Sins of the Sisters 0/10

Worst anime ever. Period.

This 2 episode OAV was released back in 1994 and I can't imagine too many people bought it. It's really a borderline porno with a lot of nudity and violence but since it wasn't released as porn it goes into my "suitable for review on this blog" category (though that's about all it's suitable for other than a coaster). Considering this is an OAV it doesn't look very good but as it has XXX roots this isn't surprising since adult titles usually look like crap. The designs are OK but not consistent throughout the show and the whole thing looks like an anime TV episode. There are a couple of decent songs in this but the music is otherwise unremarkable and the VA's are passable.

It's the year 1212 AD and a group of kids were sent by the Pope on a ship to Jerusalem to fight in the Crusades. The truth of the matter is that the Pope sold the kids into slavery and so they all committed suicide at sea. The main character Hans vows revenge, gets turned into a girl (minus sexual organs) and ends up in the future at some private school for girls. Now, part of this ACTUALLY has some historical basis so check out the Children's Crusade article on Wikipedia for more info.

The school is supposed to train the female students to be actresses but Hans, now Aiko, learns that this is a lie. The school is actually to train the girls to be sex slaves for soldiers at the front (isn't this always the way with anime). The girls rebel and after killing the people running the school use it's BASEMENT TIME MACHINE to go to feudal Japan, take over, and end up living in Edo castle in preparation for their battle to rid the world of organized religion. Rika, the first girl "recruited" by Aiko is killed in the battle and her spirit is enthralled by some evil lady spirit that takes advantage of her feelings for Aiko. (By "recruited" I mean molested in a lesbian sex scene)

There's a side story in all this about a lady named Yuki who lives with her husband and gets a visit from her doctor since she's been sick. She's being contacted by Rika's spirit and during an argument over the pros and cons of letting Rika have her soul she kills the doctor and his assistant and teams up with Rika who wants to see Aiko again. There are hints that their world is an alternate reality where Yuki doesn't get to meet her husband and she's the evil lady who wants revenge on Aiko for changing history.

One group of the girls goes back to ancient Rome in order to save the crusaders, Rika and Yuki show up to kill the girls and ensure the future is changed by killing Hans (Rika isn't aware of this), and Aiko rushes off to save her schoolmates and ensure history continues as before.

Up until the end of the first episode things really aren't too bad. The show is rather confusing and things aren't well explained but my explanation is pretty good.

At the start of episode 2 we learn that the girls are originally from the WWII era and Yuki was the nun at the school. After the girls rebelled, Yuki's husband (who was the guy at the school who told Aiko what was up) went off to be a Kamikaze pilot and was killed. In Rome, Yuki disguises herself and kills one of the girls of the first group since she's pissed at the lot of them. Rika goes to convince Hans to not go on the crusade by stripping for him in the church and in response Hans takes off the next morning with the crusaders leaving the school girls behind.

The crusaders are quickly set upon by bandits. Francoise, the girl of group, gets raped and a bunch of kids get killed. It's about here where I start not liking this show. The school girls rush to the rescue and drive off the bandits but the next day Francoise hangs herself. Hans refuses to bury her since suicide is a sin and I dub this show the worst anime ever.

To summarize to the end. Yuki parts the sea to trick the kids and they march out across the Mediterranean to Jerusalem. Yuki stays behind and kills the 3 remaining school girls, the OTHER group of girls show up and Yuki promptly kills all but Aiko with zombies of the previous 3 girls. The kids come back during the fight and Aiko is killed by Yuki.

Whoops! It turns out that this doesn't stop the revolution at all, it causes the kids to march on Rome and attack the Pope whom Aiko kills when accused of being a traitor. Everyone gets resurrected, the doctor tells Yuki she's an idiot and she dies, Rika dies again and the world goes on as a paradise without countries and organized religion, run by about 20 Japanese high school girls.

I can tolerate some things but the idea that 25 or so high school girls with swords and a time machine run the world is beyond even my low plot credibility standards. Add to that the whole rape/suicide thing that's in there for no reason and I end up really hating this show. Shuten Doji gives this show a run for it's money but Sins of the Sisters claims the title. Don't ever watch this.

Kannazuki No Miko 7/10

This show has big mechs, pretty girls, and hot lesbian action. What's not to like? Right?

Kannazuki No Miko aired back in 2004 and runs a rushed 12 episodes. While the character designs are good there are some definite lapses in quality and being as this series only runs 12 episodes, that's pretty much inexcusable in this day and age. All the girls are usually well animated but the many mechs in this show really look like hell at times along with some poor backgrounds. The music was OK but I didn't like the OP or ED though that could be more a case of KOTOKO burnout (Now I have Shana to look forward to). The VA's were fine and the leads were well cast though some of the villans really don't get a lot of lines.

Kurusegawa Himeko is a shy, pretty, and very clumsy girl who goes to a ritzy school for somewhat wealthy kids. One day she meets Himemiya Chikane, the most popular girl in school who's rich and pretty, cool and sophisticated. They become friends and start to spend time together, mostly in secret since there's quite a difference in their social status. On their 16th birthday (on the same day as I recall) it turns out that they're both priestesses destined to battle the evil Orochi which consists of 7 bad guys with mechs that show up to kill the two girls.

Himeko is the priestess of the sun and Chikane is the priestess of the moon and they must go to a nearby temple to try summon their mech to battle the Orochi. Himeko starts living at Chikane's mansion, since the summoning is taking days and days, and it quickly becomes apparent to everyone other than Himeko that Chikane has the serious hots for her. Of course Chikane has a rival for Himeko's affections in Souma Oogami, a male childhood friend of Himeko's who is also an Orochi but fights to protect her rather than kill her. Add to the plot Chikane's maid that has the hots for her mistress, the two guys at the shrine, one Orochi who is the brother of Oogami, Himeko's dorm roommate and all the villains that have their stories and the cast gets pretty busy pretty fast.

Chikane ends up betraying Himeko and switches sides, Himeko summons their mech, then the two friends end up battling to the death with tearful confessions all around at the end with some passionate kissing and snuggling.

This show has good plot elements and bad ones. My biggest problem is that there are too many villains. Why bother having so many villans with their own backstories if most of them are only going to get a couple minutes screen time? I also don't think the guys at the shrine need to be as detailed characters as they were. They have too many appearances reacting to the goings on when the mechs are fighting. I ALSO don't think Oogami's brother was a necessary character since he really doesn't accomplish much. I understand that this show is based on a manga that may have had more time to deal with all the characters but they should have either been removed from the anime or the series should have been extended over 24-26 episodes which I think would have worked since the underlying story is quite well thought out.

What I do like is the relationship between Himeko and Chikane. Himeko is the oblivious cute girl and Chikane has some serious feelings for her. She pines over her friend but doesn't act on her feelings because of Himeko's relationship with Oogami. Chikane betrays Himeko partially because of this unrequited love and also because she murdered Himeko as part of the ceremony in an earlier life. While the sun priestess doesn't remember any of it the moon priestess does and is terrified at the prospect of history repeating itself. The end of the series has a really long confession by Chikane and it turns out Himeko feels the same way. This show treats their relationship a lot more seriously than most heterosexual romances in anime and it's a nice change. Their relationship isn't oversexualized as is typically done and the creators don't make their sexual orientation somewhat vague. They're gay. Period.

I like the two leads as characters and other than some plot and quality problems it's a really good show. They could pull it off even without the mechs and priestess angle. Recommended for serious romance fans and guys who like the pic in this post. =D

Maison Ikkoku 9/10

Romantic anime has had many variations: girl loves boy, boy loves girl, boy loves robot/alien/elf girl. All of these shows should get down on their knees and bow down to the masterpiece.

Maison Ikkoku aired way back in 1986 through 1988 and ran for 96 episodes. Being an older show I really like the character designs and they stay really consistent throughout the series even if the OP designs get a little nutty. The show has a lot of detail throughout and the backgrounds all look really great. This show had a pretty big budget for it's time and represents a style of anime I mourn the passing of to this day. While most shows from that era DIDN'T look as good, we no longer get the shows that looked amazing compared to the others. The music in this show isn't anything awesome but it does the job and I liked the OPs and EDs OK. The VA's for this show are classic even though they are mostly recycled from Urusei Yatsura they're perfect and you NEED to watch this show subbed.

Yusaku Godai is a ronin. He failed his college entrance exams so he has to spend a year studying at a cram school in Tokyo in preparation for taking his exams again the following year. Life for Godai isn't ever easy though. He lives in a room in a boarding house named Maison Ikkoku and has a bunch of insane roommates. Yotsuya, the mysterious man who makes a hole in Godai's wall so he has easy access to harass him. Akemi, the sexy girl who strolls around barely clothed and loves to tease. And Ichinose, the short fat housewife who drinks like a fish. Actually all Godai's roommates tease him, drink like fish, and party nearly every night in his room since he hasn't the backbone to throw them out.

This is where our story starts off. Godai is too nice, too indecisive and too unlucky and so he lives with constant harassment, constant failure, and no romantic prospects. Then, enter the woman of Godai's dreams.

Kyoko Otonashi is the new manager of Maison Ikkoku. She's the daughter-in-law of the building's owner and he's set her up as the manager because her husband has died and she's having a hard time getting her life back on track. You see, Kyoko married one of her much older high school teachers right out of high school and is now widowed at 23 (approx). Godai is instantly enraptured with the new manager regardless that she's 2 years older and out of his league in the looks department. The next 2 years of the series is basically the story of Godai's attempts to win the woman of his dreams.

As Godai tries to get into school, graduate, and get a job over the course of the series he has so many problems that you find yourself wondering if a higher power has it in for him. He fails exams, gets roped into all sorts of situations that piss off Kyoko and gets a rival who's older, richer and more handsome. As time goes on Godai DOES manage to solve some of his problems, he graduates, gets a job, manages to dump a clingy high school girl, AND outlasts his rival. FINALLY, he does manage to propose to his dream girl and she says yes. The proposal in Maison Ikkoku is one of the most touching moments in anime history and you all owe it to yourselves to watch all the episodes up to #94 so you can see it.

I've always really liked this series since it stays funny throughout and doesn't get TOO repetitive. My only complaint is that Godai has a few too many "misunderstandings" but it's forgiveable. If you have a heart of stone or you're a sociopath you won't like this series or feel empty inside but otherwise you'll love it. Recommended.

Princess Tutu 9/10

I've always had a problem with the portrayal of faerie tales in North America. Most of these adaptations are done by Disney and something never felt quite right about them. As I got older I realized that what was wrong was that Disney had changed a lot of these stories to make them kinder and gentler. This means the happy ending becomes a given and the movie has to rely on song and dance numbers to keep the audience entertained. The uncertainty of the ending is what makes the ending worth waiting for. Princess Tutu is a faerie tale done right.

Princess Tutu aired back in 2002-2003 and ran 26 episodes though episodes 14-24 were aired as separate 15 minute episodes rather than full half-hour ones so there are really 38. First off, this show has the best soundtrack ever. Of course this is because the score consists of bits and pieces from symphonies, ballets, and operas. These selections are made on a per episode basis and are somewhat related to the plot (or so the commentaries tell me). Along with a great OP and ED this score is terrific. The character designs are of a style I really like and the backgrounds and animation are top notch throughout with a lot of care taken to depict the fluid movement of the ballet dancing. I also liked the JP VAs and there must be special mention made for the JP VA for the main lead, Duck. Being as she's a duck turned into a girl her VA does an amazing job with a very "ducky" voice. To be honest the English VA also does an admirable job.

Once upon a time a man died. This man was writing a story about a prince who fought a great raven. With the man's death, the prince and the raven escaped the story.
This is where Princess Tutu picks up and we're introduced to Duck. A little yellow duck who has fallen in love with the prince, who dances sadly at the pond that she calls home. She is approached by Drosselmeyer, the dead author of the story, who explains to her that the prince shattered his heart in order to seal away the raven and offers to make Duck human so that she can help the prince regain it. Of course there is one condition, should Duck confess her love to the prince she will turn into a speck of light and vanish.

Duck starts attending the local art school in a small European style walled town were she takes ballet along with the prince Mythos, his guardian/knight Fakir, and the girl who also loves Mythos, Rue. Duck finds heart shards inside people who are affected by the emotion the shard represents and transforms into Princess Tutu who, with her dancing, has the power to help. The prince falls for his beautiful saviour, much to Rue's annoyance, but Duck herself is clumsy and awkward and has to keep her secret.

This show starts off as an "enemy of the week" type but as more and more is revealed about the nature of the world in which the characters live and more about the past of the characters is explained the show changes into something truly exceptional. Rue is really Kraehe, the daughter of the raven and is trying to seduce the prince and Fakir is destined to die to protect Mythos.

The show becomes less about heart shards and more about the characters trying to break the ties of fate laid out by Drosselmeyer in his writing of the story. It's very funny at times but has a dramatic element that's very impressive considering where it started from.

The only thing I didn't like about this show was how the epilogue felt a little rushed though I really liked the ending overall. Very highly recommended.