The Great Unwashed Anime: October
Paul •
Despite the large number of anime series being released in the UK every month, there are still many shows that are yet to even see a stateside release. “The Great Unwashed Anime” is a chance for our team of anime addicts to give you a taster of some of the series that are currently restricted to Japanese shores; from the latest and greatest anime to the overlooked and forgotten, this unlicensed anime spotlight should whet the appetite of any curious anime fans.
Anime Title: King of Bandit Jing in Seventh Heaven
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Preview by: Stuart Bullen
What’s the Story?
Despite his young appearance, Jing is indeed the king of thieves, a prodigal larcenist, who tools around a garish fantastical world with his partner in crime, Kir a lecherous cur with an eye for the ladies, who also happens to be a vulture. Rejoining the series this triple helping of OAVs finds Jing and Kir behind the bars of Seventh Heaven, an infamous prison complex, and home to the nastiest ne’er do wells on the planet. Whilst inside they plan to steal the Dream Orb, a valuable and mystical item under the ownership of inmate Campari. However before they can claim their prize they must escape from Seventh Heaven, a task our heroes soon realise will be a lot more than they bargained for.
What makes it worth watching?
In my continuing quest to sample all the delights the wonderful world of anime has to offer, I’ll often stumble across the odd fantastic series or short that would have otherwise slipped under my radar. King Of Bandit Jing: Seventh Heaven is one such series. A breathlessly imaginative, and vibrantly realised helping of vivacious shounen action that is brimming with unique characters, and fanciful locales.
Taken as a purely visual experience, Seventh Heaven is a real treat. Boasting a colourful array of quirkily rendered characters and bizarre creatures, it’s an endlessly imaginative slab of eye candy that on occasion pushes the creative boundaries to levels of Ghibli-esque inventiveness. Dreamlike, would be an apt way to describe the surreal world these characters inhabit, and the creators of this OVA have managed to wring every last ounce of ingenuity out of Seventh Heaven’s unreal setting.
There’s also a healthy vein of cheeky humour running through the series. Most of which comes from Jing’s irrepressible sidekick Kir, whose repertoire of rowdy wisecracks, and one-liners keep the comedy quota ticking over nicely. It all amounts to an anime that is by turns exhilarating, amusing and just downright fun to watch. If you haven’t already sampled the colourful delights of King of Bandit Jing, Seventh Heaven is a perfect taster of what to expect.
Anime title: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
Genre: Magical Girl, Romance
Preview by: Caireen Leach
What’s the story?
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne tells the story of the reincarnation of Joan of Arc, with a lot of anime poetic license of course! It’s a very endearing tale of overcoming loneliness and self doubt. Our heroine Maron Kusakabe lives a lonely solitary life but all that changes when one day she is visited by Fin Fish, a sweet and tiny apprentice angel. She informs Maron that she is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc but Maron is very reluctant to become Jeanne, that is until an evil starts to take over the weak-hearted people in town.
Evil demons are possessing various pieces of artwork and once Jeanne has sealed the demons, the art vanishes, causing the police and her best friend Miyako (the police cheif’s daughter, who is unaware of Maron’s secret identity) to suspect Jeanne of being nothing but a common thief.
Things become a lot more interesting when a handsome boy named Chiaki, moves in next-door to Maron and a rival thief by the name of Kaitou Sinbad; is racing Maron to seal the demons first. Is he friend or foe? Can Maron stop herself from falling head-over-heels for this mysterious stranger?
What makes it worth watching?
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne brings a breathe of fresh air to the magical girl genre, by having one girl and one guy saving the earth.
The first two thirds of the story is made up of some very comical moments, none are funnier than the scenes with Maron’s best friend Miyako and her bunch of totally incompetent police officers thinking up new and wonderful traps to try and catch Jeanne! The arrival of Chiaki Nagoya brings with it the very sweet romantic element and the arrival of Sinbad, Jeanne’s arch rival, brings the element of surprise and adds some very heart-warming moments.
The final third of the story has a much more serious side to it. We learn the reasons for Maron’s loneliness and feel for her as she overcomes her own self doubt and feelings of betrayal.
Created by Arina Tanemura, KKJ has the same appealing animation quality as Full Moon wo Sagashite, with extremely pretty characters with large bright eyes and wonderful personalities. Another aspect of KKJ that adds to its charm is the poignant music played throughout the series, it adds so much to the atmosphere.
The characters are all so full of life and personality and you can’t help but fall in love with each and every one of them! The story itself is very interesting. I love the fact that it’s based around Joan of Arc and more than just that, deep down it’s a story of Adam and Eve. There are one or two filler episodes but that is to be expected for a 44 episode magical girl anime! But these fillers are very enjoyable and an important part of the character and plot development.
Overall KKJ is a thoroughly enjoyable romantic magical girl anime, filled with wonderful characters, wonderful music with a very satisfactory and conclusive ending.
Anime title: Tsubasa Chronicle
Genre: Fantasy
Preview by: Jo Sarsam
What’s the story?
Princess Sakura of the Clow Kingdom and young archaeologist-in-training Syaoran are childhood friends- but all that changes when a failed attempt to steal Sakura’s latent powers scatters her memories across many different worlds. Only Yuuko, the Dimensional Witch, can provide Syaoran with a way to travel to those different dimensions and recover the memories, but her aid comes at a price- Sakura will never be able to regain her childhood memories of Syaoran. Nonetheless, Syaoran accepts Yuuko’s terms and begins the long quest to recover Sakura’s memories, accompanied by Kurogane, warrior looking to return to his own world; Fye, a wizard who is willing to go anywhere but back to his home, and Mokona, the cute creature who acts as their dimension-jumping guide.
What makes it worth watching?
Based on the manga by CLAMP, Tsubasa Chronicle can be thought of as the ‘ultimate crossover’ anime, containing characters from previous CLAMP works such as Cardcaptor Sakura, XXXHolic and Rayearth, to name but a few. However, whilst it is interesting to pick out familiar faces, knowledge of these series is not necessary in order to understand and enjoy Tsubasa- most of the characters are not directly related to their previous incarnations.
Indeed, rather than a being a cheap cash-in on established franchises, Tsubasa is an strong series in its own right. Although it takes a few episodes to hit its stride, Tsubasa continues to go from strength to strength throughout its first season, delivering a vibrant dose of fantasy adventure that is never short on drama or action. Admittedly, there are some weaker points- for example, Sakura comes across as a rather helpless and even useless ‘damsel in distress’, whilst Fye and Kurogane could definitely use more time in the spotlight. Fortunately, with two more seasons to come, there is plenty of time left to iron out these little kinks and further develop both the characters and storyline.
When it comes to presentation, however, Tsubasa is hard to fault- Bee Train have done an excellent job with the animation, whilst the series’ music is some of Yuki Kajiura’s best work yet. And with such well-known names involved in the creation and production of this series, it is most likely only a matter of time before an official license is announced.
Anime Title: Glass Mask (2005)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Preview by: Michelle Howarth
What’s the story?
A young girl named Maya is in love with acting and the theatre. She grasps every opportunity she can do to take part in drama and dreams of becoming an actress. Maya does not at first posses much in the way of normal acting talent, but she has a memory that can take in the scripts of entire plays and the actor’s movements after just seeing them once. However Maya’s simple world is turned upside-down when a reclusive former actress named Tsukikage sees a lot of potential in her. The story of the anime follows Maya’s life on the road to becoming an actress and the many hurdles she must overcome.
What makes it worth watching?
Glass Mask is drama in its purest form; you shouldn’t go into this anime expecting thrilling action scenes. The anime thrives on over the top portrayals of events, with characters striking dramatic poses much in the style of actors of old. At first this can take some getting used to but once you have, the real charm of the anime shines through. A simple school play for example becomes something exciting and gripping to watch purely through the over the top way the cast behave.
With such a likeable lead striving for her dreams, you cannot help being sucked into Maya’s world. As she tackles hurdle after hurdle on the road to success it is easy to find yourself cheering her along, she is such a good and likeable heroine. Her life and loves become important to you as w see them unfold before our eyes. The rest of the cast also have very interesting personalities that make you want to know more and more about the characters as you see them interact in dramatic situations.
If you are looking for a series that encapsulates the very essence of how drama should be done, then look no further than Glass Mask!
Anime Title: The Diary of Tortov Roddle
Genre: Fantasy, Surreal, Adventure
Preview by: Paul Bates
What’s the Story?
The philosophical Tortov Roddle travels the world, visiting strange countries and taking in the beauty of his surreal surroundings.
What makes it worth watching?
This is a whimsical and dream-like 16 minute short OVA that inspired me with its beautiful artistic vision. It’s important to note that this contains no dialogue; all the melancholic emotional depth is defined by some stunning animation and a stripped down musical score. This is far from the usual anime style of blue hair and big eyes, The Diary of Tortov Roddle looks and feels like something completely unique; the character designs are especially strange- faces are notably basic but arms and legs are thin and long. The landscapes are dank and moody, giving us a timeless sense of vintage visual story telling.
The whole 16 minutes of The Diary of Tortov Roddle play out like a wonderful dream, proving once and for all that animation and instrumental music can alone evoke a kaleidoscope of human emotion; this is a rare work of surreal art that captures a fantastic sense of childlike wonder.
