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Girls Bravo Manga and Southern Tales
AnimeTalk a bi-weekly column by Don Houston, John Sinnott, Todd Douglass, and Holly Beeman We have a pretty full column this week. We start off looking at some great new anime releases this week including Tactics, a story of a young exorcist, the Area 88 OVA set, and the newly released RahXephon thinpak set. Due to popular demand our manga section is back with a look at the Girls Bravo series, and guest writer Jamie S. Rich covers something that a lot of you might have missed: the Southland Tales graphic novel. This book is the first of three prequel comics that expand on writer/director Richard Kelly's upcoming film of the same name. If you enjoyed Kelly's film Donnie Darko, you'll definitely want to check out this latest work. We also have a listing of all of the anime of note that will be released in the next couple of weeks, Holly's back with more anime picks for the budget minded as well. Be sure to check out our previous installments for reviews of the best (and worst) anime and manga to be released in region one.
The
Latest Anime Reviews:
There’s nothing quite like a good assassin story whether it’s live action or anime. With several implied nods to Leon the Professional, Noir is a series that will grab a hold of you and drag you along for the ride. The series follows the lives of two female assassins who get caught up in mysterious events surrounding their past and a group known as the Soldats. Each episode features a new mark and a little bit of development for the main girls Mireille and Kirika. The stories are fantastic but what really makes an impression with this series is the way its tales are told. The action sequences feel like a stylistic dance and each episode is so well written and each character so well crafted that it’s simply impossible to deny the quality of work. If you’re looking for a thinpak collection that is worth every penny definitely pick this one up.
If you enjoy fan service harem shows, Green Green: Co-ed Casualties might appeal to you. It’s set in a formerly all boys school in a rural area in Japan. An all girls school is merging with them and the first episode, /Hearts Pounding Deep in the Mountains/ opens up with the ladies being bussed into the school on a trial basis. The lead male protagonist of the show is Yusuke Takasaki and he plays the usual knucklehead boy who is learning about himself as he follows his pack of pals around through their various dumb ideas to score with chicks. He's not exceptional in any way and his grades are average on a good day with limited other characteristics to make up for his apparent lack of brains. The lead female character is Midori Chitose, a gal who knows from first sight that Yusuke is a lover of hers from a previous life with their destiny being that they are fated to live and husband and wife forever. The only down side is that he doesn't share a memory of this prophecy and that makes her forward nature scary to him. The other problem is that an older girl at her school, Reika Futaba, is also aware of the prophecy but seems to be standing as a guardian to prevent it from happening. It will seem familiar to those of you into the genre but merits at least a passing glance if you enjoy this kind of thing.
Kannazuki No Miko: V2: Lunar Priestess continued the exploits of a trio of youth who have embarked on a mission to save Earth, or at least each other, from an ancient foe of the world called Orochi. Modern technology is mixed with popular myth as Himeko, a girl about to enter womanhood on her 16th birthday that is afraid of her own shadow; Chikane, a wealthy young lady with the kind of self assurance and skill that comes only from within; and Souma, a boyfriend of Himeko and moody type who seems drawn towards a different path; are all found facing destiny. The two girls seem to have a very close relationship and their birthdays are just around the corner when all of a sudden, a demon appears out of the morning sky to wreak havoc. Fighting the enemy and their own selfish desires, the second of the three volume show proves to be almost as confusing as the opener but manages to light a spark of creativity all the same.
From Akamatsu Ken, the creator of Love, Hina, comes another romantic-comedy show, Negima! This story of a ten year old boy with secret magic powers who just happens to be teaching a class of eighth grade girls. It's funny, sweet, and has just a touch of mystery to keep the story interesting. There is also a slightly dark undercurrent that makes the program interesting, and hints of a bigger story that will be told. If the rest of the series can build off of the foundation that was set down with this volume, it'll be a very entertaining show. Fans of Ken's earlier work will surely want to give this series a look too.
Teknoman: Collection 2 was released too; the edited version of the original Japanese series /Uchu No Kishi Tekkaman Bureido/ brought back in the form of the second part of a three volume double disc set. The next 15 episodes are presented here with the Vemenoids stepping up their attack on Earth as they recruit all new Teknomen to fight Blade. His friends and allies travel with him as he learns about his sorted past from a family member, just in time to fight off that past; most of which have been enhanced with the same type of powers he enjoys (though without the imposed time limits he must follow). After winning numerous battles, it seems the team is losing the war through attrition with the same political intrigue causing problems once again. If you enjoyed the Americanized version ten years ago, this might serve to whet your appetite until the restoration of the original is finished so check it out already. Though Shojo (girls) manga and anime are good sellers in Japan, there have been relatively few series that have crossed the Pacific. Viz, publisher of Shojo Beat a monthly magazine devoted to manga aimed at young women, has tried to reverse that trend by publishing several shojo manga series and they have started to release Shojo anime too. One of their first titles is Full Moon the story of a terminally ill 12-year-old girl who wants to be a singer. A light show with a good amount of humor and some cute bits, the series is getting off to a good start. Mitsuki is a likable character and the humor generally works well. Though the volume was a bit on the slow side and had some aspects that were hard to swallow, it was still a lot of fun to watch. Not all anime has to involve giant robots fighting with teen aged pilots, and this series is a nice change of pace. Be sure to take a look at recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Top Ten Anime discs of 2005 articles.
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by Todd Douglass Girls Bravo
Before the Girls Bravo anime was garnered and released by Geneon here in America the manga was a hit in Japan. In case you are unfamiliar with the title the best way to describe it is a harem with magical elements and tons of fan service tossed in for good measure. Quite honestly, both in the animated version and printed, there is so much cleavage and other bits that it could be considered ecchi. To be fair though the anime version seems to have more nudity than the publication does. The series’ main focus of attention is a wimpy guy who is inexplicably the object of desire for several women. Yukinari Sasaki is your average teenage boy for the most part and you’d think that this type of affliction would be a welcome curse. Unfortunately due to his short stature he has been picked on by girls his whole life. This incessant taunting has driven him to the point that he has become allergic to females. Whenever he gets too close to one or in some cases even thinks about one he breaks out in hives. One day he bumps into his friend and neighbor Kirie while she’s at his house using his bath. Well, one thing leads to another and he inadvertently walks in on her while she’s buck naked. Naturally Kirie’s reaction is to bust Yukinari’s skull so she does just that. The poor kid gets knocked head first into the bathtub. Now, you’d think that would constitute a first class trip to the emergency room, but for some inexplicable reason (ie: Magic) he was sent to an alien world. Given Yukinari’s fear and allergic condition to women it’s ironic that the planet he lands on is populated by ninety percent female. A crazed and ridiculously busty woman named Maharu tackles him and begins calling him husband and all that. Luckily her spunky and naïve younger sister (Miharu) saves him and winds up going back to Earth with him through the bathtub portal. From there the manga starts rolling along with its insane content and outlandish sense of humor. Yukinari hides Miharu in his bedroom and keeps her a secret from his parents. Together they go through day to day life as Miharu follows him to school, gets hit on by a world class shmuck, and gets drunk off of pure alcohol in chemistry class. The antics are funny but the gags essentially break down into two categories: Miharu being ignorant about the ways of Earth and Kirie beating Yukinari within an inch of his life. Rinse, wash, repeat. The manga features some fantastic artwork by Mario Kaneda and a great translation by Tokyopop. My only beef with the book (and anime for that matter) is that the overall feeling behind the project lacks originality. We’ve all seen stuff like this before in one form or another and a lot of the gags are “safe” standards. Still, the book is a funny read with some quirky characters and a decent amount of eye candy. If you’re looking for something new to get into you may want to check it out but if you’re on the fence even a little bit you could probably get by without it. Girls Bravo isn’t for everyone but it does have its audience out there.
Something
you might have missed...
SOUTHLAND TALES
Graphitti Designs $12.95
Some stories are too big to tell in one slice. Consider Richard Kelly's first film, Donnie Darko. Though Kelly didn't originally set out to have two versions of his movie, now that they both exist, each cut casts its light in different directions, becoming two pieces of a larger whole.
Volume 1, Two Roads Diverge introduces four distinct characters. The first three are Boxer Santaros, an action movie star wandering the desert without his memory; Fortunio Balducci, a rootless gambler; and Krysta Now, a porn star who dabbles in poetry, black marketeering, and the occasional psychic vision. The fourth is a largely unseen force--the government, perhaps?--watching their every move. This presence is felt through satellite pictures and the occasional panel or inset to remind us that everything is being watched and recorded, the images shifting to black-and-white, the red light of a camera viewfinder inspiring paranoia. These are the moments where Weldele shines, and it's what makes him a perfect collaborator for Kelly. Having previously drawn the sci-fi adventure The Surrogates (Top Shelf Productions) and the Shakespearean political thriller Julius (Oni Press), he's got the prior experience to be able to handle Kelly's interlocking conspiracy theories and post-apocalyptic future. Southland Tales takes place in 2008, and America is still recovering from a nuclear strike that rocked Texas in 2005. It's a smart move on Kelly's part to set his yarn within our current timeframe. It makes Southland Tales an alternate reality rather than a futuristic fantasy. Time can never catch up with him if the events chronicled have already happened. Weldele also cannily steps over some stylistic bear traps. Comic book tie-ins to movies can often be hobbled by artwork that loses its verve due to an artist being shackled too heavily to recreating the likenesses of well-known actors. If you know Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Boxer and Sarah Michelle Gellar is Krysta Now, you can see them in Weldele's sparse renderings, but it's more of an essence thing than a realistic recreation. He goes for the aura that makes them who they are rather than photo referencing the panels to death. Additionally, his solid color washes create mood with subtle strokes, using less detail to achieve greater impact.
All in all, the scope of Southland Tales suggests a move forward for Kelly. The dialogue is more adult, both in sentence structure and subject. In some cases, the relaying of information through captions can distract, giving information we see in the pictures and suggesting a filmmaker who is not as comfortable with the silence on a page the way he might be on screen. For the most part, though, the captions are chosen for their lyrical relevance, ricocheting off the action to give us a poetic insight into what the characters are doing. (Poetry plays an important part in the story, including Krysta's haikus and the regular references to Robert Frost and T.S. Eliot.) While Weldele delivers a lot of concise exposition through well-chosen images, Kelly adds to the sense of purpose by giving us hints of what lies beyond what can be seen. By the close of the first book, Southland Tales: Two Roads Diverge does exactly what the start of a serialized story and a prequel is supposed to do: make the audience hungry for more. At the last page, I wanted to know what happened to Boxer and where Krysta is taking him. I was curious of who was watching and why. If Kelly and Weldele can make me want to read volume 2, and then volume 3, then I'll probably want to see the Southland Tales movie, as well. Rather than a cash-in, this graphic novel reads like a true supplement to something bigger. If that bigger story is as good as this one, Southland Tales is in business.
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and let us know!
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If
you're looking for an offbeat and unique show then you'll definitely want
to check out Manga's new release 
One
title we agreed on this month was 
As
in all things, even the best of series have to end some time so it was
with bittersweet interest that we watched the concluding volumes of the
Samurai
7 series with 
If
you look at the cover of 
Check
Out Your Local Best Buy for:
For
his second film, Southland Tales, writer/director Kelly has thought
ahead, drawing up a plan to give his story room to breathe beyond the multiple
cans of film it will take to show it in theatres. To give his audience
every piece of the narrative, he has turned to graphic novels. Working
from elements of Kelly's original script, artist Brett Weldele has joined
with the writer/director to adapt these segments into a three-volume
Southland
Tales comic book prequel.
Donnie
Darko fanatics will find plenty to chew on in Southland Tales: Two
Roads Diverge. There are some hints of time travel that have a payoff
that has yet to be seen, but where the folks who love to hang out on the
internet and pick apart whacky stories like this will really go to town
are the metafictional elements. Krysta decides to use Boxer for her own
purposes, and to manipulate him, she unveils a screenplay she wrote, The
Power, that has some prophetic parallels to the predicament Boxer has
found himself in. In an excellent contextual move, the book shifts from
the graphic element to ten pages of screenplay, turning Two Roads Diverge
into a comic adapted from a movie script about lost souls whose lives are
informed by a movie script. Have fun with that, story theorists.