9/08/2008

Funimation snags Kaze no Stigma


Via ANN.

Kaze no Stigma is a Gonzo production from last year's anime line up (spring 2007). It was pretty decent. I enjoyed it well enough, though it's nothing particularly spectacular. When I describe something that way, what I mean is that it's entertaining, but not really stimulating in any way.

The show centers around Kazuma, a young man from the Kannagi family of fire magic users, who lost a battle against Ayano and was banished from the family. Basically, his powers as a fire user were far too weak to weild the family's sword, Enraiha. He and Ayano battled it out to see who would be the heir, and Ayano beat him easily. Four years later Kazuma reappears as a powerful wind user, having made a contract with a wind spirit lord, and now works as a freelance magic user. He has returned to get revenge against his father, who ejected him from the family. But his quest for revenge brings him back to Ayano and his little brother Ren. While Kazuma has been gone, mysterious wind users have been attacking Kannagi family members. At first the family blames Kazuma, but they soon learn that a wind clan is the cause. Kazuma, who wishes to destroy the Kannagi, instead ends up working with them (or Ayano at least) to protect his brother Ren. Throughout the series Kazuma keeps a cold distance from the Kannagi family, with the exception of his brother, but somehow Ayano keeps getting thrown in to work with him (or sometimes against him) on his jobs.

There's a cute little romance in there, and it plays out fairly well. The viewers learn about Kazuma's feelings long before Ayano, but there's still a decent amount of ambiguousness for a while. Ayano is a hot tempered, rash, occassionally arrogant and sometimes clumsy girl who Kazuma trains (in his own strange ways) to become a more adept wielder of fire magic and the Enraiha.

The animation and music work well. It's Gonzo, and it looks like a Gonzo show. I'd watch it at least once, if you're into the whole spirit elementals and girls with swords kind of shows.

Also, ANN now has a list of the upcoming fall shows. There are some promising titles (like Clannad After Story), and the list there is not complete (as of this posting).

11 comments:

Stier said...

Shows you should watch:

Slayers Revolution

Nodame Cantabile Paris Hen (today I just finished the Live Action.. I liked it a lot =D)

Tales of the Abyss (strongly recommended)

Zaku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (if you haven't seen the first season yet, It would be better to watch Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei first)

Kris said...

I won't be watching any Slayers, as I haven't seen any before. I plan to one of these days. :)

I will of course be watching the Nodame Paris arc! I'm very excited about it.
I'll also be watching the second season of Vampire Knight.

Tales of the Abyss I probably will watch (I enjoyed Tales of Symphonia a couple seasons ago).
Clannad After Story (of course).
And Hakushaku to Yousei may make my list as well.

I think there were a couple of others on a larger list I've seen that also caught my eye. But I really need to catch up with my spring and summer shows that have been piling up on my HDD. :)

Stier said...

I hope Paris Hen doesn't get some filler ending, 'cause right now this part hasn't ended in the manga (the author is currently on vacations due to her pregnancy). I've seen the case of many animes that had gotten some pretty bad endings due to this fact (GANTS, Full Metal Alchemist, Claymore, and many more).

As for Tales of the Abyss, though I still prefer Symphonia, is still a great story, with many twists and surprises.

Kris said...

Oh yes, I hadn't thought of that. I guess it depends on how closely they work with the manga writer. If they get the skinny from her (meaning she tells them, basically, how the story is supposed to end), they could do it on their own and still remain faithful. But then this might ruin the ending of the manga...so.... I don't mind if it ends a bit differently, so long as it stays true. I mean, if the manga is going to end with them getting married or something, then the anime at least needs to end with them obviously together. I'm sure they'll work something out. I was pretty pleased with how the LA show turned out, though I admit I have not read any of the manga (I'd like to, but I'm just reading too many other titles).

Stier said...

Really?

What titles are you reading?

Kris said...

Haha, hoo boy. Let me go check. I've also added several new titles to my list that have yet to come out, so I don't know if I'll read them beyond the first volume, but I'll note them as well.

Fruits Basket (which is nearly over)
Phantom Dream (Takaya's "new" work that will replace Fruits Basket here)
Return to Labyrinth (which is on its last volume; it isn't very good, but I'm a bit of a sucker for all things Labyrinth)
We Were There (a new manga by Yuki Obata that sounded interesting)
Captive Hearts (a new manga by Matsuri Hino that sounded mildly interesting)
Vampire Knight (Hino)
Skip Beat! (Yoshiki Nakamura; which is one of my favorites, and will get the anime treatment this fall)
I Hate You More Than Anyone (Banri Hidaka; also not super great, but I'm sort of hooked anyway)
Trigun Maximum (so slow)
Bride of the Water God (which is Korean)
Angel Sanctuary (which is completed, but I'm very slowly collecting the volumes of when I get the chance)
and Gunslinger Girl (also slow)

I have the first 2 volumes of Bleach, which I enjoyed, but likely will not pursue (there's just too many).

Stier said...

Why don't you just download them?

It's easier

At least for me, 'cause here in CR is pretty difficult to find mangas.
I see you're more on the shoujo side of manga, i'm more on the shounen and seinnen side.

I follow weekly:

-One Piece (517 chapters and still going @_@)
-Bleach
-Katekyou Hitman REBORN! (a story about a teenage mafia boss and his guardians, fighting against their enemies)
-D.Gray-Man (sure you've heard about this one)
-Eyeshield 21 (a comedy about a high school Football team)
-Air Gear ( an action manga about a group of friends who participate in rollerblade street fights)
-Nodame Cantabile

And monthly

Claymore (if you liked the anime, I strongly recommend the manga, since the end of the anime was a filler)

Full Metal Alchemist (the real story, not the filler anime one)

Soul Eater (this one has a recent anime which you must have heard of)

Berserk

Hellsing

Kris said...

I do download sometimes. I finished reading Fruits Basket a good year or so ago, when it finished in Japan. I got impatient. But I still intend to buy every volume.
Manga is a lot cheaper than say anime (obviously), so I'd rather pay for it and support the companies/artists since I can. Plus, to be honest, I hate reading on my computer. I like to have a physical copy I can carry around.

Though obviously for you, it's harder to find hard copies. I have a good selection here.

I read the first volume of Claymore, which is what got me interested in the anime to begin with. Don't know if I'll ever finish it, though. I wasn't THAT into it.
FMA I've considered, but I've seen all of the anime, and they're going to redo it and follow the original manga...so I can just watch that too. ^_^

I do tend to read more shojo manga; I just lean that way. The stories are cute, and I don't have to decipher crazy battles scribbled out everywhere (I love the Trigun books, but seriously, the battles are really hard to follow cause it's just this blur of ink). Plus, I AM a girl. :) I do like girly things sometimes. Also they tend to be shorter than shonen titles. Also also, shonen titles get made into anime (and brought over to the states) more often, so I can just watch them instead (usually on TV here, as shonen titles get aired way more often than...everything else).

You'll notice from my reviews that though I tend to read more shojo than anything, my anime tastes are much more varied.

Stier said...

I'd love to support the artist by buying the originals, but here in Costa Rica there is only one store that sells original mangas, and they charge $15 per volume (with that money I could eat for 3 or 4 days XD).

And when it comes to anime it's a lot more expensive.

I do have my little collection of original products, but sometimes it's just too difficult to make it bigger (I have several Berserk volumes, the first series of Trigun's manga, all Kingdom Hearts mangas, and many more).

What I like about shounen, that makes me want to read it instead of watching the anime, is the fact that there hasn't been a single manga that was (at least) well adapted to an anime.

Animes like Bleach, One Piece, D.Gray-Man, Hitman REBORN, and many other titles, have lost most of their magic due to filler sagas and things like that.

Kris said...

Oh, I hear ya. From what I understand, all the "filler" is a direct result of the anime progressing faster than the manga. They have to create filler episodes and wait for more manga to be published so they can continue the real story. Rather annoying, really.

Stier said...

Not only that. They also create filler just to extend more the animes when they're very successful (money talks ¬¬)