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Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers Review
Jun 13th
Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers ( in Japan: Pocket Full / Pocketful of Rainbows ) is a Movie loosely based off the anime Eureka Seven. It is a spinoff set in whole different universe than the original anime; characters have different pasts and intentions and the world itself is based off new and different concepts. With that being said, i feel like only Renton had the same character that he did in the anime. Even Eureka felt a little less sensitive and tough and more “average Joe”. Because of this I didn’t feel the emotional connection that I made with all the characters in the anime. This could be due to the time constraint, but even then I feel like they could have put more into the characters than making them so stereotypical.
I didn’t hate the movie. Actually, I enjoyed it a lot. Eureka Seven the anime certainly goes down in my list of favorite anime, though, and when you try to make a spinoff and it doesn’t top what’s already there I feel as if I was cheated off a little. In my defense, I loved the prequel manga and games to Eureka Seven ( Manga: Gravity boys and Lifting Girl 1 and 2, games: Eureka Seven vol. 1 The New Wave and vol. 2 The New Vision [I had to get my copies used]). The games were actually the first RPGs i finished because I loved the battle system (though battles start off really slow they get fast; really fast) and the story filled in a gap in the total story of Eureka Seven. Even Moondoggie has a background, haha!
I digress. The ending of this movie was the only thing I didn’t really understand. I knew a change accrued, but we are never told specifically what changed (the world, Renton and Eureka’s bodies both appear to be different).
So, in summary, Eureka fans and non Eureka fans, as well as people with no Eureka background whatsoever can enjoy this tale of hope and defending those you love. I doubt it will be your favorite movie of all time, but it will certainly make you think, and that’s always a good thing.
Chobits Anime and Manga Review
Apr 14th
Chobits… what to say about Chobits… well, it was written by CLAMP, an army of female mangaka who wrote Card Captor Sakura (which I watched and thought was a very good kiddie-shojo) and Angelic Layer (which I heve never seen, but it does seem like it was aimed at a younger audience). This, though, is not quite as kiddy. It has a message and theme for the reader, and though it uses a fairly large amount ecchi to make the majority of the story funny, the message stands out and will stay with you the rest of your life.
Just so you know, I am going to focus the review on the manga and not the anime, which had a few differences in the first episode (the only episode of the anime I watched) including a scene on the farm where the main character lived before the story began.
Anyway, in summary, Chobits is about a boy who is attending classes because he failed his college entrance exam, named Hideki. He orginally lived on a farm, but for the classes he moved to the unfamiliar city. He is amazed by all the things there, especially the very human like robots everyone owned, called persocoms. Hideki is poor though, and cannot afford one. But one day he finds a perfectly good, cute persocom in a dumpster. He turns it on and takes it home. The only problem is that the only thing it can say is chi! So that’s what he names it, Chi. Soon he realizes that Chi is learning from him; she copies his actions, starts to use words, and gains a personality of her own! But persocoms are supposed to only use pre-programed data, not learn for themselves! And Chi can’t even connect to the internet! What kind of persocom is she? As Hideki curiously searches for these answers, his relationship with the robot changes… but is that okay?
Yeah, I know, lots of questions for you to answer for yourself as you read this 8 manga series published in the US by Tokyopop. As for my final opinion, I say this series is very worth reading. As I have said before, I am a very large fan of shorter series, and this one qualifies. Very good quality all the way through, and lots of questions, twists, and turns. This book is certainly one of the most serious ecchi books I have ever read. Because of that, it would appeal to a very large audience. So, in other words, read it.
Oh, and I almost forgot, inside Chobits is a little picture book called “A City With No People”. It is amazing and theme-rich, as well as trippy and dark. That is one of main reasons I love this series!
Chibi Vampire / Karin Anime and Manga and Novel Review
Mar 30th
Karin (as it is known in Japan through out all media, as well as the English dub of the anime), also known as Chibi Vampire (as it is known as in the American version of the manga and novels), is a series of mangas, anime, and novels, all based off of the manga by Yuna Kagesaki. It is the story of Karin, an odd vampire who can live in the day and doesn’t suck blood, who lives with her normal-vampire family. The only issue is that she has an… issue… with like… a nose perioid… I’m not kidding. Every month a ton of blood comes out of her nose. If she tried to stop it, she will faint. The best way for her to expels the blood into someone. But, of course Karin is also a klutz, and always messes up.
I should mention that in this story good things happen to the people vampires take (or in Karin’s case, give) blood to, providing they don’t kill the human they are feeding from. Karin, for example, makes unfortunate people happy. Every vampire has a different affect of their victim of that sorts.
One day her blood gushes out in front of a new classmate named Kenta. To her surprise, he actually helps her clean up the blood. This triggers a myriad of events, all funny and romantic, like a good romantic-comedy should. Each chapter ends with you begging for more from the well-written characters (each of which have a past that you will learn about in the manga, and a few in the anime), the cute love scenes, and the piss-your-pants funny comedy.
The manga and the anime are different. Though they begin the same, about halfway through they start to differ. Their endings are totally differnt, and though I liked the manga better, both were very good. As for the novels, they are adventures that happen in-between the events in the manga. Though they hold no value plot-wise, they are very good and I am hoping all of them get translated to English by Tokyopop (I know there is another one coming out soon).
In summary, Karin/Chibi Vampire is an otaku’s Twilight done right. As my favorite anime and manga, I would recommended them to everyone, especially shojo lovers. Hey, even if you don’t like shojo you are sure to laugh and enjoy the read.
