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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Where is Your “Humanity”?

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humanity

I initially resisted this show, as I was watching “Sunday Without God” at the same time it originally came out and did not feel like diving into another dystopian, post-apocalyptic world show. Well, it IS a caliber of dystopian, post-apocalyptic world show, but it’s just so bright and lively, it’s hard to believe we’re all doomed. “Humanity Has Declined” (“Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita” or “Jintai”) starts off with how human civilization has regressed and humanity keeps decreasing in numbers. The story follows an unnamed girl (although she is referred to as “Ms. Sweets”) who acts as a mediator between humanity and the “fairies”, who are small elf-like creatures attracted by sweets and happy things, but also have the habit to cause trouble to her (and others) with their powers in their endless search for amusement. Continue reading

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“Punch” the Keys!

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opm

I am so very tired of superheroes. Everywhere you turn around, another superhero pops up, having epic fights with epic villains or the Old Guard is trotted out to battle yet another implacable foe, bent on world conquest or world destruction or world series. I had some resistance to “One-Punch Man” (“Wanpanman”), as I felt it was more of the same. Well, it IS more of the same, but it is done in such a cavalier, toss-off, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot kind of approach, you are drawn into it, like a cheese log at the company party. Continue reading

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Reach For The “Sky”

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Sky_Wizards_Academy

This one is a combination of magic and survival shows, kind of what might happen if “Chrome-Shelled Regios” and “Blade Dance” merged ideas, so we end up with “Sky Wizards Academy” (“Kūsen Madōshi Kōhosei no Kyōkan”, “The Instructor of the Aerial Combat Wizard Trainees”).

In the alternative world of the future, humanity was driven off the land by the threat of magical armored insects and now lives in aerial floating cities. Its defenses lie in wizards who fight the insects with magic in mid-air. They are able to float and soar about and use a variety of weapons to dispatch these ‘Devil Beetles’. Continue reading

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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