Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Alex: I know it’s Mimi’s job to review the noitaminA series, but I couldn’t help myself with this one. In my opinion, this is the best anime to come out of that timeslot, and it’s emotional power is even stronger than gems such as Clannad After Story. It also boasts my self proclaimed title of “Most Realistic Anime”

As you can guess from what is probably the most creative title ever, Tokyo has been hit by an 8.0 Earthquake. It’s ironic, because just two months ago, Japan was hit by an earthquake measuring 9.0. You can see how devastating that was on Wiki. The aftershocks were nothing to scoff at, either. When you compare the two of them, this anime suddenly seems very, very real, and very scary.

Mirai is a girl who has given up on life. Everything about it is boring, and she’s constantly got to babysit her little brother because her parents are never around. When the two of them go out to a robot convention, the earthquake hits Tokyo, stranding them. Along the way, they meet Mari, a delivery woman. This is the story of these people struggling to get back to their homes.

The thing which shakes you, and I mean, really shakes you, is how realistic it is. The ending may be something that can only happen to a young child, but it does really happen. Nothing felt forced. And nothing felt like it was a waste of the small amount of 11 episodes it was given.Every single person they walk past has a story behind them, and it really helps to prove that Japan is one of those countries where everyone helps everyone.

If you want something realistic, something apocalyptic, or even something which can make you appreciate how precious the peaceful and quiet mornings you have when you wake up, this is the anime to watch.Nothing else can come close to it in that regard. It’s just a shame that it’s over by the time the powerful emotions have hit you, and it doesn’t carry them.

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

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

Michiko e Hatchin

Alex: Welcome to a world of anime you’ve never seen before. An immoral wasteland where street gangs and city punks rule, and the police chased people in Beetles. This, my friend, is Brazil.

I seem to have some sort of an obsession with anime based around a journey. This is a journey unlike the others, though. This is a journey to find a lost lover, and to escape the law to be free.Obviously, this means that this anime uses freedom as a huge theme throughout the anime.

Manglobe. They took one huge risk in setting this in Brazil, and as you can see from the screenshots, it looks SO good. The unique and unexpected setting allows them to let creative talents run wild, both in the art department and in the sound department. You have some funky tunes to fit in with Brazil, with exotic, lushous surroundings for this journey. The good part? It almost changes every episode. You get something different every episode, and that’s part of what makes this amazing.

You get something different every time. Sure, this is about a journey to find a lover, but in the end, it isn’t about that.It’s about the journey itself, not the end result. The journey is a tale of unlikely friendship, betrayal, and trust.

The story is nothing short of brilliant, but that’s to be expected. Now, the characters. You have an extremely versatile, sexy, pouting, hotheaded, and somewhat childish Michiko taking one of the lead roles, and the amazingly deep and mature Hatchin taking the other lead. That’s all that the anime needs to take off the ground. The characters would be able to carry this show to an amazing high on their own, and having everything else is just a bonus.

Unlike El Cazador De La Burja, another favorite of mine, Michiko thrives on both characters AND story. Everything bonds together to make an amazing anime which shouldn’t be overlooked by any true anime fan, even if it’s just to experience a setting like no other.

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

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

Kino’s Journey

Alex: Ooh, I think this is one of the oldest anime i’ve watched. That’s sad. But this anime is my number 1 anime, and it’ll remain number 1 for a very long time.Sadly, a lot of people don’t share my passion for this show quite as much as I do, but let me tell you a little story first.

There once was a person who watched a lot of anime. But gradually, his trust in anime wavered. He’d seen one too many moe girls and one too many love triangles. Probably enough to put him off anime for the rest of his life. So, one day, when he was having a rough time of life, he decided to give one more anime a chance. That anime just happened to be Kino No Tabi.

It revolves around a girl. Well, at first I didn’t know she was a girl. It revolves around a person and their talking motorbike. This person is travelling the world, looking for good stories and an interesting tale. You follow this girl through some of her travels, and that is the concept of Kino’s Journey.

It’s another case based series. Every episode, Kino enters a new “country”, where the world is different. And boy, does it make you think! Every single episode pulls at your brain or your heartstrings, as it deals with matters such as ethics, race, and even the problem with society. And it’s brilliant. No, brilliant isn’t good enough. It’s above brilliant, it’s above stunning, beyond amazing, so forth. It’s that good.

I sat and thought about this review for a very long time. Let me pose a question. How would you describe the Mono Lisa? How do you describe something that’s a work of art, but it’s both utterly brilliant yet indescribable at the same time? That’s my problem here. Whilst everyone doesn’t fall in love with it, it’s still a great watch, and easily worth the time 13 episodes will take out of your life. I can’t put forward how amazing this anime is, not only to me, but in general. I know that most people are here for Mimi’s posts, but if you read mine, I strongly, strongly push you to at least try the first few episodes.

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

Mimi’s Score: 8.5 Meeps out of 10 (Very Good)

Mushi-shi

Alex: What..is life? Mushishi is an anime directed towards that question. Yes, Mushishi is an anime which questions the very fundamentals of life itself. If that doesn’t impress you, then you’re strange. (I’m kidding)

This anime says that a Mushi,  a creature of god and of the earth, is one of the key factors of life. The majority of this series is spend following Ginko, a Mushi Master, as he seeks to unravel the truth behind them, as it could lead to the secrets of life itself.

Yep, this anime is an episodic one. It doesn’t have a divine conclusion or anything, but each episode is so groundbreaking and utterly amazing that you don’t really mind that it leaves you with a “life goes on” ending. This anime doesn’t know how to deliver a bad story. From finding the essence of illness to finding why rainbows are created, the mysteries of life get deconstructed in a brilliant chunk of atmosphere that you find yourself forgetting to breathe during the episodes.

To be honest, just hearing that should excite every single anime sense in your body.Mushishi consists of 26 episodes, with 26 stories. That’s 26 moments of pure art.The background, the music, and the atmosphere are done so perfectly that there’s nothing to nitpick this series over.

I may sound like a stupid fanboy, but Mushishi is perfect. Sure, sometimes it can’t live up to the dizzying heights it manages to take itself too, but when it remains at a constant high throughout, this is one of the defining anime of this generation. Watch it, love it, and pass it on to a friend to see. You won’t be disappointed.

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

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

When The Seagulls Cry

Alex: Umineko is the second proper story from the jaw-droppingly talaneted Ryukshi07, and it’s also the anime i’ve seen the most heated debates about of well…pretty much the four or five years i’ve been watching anime. I have no idea if you want to take that as a good thing or not, but hey :b Oh, and yes, i’m going to discuss some spoilers for Higurashi, since this is pretty much the spiritual successor.

So, for starters. The similarities. Whilst it’s never confirmed, Burnkastel is assumed to be Rika, and Lambdadelta is assumed to be Takano. A lot of the voice actors return, and it takes them a while to stop trying to pull Higurashi scary-esque faces in the beginning. Oh, and it takes place over 3 days which constantly reset themselves, similar to Higurashi. That’s it. The culprit isn’t some unknown disease or a crazed women, it’s a human. Higurashi was horror-mystery? Umineko is fantasy-mystery, with emphasis on the mystery.Whilst you were only in the feet of the detective in the final of Higurashi, you’re constantly in the feet of the detective in Umineko.

I have to admit, the way it does it is very unique. It’s your classic Magic VS Reality battle, with a witch appearing in front of our rather incompetent main character and claiming that she’s behind the chain of deaths and closed rooms which killed his family, and he claims that it was a human who did it all because witches don’t exist. Putting aside the horribly obvious “She’s doing magical things and so are you, hypocrite” thing which a lot of people do say when the anime is called into question, the magic isn’t actually the main factor. The magic is more of…an aid to help you unravel the mystery, because it’s easily the hardest mystery i’ve encountered to date.

When I phrase it like that, you could assume that the magic is an illusion designed to help you find the truth, and that’s almost proven with the Red Truth and the Blue Truth, both of which are captured in screenshots above. The Red Truth is the “One Sole Truth”, as in, anything in red is the truth and there’s no room to argue against it. The Blue Truth is the humans version of the red, and so forth.

The source material. Umineko, like Higurashi, comes from a visual novel with contains 8 arcs. The majority of hate for the anime comes from the fact that it’s a terrible adaption, unlike Higurashi, which was almost a textbook adaption. Look at it this way: Studio Deen took a creative licence to the work, and whilst they kept the core parts of the story intact, they did an awful lot of cutting. That’s not really a bad thing. It does mean that at times, the pacing speeds up to a dizzying high and slows down, being very “all over the place”, but that doesn’t stop you enjoying the work.I’d love to know how they got a big breasted tsundere witch and so forth, but it’s probably just creativity…I hope.

By exposing it right down to it’s nitty-gritty roots, Umineko No Naku Koro Ni is a mystery series that’s trying to do something different to everything else. It’s an absolutely fantastic mystery, but your enjoyment of it comes down to how well you can cope with the magic elements, which force themselves onto the viewer time and time again. Just…don’t expect to get a full package, since this is only half a story, and with the modern anime syndrome claiming more and more studios than ever before, it’s looking less and less likely this anime will ever get the conclusion it deserves.

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

Mimi’s Score: 8.5 Meeps out of 10 (Very Good)