College (kind-of-sort-of Hiatus)

The new semester has started!  I have a little bit more time than last, but nothing substantial (just enough to maybe get in an entry on weekends).  In other words, I’m sort of… disappearing again for a while.  Sporadic updates will be the best I can do.

Quick Review - Bokura no

Gonzo actually managed to spew out something good in the form of Bokura no.

Music
The OP was absolutely the best for the Spring 2007 season! I believe it’s the only one, aside from The Skull Man, that I sat through each and every time I watched an episode. The BG music was almost good enough for me to go find the OST.

Art/Animation
CG robots still aren’t really my thing, but Zearth looks decent. The best part of the battles was the realistically slow motion of them, as giant robots, if we assume their possible existence for a second, aren’t really going to be zipping around. Otherwise, a presumably low budget unfortunately shows, although it’s not bad enough to really distract from the story. A few decent scenes, such as the one in the screencap above, are sprinkled here and there, but that’s it.

Story
I’ve never read the manga so I can’t really draw comparisons, but I’m aware that the anime version is apparently toned down. On one hand, I’m happy with what I saw, as it was tragic but still had a relatively happy ending, but on the other, I don’t know if the happy ending really fit. I’ve seen Narutaru, after all, and the brutality was kind of what made it good. I don’t like the lovey-dovey resolution; I would have liked to see absolute despair.
In any case, one of the best parts was the characters, particularly Ushiro. A show has to be pretty good to turn my most hated character into my favorite.
The worst part was the middle. It’s not that nothing happened or that there was a lot of filler, but it felt a bit lackluster and boring comparing to the beginning and end. I wish that they hadn’t focused so much on the military and economic happenings but instead of just the children.

Final Verdict
I now want to read the manga, which is a good thing. (For average shows, I’m glad that they’re over and done with.) Bokura no was fairly good overall, but the middle kept it from being great and there was just something missing that would’ve made it excellent.
7/10

Quick Review - Baccano!

Baccano is probably the best thing I’ve caught up on and finished watching since Gurren Lagann.

Music
One of the few shows sporting a purely instrumental OP, the music, as far as I can remember, is catchy and jazz-like. It seldomly stands out but provides excellent background music. The only weak point would be the ED; I didn’t care much for it.

Art/Animation
Great! There are a few dips in the quality here and there, but they’re easy to overlook when considering the droolworthy combat scenes. (Fingers being sliced off never looked so good, I would imagine.)

Story
The storytelling is splendid. It basically follows three different parts of the storyline, taking place mostly in 1930-32, and jumps back and forth between them while gradually piecing everything together. It’s so disjointed yet makes so much sense and all comes together well to form a coherent whole. Really, It’s amazing. The characters, too, were great when you consider that there were so many of them and only 13 episodes, yet by the end I was completely attached. At the same time, this is also quite possibly the most violent anime I’ve watched this year (last year, I mean), but even with two crazy killers romping around and grinding people up on train tracks, among other things, it never feels gimicky or even overly focused on it.
It’s just so… good. And so much fun. I really can’t think of anything bad to say about it.

Final Verdict
The most important thing to mention about Baccano! is that I’m left wanting more. I want the light novels, even though they’re in Japanese and my Japanese-skills aren’t good enough (yet) for anything past the dialogue found in manga aimed at elementary school girls. I want the manga, too, and I want the anime to get licensed. Most of all, I want a sequel, because, as far as I know (from Wikipedia), this covered the first four novels or so out of the thirteen out by now.
9/10

P.S. Happy New Year!