Anime, FMA2

So, FUNimation is keeping its word and putting out a new FMA 2 every week, on Thursdays. Now, I know some of you may gripe and want to give in and get it fansubbed, but FUNi's quality was quite good. The Subbing was well done. Of course, all the fans watching the first episode, we kinda almost killed the system. They're working on that.

07-GHOST also came out last week. This is a series that should be licensed. I'm not going to do a blow by blow of episode one for these two, since I really really think you should go and just watch them. Also, I tend to go into very small details with these two...and that gets annoying. Ok, so 07-GHOST has not been licensed at this point, but, I hope it is soon. Other 07-GHOST fans and I were in agreement that Teito's voice was good...but not the best...could be because we all had a definitive idea on what it should be. Overall response to 07 has been good, however.

FMA2, well, let's face it, it's FMA! I loved the opening song, like, crazy-loved. Since FUNimation has licensed it so quickly, some fans are hopeful for a fast dub release, or even a fast to-American-TV release. As far as I know, there has been no word on this. I'll keep you informed the moment I find out something.

In other news, I now have a stable job, which is nice, and of course means more money for ANIME! (And books). I've got a busy week...so I can't be sure I'll get a chance to post later. ttyl, people.

Tears to Tiara

Official summary, courtesy of Anime News Network : “ Set in a fictitious land during a medieval-like era of magic and fantasy, Tears to Tiara unfolds with the Divine Empire’s rise to power as it conquers and rules lands far and wide. On the island of Erin, still ruled by the Ancient Kingdom, the Goidelic people are attempting to sacrifice priestess Riannon to revive protagonist and demon king Arawn to lead the resistance against the Empire. Although the ritual fails and Riannon survives, the seal imprisoning the demon king is broken and Arawn is resurrected. Armed with mysterious and devastating powers and a human’s demeanor, Arawn joins Riannon, her brother and battalion commander, Arthur, as well as their team of fighters comprising a swordsman, an archer and a quintet of magical pixies, in the epic struggle against the Divine Empire.”

First off, I like the opening song, and the closing song is catchy. The costumes remind be a bit of a cross between .hack and berserk. Actually, the opening song sequence has this one part with two guys are fighting an army, and one takes a bite out of an apple, tosses it to the other, keeps fighting, and then gets bit back for another bite. I like that. The episode, in the way of first episodes, is a cliffie. Ah, joy.

*SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 TO FOLLOW!!!*

The show starts out with a bit of a history lesson, and how all the ages up till now have failed. It then it cuts to the opening song, which I've already estabished had some cool scenes. After the opening you meet a girl Riannon, praying at a window at night while holding an arrow head. She's praying that something she forsaw will not come to pass, but in case it does, she sent the villagers out. You then see her brother, Arthur, is out with the rest of the villages men hunting these massive wild boar. Unfortunatly, while the protection is away, bad guys come to play. A high priest and an army show up treatening massive violence unless they are given what they came for. Riannon comes out and tells them that s

he's the only one in the village right now, so threats are pointless. She's sent the men off hunting, and the women and children are picking mushrooms. The priest scoffs at the idea of picking mushrooms in the middle of the night, but then realizes that she must be the Oricle he's come to see.

Well, kidnap and kill is a better way to put it. He tells her that he's planning on resurecting the demon king Arawn to destroy the world, and the only thing he needs now is the blood of a daughter of the Elvin King. Riannon just happens to meet that requirement from somewhere in her ansestery. Being a smart girl, and knowing that these guys were coming for her, Riannon pulls out th

e arrowhead and holds it at her throat. She says that dieing now, insead of being a sacrifice that'll end the world, is acceptable to her. Just before she kills herself, however, one of the army-men shows up with two small children. Turns out the children were worried about Riannon, who not only is the village orical, but the chief's daughter. Of course, this gives the priest the ope

ning he needs. He tells Riannon to go ahead and kill herself to escape her fate. It's not going to help the kids. He'll just take his time killing them, since he really likes killing people. Riannon gets his to swear to his god that he will not hurt the children, ever, if she goes with him.

The priest forces her to give him her true name -the name that gives her power- and takes her from the village. Meanwhile, Arthur is getting the feeling that somethi

ng is very, very wrong, so he and the other men go racing back to the village. They find the place is a lot worse shape then they left it, and it's completely empty. Well, ecept for the two children who lead to Riannon getting grabbed. They quickly tell Arthur what happened, and he just as quickly whipps the men up, taking some with him and leaving the rest the guard the village. Turns out he's "first knight", and there is no way anyones kidnapping and killing his sister.

The priest in the meantime is busy teying to reserect the demon king, and he's basiclly repeating the same information you found out in the village. Riannon is standing next t

o him, obviously not all there, ready to be eaten by a big evil demon king. Arthor is fighting his way towards his sister, and of course slowly starts to lose the rest of the guys he came in with. Don't worry, they're fine, since the village apparently raises Uber-fighters that are more then a match for army soldgers, they've just split off to give him more time....or were trapped behind a rock wall when the demon king started to get up. While the demon king (and yes, I know he has a name, but at this point he looks like a freaky fire with a face, so I'm not using his name) is busy being told by the priest that he should do the priest a solid, because the guy let him out and all that, Arthur is almost thought the rest of the army. Just as the Priest is telling Mr. creapy demon to eat the girl, Arthur comes into the room. Naturally, it's

a huge room, and everything is going on at the far side, on to

p of a giant alter with lots and lots of stairs.

So, Arthur is running, trying to get to his sisiter, and if there was any doubt about that, he keeps shouting her name, and Arawn takes human form and starts to approach Rianno while the priest is just being creepy. Then we cut to the closing song. It was a nice song....

A shot from the opening, Arthur and Arawn fighting...remember, an apple a day keeps the army at bay.

The priest, and Riannon with a not-quite-solid Arawn. Tell me, why do I get the idea that even Arawn thinks the preist is nuts?

Arthur is trying to make it to his sister, the priest, and Arawn (now looking very corperal). Great Cardio workout.

*SPOILERS END!!!*

All and all, I really liked the first episode. Ok, The figting really makes the village men able to take on anything, but given the size of the boar they took down, I'll go with it. The episode felt really short to me, but I guess that is a sign that I enjoyed it. You were kind of dumped in the middle of things, but background was given, or at least partcial background. It wasn't done in a "but you already know that, don't you?" conversation between two charactors, but was actually done in a believeable - almost - mannor. That being the case, I'm going to give this series, based off the first episode, an 8/10. I'll look forward to seeing more.

Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles is based off a game by the same name. I’ve personally never played the game, or even really heard of from my friends, but the cover art looks familiar. Guess I should upgrade to a PS3, huh? Anyway as I can’t provide an anime summery, here’s the game plot.

“When Imperial forces attack the small border town of Bruhl, Welkin Gunther, son of late General Belgen Gunther, is forced to fight for his life alongside Town Watch captain Alicia Melchiott. Along with Welkin's adopted sister Isara, the three escape to Gallia's capitol and subsequently join the country's militia forces. As members of the newly-formed Squad 7, they must work to repel the invading Imperial forces and discover the true purpose of the invasion itself.” ~Wikipedia

Not sure how closely the anime will follow the game.

I’ve got to be honest with you; I found this one really hard to get into. I did try. Welkin was funny, I liked him, but the episode left me dry. It may have to do with the way it just dumps you right into everything. Or it could be the art style. Don’t get me wrong, the lines were smooth, the colors and costumes were great. The shading bothered me, however. It was darker lined stripes in the shaded areas, and when a character moved, the lines didn’t. I think my real problem is the story seemed a bit….flimsy. Not the ‘whole, oh crap, war!’ bit, but the whole interaction between the characters. It just seemed very formulaic, and you could pick out the non-essential characters really easily.

*SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 TO FOLLOW!!!*

Episode one starts out with a little history lesson, basically, a story is told, with hieroglyphic -like symbols in the background. The show then cuts to the opening song. After the opening, which was descent, you see bunch of people leaving a village. The style of cloths, and some of the words, reminds me very strongly of an old-fashion German village. You meet Alicia, who happens to be part of a military Patrol. She seems to be a local of the village. After she talks with a woman and her son, another girl in the same uniform comes running up to her. This girl tells Alicia that they’ve spotted a spy down by the bridge, and she should get down there. Upon her arrival, you meet two boys who are also on the Patrol, and you get your fist glimpse at the supposed spy. I’m not sure where they get the spy idea from, the guy has a notebook, sure, but, 1) he’s facing the wrong direction, and 2) he’s looking into the water. I’ll cut them some slack, though, because they’re kids (15ish), even if they’ve been training since elementary school. After the patrol group, lead by Alicia, apprehends the “spy” the “spy” claims to be one Welkin Gunther. This pisses off Alicia, who starts yelling at him. He then realizes that they think he’s a spy, and let’s say he’s shocked. His reaction is quite comical, to say the least.

An alarm sounds, and Alicia runs off, leaving Welkin with the two boys, and telling them to catch up later. On their way, they run into someone who apparently knows Welkin, but he doesn’t explain to the kids. You then find that Alicia is in a meeting with the rest of the Patrol. They’re in a lot of trouble, the enemy is approaching, and support is not coming for at least 24 hours. They’re working on evacuating the town, but most seem sure that they will lose the village. When the two boys interrupt the meeting, Alicia tries to explain by it scolded by the leader. She takes Welkin to a barn and ties him up, saying she’ll deal with him later. While she’s tying him up Welkin asks if there is about to be fighting, and she accuses him of leading the enemy there. He tries to get her to let him go, but naturally she tells him no way.

Outside the building, Alicia explains the situation the town is in to the two boys. You get the idea that they’re very new to the patrol, and way too eager. The situation is apparently very bad indeed. Alicia returns to the meeting, leaving Welkin alone to escape. And escape he does, only to be spotted by Alicia after the meeting. She naturally gives chase, and threatens to shoot him, which of course she doesn’t. When they get into the woods, however, Welkin stops running and grabs Alicia before ducking behind the bushes. It seems that the Imperials are already upon them. Naturally, after some discussion, Alicia agrees to go with Welkin, who is apparently just trying to go see his sister. They both make too much noise, however, and some Imperial scouts find them and start shooting. Welkin runs like a girl, by the way.

When they make it into the manor house where his sister is waiting, Alicia, who had been starting to believe him, flips out again, because his sister is apparently from the same race as the imperials. Before anyone can explain anything, a missile hits the house, and Isara, Welkin’s sister, saves them all by picking up Alicia’s fallen gun and shooting a soldier outside the window. Isara then takes the others to where they can find more weapons. She’s explaining that they’re left over from the First War when Alicia suddenly seems to make up her mind and believe Welkin. The episode ends when Isara reveals a tank that she wants them to use.

Welkin and his two guards. Yes, he jumped into the air. Made me smile, he's such a weirdo.

Run away! Run away! Alicia's chasing you!

I love the different styles of cloths in this shot. Meet Isara!

*SPOILERS END!!!*

Again, I left out a fair bit of the episode, so even my spoilers shouldn’t ruin everything for you if you do read them. I may not be being very fair to the show, but I’m giving it a 2/10. I really don’t feel any need to watch another episode. Actually, the series reminded me a bit of Kiba, to be honest with you. The songs were ok, and the art style was nice (except the shading, I still don’t like it, yet I could sit through Mononoke.) I just could not get into this show. You might feel different, particularly if you’ve played the game. I’m sure if I had, I’d like it a bit better.

Pandora Hearts

Ok, so I said the next one would be 07-ghost. I lied, its the start of new anime series, what do you want from me? This is going to seem like a long review, in comparison the the FMA one of last week, but remember, I said I was going to review the official version as well, and when we found out about FMA 2 (easier to type then FMA: brotherhood) I went and did a long blog about it. Feel free to go back and check.

Pandora Hearts the anime is based off a manga by the same name created by Jun Mochizuki. The official summery is "Oz Bezarius, heir to one of the duke houses, has just turned fifteen. His life is rich and carefree, darkened only by the constant absence of his father. At his coming-of-age ceremony, however, everything changes. For no reason that he can discern, he's cast into the prison known as the "Abyss", only to be saved by a "chain" known as Alice, the bloodstained black rabbit. It is unknown why was he cast into Abyss, how does Alice factor into it all, and what does the organization known as "Pandora" want with him." ~ Anime News Network
Let's face it, the references to Alice in Wonderland is obvious, but from the summery, it looked like a good series.

Now, the opening, pre-opening song, is kinda confusing, but I like it, very dark, makes you want to at least watch the episode to figure out what the heck was going on there. The opening song was really upbeat, and I wonder if it's a bit too happy for the show, but we'll wait and see. I had an "Oh my! It's Hoenheim (Ed and Al's father in FMA)! Wait...wrong series. wonder who he is..." during the opening. It amused me so I thought I'd share. Turns out he's Uncle Oscar, (I think) just a bit more stylized for the opening. The closing is a bit less...fluffy. I'm sure the sequence will make a lot more sense when I know what's going on. As of right now, I like the maids. The episode is a big cliffie, and you learn basically nothing. But it's an interesting enough episode that I think I'll give episode 2 a view. Of course, if this series, or any of the other ones I'll review the first episode of are licensed, I'll let you know, and hopefully they'll be streamed for us poor peons of the anime world to watch.

*SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 TO FOLLOW!!!*

To recap the episode, you basically meet Oz, and find out that he's turning, or has turned, 15, and there's a coming of age ceremony later that night for him. He's naturally too busy exploring and playing with his little sister Ada, her cat Daia, and his servant, Gil. It seems that his servant is his only real friend. Naturally, while they're playing around, Oz stumbles across something he probably should have left alone. It's a grave-marker, with the name worn away, and there is a pocket watch attached to it (Seriously, with this Uncle Oz, who looks like either an Older Edward Elric, or a younger Hoenheim, I was thinking these people watched some FMA). When he picks up the watch and winds it, a haunting tune starts to play, and he finds himself in another place. A room filled with creepy dolls, to be exact. A girl shows up, and it's obvious she knows him, but he has no clue who she is, and they can't touch each other. The girl drops a doll, which catches fire, and her voice changes. She then tries to strangle Oz, saying that she'll never forgive him, which is weird, because a second ago, she was really happy to see him, because he was her only friend (apparently). Oz snaps out of it to find Gil shaking his shoulder, and shrugs it off, but decides to take the watch to ask his uncle about it.
You then meet to creepy people talking about the Tranquility clock, and how it'll chime again....cut back to Gil. Gil is trying to decide if he should go to the ceremony. He wants to...but he doesn't. A woman in a hooded robe appears, and she sounds/looks a bit like the creepy girl from before. Gil apparently loses his body to something not-so-nice. Oz is waiting for the ceremony to begin, and complains to the watch that he suddenly feels very uneasy about something. You then see the creepy girl again, this time floating in the clock, I guess, and she wonders if someone is calling her.....and that's where you're left off.

Oz (the blond) and Gil somewhere they shouldn't be...

The three Muskatatoos (I know I know, Musketeers...I got the other one from a book, long ago) and Uncle Oscar. See? He looks like an old Ed, or a young Hoenheim.

Creepy girl, during the credits. Donno if there's two of them, or she's just bonkers. Very Alice in Wonderland with the cloths and background though.

*SPOILERS END!!!*


Of course, I left some stuff out so as not to kill the whole episode for you. So far, I'd give the series an 5/10. Mostly because I have NO CLUE what is going on, but I get the feeling the whole show is going to be like that. Rating might go up after another episode. I'd at least like the creepy-girl explained a bit. (The closing credits make it seem a bit like Alice in Wonderland :Through the Looking Glass. Maybe there's two of her?).

If you've got a series you want me to check out for you, feel free to leave it in the comments, or message me. Even if it's a series that's been out for a long time. This can be helpful if you're trying to decide if you want to invest in the series, or at least watch it. As for the new shows, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm picking the ones I'll review here based on Name, Summery, and past knowledge of the series coming out. This, therefore, is only a tiny part of what's coming out.