Eat Man ‘98 Review

 

There are some series that you appreciate because of their new and innovative premises, but just flat out fail to deliver. Eat Man ‘98 is just that.

Eat Man ‘98 in reality has no story. It’s the story of a mercenary named Bolt Crank (the name sounds a lot cooler than he really is) who goes from town to town looking to get hired. It sounds so cliché and tacky and you would be right, but there’s a really odd twist. He’s a guy that can eat metal and release it out of his palm when desired. It’s never fully explained how or why he has that ability, he just does. There’s several scenes of him just munching on small nuts (bolt nuts, you sicko) and all you can think about is his dental visits. In reality the stories have nothing to hold them together. They’re so boring and the lack of character development doesn’t help either.

Think of Bolt as a mix between Kino from Kino’s Journey and the pussy version of Golgo 13. Bolt just walks around in a

More Kino than Golgo? Either way he's watching you masterbate.

 cyberpunk world for no reason. I think this is my biggest issue with the series. I didn’t care about ANYONE involved in the show. If you’ve read any of my reviews (please see my Ride back review) the biggest problem a series can have if it doesn’t have a huge budget, amazing plot or memorable music, it has to at least have characters you give a damn about. The anime brings out a bunch of bullshit about monster girls and important people’s daughter, but in reality I couldn’t give a bigger damn about any of these people. The show tries to make you feel bad, but it does nothing. It doesn’t help that Bolt wants to be a badass and not talk at all. In reality if plot has anything to do with what you watch, Eat Man ‘98 should not be high priority. It’s not to say the stories themselves are terrible, while some are new and fresh, some are just plain old western stereotypes.

　

As far as animation goes, it’s not terrible. There’s some decent cell animation and computer graphic blends. The series does look its age though. This anime was made right on the cusp before cell animation died out. The fact that its old doesn’t affect it. For an anime from the late nineties, it does look pretty decent. Not Cowboy Bebop good, but good. The character designs themselves aren’t stock, but they aren’t anything new or mind-blowing. The main character himself is pretty dull looking.

I wasn't kidding about the masterbating thing.

Does Eat Man ‘98 at least have good audio and tracks? Meh. There were only two episodes dubbed for this show and the dub was actually pretty good. It got the job done and didn’t sounds awfully bad. The rest of the episodes are in Japanese only and the Japanese track is just flat. I normally can’t talk about Japanese tracks because I can’t tell the difference, but it’s so freaking boring to listen to them talk for time and time again. There’s scenes where right before a battle the characters break out in monologue and you’re just sitting there listening to these people talk back and forth in the most boring manner imaginable. The opening and endings themselves are sort of nice. The ending takes the win because it tends to wrap episodes up with its soft, country like voice.

It’s so hard to review mediocre shows. This is a show you don’t want to watch on the computer because you will easily get distracted opening emails and surfing the internet when the show starts to drag and your interest dwindles. What I admire about this show is it’s new and tries to do something a little different. I really think this series withstands a 2 episode test. It’s not completely throw away especially for fans such as myself that are slowly starting to lose interest in anime because all of the cookie cutter stuff that’s out there. I bought this show for 10 dollars off of Amazon. Despite me talking mostly about all of the negative things, it’s worth exactly that. If you can find it for that price, pick it up. It deserves at least that because series like this, mediocre or not are just not getting made anymore.

The DVDs have long been out of print so I’ll provide a link. Can be bought here. It’s however not worth a torrent and hard drive space.

Rideback Review

 

One of the things that really hurts anime today is the lack of planning, patience, and care. Rideback is no exception. It’s a show that starts so godly amazing that it just plummets in quality, and no Gonzo did not create this. Madhouse did so there really is no excuse.

The premise behind Rideback is an ex-ballet dancer, Rin Ogata who injured her leg during a ballet performance. She eventually runs into a club called “The Rideback Club” and rides a sort of mecha-motorcycle hybrid vehicle to kill

A rideback. Megazone 23 did this before Rideback and it was called a GARland. Because a man rode it and women shouldn't ride mecha.

some time while it rains outside. She discovers that it reminds her of the thrill she got when she would dance. She discovers the name of the mechaish thing is called Fuego. She eventually joins a race and once that’s over the show turns a complete 360. I want to point out that the show gets completely self important and throws in corruption and mysterious militaries out of nowhere in later episodes (around episode 6+). The show has a pretty bland premise, but it delivers in the first few episodes and really gives off a serene feeling that comes from a blend between the music and the animation. The last six episodes are complete throwaway.

I think the biggest issue about this series is it turned into a political drama completely out of nowhere. All of a sudden you are faced with an organization called the GGP that wants to start a war. Where did all of this come from?! Why do I care? . The series comes off as dare I say “overly pretentious”. It thinks it’s a big deal when it really isn’t. All the characters don’t do anything other than to comment about Rin even when she isn’t around. I think Rin suffers from Naoki Urasawa character syndrome where all the characters are so perfect and their only flaws are that they’re too nice or naïve making her so unrelateable. Around episode 10 – 11 roughly translated as It Occasionally Gets Cloudy After It Rains, a character dies. I’m not going to say who, but I assume that during this show someone planned so that it would come as some big shock to the audience. Truth is, I didn’t care. It was so out of nowhere that I just took a glance at it and didn’t think anything of it. I’m the type of person that gets shocked easily when someone dies, and that says something about this show. I think the lack of fleshing out of the characters and so few episodes is to blame for this. The only character that gets any back-story of relevance is Rin and that’s just about it.

The music for the anime itself is actually pretty good. Not just because the opening is by MELL who’s music is completely incomprehensible engrish (which I grew to love after watching Black Lagoon), but it has a really good soundtrack. There are scenes where Rin is just dancing with Fuego, and while I hate 3D it’s very well animated, but what made them so was the music. I really don’t like to comment on Japanese voice actors because I simply can’t tell the difference when people are talking. It’s pretty average, I mean no one stuck out to me or anything.

The only picture I could find online that DIDN'T involve Rin.

In reality, this is a show that I recommend you don’t watch even though I ignored people’s advice to not watch it. There really isn’t anything here other than the first half of the show. Sad part is this was Madhouse’s anime for winter and it flat out blew. It’s a show full of angst, weak plot twists and boatload of character development. It’s not that this is a bad show, it’s just a mediocre show. There’s nothing awesome about it, but nothing bad enough to call it a bad show. Simply ignore it. This is one of those shows that makes good fan sub arguments. It’s a show that if you bought as it was coming out (I’m sure this is going to get licensed sooner or later) it would just piss you off if you realized what you bought at the end of it. A series that definitely passes the three episode test, but fails the rest of the semester.

Ichi the Killer Review

 

A garbage manga does not exactly mean it cannot be great. Ichi the Killer is exactly that. To enjoy and comprehend a series like Ichi the Killer, you must realize it is utter and complete garbage, but it is the greatest piece of garbage you will ever read. It has no literary value, but it does have some reread value for analytical purposes.

Ichi the Killer follows a very commonly used premise for movies, but that is rarely used in manga, Yakuza. After a big boss in Tokyo is murdered, a group of thugs clean up the mess and take money that he had in his safe. One of his henchmen, Kakihara, a sadistic, BDSM loving creepy son of a bitch decides to discover who murdered him. Kakihara goes out of his way to find someone that he suspects by the name of Suzuki, who might have murdered Anjo and brutally tortures him. He stabs him with these skewers and throws this boiling hot stew substance on him. It turns out that all of this was a plan started by an old man named Jiji as a way to pit all of the Yakuza in Japan against each other. Jiji hires a guy named Ichi, the titular character, to kill people in very brutal manners. Ichi is a very

*This is not Chun-Li, it's Ichi.

disturbed individual who was bullied in school and witnessed a rape in which he didn’t do anything to stop. Eventually, Kakihara catches on to Jiji and the plot starts to develop quite quickly. This is sadly as far as I can go without spoiling it.

One of the reasons this manga is garbage primarily rests on the plotline. It is completely absurd, and uses any excuse to treat people in heinous conditions and torture them. However, you must realize that some of these things DO happen in certain crime syndicates. I’m not going to say that the plot is interesting, it is one of the most interesting page turners I have ever read. I finished off the whole manga in about two days. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is why Ichi is the way he is. They slowly start to reveal whether he is simply mentally retarded or mentally scarred. Ichi is a person who’s mind reverted back to a child after he killed his parents and saw a girl get raped. Yeah, this story has a lot of rape for apparently no reason. I want to point out that this manga isn’t for the faint of heart. If a show like Higurashi managed to terrify you, do not in any way read this. The whole story defies logic and reasoning beyond belief. One of Kakihara’s thugs manages to break a man’s arm with his bare hands. Bare, fucking hands. Ichi the Killer is full of men with penis envy “I bet I can make him scream harder”. Not to mention the amount of homoeroticism, “Rape that dead guy”. You really can’t think too hard about this manga. If you do, you’ll end up thinking this is the stupidest manga ever. For anyone who enjoyed manga like Crying Freeman or Riki-Oh this is a must read.

I haven’t really gone into detail about the characters. The characters are all love and hate characters. You

Nipples.

will probably not care for about one or two characters, but you will have strong emotion about all the others. All the characters are one-sided sadistic bastards who only like to kill and torture. Everyone is over the top and retarded in their own way. There is one person in particular that I despised like no other, Jiji. Jiji turns out to be one of the most brilliant, terrifying characters in this manga. Throughout the whole manga, he seems to not be around and weaker than all of the other thugs. It turns out that he is indeed the most vile of all the characters and is the master mind behind everything. There are no heroes in this series, there are just antagonists and protagonists. Although Ichi is the protagonist, he is in no way a hero. It could be said that it is antihero versus antihero. All the characters in Ichi are portrayed in a very misogynistic form. All the girls in this are either whores or prostitutes. Not to mention the fact that they get raped almost every two panels. I’m going to go ahead and say it, ICHI IS MOE♥.

You really want to root for the guy after all he’s been through, but I simply couldn’t. The guy bitches all the time, cries, jacks off and kills. Did I mention he jacks off A LOT mingled in with the rape in this manga? Seriously, you could see any chapter in this manga and find a rape scene or someone jacking off. I simply don’t like any of the characters. How can you root for people who’s faces have been cut off with a shoe.

The main attraction to Ichi the Killer is the gore and violence. It seems like Hideo Yamamoto really knows how to draw cut off faces and corpses. It is said that for his other manga, Homunculus he passed himself off as a homeless person to see what it is like to be a homeless person. I wonder if he became an assassin to learn how to draw dead

Seriously, the scariest fucking picture I've ever seen.

people. Hideo also managed to do something no other manga has done: scare the shit out of me. There’s this scene where Jiji is in bed with some woman and the girl asks him if he’ll kill her. He simply says “Maybe” and has this weird fucking look on his face. I’ll make sure to put that picture in the sidebar. Hideo has this really distinct art style that could be considered the polar opposite of Naoki Urasawa. No two characters look alike, and almost everyone has oversized, big muscled bodies that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Nicole Richie. In short, amazing artwork when someone is getting killed. I’m in no way saying he is not a good artist, I’m just saying he does best when people are getting killed.

This manga is great. For all the nonsense and ridiculousness this manga brings, it triples the enjoyment factor. It is a manga that all lovers of Koike or Saruwatari. It’s full of brazen confidence, huge guys, and quick arcs that wrap up quickly. Sadly, Ichi has not been and probably will never be released here in America. It’s much to violent and would probably not be stocked in bookstores. Luckily, there are scanlations of all 101 chapters. You’ll have to take a shower after you read this series, but it’s as fun and amazing as any manga deserves to be.  By the way, make sure to read this with the Death Note soundtracks. Almost any song fits the mood of any chapter.

She sucks the poison out of his penis and what does she get? VOMIT!

World of Narue Bashing Review

Method Watched: Anime On Demand/Japanese fansubs

Price: 29.98

English Publisher: ADVision (previously licensed by Central Parke Media)

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life, Sci-fi

One of the reasons why anime has become jaded and bland is the same reason series like this anime get released. It’s not so bad to have anime clichés in your anime, it’s how you use them. This series uses them in the most boring manner imaginable.

The anime plot is pretty basic. Girl saves boy, girl is alien, girl and guy get in to wacky adventures, guy wants to pork said alien. Shocker, the boy is a fucking otaku and the girl is a walking doormat. Narue is the alien and Kazuto is the bitch, I mean boy. There are no plot twists and from there it turns into a slice of life. There isn’t much sci-fi going on

The main characters Kazuto and Narue. My face looked EXACTLY like Narue's as I watched this anime.

despite its premise. If I had to compare this story to any other anime it would be Oh! My Goddess. The girl is a reason why the I’m not completely opposed to the feminist movement. She’s exactly the type of girl meant to appeal to otaku fetishists. Not to mention the mechaphiles. There’s a ship that turns into a woman. Feel free to stop reading the review now if that was enough to seal the deal. The only people that are going to be watching a show with a story like this are either otaku idealists or young girls who find this show cute. The biggest problem with romantic comedy/slice of life type of shows is their endings. This anime takes the cake. It just…ends. In the same vein that I hated Kare Kano for just ending. How does it end though? In the most otaku’s wet dream imaginable. A cosplay contest to please her man.

The art is nothing special. There are no great fight scenes, no amazing romantic kiss scene…everything is just mediocre. All the characters look like stock anime characters. In short, make sure to drink some coffee before you pop this in the DVD player. I looked up the character design and it looks like some guy named Takaaki Hirayama did the character designs. What else has this guy done? Motherfucking Mamotte Shugogetten, another “let me please you because I’m willing to do whatever for you” anime.

As far as sound goes, this anime goes nowhere. Narue’s soundtrack sounds a lot like that of a visual novel. It’s pretty bland and does nothing to bring up any emotions. The Japanese track for this is not half bad. A lot of the seiyuu aren’t high-pitched annoying, just there. I knew I’d heard Kazuto’s voice somewhere before though..somewhere bad.. MOTHERFUCKING MAMOTTE SHUGOGETTEN! Mr. Daisuke Sakaguchi is just one of those guys I will never ever accept his voice after series like this. As for the English dub, it’s flat. Nothing special, it gets the job done for a series like this.

 I hate everyone in this series. Everyone. I hate to rag on series as if they’re terrible, but everyone is so mediocre. The only highlight of this whole series is the ship woman. She wants to get married. If you had to see one episode of this

This is Bathtscaphe. There's a guy who wants to pork her in this show.

series, it’s the ship relationship episode. I for one do not condone mecha-human relationships. It’s wrong and immoral and God would not stand for it.

I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. It’s not that this show is bad, it’s just mediocre, and mediocrity is what really sucks. However, I know people will watch this because of its‘ moe♥moe kyuun aspect. However, those people don’t read my reviews..well no one really does, but you get the point. Don’t buy it, don’t download it, just pretend you never read this or even heard of the series. Why ADVision decided to rerelease it is beyond me.

If you're reading this blog, chances are you find this to be disgusting. If this turned you on, get the fuck out of Lonely Sunset.

.

Otomen Review

I swear to god, it's not a yaoi.

Method Read: Published Manga

Price: $8.99

English Publisher: Viz Media

Genre: Romantic Comedy

There is a rule amongst shojo manga: a shojo manga is never good after the fourth volume. I personally stand by it. Otomen is a bit of a different beast all together. It’s a beast because I can’t tell if it’s a parody or not. There seems to be

You fujoshi fail me. Why does this not have a shitload of doujin?

elements of an actual plot, but it’s hidden behind a layer of jokes and single chapter stories. Otomen has a very cliché, but entertaining plot. The same old girly, weak guy and strong girl plot is here. It however has a strong backbone of characters and humor. It starts Asuka Masamune who is a girly guy. No more no less. However, he is forced by his mother to live out a manly life (not as GAR as Guts from Berserk, but still manly). Why? There is no Musou Tensei here. His father left his mother to become a woman. Ever since then his mom has hated faggo–feminine, transsexual, or homosexuals. He however falls in love with a girl, Ryo whom is the exact opposite of him. He’s encouraged to pursue a relationship with Ryo by a “playa”, Juta. Juta has his own agenda that involves getting the two together to write out his manga Love Chick. The part that makes this story funny is the fact that Juta plays out Asuka as the woman and Ryo as the male. As you would guess, hijinx ensue.

I have to get down to it, the story isn’t really that funny or clever. What it does have going for it is its’ cuteness and characters. One of the things that bothers me with this manga is he hasn’t asked her out. This is one of those things whether it makes me wonder if this is a parody or an actual manga. Asuka may be a man’s man, but he has to stop being a pussy. He’s very concerned with what Ryo will think about how girly he is that he hasn’t asker her out. By volume two there should be a rival already. There hasn’t. There has been a very effeminate guy and a gothic Lolita rich girl and that‘s about it. I have two volumes of the manga that’s published here in the U.S. to read, but I’m hoping something develops. To you fujoshi out there, there is a lot to this manga for you. From cute guys to a shota getting hit on. Yeah, the selling point of this manga isn’t really for men. The characters really drive the manga home for me. I feel there is a great balance between the characters, I just wish more happened between them. I do want to point out, the same joke is done A LOT through the series. Asuka sees something cute, and he tries to hold it in to not say it.

Time to tell you why you should read the manga: the art. The art is amazing. There are some flaws with lines and jaws, but it’s not noticeable. It’s just great, cleaned, polished shojo at its best. One of the things that really

Aya Kanno can really draw cakes for some reason.

takes me away from shojo is the artwork (looking at you The Wallflower). There is some really good display of artwork in small details. Several panels of food just look amazing in detail. The only problem that I really have with this series is the paneling and emotion. Tension and impact is taken away by the way stuff is set up. There is this panel where the shota boy, Yamato or Yamamoto or some shit is being beat up. I sort of cared for the kid, but it ended in the poorest manner. I don’t exactly know how to describe it, but it just had this lack of emotion built into it.

Time to get down to the nitty gritty, should you read it? Sort of. This manga is true to the two chapter ideal. Read two chapters, if you don’t like those two chapters, you won’t like the series. The first two chapters describe what the whole manga will be about. Asuka’s teenage angst, constant jokes of cute things, etc. This manga isn’t a complete man/boy repellant. I hate reviewing series where I can’t tell you whether you should read it or not. The manga does have raise some questions about gender roles and how our peers react to it, but it’s not very in your face about it. I really recommend buying Viz’s manga release if you decide to read on. Despite some problem some pages getting cut off on the side in volume two, I don’t have any issues with it. It has a lot clearer and less awkward translations than the scanlations.

P.S. I’m not into yaoi,  but why the hell isn’t there any doujin on this?

Here's a ballon you whore.

So much shit, so little series.

I need to just get some steam out. I hate Gainax. I hate everything about them. I hate how they give series so many spin-offs and kill their anime to the ground. I hate how they don’t give series that NEED it like Kare Kano, a second season. There’s a difference between a bad studio, like say Bee Train, and Gainax is the sick need to kill your series. Mahoromatic is an example: cheesy ecchi anime. I completely understand it’s a appeal. Should have ended with the second series. It ended decently, nothing great. In comes in the OVA’s. What the hell is that? It has zero entertainment value. Just another ploy to make money.

Gurren Lagann. Another good series. I completely understood its appeal. My problem with it is it’s stupid spin-offs and music videos that don’t make any sense. I understand if you want your series to be successful and you want to get as much merchandise as you can out of your product, but god damn how many Yoko figures can there be? One for jacking off, one for display, one for ogling and one to make your waifu. God damn, otaku can’t you see the wool in your eyes? You, yes you Japanese fans who keep buying their damn products. At least Gonzo has the decency to know they make bad shows and stop there.

I have one more beef with Gainax and that is Hideaki Anno. A director like this should not be let direct. The man is so easily swayed by emotion and depression, it’s a wonder how he still finds work. I think people are assuming I’m talking about Evangelion. In a way, I sort of am. A guy should let his depression sway his work. Everyone goes through depression, especially anime directors, but I have yet to see one take it in such a stupid way he did. I have no problem with the End of Evangelion, my problem with the “OMG SHOCK VALUE” aspect of it. Not to mention Kare Kano. The guy just quit halfway because of some disputes.

Rant over. I should be done with my review of Great Teacher Onizuka tomorrow for those interested.

How, freaking long until I get to this part?

So what have I been doing? Nothing. Having to take a break of Eyeshield 21 because I’m only supposed to watch 50 consecutive episodes of Eyeshield 21 until I HATE it. How much of a bitch can Sena be? So I started Slam Dunk. How fucking long until I see some basketball? I’ve looking for some good anime, and I’ll be honest I don’t think it exists. Kare Kano has TWO FUCKING CONSECUTIVE RECAP EPISODES! I buy anime DVD’s so I could recap myself if I wanted to remember something.

 

Another filler. Don’t fear Gao-Gai-Gar and Kare Kano reviews coming up.

 

Hey guys, Art here. If you are one of two people who actually read this halfassed blog, I’d just like to say I’m back. High school football season is over and I have  a boatload of shit to fanboy about, review, and stuff to say that no one cares about. Not that I care though. This is just my self indulgement journal. Starting tomorrow I should be doing a massive slosh of entries.

 

I’d also like to point out that I’m looking for podcasters/writers for here at Lonely Sunset. If you are interested, please send in some information to artrod3000@yahoo.com with reasons why you’re a cool guy/gal and should be chosen. As long as you can make a coherent sentence and aren’t a total fucking lolifag chances are you’re in. I might not be the most exciting guy to work with, but it could be worse.

 

Arrivederci, Yamato!

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Review

 Back in the old heyday of anime, one of the biggest catchphrases for anime companies was “This is totally not kids’ stuff”. At that time, they were correct. Blood, gore, and a big set of boobs was the reason it was not “kids’ stuff“. Nowadays, we have some more “different” reasons why it’s not kids’ stuff, and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is an anime that completely justifies such a statement. In a world where power levels exceed 9000 and three girls with different colored hair all jump on you because you’re the wimpiest kid in school, an anime like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 follows the events after a massive earthquake hits Tokyo and revolves around two siblings, Mirai and Yuuki. Mirai and Yuuki are cared and looked after for by Mari, a woman named Mari, who helps them get to their home in West Tokyo. Mari is not just looking after them. She’s also looking to head home to take see in what condition her child and mother who was caring for her are in. The story starts off quite slow, and takes a nosedive of slowness during the final five episodes. The pacing is a big issue throughout this anime. It seems like it takes forever for them to move on from the spot they’re in. TM8 uses what I like to call “The Grave of the Fireflies effect” where it uses children as a way to tug at your heart. I can’t get into this without spoiling the whole story, but I’ll dive into character, or therefore lack of, later.

What the show is all about.

The thing that really bothered me about this anime is the fact that in the beginning of each episode there is a caption that says something along the lines of, and I’m just paraphrasing “We strived for realism by doing research and interviews”. The problem that I have with this is, what happened to all of that research? When I first saw that, the first thing I imagined was riots, looting, and some of the worst sides of human society being shown. I, as a Californian, am always at fear that an earthquake can hit at any moment. The nice people in this anime are a bit overdone. It seems

Yuuki, the shotacon, I mean little brother of TM8.0. I'm sure there is alot of YuukixMari doujin at Comiket.

like everyone here is overly polite, like the old couple that they encounter at a safe zone that is not what you would expect from old people in a situation as that. It seems like I’m just nitpicking at things I feel should have happened, but I do commend this anime for doing something different beyond the putrid moe shows that plagued this summer anime season. Overall, this story is real, as in the child proof table kind of real. If you are hungry for something not done before, this is something to look into.

I think where this anime stood out for me was the characters. This only applies to the three main characters, Mari, Mirai, and Yuuki. They are throughout the series some of the rawest and most realistic anime characters I have seen. Mirai is pretty much the reflection of a teenage girl. All she wants to do is moan and bitch about everything that is going on around her. Yuuki is the sweetest kid you could imagine. He’s pretty much the exact opposite of an average little boy; he’s selfless, caring, and smart. Mari is your typical mother. I would go more into detail, but to be honest I didn’t care much for her. The biggest issue was the dropping in and out of characters. Suddenly characters are introduced, only to never be seen again. I seriously wanted to know what happened to them. Did they just disappear? They seemed like they could have been sort of cannon to the series with people like Yuuki’s friend from school, or a work friend of Maris. Overall, if you take in just the three main characters, you’ve got a sturdy lineup that would have been great to see how they interact with other people.

From what I understand, a lot of people were turn off by the art style of TM8. I personally have grown used to the noitamina anime block art style. It follows the style of Hataraki Man and Eden of the East. The chubby faces and odd

NO WAI! See, Mirai is meme savvy.

 lip sizes are really not that bad if you have seen those previous series. There are no generic, or stock features in the characters. They all seem like they were designed well by Atsuko Nozaki, who hasn’t had much work beyond a few name series like Samurai Champloo Eureka Seven. The thing people should have been complaining about was sound. Oh, man boy did this series have the shittiest soundtrack ever. The opening and ending do not even remotely capture the tone of the series. I’m sorry abingdon boys school fans, but that group sucks. Not only that, they couldn’t help but have about four songs throughout the whole show. And two of those four are the opening and ending! In an anime where the feeling is sad and true human emotion, you cannot afford to use the same songs over and over again. It’s so strange that Higashi no Eden had possibly one of the best soundtracks ever, but this anime soundtrack was so crappily made. I don’t have much to say about the seiyuu. I personally don’t really pay much attention to Japanese voices since I prefer dubs. DOES NOT HAVE REIKO TAKAGI, ERGO IT IS NOT EXCEPTIONALLY GREAT!

I find it hard to not recommend this anime to people who are looking for something different. I’m just waiting for this to get licensed, if it ever does at all. Whether you’re new fan who just got off of a Naruto binge, or an old school disaster mecha anime fan, I’m sure everyone can find something to like about this anime. This gets my biggest recommendation, and I dare any other anime this season other than Fairy Tail to challenge it for that place in my heart. As badly as I criticized it, I enjoyed it. Even in the “How many times can one kid almost die”? moments. Never will there ever be an anime again where a backpack is as controversial. Fuji 4 Life.

Here’s an image that totally doesn’t represent the show:

 

　

The Underground Subway

This is a new segment that I’d like to introduce here in “How To Write Kanji?” and it’s called the Underground Subway. It’s a section dedicated to introduce people to an unknown manga series that didn’t get as much attention as it should. There will be a counterpart segment for anime called the “Small Densha”.

Today, I will introduce you to Chameleon Jail, a series by Inoue Takehiko of Slam Dunk and Vagabond fame. While this series is not his highpoint when he has manga like Real and Slam Dunk to keep up with, but it is good to note that

The main character, Chameleon Jail.

 this is what his artwork looked like before Slam Dunk and it’s amazing to see how his artwork looked like…just a year before Slam Dunk. I should note that this is from the “Golden Years” of Shonen Jump and fits in with the artstyle from the time.

 

 

 

The series revolves around a series of episodic adventures and a protaganist

A page displaying Inoue's influence in later works.

called Jail, a “risk hunter”. The series doesn’t really make much sense as to what the hell is going on. All we get is Chameleon using an energy called “kara” that causes him to blow up his face and change it into a different face. It really doesn’t make sense but in a world of power levels over 9000 and outerspace mecha clunking each other over oil, this isn’t as far fetched as it sounds. All I have to say it’s like imagining Golgo 13 actually helping people and being a tough guy that doesn’t use fire arms, instead his strength and balls. He’s also not a mysogynistic asshole. It’s 12 chapters so it’s worth the time investment. The art is really good, just not Inoue-sensei great. You can really spot the time difference between his other series and Chameleon Jail. I should mention this series isn’t as shonen-y shonen as you might think.

 

Overall, check this series out if you’re an Inoue Takehiko, or a fan of old Weekly Shonen Jump manga.