Manglobe's new anime series Michiko to Hatchin's trailer has been updated on their website. Unlike the time with Ergo Proxy, not much has been shown. More like a teaser, I think. Character design looks good and I like the vibrant color theme. Though ju..글 전체보기
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

If there’s one genre I’m always likely to love, it’s dark, heavy science fiction. As attested by the bitterly disappointing Ergo Proxy and Oshii’s philosophically-loaded Innocence, it’s a subset of anime that’s prone to artistic pretension of the highest order, but even still, when it works, as in the case of the viscerally despondent Texhnolyze, [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Yajima Akiko's 矢島晶子 voice as Shinnosuke in Crayon Shin-chan is the most recognized voice in all Japanese anime. Everyone knows Shinnosuke's rough comic bleating.But Yajima-san also has one of the least recognizable voices. She does roles from young women and boys through adult women even to animals.I didn't know her until her role as 16-year-old Mari in Blue Drop last fall, but I immediately fell in love with the rich youthful energy of that 40-year-old voice. And she gives 11-year-old Miyako in Ghost Hound a haunting darkness.She has played over 150 anime roles, as well as almost 50 game roles, and has dubbed over 75 movies.She debuted in 1989 as Eriko in Legendary Idol Eriko. But she punched her meal ticket in 1992, when she got the starring role in Crayon Shin-chan . The show has been on the air ever since, and there have been many "KureShin" movies, OVAs and CDs. The TV series has had over 600 episodes, and has been in the top five rated anime on TV more or less continuously for 15 years.To get an idea of just how weird Shin-chan's voice is, here is a little clip from YouTube of an interview with Yajima-san, including samples showing how she has changed the voice over the years.Yajima was born on 4 May 1967 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Japan's northwest coast. She went to Shukutoku Junior College in Tokyo, and is a licensed child-care worker. She was appearing on stage when seiyuu/manager Tatekabe Kazuya saw her and invited her to join the Production Baobab agency. She has been with them ever since.She and the agency have done well together: in addition to over 110 roles in TV anime, she has done 23 OVAs, 22 animated features, 48 games, 23 drama CDs, 22 other CDs, and has dubbed ten TV shows and 76 movies. Now that is a professional voice actress.On 2channel, the Japanese forum site, her thread includes posts nominating her best roles in many categories: bad little boy, moe weeper, tsuntsun ojou-sama, princess, onee-san, good boy, cheerful boy, suffering girl, monster, etc. She has a bit of range.According to Japanese Wikipedia, Akiko-san is married, and her husband chaffs her about her unusual voice as Shin-chan. To get an idea of how different a voice she can make, here is a clip of her as Mari in Blue Drop. And check out the voice samples on her agency page (the Windows Media and Real links).She herself appears to be a rather laid-back person. She is said to like staring blankly out the window, or drinking beer. Wikipedia mentions that she finds her stomach rumbles during recording sessions, so loudly that they sometimes have to stop recording.She has tried to keep out of the public eye, in order not to mess with Crayon Shin-shan's image. But recently she has begun to appear more, in the clip posted first above, for example.Here is a list of some of her major and recent anime roles: Eriko (Legendary Idol Eriko, 1989), Nohara Shinnosuke (Crayon Shin-chan, 1992, etc.), Relena Darlian (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, 1995), Chinami (Seraphim Call, 1999), Kuu (Haibane Renmei, 2002), Asumi (Futatsu no Spica, 2003), Mipple (Futari wa Precure, 2004), Haydee (Gankutsuou, 2004), Ayumi (Glass Mask, 2005), Riku, Diva (Blood+, 2005), Pino (Ergo Proxy, 2006), Kyoko (Dennou Coil, 2007), Mari (Blue Drop, 2007), Miyako (Ghost Hound, 2007), Chie, Rin Itoshiki, Majiru Itoshiki (Zoku Zetsubou Sensei, 2008).Kuu in Haibane Renmei left a lasting impression on me, even though I didn't know at the time who the VA was. And Ayumi in Glass Mask was absolutely outstanding. She and Kobayashi Sanae were rival actresses who each put on unbelievable shows of sheer acting. Apparently she herself had long coveted the role of Maya, the main star, which went to Kobayashi-san. But she made up for it with her performance as Ayumi.It turns out that her real name is Ogasawara Akiko. Perhaps she should have had a certain role in Marimite: Sachiko's name in that show is Ogasawara Sachiko.For more information:Anime News NetworkWikipediaOfficial SiteJapanese Wikipedia
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

It’s a pertinent question, this pretentiousness thing. Ergo Proxy is a damn fine example actually, because once you strip away the spiritual/obtuse/highbrow side of things, what’s left? Unless the story winds up much more involved than this I’ll have to resign to the fact that this is just another dystopian sci-fi show; on the other [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

The rock duo Monoral, consisting of Anis Shimada and Ali Morizumi, have two EPs and two full-length albums under their belts but I first heard their music, as quite a few others no doubt did, through their single Kiri, the song used in the opening theme to Ergo Proxy. This is featured on the second [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

I realize this may come as a shock to anyone who’s been reading this blog, but I’m actually going to review a show that hasn’t been out for nearly a decade. Ergo Proxy is one of the best new anime I’ve seen in a long time and has the look of a show that could very well be remembered as one of the all-time greats. For that reason I will attempt to keep away from as many spoilers as possible. Any details given in this review are minor and shouldn’t hurt the experience from anyone yet to watch the series. And you won’t want anything spoiled, trust me, Ergo Proxy is that good.Set in the distant future, mankind has fled into domed cities to escape the wasteland created after a nuclear war. Ergo Proxy begins in the dome city of Romdo, where the “fellow citizens” believe they are the last outpost of civilization on the planet. Their blissful ignorance is being put to the test however by the Cogito virus, a computer malfunction that is sweeping through the robot population. Since the citizens rely on these robots, referred to as AutoReivs or Entourages, for almost everything this is a serious problem. Detective Re-l Mayer is tasked with investigating the strange events caused by Cogito-infected AutoReivs and she will eventually discover the rabbit hole goes much deeper then she had originally thought.Ergo Proxy appears to be a typical cyberpunk anime at first glance. It has the color palette that rarely strays from blacks and grays, everyone inexplicably wears leather and trench coats, and it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world controlled by an elaborate government. But it quickly differentiates itself from the pack by doing all the little things right. Far too often cyberpunk anime gets bogged down in complicated terminology or giant robots, Ergo Proxy knows exactly what it wants to do and cuts the excess. The show takes a few episodes to get going, and I’m not kidding the opening acts can be incredibly dull, but once it finds traction it grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.Ergo Proxy does an excellent job of creating a universe the viewer will want to understand and explore. Romdo is your typical domed dystopia but luckily we escape its confines fairly early on and see the world beyond, and that world is filled with interesting locales and memorable characters. Ergo Proxy is not a show that gets stuck in one spot for too long, if anything it cycles through settings and secondary characters so quickly you wonder if it might not have benefited from lingering there a little longer. But it’s difficult to hold that against it because while many lesser shows would get mired in fleshing out petty details this anime actually has places to go.The quickest way to draw a viewer into an unfamiliar and foreboding world like this is to show it to them through the experiences of an interesting cast. Ergo Proxy only has three characters that could be considered “core” protagonists but they are more then enough. Each of them has a unique perspective on the world, interesting motivations, and they interact with each other in a realistic manner that keeps you guessing. Unlike many shows where the cast is predictable Ergo Proxy’s main group actually evolves over time in a way that makes you eager to see what will happen next. Focusing on just three characters with what amounts to a revolving door for a supporting cast was a daring decision, but it pays off because of how it’s all handled. You never get a sense of overexposure when it comes to these three because there’s rarely a dull moment that allows for that sort of reflection.The production values are top-notch as well. Monglobe, the same studio that brought us Samurai Champloo, produced Ergo Proxy and they didn’t cut any corners. While it rarely uses any color the animation is fantastic throughout. A limited amount of CG is used but thankfully it doesn’t detract from the visual experience. The soundtrack is nothing memorable but this isn’t a show that relies on a grand score to get points across, instead opting for silence or specific sound effects to set the tone. The opening and closing themes are fantastic and fit the show perfectly and they deserve a special mention. Like most anime produced in the last few years Ergo Proxy’s dub is handled very well. The character’s personalities really shine through in the actors performances, which is crucial because a show that’s this centered on a small cast can’t afford to have any of them seem wooden.With all the praise I’ve heaped on Ergo Proxy you’d think it was without fault, but unfortunately this is not the case. While the show does many things well it has a few flaws in the form of questionable decisions. There is a stretch of three out of five episodes in the latter half of the series that are serious head scratchers. To call them odd would be kind. They completely stray from the series' tone and make you wonder if their was some sort of a minimum episode requirement that had to be met. With such an interesting world to be explored you have to question how the writing staff came to the conclusion that it was better to have three oddball excursions then a few more episodes that would have benefited the whole.But with all that being said those negative points can’t change the fact that Ergo Proxy is one of the best sci-fi anime in years and my personal choice for best new anime of 2007. I’m honestly amazed it hasn’t gotten more buzz within the community then it has, but I have no doubt the positive word of mouth will pick up and help it find an audience for years to come.Final Score: 8.8Storyline: ExcellentAnimation: ExcellentSoundtrack: PassableDub: GoodAlso Try: Wolf's Rain, Serial Experiments Lain
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

I’m quite interested to find out the direction in which Ghost Hound is heading. The episodes have been progressing quite naturally, and while I thought that the previous episode concluded the introduction for this series, this episode made me think that this series is still quite busy introducing its concepts. Reminds me of Ergo Proxy, [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

In the future the world has come to an abrupt halt. After a severe nuclear apocalypse the seas have frozen over and the sun is blocked out by thick dense clouds. Unable to survive in such inhospitable conditions a new dome city called Romdeau was erected, allowing humans and their robotic servants or autoreivs to [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

It’s been a few months since a sci-fi anime has gotten my undivided attention. Ergo Proxy was the last sci-fi anime that I devoted actual time to. Everything else out there is either too jiggly, too lame, too tongue-in-cheek, or poorly executed. Not just that, but one of my other fave sci-fi genres the [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

A dystopian future, mature sci-fi themes, great music…I wasn’t surprised when I found myself really enjoying this show since it seems to tick so many of the ‘my thing’ boxes. Yep, it’s another cryptic kind of series that most viewers will either love or hate. A view of the future? The premise however, for all its intriguing [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)