Category: Anime

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COMMENTARY – You “Drive” Me Crazy

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mdv2

I have given a review of “Valkyrie Drive Mermaid”, a show that I could not fully like or embrace for a variety of reasons, but it allowed me to get into a discussion with my anime friends about what it is and isn’t. But first, a small side story:

The last time I went to AX, I attended a session regarding yaoi manga, as I felt I needed to know more about it. The person there referred to it as “Youth Activities On Ice”, so people could discuss it without causing confused looks from those who did not know what it was, especially parents. Do you really want to talk about your enjoyment of BL manga in front of Mom and Pop? Since there was no such acronym for yuri, I made one up: “Youth University Required Instruction”. The point is that potentially my definition of yuri is not what other people think of yuri and IS Valkyrie properly classified as ‘yuri’? Continue reading

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Baby, You Can “Drive” My Car

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Valkyrie_Drive_Mermaid

There are two anime genres I do not really like: yaoi and yuri. It’s just that it comes across to me as letting me know it’s OK to watch two guys or two gals expressing how they feel about each other in a rather intimate manner. I guess. But this show that I saw, “Valkyrie Drive Mermaid” (“Varukirī Doraivu Māmeido”) has two gals making out, but it’s a real means to an end and not just to show canoodling…..although that splash panel up there makes me a liar, eh?

The world that they live in is fraught with peril. Some girls are infected with the A Virus (no, not ‘a’ virus, the A Virus.) “A” means “Armed” and some ladies can turn into weaponry. Those are known as Exters. The other part of the virus gives us a Liberator. When these two get together, via some foreplay arousal, the Exter goes into “Drive” and becomes the weapon, although you have no idea what she will be: a sword, a mace ball, a powerful rifle. It’s pot luck at best. Continue reading

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Move Towards the “Light”

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hotarubi-no-mori-e-3

This ‘movie’ was a bit longer than other offerings, about 45 minutes, and is a self-contained tale. The only problem I had with “Hotarubi no Mori e” (“Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light”) is that I knew how it was going to end before I got there and that is always a grand disappointment. Continue reading

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Keeping Your “Head”

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hozuki-1

This was a show I really liked, as it was one of the few times that I could actually relate to the lead character. And he works in Hell. No, I mean he actually works in Hell. “Hōzuki no Reitetsu” (“Hozuki’s Coolheadedness”) tells the story of Hozuki (although I have seen it as Hoozuki; that is him front and center) who is a demon ogre (Psst! Don’t tell Shrek, OK?) working for King Enma (Mr Jolly behind him). Enma is the Judge of Hell and makes the decision which Hell you go to. Huh? That’s right; there are 256 divisions of Hell (depending on what you did during your life to have you directed down here) and he sends you to, say, Screaming Hell (that’s where all the drunks go). It is up to Hozuki to make sure things run well once you get there. Can’t have the employees slacking off or not really doing their job; then Hell would really go to hell. Continue reading

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COMMENTARY – Linking It All Together

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coupler point

It’s Riddle Time! Today’s riddle is…“Why does the porridge bird lay his egg in the air?”  No, that’s not it. It is “What do trains and anime have in common?” ‘Coupler points’.

You have seen in my reviews the term ‘coupler point’, in reference to the conclusion of a show. What does that mean? Well, we have to look at trains for an understanding. All trains have a hook at either end of their cars. Yes, even the caboose, which is the ‘last car’, still has couplers on either end. I remember, as a young youth, watching the trains go by, I would see two or three cabooses linked together. The couplers allow for numerous cars to connect, so you end up with a train that takes 30 minutes to pass a crossing. Not too good if you are running late to work but great if you are a train geek. Continue reading

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Don’t Pull on my “Tail”

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twin tails

Although this is kind of a ‘Girls Who Save the World’ caliber of show, it was very hard to take this seriously, even when it became ‘serious’. “Gonna be the Twin-Tail!!” (“Ore, Tsuintēru ni Narimasu”, “I Will Become a Twintail”.) also takes gender-bending to another level.

We are at Yōgetsu Private Academy. Sōji Mitsuka is an ordinary high school boy who has an obsession for twintails hair. That is when you split the hair, so you have it flaring off to the side, as we see up there, although it can trail in the back as well. At the opening ceremony, he is enraptured with the numerous twintails about him, especially Erina Shindō, who is the student body president and has a magnificent pair…of twintails. Continue reading