blog好き

Oct 21 2003

Categories: anime

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Ok, first up is the new wave of anime hitting us… there are a lot of shows, and most people will focus on the hyped ones like Noir 2 Gunslinger Girl and Chrno Crusade. Then there’s the three series that are based off of h-games (i.e. pixel pr0n, vitamin h, whatever floats your boat about this). Xerlic does his quickie review job for two of them, Kimi (classic high school love triangle) and Tsuki (I’m thinking Lain when I watch this for some weird reason), so I figured I’d try the third… and… wow, I was surprised.

Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito

I know, it’s a ridiculous title that basically means “The Travels of Yami, a Hat, and a Book” that joins “Bluer than Blue” and “Samurai X” in the “Better left untranslated” pile. Despite being based off of an h-game, it deviates (or so I heard) from that game. How? I dunno, but just watching this series does not suggest any sort of h-game since it’s not about a guy surrounded by chix0rs. There’s not even a dating element to it.

The premise is kinda trippy– Hatsuki is just a typical high school girl with a slight crush on her older sister. One day, her older sister vanishes right before her eyes, and a cuddly mascot thing appears. Hatsuki threatens the mascot thingie to take her to where her sister went, and she discovers that the world is really a collection of stories collected in a huge library created by Adam and Eve. And her older sister was really Eve, who likes jumping from story to story helping others. Hatsuki now begins her travels to find not only her sister, but who she really is.

Hatsuki is really a tomboy who carries around a sword and has varying roles depending on the book she is in. She could be lounging around on the beach in a swimsuit or trying to defuse bombs on trains a la Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. She also loves her sister in that Chikage/Yotsuba/Sakuya/Karen/etc kinda way. The mascot, Cholestorol, resembles those puchu from Excel Saga but only yellow. He’s annoying. The girl in charge of the library is Ririsu, and she eventually helps Hatsuki find Eve because Ririsu likes Hatsuki in that… you get the picture. Eve is mysterious as everyone is trying to find her, but she doesn’t seem to want to be found. She does not talk, yet she manages to play a large role where ever she goes…

So far, there has been that magical blend of comedy, bandages, action, girl on girl fanservice, and story to keep me interested. The plot unfolds non-linearly so some brainwork is needed to figure out what exactly happens. The series also has a narrator, which is weird, but it is almost needed since the story shifts around so much. Yami is good stuff, and definitely a pleasant surprise.

And I debut my Anime Power Rankings™, which is like power rankings for sports, except these are for recent anime, and instead of “the best team”, it’s “the best show” in the sense that if I had an ep of show A and an ep of show B, which one would I watch first? Shows that are no longer airing, like Scrapped Princess and shows that have not aired like Jubei 2 do not qualify. Licensed shows like AYA Enishi will make it onto the list once I breakdown and start watching them. :) Also, shows that I have seen already but are finally making it over stateside suffer in the rankings… ok, finally, presenting my first

Anime Power Rankings™

1. Full Bonta-kun Panic — it’s almost over, and we still haven’t seen Tess yet. I hope she doesn’t join Senbei and Mara in the “We’re in the OP, but we’re not in the series” club. In the meantime, the recent karate club and rugby eps were hilarious.
2. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito — damn, it’s a nice surprise. Can’t wait for more.
3. Maburaho — I may write something about this in a future entry… but it’s finally happened. A series about chix0rs trying to get knocked up by typical loser ronin cuz they all want to have his love child. Even Lime-iro isn’t this blatant.
4. The Big O — great show, too bad it’s something that is actually on American TV, but no one watches it.
5. Hakufu’s Fanservice Hour — It deserves to be higher, but I can only handle so much fanservice at once. Also, the show feels really rushed– they could have should have done better than just 13 eps.
6. Happy Lesson Advance — only for Kuron-kun fanservice. She is also the best bet for a plot to the show, which hasn’t happened yet… but I am optimistic.
7. Da Capo — it’s ranked high just because it’s short eps that doesn’t require brainpower.
8. Noir 2 Gunslinger Girl — nothing wrong concerning chix0r with gunz0r. Just I’ve seen it before… and it was hyped… and it was disappointing in the end.
9. Full Metal Confusing Title — I thought it was actually that Bonta-kun show. Silly me for l33ching it… can’t they come up with a different name?
10. Macross Zero — it’s like an ep a year…