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Drewbass10
Reviews
Trigun (1998)
Perhaps the most unique anime I've ever viewed
Trigun is the best (and perhaps only) Japanese spin, on the traditionally American western genre. Upon first viewing, one doesn't know what to expect of Trigun, the opening sequence would seem to hint to more of a serious, action packed western, but after watching the first tape, one can see that this is not your ordinary, gunslinging western (although there is plenty of gun play). Our hero, Vash the stampede, is hunted throughout the planet Gunsmoke for the $$60,000,000,000 reward on his head. However, Vash's reputation isn't as well deserved as one might think. Vash may be dangerous with a gun, but he refuses to kill, not to mention that his personality isn't that of a coldblooded outlaw, but more of an eccentric tail chaser. His rather large bounty has attracted the attention of a large insurance company, which has dispatched two of their employees to cut down on the trail of wreckage that follows Vash. As the series progress the story complicates, but I prefer not to get into details when I review (too late for that I suppose). As Vash's character is developed, the viewer begins to feel sorry for him, and learns why Vash refuses to kill those who are after him. While the series continues to keep its humor, about midway through, the series takes a much darker turn. To be more critical of other aspects of the show, the voice acting is so-so (Milly's voice is really irritating, although the one scene where we hear her break down and cry sounds really emotional). The music is great, they took the traditional guitar music of the western, and added a slight hard rock/techno twinge to it, although I don't care for the ending theme. The animation is decent, but by the end of the series, some of the fights start looking really awkward. The plot and characters are entirely original however, making this one of the most unique anime I have had the pleasure of viewing.
Ekkusu (1996)
What happened to characterization?
As a fan of the long running manga (I'm at Volume 11 of the Japanese release) I did not enjoy this movie. Sure, the animation is beautiful, at times you can see the insane detail that the animators pushed into each cel, and the dark "cold" colors if you will, fit the mood perfectly. The art was beautiful, but a movie is nothing without characters and a developed plot. In the manga, much of the backstory is revealed through Kamui's aunt and small sidestories at the end of each graphic novel, but neither Kamui's aunt nor the sidestories were even hinted at. As for the nonexistent characterization, just as you think you're beginning to understand one of the characters, they die. In the manga, most of the action doesn't even begin until the 8th volume, but everything before it builds up the plot and the characters, slowly but surely. However, the movie is almost nonstop violence, leading to the godawfully anticlimactic ending. Thank God that the folks behind X (CLAMP) are going to release an OVA and TV series to follow the manga, which is still yet to be finished.