Author: The Droid

It took me about 40 years and seven valiant attempts to finally enjoy anime. Whether I grew into it or the stories got better, things have been percolating along since 2004.
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“Flower” Power

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This is one really strange movie, in that you are uncertain what the reality is and what it all means, starting with the title. As I have said, if you can’t decide on a title, there are bigger problems afoot. “Garakowa: Restore the World”, (also known as “Vitreous Flower & Destroy the World”, “Garasu no Hana to Kowasu Sekai” or “The Glass Flower and The Destroyed World”) plunks you right into the thick of things, with nary a map or guidelines as to what is reality or what reality is. Forget Google Maps, or you’ll be trying to find that Chipotle in the middle of the Hudson River.

Dual (left) and Dorothy (right) are two programs who reside within the Box of Wisdom. Their job is to enter the various worlds, containing the memories of people across many timelines and deleting worlds that become infected with viruses. They spend a lot of time talking a caliber of philosophy and what they do, as we see them killing off a virus or two.

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Year of the “Asterisk”

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An asterisk is that little star you sometimes see, next to things like ‘free* checking’ or ‘free* bat day’ or ‘free* Willy’. It is an indicator that things are not on the up-and-up. That is certainly the case with “The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water” (“ Gakusen Toshi Asutarisuku” “Academy Battle City Asterisk”). But, first, we must go back to the front.

In the 20th century, a disaster called Invertia led to the destruction of numerous cities across the world. (Well, I assume the world. I mean, only Japan got pulverized?) In response to the declining economy, the Integrated Empire Foundation is organized to assume the world’s leadership. The parallel city of Rikka, also known as Asterisk, has six academies which hold tournaments called “Festas”. Seidokan Academy becomes the 5th highest-ranking academy in Asterisk. Now, the thing about Rikka is that it is designed to look like a stylized asterisk, with the six academies as the points of the star and the festival battlegrounds as the center.

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That Obscure “Object” of Desire

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This was a show that went in a different direction than I had imagined, in that what (or who) should have been the ‘star’ was relegated into being a support player. But I digress. Welcome to the world of “Heavy Object “(“Hevī Obujekuto”).

We are in an alternate future (and can a future be ‘alternate’? It’s the future; who knows what it may hold? Except no hover boards), and war as we know it is obsolete. Well, not completely, as war is war, but instead of sending in hordes and hordes of soldiers to shoot and stab and bomb and blow up, we send in the “Heavy Object”, a massive orb on tank tracks. And I mean heavy. Aside from being 50 meters in diameter, it is also 200,000 tons of hugeness. And those are the ‘small’ ones! Part of the issue is that where it can go is somewhat limited. You had best have something special when you go to the desert (and, yes, there are floating versions of this weapon as well).

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A “Method” To the Madness

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This was a show I started to watch, had it taken away and picked it back up to complete it when it returned. “Sora no Method” (“Celestial Method”) is kind of like what happened to me with this show, in that things we did in the past have now come around to greet us again and need to be completed.

Nonoka Komiya (far right) is a girl who once lived in Lake Kiriya City, but moved out. Seven years have passed and she returns to discover there is a mysterious blue saucer hovering over the city. This is a big tourist attraction, as no one can answer any questions about it. I mean, all it does is hover, but is otherwise completely inert to anything and everything. As Nonoka tries to make herself at home, so to speak, she meets this odd girl, Noel (blue hair in the center) who claims that she not only knows of her, but has been waiting all this time to grant her wish to her, a wish that was made seven years earlier. Continue reading

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Make No “Bones” About It

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This is an anime with another capacious title: “Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru” (“Beautiful Bones: Sakurako’s Investigation” or “A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako’s Feet”) and is one of the better horror/crime dramas I have seen recently, despite an obvious problem. Sakurako Kujō (left) is a genius beauty in her mid-twenties whose life is centered around one thing and one thing only: bones. People are dull, boring little creatures, but if we can get to their bones…..well! Who cares about six-pack abs when a well-formed humerus is far more appealing. Here is where the problem sets in.

She has little tolerance for others and is fully content to be completely isolated in her study, crammed with skeletons, if it weren’t for high school boy Shotaro Tatawaki—her new assistant and constant companion. Well, she does have Ume Sawa, her caretaker (look, she would be skin and bones, never eating, as she admires bones. One feels her culinary skills are highly suspect and might not know how to boil water) and Hector, the family dog. Together, they can solve crimes, because the bones talk to her and tell her a story that others can miss. Continue reading

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The “Undefeated”

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lux

As of late, I have been running into a lot of fighting academy shows, where people of varying degrees of talents and abilities are shipped off to this particular institute or that particular school to hone their fighting skills so that they may defend this country or do battle against other schools for honor and glory and all the taiyaki they can devour. It’s like being in “The Goblet of Fire” but without Cedric Diggory. This particular offering, “Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle” (“Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut”, “Undefeated Weakest Bahamut“) related the potentially sad tale of Lux Arcadia (that’s him, keeping abreast of things…..so to speak).

He was the seventh crown prince of the Arcadia Empire that was overthrown via a rebellion five years earlier. He is a new transfer to Royal Knight Academy, but in trying to help a girl, he accidentally trespasses into the female dormitory’s bathing area and sees the kingdom’s new princess, Lisesharte, naked, incurring her wrath. Lisesharte then challenged Lux to a Drag-Ride duel. No, I’m not talking about getting out your souped-up hot-rod and racing for pink slips. Continue reading