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| 3.
Avenant 
While Gasaraki may be considered a mecha,this series
is difficult to classify due to its complexity. The story is kind of a roller-coaster
ride, and tends to be hard to keep up with at times - though it's worth it. We
are confronted by the issues of war - and different organisarions have their parts
to play in this - it gets compicated, take my word for it. The
animation varies. Sometimes it's exellent, other times it's merely average. But
it never falls to "bad". As for music, though I thoroughly enjoyed the
intro and outro themes, music during the series is really nothing special. I hardly
noticed it. There is a heavy cast of characters but
I won't get into that - they are, for the most part somewhat dull. Herein lies
Gasaraki's greatest fault. While it dedicates so much time to its good
story, there is hardly any left for the characters, and so the characters can
come across as underdeveloped. Gasaraki remains
a very intresting show with a superb storyline. But it has its flaws. |
| 2.
Iodine 
An extremely complicated, but highly intelligent series that
has one of the most realistic stories dealing with mechanized battle armor. Set
in the present day, the show follows the machinations of the Gowa family in the
politics and economy of Japan. Though the youngest son, pilot Yushiro, is the
usual teenaged hero with a dark past to uncover and a mysterious enemy love interest,
the characters with the real power are the less prominent ones. Ambitious businessmen,
a conflicted military unit, and underground terrrorists have the ability to do
far more damage in a setting where the greatest crisis is launched by a U.S. moratorium
on grain exports. With a huge cast of characters, plot threads that cross several
centuries, and exposition that often never seems to end, it takes a good amount
of patience to really follow the story as it is intended. Though there's little
to complain about in the action department, this is a political thriller for the
most part, and meant for an older audience. Though
the visuals are very well designed, the animation quality varies from episode
to episode. The plot is a work of art, but the characters, though well defined
and balanced, are rather unsatisfying. Yushiro and Miharu have to be the blandest
pair in all of anime, and their relationship is one of perpetual seperations and
reunions. Finally, the spiritual themes of the show are gradually pushed aside
in favor of the intrigue until the very, very end, by which time it feels more
like an afterthought. After the incredible climax that brings closure to the other
plot threads, the last episode is a clumsy, disappointing denouement.
|
| 1. Tempy
Where to begin... Yushiro Gowa is a quiet young man adept at
piloting Tactical Armor mechas, but he's also a Kai with strange powers. There's
not much I can say without giving out spoilers, but one thing's for sure, Gasaraki
is not your regular mecha show. It has tons of dialogue-heavy political maneuvering,
dialogue-heavy mysticism and philosophizing, hard-hitting mecha action, a gazillion
characters, and supernatural mumbo-jumbo. The production values are quite good,
though some of the CG hurt the eyes. The mecha designs are quite detailed and
realistic, and the animation is excellent as well. Though half of the time there's
just talk. I guess that gave the creators the extra resources to animate the action
bits well :-) The plot is very dense and might seem convoluted at times, but it
all makes sense somehow. The whole show is quite intriguing the whole way through,
though it can be quite slow at times. I didn't always like the motivation of some
characters either: the cryptic idealism had me groaning often. The Patlabor
movies had this as well, but at least those weren't dragged out as long as in
Gasaraki. Also of note is how a lot of the characters are hard to fit into
a "good guy" or "bad guy" slot. This provided to be quite
frustrating at times, especially with a certain character, seemingly bent on disrupting
civilization and causing strife and suffering, yet highly regarded by all and
eventually entrusted with a martyr's role. Had me rolling my eyes in disbelief.
I guess I just don't subscribe to his view of the world. While
I think the show is cleverly done, and at times exciting, I can't see myself rewatching
it. Partly because the main characters didn't endear me enough. The SSDF crew
did provide the little humor the show has, but with so many characters it isn't
surprising nobody really gets enough screentime to make a really positive impact. |
| 
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(3.3)