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This Month in Ani-Gamers ~ March 2009

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Hey there, readers. I hope you've been enjoying the posts over the last few weeks, despite the lower frequency of updates. I've tried to make sure that, since we're putting out less articles a week, the ones that we do put out are of better quality, so that you're still getting some good stuff from us week after week. On that topic, there are some nice feature articles in the pipeline that might finally see the light of day next month, so definitely watch out for those. Plus, we've got a contest coming up, and one has already started over on the Ani-Gamers Podcast.

In March, we had a bunch of reviews, for 5 Centimeters Per Second, the Afro Samurai video game, and much more. Some anime and game news trickled in as well, with news of Bioshock 2 and the stateside release date of Miyazaki's Ponyo movie. I missed my chance last week, but I might do a News Briefs post soon to round up our late coverage of the Game Developers Conference. Till next time, dear readers!

Check out this month's posts after the break.



News:
Bioshock 2 will star Big Daddy, feature "Big Sister"
News Briefs - Ponyo dated, new FUNi and ADV shows on Hulu and iTunes


Reviews:
5 Centimeters Per Second (Sub)
Afro Samurai (360)
Gurren Lagann (Hyb)
Tekkon Kinkreet (Hyb)


Podcasts:
Ani-Gamers Podcast #013 - The Professional


Notices:
Vampt reviews KRAZY! art exhibit at About.com
See us make fools of ourselves at CPAC tomorrow!


On Deck:
[Review] Ga-Rei-Zero (Sub) - Uncle Yo
[Review] Paranoia Agent (Hyb) - Uncle Yo
[Review] School Days (Sub) - Uncle Yo
[Feature] Socio-Political Analysis at CPAC - Ink
[Review] White Album (Sub) - Uncle Yo



Thanks for reading. See you next week!

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Ani-Gamers Podcast #013 - The Professional

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The Professional: Golgo 13

Hosts: Evan "Vampt Vo" Minto, Mitchell "MitchyD" Dyer
Topic: The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)

We went well over an hour in this, one of our longest recent episodes. Maybe that's because Mitchy's back, and he and Evan can't help but talk for an hour about awesome things like Golgo 13 and, um, Golgo 13. This episode's got "What'cha Been Doing?," a review of the 1983 anime film The Professional: Golgo 13, and some Links of the Day at the end. What more could you ask for? Maybe a special secret message at the end of the episode. Oh ho ho, but I've already said too much.

Oh, and it's a little late to tell everybody, but Evan is going to host/already hosted a panel about blogging and podcasting at Castle Point Anime Convention in Hoboken. If you're going/were there, make sure that you say/said hi. Goddamn, now I'm really confused.

Show notes and links can be found after the break.

Direct Download - RSS Feed - iTunes - Email Us! - More episodes


(Runtime: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 9 seconds)


[0:00:00] Intro: N'Gai Croal, (former) Newsweek games writer and Level Up blogger.

[0:00:08] Mitchy and Evan discuss the relative value of our respective systems of measurements. Because we know that anime and game fans are soooo into this kind of stuff.

[0:00:55] Opening Song: "R.O.D Theme" by Taku Iwasaki (R.O.D. OVA opener)

[0:01:11] We open, then Evan does the whole "other podcast" thing. He was a guest on the Gaming Dungeon Anime Podcast, and Anime World Order graciously played our promo. Then Mitchy talks up his new(ish) blog, DownWriteFierce.

[0:03:04] Rorschach's journal, October 12, 1983. Dog carcass in alley this morning. Tire tread on burst stomach. Mitchy and Evan talked about Watchmen. They thought it was a good adaptation. Boring for "normal" people. Soundtrack sucked. No mention of blue penis.

[0:08:05] What'cha Been Doing? Mitchy's reading Black Jack, watching Shin Angyo Oshi, and playing X-Blades. Evan's playing Fable II, watching Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, and reading With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child. Finally, Evan pimps his 5 Centimeters Per Second review.

[0:26:40] Break: "Pray For You" (The Professional: Golgo 13 opener)

[0:27:16] Review: The Professional - Golgo 13. For most of this review, we just summarize the plot, and tell everybody how awesome Golgo is. At the end, we talk about how Akio Sugino (animation director) likes shiny things, but our serious discussion of this movie can only last for so long. Check out the psychedelic car chase (via YouTube) that Evan talks about. Highlights of this section include: Golgo 13 has sex with everyone, impromptu church demolition, and Silver's improbable grenade "incident."

[1:04:16] Break: Commander Bragan tries to catch Golgo 13 (The Professional: Golgo 13)

[1:04:56] Links of the Day: Mitchy lets everybody know about the Battlefield Heroes beta, and Evan discusses the first anime convention ever - YamatoCon.

[1:08:31] We're done, so Evan does the whole outro schtick. Give us five star reviews on iTunes. Or you're on Golgo 13's list.

[1:09:39] Ending Song: "WORLD END Instrumental" by FLOW (Code Geass R2 second opener)

[1:10:01] SUPER SECRET PODCAST CONTEST!!1!one! Yeah, podcast listeners get a special contest just for them. (Don't worry, there will be one on the blog too.) If you want to find out how to enter, how about you listen to the episode? But don't skip to the end! That's cheating, and you know what we do to cheaters...

Links:
Gaming Dungeon Anime Podcast episode 2 (featuring Evan)
Anime World Order Show #76b (featuring our promo)
DownWriteFierce
Battlefield Heroes beta
Anime Conventions and Their Yamato Roots (StarBlazers.com)
Schoolgirl Milky Crisis (official site)

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See us make fools of ourselves at CPAC tomorrow!

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Castle Point Anime Convention

Tomorrow, I'll be back at Steven's Institute of Technology in Hoboken for the second annual Castle Point Anime Convention (CPAC). Last year's convention was a significant event for Ani-Gamers: it was where we got our first interview, and where I met current staff writers Uncle Yo and Ink. This year, Ink and I will be back at the con, but this time we're running our own panel. "You Wanna Be a Blogger/Podcaster?," hosted by Ink, Hisui, DJ Ranma S, and I, will be about creating, maintaining, and promoting your own blog or podcast.

Meanwhile, our friends at C.R.A.Z.Y.O.T.A.K.U. are once again taking CPAC by storm with a panel in the Main Events Hall. Plus, Walter Amos and Rob Fenelon, two prominent anime fandom oldtimers, will be holding two panels at the con: "Otaku History 101" (about anime fandom in the "before time") and "These Are a Few of Our Favorite Scenes" (where they show awesome clips from anime both new and old). Unfortunately, Uncle Yo won't be in town, so the Ani-Gamers reunion isn't gonna happen.

Anyway, if you're planning on going to Castle Point this Sunday, come by our panel, which will be held from 11:00AM to 12:00 noon in Panel Room 1 (it's in the Babbio Center). And if you want to meet up with us, either say hi after the panel or drop a note right here in the comments.

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News Briefs - Ponyo dated, new FUNi and ADV shows on Hulu and iTunes

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Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea

Wow, I blink and all the news flies past me. In the last couple weeks, we've seen some nice expansion of the anime industry with video distribution and theatrical plans announced for a whole slew of new shows. First off is today's announcement from Disney of a release date for Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea, the newest anime movie from award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Disney will release film in a currently unspecified number of theaters on August 14, 2009, the only week when it will face no major box office competition in the animation category. I haven't gotten a chance to see Ponyo yet (seeing as I don't live in Japan and didn't indulge in fansubs), but it looks like a movie that can really sell to the American family audience. Make sure you support Ponyo by going out to see it this summer!

In celebration of Hulu's first birthday, FUNimation has announced three new titles that will stream on the website, now the second-most-popular video streaming site (behind only YouTube). Those three titles are the baseball anime Big Windup (a.k.a. Ookiku Furikabutte), the sci-fi Heroic Age, and the full-length film Origin: Spirits of the Past. Clarissa of the Anime World Order podcast is a pretty big fan of Big Windup, and Uncle Yo recently gushed over Origin in an Ani-Gamers review, so I'm excited that FUNi has given us a chance to watch these titles for free.

Big Windup (Ookiku Furikabutte)

On the topic of GDH (Gonzo Digital Holdings, the studio behind Origin), FUNimation has finally solidified a new deal with the struggling studio, which cut its anime production in half just a few months ago in response to economic and industry pressures. The company has been attempting to reap a profit from streaming its shows for free on websites like CrunchyRoll, but most reports are saying that the endeavor has not brought in much money for Gonzo. Oddly enough, the move to CrunchyRoll was seen by many as a betrayal of FUNimation, which has so often handled the American distribution of Gonzo's properties, but was now out of the loop as the studio dealt directly with video distributors.

In response, the apparently forgiving (or just smart) folks at FUNimation have agreed to pair up with GDH and take over North American distribution for all of its properties. That includes video streaming sites, presumaly meaning that FUNi would regain its place as the middleman between GDH and CrunchyRoll, which Hulu would probably also see an increase in Gonzo titles hosted on its service. The first titles to be taken over by FUNimation are The Tower of Druaga and Blassreiter, the first series that GDH ever broadcast simultaneously.

I think that it is simply amazing that Gonzo took such a risk in moving to a simultaneous broadcast, streaming video model, and despite their losses, were able to hold out until this new development. Now FUNimation has followed in GDH's footsteps and even supported the studio, and the entire anime industry (FUNi pretty much controls the whole thing) is finally participating heavily in the video distribution market – the true future of the industry in this blogger's opinion.

Finally, AD Vision, once the most preeminent anime distributor in the country, now nearly license-less and struggling to maintain relevance, has put some of its Anime Network titles on the iTunes store. While I don't think that this will have a big effect on the company's fortunes, it should be able to provide some income from their anime properties, since the sales through the iTunes Store are almost pure profit. The titles now available for download are Angelic Layer, Mahoromatic, Pet Shop of Horrors, Saiyuki, and Tsukihime.

And with that, I think that I can confidently say that the anime industry is finally moving in the right direction, with video streaming, simultaneous broadcasts, and direct downloads all options for those who want to watch their anime for free or cheap online (and without fansubs). Now that's change we can believe in. (I couldn't help it!)

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Review: Tekkon Kinkreet (Hyb)

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Tekkon Kinkreet Medium: Anime Film
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Psychological
Director: Michael Arias
Studio: Studio 4°C
Licensed? Yes (Sony Pictures)

Tekkon Kinkreet is a strange beast. Based on the original manga Black and White by Taiyo Matsumoto and directed by American Michael Arias, the film is a strange melding of American and Japanese sensibilities. Beyond that, it also combines various visual and storytelling styles, creating a movie that is 2D AND 3D, a child's tale AND an adult drama. Like the title of Matsumoto's original manga, this is a story that is all about stark dichotomies.

Black and White (or Kuro and Shiro for the Japanese) are two orphan brothers living in the rundown city of Treasure Town. There they battle other street punks, glare at Yakuza from the alleys, and befriend a varied group of gangs, policemen, and other characters. Oh, and they leap across buildings in ways that would put even the Wachowski Brothers to shame.

Black, the elder, is a brooding, independent boy who works tirelessly to keep White and himself alive in the ever-changing environment of Treasure Town. His brother, on the other hand, is a bright-eyed, innocent young boy who has weird psychedelic daydreams all the time and never seems to think about reality. They've just planted an apple seed near the pile of junk that they call a home when the relative peace of Treasure Town is disturbed by a man named Snake who takes over the operations of the local Yakuza gang.

The problem is that Snake (not the most flattering name ever) wants to turn the entire city into an amusement park, while most of the inhabitants (including Black and White) aren't very keen on this idea. So begins a sprawling story wherein Black and White fight to survive (and keep each other alive), and friends from the Yakuza and police force work to keep the boys out of the reach of Snake and his superpowered henchmen.

Having no experience with Matsumoto's manga, I can't really speak to the accuracy of the film's screenplay, but I can say that this is a truly unusual story. Sometimes it feels like a children's story, with White showing the virtues of a pure heart and imagination, but then it will launch into vicious bloody fight scenes in which Black jumps all over his enemies, clawing like an animal and battering them with his trademark metal pole. It is in this dichotomy, however, that the film really shows its merits. At one point, White comments to a police friend, "God made me broken. Black too. But I gots all the screws that Black needs. I gots every one!" Like yin and yang, these two brothers desperately need each other, and it is this need that forms the strong backbone of the film.

Outside of that backbone are fascinating characters like Kimura, a Yakuza man with a soft spot for Black who, in an attempt to save his wife and kids from Snake's wrath, helps the slimy man with his nefarious plans. Kimura's painful grapples with love, truth, loyalty, and morality are real, emotional, heart-breaking experiences. Tekkon Kinkreet is a tragedy in the truest sense. It is about innocence lost and families torn asunder. Sometimes there are redemptions, but more often than not, characters meet violent, tragic ends.

Director Michael Arias got his chance to work on this movie after working in the 3D animation industry for years, and his experience really shows. There are sequences in which a 2D scene will suddenly swivel in a continuous 180 degrees, creating a somewhat unnecessary (but no less impressive) shot that has rarely – if ever – been attempted in anime. The character designs are an interesting combination of Matsumoto's originals and Studio 4°C's distinctive style, but they're definitely an acquired taste with their small eyes and mouths. On the other hand, no character movement is spared by the animators at 4°C, who have – successfully – endeavored to make this "one of those movies" that makes up for its deficiencies with an artistic tour de force.

Said tour de force only becomes a problem when it causes the team of director Michael Arias and scriptwriter Anthony Weintraub to spend nearly twenty minutes on a surreal scene filled with watercolors, highly-dynamic art, and tons of weird symbolism. It's an unfortunate, excessive ego-trip of a scene that is unfit for this movie and should have been nixed altogether. The only other big problem is that the film is simply too long. Perhaps this was due to Arias being a fan of the manga, since it seems like he tried to cram too much into one movie. A bit of the Peter Jackson effect, albeit without the Best Picture Oscar.

All in all, I recommend Tekkon Kinkreet to most anime fans despite its flaws, if only because it is the first Japanese-produced anime to be directed by an American. Most viewers will come into this film for the beautiful animation, but the real meat lies in the characters: Black and White are reminiscent of Seita and Setsuko of Grave of the Fireflies in their tragic interdependence, and Kimura is a brilliantly-crafted side-character. This film shows, side-by-side, both Black and White, 2D and 3D, children and adults. Like Yin and Yang, Tekkon Kinkreet maintains balance in all things.



good.

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Vampt reviews KRAZY! art exhibit at About.com

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Tired of waiting for the next mouth-watering Ani-Gamers post to knock your socks off? Well maybe I can satiate your appetite with my review of an art exhibit, which was recently posted over at Manga.About.com. "Snoore-fest," you say. BUT WAIT! This is no ordinary art exhibit. It's a celebration of Japanese anime, manga, and video games, presented in the form of art. (Video games as art? Roger Ebert's blood pressure just shot up a notch.)

Anyway, The Anime Almanac's Scott VonSchilling and I had the chance to visit the exhibit thanks to Deb Aoki of Manga.About.com, who was nice enough to provide us a ticket to an exclusive early preview. Below is an excerpt from our two-page tag-team writeup. Click the link to check out the rest.

The typical anime or manga convention may be populated mostly by squeeing fanboys and fangirls, but outside of the world of "traditional" fandom, there are mainstream establishments that are examining manga and anime in a very different way.

Two of those groups - the Vancouver Gallery of Art and New York City's Japan Society - recently teamed up to bring Japanese pop culture to the people of New York City with KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games. KRAZY! is an exhibit curated by the Vancouver Gallery of Art, and it's on display at the Japan Society in New York City from March 13 to June 14, 2009. KRAZY! offers an in-depth, scholarly look at the art and evolution of these three influential Japanese pop culture phenomena.

Read the full article...

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Bioshock 2 will star Big Daddy, feature "Big Sister"

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Bioshock 2's Big Sister

Details have finally surfaced (haw haw) for the long-anticipated sequel to 2K Boston's ambitious, award-winning 2007 first-person shooter Bioshock, thanks to a world exclusive in this month's issue of GameInformer Magazine.

According to the magazine, players will play as the "first" Big Daddy, who must fight other Big Daddies in order to acquire a Little Sister. There will also be a new type of enemy called a "Big Sister," which is (as the name suggests) a female version of the Big Daddy. It's faster, and according to the picture at right, it also looks considerably more deadly. In the process of your adventure, you will be able to use the Big Daddy's trademark drill weapon, as well as the plasmids that made up much of the first Bioshock's gameplay.

It's nice to see that 2K is trying something a little easier to digest than a linear sequel, since it probably would have really diluted the franchise. While no sequel at all would have best preserved the spirit of the game, I think that this is a pretty good way of making a second Bioshock game without devaluing the unique playing experience from the first. Who knows, maybe this new game (presumably a prequel) will provide a deeper investigation of Rapture's founder Andrew Ryan, undoubtedly the most fascinating character in the first game.

[via 1UP]

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Review: Gurren Lagann (Hyb)

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Gurren Lagann Medium: TV Anime
Genres: Action, Mecha, Science Fiction
Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Studio: Gainax
Licensed? Yes (Bandai Entertainment)

It’s Gainax. Of course there are going to be giant robots and bouncing boobies.

From the very beginning, Gurren Lagann is a story of reaching new heights and climbing higher. Simon (pronounced See-moan) is a measly digger, one of the countless humans living in despair beneath the Earth’s crust. Banished to never see the sky above, mankind is truly at its lowest. If it were not for his inspirational and testosterone-exuding gang-brother Kamina, Simon would be almost deprived of confidence and willpower. Change is set into motion as Simon discovers a mechanical face buried in the soil, and the tiny drill that activates it. From there, destiny spins itself out of control as Simon and Kamina aim their sights for the grand, unexplored world above their tunnel city.

Halfway through the first episode, a giant robot falls from the ceiling, as does a beautiful, rifle-wielding tom-boy named Yoko. Once Simon pilots the pint-sized Lagann to victory, Team Gurren’s journey truly begins. Upon reaching the surface, Simon and Kamina learn that mankind was driven underground out of terror of the Beastmen and their giant robots. They join up with Yoko’s village and begin living to the fullest, leading a full-out war against the Beastmen and their terrifying Spiral King.

I've waited a long time for an anime like this. I remember being a hot-blooded teenager, thrilling over Dragon Ball Z, Ronin Warriors and, yes, even Sailor Moon. When a character wanted something, they yelled louder, lights appeared from nowhere, and they achieved the impossible. It’s that moment in anime when willpower and desire are personified, and every hair on your arm stands up on end. If it weren’t for the visual barrage of colorful characters and hypnotic robot battles, Gurren Lagann’s predictability and formula would murder its potential. But it’s almost too good to dismiss as another kids show overloaded with toy company fodder.

From there, the formula is set in place. Just as good as it is bad, you cannot shake off Gurren Lagann’s almost cop-out ability to drill through every obstacle imaginable the same way every time. Whenever there is a chance of emotional development and a deep meaning, a bigger robot appears and the human’s flagship mecha, Gurren Lagann, makes an even bigger drill, penetrates the enemy robot, and pounds its way to a lightshow of victory.

Gurren, Lagann, and the combined Gurren Lagann

Gainax’s distinctive choppy animation style that they embraced during FLCL adds a level of spunk and pep that compliments the chromatically intense visuals. Staying on the visuals, the eyecatches are some of the... catchiest I’ve seen since Cowboy Bebop, in that they stand out with a raw and colorful style on their own. The fights are way over-the-top and can easily lead to an epileptic breakdown without proper lighting or medication on hand. Lagann’s animators use old-school cell-paint techniques, which are severely lacking these days in anime; I’m getting tired of bland and depthless 3D rendered backgrounds. And because this is a Gainax anime, no drill-to-penis innuendo is too low nor too overt; in fact very little is spared. Yoko provides the essential “Gainax-bounce” and her fiery brassiere top becomes a character on its own.

Take the fan gushing with a grain of salt: Kamina’s unlimited “fighting spirit” becomes obnoxious quicker than expected. The over-the-top ego drills on your nerves, but it all leads up to the more fascinating and challenging second part of the series. Without any spoilers, I will say this about the second season: think Watchmen or Squadron Supreme, when the righteous make the wrong choices for the right reasons.

Bang Zoom delivers a fantastic dub. Steve Blum goes way off-character to play Leeron, the effeminate tech-head. A-lister Kyle Hebert does a great performance as Kamina, bringing full bravado and macho suave to the all-around badass Kamina. This cast was very carefully put together, and the precision of voice director Tony Oliver paid off fantastically. For more details, check out our podcast episode that Evan recorded at the New York Anime Festival – still jealous over that, Minto!

But suspension of disbelief set aside, Gurren Lagann is worth it – without a doubt. This wasn’t the smartest anime, nor the deepest, but it never tried to be. It just tried to be a good ride with robots – and even a bitter, jaded fan like me couldn't help but fall head-over-heels for it.



great.

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Review: Afro Samurai (360)

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Afro Samurai Genres: Action
Designers: Dave Robinson (Senior Producer)
Developer: Namco Bandai Games
Publisher: Surge
Consoles: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Rated: M for Mature

The original anime version of Afro Samurai provides the perfect formula for a video game. The premise: in its world, there are 2 headbands (#1 and #2), which are blood-lusted after by anyone who wants everyone to know of their god-like fighting skills. This creates a perfect hack-and-slash mentality: those without the #2 headband are always chasing after whoever wears it; the #2 simultaneously (and constantly) has to both defend his legacy as #2 while trying to dethrone #1; and the #1 sits pretty waiting for #2 to find him (while somehow not letting his skills dull – perhaps by taking on line-cutters). Like I said: the perfect formula for a hack-and-slash video game, especially when the player is cast as the #2. And even though hack-and-slash action button-mashers can get real tiresome real fast, when you take into account the tremendous storyline, voice acting, soundtrack, graphics, and even novelties such as “Body Part Poker,” you have one hell of a game in your hands that maintains interest for however long the batteries in your controller last.

Graphics are definitely the pretty part of what keeps the average gameplay session to nothing less than hours. It’s pretty – real pretty. It’s not polished Ninja Gaiden-beautiful, but then again it isn’t meant to be. Its cell-shaded anime/manga blend makes the playing experience feel something like navigating a cut scene. At times, some of the techniques used can be frustrating or distracting, but it all works in the end to create a totally immersive environment. It’s what makes this video game become the hybrid movie/game it is intended to be.

Afro Samurai employs a very unique HUD. Usually such a thing would clutter the game screen with such non-prettiness as scores, life meters, and maps, but here it doesn’t even appear as part of the game. Who cares about score, anyway? The point of this game, which stays mostly faithful to the anime (and only excels at diverting from it), is to take on anyone in your way on your path to the #1... in the name of vengeance... in the name of your father. So, instead of distracting from the story’s catharsis by cluttering the screen with obvious game-oriented indicators, the HUD turns Afro’s clothing into the life meter, becoming more or less bloodied as his health decreases or increases, respectively. Another stroke of brilliance is the casting of Afro's imaginary partner, Ninja-Ninja, as a GPS/where-the-hell-do-I-go-now system, who spontaneously appears as a puff of smoke calling to you from the general direction in which you need to head (and waits patiently until you find him) during the more maze-oriented phases of the game.

Aside from the non-reversible horizontal camera control that is annoyingly opposite of most action games, fight scenes are superb. Even the most basic enemies will take advantage of a turned back and are agile enough to give Afro a run for his sanity. Instead of tutorials, players learn techniques via select boss battles and memento collection. Getting combos aren’t all that crucial, though...just fun, so don’t worry if you’re not a Dead Or Alive master. Another aspect of gameplay that helps in executing some of the more complex moves is "Focus Mode," which lets the player slow down time enough to concentrate on which enemies to slash first and aim for select body parts (and even time mid-air slashes). That's not to say the action is always slow-able or so simple that fights become boring, but Focus Mode helps keep everything manageable. A mix of cut scenes as well as watered-down Prince of Persia-esque puzzles and mazes help to break up what might otherwise become monotonous button mashing.

Overall, this is a great example of how an anime should be adapted for interactivity. Its blend of great graphics, non-stop action, and enthralling story is simultaneously immersive and awe-inspiring.



good.

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Review: 5 Centimeters Per Second (Sub)

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5 Centimeters Per Second: a chain of short stories about their distance Medium: Anime Film
Genres: Drama, Romance
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Studio: CoMix Wave Inc.
Licensed? No

If there was ever such a thing as animated poetry, Makoto Shinkai would be a master poet. Emotions of all kind swell with the rising tides, whipping winds, and falling snow in his beautiful, poignant 2007 film 5 Centimeters Per Second. The movie, which is subtitled "a chain of short stories about their distance," follows the simple story of a boy named Takaki Tono and a girl named Akari Shinohara. They meet when they're young and remain friends through elementary school, but are forced to go their separate ways when Akari moves to a new town. The two stay in contact through letters, but as the story progresses, they drift further and further apart. This sad story is told in a three-act structure: part one follows Tono as a middle schooler, part two as a high schooler, and part three as a working adult.

While some would classify this as a romance, in truth 5cm (as I will call it from here on out) is a sort of character study of Takaki Tono. It follows him throughout his life as his separation from Akari changes him more and more. While Shinkai's strength doesn't seem to be in characters as much as plot, he makes up for it by choosing a small number of characters to focus on. Side characters like family members and friends are rarely brought up, so the focus remains on Tono, Akari, and Kanae Sumida (a girl who Takaki meets while in high school).

5cm is emotional and heart-wrenching in part because it deals with simple, universal issues. A boy and girl meet, fall in love, and are forced to leave each other. These are things that cross cultural contexts, and understanding this, Shinkai weaves a story that is neither melodramatic nor unrealistic. Bad things happen beside good things, and a single overarching plan for the film is never clear. It's truly like watching someone's life unfold; we feel Tono's pain alongside his momentary joys.

Tono waits on the train to meet Akari (Part 1)

Of course, the plot would be nothing without 5cm's soaring visuals. Shinkai loves the sky, so he never misses an opportunity to show someone staring up at the clouds, the stars, or the sunset (one of the most common motifs in the film). As such, 5cm maintains a consistent aesthetic throughout, as Shinkai shows repeated visions of snow, cherry blossoms, and incredible sunsets. If nothing else, Tono and Akari are brought together by these things of nature. They live side by side, running on parallel tracks through snow, rain, and wind.

And no review of 5cm can be written without saying that everything, from trains to clouds to birds, is beautiful in this masterpiece. This is mostly thanks to Shinkai's deft weaving together of perfectly crafted modern scenes (trains and cars) and pastel-like nature scenes. Without a doubt this is the best-looking anime that I have ever seen.

In the final five minutes of the third act, Tono thinks back on his experiences, and Shinkai chooses not to use a simple monologue (as he has for most of the film). Instead, he trots out an evocative, unexpected montage of scenes from parts one and two, all backed by a pop song that perfectly sums up the pained longing that Tono has felt throughout his life. The montage even weaves in scenes that the audience hasn't seen yet, filling in the gaps that viewers missed due to the three-act structure. Even though Shinkai's use of a quick-cut music video feels a little off in such a slow-paced movie, it manages to bring forth the themes of the film in a mere three minutes, and leaves the audience to watch the final minute of Tono's story with his entire life laid out before them.

A scene from Part 2: Cosmonaut

The final scene is a poignant yet simple moment that provides perhaps the best highlight of Shinkai's minimalistic attention to detail. Every whispered line of dialogue and every ray of light shining across a snow-covered train car is placed for its impact on the viewer. There is nothing extraneous in the tightly-wound plot of 5cm - everything in the film contributes to bringing the viewer closer to Tono's joys and pains.

5cm does indeed have a strange structure that might throw some people off. Additionally, the narration switches from Tono to Kanae to Tono in parts one, two, and three, and the montage scene at the end is a little jarring. While these changes might confuse some viewers, they lend uniqueness, and in the case of the POV switch, it gives the audience a momentary chance to see the introspective Tono as viewed from the outside.

Makoto Shinkai has written a poem here in the pastel colors of the evening clouds. He has shown a man's life in the sunrise that crests a green-crowned hill. He has carved a work of art into the snow beneath a frozen cherry tree. 5 Centimeters Per Second is a resounding achievement of Japanese animation. A film of such uncompromising quality should not and cannot be left to collect dust in the annals of anime history.



excellent.

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This Month in Ani-Gamers ~ February 2009

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February was Comic Con month for us here at Ani-Gamers, with news, previews, and more from the massive New York Comic Con 2009 coming out throughout the month. (Don't forget to read my convention report!) Now that I've exhausted most of my NYCC content, we should be back to regularly scheduled programming in the future (excepting a few non-Comic Con-specific feature articles that I researched while at the con).

Other than that, I'm also looking to our future as a moneymaking blog by figuring out ways to optimize our ad structure so that I can pay our current and future staffers. Oh, and you might notice that the "On Deck" section is filling up down there. I've been meaning to weed through some of our old reviews (especially some of Karl's) for a while now, so expect them to be published pretty frequently in the coming weeks while I prepare some new feature articles.

February was fun, but March is bringing with it Castle Point Anime Convention, where Ink and I will be hosting an "Anime Blogging" panel. More details on that one as we prepare for the con. Thanks for reading, and make sure to check out all of this month's posts after the break.



News:
Reed Exhibitions to begin new pop culture event in Chicago
NYCC09: Vertical to partner with unnamed Japanese publisher
NYCC09: Day One, complete!
NYCC09: Del Rey / Yen Press / CMX panel reports (Yen gets Yotsuba!)
NYCC09: Bandai Entertainment / FUNimation panel reports
NYCC09: Takahashi manga joins nearly a dozen new Viz licenses
News Briefs - FUNi licenses, Best Buy, DSi, and more


Reviews:
Shikabane Hime - Corpse Princess (Sub)
Mega Man ZX Advent (DS)


Features:
Preview: Velvet Assassin (360)
Interview: Melinda Cohen (Voice actor, Velvet Assassin)
Con Report: New York Comic Con 2009
Interview: Brian Wheeler (Designer, Warhammer Online)


Podcasts:
Ani-Gamers Podcast #012 - NYCC09 Blogger Roundtable


Notices:
Come meet us at New York Comic Con!


On Deck:
[Review] 5 Centimeters Per Second (Sub) - Vampt Vo
[Review] Afro Samurai (360) - Ink
[Review] Ga-Rei-Zero (Sub) - Uncle Yo
[Review] Gurren Lagann (Hyb) - Uncle Yo
[Review] Paranoia Agent (Hyb) - Uncle Yo
[Review] School Days (Sub) - Uncle Yo
[Review] Tekkon Kinkreet (Hyb) - Vampt Vo



Thanks for reading. See you next week!

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