Jellyfish Princess

Mimi: Kuragehime is without a doubt my favorite anime of Fall 2010. No, it’s not as flashy as Star Driver or thrilling as Shiki, but it’s one of those shows that can really uplift your mood and leave a warm, lasting impression on you. Kuragehime is simply about a group of socially awkward women who live together in an apartment, and they each have their own quirks and obsessions. Tsukimi is obsessed with jellyfish, Mayaya is obsessed with The Three Kingdoms, Chieko is obsessed with Japanese dolls, and so on. However, their little closeted life is changed forever when a newcomer arrives—a cross-dressing rich boy named Kuranosuke who is way too assertive and fashionable for their own comfort. The entire cast feels incredibly fresh, alive, funny, and energetic, and I found myself to be totally captivated by their antics.

There is one major issue in the show, and that is that their apartment is being considered for redevelopment plans. Much of this series focuses on Kuranosuke trying to prepare the women to fight against this ‘attack.’ This results in a lot of heartfelt fun and laughs for the series, and each new episode manages to be tons better than the last one. In addition to this, there’s a strong focus on romance comedy, and never have I been so amused and engaged with a genre before. The upbeat, crazy personalities of the characters make it possible to enjoy every facet of the show. The energy only slightly wears off towards the end, but nothing is harmed, and no one is hurt. Kuragehime is truly a breath of fresh air all the way through, and I’d highly recommend it for anyone.

Mimi’s Score:  9 Meeps out of 10 (Great)

Alex’s Score:  8 Meeps out of 10 (Very Good)

Dusk’s Score:  8 Meeps out of 10 (Very Good)

Doofus’ Score: 9 Meeps out of 10 (Great)

Corpse Demon

Alex:Shiki is a tale of good verses evil, vampires verses humans, and one hell of a horror. Clocking in at 22 episodes, it’s been given enough time to finish telling its tale…and well;

Shiki is hard to write about. Some parts of it bore you out of your mind, especially when its still building up, but when it’s finished with its build-up, it’s the stuff dreams are made of and much more. Every series uses build-up, but this…the script writing is a masterpiece itself.It does often feel like it’s being too slow, but trust me when I say that it isn’t being too slow at all, infact, it’s almost got the perfect pace. It’s slow enough to make everything feel alive, yet fast enough to keep you interested in its heavy atmosphere.

Shiki is the walking definition of Japanese horror as a whole. Full of folklore and myths, not over the top, spends most its time being spooky, so forth. But that’s not a bad thing. Sure, if your used to horror from the shores of the USA then this will be different enough to throw you off, but you’ll settle into its pace within time. It’s actually hard NOT to settle into the pace and get engrossed in the story; I tried a friend who hates horror with Shiki, and she loved it and often watched it before me.

The artwork and the soundtrack are some of the best in anime. It took a while, but I loooove the character designs and how they’re all different. The soundtrack is…well, you’ll have to listen for yourself, but it’s musical ecstasy.

If you have patience, Shiki is one of those series you have to try, because its just so good.

Alex’s Score: 10 Meeps out of 10 (Masterpiece)

Mimi’s Score: 9 Meeps out of 10 (Great)

Dusk’s Score: 9.5 Meeps out of 10 (Great)

Loups Garous

Mimi: Loups Garous is a futuristic anime film with a lot of ups and downs. I didn’t know anything about it before jumping in, as I thought I’d let the story surprise me this time. I was immediately drawn in by the attacker scene, the colorful, unique visuals, and the futuristic setting. This is a world where people mainly interact online, are constantly being monitored by “the system,” and security is tight; however, the higher-ups are investigating the sudden murder of a teenage boy, as well as a string of murders involving only girls. We’re introduced to four special girls who try to solve these mysteries and challenge the system.

This is an awesome-sounding premise, but sadly, the execution of it isn’t anything to hype about. Whenever the girls get together, they just run around to avoid little security bots and hang out in a secretive location. This movie is about them bonding as friends more than anything else. That’s cute and all, but I would have liked to see them explore this world more and do something other than..chat. Sure, they have their action time at the end, but most of the movie feels rather uneventful, slow, and slice-of-life-ish. As for the characters themselves, they’re diverse and interesting, but they seem to fall short of reaching their full potential. It’s like they could have been totally awesome, but they’re only just okay. At least one of them is very entertaining when she kicks serious butt.

The grand finale revived my interest by getting into some fascinating twists and turns, but the movie sends certain messages that might not sit comfortable with everyone (including me). As I look back on the entire 1 hour and 40 minutes, the ‘big picture’ just feels a little underwhelming. It has a creative premise which is wasted, likeable but average characters, and a slow execution. At least the visuals and music don’t disappoint~

Mimi’s Score: 7 Meeps out of 10 (Good)

Panty and Stocking with Gaterbelt

Alex: I won’t mince words here, so excuse me if I get out of line.This anime is both crap beyond words and an orgasm of excellence. I dont think i’ve ever seen an anime thats this contraversial, either.

It’s funny, its the dirtiest anime i’ve seen and its the most childish anime i’ve watched, so where does that leave P&S?

Well, let me backtrack. Panty and Stocking. I hated it when it first came out. But when I gave it a second chance, I lapped it up like holy water. I think that if you can get past the fact that it’s got its mind in the gutter and it doesn’t look like a normal anime, you should give it a chance. Because it actually knows how to be funny with this gutter humour it gained, and I don’t think I laughed so much at any other comedies i’ve watched. But i’ll state it in bold: Panty and Stocking is not for everyone. It’s not your run of the mill anime everyone can watch and enjoy, it’s got a specific audience and if you don’t apply in that audience you’ll hate this show and think its utter trash.

But man, i’d go as far as to say this is the best thing GAINAX has produced. It doesn’t fail to tick any boxes – OST is amazing and droll worthy, animation is amazingly crisp at times, and the characterization worked wonders for that amazing finale. Bring on that S2~:3

Alex’s Score: 8 Meeps out of 10 (Very Good)

(It completely depends on the viewer.)

King of Thorn

Mimi: The King of Thorn is the latest scifi thriller anime film to be produced, and I really couldn’t wait to see this one. I’ve been a huge fan of horror survival stories such as “Aliens” and “Cube” for as long as I can remember; although I didn’t quite expect a masterpiece here, I did expect an exciting story that would follow along the same formula, and it is. In this film, there is a deadly disease called Medusa that is quickly spreading around, and a large group of people are selected to go into deep sleep capsules and awaken sometime in the future when a cure is available. Something goes horribly wrong of course, and the people awaken to find the place covered in thorn vines and riddled with monsters. Only a small group of people survive the initial attack, and the rest of the movie is carried on their shoulders.

The success of a horror survival story tends to rely heavily on the characters. They have to have different personalities, specialties, and over-the-top interactions to keep the film interesting. Here we have a black police officer, a criminal, a nurse, a kid, a scientist, a politician, and a twin sister who must pull through this together. None of the characters are bad and provide decent enough entertainment; as you can imagine, they get into lots arguments and constantly run into trouble. Some of them also get a little personal background check along the way so that we know a bit more about them.

Unfortunately, the plot suffers from a lot of issues. It’s easy to follow in the beginning, but as the story progresses, it becomes absolutely mind-boggling, especially when the disease is finally explained. Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any more bizarre, it surprises you with another hard-to-grasp concept and piles explanations on you. It moves much faster in the last half, so you have to be paying close attention to every single detail to keep up with what’s going on; I had to rewind the scenes a few times myself. The surprises still make up for great entertainment, but they’re just a mess in terms of the plot.

The artwork however is gorgeous and rich in detail, and the gothic castle is a perfect setting for capturing the dark atmosphere of the story and giving it such a unique feel. But I had a serious problem with the CGI. The monsters are completely animated in CGI, and even the characters in some parts. They just don’t blend in with the background art at all. As for the soundtrack, it just rocks and makes the movie feel rather epic at times. I definitely need the opening song on my mp3 player.

Overall, The King of Thorn is a good thriller and very worthwhile to check out. It’s got plenty of horror, monsters torturing humans, and blood to go around, and the characters are diverse and always entertaining. The story might lose itself halfway, but it’s still fun and action-packed till the very end.

Mimi’s Score: 7 Meeps out of 10 (Good)