Myazaki was a genius at making Japanese animated films with his detailed characters, whimsical stories, and enchanting animation.
Myazaki’s first animated film to reach the US was Princess Mononoke. My first exposure to the director was through the movie Spirited Away.
That movie captivated my heart. I will truly miss his art. It was greatly appreciated and respected both in the US and overseas.
His final project is entitled The Wind Rises. It is focusing on a young man who dreams of flying. His one issue is his eyesight, which prevents him from doing so. But he discovers that he has a gift for building planes.
As he works on his creations, the world plunges into many eras: The earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, and even World War II.
His plane innovation brings the aviation world into the future.
So, you know what this means, right?
Yes, a review is coming soon!
This will be coming to theaters this weekend so check it out!
I personally love movies that focus on history, though Myazaki is a master even when his movies take an adventurous and fantastical side…
Okay people I’m back with my Anime Reviews. This time, I’m planning on reviewing Tokko.
Alright, this is Tokko.
*The FOLLOWING ANIME IS SEINEN AND IS MEANT FOR AN ADULT MALE AUDIENCE, though others can enjoy it as well*
*PLEASE READ OTHER ANIME REVIEWS IN OLDER ENTRIES OR ABOVE IN ANIMEJOURNAL*
Okay, so I was watching this anime trying to figure out what to cover for this one. I thought I would just go with the flow this time instead of just giving each part fully.
*Spoiler Alert*
Alright, so first I just want to say that the story is cliche. I’m going to be honest. It’s typical for a Seinen. It’s even typical for a Shonen. The only difference is in Shonens, the main characters aren’t always losers, and usually get the girl in the end. Also,in shonens they are able to save the world. And in shonens, the “kiss” is always saved for the main girl. Tokko’s story revolves around a young man named Shindo Ranmaru who decides to join Tokki, the local Metropolitan police. His first day is rough due to his hot-headed boss, Kaoru Kunikida. His is a typical man who is a “boss”. He gives his “lower parts” a hard time and thinks he’s big and bad, and so acts all fearless and instills fear in the lower ranks. Ranmaru is pretty typical too, a seemingly loser-guy who hasn’t had a girl in awhile and joins the force to avenge his parents, who were killed when he was younger by some phantoms. He doesn’t really do much but take care of his cute sister (who has a bodacious body). Warning: A great majority of the women in this anime have a bodacious body. And for all of you men who love to see naked women wet, you’ll love Tokko. This seemed as if the women were designed to be specifically attractive but awesome at what they did (sexy, right?). A complete feast for men who love sexy women.
So, continuing with the story, Ranmaru has been having dreams about a half naked girl (figures right?) who wields a sword and kills all of the phantoms in his dreams, as he seems to dream of his past a lot. Eventually, he meets the girl and her partners: Sakura Rokujo, Kureha Suzuka, Takeru Inukai, and Ryoko Ibuki who are part of a Second Division called Tokko in the police department. Tokko is a mysterious part of the police force, only there to kill these specific “phantoms” that destroyed hundreds of people during the Machida incident, the same incident that Ranmaru’s parents were killed, and to find several gold pieces so that they can construct and seal “the Box of Surge” which was allowing the demons to keep coming back to kill off the human race, or rather, make them a stronger species.
Think Resident Evil, and you’ve got the picture. A bunch of zombie-like phantoms who seem to serve no other purpose but to show up annoyingly and badger the main character into revealing his “true form”. The main character is kind of “the one” who is supposed to wield all of this power but doesn’t realize it yet. Tokko’s main group consists of Symbiotes, people with gold pieces inside of them, and have phantom-like behavior. All 12 people who survived the Machida incident were symbiotes, and if awakened, could become these blade-wielding, powerful, super humans, who if angered enough, could become phantoms themselves.
Ranmaru throughout all of this was connected to a girl named Sakura Rokujo. Sakura seemed to share his gold piece, which I felt was a pathetic way to create a romance. It seemed rushed. He met her and then they had one scene together and then were in love. After awhile, we didn’t even hear of the other girl who might have liked Ranmaru (Yukino). Sakura is also a powerful symbiote. She has a basic terrible past like most of the other characters. In fact, most of all of the symbiotes characters are set up the same way: they all are powerful humans who are out to avenge their parents, and their siblings. How uncreative. Sakura was out to avenge her brother, so was Suzuka, Inukai was out to avenge his sister, and at one point Ranmaru was out to avenge his sister. There might be some symbolic meaning behind it, but it’s as if these people’s siblings were their lives. Even more than their parents. And it wasn’t like if it was a girl, she had a sister, or boy, he had a brother. It was paired off the exact same way.
So, with this anime, the story was pretty predictable, so were the characters. The villain was average and did random things, like send all these phantoms out just to make Ranmaru mad enough to turn powerful (when he could’ve just kidnapped his sister to do so). I’d say the only unpredictable thing was Ibuki wasn’t a symbiote. The other shocking thing was just how awesome the head of police was. Other than that, nothing was original. It was typical, expected. Didn’t take much thinking, didn’t take much time.
I did happen to find the action entertaining. Lots of blood and guts to appease your horror desire. Not completely out there, but your typical gore. The characters were also comedic, so that was pretty entertaining. The story did elevate to a climax and tried to throw in curve balls and twists, so I applaud them for their efforts, though most of the time, I figured out who was who every time.
I also enjoyed the opening theme song, “Nothing” by DB. It’s pretty awesome. Possibly the best part of Tokko.
For anyone who likes a quick fix of sexy girls, and loves just to see gore, maybe new to the horror genre, or new to Seinen anime, I recommend this. It’s a first timer, a bit mediocre, but it’s still entertaining.
I give it a 7/10, which means it’s good, but could be better. Tohru Fujisawa is the writer of the manga, and ironically, his first work was shonen. I can tell. Once you write for a younger audience, it’s hard to jump to an older one. Another thing that might also make someone feel like everything was a waste of time is the ending. All the hype and emotional upbuilding, and the ending just really wasn’t satisfying. Oh well, onto the next horror anime.
For those of you not aware of my Animejournal at the top of this screen, and my history, I do anime reviews. I’m a big anime watcher and all of the animes people recommend to me, I review and give my opinions on the whole of the anime bit by bit. So if anyone has any suggestions for animes I should watch, leave me a comment.
*READ MY OTHER ANIME REVIEWS AT ANIMEJOURNAL OR GO TO OLDER ENTRIES ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN!*
Yes, I’ve finally gotten the urge to continue my anime exploration. And I have one word to say about this anime: weird. With this review, I will be discussing the story/plot, characters, music, writers (creator), and anime style/genre.
Story/Plot- The story begins with a young, shy woman named Tsukiko Sagi, who was a famous anime designer. The whole issue began when this particular woman is pressured by her manager to create a new character. So while walking home, after she meets an old lady, she is attacked by a boy on gold roller blades with a gold bat who is later called “Bat Boy” or “Lil’ Slugger” in the English version. She is then taken to the hospital. Two detectives, Keiichi Ikari and Mitsuhiro Maniwa, begin investigating the crime. And boy, this leads to all sorts of other attacks as the private lives of individuals are revealed, all leading in connection to the original victim, Tsukiko Sagi…and her line of work.
I know, that was probably confusing. And that’s basically what you get from Paranoia Agent a big confusing, twisted story, that somehow connects together. Of course, I get it, given the type of mind I have. But less “informed” people will not. In fact, you better have some intelligence, maybe even a slight genius, to be able to understand a story this complex, added with the symbolism that is apparent in this anime. To add, this anime is very short…about only 13 episodes. And it had the nerve to have a cliff-hanger…*sighs* Which makes me mad…but interested. I find the story to be interesting and can easily draw a curious and intrigued mind in.
Characters-The cast is large. Super huge but just for a 13-episode show, and they are all connected to one another in some way, large or small. If someone is talking to someone else, more than likely that someone will become a main character because they will be the next victims…if you even get that…But the main characters are Tsukiko: She is a shy designer who designed this pink dog to help people escape their everyday “reality.” (Boy, the more I type this review, it reminds me of Videodrome..watch that too. It’s not an anime…).
Lil Slugger: This mysterious kid who keeps hitting all the overly stressed and paranoid people with his golden bat and skating away on his golden skates. He also has the ability to grow bigger…and he has braces…
Detective Keiichi Ikari: This guy has some blood pressure issues. And some anger issues.His favorite saying is “If this place is wrong, there’s gotta be some place out there that’s right.” He is more realistic and old fashion. He is investigating the incidents with Lil’ Slugger, but somehow, he gets connected to the events in his own way.
Detective Mitsuhiro Maniwa: The more idealistic and more open-minded detective, he’s most open to all the possibilities. He’s also a bit unconventional in his approach to the investigation. He’s not connected to the events through anyone but his partner, however, he seems quite determined to solve the case anyway.
Moromi: The cute little dog that Tsukiko designed for everyone to escape “reality.
So yea, the characters are actually much more interesting than I am describing. I don’t want to give too much info about them away, because the character development is key to the plot and story. Just remember this: Each character has their own secret life, and each character has their own stress and pressures.
Music-The music is…a bit creepy and eerie. Especially the ending….But it ties in well with the meaning of the story. It seems to express a feeling that we’re all dreaming…the feeling is that everything in the story is a part of how we see reality. It gives that kind of feeling…it’s quite interesting. Someone on youtube described it as “odd, unnatural, not right”…
writer (creator)- The creator, Satoshi Kon, made this after three of his previous films Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers. He said he still had tons of ideas, and so he decided to express those ideas within this 13-episode series. Pretty interesting creator. Some of the things to keep in mind about this creator is the use of 1) Females playing large roles 2) His main characters being at the prime of their fame, to the point they are ready to reject it all 3) This three-partnership idea, where there’s an old person, a younger person, and a little girl. The creator also likes to play with your mind…a little.
Style/genre-The style has quite a realistic touch to it. It’s not over-dramatic. I’d compare it to Myazaki or Pet Shop of Horrors in how realistic it looks. It’s meant to be a shift between reality and the world we “escape” to. I don’t recommend this for kids under 13, and I don’t even think kids under the age of 18 would get this or understand it. The genre is mystery, psychological horror, Satire, and thriller. Personality needed? A really curious person, who loves mysteries, open-minded, and into anything truly mind-boggling.
So that’s my review of Paranoia Agent. It’s quite interesting. Something I would watch again…however, I wish there was more. The ending left at a cliff-hanger….
This is a way to bring attention to the racial discrimination in the movie The Last Airbender. All of the heroes were white, when clearly in the Last Airbender the culture is based on Inuit and Asian culture, particularly Chinese. And though the face structures are similar, it is obvious that they don’t look much like the characters.
Of course in most live actions they don’t. But I guess since Paramount hasn’t been doing well in the recession, they want to get it to sell. And a white face sells. It’s a bit interesting, I don’t know the real circumstance. I will be doing my own research.
I don’t think it can be compared to Dragonball Evolution. I mean, not only was Goku Asian, but he just didn’t look anything like Goku. Bulma was totally off, and so was Master Roshi, who lacked the gray hair. And Piccolo…sigh…I don’t know.
But with Avatar, the faces look a bit similar. And they probably played the role. But it would be better if they cast a group of people who were actually from the culture, rather than slapping a Caucasian and making them pretend to be Asian.
Maybe some of them were part Asian…I heard Aang was, but they just don’t look the part. They have to add more diversity in order to attract more people.
I was just upset Tauft wasn’t in it. The casting is shocking, and it’s ashame the only one who is South Asian was Zuko, but it is an American cartoon after all…
But I hope the movie was close to the show in story too. I’m not one to go around claiming racism, but gosh, why not place an Inuit or Asian in the movie. This is the 21st Century, right?
Generation Next 