Allen's eye; left-to-right, Kanda, Lenali and Allen; the Millennium Earl; Kanda with Mugen.
The 2006 Anime Season, as seen by me.
Part 2: 2006, Autumn Season.
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2006: SECOND SEASON--FALL
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First, the ones we never finished:
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PUMPKIN SCISSORS--Unengaging tale of Pumpkin Scissors (what's it mean? No idea.), a relief unit charged with caring for citizens after a long and draining war, which befriends a former anti-tank trooper--a man named Randel Orlando-- who seems to be invulnerable. Just not interesting, headscratch of a title, characters trying (I thought) for a FMA vibe, eh.
BUSOU RENKIN--or as we called it, Fullmetal Bleach. --No, really. Highschool kid Kazuki fights monsters in his dreams; one night one of them kills him, but a mystery girl called Tokiko saves him by implanting a device called a Kakugane in place of his heart. Soon he learns that it was no dream, that the monsters are alchemical creations called Homunculi, and moreover, that the new heart has awakened in him the power of Arms Alchemy. He gains the ability to manifest spirit energy in the form of a whackin' huge spear and becomes an apprentice Alchemic Warrior under the training of feisty Tokiko, whose alchemic weapon is the (totally giggle-inducing) robot-armed Valkyrie Skirt. What will Kazuki name his spear? What will his school friends think of his odd new friendship? And what does the mysterious Papillon Mask have to do with it?
-- Yup, that's really it. And if you haven't heard every single word of that before, I'll eat a Gnarls Barkley record. With mustard.
D.GRAY-MAN--(what's it mean? No idea.)-- So it's the late 19th Century, and young Allen Walker is sent by
his master to the headquarters of the Dark Order (or Black Priest Organization), to be accepted as an accredited
exorcist. It seems that the terrible Millennium Earl is besieging the world with Akuma--not demons but tormented monsters,
created from dead souls mistakenly recalled by their loved ones to the living world. If an Akuma is exorcised, the soul
within is set free, ending its pain and breaking the Akuma's power. Allen is another one of these gifted kids we see so
often: he's blessed, or cursed, with an anti-Akuma weapon as his left arm and an eye that sees the former soul inside the
Akuma. He is also one of the few who contain Innocence, a divine substance that gives power to fight the Earl and his
monsters. With these powers, he joins the other Exorcists to collect more sources of Innocence (it's believed there are
only 109 in the world) and do battle with the Akuma. --So, what keeps this from being yet another "Fullmetal Bleach"-type
clone (see Busou Renkin above)? I think it’s the imaginative character design--especially the Earl himself, a scary,
wonderful Tim-Burton-like grotesque, somewhere between the Penguin and Bebop's Mad Pierrot--the very likeable and
entertaining characters, the comedic streak, and above all, Allen's compassion for the wretched and anguished creatures
he battles. He never loses sight of his understanding that exorcising them is a form of mercy, and that it must be done
with consideration for the human soul trapped inside the monster.
--There's also eye candy on both sides, I must say: Allen's way cute, and his fellow exorcists include the very pretty
Lenali and a short-tempered, sword-wielding dish named Kanda Yuu. (Champloo fans note: Kanda's
primary weapon is a katana he calls Mugen.)
Bottom line: classy piece of work, but kinda same-y, and very, VERY long
(103 episodes). Up to you whether you want to invest the time or not; in the long run I couldn't justify it.
================
Saw in entirety:
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BLACK BLOOD BROTHERS--- The Kowloon Children are a
virulent subspecies of berserker vamps whose contagion works on the victim in moments: they attack both humans and
their own kind, generating ultra-violent mobs wherever they appear. They can't be allowed to spread into the
Special Zone, where vampires --once invited by a mortal--live safely and at peace. The Coffin Company is the agency which mediates
and settles all disputes between Red and Black Bloods via agents called Compromisers. Jirou (as it was spelled in
the sub I saw) feels he'll only bring trouble to the peaceful Zone, but his spunky, determined Compromiser and sponsor, Mimiko
Katsuragi, will do anything--including feeding him her own blood--to convince him and little Kotarou to move in.
==Now available in English dub on DVD from Funimation--you can see some episodes free there too!
(TENPOU IBUN) AYAKASHI AYASHI-- This is a beauty, set in feudal Japan, my personal favorite of the fall
2006 crop. (And it's by BONES!) --It's 1844, ten years before Commodore Perry and the Black Ships will arrive to open Japan to the West.
There's an ongoing wave of attacks by gigantic, primal god-creatures called Youi, which follow their prey through
and across anything until they run it to ground. A group of ayashi (those with the power to battle the youi) is seeking a man whose power they can use, and find him employed in a bathhouse. He's
Ryuudou Yukiatsu, a vagrant gifted with ayagami ("the power to find the words behind
things") which can be used in fighting against the Youi. (Essentially, he can visualize a thing's name and break
it down into the kanji syllables --the literal pictographic elements--of its meaning,then materialize those elements as
weapons. Hard to describe, but unique in my experience, and terrific to watch.) The ayashi group wants Yuki-san to become
an ayashi and use his power to help, but he's reluctant to get involved with the spirit world; he fell into it as a child,
had a hard time getting back out (he's the only one known to have done so and survived) and is wary of anything that
magnifies the strong attraction he still feels for it. But when the group encounters a homeless woman and child being
hunted by a Youi, and the little boy proves to feel the same pull of the otherworld that Yuki does, he resolves to face his
demons and join the ayashi. (There's even an unexpectedly practical reason for the monster hunters to do their hunting:
youi meat is delicious. Addictively so, in fact, and it's a delicate, turning point moment when Yukiatsu finally consents to
eat with the group.) Meanwhile all sorts of political maneuvering is going on in the background, since the ayashi have ties with scholars of Western science,
who are determined to see their studies removed from the suspicious eye of the bakufu's reformers...I just love this series. It's beautiful to look at, realistic and
believable in its historical setting, with an original, imaginative supernatural theme, and the ayashi are a wonderfully
assorted lot, including Ogasawara, a serious scholar of Western studies; Edo Genbatsu, a gorgeous, cross-dressing
Shinto priest; Abi, a big, proud mountain-man, and Saizou, a tough, fan-fighting little actress
who dresses as a boy and refuses to settle for one gender. Not to forget Atl, the Mexica-Mayan girl, whose big sorrel
horse Yukiwa is really the god Quetzalcoatl...
--I had great hopes for Ayakashi, and considering BONES' track record I had no reason to expect disappointment. Thru no fault of theirs, though, this didn't finish as it should've;
it tanked in the ratings and was chopped off at only one season of 25 episodes, instead of the planned 52. So we'll never know how it would have been. A damn shame, since it was doing a wonderful job (as per BONES' usual)
at exploring all the ramifications of the series' main theme, namely the pervasive human longing to be just about anything BUT who, what and where you are. This note was struck on every level of the series, beginning with
having not one but two main characters passing as the opposite sex--for totally different reasons--and played out in every aspect, from the trade, travel and cultural limitations
of reform-period Edo, to the harsh life and limited opportunities open to women, to the universal love of theatre and storytelling, and the yearning for the Other World, in all its beauty and freedom, that's felt by every character who's even glimpsed it.
It's a handsome, thoughtful series that wasn't allowed to reach its potential, and I'm really sad about that.
KANON-- The second anime based on a popular computer game, this is so elusive that for awhile I wasn't quite sure
why we kept watching it. Teenager Yuuichi Ayazawa returns to the town where he lived seven years ago, though for some reason he has almost no
memory of his former life there. He moves in with his aunt Akiko and cousin Nayuki, and things seem to be going smoothly,
except for the odd disconnect he feels with the place. One day he encounters a little girl wearing a winged backpack; her
name is Ayu, and he remembers that he knew her then. She remembers him, but she hardly looks any older, and has never
heard of cell phones. Has she somehow remained unchanged from the past? Then there's the stern, sword-wearing girl named
Mai, who saves him from a transparent demon when he visits the school after hours one night; and Kaiori, who wanders
around the school grounds wrapped in a blanket--she's too ill to attend classes, she says--and whose dialogue is as vague
and wandering as her presence. Is she real? Is she a ghost? Is she someone from Yuuichi's lost memories? And then there's
Makoto, who moves in with them, and has no memory at all, even of her name... Everything that happens is ordinary household
comedy-drama--dinner, school, roommate squabbles, lost cats-- and there's no real reason to be interested in it, except
for the pretty art and the odd, persistent tinge of strangeness and mystery it has. But we kept wondering if there was
something to all this amnesia and
if we'd ever learn more...
====================
LE CHEVALIER d'EON---oh, man, now this is another tier of amazing entirely. Set in France during the reign of Louis XV, it's the enthralling adventure of young knight d'Eon
de Beaumont, who, after a long stay away from court, returns to Paris to investigate the mysterious death of his
sister Lia. Lia was found floating down the Seine in a coffin, and d'Eon naturally suspects not only murder but
murder with intent to threaten others. But as he's drawn deeper and deeper into his investigation of Lia's secret
life as a spy for the king, he learns of the strange, dark movements at work in France, movements with roots that
reach all the way to the throne and into the very fabric of reality. And then Lia's vengeful soul begins taking
possession of her brother's body.... Add a sizable dose of horror, ritual murder, and the zombie-like creatures called Gargoyles--and you've
got an instant classic. --This is just astonishing stuff, Fullmetal Alchemist for grownups,
with exhaustive historical research--costume, architecture, politics (for example, the King's Secret,
the elite network of royal spies of which Lia was one, really did exist and d'Eon was a member of it),and the belief
in alchemy as really documented at the time. It weaves a dark, complex, gorgeously detailed world of court
intrigue, conspiracy, necromancy and ceremonial magick harnessed to serve a ravenous thirst for power. Real historical figures including Madame de Pompadour, King Louis XV, Robespierre and--of course--the fabled
alchemist Comte St. Germain have central roles, and as for d'Eon himself, dig this:
"Charles d'Eon de Beaumont (1728-1810)
Diplomat, writer, spy, and Freemason, a member of the elite Dragoons and one of the best swordsmen in France, whose true gender was a source of speculation and provoked public bets in the late 18th century. Generally it was believed that d'Eon was born female, but he had started to dress as a man in his childhood, and changed back from 'a bad boy into a good girl' when his secret was revealed decades later. After his death it turned out that he was a man who had dressed as a woman."
My only complaint of it is with the character artwork and animation: the animation has odd clumsy spots, especially with characters turning in plane or moving in perspective (such as up stairs),
and the character art is oddly flat and undetailed. It's jarring to see such stumbles in such an otherwise very good-looking production. --However, these are small problems in comparison, IMHO.
--I don't know why I lost interest in it, but I still haven't gotten around to seeing it all....
BAKUMATSU KIKANSETSU IROHANIHOHETO (*whew*)--apparently considered by fandom to be the major rival to Ayakashi,
this is also a period
piece, set in the final years of the Shogunate. A mysterious mercenary named Akizuki Yojiro
is seeking a certain supernatural artifact and crosses the
path of a theatre troupe in a quest for revenge on
those who murdered their group's leader. One of them is a clever playwright with a knack for writing
pointed
speeches; as their plays begin to draw attention and it becomes clear they're more than just actors, enemies begin
to close in. There's an awful
lot of talk and political intrigue in the early episodes, and not nearly enough about the weird and
powerful artifact in question, which is the head of
an imperial retainer of ages past. --The theatre troupe is
a neat touch, but I've had a hard time getting into this talky piece (I've never been good at stuff
that's very
politics-heavy). By the end of the first arc, though, it began to pull together with a fine, tightly written climax,
vengeance all around,
and some intriguing backstory on our enigmatic hero. ==I know this is good stuff, and I really do mean to see it all one day.
...go back to the 2006 spring season.
...return to Amalgam links page.
Cain Warlock; Zelman Clock; Sei the Dragon King; Cassandra Warlock; Cassa vs. Jirou.
==The story clips along at a nice pace; the tone is basically upbeat and light; it takes
attention to keep all the vampire factions straight, but that never hurt anyone; and the ending is both
satisfactory and leaves the way open for BBB II, which I definitely hope for. -- Bottom line: A lively, enjoyable adventure
that we had a great time with. If you think you'd
like a non-Gothic, futuristic vampire tale with lots of action, an intriguing, original vamp mythology,
swordfighting, fun characters, a little blood-drinking hotness (I know you're out there, fangirls... =) and plenty
of undead bishie eye candy, sign up for this one.
Here's Tokyo MX's neat website on the show.
(The sequel OVA, Ayashi Divine Comedy, is apearing in chapters now (winter 2007-8)).
...and then, out of nowhere about episode 7 or 8, it develops that Makoto is dying, and the
reason is that she isn't a human girl at all, but a fox. As a child, Yuuichi had rescued an injured fox cub, and released her
back into the wild when she was healed; but she loved him, and couldn't bear the loss of him, and has willingly given up
her fox life and her memories to be with him for awhile as a human. Yuuichi barely learns of this in time to be with her at the end.==
As the final ten episodes unfold, more is learned about Yuuichi and Mai...A strange, touching little adventure that's worth following to the end.
Still might see all of:
====================
...go forward to 2007 Anime Reviews mainpage.
...go ALL the way back to Seasonal Reviews Mainpage for all anime series reviews 2005-10.