Anime Quick Takes

[niko]

Been viewing a slew of anime the past week. GC came across with all five of the most recent shipments being anime, plus Jon has burned a few fansubbed shows to DVD for me. I've been scurrying to get caught up before Otakon. (And before I go away for two weeks afterwards, leaving my DVD player behind. :) ) Some quick takes:

Kino's Journey (Vol. 1): I *like* this. Very Twilight-Zoney series...with Kino in almost the Rod Serling role as an observer and commentator, but also a participant. I'm intrigued.

Escaflowne (Vol. 1):   In direct contrast to Rayearth, when I first saw Escaflowne, I wasn't really impressed, but this time through, I enjoyed it quite a lot.  I like that they just let the main character trail along for the ride for a while instead of making her THE GREAT SAVIOR OF THE WORLD as soon as she shows up.  Gives us a chance to get to know the other characters and get invested in their lives.

BGC:2040 (Vol. 2): Eh. I was slightly intrigued by Mackie's arrival in this volume, but overall, I'm not excited.  I think this is the kind of series where, if you enjoy the world-building elements (boomers, GENOM, hardsuits, etc.) it's great, but if you're mostly on board for characters, it's only so-so.

Azumanga Daioh (Vol. 1):  This series is great in a group (I saw an ep. at a convention a few years ago, and it had the room howling), but watching it by myself, I kept thinking of other things I could be doing around the house instead of watching.  Lightweight sitcom.

Kiddy Grade (Vol. 1): Reserving judgement.  This batch of eps. isn't much to write home about (cute character designs, rather ho-hum plots, not enough character-building bits for Eclair/Lumiere *or* anyone else) but it was entertaining enough, and I've heard that the series picks up speed a few volumes in.  (Which makes the three-episode per volume setup here seem particularly stupid.  If the series doesn't get interesting until ep. 8, let's say, wouldn't it be better to put 4 episodes on the first two DVD's, at least, so you can ensure viewers have a reason to pick up volume 3?  Blah.  I can't believe the viewing public puts up with only three episodes per DVD for these longer series. :(  )

Gantz (Eps. 1-6): Probably my favorite of this recent viewing batch.  Psychological, supernatural thriller-y with one of those plots where you have to just trust that the creators are going to explain everything at some point and enjoy the ride. 

Melody of Oblivion (Eps. 1-4): Nothing special, but entertaining and atmospheric. There are a lot of characters in the opening sequence that we haven't met yet, so I'm hopeful that the show will expand a bit once the hero of the show hits a few more milestones in his evolution.