Summer Wars

Mimi: Summer Wars is basically Digimon Adventure: Children’s War Game, and that’s no surprise considering that they’re both directed by Mamoru Hosoda. I saw the Digimon film a long time ago and loved it, but because of that, Summer Wars feels less spectacular to me. It’s just the same thing all over again. The internet (or Oz system) gets hacked, and a special group of teenagers must restore it back to the way it was, using ‘avatars’ that look worse than the kiddiest Digimon designs. The main protagonist, Kenji, is a timid, boring little kid, save for the fact that he’s a math genius, and the plot is solved by a cheesy deus ex machina. Sigh.

But despite those drawbacks, the film is pretty neat in some aspects. The artwork is highly detailed and rather gorgeous at times, but more than anything, I absolutely loved the slice-of-life moments. Kenji visits his friend’s mansion for the summer, and he meets over a dozen of her relatives who are there to celebrate her great-grandmother’s 90th birthday. It’s a lot of fun to see how they interact with Kenji, and the characters have a very realistic look-and-feel to them. I come from a pretty large family myself (way bigger than this one, actually), so I can relate to how crazy it feels to be around them all at once. Now and then, the family members make hilarious remarks and pull off the craziest stunts ever, and I commend the film for being able to manage its large cast so well.

In the aftermath of the Oz system hack, the film does a great job in showing how ordinary people are affected, as most of them depend on it to manage everything in their lives. It’s really an “all hell breaks loose” situation. The fighting scenes in the internet world are well-animated and amazing, but you really have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy any of the ridiculous events. Unfortunately, the ending is just a bunch of nonsense and pretty colors, and none of the characters prove to be all that memorable. There’s just nothing inventive, mind-blowing, or sensible (plot-wise) about this film, but I will remember it for its portrayal of a large, crazy family, and the OST is definitely a must-have.

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

Break Blade 4: Sanka no Chi

Mimi: Woah. Out of all the Break Blade movies, this has got to be the bloodiest, most action-packed one yet. What’s more is that the focus isn’t on Rygart and Zess this time, making room for a couple new characters to step into the spotlight. In fact, Zess only appears in one scene at the beginning, and now there’s someone more impressive than Rygart fighting on his team–the former prisoner named Girge who turns out to be General Baldr’s son. What, couldn’t you see the resemblance?

And really, Girge’s appearance makes this a whole lot more interesting. He joins Rygart and a few other guys under the newly assigned Captain Narvi, but no one really likes him. Apparently, he got locked up for killing a group of comrades in a training session for no reason whatsoever, and most were against releasing him to help the war effort, including his father. But hey, they’re desperate and really need the guy. He may have a few screws loose, but he is an incredibly gifted Golem pilot. The first half of this film focuses on an intense training session, as Rygart has to strengthen his defense and learn how to aim accurately. The second half delves into the real fight, as it looks like both sides are pulling out their best guys yet, and they’re capable of the most sadistic killings ever. The final match between Girge and Borcuse is really intense and exciting, but it just had to end at such a good part…

There is one thing that has been bothering me though. What’s up with all the Sigyn fanservice? We’ve already seen her naked before..do we really need three more random scenes of it? At this rate, I’ll only remember Sigyn for her undergarments. The fanservice makes her character feel a little more shallow every single time. It’s like–who cares about her cool personality, it’s her looks that really count. In this film, we get a deeper insight into her obvious feelings for Rygart, but other than that, she’s just a showcase. Overall though, I really enjoyed the 4th installment of Break Blade, but it still feels like it’s lacking that special something, which is why I can’t bump the score up yet. We’ll have to see how the rest of it goes~

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

Le Chevalier D’Eon

Alex: Le Chevalier D’Eon is a story based on a true tale.

It revolves around knights of France, corruption,the workings of government and politics, kings and queens and noblemen, dark cults, and magic.
If any bone in your body is excited by the possibility of a tale reaching into the depths of history,then you should definitely give this anime a try.

I won’t talk about the tale itself, because it’s written like a book, perfectly unraveling bit by bit, dragging the viewer deeper and deeper into the world of France.It may start a little slowly, but there’s more than enough to get you interested and as it gets better and better, your interest doesn’t flicker in the slightest.I think this could be the fastest i’ve ever marathoned a series, to be honest.

The utter attention to detail is astounding. The characters may not be as well designed as several of these modern ones,but the animation and background detail is stunning. Absolutly stunning. There are several swordfights throughout,and the choreography throughout is astounding.The characters dance along with the swords, and the fights look like something amazingly realistic. Moving onto the background art, it really feels like you travel from France, to Russia, to England, and then back to France.

I’m unlikely to forget the brilliant characters anytime soon, either. The dashing Durand, who would be akin to a gentleman, following orders and protecting his friends. The loyal Teillagory, a knight of old.The Young Robin, greatly looking up to Lia and D’Eon, and finally, D’Eon himself. An instantly likeable character on a journey to find the truth behind his sister’s strange death. And then there are the other characters involved throughout the whole series; non of them feeling old or dull or clichéd ,all of them helping the amazing tale to progress perfectly.

The end…was uh…different to what I expected. I will say that. But it was a really fitting ending to a tale, even though it may be a slightly f’d up ending, if you’ll pardon my language.  It really, really did suit the tale, and that’s all that counts, I suppose. It’s nice how they closed the tale in a way that remained true to history.

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

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