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diff --git a/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ff7f22d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +====================================== + The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya +====================================== + +A world without Haruhi is not a world in which I want to live. +============================================================== + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:39:56 +:Id: anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 4.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/the-disappearance-of-haruhi-suzumiya + +All right, I have to admit up front that I'm in love with Haruhi. This +review is unavoidably coloured by my attachment to the character. + +Even so, this movie is great :) If you haven't watched at least the +first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, go do so now. I'll +wait. Done? Good. + +After a "normal" day at the SOS Brigade, Kyon wakes up in a world in +which Haruhi does not sit behind him in class, apparently no one at +Kita High has ever heard of her, and there's no sign of the SOS +Brigade. The only glimmer of hope if Nagato, who's the only member of +the Literature Club, just as she was before Haruhi found her. Will +this be enough to restore Haruhi to the world? Does Kyon even want to? +Or would he quite prefer this more prosaic version, without Haruhi's +bossing? + +No, I'm not going to tell you the ending. Seriously, get this movie +and watch it. Don't feel embarrassed if you want to watch it more than +once :) + +This movie would be part of my (not so small) set of "anime movies you +really have to watch", were it not that it's completely impossible to +understand on its own. You are supposed to know already who the +characters are, their personality and relationships. I know that most +movies-from-a-series have this issue, and that trying to introduce the +characters again would have bogged down half the movie and bored the +fans; still, I can't say "watch this, it's great!" to anyone who +hasn't seen the series, I can't use it to introduce people to good +anime. This is, essentially, a long episode: if you are not sure you +like the series, this movie will quite probably not change your +opinion one way or the other; if you like the series, you'll love this +movie. + +We get to see some new facets of the main characters: Kyon is more +active than in the past, and has some interesting, although not very +explicit, soul-searching time; Nagato is shy and cute and not sure +what to do with her feelings; Mikuru is even more passive and useless +than usual; Koizumi is not his reserved and mysterious self. And the +big reveal at the end is a very nice piece of character development: +although in hindsight it feels almost unavoidable given the +personalities and roles in play, it's still interesting and +surprising. And the story is peppered with hints that you probably +don't get the first time you watch it. + +Short version: what are you doing reading this review? Go get and +watch the movie! diff --git a/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/disappearance-haruhi-suzumiya/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/gyo/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/gyo/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/gyo/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/gyo/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/gyo/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d6a930 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/gyo/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +===== + Gyo +===== + +Walking fishes! Stinky fishes! Fishes everywhere! +================================================= + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:40:32 +:Id: anime/review/gyo +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 2.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/gyo-tokyo-fish-attack + +This is a horror movie. You know because there's people with terrified +faces, the main character is a Plain Girl that's in over her head, +she's got two friends, one's a Bookworm and one's a Slut (sorry, +technical term here, haven't you seen Cabin in the Woods?), there's a +Journalist in search of the Truth, and a Mad Scientist. There is also +millions of fishes of every size, coming out of the sea and walking +all over Japan on mechanical legs, but really, you'd label this +"horror" even without seeing any of the beasts. + +Yes, it's quite trope-heavy. It's also rather undecided on what it +wants to be. At the beginning, you may think it's a near-parody of the +genre. Then it continues in a more standard tone; the first serious +attack happens while the Slut is having fun with two random guys, +there's contagion, panic in the streets. It then nods to hentai, with +near-tentacle-porn at least twice. You may even think there's some +sort of social commentary, seeing as most of the people are shown +carrying on with their lives even in the midst of the invasion: at the +airport and at the train station, everyone is checking their watches +and the departure boards, while the monstrous fishes are just a few +metres away. Or maybe it's an old-style horror: the fishes are the +result of a military experiment, says the Mad Scientist. Or it's +really an allegory: the infected people are not totally mindless! Oh, +it's mystic: the gas that fills the monsters has a personality! No, it +was aliens! + +And then it ends. Seriously. No resolution, no insight, not even "and +so humans went extinct". Just… the end. + +I'm clearly not a lover of horrors, so I may be doing some injustice +to this title, but I really couldn't get into it. Not just because the +premise is quite absurd, that's sort of par for the course, but also +because of quite a few internal inconsistencies: none of the +"explanations" given by the characters has much bearing to what +they're seeing, for example; or, why only people turn green, and not +the fishes or other animals? It just feels like a set of random ideas +thrown together without much sense. Even the animation is not +particularly good, with the CG parts jarring against the mostly flat +shading of the drawn parts. + +Lovers of horror movies, or staunch proponents of the "so bad it's +good" school, may find this interesting and even rewarding. Me, I'm +off to watch something else. diff --git a/src/anime/review/gyo/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/gyo/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/gyo/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/k-on/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/k-on/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/k-on/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/k-on/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/k-on/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0585c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/k-on/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +======= + K-ON! +======= + +Moe, singing, schoolgirls. +========================== + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:39:10 +:Id: anime/review/k-on +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/k-on + +The setup: the "Light Music Club" at the high school risk disbanding, +since there are only two members instead of the four required by the +school rules. Ritsu and Mio are therefore looking for anyone who'll +join. A third girl, Tsumugi, gets convinced to join, but they're still +short one member. The clueless and klutzy Yui needs to join a club, +any club. A match made in Heaven? Not exactly, since the only musical +"talent" Yui has is playing castanets. + +The story: the four girls (five, later in the series) play songs, +write songs, and do generally cute things. Don't expect much character +development, or serious challenges. Do expect lots of moe :) In fact, +most of the episodes are not much about songs, they're more about +day-to-day events in the lives of the characters, and the overwhelming +cuteness of it all. + +The work behind the series: Kyoto Animation (Fullmetal Panic, Haruhi +Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Clannad) does, as usual, a great job designing +and animating the characters; a bunch of musicians give us bubbly +girly songs. The English voices are a bit weird, to be honest: they +sound the wrong age… but then again, I find most English dubs +seriously lacking. To get the full moe effect, you really need to +listen to the original voice actresses. + +The results: if you don't like moe, run away now. Seriously, there is +no other reason to watch this series. Yes, you do get a few musical +numbers, but not near enough to warrant watching the whole thing, you +could just pick the soundtrack discs. If you liked Ichigo Mashimaro, +you'll almost certainly like this: the characters are older, but the +cuteness is of the same calibre, and there's the same lack of real +plot. Not that this, of course, prevents the series from selling +well: this is another purely commercial product, aimed at a specific +market, and it works pretty well at that. diff --git a/src/anime/review/k-on/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/k-on/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/k-on/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..27becf0 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +================================== + Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt +================================== + +They were kicked out of Heaven. Heaven had very good reasons. +============================================================= + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:39:04 +:Id: anime/review/panty-stocking +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 4 +:original:http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/panty-stocking-with-garterbelt + +This series is not for little kids! + +The two Anarchy sisters are very different from each other: Panty is +blond, svelte, fashionable, and seems to think only of sex; Stocking +is dark-haired, curvier, goth, and seems to think only of sweets. But +when they can be bothered to listen to afro priest Garterbelt, they +remember that they're angels, and that their duty is to rid Daten City +of the malevolent ghosts that plague it. + +Hm. OK, not quite. The two sisters know perfectly well that they're +angels, and that their only hope to get back to Heaven is to collect +enough coins to pay for the trip; and the only way to get coins is to +destroy ghosts. Saving the city is a bonus, a nice side-effect, but +it's not exactly foremost in their minds. Men, food, fame, fun, this +they work for. All the while being rude, potty-mouthed, self-centred, +and mostly "unfit for society". "Duty" is an alien concept, and they +only tolerate getting bossed around by Garterbelt because he can +provide them with shelter (in the church) and money. + +This series is as straightforward as can be: there is no sexual +innuendo, because everything is explicitly expressed. The stylised +drawings allow the animators to set up scenes that would need serious +censoring otherwise. We're not talking only about simple nudity or +sex: yes, Panty removes her knickers every episode (they transform +into a ghost-killing gun) and Stocking removes her leggings (to make +swords), but that's the least of it. Garterbelt is heavily into +masochism, scat makes frequent appearances, Panty can rarely be +satisfied by a single man at a time, and men's base instincts are the +main plot motor. Frankly, the whole thing would make many people +queasy if it were not all played for laughs; as it stands, you will +laugh, both with the characters and at them. + +I loved this series, but I also loved FLCL, and Puni Puni Poemi, and I +like most of Excel Saga. Fast-paced animation, silly stories, +slapstick, comedy effects overpowering the plot to the point that you +start wondering if there is, in fact, any plot. It's not for +everybody, but I think everybody should at least try it :) The +director, IMAISHI Hiroyuki (今石 洋之), is an old hand at Gainax: he's +worked on FLCL, Abenobashi, Re: Cutie Honey, and Gurren Lagann. This +particular frantic style appears to be his signature. For an even more +extreme example, look for Dead Leaves (Production I.G.). + +The English edition is pretty well made, with good voice acting (and I +normally hate dubs!), although the English dialogues are quite +different than the Japanese originals, just turn the subtitles on to +notice (the subtitles are a rather close translation of the Japanese +dialogues). + diff --git a/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/panty-stocking/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf77009 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +======================= + From up on Poppy Hill +======================= +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:39:15 +:Id: anime/review/poyy-hill +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 4 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/from-up-on-poppy-hill + +I went to see this movie, at the UK preview during the Terracotta Film +Festival at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, thinking that it +couldn't be worse than Gedo Senki / Tales from Earthsea, the other +movie directed by MIYAZAKI Goro (宮崎 吾朗). You can say that I had +very low expectations. It turned out that Miyazaki Junior has been +learning a lot about directing, and probably also about using the best +that Ghibli has to offer. From a quick look at the list of people +involved, it seems that Gedo Senki was filmed by the "B team" at +Ghibli, while the best people were working on Howl's Moving +Castle. Not so with Poppy Hill: it looks better, it flows better, I +felt I could care for the characters. Sure, the story is much simpler, +and the fact that Miyazaki Senior worked on the screenplay has surely +helped. Nonetheless, the result is a very pleasant movie, and has +changed my opinion of Goro: I'm now looking forward to his next work. + +So, what's the film about? It's about Japan in 1963, about the +long-term consequences of the Korean War, about responsibility, +community, political engagement, love, family. Every aspect is touched +upon with a very light touch, you're never forced to notice. It could +just as easily be seen as a standard school-age "girl meets boy" +story. But the various aspects of the historic and social context do +help shape the story, and make it richer as a result. + +The main character, a schoolgirl named Umi, runs a lodging house for +women while her mother is away (studying medicine in America). Her +father, a military sailor, died during the Korean war. At her school, +the boys' clubhouse, an old and dirty building, is going to be +demolished and rebuilt. The boys are struggling to convince even their +schoolmates, never mind the school administration, that destroying +what is, essentially, a historic building, would not be wise, that +erasing history will not make your future brighter. They don't have +much success until Umi suggests to clean and renovate the place (no, +I'm not telling you how it goes, although you can probably guess). In +the meantime, she falls in love with Shun, who works for the school's +newspaper. + +I was impressed by the role of women in this story: even if Japanese +society is portrayed as male-centric, we have many independent and +strong females. Umi runs the lodging house, not just cleaning and +cooking, but also handling the finances. Umi leads the girls and the +boys of the school to renovate the clubhouse (and the girls are not +the only ones that clean!). Umi's mother and one of the lodgers are +medical doctors. On the other hand, due to the historic setting, all +school officials are men, and marriage is an unavoidable part of any +woman's life. + +There are some debatable directorial choices: very animated scenes +alternate with mostly static ones; in a couple of cases background +songs seem to intrude on the dialogues; some "camera movements" looked +jerky. But all in all, Poppy Hill delivers a good story on several +levels, and "cleans" Goro's name of the disaster that was Earthsea. + +Finally, some comments on the English subtitles: they are pretty +accurate, although the lose several subtleties in the way people refer +to each other. For example, while the subtitles often use the given +name of people, the Japanese soundtrack uses surnames and +honorifics. Also, Umi is always called Umi in the subtitles, but her +friends call her "Meru" most of the time; this is sort of a pun, since +"umi" means "sea", and "Meru" is pronounced like "mer", the French +word for "sea" (the connection with French is established in the +title, コクリコ坂から: "コクリコ" reads as "Coquelicot", poppy in +French). diff --git a/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/poppy-hill/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1bc2192 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +==================== + Princess Jellyfish +==================== + +A flat-share full of introverted girls, and a girl with a surprise. +=================================================================== + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:58:04 +:Id: anime/review/princess-jellyfish +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/princess-jellyfish + +"Introverted" is probably an understatement: the five girls of the +Amamizu-kan are otaku with paralysing social anxiety problems. Chieko +collects dolls and kimonos, Bamba knows everything about trains, +Mayaya sees the world only through references to the Three Kingdoms, +Jiji likes old men, the never-seen Mejiro writes manga, Tsukimi loves +jellyfishes. And it is while trying to save a jellyfish that Tsukimi +meets the person who will change her life: Kuranosuke, the +cross-dressing son of a big-name politician. + +Drama, politics, comedy, and romance ensue. The girls will become a +little less paralysed when out in the world, Tsukimi will find her +calling, and a significant plot line is left dangling… + +I admit that I liked this series way more than I expected to. The +girls are mostly depicted as irredeemable losers, living off their +parents' money with no will for change. Mejiro is the only one with a +job (but she's very tangential to the story), and Tsukimi is the only +one who can at least imagine changing her condition. Tsukimi and +Kuranosuke are the only two characters who have some real depth, +although Kuranosuke's half-brother and the real estate developer get +some development. + +And yet, and yet… Even if the girls are funny, they're not really made +fun of: we laugh more with them than at them. Kuranosuke's +cross-dressing is considered a nuisance by his family, but nobody ever +thinks less of him for it. The way people dress is shown to be very +important, but in a "let's impress the shallow people of the world" +way, not as an end in itself. Everything is measured to keep the story +lively, funny, and intriguing, but never demeaning any of the +characters. + +The original manga, written by HIGASHIMURA Akiko (東村 アキコ), is +still ongoing, and given that the anime leaves at least one plot line +to be resolved, I'd really love to see a second series: the anime was +broadcast soon after the publication of the fifth volume, and four +more have been published in the meantime. There's no official +announcement, though… + +If you like "slice of life" stories, cute / awkward girl characters, +and captivating stories, you'll love this series. And even if you +don't, find a way to watch at least the opening: it's so full of movie +references that it will take you at least three repeats to get them +all! diff --git a/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/princess-jellyfish/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/roujin-z/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/roujin-z/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b0357c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/roujin-z/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/roujin-z/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/roujin-z/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..620ae95 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/roujin-z/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,61 @@ +========== + Roujin Z +========== + +Let's care for the elderly… with robots! +======================================== + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:38:47 +:Id: anime/review/roujin-z +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 4 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/roujin-z + +Written by OOTOMO Katsuhiro (大友 克洋, "Akira", "Memories", +"Steamboy"), directed by KITAKUBO Hiroyuki (北久保 弘之, "Robot +Carnival", "Golden Boy"), this is a tale about old age, AIs, +transforming robots, the welfare state. + +The story: an elderly man get chosen to be put into a prototype +mechanised medical bed, which should provide him with full +life-support and assistance, much better than what could be +accomplished with more manpower-intensive care in a standard +hospital. Haruko, the nurse who used to assist him, is sceptical. The +AI in the bed is very keen to help the old man, and with some +unexpected input from a team of sprightly old hackers in the +retirement home, it takes on the personality of his deceased wife, and +decides to bring him to the beach. And, given that the bed is +essentially a transforming robot capable of incorporating whatever +machines it finds, stopping it is not an easy task. + +This movie is an interesting piece of anime history: it was originally +released in 1991, 21 years ago, just 3 years after Akira. Japan had +been feeling the pressure of its ageing population for some time +already, and it's no surprise that writers like Ootomo, with a SF +slant, would think of technological solutions. But, like any good +writer, Ootomo did not just assume that technology would "magically" +solve all problems. Technology is designed, built, and deployed by +people, and people make mistakes, people have personal goals, people +have different opinions. And the road to Hell is paved with good +intentions. Accordingly, this movie shows, with humour and without +lecturing, that complex problems require complex solutions. Properly +caring for the elderly requires human-level intelligence and empathy, +and if your self-improving AI is to meet the challenge, it may well +learn to empathise, and do anything in its power to make the old man +happy. Building the bed out of what is, essentially, a military-grade +multi-purpose assault tank might not have been, in retrospect, the +smartest of ideas :) + +I don't think that releasing `Solid State Society`_ and Roujin Z to the +English-speaking world just three weeks apart was an intentional +choice, but they are very close thematically: they are both reflecting +an the consequences to society of having too many old people who can't +look after themselves, and who have no family to look after them. Both +movies present technological solutions (or would-be solutions) to the +issues, both movies deal with AIs, man-machine interfaces, and the +importance of "humanness". If you can stand the 20 years of distance +in the drawing and animation techniques, I strongly encourage you to +watch both: they're good "food for thought". + +.. _`Solid State Society`: ../gits-sac/ diff --git a/src/anime/review/roujin-z/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/roujin-z/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/roujin-z/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/space-show/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/space-show/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/space-show/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/space-show/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/space-show/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3f7060 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/space-show/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,94 @@ +============================ + Welcome to the Space Show! +============================ +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:40:04 +:Id: anime/review/space-show +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/welcome-to-the-space-show + +I really liked this movie while I was watching it. It's got likable +characters, adventure, wonder, friendship, aliens, monsters. It relies +on tried and safe tropes, with just that bit of originality needed to +avoid being boring. The target audience is quite probably a bit below +"14 years old", but the movie is still pleasantly watchable by +adults. Unless, that is, you actually start thinking about what's +going on. And, unfortunately, I tend to think about it :) + +Let's start with the story: in a village in the middle of the Japanese +countryside, five young children, aged between 7 and 12, are having +their summer camp in the empty school building: they're alone for a +week, they've got food, homework, sleeping bags, and woods to play +in. What they don't have is the pet rabbit that Natsuki lost in the +woods weeks (days?) before. Amane is pretty angry about this, so they +go back into the woods to search for the rabbit. What they find, +instead, is a injured dog. They bring it to the school, clean and +bandage it. They get a big surprise when the dog starts talking, +revealing he's an alien called Pochi,, thanks them for saving his +life, and offers them a trip to the Moon. And not only the visible +side, but the far side, where a thriving spaceport awaits them. This +"short" trip sees the group deal with a blockade of Earth-bound +traffic, interstellar smuggler, aliens of all shapes and sizes, police +operations, and the Space Show, the most popular broadcast +entertainment across several galaxies. + +Of course there's a happy ending, nobody gets seriously hurt, and the +movie closes with uplifting thoughts for the children's future. What's +not to like? The animation is beautiful; the aliens are well varied, +not all of them are humanoid; the architecture and technology are just +unusual enough to feel extra-terrestrial but still be recognisable; +the human children have their nice story arcs, they grow while +maintaining their personalities. The good guys get rewarded, the bad +guys get arrested. + +And yet, and yet. There are several problematic aspects to this +movie. (Spoilers ahead! Stop reading now if you don't want to know +details of the story!) + +Let's start with the depiction of the aliens: good guys look nice, bad +guys look ugly. This trope has been around since ancient Greek +tragedies, but it's particularly jarring when you can shape your +characters any way you want, and still choose to play it "safe". Oh, +and why, while the males "space dogs" look exactly like dogs (Natsuki +even checks under Pochi's tail!), their females are taller, never walk +on four legs, and have human-style breasts?? + +Then, Pochi. He seems to be a researcher of some kind, but he also has +an energy armour and works for some kind of law enforcement. He's also +a University professor in Archaeology. He's got more connections and +tricks up his sleeves than Indiana Jones (who, now that I think about +it, did get his name from a dog…). He's a standard larger-than-life +good guy, whose motivations are never very clear, but after all it +does not matter much because he's fighting the good fight. So, even +accepting that he's the least well rounded of the main characters, I +can't wrap my head around the scene near the end, when he essentially +confesses that he's in love with Amane. Now, keep in mind that Pochi, +although young, can't be much younger than a human-equivalent late +twenties: University professor, field researcher, et cetera. Amane +is 7. I can understand her point of view: he's a nice doggy. But what +is *he* thinking?? + +Finally, although all the children, as I wrote above, gain experience +and grow, there is a striking difference between the boys (Kouji wants +to become an astronaut, or at least an astronomer, Kiyoshi wants to +become a doctor) and the girls (Natsuki is more sure of herself, and +will treat Amane better). Even if Natsuki is responsible for most of +the positive outcomes of their adventures, and one of the main +"villains" is a (dog) woman, the whole story seems to paint the boys +in a better light. + +To give credit where it's due, the movie has a lot of nice little +touches: the immigration controls, with age-dependent questioning; the +"passports" which provide universal translation and also seem to +instruct the artificial gravity generators to provide the correct +amount of force; the scientifically sound doubts of the space +enthusiast Kouji ("How can you broadcast live across interstellar +distances?") not being brushed aside, but answered in a way that +implies "yes, you're right, but it works; it would take too long to +explain it properly, but rest assured that there is a sensible +explanation". + +All in all, a very well executed average story, with some problematic +and contradictory aspects that, nonetheless, don't detract too much +from the enjoyment. diff --git a/src/anime/review/space-show/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/space-show/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/space-show/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4878c84 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +================ + Spice and Wolf +================ +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:40:21 +:Id: anime/review/spice-wolf +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/spice-and-wolf-seasons-1-2 + +What happen to deities when people stop believing in them? Even worse, +what happens when people stop needing them? + +Holo is a wolf goddess who used to encourage and protect the harvest +in a generic-European-looking valley (think southern Germany). With +the advent of modern (the setting looks like the early 16th century) +agricultural techniques, and of a monotheistic religion and associated +church, the people who used to worship and thank Holo have decided +that they don't need her anymore. She seem to think the same of them: +when travelling merchant Kraft Lawrence comes again to the main +village, she stows away in his waggon, and asks for help to leave the +place and go back to her place of origin in the North. Lawrence is +pretty surprised when he finds a naked young girl in his waggon, but +he's too good at heart not to help her; Holo, on the other hand, +doesn't have many problems proving that she's a god (just in case the +furry ears and tail were not enough of a giveaway) and that she can be +useful, having a few centuries of experience in dealing with humans. + +They set off for a series of "adventures", although probably not the +kind you'd expect: no big fights, no big evil, no world-changing +events; mostly buying, selling, bartering, debts, loans, repayments… +Lawrence is a business man, and there's commerce everywhere they +go. The biggest obstacles in their travels are provided by the church, +which, as any other expanding, exclusivist religious organisation, has +declared any other divine or supernatural manifestation to be evil +witchcraft, to be hunted down and burned. It's not obvious if Holo +could, in fact, be captured, but I'm pretty sure it would be a blood +bath (very little of it hers); she and Lawrence try to avoid direct +confrontations by keeping a low profile and hiding her non-human +appearance. + +Their closeness and complicity soon grows into affection and love, and +here again you may not get what you expect: their feelings are clearly +present, but very understated, and they both avoid making a big show +of it. I'm not completely clear on how a god-human relationship could +work out; I mean, she's essentially immortal, six centuries old, and +he's going to live maybe forty more years. I'm pretty sure she knows +that she's setting herself up for much pain in the future… + +Anyway, this is a character-driven story, set in a complex and +realistic environment; credit to the authors for not letting the +fantastical / supernatural elements take over the plot. You'll like it +if you like well-paced storytelling, and think that "action packed" +should be considered a pejorative :) diff --git a/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/spice-wolf/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/squid-girl/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/squid-girl/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/squid-girl/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/squid-girl/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/squid-girl/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de951ad --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/squid-girl/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +============ + Squid Girl +============ + +Young girls and tentacles! Don't worry, it's not *that* kind of anime :) +======================================================================== + +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:40:27 +:Id: anime/review/squid-girl +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3.5 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/squid-girl-complete-series-1-collection + +Anime has a very bad reputation when it comes to tentacles, not +entirely undeserved: there's been some very, let's say, creative uses +of them. But this series has nothing to do with those! Here you'll +only find cute comedy and laughs. + +The setting: Squid Girl (really, that's the only names she gets) in +very angry at humans because they have polluted the sea. She then +decides to invade the dry land and conquer humanity, as you do. The +tentacles on her head are strong, flexible, extensible, prehensile, +and can cut almost everything: you'd think they would be enough to at +least impress the first few people she meets. Not so, though: Aizawa +Eiko is not impressed, she's upset that her little restaurant on the +beach got wrecked. As it turns out, her sister Chizuru is way more +fearsome than the poor Squid Girl, who ends up pressed into service +waiting tables. Her tentacles are very useful to juggle plates and +glasses, and she can even produce ink! + +There's gags, situational comedy, humorous romance (the lifeguard likes +Chizuru, and the girl Sanae has a crush on Squid Girl), even a group +of scientists who want to study Squid Girl. All the ingredients for +good fun, mixed in the right proportions. + +This is not a series that will be remembered in the annals of the +great anime masterpieces, but it is a little gem of comedy, and it +will make you laugh from start to finish. diff --git a/src/anime/review/squid-girl/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/squid-girl/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/squid-girl/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..106a2c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +================== + Strike Witches 2 +================== +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:40:14 +:Id: anime/review/strike-witches-2 +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 2 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/strike-witches-complete-series-2-collection + +You may remember how the `first season of Strike Witches`_ managed to +hold my interest despite its many problematic aspects: a "fight story" +with half-naked little girls, a standard alien menace, and arbitrary +magical elements. + +We left our heroines on the verge of meaningful communication with the +alien invaders, with hopes for insights into their motives and maybe +even peace talks. I was then expecting the second season to expand +upon these elements, giving us more background on the aliens, on the +inventor of the Strikers (and father of the main character), and maybe +even on the military hierarchy. + +Instead, I got a nearly trope-by-trope repetition of the first +season. The human-shaped alien emissary is destroyed by the same +aliens before any talks can take place, another territory is invaded +(Italy this time, called "Romagna" probably because the capital is +Rome; funny since Romagna is the name of a region of Italy…), and +everything happens just like the first time around. We get, again, +some faulty untested technology; a spunky newcomer who lasts for a +single episode; an excuse to force the girls to lose their knickers; +even a second attempt at incorporating alien technology into Earth +ships (which, of course, backfires, just like in the first season). + +There are some new stories, like a training session with an old witch, +and a treasure hunt. There's also some back-pedalling on some details +that were hinted at in the first season, for example about the +correlation between age and magical powers. + +All in all, it feels very much like the studio decided to "play it +safe", and re-hashed the same plot instead of using all the hooks they +had put into the story. I think they wasted an opportunity: they could +have developed a rather good story, and decided not to. (And now I've +discovered a few hundred non-erotic Strike Witches fanfics… there goes +my week). + +If you want interesting new stories about the Witches, you're out of +luck. If you want more of the same, or you really like having complete +series, you won't be disappointed. + +.. _`first season of Strike Witches`: ../strike-witches/ diff --git a/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/strike-witches-2/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/anime/review/strike-witches/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/strike-witches/.gitignore new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08d33d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/strike-witches/.gitignore @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +/document.en.du.xml +/document.it.du.xml diff --git a/src/anime/review/strike-witches/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/strike-witches/document.en.rest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db9b0c2 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/strike-witches/document.en.rest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ +================ + Strike Witches +================ +:CreationDate: 2012-09-23 19:40:12 +:Id: anime/review/strike-witches +:tags: - anime + - review +:rating: 3 +:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/strike-witches-complete-series-collection + +I'm quite a bit surprised about my own reaction to this anime: I +watched it all in just two evenings. I just couldn't stop: I had to +see it through to the end. + +Let me start by explaining what are the aspects of this series that +predisposed me to not liking it. + +First of all, it's got half-naked lolis. Even if the characters say +they are 13 or 20, they all look terribly young. Big breasts alone +don't make a loli look "older", they just make her look misshapen. + +Secondly, it's clearly a "fighting story". I think I've already +written that I don't believe a series of fights or battles constitutes +a storyline; consequently, a series that seem to revolve around +battles has to be particularly good to compensate. + +So, with this in mind, I started watching Strike Witches. + +The premise is something we've already seen many times: an alien +menace suddenly appears, and it can only be opposed by absurdly young +"soldiers". In this particular case, the aliens are black flying +objects with beam weapons, and the "soldiers" are young magical girls +riding things described as (I kid you not) "a new breed of magic +brooms". + +The year is 1939, in a world quite similar to our own, the main +differences being the existence of magical girls, and all countries +being named differently (Britannia, Gallia, Karlsland, Fuso…). At one +point a character notices, talking about some military higher-up, that +if they did not have the aliens to fight, they'd all be fighting each +other, and there would be a world war. Ahem. + +The main character is a Japanese—ehrm—Fusoan girl, daughter of the +inventor of the "Striker Units" (the above-mentioned brooms), that +gets enlisted / shanghaied into joining the Witches while looking for +clues about her supposedly deceased father, from whom she's just +received a letter. + +She then proceeds to be the best member of the squadron, overcome most +of the hostility and jealousy, prevent a military coup, make the first +step toward peace with the enemy, and retire to her family's magical +healing hospital, only to receive *another* letter from her +father. Cue the second series, first released in 2010. + +Yes, I have just given you the entire plot of the 12 episodes. I might +add that nearly every girl is in love with another girl, there's at +least one triangle (see "jealousy", above), several bathing scenes +(with and without suits), no scene is free of fan service, and the +girls sprout animal ears and tails when they use magic. + +Oh, and *every* girl is dressed normally on top, but has no skirt or +trousers. The most covered girl has pantyhose. I'm not just talking +about the Witches, who could be excused such a weird "uniform", since +they have to don the Strikers like socks: every young woman lacks +lower-body garments. + +So why oh why did I not just eject the disc in the middle of the +second episode, watch the last one just for completeness' sake, and +call it a day? Because it's a well-balanced mix of sure-fire +ingredients, and I'm apparently a sucker right inside the intended +market. + +Make no mistakes: this series is designed from the ground up to sell, +every detail is chosen from tried-and-true sources to appeal to a +certain demographic. The animation, from Gonzo (Origin, Last Exile, +VanDread) is gorgeous. The alternate-history almost-serious plot gives +a plausible excuse ("I watch it for the plot, honest!"). The +characters behave innocently, not noticing that they're mostly +eye-candy. Even the fights are kept (mostly) short enough. + +Even so, I must say that Strike Witches is a solidly crafted work. Not +art, not by a long stretch, but definitely, if a bit guiltily, +enjoyable. diff --git a/src/anime/review/strike-witches/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/strike-witches/du2html.xsl new file mode 120000 index 0000000..371d03d --- /dev/null +++ b/src/anime/review/strike-witches/du2html.xsl @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
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