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The Dragon Page» Anime http://www.dragonpage.com Conversations with the Creators of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Thrillers! Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:03:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 2004-2011 podcast@farpointmedia.net (Michael R. Mennenga, Summer Brooks, Michael A. Stackpole) podcast@farpointmedia.net (Michael R. Mennenga, Summer Brooks, Michael A. Stackpole) 1440 http://www.dragonpage.com/images/farpointmedia/tDPC2C144x144.jpg The Dragon Page http://www.dragonpage.com 144 144

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Conversations with the Creators of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Thriller fiction today! Conversations with the Creators of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Thriller fiction today! If you love SF literature, are an author or aspire to become one, you'll enjoy this podcast. Science, Fiction, Fantasy, Literature, Writers, interviews, reviews Michael R. Mennenga, Summer Brooks, Michael A. Stackpole Michael R. Mennenga, Summer Brooks, Michael A. Stackpole podcast@farpointmedia.net no no Kai Doh Maru http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/11/28/kai-doh-maru/ http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/11/28/kai-doh-maru/#comments Sun, 28 Nov 2004 15:52:28 +0000 Tee Morris http://www.dragonpage.com/?p=661 Kai Doh Maru was a gripping tale of lost innocence, coming of age, and destiny realized, but this was such a bore that I can only tell you ?Do not adjust your television?? because the animators meant it to look this way! RATING: 1 out of 5 I make no bones about my newness to anime. I remember attending a scotch tasting and completely making someone's brain short circuit when I remarked ?Scotch is like cigars and anime.? Well, it is! I don't know everything about anime, but I know what I like. And when I picked up Kai Doh Maru, I really thought I was going to like it. A lot. And when you read the liner notes from the DVD, you'll understand why I thought I would like it. This is Kai Doh Maru as described by Manga.com:

FEUDAL JAPAN - The battle for the Capital city of Kyo rages as warring political factions vie for power against hereditary rulers. After the murder of her parents at the hands of her seditious uncle, a young girl named Kintoki flees to the mountains to lead a harsh life; she is renamed Kai Doh Maru by the local villagers. Rescued by Raiko, the Captain of 'The Four Knights' - honorable defenders who protect the peace of the city, she is raised within their group as a boy. Living among the Knights, she learns the martial arts and develops into a skillful samurai, becoming a permanent member of their team. Now, as a young woman of seventeen, she begins to discover new feelings of passion and love for Raiko... but she also discovers that these new emotions cause a storm of jealousy and rage in another woman linked to her past.

Sounds cool, huh? Right up my ally? Well, I thought so, too. So with a setting of Heian era (794 to 1192 AD), and its animation team coming from IG Plus/Production IG (the same people behind Ghost in the Shell) I thought this would be a home run (as Japan loves its baseball)! This was no home run, folks?this was a shut out, and I was on the losing team. My first warning should have been the liner notes on the back stating that Kai Doh Maru ?explores new and uncharted dimensions of anime, showcasing a unique colorization?. Oh, it's unique alright. The only way I can describe this ?unique colorization? is to pop in any other anime DVD you have in your collection and then slap a sheet of wax paper over your TV or monitor. About fifteen minutes in, I was wondering if there was something wrong with my laptop monitor. Then I popped in The Animatrix and realized it was an intentional choice from the production team?a bad production choice. The liner notes also promises Kai Doh Maru provides ?explosive action intertwined with a complex human drama are both brought to life in this atypical story of love, honor, jealousy and betrayal?and featuring fully digital animation with elaborately drawn 3D backgrounds?. If only I could have seen the ?explosive action intertwined with human drama yadda-yadda-yadda?? I might have loved Kai Doh Maru. Still, I was willing to get past this unique ~~colorization~~ distraction and get lost in the ?explosive action intertwined with a complex human drama are both brought to life in this atypical story of love, honor, jealousy and betrayal, featuring fully digital animation with elaborately drawn 3D backgrounds?, but I soon discovered that what the liner notes summed up was, in fact, the first ten minutes. The rest of the film (And since when is a feature 45 minutes long?! I don't EVER want hear someone bitch and moan about the cost of Dragon Moon's trade paperbacks as this DVD is sold at the same price as two-hour and four episode-long animes!) just kind of meanders on with soldiers talking about a brewing civil war (or something like that), rebels pledged in mending a severed bloodline (or something like that) and a dark sorceress that can make people melt (or something like that). Maybe I shouldn't say Kai Doh Maru is completely forgettable (or something like that?). I know what is isn't and it isn't what its liner notes claim it to be. Kai Doh Maru also sports some of the most aimless, pointless, and bombastic writing I've ever seen in an anime, but with the stilted dialogue and pensive expressions of its cast you would think they were performing Shakespearean Kabuki. It's so awful as an anime that I would go so far as to say the acting in it is horrible, and as the directors and artists have complete control over their characters, that is saying something. There is no comic relief, and this ?45 minute epic? desperately needed it. I suppose I should be thankful that Kai Doh Maru is only 45 minutes. Then I think about how much I paid for the DVD and get upset all over again. As I mentioned before, I don't consider myself an ?expert? on anime, but I know what I like. Same with cigars and scotch. So as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex would be an Arturo Fuente Churchill, Kai Doh Maru would be a White Owl.]]> http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/11/28/kai-doh-maru/feed/ 0 Noir http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/10/19/noir/ http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/10/19/noir/#comments Tue, 19 Oct 2004 10:24:18 +0000 Tee Morris http://www.dragonpage.com/?p=520 Noir. RATING: 4 out of 5 When you're growing up, you tend to try and find yourself. You know what I'm talking about? Rebelling against the parents, searching for who you are, experimenting with personal limits...it's part of life. Right? But what if you don't know who you are? Such is the story of Kirika Yuumura, a young twelve year old who wakes up one morning for school, her usual routine, or so it appears on the outside. She has her school ID, bagged lunch, and uniform all waiting for her when she wakes up, but as she stares at herself in the gradually-fogging mirror, she knows the people in the picture are not her parents, the name on the identification badge is not hers, and there is something not quite right about this picturesque setting. In her mundane day at school, an e-mail address pops into her head, a contact that she knows could help her in trying to figure out exactly who she is, and why she is under the identity that she woke up with. When she writes to this mysterious e-mail addy, she feels compelled to sign the note with the moniker "Noir". Enter Mireille, a beautiful French bachelorette who enjoys a comfortable living in her spacious Parisian apartment. She is able to afford the refinements of life as she is a high-paid assassin, and one of the best in the business. Mireille is checking the e-mail when she gets the unexpected shock of a note signed by someone called "Noir". The name triggers suppressed memories of an estate somewhere and a pocket watch playing a clockwork song, The e-mail asks Mireille for a meeting. With these sudden flashbacks in her mind, this working girl slaps a few fresh clips in her .45 auto and heads out to this rendezvous. When Mireille arrives to the meeting place, an abandoned factory of some sort, she finds the twelve year old waiting for her?along with a gang of suits in shades packing heat. They muscle their way past Kirika and, with guns drawn, intend to take Mireille down for a group known only as Soldats. That was their plan anyway. What their plan didn't include was twelve year old Kirika in her school girl outfit, systematically picking them off in the most graceful, if not graphic, fashion. When the last thug falls, Mireille pulls her gun (finally) on Kirika. Kirika admits to writing the e-mail and that she knows only three things: she has no recollection of her true identity, that she is a killing machine, and Mireille is the only person who can help her. Mireille can't help but be intrigued and while she does not work with a partner, she agrees to take the girl under her wing and help Kirika with only one condition attached. Once Kirika discovers who she really is, Mireille will kill her. One shot. A clean, quick kill. No questions asked. This is Disc One of Noir, an edgy, dark, and disturbingly beautiful anime series that follows two super-assassins in their various commissions around the world. Between hits, both women search for their pasts as well as the mysterious group called Soldats who are committed to shutting down the two-woman operation as soon as possible. If Hong Kong-Hollywood action director John Woo ever got into anime, Noir would be the end result. Beyond the elegant shootouts that are expected and anticipated from episode to episode, the story arc of this series plays out like a Woo film. We are appalled and yet sympathetic at the actions of Kirika. Mireille describes her as "enjoying the killing too much" to which Kirika claimed she doesn't know what else to do. Her talents for dealing death just come naturally. And that is part of the duality of both lead characters. Mireille remains critical of her new partner, admires the adolescent's talent, but assures her (in an almost Dread Pirate Roberts' fashion) that once Kirika finds out who she is, Mireille will put a bullet between her eyes. They are friends, but they are also at odds with one another. They are also vulnerable, one haunted with the flashbacks of a lost childhood and another who cannot recall anything before the moment she awakened in a stranger's house. Oh yeah, John Woo would love this anime if he doesn't already own it. Noir does tend to follow a formula with its assassination sequences. Depending on what soundtrack is playing, you are going to see someone buy the farm, but it looks so cool, you really don't care. And the intrigue between the characters, various secret societies, and their targets is deep enough and intelligent enough to keep your attention engage from first frame to last. So if you think anime is just chicks in robot suits, freaky demons in Feudal Japan, cyberpunk vampires, and monsters summoned from CCG universes? ?well, it is. But then you've got titles like Noir, a series that will keep you thinking and maybe looking over your shoulder, hoping no one is watching you from the shadows.]]> http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/10/19/noir/feed/ 0 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/10/06/ghost-in-the-shell-stand-alone-complex/ http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/10/06/ghost-in-the-shell-stand-alone-complex/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2004 15:53:46 +0000 Tee Morris http://www.dragonpage.com/?p=469 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the series based on the ground-breaking 1996 animation epic. RATING: 4 out of 5 Many of the hardcore anime fans out there will attest that Akira is "the ultimate experience" in this imported art form from the Land of the Rising Sun, but I can't watch it. Gives me an ice cream headache every time I try. And for the longest time, I avoided anime like housework?unless it was an episode of Star Blazers. Then in a Blockbuster I picked up in the bargain bin a $10 VHS copy of an anime called K?u kid?, known in the US more commonly as Ghost in the Shell. I didn't sleep a wink that night. Since then, I've been trying to learn more about anime. I have found that I look at anime the same way I look at wine, scotch and cigars: I don't know everything about it, I probably won't ever stop learning about it, and I definitely know what I like about it. Now and then I will pull out my DVD of Ghost in the Shell, watching it as if it was for the first time. Just incredible. Then I found out at the beginning of the year that Ghost in the Shell had a sequel in the works. I thought "How cool! Can't beat that!" Turns out the folks behind Shell could as they were also developing Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, a series featuring Major Motoko Kusanagi, Bateau, and the invisible and enigmatic "Section 9" facing the toughest cases of cybernetic nature. Major Motoko Kusanagi and her partner, Bateau, are part of "Section 9," a branch of the future Japanese government who are not military, not law enforcement, not your average intelligence branch. Section 9 is the company called in to investigate when hacking and homicide collide. In the pilot episode (entitled "Section 9"), Kusanagi and her team are called in to rescue high-ranking government officials from haywire geisha robots. (While there is a sense of sex appeal in GitS: SAC, NO the geisha robots weren't going haywire in some sort of naughty Westworld fashion, so get over that?) Here you see Section 9 at their best, working methodically and efficiently in thermo-camouflage. They manage to rescue the officials, but this case is far from closed with a secretary's death, a death not at the hands of the malfunctioning androids. Much like Ghost in the Shell, its series is "eye candy for the brain" as the writing is smart, sexy, and surreal. If you have not seen Shell or read its manga, coming into GitS: SAC cold might provide a shock to your neural net. You may miss in the pilot episode some of the early, subtle references to the original film. There are also concepts and language used in the film that may take a moment or two for you to wrap your brain around, but it is still easy to enjoy the edge, action, and intelligence of GitS: SAC. If you have read the manga and seen the film, brace yourself. You are in for one incredible ride. This series will not only make you appreciate the original film all the more, but expand this futuristic world in ways that will challenge your imagination. A must have for any amine fan. My one hang up with GitS: SAC are these overly-cute, overly-goofy shorts called "Tachikoma Days," appearing at the end of each episode. The mini-features feature the Tachikomas, AI-supertanks that provide moments of levity throughout the series. In context of each episode, the Tachikomas and their eccentricities worked. In their post-episode shorts, though, the Tachikomas crack jokes that aren't funny and try way too hard to be clever. It reminded me of watching Bertolt Brecht or Samuel Beckett on stage. It was "Anime of the Absurd" and a part of me felt like the mini-features trivialized the depth and scope that GitS: SAC achieved. I also felt like a part of me was a "stupid American" too dim to get "the joke." Then I remembered I felt the same way about the Tachikomas and their asides in Shell's manga. So maybe I just have an issue with AI's that think it's "Open Mic Night" at Caroline's. Regardless if you are into surreal robot anime shorts or not, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex lives up to the demand, anticipation, and hype created by the original Ghost in the Shell and it well worth watching. Nothing is missing from the series and takes the characters we got to know in the original film and continue their story with the same degree of intellect. Perhaps you are intimidated by anime but are curious as to what it's all about. Go out and give GitS: SAC a try as the action and animation will grab you and won't let go. If you are already a fan of anime and are fighting the temptation to invest in yet another series, consider this a hack on your Ghost: go on and get Volume One of GitS: SAC. After all, what's one more series to add to your collection? Go on and give into the temptation. Don't worry?you'll thank me later.]]> http://www.dragonpage.com/2004/10/06/ghost-in-the-shell-stand-alone-complex/feed/ 0