Review: Majutsushi Orphen (Sorcerous Stabber Orphen) ~ 2.4.03
Cleo's sister Mariabelle thinks that Orphen, who has been in the neighborhood a year, is watching her and not keeping an eye on the sword. Actually, two servants in the mansion--Volcan and his brother Dortin--are there to watch the sword. Volcan lost money to Orphen, and this is how they are repaying everything. Volcan passionately wants to get rid of Orphen and his debt. Anyway, Cleo catches Orphen (who claims to be birdwatching, and thus Majic acquires a pair of binoculars for him) looking into the mansion, grabs the Sword of Baltandars off the mantlepiece, and goes to confront him. Orphen, however, isn't the Peeping Tom she thinks he is. The sword is what he is after, because its presence summons the dragon Bloody August, who is really his childhood friend Azalea. Azalea was transformed by the sword some five years before into Bloody August and she is seeking to return to her human self.
However, before Orphen can do much, his spells are interrupted and Bloody August retreats. We see that his master from the Tower of Fang, a powerful magician named Childman, was the one who interfered. Childman sets his other pupil, Hartia, to follow Orphen. Hartia and Orphen have a brief battle before Bloody August returns to the Everlasting mansion and kidnaps both Mariabelle and Cleo. They are taken to a tilting tower in a lake, where a long time ago Cleo saw Orphen in the moonlight and probably fell in love with him. That's pretty standard in anime.
Orphen goes to the tower to rescue the sisters. Bloody August does get a hold of the Sword of Baltandars, but it does not return her, and she flees again, leaving Orphen and the sword behind. Well, the sword is taken by Volcan for money. Orphen and Majic leave Totokana to seek Bloody August and the Sword of Baltandars, and end up with a stowaway in the form of Cleo...
I really like this show so far. It has its mix of seriousness and humor, and characters with depth. It also has a complex past that I know some about but not enough to explain. I can't wait to see more! The seiyuu are excellent too--Okiayu Ryoutaruu as Hartia, Nakata Jouji as Childman, Morikubo Shoutarou as Orphen, Iizuka Mayumi as Cleo, Minami Omi as Majic, Ikura Kazue as Volcan and Shiina Hekiru as Dortin, along with some to appear later--such as Koyasu Takehito as Flameheart and Shinohara Emi as Azalea.
Ratings:
Animation: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Humor value: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Review: Bastard!! ~ 12.23.02
The series begins with the Four Lords of Chaos or whatever they call themselves--Abigail, Kall Su, Ninja Master Gara, and Thunder Empress Arshes Nei. They were the servants of our less-than-heroic protagonist, the evil wizard who wants to conquer the world, Dark Schneider. Fifteen years ago, however, Dark Schneider (I'm going to borrow a page from Arshes and call him Darsh because I'm lazy) was defeated. Everyone, including his former minions, thinks he's dead.
However, he's not. Instead, he's been sealed inside the body of a young boy, Rushe Ren Ren. Rushe is probably fourteen and looks abotu eight. He has a habit of doing the heroine, Tia Norte Yoko's, laundry. Even her underwear. O_o Thus, she has a habit of slapping him. So when the kigndom of Meta-Rikana (Metallica, perhaps?) is under attack from the Four Lords wanting to get the Seal to the great god of destructions, Ansla-sax (hello, Anthrax), Yoko frees Dark Schneider from Rushe's body with a kiss.
Darsh breaks free and stands magnificently and compltely unconcerned even though he's also very naked. But then, he's such a cocky bastard, he's probably happier naked. Darsh destroys the invader, a minor wizard, with his own particularly nasty spell, VENOM. This alerts Gara to the fact he's back, so Gara kidnaps Yoko so he can figure out what's going on.
More fighting. More panty shots. More naked Darsh. More blood, guts, and death metal. Yeah, Darsh has a spell called (reading by the subtitles) MEGA D'SU...Megadeth? And there's EXODUS and DAMNED....and RIOT and BALVOLT. Oh, and there are other castles called Judus (no Priest tho), Witos Neiki (White Snake) and Iron Maydon. Sounds like a bad 80's revival, doesn't it? Bastard!! is a series that does not, by any stretch of the imagination, take itself seriously. Despite some serious moments, it has a streak of flippancy which I am more than able to enjoy.
Ratings:
Animation: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Characters: 8/10
Humor value: 9/10 ^_^
Overall: 8/10
Review: Master of Mosquiton OVA ~ 12.15.02
Possibly the most amusing part of this OVA is how goofy Mosquiton actually is. He is like putty in Inaho's hands whenever she decided she wants something--and she wants the O-part. Partt of her reasoning for getting the O-part is to stay young and beautiful for Mosquiton forever...she has a pretty big crush on the poor guy.
However, there is a problem. Namely Camille Inaho Carmilla, Mosquiton's wife. He turned her three hundred years before, and she has been faithfully waiting for him. She is not about to give up on him, either. She hasn't gotten any in 300 years and she's really pretty needy.
One problem I had with this OVA series was that the actual conflict against the "bad guy"--Earl St. German--was practically non-existant. He and Rasputin (what is it with anime ressurecting old dead guys and making them villains? It's like Isaac Newton in Esca...) are also searching for the O-part, but to destroy the Star Lords who feed on the life force of Earth. Consequently, they would destroy Earth as well, but that doesn't matter. Still, hardly any attention is given to this as a plot device. In some ways it just seems like a background to the humor, which is understandable but still irksome. Be warned, when Mosquiton drinks blood he goes into Evil Mosqui mode...which Camille really likes...
Ratings:
Animation: 9/10
Story: 4/10
Characters: 9/10
Overall: 7/10
Review: Jikuu Tenshou Nazca ~ 12.08.02
I admit, I had my doubts about this show...mostly having to do with the plot. I ended up watching it because one of my favorite seiyuu, Koyasu Takehito, did the voice of Tate Masanari-sensei. It also has Hiyashibari Megumi (you probably know her as Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop, or Lina Inverse from Slayers) as Kiritake Yuka, Tate's fianceé. The action of the series centers around Yuka, Tate, and Tate's student, Miura Kyoji.
Basically, Tate awakens as the reborn spirit of the Inca warrior Yawaru, who intends to eliminate most of humanity, preserving only those chosen by God. To perform this task, he intends to release Iryatesse, a great force that controls pretty much all of nature. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a plot without a protagonist...enter Muira Kyoji! He is the spirit of Vilca reborn, another Incan warrior who opposed Yawaru in their past life when their tribe was pulled apart by civil war. And as if that weren't convenient enough, Yuka is the reincarnated priestess necessary for the ceremony to release Iryatesse, and was in love with both Vilca and Yawaru in her past life.
Phew. Besides the main trio, other reincarnated spirits are brought out, voiced by such seiyuu as Ueda Yuuji, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Sayuma Akio, Nishimuri Chinami, Morikubo Shoutarou, and Sakaguchi Daisuke. They square off in their old alliances to prevent Tate from trying to complete the mission he failed in his past life.
I seriously had my doubts. I mean, it does sound pretty goofy, doesn't it? But when I started watching i was very impresed with the animation especially. I was expecting something lousy, like (forgive me) Weiß Kreuz the series. I mean, they DO steal Sakura's kidney...that's SUCH an urban legend...however, Nazca had well-drawn action and considerable attention to the emotion of the characters. Beyond that, it also has an excellent soundtrack. The opening theme is an operatic rendition of J.S. Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier Fugue in G Minor."
Enough rambling about the series. With good animation, music, and a wonderful cast of seiyuu, I think Nazca is one of the less well known and underappreciated good anime out there. It's only 12 episodes, easy to find on Amazon.com and probably Ebay as well. Check it out!
Ratings:
Animation: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
At this point, I've only seen the first three episodes, but I figured I might as well throw in my two cents. Orphen is a sorcerer teaching a young boy names Majic in Totokana, a small village. He's also spying on the Everlasting Mansion (Everlasting is the owners' name, not the title of the house) for the Sword of Baltandars, which Everlasting bought as a present for his younger daughter, Cleo, who is just returning from school.
I admit I started this one with some trepidation. 1) Lots of gratuitous nudity. 2) Lots of gratuitous blood and fighting. 3) Lots of gratuitous heavy metal bands. I'm not even kidding.
Master of Mosquiton is the story of Inaho Hitomebore, a young girl searching for the msyterious O-part to retain her youth and beauty. In order to do so, she wakes the ancestral servant vampire, Alucard von Mosquiton (also voiced by Koyasu Takehito...he's my favorite, what can I say?). Mosquiton and his servants Honoo and Yuki (fire and ice, respectively--Honoo's seiyuu is also ueda Yuuji) are bound by blood pact to help Inaho.
