Captin Harlock.

For those of you who do not know who Leiji Matsumoto is. I can only tell you that you should.
If your a Anime fan, you should because it is a classic, almost required watching as it wear. And if your a fan of Sci-Fi then you should watch because of the influence that his work has had on Japanese And Western Sci-Fi.

Let me back track a bit.
Leiji Matsumoto is famous for works such as Space Battleship Yamato. Captain Harlock. The Galaxy Express line and all of the shows that go along with them. In fact Galaxy Express is the best selling Manga in Japanese History, It is literally required reading in Japanese Junior High school.

All in all that's most likely well over 1200 some episodes of TV shows and a dozen movies.
A few things really give away a Leiji Anime. First is the heavy stylization of space ships. If you see a anime were a space ship looks like a WWII battleship. A Train, And Sailing Vessel. then you can bet its a Leiji Anime. (Or At the Very Least he worked on it)

On top of that allot of ideals and visual effect you see in other media are from his work.

And the Spokesperson of the Leiji Matsumotos work is the AMAZING! Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

It's really quite hard to explain Captain Harlock as a character. But the best way is just to say this. If you crosses Captain Kirk with Han Solo And Obiwan Kenodi. You might get some wear close enough to the ideal of Harlock. Simply put Harlock is made of 90% Manliness. And 90% Awesome.

So the list of Awesome tropes that captain Harlock has.
Awesome Face Scar.
Eye Patch.
Bad Ass Red Trench Coat.
A Giant Space Battle Ship: Names the Arcadia. (That kind of looks like a cross between a WWII battleship and a Star Destroyer) Space Fighters that look like Star Fighters from Star Wars.
The list goes on.
And understand that Captain Harlock and Leiji's work are the trope namers for many of these tropes.

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Now before you go out and watch this show I have a warning for you.
For the most part When I watch a anime, I go and watch one episode of it in Both English And Japanese. And Because I don't speak Japanese, If the English Is alright Ill watch it in English.
(On a side note, I can in fact speak Japanese.... About as well as a second grader)

But I can't do that in Harlock.
No really I can't.
I have never seen a English Dubbed Anime that's this bad.
Were to start. (List)

#1. The Music.
The Japanese Score to Harlock is Pretty damn good, It's got allot of brass in it, Allot of very well chosen mood pieces and the music always seems to fit the events taking place, the music is never the center of attention, but it is always good at supporting the story taking place. And the Original Japanese Oppening score is a very Epic Space... Sea... Shanty? Ballad... Ya.

#2. The Opening Theme.
I know I just covered the music but I think the opening theme needs to be touched on by its self.
So the Japanese Opening theme is a kind of Japanese Sailing Song, Think of Pirates singing a sea shanty, only in Japanese. Is it Great? No. Is it Bad? No. But it has personality.
No... Second thought. No it's Great...

The English Opening Theme. Is TERRIBLE! Lets just say this, It sounds like it was done by a Bad Deo Cover Band. Now I know this Anime was dubbed in the late 1970's. (The Anime was made in the late 50's) But really this is the best we could do?
Its so bad that after a wile the English Dubbing doesn't even have a opening theme.

#3. Voice acting.
OK so the Japanese Voice Acting Isn't great but its not bad ether, The Voices don't fall into the formal annoying Japanese Voice Problems. (Unnaturally High Pitched Female Voices, And Tough Males that have overly effeminate voices.... Or male cats having the deepest voices on the show, I'm talking about you Sailor Moon)
And that might be the charm of Captain Harlock, For the most part the voices match up. And are not grating, they actually sound like normal Japanese People

And to be fair the English Voice Acting Isn't bad. But with the exception of maybe two characters there is nothing great ether, and the rest of the voice crew seams dreadfully miss matches. The 17 year old female on the Arcadia Sounds Like shes voices by a 60 year old women.

#4. Length.
OK so no rude Jokes.
But the first episode of the English Dubbing covers almost four episodes of the Japanese Show. And not in a good way. Allot of the episodes are simply cut out, and some are clearly in the wrong order.

#5. Stupification.
The Setting and Back Story to The Japanese Version has a very Interesting premise, Technology and Robots have made it so Humans don't really need to work that much, so most people just sit around and watch TV all the time. Harlocke Pirates Food and Supply's and stores them for the time when the Incompetent Earth Government needs the supply's for the people.

And with the exception of a few people that still work on intellectual and Artistic Stuff, Most people do nothing, Basically its all about Apathy and Social Atrophy.

This seams to have been to complicated for the viewers when they did the American Dubbing, So they just cut it down to. "The Rich Have Everything, The Poor have nothing and do all the work, Harlock is Robbin Hood in space." It's one of the most insulting adaption changes I think I have ever seen.



But the overall impact of the show is pretty staggering. Allot of the big names in Western Si-Fi have stated that it was a huge inspiration to them.

Golden Boy.. OGM golden boy.

Golden Boy is.

To put it simply one of those polarizing animes.

You ether love it or you hate it. But for me.... Being the middle of the road kind of person.

I have very mixed feelings about this anime.

For those who don't know. Golden Boy Is a 6 Episode OVA style anime about a young man Named Kintaro..... Something something. (I can't be bothered to look it up)

The Anime Follows a Simple Formula.

Kintaro Meats a Girl. Acts like a Moron. Gets In Trouble and then Finally dose something Amazahhh! To Fix the Problem and then win the girls affection. And lets not give false impressions here. This is a PG-17 type Title. Wile there is no sex, and only passing nudity.

The Humor in this Anime is Very Perverse.

And thats just the thing, If you like that type of Humor then most people like this anime, If you don't like this kind of anime, Then most people don't like this type of anime.

And to be honest I really normally like this kind of show. but....

This anime just seams to rub me the wrong way.

SOOoooo..

List.

Things I Liked About this anime.

#1. "The Lovable Pervert." Allot of animes have this kind of thing going on. Heavens lost property comes to mind, were the anime wants to show that the character is a pervert but basically a good person. And a really nice guy. Heavens lost property trys. (All be it very tongue in cheek) But Fails. The Character just comes across as a pervert and a ass hole, Even if the strange problems he has were forced on him.

But Golden Boy. I actually by the hole lovable pervert thing in this anime.

The Characters is a pervert, there is no question about that. But at the same time I buy that he is a good guy, and is just a little over active in his decides and a little under active in his restraint.

#2. Humor. I will be honest this anime for the most part was not that funny. BUT and thats a big butt, there are some truly funny moments in this anime, the odd thing is I dont even thing they are the moments the makers thought would be funny.

#3. Voice acting, Wile the sound it self is nothing special and bordering on the bad side, the voice talent is very good in ether Japanese of English. Doug Smith dose the voice to Kintaro Oe... O thats his last name. And does a VERY good job, Kind of a shame that the only other thing he seams to have done in voice acting is ALLOT of bit parts.

Things, I didn't like about this anime.

#1. Humor. There are jokes in this anime and points in this anime, were its not only funny its just dull. Like I said there are some VERY funny parts in this anime, but there are also allot of jokes that just miss there mark with me.

#2. Point. There simply is no point to the anime, The anime honestly didn't need to be made. Wile I will not go as far as to say this anime is a waist of animation. I will say that it at least could have done with a little more focus.

#3. Merry sue... Ness....

Ya so I know that the name of this anime is Golden Boy, And that my inference that means the main character is going to be very good at stuff. but really this anime just takes that to far. Honestly speaking the character is again, just kind of dull, By the end of the... third OVA maybe you pretty much now that Kintaro is basically Superman, posing as a stupid pervert version of Clark Kent.

#4. Follow Through. OK so by the end of each OVA Kintaro has a chick who is ready to jump his bones. BUT at the end of each OVA he leaves. with NO follow through. I'm not saying this should be a Hentia Or Echi or anything I'm just saying It makes no sense.

In the first OVA there is a reason but then after that it just makes on sense.

The final episode is pretty epic but again makes no sense in context with the rest of the show.

_
The Score.

Honestly Speaking This Anime Is hard to score, I feel that any score I give it will be Unfair because It is a very Opinion based Anime I guess.

But I can Give it... A.. Seven... And a Half.

Really I mean it, Its worth a watch if you like this Kind of anime, But its nothing special. And I would not personally buy it myself.

Its one of those anime I watched. And was not sorry I watched it, but i don't really want to watch it again.

Hellsing... No the first one.

OK so first off I would like to say that I am a MUCH bigger fan of the original Hellsing set then most people seam to be. But I will admit that the New OVA series Hellsing Ultimate has allot to do with most peoples view on the OG Hellsing.

So I thought I would take a little time out to point out... (Make a list) Of the things I think the OG did better then the OVA. And things that it did not do well/didn't do as well as the OVA... (OK wait)

If you haven't figured it out/know what I am talking about.

OG = Original in anime/movie groups.

OVA = Is a acronym for Original Video Animation. And is general in reference to a mini-series or one shot movie of a Anime. And or a already esisting anime series. The OG hellsing was in fact a OVA 13 episode set. But it is much less a OVA in heart then the Hellsing Ultimate OVA.

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OK so here is my list making.

The first list is things that i REALLY like about the OG hellsing, Or think it does better then the OVA hellsing. The 2nd list is A list of stuff that the OG does wrong.

The third list is a list of stuff that OVA just does better.

_
List ONE! (OMG! I LOVE MAKING LISTS)

Stuff I rather like about the OG Hellsing.

#1. Characters.

OK to be honest. There are really only three compelling character in the ENTIRE OR Hellsing. Alucard, Integra and Anderson. And allot of Alucard's charm is based on the fact that he is all kind of bad ass and more importantly he is voice by Crispin Freeman.

Integra is a very compelling. (The most compelling in the show) She has the most back story, and allot of the drama / tension in the show is fueled entirely by Integra's force of will. (Literally) If you have watched it. Or You are going to I just have just two words to say. "Letter Opener" something that SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN Ultimate.

And then there is Anderson. I have never seen anyone that dose not love this guy, and it's not because he is a good characters its just because he is fun as all get out.

#2. Voice Acting.

I think I already said this... Crispin Freeman as Alucard.

Victoria Harwood as Integra. Who is ACTUALLY BRITISH!

Steven Brand as Anderson... Who is ACTUALLY SCOTTISH!

I really like the fact that they.. you know got a British actress to be the British female.

And a Scottish man to be the Scottish male.

#3. Music.

The music in the OG hellsing is great... In that the opening is very good. And the songs are very good....

#4. Art Work.

The art work in this show... CAN BE very nice, that is very stylish... Like the opening with him walking throw the forest, with the red sky and moon.. That is good... But... Well latter.

#5. Weird Stuff.

The show just seams to have thing every now and then that are just hilarious! But.... They are few and far between.

#6. Boundary's.

This version of Hellsing seams more tasteful then the OVA version... But really that can be better/worse then the OVA.

Stuff I did not like about the OG Hellsing.

#1. Characters.

Pretty much every other character is pretty boring. Serias Victoria is just boring.

Walter is alright. But other then that.. There is not character that sticks out and most of them are just boring. Even the made up (By compairison to the fact this is based off a manga) Bad guy, his voice acting is alright. But still nothing interesting.

#2. Voice Acting.

... ... Again.. Nothing interesting here other then the mentioned stuff before that was good.

And some of the English accents are HORRIBLE!

#3. Music.

As I stated before the music is very nice.... But it's used very badly. Some times you can't here over it, and other times you can't here it at all. The exception of this is.

A: The song that plays in Integras letter opener / back story plot.

B: The very weird song that plays wile the bad guy powers up.

#4. Art Work.

The art for the main characters is good... And the rest is... OK but thats just it Just OK.

#5. Story line.

O my god no.... There is no story line. There is some very nice character driven story. (By that I mean Integra) But other then that its a bunch of unanswered questions. And a lot of story who goes no were.

Stuff that Hellsing Ultimate did better.

#1. Character... (Only one of them)

Seras Bictoria is MUCH more enjoyable. And by that I mean much more Ax Crazy... Just trust me. Every one likes her more this way.

Also Walter is much better in this version.

#2. Voice Acting...

Same as above. Seras Victoria voice acting is done better... I don't even know if it is a different person. But it's just better. Also Walter is much better in this version.

#3. Music.

No... No. I don't even know if there is music in this version. I just don't remember anything about it, but I remember that it's mucis dose seam to fit better.

#4. Art Work.

This version is just more consistant not really better.

#5. Story line.

Were to start. Lets just say this. There is a story line. That just the thing that makes this better.... There is a story line. It goes some were.

End of story.

Blue Bishonen Hell.

OK.
So as of late I have been looking out for anime that I have not watched and Normally would not watch. So I have been watching Bishonen and Shojin... And so far my Manpoints are doing alright.

The simple reason being that I have been aiming at FUNNY Bishonen. (So Basically Reverse Harem Anime) My Two Biggest Finds so far have been Fruits Basket. (I think i already did a piece on it) The Second Being Oron High School Host Club. (Really bad Title)

But it could be the funnest thing i have seen in a long long time.

First think you need to know is that if you are a Flamingly Strait man, Don't watch this. Your just going to hurt yourself and annoy the shit out of any one else around you.

Because there are ALLOT of gay jokes in this show. But not in the "I'm going to laugh at his because he's gay" Way in the... They are making fun of people who do that way.

... Wait wait. I think i need to explain something here.

What the crap is a host club?
Well you ever seen those bars were you pay for a young attractive female to sit down and have polite conversation with you?... ... No hu? Well they do exist, there are even some in the United States.

A Host club is the Female Equivalent. Women come in and pay to have young men entertain them with polite conversation and... maybe a little flirting.

And yes they really exist in Japan. Following the MJIW principle. (Man... Japan is Weird)

Ya so the show is great, it just.... Vary hard on your reserve Man Points. Not quite as bad a as... Playing The YuGiOh Card Game. But harder then playing D&D.

And no wear near as Hard as Watching or liking Twilight. ~Shutter~

_

If your a female this is going to be much easier to watch for you. Because this thing is FULL of ManService.. (It's like FanService, Only... You know for Chicks) Just know there is ALLOT of bare chested guys..... And not even in the Bleach Standard. In the... ... Well Pretty Boy Underwear Standard.

The Saving grace of this show is the female lead, Who is like many Main Characters the only sane.... Women in the Room? Well not really just just say that she is just as annoyed at the weird stuff in the show as the rest of us.

The Show Really is Side Splittingly Funny, And latter on it can actually be very Sweet.

_
There are some problems with it. Out of the 26 Episodes about... 4 of them are really just not that funny, not really because of any fault of the show, but i think some of the jokes missed there marks.

And some times it just seams like they... Well forgot to put jokes into the show for a episode or something. The Sweet / Romance parts... Seam a little odd. There done quite well but they just seam out of place in the show after so much funny stuff going on.

Now that being said, I really think they could have taken the time they spent on the 4 not so funny episodes and really done a good job with the romance in the show, Because ya. like 6 episodes of romance mixed in with 26 episodes of PURE FUNNY WIN, would have been fine with me.

Even my Partners in Crime.. A.K.A. My Friends/Evil Minions. Like it, and one of them is VERY hard to please with this kind of "Girlie" (Hurts me to even wright that word I think it's so stupid to call something girly just because it has romance in it) Show..

So if you like Funny stuff and are not a retard-man.

Or if you have NO Y-chromazone.

You should love this show.

If you don't.

You may never laugh again. And really you don't deserve to.

The Make up of a anime.

So my latest blog entry started as most of them do.
With a discussion with a friend that got me started thinking.
The Discussion was over. "What is Anime?" You see most people who contest to have a definitive answer... well have no idle what they are talking about. Because the real question is. "Who can really give a answer?" The Japanese? Because almost no one agrees with there definition out side of Japan.

American Fans seam to fall into many different camps. And other fans around the world seam to fall into out of two camps as well. People who are known as "Officials or specialists" on the matter are for the most part, like people who call them selves authority on UFO's. That is they are self proclaimed authority.

_
So the question comes down to a discussion of.
#1. Geography.
#2. Style.
#3. Content.
#4. Conjecture.

So the first part is the answer that most Rapid American Anime Fans / Fanboy-Fangirls give. That is to say the people who annoy the crap out of you at conventions and know six words of Japanese that they think are VERY IMPRESSIVE WHEN USED!

And that is the Opinion that. -It must be made in Japan to be Anime!- Now this is actually not a really odd idle, the problem is that the Japanese would disagree. The Japanese in fact call all Cartoons Anime.. Even the old Disney black and white ones. And really the Japanese think the question is rather silly. And many of them use the porn argument of. "I know it when i see it."

The other problem with this idle is that, ANYTHING animated in Japan would then be anime. And there are quite a few American Cartoons that are drawn in Japan. So they would be anime by that idle, And the same people who hold this. 'made in japan' idle dear would lay a brick if you contested that these shows are Anime.

_
So then that would support to a large degree that Style would make something Anime or not.
That is to say that anything done in the basic style of anime, is anime. The problem with that being that Anime has ALLOT of different styles and American / Japanese Animators seam to go back and forth with one another.

Case and point look at old anime. (I mean Gigantor and Astro Boy) Look around at US animation at the time. Or crap just listen to the people that made them, they had a heavy influence in Disney at the time. So they would not be Anime by this definition.

Also some shows that not many people would call anime would also have to fit into this area as well. But over all this is a much better answer then the -Must be from Japan- Idle.
_
Content.
I have seen allot of people argue that Content is what really makes something anime or anime like. That anime treats it's viewers with a little more respect then Western Animiation.

Now there is some serious truck sized holes in this idle.
A: There is very kiddie oriented Japanese Anime... Pokemon.. Digimon... Well really anything with the world Mon in it, also stuff like Hamtaro could really be used as a western show without much help.

B: There are some pretty serious Western Animations. Batman: The Animated Series for instance NEVER pulled punches considering it was a Kids show. (I mean it was still made for kids) So no death on screen, but when some one went out they didn't just elude to it. You knew it happened.

_
So then the question is.
"So what do you think makes anime?"

Well hear is my take on the question.
It's really a matter of consensus.
Because hear has been my experience with it, almost all people who have one of the openions above, have some wiggle room in what they do and do not think is anime.

So really i think its a matter of Style and Content.

And i have found that allot of people will openly admit that some American. (And European)
Cartoons are pretty much anime.

Batman the animated series.
ThunderCats. (American)
Teen Titans. (Even Picking a Japanese Band to do the opening theme)
Kim Possible. (It and Teen Titans were the #1 Cartoons in Japan at one point)
Avatar: The Last Air Bender. (Very anime like, and highly rated in Japan, but is animated in korea)
W.I.T.C.H. ~Deep Breath~ This is a French/Italian Cartoon based on a Disney Comic made by a Italian women. Originally distributed by Italiono Disney. Then Dubbed for Spanish/American Viewers. And Distributed throw Jet-X. (Disney) And if you watch this show.. Well lets just say this is basically what Sailor Moon Would have been like is it was Italian and made by Disney. (Complete with colored in / basically nude transformation scenes)

_
So i guess the answer really is the porn answer.
But i like to say this.

If it looks like Anime.
And Sounds Like Anime.
And has a following of drooling anime fan-girls or fan-boys.
Then its Anime.

One Piece (And why i failed to like it)

OK so let me just start by saying. I watched the first 125 (Out of like 425+) episodes of the Anime One Piece and i REALLY REALLY tried to like it, i wanted to like it because allot of people seam to like the show. (Of coarse allot of people also think they have seen Elvis lately)

OK so i like to think that i for the most part have good reason behind most of my opinion. Because I'm sorry but (I just don't like it) Or (Because its stupid) Is not a valid point of conversation.

So i think i came up with a short list, (Shorter then my normal lists) of reasons i just don't like this Anime.

#1. Anachronisms.
OK so i have a pretty healthy disbelief suspender. But it is not a retard suspender. I absolutely hate most anachronisms. And let me just say that i don't consider magical street lights in a fantasy setting, or magical mirrors that let you talk to people over long distances are Anachronisms. Crap i can look over some stuff that is a definitive anachronism in a Anime. I mean if there was magic in a setting and flying animal you can ride on. I can see why no one would think to bother to build a air plain or a steam ship.

But this show is full of just... well stupid/sillyass Anachronisms. Stuff that makes me think the show as made by Hanna Barbeara and that i will see Fred Flintstone. (Another show i hate) at any moment. Don't know what i am talking about?

Well if you have watched the show all i have to say is this.... Telephone/Fax Machine Snails... End of discussion i win. To be honest that is just down right insulting. Why? Because in the show if you asked them. "How the hell did those things come about? Magic?" The answer would be. "Nope have always been like that." So i call shenanigans. Would have made more sense to just put real radios in the damn show and just shrug at why they are there.

#2. Characters.
OK so i will get flamed for this but... I just don't like most of the character in this show.
Most of them fall into the Annoying or silly area.
I don't even know were to start explaining this so i am not going to. I'm just going to say that the characters that do have good back story normally are normally badly executed in there personality. Or are just freken stupid character concepts. (Three swords? Please... some one slap the writers.)

#3. Stupid....id...ness....
The entire show has a "I am trying to hard to be creative / fill the show with zanny stuff that will make the reader think i am imaginative!" Thing going on. With stuff that just chafes me, and i have watch / put up with some pretty weird / crazy stuff. I liked FLCL and GuranLagin for crying out loud.

#4. Weirdness... And not the good kind.
Magical Demon Fruit i can handle, it giving people super powers i have not problem with.... but...
Reindeer people and giraffe people i have a damn problem with. The main character being maid of rubber i have not problem with. But getting super speed and the ability to kick a huge ship in half with no explanation other then.... made of rubber. i have a problem with.

#5. Not being that original.
Next. The show just seams really hokey at times because the wright just ripped some stuff off. The swordsmen in the group being named Zoro. (The English dube even thought this was bad enough that they changed it to Zolo) ... .... (Well and it has something to do with the fact the Japanese dont use the R sound in there language) That doesn't bother me that much.

But the fact that they have Blackbeard in the anime/manga does. and on top of that his REAL name is the same as the real Blackbeard. Now mind you, this show is not set on earth... or even a near earth setting, It is a entirely original setting... (Allbe it with completely impossible and very stupid geography) It just doesn't fit with the setting. A little consistancy never hurt any one.

#6. Artwork.
Now i need to say this. The artwork has. (Like in MOST animes) Gotten better as the show has gone along and they have gotten a better budget. So its not really the quality of art work. It's the style itself i don't like.... Maybe that's not the right word.... Loath... Ya that's it.

Let me be fair i have NEVER found another art style i have disliked more. (Some pretty close) But even when done well it just looks cheep. And clearly the artist cant draw a nose to save his life. Because a V on the face dose not = a nose!

And the double / triple lines on EVERYTHING does not work well, not matter how well shaded the show is. It's not always bad but its always cheep looking even when clearly done well.

Not to sound like a troll or anything. But even the best smelling crap in the world is still crap.
___

So this is not quite a matter of i hate this show and every one who likes it.
Like i said i tried nay. wanted to like it. But in the end i just hated the fact that i wasted 40+ hours of my life that i could have spent watching something that i didn't hate.

_
And O ya. The main character has a stupid man, and if you don't think so then.

Your Methods are stupid!
Your progress has been stupid!
Your intelligence is stupid!
And for the good of the mission YOU MUST BE TERMINATED!

Fruits Basket

Before you say anything that is not misspelled.

I just got throw watching the anime Adaptation of the Manga Fruits Basket.
Now after i was done i went out and read the Manga.

OK so my take on the anime was as follows.

#1. The Anime itself was Hilarious after you got past the first episode or two. And even though the show is basically a romance / Drama show, it does a very good job of throwing some side splitters in there on a pretty regular basis.

#2. At 26 episodes it is in about the right length for a good Anime, but to be honest i think this one could have been a little longer. At the end it just felt incomplete. But to be fair it was also left very open to the idle of another season being made. (At this point don't hold your breath)

#3. It was a little disappointing at the end because. Well the thing is in something that was meant to be a romance anime, i really like to see a official couple at the end of a anime. But that being said, i think i might be because. Well it really isn't as much a romance anime as it is a anime about how one loving caring person can touch the lives of every one around them.

#4. The Main Character in the Anime is a Very Loving caring person who constantly keeps up a cheerful facade to keep from worrying every one around her, but the anime is also about how that's not health and is really unfair to the people around you.

So in all.
I liked the anime and am glad i watched it... Well that was until i went and read the manga, now i am a little disappointed in the anime.

The manga was just more complete, And had not just one but many couples by the end of the story. Also allot of the characters were just better done in the Manga, and some good characters were just completely left out of the Anime.

So wile i would say, Ya go ahead and watch it, if you like that kind of anime. (I normally don't but this was done well enough that i enjoyed watching it) Then give the show a try.