Kino's Journey

I wasn't sure where to start, so I guess I'll just go down the list.

Kino's Journey is a really lovely little show. Subtitled "The Beautiful World," this 13-episode anime lives up to the description. The series is based on a light novel series by Keiichi Sigsawa (he also wrote the light novels that were the basis for the Allison & Lilia anime series). The show follows the young Kino (she's probably in her early-mid teens, though the time frame is a bit ambiguous) and her talking motorcycle named Hermes as they travel from land to land experiencing the different cultures and people of each place they visit.

The series is very episodic. There isn't really a single set plot line. Kino and Hermes are simply traveling from place to place. There are a few things that tie the episodes together. Kino learns of things in some lands that she sees the effects of in other places, but otherwise the episodes are stand alone, with recurring themes. As a traveler, Kino spends no more than three days and two nights in any one place, claiming that it is the perfect amount of time to experience a place without staying too long to become attached. She also prefers to observe and tries to make it a point not to involve herself in the affairs of the lands she visits, though she isn't always successful.

The beauty of the world lies not in conventional beauty, but rather in things that would be considered harsh, brutal, and tragic. The idea being that these things have a beauty as well, or perhaps, that they exemplify what beauty there is. Whether it's a land where people don't have to work but work anyway to measure their worth through stress, a land that collects books from all over the world but locks away anything they deem harmful, or two countries that keep their peace through disturbing methods. Though it's clear that Kino herself doesn't like violence, she is well armed with a revolver, a pistol, and several knives for her protection. She is an unusually excellent shot for one of her size and age, but she discovers she must find a balance between peace and justified violence. Is it worth killing innocent rabbits to save the lives of a few starving men (meaning, are the men worth the sacrifice)? Does an entire land need to be destroyed for the sake of another? Every episode explores a different aspect of humanity, a different philosophy of life.

Everything about this show falls wonderfully into place - the simple and beautiful animation, a lovely score, good writing, and an excellent English dub by ADV. It is well worth a watch. It's a little gloomy, but in a very beautiful sort of way. It's an exploration of life, people, and culture. As is often expressed in the series and the novel, "The world is not beautiful, therefore it is."

More Diversions

Yeah so....
That list of things I wanted to get done?
It just got harder.

Today we went out and picked up the following:
Persona 3 FES (my first foray into the Persona games, and I'm liking it so far, but the whole "shoot yourself in the head to activate your special powers" thing is kind of disturbing)
Tales of the Abyss (also my first Tales game; watching the anime now, so I figured it was a good jumping on title)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX (never played one of these before, either)
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood (which is a sequel, but it doesn't seem to be a direct sequel, so I think I'm good)
Fallout 3 (more for the boy, but I have a mild interest)
GTA IV (which I will likely never play, so we're safe there)

So yeah. Whoops. ^_^

Afro Samurai

Alright. I'm gonna say it. I don't get why this is so damn popular. It's interesting, and it looks cool; I'm not saying it's bad at all. But the blood and gore has been done before in things like Blood and Ninja Scroll. And the hip hop samurai stuff has also been done, and done better in my opinion, in Samurai Champloo. So all Afro Samurai really has going for it is Samuel L. Jackson, a so-so plot full of holes, and it's unique animation style.

Afro Samurai follows a samurai called the Afro Samurai (bet you didn't see that one coming) on his journey to avenge the death of his father. In this futuristic (with feudal elements) view of Japan, there exists a person known as Number One, the best fighter in the land. Once Number One claims his title and near god like status, he waits until the day the Number Two comes to take the title away. Only the Number Two has the right to challenge the Number One, so the Number Two's journey is filled with fighters attempting to take the title so they can challenge Number One. These titles are represented by sacred headbands depicting the warrior's number.

In this story, Afro is the Number Two. The Number One is a gunman named Justice who killed the previous Number One, Afro's father, when Afro was a small child. Afro devotes the rest of his life to training with his father's sword in order to find the Number Two headband so that he can go after Number One (Justice). And that's basically the whole story. A good chunk of the 5 episode series is made up of flash backs of Afro as a child training in a dojo. It is in this dojo that he meets the young girl Otsuru, the Sword Master, and the young man Jinno. They all have roles in his future life. The Sword Master trains him, and both Otsuru and Jinno reappear (as opposition) during his journey to defeat Justice. As Justice makes very few appearances, most of Afro's trouble comes from a group of monks called the Empty 7 - six monks who are trying to defeat Afro so they can kill Number One and have the power of both headbands. Keeping Afro company and offering him tactical advice is Ninja Ninja, an enigmatic character who seems to be some sort of spirit, or possibly a figment of Afro's imagination.

It's not a bad show, but I don't really get why it's such a pop culture phenomenom. I'm sure Sammy L. (who does an excellent job voicing both Afro and Ninja Ninja) helps; after all he's a culture phenomenom all on his own. I certainly don't feel like I would be missing out if I hadn't seen it. Which, if you haven't noticed, is my way of saying "It's a decent watch, but nothing to get uppity about." The RZA (Kill Bill) did the music. It IS really well animated, and has a very distinct and unique style. Though it strikes me as odd that casual fans (or people who aren't anime fans at all) enjoy the artsy look of the show. Though I'm sure the rather graphic and completely unnecessary sex scene helps.

FUNimation has released two versions of the show on DVD. A "Spike TV" cut, which I guess is the edited for TV version, though I'm unsure why anyone would want that. And the "director's cut" which is unedited. There's also a recent sequel called Afro Samurai: Ressurection, in which some people who died are ressurected so that they can die again. Hooray.
There's also a video game.

Things to do

Reviews to write:
Kino's Journey
Twelve Kingdoms
Elfen Lied
Afro Samurai
Solty Rei
Kuroshitsuji
Telepathy Ran
Allison and Lilia
The Great Happiness Space
Talk about Manga-ka (Takaya, Hino, Nakamura)
Midori Days
Legend of Crystania

Shows to watch:
Finish Tales of the Abyss
Finish Clannad After Story
Finish Skip Beat
Finish Natsume Yujin-Cho
Watch Vampire Knight Guilty
Finish Nodame Paris
Finish Chrno Crusade (again)
Start Burst Angel
Catch up with Mushi-Shi
Xenosaga the Animation
Finish Battlestar Galactica

Read:
Finish Trigun Maximum
Start re-reading Fruits Basket to get ready for final volume
Finish A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Start A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire

Play:
Finish Last Remnant
Finish Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Restart Assassin's Creed

Misc:
Drool over End of Eternity screen shots and trailer.
Pretend there's amazing footage for the new Assassin's Creed, even though it's all cryptic nonsense.
Drool over the awesome preview spread in new Game Informer instead.
Be jealous of Japan yet again.
Play Last Remnant and forget to do everything else.

Le Chevalier D'Eon

This is going to be a weird one, folks. Animated by Production I.G., it's beautifully crafted. Filled with great sword fights, beautiful settings, perfect music...and one of the weirdest stories I've seen. Le Chevalier D'Eon is loosely based on the real life of d'Eon de Beaumont, a knight and spy for Louis XV, king of France. There are plenty of other historical characters like Louis XV, Marquise de Pompadour, Comte de St. Germain, Francis Dashwood, the Russian Empress Elizabeth, and even Maximilien Robespierre. They are mixed in with purely fictional main characters Robin, Durand, and Teillagory.

D'Eon, Robin, Durand and Teillagory all work for King Louis XV as spies in his personal spy network le Secret du Roi. When the story opens, D'Eon is mourning the death of his sister, Lia, a member of le Secret du Roi who died while on duty in Russia. In history, D'Eon did not have a sister named Lia, but D'Eon himself spent a good portion of his life as a woman and went by the name Lia. In the anime, instead of using the real D'Eon's transgendered nature, he is occasionally possessed by the vengeful spirit of his dead sister. Even Lia is unsure of who murdered her and why, and her soul will not rest in peace until the mystery is solved. D'Eon serves as a vessel for her soul because of their close bond as siblings.

When Lia's body appears floating inside a casket on the Seine, it sets D'Eon off on a journey that will forever change his life. On the top of her casket is the word "Psalms" written in blood, and it is the only clue he has to follow. With Queen Marie's help he discovers that this is somehow related to the Royal Psalms and the Revolutionary Brethren, a group of Poets attempting to decipher the Royal Psalms (a book that denotes those chosen by God to be King). Louis the XV conscripts D'Eon into le Secret du Roi along with the Queen's page Robin, fellow le Secret du Roi member Durand, and former Musketeer Teillagory, and sends the four of them off to find the missing Royal Psalms. D'Eon believes this will lead him to the culprits behind his sister's murder, and they hunt down members of the Revolutionary Brethren through France, Russia and England.

On the other side of the story, Maximilien Robespierre, Francis Dashwood and the Comte St. Germain work against the King and le Secret du Roi to uncover the mysteries of the Royal Psalms and use the Psalms for their own goals. Lia, as one who was actually able to read the Royal Psalms (and knows their secrets), becomes a pawn for both sides.

If it sounds confusing, that's because it absolutely is. The story isn't entirely fabricated. Le Secret du Roi was a real organization, Francis Dashwood's Hellfire Club did exist, D'Eon was sent to Russia to aid the pro-French faction there, and he also collected information for a potential invasion plan against England. There is plenty of build up to the French Revolution specifically and also the American War of Independence. The storyline surrounding the Royal Psalms and the cult that is formed around them is created for the anime. It gets a little out of hand from time to time and becomes somewhat hard to follow.

The anime is based on a novel by Tow Ubukata, who also had a hand in scripting the manga and in writing the screenplay. The 24 episodes span 6 discs from ADV, though the series now belongs to FUNimation. Each DVD comes with an incredible amount of historical data relating to the characters and episodes included. That's really handy to have, but I suggest ignoring it for the most part as it has little to do with what's going on within the story of the anime. It's good for a history lesson though, just be aware of a few typos scattered here and there (including mis-typed dates, which is a nuisance). There are also interviews, clean credits, and a rather bizarre but professional photo shoot of the title character's voice actors (as D'Eon and Lia) cross dressing as their characters (meaning David Matranga wears a dress and Taylor Hannah a suit or uniform). The English voice acting is excellent as well, particularly for the main cast. It's worth a watch or two (a second go through would probably help in understanding what's going on a bit better); it's certainly got the high production value one would expect from Production I.G. Just don't get hung up on the history and enjoy the story you're given.

Image: D'Eon possessed by Lia.

Ace Attorney DSi

Via Kotaku.

Nintendo and Capcom are releasing a DSi bundle in Japan for the new Ace Attorney game based on Miles Edgeworth. I WANT. But it will never, ever be released here. The DSi, I mean. The game will, certainly, but that DSi will never come here.

Not that it's anything grand. It's just a decal of the Blue Badger police mascot, with some fancy text, on an otherwise plain white DSi. I'd settle for a decal sticker that I could place on my own DS. Pop that in the video game case, please. Instant "premium edition" DS without having to buy another one.

Still doesn't compare to the limited edition game bundles that will never see the light of day in the States. The one for Apollo Justice came with headphones, a DS cartridge dictionary, and a DVD of animated sequences from the games all in a fancy box. It's just not fair.

Galaxy Railways

Don't be fooled. Despite it's old styled character designs, this show is from 2003. It's original iteration, the first telling in this universe, Galaxy Express 999, is from the late 70s, early 80s after all. The series is from space opera veteran Leiji Matsumoto (Captain Harlock, Star Blazers, Arcadia of My Youth). The short credits and the way the show was presented (and also FUNimation placing three commercial breaks into the show instead of the typical two, which I've noticed they do for older, shorter shows) made me think the show was from the early 90s. I was surprised it was so recent. The animation itself doesn't look dated, but the way Leiji designs his characters (and everything else) has changed little over the years; though there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

In Galaxy Railways people travel across the universe on space trains. And these are trains as in trains - with steam locomotives and cars, and they even launch and land on rail tracks. It's a little strange, since they can basically fly around all over in space. There are "rail lines" in space, that the average train follows along by going through rail gates. Each train is enclosed within a magnetic shield, so you could open up the windows if you wanted to and not get sucked out into space. The SDF trains (the universe's military force) seem to be able to go anywhere in space with or without plotted rail lines, but still must use designated warp gate locations. It's a...unique design choice. I don't have any problems with it, but it was kind of hard for me to believe. The reason why these people fly around in trains as opposed to, I don't know, space ships, isn't explained.

Galaxy Railways focuses on Manabu Yuuki, a young SDF member following in the steps of his father and brother who were both killed in action as SDF members. Manabu's father Wataru was the Captain of Big One, but sacrificed himself and the engine to save his crew from a surprise attack by a large (and foreign) space battleship. His brother Mamoru dies while out on a mission with the Space Panzer Grenadiers (elite SDF forces). Manabu ends up back on Big One, now under command by Schwanhelt Bulge, a former member of Wataru's crew. The rest of the crew (known as Sirius Platoon) is comprised of the laid back David, harsh but caring Bruce, fellow SDF newbie Louise, and the android nurse Yuki.

The series focuses mostly on Sirius Platoon and Big One as the team travels across the universe stopping terrorists, protecting stations from meteor storms, rescuing stranded trains and passengers, and fighting off a vicious alien race from another dimension. Throw in some character backgrounds and progression, lots of explosions, plenty of gun fights, and you've got an emotionally charged and action packed series on your hands.

It does have its problems. The plot is a little confusing near the end. The reasons they're being attacked by this mysterious alien race are a little unclear because it's explained a couple of different ways. Initially it seems there's another force behind them, but by the end of the series it's explained with another reason, and the second unknown force remains an unresolved entity. There's also the idea that everyone's fate and destiny is already set, and for the most part no one really bothers to change this. At least not until destiny starts spiraling out of control when the alien race crosses into their dimension to wipe them out. A woman they refer to as The Supreme Commander (it's actually two...two entities...but they're in one person...or something, it's not really clear) watches over the destiny of everyone in the universe. I don't think she has any control over it; for the most part she just stands there and lets things happen so even if she did have control, she doesn't exert it in any real way. Somehow Manabu gets into a lot of situations that he's not supposed to, which doesn't really make a lot of sense. So all in all, I'm not really sure how that element of the created universe is supposed to work.

The names of these guys...gave me a lot of giggles. Every time someone called Captain Bulge just that, I let out a juvenile giggle. And the android nurse, Yuki...I swear she calls herself a Sexaroid, whatever that is (though I should think it's probably obvious). Bruce's full name is Bruce J. Speed. Then of course the trains....Big One, Flame Swallow and Iron Burger. So yeah, now you see how immature I really am.

Anyway.
To wrap things up, Galaxy Railways is a 26 episode series licensed by FUNimation. There are two direct sequels, currently unlicensed in the states - The Galaxy Railways: A Letter From the Abandoned Planet (4 episode OVA that takes place between the first and second series of the show), and The Galaxy Railways: Crossroads to Eternity (another 26 episodes). Both follow Sirius Platoon's remnants on further adventures in the universe. I should note now that I nearly didn't watch this series because the English voice acting in the first episode was nearly intolerable. It doesn't get much better, but you get (sort of) used to it after a while. Whether it was worth that...I'm not sure. It's an entertaining show, but I don't feel like I would have been missing out had I not bothered to watch it. If you're a space opera fan, it's probably a must, being a Matsumoto creation, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the show. Watch it if you're looking for something different.

Image (top to bottom, left to right): David, Bulge, Bruce, Yuki, Manabu, Louise.