Gaist Crusher

It might interest you to know that this is my 126th post!! That means that this blog has been running consistently for a year and a half. As we enter a new year I promise I won't abandon this blog but I'm getting busier with school work and all my hobbies so I am going to have to decrease the frequency. As of this post, my reviews will be fortnightly. I hope you will continue to visit though!

A good way to tell if the anime you're watching is aimed at children is by listening to the openng sequence; if the theme song features the name of the anime it's more than likely a kids show. As such, the infuriatingly catchy 'gagan gan Gaist Crusher' is a warning to all adults that this is not for them. But I did not listen and now I must try to fairly review this children's anime.

A Gaist Crusher is someone employed by the GCG  to take down the monsters know as 'Gaist' who are born from 'Gaimetal' a mystical energy-filled ore. To combat these monsters GCG have developed 'Gaist Gear' technology using the Gaimetal to supply talented individuals with the power and strength to fight and 'crush' the Gaist.

Ride Back

Based in a future world ride back is a unique kind of mecha where the robots are actually motorcycles. Our heroine, Rin Ogata was well on her way to becoming a top ballerina however after sustaining an injury and losing her mother she decides to quit when upon entering College. However she soon finds a new passion for said motorcycle/mechas (called Ridebacks) and her excellent balance and reflexes makes it easy for her to  ride with much skill. This all rather sweet, Rin finding a new dream to pursue almost a 'finding yourself' tale but her skills do get her into trouble with the new government  When Rin's best friend (Shoko) get's taken hostage in a terroist attack Rin knows she has to save her. But breaking through the government's barrier causes all sorts of knock on effects.
This is fine as well, a bit of government and politics making you question society and all that. I think it's even handled with enough maturity to be entertaining but still quite intellectual. But I'll tell you what's not okay in this very layered plot: Rin and her special rideback. The rideback that chooses it's rider and all that silly business that makes me dislike this genre. Machines should stay as machines, they shouldn't be given free-will or personalities it just takes the story to a whole new level of unbelievable.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

This is an anime I was told to watch aaaages ago for it's utter madness and it definitely matches to that. In the distant future humans are forced to live underground and must constantly drill deeper to avoid the slowly decending ceiling. But Kamina isn't like every one else, he's been to the surface with his dad and now he's determined to get back, with Simon's help. However after their plan fails another means to get to the surface arrives and Simon and Kamina are free to roam the surface with Yoko, the sharp shooter who enables their escape. Now their on a mission, to stop the mechas called Ganmen at the very root to save the underground villagers from the earth quakes they cause. Simon controls the head of a Ganmen named Lagann while Kamina controls a body called Gurren. To fight off the Ganmen Simon and Kamina must combine to form Gurren Lagann with their fighting spirit to produce any number of drills. It's all one big joke really. But it has the boobs and the mecha to interest a large number of males even with the ridiculous speeches, pointless transformation scenes and inconsistent plot.

The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye

I'm back from summer vacation so now I urgently need to catch up on some reviews! Enjoy!

With a talking tank (Bogie), Honaka travels the barren desserts making a living as a 'jack-of-all-trades' doing anything except murder. Nicknamed the sword dancer for her amazing quick draw skills she soon picks up the interest of Iks a mysterious man she found in the dessert. In this future world of robots, giant bugs and crazy powers Honoka almost seems ordinary. Until her bandanna falls off and we see she has a third eye. A third eye should make her part of 'The Third', the elite beings with brains like the internet, but Honoka's third eye is blue not red making her an outcast from every where. Quite where that takes the plot I'm not sure, but there is a lot of mecha fights and comedy!
Well that looks a lot like I hate the plot, but that's not true, I just can't think of any way to make the plot sound not freakishly weird.In fact in some parts it's really philosophical! Add that to the comedy romance and action - so even with the strange context the plot is good! The thing I really hate though is the cheesy narration. It's completely unnecessary for some random guy to be explaining Honoka's thoughts and feelings every 10 seconds!!! Whenever the narrator starts rambling on I feel like quitting on the show entirely which is a real shame!

AKB0048

This anime brand spanking new!! In fact as you read this, the 9th episode is being aired in Japan so think of this as your hip and trendy anime review!

The concept behind AKB0048 is worth more than the plot. If you know the group AKB48 then you can probably get the gist of things but for those of you who don't.... Well you have some catching up to do. Basically AKB48 is the biggest icon in thee Japanese organisation, they have 64 members split into four teams and hold the Guinness World record for that! They have their own theatre where AKB48 performances are held everyday. New members are admitted as 'trainees' to stand-in for busy members before becoming fully-fledged members and old members 'graduate'. Is an idol group unlike anything in Europe and are the basis for AKB0048, so I hope you understood all that!

Eureka Seven

Hey! Did you know it's my Birthday tomorrow?~ ;)

Eureka Seven is probably the strangest mechas I've found! There's this hobby a lot of people do in this anime, "lifting". But using specially electrically charged winds and using special boards one can essentially surf in the sky! Pretty cool, but it gets better! Robotic suits, called LFO's, can also lift, leaving a snazzy light trail behind them. Renton is one of the many who love to lift. Unfortunately, he lives in a town without the waves needed to do it properly!  But when a LFO crashes into his shed he becomes involved with the elusive lift gang, Gekkostate. He immediately falls in love with Eureka and spends all his free time trying to woo her.
It is a very simple plot! Nothing particularly shocking happens... there's not even any cliffhangers! The whole thing almost seems boring! But it boils down to being a sweet plot about Renton building relationships with all the people on the Gekkostate with somee fancy LFO fights here and there. It's hard to believe that this vaguely romance plot with fights manages to last for 50 episodes!

Neon Genesis Evangelion

That's right! I've finally got round to watching the anime of it!! Although I doubt you guys remember when I bought the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga only to discover that it's actually meant for people who had already watched the anime.

Quite honestly I don't think that me watching this anime was that smart, since I'm no mecha fan and I'm not a fan of older art style. But still I am quite impressed by Neon Genesis Evangelion! It's certainly not my style of anime and I'm not going to join the massive buzz surrounding it, but for what it succeeds at being what it is!
It mostly revolves around the high-tech military organisation Nerv. Buried deep under New Tokyo 3 Nerv holds some of the strongest weapons known to man which are used to defeat the powerful aliens/robots called Angels. Nerv's strongest weapon is a giant meccha suit which can only be controlled by a select few. The pilot has to be 12 years old and be able to synchronise effectively with the robot. They are called Evanglion's or Eva for short. Shinji Ikari is one of these select few and is called in to be a pilot by his father, head of Nerv. The story is then mostly about Ikari being a seclusive teenager with pointless meccha fights put in every episodes.

Full Metal Panic!

My friend reccomened this to me aaaaaages ago but I only just picked it up. As the name suggests, it's a Shonen mecha. The very opening scene is a couple of soldiers in 'arms slaves' (Robot suits) blasting tanks apart to save a pretty girl. Is their anything more Mecha than that?
But it seems to then lose it's mecha title for the next 4 or 5 episodes. Sousuke, one of the Mithrils top soldiers, is set an important misson: secretly guard Kaname Chidori, the seemingly ordinary High School girl. To do this, Sagara Sousuke must transfer to Chidori's High School, while his comrades - Kurz Webber and Melissa Mao - follow her around in slightly more invisible methods. But the problem is, Sousuke has never attended High School. How was he supposed to know that carrying guns around school is against the rules? As such he becomes known as the military geek.
However, when Mithril defeat the enemy base does Kaname need her body guard any more? But Sousuke still has a school trip to attend and it's a good thing he does as well becasue as it turns out the enemy ended up hi-jacking the plane to kidnap Kaname. The Mecha returns, tanks everywhere, Slave arms fighting face-to-face and explosions EVERYWHERE! Sousuke has been ordered to protect the hostages over Kaname, but what about all those memories of Kaname? It's a heartwarming tale of over-coming challenges for your friends/lovers/mission objective.