voice of Jesse in Pokémon.

OR: Very nice, thank you for coming out and talking with me. So let me start off with a question that one of our contributors has: You’ve said previously that you really started to get into anime in high school and college. What series are your favorites and what  are you currently watching if anything?

MK: I don’t know where to start! Currently what comes to mind and what I really loved and I just finished was Erased. I don’t know if you saw Erased or not, but it was really really good. It reminded me of the Butterfly Effect. I thought Erased was just really well written and it was the perfect length too. I didn’t want it to end but it was so good. I love the story, I love the length, I love the music. Just everything about it was really, really good. I love shows that keep you on the edge of your seat, and I just kept wanting to watch more and more and more. It’s funny, I grew up watching Voltron and Speed Racer and things like that and I did not know as a kid that it was from another country and later on in college I was like “WHOA THIS IS ANIME!? WAIT THIS IS FROM JAPAN?!” I didn’t even know and you know, back then the internet wasn’t as prominent as it is now so we couldn’t get our information as easily as we can today. So the first real anime I knew when I picked it out was Battle Angel. It’s a short 2 OVA episodes but I thought it was really good, so I had to go find the manga because the show unfortunately didn’t go as far as the manga. The manga is actually really long and the story is so great but yea unfortunately they did not continue the anime and then I started to watch Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha and Bleach and Naruto. I just started to get into the crazy ones like Evangelion, Gundam and Full Metal Alchemist. So Yea, I have watched a lot.

OR: Really cool. So of the shows  that you watched, was there a s series in particular that made you realize that you wanted to get into voice acting? Like you want to be a part of this?

MK: I don’t know if it was actually a series. I started in college and a little after college to go to conventions. The voice actor panels is what I really wanted to go to the most. I started off as a theater major then I switched to radio and television broadcasting and I was working in news and I hated it. So I started to go to cons in college and I went to the voice actor panels and thought: “This is really cool” and then, what happened was the Big Apple Anime Fest in 2003 that I went to  had this contest and I’m like: “Let me just try it, why not? Just for fun”. And that’s how I got my first role as Hajime Yagi in The World of Narue, which was crazy. And I asked the director and my cast mates “How do you do this? This is what I want to do for a living”. So they explained to me how to make a demo and that’s basically your resume and I got a vocal coach and it just kind of branched out from there.

Hajime Yagi – The World of Narue

OR: And “branched out” it did! I mean, you’ve done so many different roles and great roles too! It’s good stuff! Because you’ve played so many roles, that brings me to my next question. So you’ve played multiple voice roles in the Pokémon anime series since you came on board in season 9 including May, Jesse even the Pokédex itself, Nurse Joy and Snivy. How is it playing multiple roles that are often in interaction with each other at the same time? Was there any difficulty in keeping the character straight? How did you approach each role that would occur simultaneously?

MK: Well if you’re playing multiple roles in a show, what the directors like to do is record one character at a time, not multiple characters at once. So let’s say Jesse. So we will go to the beginning and record all of Jesse through that episode. Usually they just record one or two episodes a week anyways. There are so many characters in that show that it’s Monday through Friday when the studio is open so they have to call in all the actors for that show in one week. So it’s usually one or two episodes for that week, not really any more than that. Then we will go back and record another character and another character. With Pokémon specifically we usually save the “creatures,” we call them the creatures, for last because sometimes for me (Dustox and Cacnea) they can be a little grating on the throat and the voice even if you do everything properly. If there is going to be a lot of one specific Pokémon that is grating on the voice, it will affect you eventually. So we generally save that for last. That’s how we kinda keep the voice of the character and personalities in our head, because we are just working on one at a time. It would be kind of crazy  to be doing multiple at the same time.

OR: I can only imagine… And that actually brings me to another point and something I kind of wondered. When you are doing all these other characters have you ever felt like a character’s personality is “leaking” into another one?

MK: Fortunately, I  guess I’ve never had that problem!

OR: That’s a good thing for sure!!

MK: I mean, you try to keep in your head as much as possible the different personalities and the voice and all the characteristics, which I know sounds crazy and difficult, but it’s immersing yourself in the character and letting it flow through you. But fortunately, I’ve never *knock on wood* haven’t really had too much trouble with characters bleeding over into another personality.

OR: So something else, I have always wondered. In Super Smash Bros Brawl you played Pokemon Trainer and when I first played it I was reminded of Ash when I first heard his voice. I almost thought it was Ash but then I realized that no, there is something slightly off. It sounds like him, but it’s not quite Ash.

MK: A lot of people thought it was Red and they just called him the Pokemon Trainer. They don’t really call himRed but a lot of people say its Red. I don’t really think it’s Red. It’s just a completely different boy that has Pokémon that’s in Smash Brothers. I auditioned for it, they wanted a boy voice and that was one of the first boy voices that I’ve done which was pretty cool. They auditioned a bunch of people and they wanted me to play it so that was pretty cool.

OR: That was a really great thing to see a Pokemon Trainer actually voiced in that game, because finally we get to see him with a voice in a video game having him yell “GET BACK! GO SQUIRTLE!!!” That was me trying to impersonate you and doing a horrible job at it…

MK: No that was really good! You are hired! *laughs*

OR: If Nintendo started adding voice acting to future Pokémon Games like the mainline ones, do you think that having a voiced protagonist would add or detract from the experience?

MK: You know, in Final Fantasy X, when I finally heard voices in a Final Fantasy game, I was blown away! I really think voices do add a lot especially if you have the right emotion, the right inflection, you know, the whole package. A lot of [Pokémon] games have computer sounds and they’ve had computer sounds for the longest time. But in at least the Poképark and Poképark 2 games they do have a lot of voices in which I got to play Piplup and Snivy and everything. That added a lot to it! I think it’s a lot more fun and interactive for the kids that play the game. When I heard Final Fantasy X, I was blown away and I was like “They sound great, this is amazing, it’s like they are actually talking”. Because in all the other Final Fantasy games it was just text on a screen; they weren’t talking. But yea I think it would be really cool and awesome. It would add to it but we will see in the future.

OR: Now this is a different game. I know we have been focusing on Pokémon but I’m a really big fan of this series so I have to ask this. So you voiced Roll in Street Fighter x Tekken and Roll was portrayed in a rather “different” manner than usual. It also doesn’t help that the classic version of Roll was only ever voiced in English once in Mega Man 8. [NOTE: During the interview I forgot about Powered Up] So did you have any difficulty performing her lines, considering you did not have too much context to work with?

MK: Right. Roll is a non-playable character and she just talks to Mega Man. I really thought it was funny that they used the Mega Man from the boxart from the original. So he is just this 40-year old guy with a huge gut. I thought it was hilarious! I loved it. Chris Cayson did the voice of Mega Man in Street Fighter x Tekken and I thought *imitating him* “Be serious Roll! This came from outer space!” He just made it so hilarious. It was so funny. Every time I run into him at a convention I compliment him. I love Chris Cayson, he’s awesome and amazing! It was so funny because they told me “We would like you to voice Roll”. And it was funny because they said “What’s that adult-like Jesse voice that you do for Pokemon? We really like that. We think its funny!” I didn’t get to see a picture of her until later. they just told me that she is just going to be more mature and older, she is not going to be a little kid. You know, Roll is depicted a lot as a younger kid in the Mega Man games and show. So we went over the lines a few times to see what would fit and work with Chris’ Mega Man. I thought it was funny and when I finally saw the end sketches of her, I said “THAT’S what Roll looks like. Okay!” It was really funny and awesome at the same time.

OR: To add on to tha,t and this is just a shot in the dark, would you be opposed to playing Roll in a future game?

MK: Oh that would be awesome. She’s awesome. When you see Mega Man you just expect Roll to be somewhere in the shadows. So that would be really cool.

OR: GREAT. Well thank you very much for speaking with me! You definitely provided some great insight in the wondrous world of voice acting. Thank you so much for doing this!

MK: No Problem!

Check out Michele Knotz on her site right here!

The post Gotta Voice em All! – An Interview with Michele Knotz appeared first on oprainfall.

Phantom Quest Corp. is a four-episode horror-comedy OVA series that was released between 1994 and 1995. Animated by Madhouse, it tells the tale of a collection of goofballs in the supernatural-hunting business. But does it make an impression in its brief run?

The strength of Phantom Quest Corp. lies in its main character, Ayaka Kisaragi. Voiced by Rica Matsumoto, she’s the founder and central member of the small business; a powerful spiritualist with an unusual assortment of tools, including a lipstick tube that doubles as an energy sword. However, she is also the company’s biggest liability. Her insatiable need to party, which leads her to spend her evenings getting drunk and singing karaoke, as well as her shopping habits, leave the business in constant debt.

Ayaka divides her time between hunting the supernatural and singing drunken, off-key karaoke.

Ayaka has a few recurring allies as well, though most of them don’t get enough screen time to receive much personality. Mamoru, a young boy, serves as Ayaka’s assistant, accountant, and receptionist, responsible for everything from struggling to balance the books to simply making sure that Ayaka doesn’t oversleep each morning after her long nights of partying. Kozo Karino is a middle-aged police lieutenant that frequently aids Ayaka in her cases, clumsily finding himself in one precarious situation after another, and sometimes needing rescue.

Such as the time he dangles precariously from the Tokyo Tower observation deck, seemingly to no one’s concern but his own.

The remaining members appear too infrequently to make much of an impact. Suimei is an elderly fortune-teller that provides assistance to Ayaka even as Ayaka tries to shirk her way out of paying her expenses. Nanami is a teenage part-time employee with a mild-mannered temperament and uncontrolled pyrokinectic powers. And then there’s Rokkon, a burly, bearded exorcist that shows up on occasion and has very few actual lines. Not because he’s a strong, silent type, but simply because not much dialogue was written for him.

It’s a fun cast of characters, but most of them don’t have much to do.

Like the cast, the plot of Phantom Quest Corp. is also thin, in that there really isn’t a central story thread connecting one episode to the next. Each is simply another case that Ayaka and the others investigate. The first is a tale about a blood-sucking vampire with a comical twist. The second has to do with mysterious deaths piling up at a hospital and a mad surgeon. The third episode turns things around by featuring a noble spirit in the ghost of a young archaeologist that wants to help his still-living girlfriend complete a museum exhibit while dealing with the lecherous financier. The fourth and final episode deals with a direct threat to the Phantom Quest Corp. in the form of a self-described “Esoteric Buddhist Sect” that, through their own spirit-hunting actions, attempt to drive Ayaka out of business.

But not so esoteric that there aren’t books on it.

Overall, it has the feeling of being an attempted starting point for a franchise that never really took off, leaving what has been produced both shallow and marginally unsatisfying. All that came of Phantom Quest Corp. following production of the OVA series was a light novel published in 1995 and, oddly, an English-language graphic novel published in North America in 1997. There’s little substance to the OVA beyond its humor, which makes it for amusing light viewing appropriate for the Halloween season, but little else.

Despite their twists, the episodes cover some well-tread territory.

That being said, the humor presented is actually funny. Ayaka is an amusing lead as the most irresponsible member of Phantom Quest Corp. ironically in the position that requires the most responsibility. Her interactions with the rest of the cast, both recurring and not, are what give the series its entertainment value, in addition to the action sequences in which she does battle with vampires, esoteric Buddhists, and other oddities.

The artwork and animation are well-produced. Madhouse has a long line of involvement in beautifully animated works ranging from Record of Lodoss War and Perfect Blue to X and Demon City Shinjuku. Though its aesthetics differ from their more elaborate productions, Phantom Quest Corp. doesn’t break from that trend. It’s certainly not the studio’s most detailed work, but it is still pretty to look at, and the artwork suits the comedic tone of the series well.

Ayaka and her bad habits are a primary source of the humor in Phantom Quest Corp.

With little substance to sustain it, Phantom Quest Corp. has largely been relegated to a footnote in anime history. The four episodes that comprise it might make for an amusing evening, but there are certainly more substantial shows and films out there that could scratch the same itch. On the other hand, Ayaka is a great lead, and it might be worth watching if you’re in a mood for something short and humorous.

Phantom Quest Corp. was released on DVD by Pioneer Entertainment (now Geneon Universal). The DVD contains both the original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as an English dub. The series is not rated, but is recommended for ages 13+ by the publisher for violence, brief nudity, and adult humor.

And now, it is time for me to say good-bye. This is my final column for oprainfall. Kind of an odd note to end on, I know, but it’s still October and I felt like keeping in line with the Halloween theme. For those of you that have followed and read this column, I’d like to thank you for your interest. It’s definitely been a fun ride; one that I didn’t think I’d be on initially when I started writing for oprainfall over a year ago. I haven’t been pleased with every column I’ve written, and I’ve done my best to tweak and improve the format here and there, but I hope you’ve all enjoyed what I’ve written. As for why I’m leaving, there’s no need to worry about me; this move was my decision. Life just gets busy, and I don’t have the time to properly contribute to the website while also pursuing other interests. But who knows? There’s always the chance that I might come back, so we’ll see.

As for the future of the Anime of the Past series, oprainfall has writers that are more than willing and able to step in and contribute. Though it might not always be on a weekly basis, you can still expect to see columns dedicated to the anime of yesteryear on the site. I hope you’ll stick around to check them out.

Thanks again for reading,

Justin Graham

The post Anime of the Past: Phantom Quest Corp. appeared first on oprainfall.

As promised last week, this week we’re taking a look at the TV series incarnation of Vampire Princess Miyu.  Like the OVA, the series was animated by AIC, and was directed by Toshiki Hirano.  Kenji Kawai also returned to compose the soundtrack for the series.  In total, it ran for twenty-six episodes from 1997 to 1998.

Like the core staff members behind the show, the premise of Vampire Princess Miyu is much the same as its OVA form.  Miyu, a vampire with the appearance of a fourteen-year-old girl, hunts down stray demons called Shinma and sends them back to the dark world using the power of her flame.  She receives support from Larva, a western Shinma whom she defeated in combat, and who swore allegiance to her after their blood became mixed in battle.

Miyu returns for more Shinma-hunting adventures.

But for everything that’s the same, there’s also quite a lot that’s very different.  Himiko, the spiritualist that crossed paths with Miyu in the OVA, is entirely absent in the television series.  Instead, there’s a whole host of new supporting characters, coming in three sets.  The first is Shiina, a low-level Shinma that bears the appearance of a cute, if otherworldly bunny.  Cute, that is, save for the demonic eye it can use to identify Shinma’s weaknesses and scout long distances.

You can probably guess which eye that is.

From another side, there’s Reiha, a snow maiden with the power of cold at her command, and her mouthy doll, Matsukaze.  Together, they appear as sometimes friend, sometimes foe to Miyu, harboring a desire to take the role of Guardian for themselves.  Despite their desire to hunt stray Shinma, however, the duo has little compassion for human life, and will kill if they feel the ends are justified.

Reiha and her doll Matsukaze both help and hinder Miyu throughout the series.

Finally, there are a trio of schoolgirls whom Miyu befriends while attending a local junior high as cover for her work.  Miyu joins the company of the cheery Chisato, reserved Hisae and tomboyish Yukari largely at Chisato’s request, and is friendly with them while remaining distant about herself and her true purpose.  Chisato in particular becomes quite fond of Miyu, and their friendship grows close despite Miyu’s need to keep a distance.

Chisato (in the front), Hisae, and Yukari become Miyu’s friends and are frequently on the edges of the events she investigates.

As for Miyu herself, though her physical appearance is no different, her personality and background have changed vastly from the OVA.  She no longer has a childlike temperament, and is instead quiet, stoic, and serious.  Her smiles are faint, and the moments she engages in humor are rare, the best example being when she pretends to be a ghost to fake out a taxi driver for a good, innocent scare.  Her backstory, revealed late in the show, is also rewritten entirely, making the TV show and OVA vastly different productions.

In the TV series, Miyu’s mother is her human parent; a flip of her OVA heritage.

Some of these changes, particularly those related to Miyu as a character, may turn some OVA fans away, but while it’s different, it’s really no better or worse.  It’s simply an alternate take on a familiar character that doesn’t stray from the core elements that define her.  And Miyu’s more stoic demeanor seems fitting for someone that’s been a perpetual teenager for close to a century.  She’s grown up mentally, though not physically.

For the most part, each episode is like that of a horror anthology, with the Shinma-of-the-week causing some sort of trouble for humans before ultimately being done in by Miyu.  Though the variety of Shinma plots and disguises sometimes feel like retreads (one episode features a Shinma disguised as a dog, while a later episode features one disguised as a cat), it’s the details in the writing that matter.  Each episode offers its share of twists, and many are capable of standing on their own as being memorable.  All the while, as Miyu hunts one stray Shinma after another, the plot threads concerning Reiha and Miyu’s human friends slowly wind up, finally seeing resolution in the final few episodes.

Miyu’s rivalry with Reiha leads to an inevitable confrontation.

The show is consistent in its formula, down to the most basic stylistic touches.  For example, when a Shinma is first revealed in their true form, their name appears on the screen in large, calligraphic brush strokes.  The variance in flow tends to come from how much screen time Miyu and her companions actually receive.  In most episodes, Miyu is front and center, as one might expect, while others spend a great deal more time on the human or humans that have fallen into a Shinma’s trap, with Miyu making her entrance to defeat the Shinma the moment it reveals itself.

No matter how early or how late the Shinma is revealed, the stylistic fanfare is always the same.

The writers are also aware enough that the formula can only go on for so long before other characters, in particular, Miyu’s school friends, start becoming suspicious.  They don’t remain blithely ignorant toward the numerous odd happenings that seem to occur when Miyu is around.  But just as they begin piecing things together, events take a very sharp turn toward an appropriately dark conclusion.

Chisato, Hisae, and Yukari end up caught in a dark web by the end of the series.

In some ways, Vampire Princess Miyu is almost like a horror equivalent to a magical girl series; Miyu attends school by day, hunts Shinma by night, and has a cute animal helper in Shiina and a mysterious black-cloaked male assistant in Larva.  On the other hand, it’s very much a horror show, and the content, while frequently not graphic, still sees characters die or otherwise end up suffering in ways that can be disturbing.  It’s definitely not for younger audiences, but fans of the Miyu OVA and those in general looking for an entertaining horror series with a fun lead character would do well to give it a look.

Vampire Princess Miyu was released on DVD in North America by Maiden Japan.  The release features both the original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as the English dub previously produced by Tokyopop. The series is rated TV-14 for violence.

The post Anime of the Past: Vampire Princess Miyu: The TV Series appeared first on oprainfall.

Vampire Princess Miyu is a four-episode OVA series that was originally released between 1988 and 1989.  Created by Pony Canyon and AIC, it is based on the manga by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano.  Hirano also served as the director of the OVA series.

The story is told primarily from the perspective of Himiko Se, a spiritualist hired to perform exorcisms and similar practices.  However, her job is fairly mundane, without many encounters with the truly supernatural until she takes on a job that has her cross paths with a mysterious girl named Miyu.  In each of the first three episodes, Himiko and Miyu encounter demons called Shinma; beings from the dark realm that have invaded the human world and that seek to use and abuse humans for personal benefit.  The fourth and final episode ties the series up with an exploration of Miyu’s past and origin, as well as some revelations regarding Himiko’s own past.

Himiko is introduced as a cynical woman, despite her occupation as a spiritualist.

As the title character, Miyu, from the perspective of Himiko, is an enigma.  Like D of Vampire Hunter D, she is a dhampir, a half-human vampire.  Bearing the appearance of a normal girl in her young teens, she is able to blend into human society with ease.  But unlike D, who largely shuns his vampire heritage, Miyu doesn’t embrace it, so much as she’s forced to accept it and all of the powers her status bears.  Charged with the role of guardian, it is her duty to hunt and return escaped Shinma to the dark realm, and she uses her powers to seal them away.

Miyu is no ordinary vampire.

In terms of her personality and attitude, Miyu carries herself in the playful manner of a young teen girl.  It’s a subtle tone of character that in its own way adds to the dark tone of the OVA.  Despite being a vampire that feeds on blood, she does not set out to torment; rather, her bite is capable of leaving humans in a state that appears lethargic and distant on the outside, but keeps their spirit in a state of blissful happiness.  She is also immune to the stereotypical anti-vampire tools such as crucifixes, garlic, and holy water.

Miyu, using her bite to bring eternal happiness at the cost of the real world.

Miyu’s sole ally and guardian is Larva, a Shinma that traveled from the west with the ambitious goal to seek power in Japan.  Though he intended to take care of Miyu before her vampiric nature could truly awaken, he makes a miscalculation, and Miyu’s latent powers awaken in his presence.  When she bites him, his fate is sealed, and he becomes her guardian, hiding behind a cloak and mask.

Always cloaked and masked, Larva serves as Miyu’s eternal guardian.

Despite the plot thread of Himiko’s repeated encounters with Miyu and Larva that serves as the main bridging point between episodes, the OVA’s presentation bears elements of monster-of-the-week TV shows.  Each of the first three episodes sees the characters up against a different Shinma; in the first, it’s a vampiric Shinma of the more stereotypically deadly variety.  Episode two sees a Shinma named Ranka that traps the souls of her victims in dolls, and whom engages in a twisted battle of love with Miyu, as they are both interested in the same human boy.  The third episode sees another western Shinma named Lemures attempt to free Larva from Miyu’s grasp, in the process using a human that has donned cursed armor and become confused, believing that he is a Shinma himself.

The episodes are never as straight-forward as they might seem at first glance, making for a quartet of well-told ghost stories.

The final episode breaks from the pattern by focusing on Miyu and her past.  Rather than see her fight another Shinma, it explores how she came to be and why it is she’s hunting them down.  It depicts not only her awakening, but the effect that living with the knowledge and duties of the dark world has weighed on her vampiric mother, the previous guardian, as well as the tragedy of her human father.

Miyu’s childhood innocence is shattered as her vampiric nature awakens.

The artwork in Vampire Princess Miyu is beautifully detailed, with a strong use of color and memorable Shinma designs that vary between both human and inhuman.  The production is backed by smooth, high-quality animation and art direction that maintains a consistently dark tone from one episode to the next.  The soundtrack, composed by Kenji Kawai, is a classic, with a strong use of chimes and wind instruments that is a perfect match for the mood of the series.

If there’s one downside to the OVA, it’s that there arguably isn’t enough of it.  While the series is mindful enough to not wear out its welcome and ends on a suitable note, it feels like something that could easily go longer.  And in a way it does, as Vampire Princess Miyu was later adapted into a twenty-six episode television series that premiered on Japanese TV nearly a decade later.  But we can talk about that a bit more next week.

Vampire Princess Miyu is a classic entry in vampire fiction that stands on its own quite easily.  In a field that’s dominated by low-rent vampire schlock and more recent literary examples of vampire romance, the OVA provides a peek into Miyu’s life and world and leaves the viewer wanting more.  It’s easily recommended for anyone looking for good anime viewing for the Halloween season.

Or any other time of year.

Vampire Princess Miyu was released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo.  The release features both the original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as an English dub.  The series is not rated, but contains violence.

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Wicked City is a 1987 film based on a novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi, author of other adapted works such as Vampire Hunter D and Demon City Shinjuku.  Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who would later direct the adaptation of Demon City Shinjuku, first served as both the director and character designer for Wicked City; a dark, sexual action film that’s almost like a demonic, adult Men in Black.

The film centers on Taki Renzaburo; a playboy employee in the sales department of a large electronics firm by day, his true occupation being a member of the Black Guard; agents that protect the delicate peace between the human world and the demon world.  For his latest assignment, Taki has been assigned a partner, Makie, a beautiful female demon, and the two must work together to protect the life of Giuseppi Mayart, an important member of the demonic realm whose presence is key for a renewed peace treaty to be signed in a day’s time.

Taki and Makie, Man (and Woman) in Black.

The comparison to Men in Black is one that can’t be understated.  As members of the Black Guard, Taki and Makie dress in black suits with neckties, and Taki carries a pistol that carries enough punch to routinely blow him backwards any time he takes a shot.  (Much like Will Smith’s “Noisy Cricket” gun.)  There are times where it feels like elements of Wicked City could have been lifted for the latter Western production.  But make no mistake, Wicked City is neither a comedy nor for family audiences.

It’s not Taki’s choice of underwear that this woman is admiring. I’ll leave it at that.

In my write-up on Demon City Shinjuku last year, I described the Kawajiri Trio; three character archetypes that routinely appear in films directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri.  All three are present and in force in Wicked City.  As a refresher, they are:

1. The Reluctant Hero:  The male protagonist of the story.  Generally stoic and doesn’t want trouble, but will end up fighting his way to the end after being pulled in by choice, love, or duty.
2. The Unfortunate Heroine:  The prominent female character that serves as the protagonist’s companion and potentially eventual lover.  However, she is inevitably captured by the villain and raped by demons and/or murdered.
3. The Old Man:  Short in stature, this old man may serve as mentor to the protagonist, or as a blistering pain in the keester.  In either case, he ultimately points the hero in the direction of the quest whether his contribution is appreciated or not.

The three archetypes describe Taki, Makie, and Mayart respectively.  Of the three, Taki, the protagonist, is the only one to really diverge from type.  As an agent of the Black Guard, he takes his duty seriously and isn’t reluctant in his work.  Yet he’s still a relatively stoic individual that by the end of the film is fighting for both love and duty.

The simple, straight-forward nature of his design is bland, as far as Kawajiri-drawn characters go.

Mayart, the old man, plays to type and serves as the film’s lone source of comic relief.  Despite his importance for the treaty signing, he causes no end of trouble for Taki and Makie.  He is the portrait of a dirty old man that’s more interested in seeing Makie (or really, any beautiful woman) naked, and he sneaks away from his escort to partake in some adult entertainment that only leads to more trouble.  Yet, his blithe stupidity and ignorance for his own well-being are a key element in a twist that comes late in the film.

Giuseppi Mayart: Roughly three feet tall, wears a green track suit, and is a filthy old geezer.

Which leaves Makie, the unfortunate heroine.  This is the part where people sensitive to depictions of rape need a very strong warning.  Unlike Sayaka in Demon City Shinjuku, who survives her ordeal relatively unscathed and unharmed, Makie is at one point captured by demons intent on stopping the signing ceremony and raped as a form of torture.  They’re not comfortable scenes to watch.  More so for the fact that following her capture and subsequent rescue, Makie is mostly sidelined from the action for the remainder of the film, save the finale.  After enduring the brutal treatment of the demons, she and Taki have consensual sex, which, due to their special genetic patterns, allows Makie to conceive of a half-human child.  And this conception somehow boosts her powers to the point that she annihilates the villain in a single blow.

Pregnancy. It’s a hell of a drug.

It should be noted that this conception was Mayart’s plan all along and the primary reason he runs around acting like a perverse idiot for the majority of the film.  By having the two agents work together and grow close, he needed them to fall in love and have sex in order to conceive a child before the treaty signing.  His grand scheme is an incredibly moronic plan on numerous fronts that works out in the end despite all logical reason.

Even Mayart is dumbfounded that his ridiculous plan actually works.

In short, the plot is a train wreck.  But at least it’s a good looking trainwreck.  Bearing an art style very similar to Demon City Shinjuku, Kawajiri’s characters, both human and demon, carry a great level of detail and personality.  The action scenes are all well-choreographed and animated, with standout moments including an early fight on an airport runway and the battle at the end of the film taking place on a church rooftop.  And though the sexual content is at times disturbing, credit must be given in that it is equally well-animated, even if the content itself is difficult to stomach.

The demons, who are designed as a mix of human and monster, are particularly creative in their designs.

The choreography and artwork are really the high points of Wicked City, leaving little else to recommend.  It’s technically well-done, but the content diverges too much into the nonsensical, lessening the justification for the more disturbing elements.  Viewers looking for a tamer, more approachable introduction to Kawajiri’s work would be better served by Demon City Shinjuku or the OVA series Cyber City Oedo 808, and avoiding Wicked City altogether.

Wicked City was released on DVD by Urban Vision.  The release includes the original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as the English dub original produced by Streamline Pictures.  The film is not rated, but contains graphic violence, nudity, and graphic sexual content, including depictions of rape.

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Vampire Hunter D is a 1985 film based on the original work of Hideyuki Kikuchi, whose other works include novels adapted into the anime Demon City Shinjuku and Wicked City. Yoshitaka Amano, whom westerners may be most familiar with as a long-time character artist of the Final Fantasy series, is also the long-time illustrator of Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D novels, and similarly provided the character designs for the film. Animated by Ashi Productions, the film is set in a far flung future where nuclear holocaust has left the world filled with twisted monsters and the human population lives in a society that functions like a nineteenth century eastern Europe infused with science fiction technology.

Technology such as electro-whips.

The humans of this twisted world are lorded over by vampires. As the story begins, one such vampire, the ten thousand-years-old Count Magnus Lee, attacks and inflicts his curse upon the human girl Doris Lang. With her only other options either death or succumbing to Lee’s curse and becoming his latest in a long series of brides, she turns to the help of a mysterious vampire hunter she confronts on the road near her village. A vampire hunter named D.

He only needs one letter.

It becomes clear early on that D is not a garden variety hunter of the supernatural. In addition to his vast knowledge of vampires and skill with a sword, he has a partner in the form of his left hand. Quite literally, his hand not only has a face in its palm, but is also sentient, with a mind and personality of its own.

The hand is kind of a smart mouth.

D’s mystique carries throughout the film, shedding little light on his past, other than the fact that he is not human. Like Alucard of the Castlevania video game series, D is a dhampir; the half-human/half-vampire son of a vampire father and human mother. His bloodline grants him supernatural powers of his own, making him a match for his powerful, nigh immortal foes. But it also renders him susceptible to certain weaknesses; while D is able to move about in broad daylight and doesn’t subsist on human blood, some weapons effective against vampires are just as effective against him.

In this particular case, a candle with special anti-vampire properties.

The plot, such as it is, is rather thin. Doris is cursed and hires D. D rescues her from Lee’s castle. D is attacked and subdued while Doris is taken a second time, and D comes to her rescue once again. The beats are simple, and the film is predominantly filled with action set-pieces as D faces off against foes such as Lee’s lieutenant Rei Ginsei or the various freaks that inhabit the halls of Lee’s castle. What the film lacks in a complex plot, it makes up for with its action, as D cuts his way through enemy after enemy in his bid to keep Doris safe from Count Lee’s clutches. Add into consideration the film’s brief running time (only eighty minutes), and in sum, Vampire Hunter D is a straight-forward, violent yet stylistic movie that is never in danger of overstaying its welcome.

D cuts his way through a lot of monsters before all is said and done.

The art direction in the film is an interesting mix. As noted before, the world that the characters inhabit is like a mesh of the European old world and a future of science fiction technology. Horses such as D’s are cybernetic, Doris’s country home is protected by a force field generator and laser rifles are used in place of bullets, but fashion, architecture, and societal structure all take their cues from European history.

In the far flung future, the vampire Magnus Lee exists as an old-world count.

While I typically don’t speak much on English dubs in these articles, the dub in Vampire Hunter D is worth a special mention. While the original Japanese is rather straight-forward, the dub, originally produced by Streamline Pictures for its first western release, plays dangerously close to camp, particularly with its vampire characters Magnus Lee and his daughter Lamika. The actors for both sport thick, bad Romanian accents, as though to distinguish them as members of vampiric aristocracy. Lamika in particular lays it on, which can elicit some unintentionally chuckle-worthy moments.

In the English dub, Lamika is but one notable bearer of a terrible Romanian accent.

English audio aside, the rest of the audio is quite good. The Japanese voice acting is well-delivered and suitable in tone, and the soundtrack features some memorable pieces. Perhaps not enough to make one pine for a soundtrack release, but still quite good.

Vampire Hunter D is one of the old guard when it comes to anime’s rise in western popularity. While certainly not a groundbreaking achievement like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, its simple accessibility and entertaining action make for great viewing. Though it’s an example of style over substance, the style is easily worth coming back to, say, once every October or so.

Vampire Hunter D was released on DVD in North America by Urban Vision. The release contains both the original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as the English dub produced by Streamline Pictures. The film is not rated, but contains brief nudity and graphic violence.

The post Anime of the Past: Vampire Hunter D appeared first on oprainfall.

Kimagure Orange Road is a romantic comedy television series that originally aired from 1987 to 1988 with a total of forty-eight episodes. Produced by Studio Pierrot, the series, based on Izumi Matsumoto’s manga, is a classic love triangle story of a teenage boy whose attentions are drawn between two girls. But there’s something highly unconventional about the boy in question.

And yet, he looks so unassuming.

Series protagonist Kyosuke Kasuga, a fifteen-year-old student, is an ESPer. Born with special mental powers inherited from his deceased mother, he can perform a variety of acts that a normal person would never be capable of. But the rarity of such powers means that his family has to keep them a secret. Something that hasn’t always been successful, particularly when he also has two younger sisters, the twins Kurumi and Manami, who also have the same powers. And each time their powers have been discovered, they’ve been forced to pack up and move somewhere else in an attempt to start over.

Indeed. Kyosuke poses with his younger sisters Kurumi and Manami for their father, a professional photographer.

At his new school, Kyosuke quickly becomes infatuated with another student, Madoka Ayukawa; a beautiful girl that can fluctuate from cold and distant to warm and welcoming seemingly at the drop of a hat. But in turn, he also catches the attention of Madoka’s friend Hikaru Hiyama, a bubbly, energetic girl that falls head over heels for him to the point that she commonly refers to him with the English pet name of “Darling.” Caught between the two girls, Kyosuke is forced to navigate awkward teenage life while keeping the family secret.

Madoka Ayukawa is warm and friendly when Kyosuke first meets her, but later shows a much different side.

Hikaru Hiyama, meanwhile, forms a crush on Kyosuke from almost the word go.

Unlike some other television series that have been profiled in this column like Serial Experiments Lain, there really isn’t a strong narrative underpinning events from one episode to the next. The love triangle between Kyosuke, Madoka and Hikaru is the driving force of the show, and by necessity, it’s kept alive through a series of absurd twists and the occasional touch of ESP. If it were to be resolved, then the series would be over.

Without a strong serialized narrative, the show falls into a fairly standard pattern of episodic plots. Odd misunderstandings and ESP shenanigans are often the order of the day. And sometimes, there are both at once, such as in the episodes where Kyosuke inadvertently hypnotizes himself, causing his behavior to change from his normal, mild-mannered demeanor into a suave jerk, or perhaps just a jerk. Such escapes are generally resolved in the closing minutes, often to Kyosuke’s embarrassment and confusion.

He even time-slips in one episode to stop his hypnotized jerk-self.

While Kimagure Orange Road does fall into some of the pits that affect sitcoms, like repeating plot devices, the way that the series executes always keeps things entertaining. Kyosuke, for all of his bumbling, is sympathetic; he has a girl he likes, but there’s a girl that likes him. Is it better to keep pursuing Madoka, who at times seems completely unattainable, or to be more serious in his relationship with Hikaru, who at times can’t be detached from his arm?

Though the series does reach a satisfying conclusion, one that involves time travel, memories, and some very dramatic twists, the ultimate question, Madoka or Hikaru, is left unresolved. The final answer wasn’t revealed until the 1988 feature film that brought the series to its true conclusion. Of course, the answer to who Kyosuke ends up with probably wouldn’t surprise most people. Or would it?

Not exactly a rock and a hard place, but Kyosuke’s position between the two is often awkward.

The Japanese word “Kimagure” can be translated as whimsical, which is truly the best way to describe the tone of the series and the behavior of its characters. There is indeed a very light-hearted whimsy to the series, with Kyosuke encountering obstacles that are, more often than not, farcical, and sometimes outright ridiculous. It’s also descriptive of the way that Madoka tends to shift moods, going from caring to kick-ass and back again.

This unfortunate delinquent is learning why you don’t piss Madoka off.

The show’s art style is rather standard for anime of the era, but the character designs are all great, suitably matching their respective personalities. Madoka in particular looks natural, warm or cold, while Hikaru has a more innocent look to match the intense strength of her affection for Kyosuke. Kyosuke himself has an everyman appearance; plain without being bland, he’s a nice guy that’s perhaps a bit too indecisive for his own good.

Though viewers will undoubtedly come to favor either Madoka or Hikaru as Kyosuke’s love interest, Kyosuke himself is a likeable guy. He’s just trying to live life honestly and finds himself in one awkward situation after another, from undergoing a body-swap with his bratty young ESPer cousin to taking his sister Manami out on a date. Yes, a date.

Yes, that actually happens. The context as to how and why is a bit too much to get into here.

There are certainly some flat episodes and some gags that repeat a bit too often, but overall, Kimagure Orange Road is a classic series of the 1980s. Light, breezy, and goofy, its cast holds well together and provide consistent laughs. Kyosuke’s love foibles are entertaining to watch, and the nostalgic charm of the show never lets up.

Kimagure Orange Road was released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo. The release features the original Japanese with English subtitles. No English dub was produced. The series is not rated, but features adult humor and situations.

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Tenchi Muyo: The Daughter of Darkness is a 1997 feature film produced by AIC. The second Tenchi Muyo theatrical feature after 1996’s Tenchi Muyo in Love, it tells the tale of a bizarre intrusion into the usual, already pretty violent love triangle of Tenchi, Ayeka and Ryoko. It’s also a film that I found incredibly confusing the first time that I watched it.

Though, that confusion wasn’t really the film’s fault. When I first watched Daughter of Darkness back in its original North American release, my familiarity with Tenchi Muyo as a whole was limited to Tenchi Muyo in Love, the Tenchi Universe TV series, and a little bit of exposure to the OVA. I had no way of knowing that Daughter of Darkness exists in its own separate continuity bubble from every other production in the already fragmented franchise. It also didn’t help that the original western marketing for the two theatrical films titled them as Tenchi the Movie and Tenchi the Movie 2.

Collective visual representation of my reaction the first time I watched Daughter of Darkness.

But separate continuity aside, it’s not that difficult to get up to speed. Tenchi still lives at home with his lecherous dad, his Juraian grandfather, and a gaggle (Cluster?  Murder?) of girls from space. Only this time around, a strange new girl shows up and creates all sorts of new havoc.

Meet Mayuka!

Mayuka doesn’t simply invite herself into Tenchi’s household. She insists that Tenchi is her father. A revelation that’s concerning not only due to the fact that Tenchi hasn’t fathered any children, but also due to the fact that Mayuka appears to be about Tenchi’s age. So what the heck is going on here?

It’s actually revealed early on that Mayuka is the creation of Yuzuha, a creature of darkness seeking revenge against the Jurai. She mixed some of Tenchi’s hair with her own in order to create Mayuka and implanted false memories of her “father” into her mind. And voila, she has a puppet capable of getting close to everyone. A perfect vessel of revenge!

Meet the mother/angry space-witch antagonist.

Only it’s not as simple as Yuzuha would like, as Mayuka has also developed a will of her own. She has a childlike mind, but she honestly thinks of Tenchi as her father, and her attempts to get close to him result in some comic tension between herself, Ayeka, and especially Ryoko. As well as some very awkward scenes where Mayuka is perhaps a bit too eager to get close to her dad.

Juuuuust a little.

Things eventually go south for Mayuka as Yuzuha attempts to assert her will over her, changing her from an innocent girl into a puppet of violent death that kidnaps Ayeka’s sister Sasami. This ultimately leads to a final showdown in which Tenchi and Ryoko infiltrate the dark world Yuzuha calls home in order to stop her. Merry Christmas.

Santa brought her a soulless desire to murder!  Yay!

No, really. Daughter of Darkness is, in its own way, a Christmas film. It ties the Japanese manner of celebrating the holiday, which has less to do with worshiping Christ and more to do with cake and presents, with Startica, a Juraian summer holiday of a similar manner. And that theme carries over into the fight with Yuzuha, who uses traps and magic that contain as much holiday cheer as they do potential for death. Mayuka is ultimately able to break free of Yuzuha’s control through her desire to experience Christmas with her new friends.

Yuzuha loves holiday-themed death-traps more than the kid from Home Alone.

Unfortunately, Mayuka doesn’t make it out alive. But in the film’s conclusion, Washu uses the gem that remains of her to allow her to be reborn as an infant, which the whole gang raises together. An undoubtedly major reason why this production exists in its own little corner outside of the other timelines.

Little Mayuka has an almost terrifying number of mothers now.

Enjoyment of Daughter of Darkness hinges on one’s familiarity with and enjoyment of Tenchi Muyo in general. I said before that Tenchi Muyo in Love was my introduction to the franchise, but I never felt as though I were lost watching it even though it was made for an audience already familiar with the characters. Daughter of Darkness never feels the same way. It requires a greater sense of familiarity to enjoy, particularly in regard to the relationships of the primary characters. Ayeka and Ryoko’s fawning over Tenchi in Tenchi Muyo in Love isn’t that important in terms of its narrative. But the establishment of Mayuka as a character in Daughter of Darkness heavily involves getting in their way of Tenchi, and Ryoko’s more adversarial and violent responses to her provide the greatest conflict between the primary characters.

This is Ryoko’s reaction to Mayuka for about two thirds of the movie.

That being said, Daughter of Darkness is an entertaining movie, though not in the same manner as the more nostalgia-minded Tenchi Muyo in Love. Those that enjoy the characters and are familiar with their relationships might find it to be a fun way to get a little holiday cheer. Otherwise, it’s best to get an introduction to the franchise elsewhere before taking this one in.

Tenchi Muyo: The Daughter of Darkness was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America by Geneon Universal in conjunction with Funimation as part of a box set also containing Tenchi Muyo in Love and Tenchi Muyo in Love 2. The release contains both the original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as the English dub originally produced by Pioneer Entertainment. The film is not rated, but contains nudity and violence.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion (sometimes referred to as simply Evangelion or EVA) first aired way back in 1995. It was created by Gainax, and it was both written and directed by Hideaki Anno. This series is globally recognized; it’s received wide-spread critical acclaim, and the franchise created in its wake has made over two billions dollars. So, odds are good that even if you haven’t sat down to watch the 26 episode main series or its various theatrical releases…you’ve at least heard of it.

Evangelion is what happens when you mix the mecha genre in with a dark-spun apocalypse story. It focuses on Shinji Ikari, a young boy recruited to an organization called NERV to pilot a giant robot (EVA) in order to fight gigantic, wildly destructive creatures known as Angels. The show mostly takes place in a futuristic Tokyo that’s undergone a global disaster (The Second Impact); it centers around NERV and a handful of other Evangelion pilots as they try to prevent a Third Impact from occurring. Nobody wants wide-spread destruction, right?

The world will tell you Evangelion is filled with richness and depth. What starts off as a relatively easy to understand story that analyzes the various genres it identifies with (particularly the “mecha” or sci-fi genres) becomes something completely different—a personal journey centered around deep-cutting internal conflicts that becomes so unbelievably psychoanalytical that many, many people were sending death threats to Anno over the final two episodes.

…More on that momentarily.

The first episode spends adequate time introducing viewers to Shinji, as well as Misato Katsuragi, one of NERV’s chief officers. Viewers are given a brief look into the tension between Shinji and his father Gendo. They’re also introduced to Ritsuko (a lady-scientist most often tasked with maintaining MAGI, a supercomputer that acts as the chief force of governing for this futuristic Tokyo) and Rei (an extremely enigmatic, antisocial girl around Shinji’s age). The first few episodes set up this sort of bizarre fight or flight scenario where Shinji struggles with whether or not he should pilot the Evangelion, and why exactly he does so. Anno does a good job of flaunting the fact that his main protagonist is exceptionally flaky and ultimately flawed. But Shinji’s not the only one. Mistato, Rei, Gendo, and all of their comrades/subordinates are far from perfect. The first seven episodes introduce you to the cast of the show—by Episode 8 you’re introduced to a few more main characters, Asuka Langley Soryu and Ryoji Kaji—and the next handful of episodes up ‘til about Episode 15 construct an absolutely wild tapestry of tension, selfishness, pride and corruption. (And before I forget—the only character absent of corruption/suffering is actually Pen-Pen, a penguin filled with more personality than some of the lame scientists of NERV.)

Effectively, you’re looking at a series that focuses on character development and psychoanalysis more than its actual plot. Sure, the action scenes are plentiful (and in most cases masterfully constructed—each mission is executed brilliantly, and it’s an absolute blast to take in). By the time I was finished, I was less concerned with what happened and more deeply impacted by why it was all happening. The first fifteen episodes have plenty of signposting to keep viewers engaged (mostly in the form of tension, awkwardness and romance). Episodes 16-19 offer the peak of all these tensions, and perhaps even work towards solving the many mysteries of the series. But by ‘Weaving a Story 2: oral stage’ (Episode 20) things take a turn for the insane.

Picture a diving board, if you would. Most of the series demonstrates a cast prepared to take a dive—and everything from Episode 19 or so ‘til the very end is indicative of a group of people who took a drop, a group spiraling completely out of control, beyond help, in a descent into madness. If you’re looking for an anime that offers its cast a change of redemption, I advise you to look elsewhere—because the conflict of Shinji versus Gendo, or…more accurately, Shinji versus himself (or Misato versus Misato, or Asuka versus Asuka, or [main character] versus [other main character] as a result of what is ultimately self-loathing…never lets go until the very end.

But…what is the very end, exactly? I mentioned above that the final two episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion were particularly divisive. To call them “experimental” is perhaps a bit generous, but… they’re certainly way different from the episodes preceding them, and most definitely alienated fans, leaving many feeling betrayed. I have a…beyond adequate background in philosophy and philosophical texts, but even I was thrown completely for a loop by these final two episodes, chiefly concerned with Human Instrumentality.

What makes Shinji…Shinji? Do we become the “self” we know and love based on how other people perceive our “self”? If these two questions leave you feeling a little lost or confused, odds are remarkable that the final two episodes of Evangelion will evoke similar feelings.

Anno’s answer to fans’ outcry was The End of Evangelion, a film that offered a more literal take on the series’ ending versus the metaphysical one in television canon. But, beyond all the dips into philosophy that this retrospective has taken, allow me this when summing up Evangelion and its weaknesses:

Understanding Anno’s lore takes (in my opinion) a textbook understanding of his influences (and answers to certain questions regarding what happens are most certainly not found in the main 26 episodes; look elsewhere in games or manga from the Evangelion franchise), and while understanding his characters is simple enough—understanding how they meet their end requires a textbook understanding of philosophy. Without End of Evangelion, I’ll bet my bottom dollar that you will be lost, or at the very least feel lost.

But, truth be told, I prefer a thinking man’s anime. Evangelion is a series that will force you to question your own world as you come to terms with how Anno (or Shinji, to be more appropriate) is constructing his. Everything is constructed beautifully (from artwork, to the soundtrack, to the overall ambiance of the series) in order to create a somewhat functional world that gets ripped from the seams—with Shinji and the show’s entire cast serving as the trigger. If you haven’t yet experienced Evangelion, it’s a series I would recommend to anime veterans and newcomers alike (in order to experience how philosophical the medium can truly become). And if you have: Congratulations!

Neon Genesis Evangelion was released on DVD in North America by ADV Films. The most recent compilation of the series is a “Platinum Complete Edition” that features the entire series in Japanese (with English subtitles) and English. It also contains Direct’s Cuts of Episodes 21-24. It is not rated. 

If you want more Neon Genesis Evangelion talk, you should listen to Episode 31 of The Downpour Podcast! We talk at length about my first impressions of Evangelion, and things this editorial couldn’t cover.

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Iria: Zeiram the Animation is a 1994 sci-fi/action OVA series released in six parts. Produced by Bandai Visual, it was directed by Tetsuro Amino and based on previous work by Keita Amemiya. Unusual for an anime production, the series is actually based on characters from a live-action film from 1991, Zeiram. A second live-action film, Zeiram 2, was also released in 1994.

The OVA series is meant to serve as a prequel to the live action films, which feature a female bounty hunter named Iria and her AI companion Bob as they contend with alien bioweapons called Zeiram. The series begins when Iria is still an apprentice, one birthday shy of being eligible for full hunter status. She lives with her older brother Glen, a bounty hunter himself and a figure that Iria idolizes.

As the protagonist, Iria’s basic design actually follows the live-action portrayal by Yuuko Moriyama very closely. Her standard attire of full-body armor and cloak are accurately replicated in her animated portrayal, as are the strings of beats she wears in her hair (a masculine accessory that visually acknowledges her tomboy nature). The one significant difference is in Iria’s hairstyle and color, which unlike the live-action version is a more stylized red, spiked look. She’s also voiced by Aya Hisakawa, who, at the time the OVA was created, was already several seasons into her portrayal of the not-at-all tomboyish Sailor Mercury on Sailor Moon. Hisakawa is up to the task, however, and the character of Iria is an entertaining one.

Animated Iria, voiced by Aya Hisakawa.

Yuuko Moriyama as Iria in the original live-action Zeiram.

The other main figure in the tale is of course Zeiram; a creature whose origins are never truly explained, it’s apparently a bioweapon that has escaped control. It’s resistant to injury from conventional weapons, can consume and assimilate the tissue of other organisms as either sustenance or genetic material to produce disfigured clone lackeys, and can assimilate weapons and creatures into itself to grow in power. Visually, it bears a distinctive appearance of a tall figure with a head that resembles the shape of a samurai’s rain hat. Its face resembles a small, white Noh theater mask with sharp fangs that can extend outward via a long, tendril-like stalk.

Zeiram’s face.

Iria first crosses paths with Zeiram when she accompanies her brother, Glen, and a senior hunter, Bob, on a supposed rescue mission, only to find most of the crew of the distressed ship horribly murdered. The end result sees Iria temporarily stranded on a resort planet, Bob mortally wounded, and Glen missing. From that point on, Iria carries a grudge against Zeiram, but her efforts to destroy it are hindered by corporate greed and oblivious government officials.

That’s not to say that Iria is a humorless affair. Like the live-action films, the OVA series is filled with more light-hearted, comedic moments. A secondary character in the gruff rival hunter Fujikuro serves as comic relief, as do some orphan children that appear midway through the series. But while the jokes are amusing, it’s never quite laugh-out-loud funny.

Fujikuro, seen here running full-tilt away from a tank, is put through his paces after being paid to look after Iria.

In terms of action, Iria is packed with it, and much of it well-choreographed across a variety of different environments, from ship interiors to planetary environments both urban and rural. Iria’s confrontations with Zeiram are particularly well done, though unfortunately the plotting isn’t as well thought-out as the action, with several odd plot holes and inconsistencies. The first and most obvious hole–if one has seen the live-action Zeiram–is that while the OVA is meant to portray Iria’s origin story and establish her connection to the powerful creature. The live-action Iria had never encountered the creature prior to the film’s narrative; by the end of the OVA, the animated Iria knows Zeiram’s weak point and how to kill it, yet such knowledge is never acknowledged in Zeiram, and her method of exterminating the creature is completely different.

Another issue with the story has to do with Bob. As I noted before, Bob is Iria’s AI partner in the live-action films, but in the OVA, he starts off as a fellow bounty hunter who is mortally wounded. He’s taken in by the corporation that had attempted and failed to corral Zeiram, and his mind is transferred into a computer to live on as an AI. But this is done entirely without purpose; the people that hold Bob and perform the transfer have absolutely no use for him, and given that he’s actually their enemy, it makes no sense for him to be kept alive in any state. Yet he’s left unsecured, able to contact Iria and guide her to him.

After his death, Bob’s AI is visually represented by a stylized hourglass-like model.

And then there are the odd moments that are just left hanging without resolution. Glen is supposedly Iria’s older brother, and she always addresses him as such. Yet there’s one very brief exchange in which a character that’s known the pair for years hears someone refer to Glen as Iria’s brother and becomes confused, suggesting that the sibling relationship doesn’t actually exist. Why this is the case and what the true nature of that relationship is, there’s no explanation. The OVA drops the question as quickly as it’s raised.

In general, outside of Iria’s fights with Zeiram, the series as a whole feels rather moribund. It goes through the paces to explore Iria’s character with some predictable plot twists, as well as some additional characters that add little to the proceedings. One such character is Kei, an orphan that comes to idolize Iria in much the same way that Iria idolizes Glen, but there’s very little that’s otherwise interesting about her. Like Iria, she’s a tomboy, but to the extent that she tries to hide her true gender for no particular reason. Furthermore, there’s no mention or acknowledgement of Kei in the live-action films, and live-action Iria doesn’t operate as though she has anyone back home waiting for her.

Kei is like a young, more tomboyish Iria, but despite her idolization of and relationship with Iria, she plays no role in the live-action films of which the OVA is supposedly a prequel.

Flaws in the story aside, the animation and art design are still very well done. The interstellar civilization in which Iria resides is very heavily influenced by a mishmash of Asian architectural and artistic concepts from a variety of cultures ranging from Japanese to Indian. These influences can be seen in vehicle designs and buildings, aforementioned elements of Zeiram’s design, and even small pieces of equipment that Iria and the other hunters use. It’s a very creatively designed universe; it’s just a shame that the story set within it isn’t better.

In that sense, it’s better to think of Iria: Zeiram the Animation as more of an alternate universe rather than the prequel it was meant to be. The series is a flawed one with an at times by-the-numbers plot and characters, but it’s not without entertainment value. It is worth watching, but I’d also recommend that any who watch it also make an effort to see Zeiram and Zeiram 2 in order to get the full experience.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation was released on DVD in North America by d-rights and Anime Works, a Media Blasters label. The release features the original Japanese with subtitles in English and Spanish, as well as an English dub. It is not rated, but is recommended for ages 13+ by the publisher for graphic violence and brief nudity.

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