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Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Season 2 - Volume 2
UK Release date: 28 Mar 2011
Distributor: Beez
Certificate: 15
Running time: 200 mins
Director: Seiji Mizushima
Starring: Setsuna Efu Seiei, Rokkuon Sutoratosu, Areruya Haputizumu, Tieria Āde
Genre: Anime
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese
Review by: Jonny Roydon
Written by Yōsuke Kuroda, who wrote the 1992 classic Tenchi Muyo! and directed by Seiji Mizushima of Fullmetal Alchemist fame. This is the 7th incarnation of Sunrise Studio’s Gundam franchise; giant robot battle suits called Gundam that each story revolves around. It originally aired in 2007/2008 and is the first Gundam series based in our own universe. It incorporates elements of present day international conflicts along with fictional additions in a tense 2307A.D. setting.
Celestial Being are on the run, desperately trying to reach their hidden asteroid base at Lagrange 3. The A-LAWS are hot on their trail, however, and mysteriously seem to know their movements. After repelling the initial attack by employing their new weapon – The Twin Driver O Raiser – Celestial Being earn a little breathing space, but are quickly drawn back into the urgent worldwide conflict when The Innovators mastermind, and secret controller of the A-LAWS, Ribbons Almark, reveals a devastating new weapon – The Memento Mori – a satellite capable of wiping out entire cities from space. On a more personal level, Setsuna finally discovers who piloted the Gundam he encountered as a child.
There are even bigger problems ahead, however, as on top of their possible mole, the city destroying satellite, and the relentless A-LAWS, Celestial Being may have no choice but to enact another intervention. This time in response to a coup that aims to overthrow the worldwide dictatorship...
This section dives straight into the action. No time is wasted getting things underway - early on the Gundam are launched and a brief but intense battle takes place, paving the way for more close quarters Gundam battles. Overall, though, the balance is tipped more towards story than action during these episodes, with the focus on revealing intrigue rather than character development.
3D effects are used a great deal, some blending seamlessly with the cell shading – in particular with the O-Raiser Twin Driver Gundam – which is rendered beautifully, creating an eye popping contrast with the other Gundam. At other times, the use of 3D is jarring and obvious, but it is easily forgiven by the fast-paced driving storyline.
The pacing is further illustrated by the lack of background detail. The focus is clearly on the front of screen action with only very brief, sparse landscapes which makes the overall artwork and – in terms of narrative - vastly differing locations blend into one in a rather flat manner. Control rooms and flight decks across the various faction’s ships and bases all look very similar and the location can often only be told by the colour of a character’s uniform. This creates a feeling of blandness that the intricate storyline can’t quite make up for. The individual character detail goes a long way in filling this gap, however. Unique personalities, personal struggles and a multitude of different agendas, even within each faction, provide a sense of realness. The drama of the inter character relations and the often bittersweet outcomes makes for intense viewing.
The battles themselves provide a good amount of tension, thanks to the engaging and fast moving storyline, yet they feel cheaply animated. Similar shots of the respective pilots in their cockpits are used throughout a clash, often bouncing from one pilot to another with only very brief images of an explosion or a weapon being fired. The action is rarely pictured from out wide, which makes it difficult to follow just who is attacking who. It even becomes difficult to tell apart the different units and factions from each other. New units joining a fray are often only introduced by a close-up of a laser firing, which creates the assumption that it was one of the current groups of soldiers. There is further confusion then when a new voice is heard and another close-up of an obscured pilot in a similar looking cockpit is displayed. They seem to simply appear on the battlefield without any indication as to where from.
The voice cast further fills the gap left by some of the poor visuals. With a few exceptions, the characters are really brought to life by the voice acting, adding to the unique personalities and intense passions, making the characters’ unique goals seem that much more believable. Genuine care is felt for the heroes’ plight and compassion, understanding, and even deference towards the antagonists is experienced. The lines between good and evil are greatly blurred, nothing is clear cut in Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
Despite the visual and artistic complaints, this is classic Gundam at its best. The storyline is intricate and involved, the characters are lifelike and unique, the action is tense and exciting and the voice acting is superb. This section of the story ends with a genuine edge-of-the-seat climactic battle on an immense scale where, in true Gundam style, the outcome is far from predictable. JR
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Part Three – Episodes 27-39
Release date: 21st February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 304 mins
Director: Yasuhiro Irie
Starring: Rie Kugimiya, Romi Park, Iemasa Kayumi, Megumi Takamoto, Shinichiro Miki
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Originally written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa over 108 manga chapters, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the second anime version of this story. The original was commissioned before Arakawa had finished writing her works, and with her permission the studio went ahead and diverged into their own version, which occurred at around chapter 29 of the manga. This series faithfully follows the completed manga, and is animated by Bones, who were responsible for the vivid gritty hit Darker Than Black and its sequel Darker Than Black: Rise Of The Gemini.
This volume begins with a flashback episode, which also hints a little at Honenheim’s past and his makeup, as well as his inner struggle over whether to become involved in the issues plaguing Amestris or not. After this, the main story resumes with Al accompanying Gluttony into the den of one known only as The Father. Ling, Ed and the shape shifting homunculus Envy are, at this point, still trapped within the dimension linked to Gluttony’s belly, but are well on their way to escaping.
Scar and Mey Ling arrive, and there follows a confrontation with The Father, during which another homunculus emerges in a surprising way. The confrontation leaves more questions than answers, however, and after evading defeat and landing themselves in a compromising situation with the military, events transpire that lead the Elric brothers and some of the others into the frigid north of Amestris - into the realm of the staunch and unwavering border fort Briggs…
There are eight completely new characters introduced that play a large part in this volume, and two from past volumes that are now taking more prominent roles in the series. Each and every character in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe is fleshed out with a back-story that clearly defines and explains their motivations, if not their often quirky and megalomaniac personalities. Even some of the very minor characters that appear in just a couple of episodes come complete with a snippet of their past, showing how they ended up in whatever situation they are currently in, and even how things develop for them immediately after their interaction with the main characters has passed. The major characters also have their respective stories developed further in interesting and often surprising ways. This characterisation, along with the large number of main characters who are often following drastically different routes, really brings the Fullmetal Alchemist universe to life. It feels like a living breathing world where there is much more going on than what we are seeing on screen.
The story really opens up in this volume, the direction manga author Hiromu Arakawa intended for the series is much grander than realised by the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime, and this becomes apparent throughout these episodes. The scale is simply vast, and has become much more than the brothers simply searching for their lost bodies whilst combating homunculus. The philosophers stones play a different, more minor role in this visioning, the nature of their creation having been discovered in the previous volume, so the Elric brothers have as good as discounted their use in getting their bodies back. However, the story moves at such an intense pace that the Elric brothers have no time to focus on alternatives, and can only battle to keep their heads above the tide of intrigue and deception that is being revealed to them.
Despite this scale, it is always clear what is going on, there is no obscurity. Although there is plenty of intrigue and unexpected developments which fit together with a pacing that balances extreme action with more comedic and calmer moments seamlessly. There are many genuine goose bump inducing moments throughout the volume; when the heroes escape a dangerous situation or a forgotten favourite character suddenly re-emerges at a crucial point. It’s the stuff of a typical action anime, but is done very well, and in a more realistic way than usual - the heroes don’t triumph in every confrontation and, for the most part, it is more a battle to escape and survive than to overcome their overwhelming odds.
The artwork is beautifully adapted from the manga, different again from the original series, but not in an obvious way. The overall tone is darker, more stark and violent, with an added steam punk feel to some of the backgrounds. The comedy is also done in a more expressive way, using the typical comic manga ‘chibi’ heads (characters are shown with tiny bodies and over sized heads), enlarged expressions, and character sound effects appearing on the screen written in Japanese script. Unfortunately, the sound effect symbols are not translated on this release, which can be a slight annoyance, but it doesn’t detract from the episodes overall.
The soundtrack features a lot of the themes and interludes used in the original anime series, despite having a different composer credited, all of which are beautifully composed and recorded, and fit the tone and style. The quality of the Japanese voice cast is magnificent, featuring seasoned professionals with numerous credits in successful series behind them. In particular, Rie Kugimiya, who plays Alphonse, does a wonderful job at sounding like a young boy despite being cast mainly in cutesy and ‘tsundere’ heroine roles.
Unlike a lot of English-language licensed anime, the opening and ending songs are included as part of each episode, as originally intended by the creators. The first opening and ending songs of this volume are among the most popular of the entire series, and serve to punctuate the thrilling cliff-hangers, as well as make a good distraction from the intense viewing.
Volume three of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is intense anime storytelling at its absolute best. The sheer energy and single-mindedness of some of the characters is infectious, their plight means something to the viewer, and there are many laughs and tears as they attempt to chip away at the mountain of adversity facing them. Highly recommended viewing. JR
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Season 2 - Volume 1
Release date: 29th November 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 220 mins
Director: Seiji Mizushima
Starring: Setsuna Efu Seiei, Rokkuon Sutoratosu, Areruya Haputizumu, Tieria Āde
Genre: Anime
Studio: Beez
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is the latest incarnation of Sunrise Studios popular mecha (giant robot) series and is directed by Seiji Mizushima, director of the original Full Metal Alchemist series. Sunrise Studios are the animation studio responsible for Code Geass, which is included on many all time top ten anime lists. The Gundam franchise has seen continued success ever since the original Mobile Suit Gundam aired in Japan in 1979. This is the first Gundam series to be set in our own universe, and is centred around Earth in the 24th century. The series tackles the issue of conflict; from personal disputes to global warfare, and focuses on what would be required to end such negative interactions and unify the world under a banner of peace. Ultimately, it asks if sacrifice is necessary and even warranted in order to achieve this.
This first of three volumes of the second series takes place four years after the end of the previous series. The world has come together, somewhat, as a result of Celestial Being’s actions, but things aren’t as peaceful as Aolia Schenburg’s plans implied. The three power blocs; The Union, AEU and HRL have indeed unified under a shared banner, but the rest of the world living outside of this vast super power are still denied access to the solar energy – necessary since the oil fields have run dry – that the member nations enjoy.
The creation of the A-LAWS, a vast forty million strong autonomous peace keeping force, with their heavy handed approach and distinct lack of morals has proven to be an even greater threat to the true unification that Celestial Being was created for. So members of Celestial Being emerge from hiding, and proceed to reassemble their ranks and restore their crew to its former glory with the intention of taking up their armed interventions once more.
The nine episodes follow the members of Celestial Being as they struggle to reinstate themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Aolia Scheburg’s plan is revealed to be more complex than first anticipated, and a new organisation who seem to be pulling the strings emerges...
This series, much like the first, wastes no time in getting into the action, perhaps even too quickly, as we are dropped straight into a conflict with very little information as to what is going on. There aren’t too many new characters, but the fast pacing and similarity of character models can make it hard to follow and distinguish who is who. The characters identities can be picked up once they have been on screen a few times, however, and the story then falls into place retrospectively. The distinct lack of introduction of new characters as well as the sudden transitions into completely different situations actually serves to paint the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 universe as a living breathing world where we are just seeing the key snapshots of what is a vast story involving the entire planet.
With minimal new characters, there is plenty of scope for building upon the back-story of those already in place, and this is done satisfyingly enough. The inter relations between characters, not only the heroes, is focused upon a lot more than in the first series, and a real sense of where they are all coming from starts to emerge. Where the first series focused more on the individual pilots and their interactions with their respective colonel, this series builds on the colonels’ relationships with each other, and introduces their own superiors, bringing with it a whole host of further morality and duty issues that have more impact on the surrounding world than the pilots did before. Unlikely alliances are formed, old characters re-emerge under new guises, and a lot of the loose ends from the first series are not only tied up but strung out further in ways that are far from obvious.
This series is a lot more violent than the first one. Previously the battles were depicted in a disconnected way - the giant enemy fighting suits would be shot down or buildings would explode, but until now, there wasn’t a sense of the scale of life that would be lost in such a conflict. Here the view is much grimmer, and is often pictured from ground level, following the people who are caught up in the battles running for their lives as opposed to solely from the pilots point of view in the air.
There is plenty of in air combat, though, and new Gundam’s are introduced, as well as more advanced enemy suits and ships that put them on a much more equal footing with the Celestial Being Gundam pilots. In fact, what makes this series standout is the blurred interpretation of good and evil. On the whole, the intent of some of the organisations can be seen as wrong, but many of the characters involved in their plans are good natured and are just trying to do what they see as right. It is an interesting social commentary on war in general when the big picture can be seen alongside the frontline clashes.
In terms of technology; new weapons and fighting techniques are introduced, which increases the scope for destruction on both sides. Interestingly, as well, the meaning of the 00 in the title finally comes to light. The battles themselves, however, are somewhat disjointed. They are animated in a comic book panel style, with almost static frames containing minimal movement or simple camera zooms and pans. This, along with the fast pacing means that the brief flashes of action, drawn mostly at mid to close up, is hard to follow. It is often not until a subject’s weapon blast hits its target that it becomes clear which target they were actually shooting at. When the characters are piloting their machines, they look very similar to one another, which makes the narrative even more difficult to follow. In particular, Tierie always removes his glasses when piloting his Gundam, so when wearing a helmet and only being able to see the interior of the cockpit it is often hard to recognise it’s him.
The artwork is perfectly acceptable; the intricate details on the machines are interesting and, at times, give an impression that these giant robot suits are real weapons of war and not just science fiction. The scale of the machines is often lost, though, and despite the wide shots of a pilot entering their thirty foot machine before a mission, when in flight, it can seem they are a lot smaller in size. These faults are easily ignored, however, as the outcomes of the battles are far from obvious. With the heroes having lost fights and allies in the past, each new engagement is fresh and exciting, with clear victories, losses and frustrating stalemates being standard fair for Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Because of this, it is very exciting when the Gundam’s launch, and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be just another battle that the good guys are bound to eventually win.
The story itself is very intriguing and watchable, deep relationships are formed and found along with the characters themselves receiving closure over certain issues in their own past. Moral dilemmas abound that feel closer to home than one would expect from this medium, not simply disconnected politics or science fiction, but real issues that affect us in the world today.
The basis laid down in the first series is expanded upon with more intrigue and double crossing, again a bit further up the food chain, where Celstial Being’s previous intent was quite cut and dry this time it throws up a lot of questions. The potential resolution of the story feels a lot more chaotic and uncertain with even greater and more devious plots being hatched and implemented. The plan that was being followed in the first series no longer seems that it might be the ideal the heroes thought it would be.
It’s disappointing that the real world politics used as plot devices in the first series, like mentioning the real IRA and including the United Nations, wasn’t continued in this one. There remains plenty of storyline around Azadistan (the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 version of Turkey) but only as a part of their wider universe - the specific clashes with the Kurdish – who are incidentally still called the Kurdish in this story – which brought a real sense of involvement are not mentioned. It seems it may have been used more for shock value than as a genuine part of the storyline, as this one dissolves into a more typical science fiction futuristic setting.
There is also little in the way of comic relief in this series, the tone is very serious throughout. Even the previously hilarious Patrick Corlosour, who does make an appearance, is not involved in any humorous antics. The other comedy pair, Louise and Saji, are now involved in serious matters of their own. This was a little disappointing as the jokes in series one were funny, if brief, and so these episodes do feel a little stiff.
The soundtrack is good and captures the mood perfectly, if perhaps a little repetitive, and the voice acting is of a high calibre, featuring many anime voice stars in the line up.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is an interesting and extremely enjoyable take on war, struggle, camaraderie and ultimately humanity. It is not perfect but features fast paced and genuinely tense battles that are just the right length; a plethora of character development; and a enough intrigue to keep it interesting whilst not being over complicated. With a genuinely likable cast of characters who have plenty of faults of their own, this should appeal to fans outside of the mecha genre as well. JR
Series: Death Note: Complete Series
Release date: 28th September 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 840 mins
Director: Tetsurō Araki
Starring: Mamoru Miyano, Shidou Nakamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Aya Hirano
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Death Note is a genre defying anime series based on a hugely popular manga which was animated by Madhouse; the studio responsible for Vampire Hunter D and Ninja Scroll, which were both popular in the UK. The series essentially explores how power can corrupt with an intense story that will keep you glued to the screen and on the edge of your seat. Acclaimed by many as one of the greatest anime series of all time.
Ryuk is a Shinigami, a death god who becomes bored of life in his own plane of existence and decides to visit the human world for some excitement. He purposely drops his ‘Death Note’ – a supernatural book which causes death to any person whose name is written inside – and prepares to observe the consequences of it falling into human possession.
Light Yagami, a straight-A student and child prodigy happens upon the book. Light was bored with his life, and also rather disheartened about the human race, observing with frustration the strong preying on the weak. The Death Note contains a set of instructions and rules on the inside cover; a person’s face has to be visualised when their name is written in order for the Death Note to work is the first condition.
Light verifies it is not a prank when he witnesses a girl being attacked and eliminates her attacker. He then sets about trying to make the world a better place by eliminating criminals. Ryuk soon reveals himself to Light and acts as an impartial observer and unlikely companion.
Soon enough, when the police are baffled by a host of criminal deaths by heart attack, the mysterious L – the world’s greatest detective – is brought in to investigate. The series follows a cat and mouse game between Light and L as the former attempts to bring his new world order about whilst evading capture…
This series defies its predecessors in the Shounen genre. A genre which is aimed at teenage to young adult males, the word translates literally as “young man” and typically contains elaborate battle as a way of resolving conflict. Death Note has very little in the way of physical action spending its time detailing Light and L’s mental battles as they each try to get one up on each other. The animation is superb, featuring detailed characters which are all original and unique, far from the typical anime character whose personality is defined by the colour and style of their hair alone.
The psychological conflicts between Light and L are intense and often ingenious; for example, Light’s truly out of the box approach to the Death Note rules that accompany the book, testing the rules to a point where even the Shinigami Ryuk is intrigued to learn the outcome. At times, some of the plans do border on the absurd, and some of the decisions made by characters that allow them to fall prey to some of the more outlandish schemes do seem a little convenient. The artistic license is hardly abused, however, and such discrepancies are quickly forgotten and easily overlooked for the simply eye popping wonder that accompanies such moments when the scheme comes to completion. The outcomes are far from obvious, with some plans so involved that you simply gape with astonishment and applaud the genius when the penny drops and it becomes clear.
Death Note features younger characters as the main cast, which is typical of anime but refreshingly there are no school uniforms in sight, and there are a host of adult supporting characters that are just as fleshed out as the main cast of young adults.
Misa Amane, the wannabe love interest character can tend towards annoying, which far from detracting from the series provides a wicked sense of guilt upon viewing her tragic devotion to Light, and the misfortune it causes her. There is a rather frustrating lack of back story for the detective L during the first series, this is remedied somewhat during the last 13 episodes – which is the second series – but still leaves the viewer wondering as to his exact origins. Also the story arc containing Near and Mello seemed somewhat rushed in terms of their own involvement, and the resolution of that particular section of the story felt unimportant in places.
The soundtrack is composed by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi. Yoshihisa was responsible for the emotive music of the PS3 game Final Fantasy 13. Equally The Death Note music is wonderfully engrossing and beautifully recorded and arranged, featuring reoccurring themes that range from ominous choir ensembles to electronic landscapes, all of which serve to back up the excitement and anticipation provided by the stunning visuals adding to the truly absorbing atmosphere. The heavy metal sounds of the first intro track by Nightmare contrast wonderfully with this more intellectual sound, thus making Death Note riveting viewing from the very first frame.
The voice acting is superb, featuring an all-star cast, including the likes of the lively Aya Hirano as Misa Amane (Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya and Konata Izumi from Lucky Star), Kappei Yamaguchi as L (Inuyasha from Inuyasha) and the distinctive and colourful Mamoru Miyano as Light Yagami (Masoumi Kida from Durarara!!). Along with a supporting cast of seasoned anime voice actors, this lends Death Note some classic anime styling in a very theatrical and filmic setting.
Death Note is wonderfully intense, packed full of clever plot twists and genuine surprises that will leave you gaping with astonishment. Each episode ends on a cliff hanger that makes it addictive viewing, and it’s hard not to simply watch the entire 37 episodes in one sitting. It is truly original and unique and the anime world is unlikely to see a series this good for a while. For hardcore anime fans this is not to be missed and for those who are dubious of anime or perhaps haven’t been impressed with other series then there isn’t a better representation than Death Note of what this art form can achieve. JR
