Category Archives: anime

AMV of the Day (Horror Edition): Am I Not Human? (Another)

Posted on by Arleigh

Yesterday site anime and manga contributor pantsukudasai56 posted his anime horror post for the month be recommending to everyone to watch the anime horror series Another. Using that as inspiration I’ve chosen the latest “AMV of the Day” by picking an AMV that uses that very series as the foundation for the video.

I’ve still have to find time to watch the series, but I know that Another is a horror anime that seems to have reached cult-status and beyond since it’s release earlier this year. Unlike pantsu here I do enjoy lots of anime horror but I will agree that they’re not in the same realm as mahou shoujo and slice-of-life series in terms of consistent quality. The last horror anime that I thought to be very good was Gakuen Mokushiroku (better known as Highschool of the Dead) but even that series earns much of it’s popularity due to it’s excessive (I thank Zoidberg Jesus for it everyday) use of fanservice shots.

With this AMV we get one from a high-quality horror anime and also paired up with one of the music industry’s preeminent producers of musical scores from Two Steps From Hell. This time around AMV producer AnimeFanOtaku123 uses that groups song, “Am I Not Human?”, to be the score for the chosen scenes from Another to complete the video. In fact, AnimeFanOtaku123 does such a great job with this AMV that one could easily say that it works perfectly well as a trailer for the series if one didn’t think it was an AMV to begin with.

I’ll probably have one or two more horror-related AMV’s before the end of the month, but this is a good choice for this month..

Anime: Another

Song: “Am I Not Human?” by Two Steps From Hell

Creator: AnimeFanOtaku123

Past AMVs of the Day

Anime You Should Be Watching Horror Edition: Another

Posted on by pantsukudasai56

Being the time of year that it is, I felt I should stay on the horror theme for my rare contribution.  Last year I presented to you all my thoughts on the Higurashi series.  This year I’m focusing on an anime that came out at the beginning of this year by relative newcomer studio P.A. Works called Another.

Horror anime are rather difficult to do well.  That’s because unlike with live action, you are acutely aware that what is happening is not real.  Sure, with live action if you sit back and look at most of the horror shows, you can’t necessarily take them seriously, but at least for me there’s a difference in my mind between watching something with real live people in it, and watching 2D drawings moving.  So, horror anime either try to pretend they’re still live action and hope you can immerse yourself in them despite it obviously not being real, or they just go for the crazy, over the top exaggerated sequences with lots of blood and gore and just hope the mood feels right.  Another takes the second approach.  It’s not a constant bloodbath, but it seems to take much delight in coming up with the craziest, most unrealistic deaths it can think of.  I think of it almost like an animated version of the Final Destination films.  I’ll try and avoid too many spoilers here, but the first death we see should give you an idea of just how crazy and over the top they can get.

So, the basic premise of the show is that many years ago a student in class 3-3 died during the school year.  Some classmates, unable to really deal with his death decided to pretend that he was still alive.  Soon the rest of the class, including the teachers joined in.  This was all well and good, except that when they took their class photos, the student who was supposed to be dead appeared in the photo.  Since that time, class 3-3 has been like a portal to the afterlife, allowing the dead to come back and join the class.  This has resulted in class 3-3 always having one extra person in it, although during the time which it occurs nobody is aware who the extra person is.  They know there is one, but their memories have been altered so that the extra person seems like they’ve always been there.  Also, the person who is dead, or the Another, also is unaware that they are dead.  Fast forward 20 some years and we come to where the story starts, with transfer student Koichi Sakakibara joining class 3-3.  There he meets the girl with the eyepatch, Mei Misaki.  However, the rest of the class seems to not acknowledge her existence.  The reason for this is revealed later on, but since it’s a mildly important plot point, I’ll leave that up to the readers to watch and see for themselves.

The character designs and the attention to detail in this show are fantastic, as is pretty much par for the course with P.A. Works.  The character designs were based on concepts by Noizi Ito, who’s probably best known for her work as the illustrator for the Haruhi Suzumiya novels.  What’s also par for the course for a P.A. Works show is that it meanders a bit and almost gets lost in the middle.  We’ll set aside the ridiculousness of the deaths because this show isn’t trying to be ultra serious.  It’s not going for the camp appeal, but it is using the gore as a sort of fanservice for people who are into that sort of thing.  Don’t get too attached to any secondary characters, because there are a ton of deaths in this show.  I’ll admit, one or two of the deaths did sadden me a bit, mainly because I liked that particular character and had hoped that they’d survive the curse.  This particular class year seems to be extra unlucky, since they showed previous class records and there didn’t seem to be quite as many deaths from the curse as there was in this year.

A complaint that was tossed around when the show finished was that the identity of the Another, which is revealed at the end, was too difficult to figure out.  Much like with The Sixth Sense, all the clues are shown once their identity is revealed, and there are quite a few red herrings thrown in there to keep you off the track, but it’s certainly possible to figure out who it is.  I’ll say that I was wrong in who I thought it was, but at least my guess wasn’t eliminated until the very end.  In fact, I largely suspect that the person whom I thought it was was who the creators wanted us to think was the Another from the get go.  In that aspect, I can only tip my hat to them and say they did a good job in getting me to dance to their tune.

All in all, love it or hate it, P.A. Works deserves a lot of credit for not just sticking with a single genre of anime and trying something different to diversify.  How true they were to the source material, I’m not entirely certain as I have not read the novel, written by Yukito Ayatsuji however I can say that if I see that P.A. Works is doing another horror anime, I’ll certainly be tuning in.  The ride may be a little rocky in the middle, but it’s still a fun ride.

Anime You Should Be Watching

AMV of the Day: Moves Like Jagger (NSFW)

Posted on by Arleigh

This particular tune had stuck itself in my head all week and I finally figured out who sang the song. Maroon 5 is a band that I would consider as being part of this new generation of pop rock. That’s not to denigrate the band or anything. I like them well enough and when they release a new single it’s usually one that’s quite catchy which makes them big hits for the band. It’s the use of one of their songs that the latest “AMV of the Day” uses to some good effect.

“Moves Like Jagger (Anime Mix)” is the latest AMV and one produced by one xXxKrazyKookiexXx and one that uses scenes from a cornucopia of anime series. It’s a video that’s simple and straightforward in that the editor tries (and succeeds) in syncing the lyrics being sung to lip movements in the scenes chosen. Even the type of scenes picked fits the song well with all of them characters dancing, singing or doing both.

DxXxKrazyKookiexXx has other AMV’s, but this is one that I’ve latched onto as a favorite of this particular producer and just like the song used in the video this AMV is just as catchy and fun. It is also quite fan service heavy which means NSFW as a word of warning.

Anime: Macross Frontier, Nyan Koi, Needless, Baka to Test, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Princess Lover, Kampfer, Highscool of the Dead, Sekirei, Sora no Otoshimono, Asobi ni Ikuyo, Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, Ladies vs Butlers, Bakemonogatari, Naruto, Chaos Head, Uta no Prince Sama, Melancholy of Haruhi Suziyama, Rosario+Vampire, Teppo Tengen Gurren Lagann

Song: “Moves Like Jagger (Radio Edit)” by Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera

Creator: xXxKrazyKookiexXx

Past AMVs of the Day

Scenes I Love: Clannad After Story

Posted on by Arleigh

After people see this scene they will think I’m either crazy or a glutton for heartache for loving this scene. It’s hard to disagree with that statement. There’s a reason why I love this scene from the anime series Clannad After Story and it has less to do with the tone of the scene, but a major reason why anime is not just for kids or about boobs, tentacle rape and all the other things adults in the Western media dismiss the art form for.

This scene from Clannad After Story happens between the series’ main lead in Tomoya who has now come to the realization that he must now make amends to the daughter he left behind to be cared for by his wife’s family. It’s a powerful scene that has brought many to tears from young teen girls to grown-ass men who probably bawled more than the former. One doesn’t even have to have seen the previous season to this anime or any episodes leading up to this scene. The moment itself has enough of a backstory that one cannot help but get caught up in the moment. It’s also a scene that does a great job of emphasizing that bond between parent and child even when the former hasn’t lived up to their responsibilities.

I think if more people watched anime like Clannad After Story their opinions of anime would change for the better and see it in a new and positive light.

AMV of the Day: Mayoi Calling Araragi (Bakemonogatari)

Posted on by Arleigh

It’s quit an early Thursday morning and I just thought to pick a brief but very interesting piece of AMV as the latest “AMV of the Day”.

It’s actually called a MAD video. A type of fan-made video very popular in Japan where fans take an audio clip from a favorite anime (or even a non-anime) and splice it together with piece of music and try to match the dialogue with the beats and tempo of the song. This particular MAD is by creator called fillin and take the comedic way the Bakemonogatari character of Mayoi Hachikuji always stutters the name of the series’ lead in Araragi.

The song used is the Moogle’s Theme from the Final Fantasy V soundtrack. The video pretty much works perfectly as Mayoi’s stuttering of Araragi’s name matches the tempo and melody of the song perfectly. One thing that’s clear is that this video is quite addictive to watch since it loops and plays again once it finishes. I think I watched and listened to it for almost an hour straight and would’ve continued longer if sleep hadn’t called.

Anime: Bakemonogatari

Song: Moogle’s Theme from Final Fantasy V

Creator: fillin

 

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Troll of Hearts (The World God Only Knows)

Posted on by Arleigh

I would say that the AMV producer who has shown up on this “AMV of the Day” feature the most has to be tehninjarox. His videos rarely turn out to be misses and even the ones I don’t gush over still end up being very well done. It’s no surprise that one of his latest videos was chosen to be the latest AMV profiled.

“Troll of Hearts” is one of his latest and it manages tomake use of Rick Astley’s now classic and over-memed song, “Never Gonna Give You Up”, with the harem anime series The World God Only Knows. This video manages to make the anime series’ main lead, Keima Katsuragi, come off much more committed and romantic than the series really lets on. For those saying I just spoiled the anime shouldn’t worry. The World God Only Knows is less about drama and emotional growth and more the comedic side of a young man so obsessed with dating sims game that he’s forced by Hell to use those same gaming skills to try and romance real “3D girls” instead of 2D virtual ones he seems to prefer.

I know that the Rick Astley song has become the butt of many a joke and parody video. This AMV doesn’t change yet the lyrics fit in well with how tehninjarox (aka Shin) edited the scenes from the series. If there was one thing which keeps me from making this latest AMV pick as one of my all-time favorites it would be the length of the video itself which is under 2 minutes and doesn’t make use of the song’s total running time. It’s a little nitpick really since the AMV was something done for an AMV contest that didn’t require he use the whole song. The fact that he was able to place 1st even with a truncated video just goes to show the impact the video had with those judging.

Anime: The World God Only Knows

Song: “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley

Creator: tehninjarox

 

Past AMVs of the Day

High School DxD gets 2nd Season

Posted on by Arleigh

News that should make fellow site writer and contributor pantsukudasai56 very happy just came down the pipeline. According to Anime News Network the shonen series High School DxD has been given the greenlight for a second season.

While details about this second season has been, for the moment, quite sparse the fact that the season is now in production means that it’s not just a promise of one, but a guarantee that more harem hi-jinks involving the clueless Issei Hyodo and the beautiful, albeit demonic, girls of his high school. This is a series that’s definitely more about comedy than anything serious and/or thought provoking. Then again one can only survive on dramatic and deep anime for so long. Some levity needs to be mixed in with the dark and High School DxD certainly delivers in that front.

The popularity of the series (and the new season should get quite a welcome from its fans) also stems from the fact that it is a harem anime that also involves some very ecchi (fan service) moments. While this type of anime doesn’t appeal to everyone it still attracts a huge number of anime fans.

There’s no word when the new season will air, but until then I’m sure pantsukudasai56 will be anticipating ew stuff from his favorite character on the show: Koneko Toujou.

Source: Anime News Network

Anime You Should Be Watching: Princess Tutu

Posted on by Arleigh

Mahou shoujo (magical girl) anime has become the bread-and-butter of the anime scene. Whether one would like to admit it or not they have watched some episode or an OVA of a magical girl anime by chance or accident. I mean if they caught reruns of Sailor Moon in the past 10 or more years then they’ve watched a magical girl anime. There’s one magical girl anime that hasn’t been getting as much attention even amongst anime watchers. It’s this mahou shoujo series that I think more people should be watching and I’m talking about Princess Tutu.

Princess Tutu is a series adapted from the manga of the same title written by Mizuo Shinonome. It’s a series that dares to do something different with the magical girl genre by relying less on violence and battles (people tend to forget that these series may be called magical girl but they’re also quite violent). The series is a sort of fairy tale but with the complex twists and turns that anime tends to layer onto something old and familiar to good effect. We have a duckling given the chance to become a human through a magical gem necklace. When in human form she resembles an awkward, sweet teen girl who reverts back to her duckling form if she quacks. Only by touching water once more can the duckling become the human girl Ahiru once more. This necklace, given to her by a sort of puppetmaster figure of the series, also allows Ahiru to take on the ballerina aspect of Princess Tutu whose mature bearing and expertise in ballet grants her special powers.

One could say that Princess Tutu only owes it’s mahou shoujo label due to the magical abilities granted to Ahiru in her Princess Tutu aspect, but other than that the series is quite different from such magical girl series like Sailor Moon, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. While the series does have conflict between the other characters around Ahiru like Mytho, Fakir and Rue the fights doesn’t use the more typical magical duels and battles common in the genre. Instead the series uses a clever way of implementing ballet and it’s use to represent fight’s between characters.

Like some magical girl series of it’s kind Princess Tutu has it’s comedic and light-hearted moments. Where the series shines is when it delves into the darker side of the narrative. Just like the traditional fables and fairy tales this series works best when letting the darkness of the story come to the forefront instead of just being hinted at. It’s definitely a turn in the series’ narrative that may surprise some people who are expecting an anime that’s all about cute character. Ahiru and the rest of the cast might be animated young-looking (with the male leads looking androgynous), but the trials and tribulations they go through during the series’ run would be considered very adult if done live-action.

Princess Tutu is actually available as a complete set on DVD and not very expensive when compared to other anime DVD sets. So, if one looks at mahou shoujo anime as their cup of tea or just looking to dabble their feet into this type of anime then Princess Tutu is a good place to start. I would usually put up a trailer of this series to better give people an idea of what to expect but I think two great AMV (anime music videos) produced by two fans of the series best describes what people should expect.

There’s Danse De Raven by Chiikaboom…

…and then there’s Hold Me Now by Marissa Panaccio

Anime You Should Be Watching

AMV of the Day: Written in the Spirals (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

Posted on by Arleigh

The next “AMV of the Day” comes courtesy of AMV-producer extraordinaire tehninjarox whose other works I’ve profiled here many times.

“Written in the Spirals” is the title of this latest AMV and is a play on the title of the song used for the video, “Written in the Stars”. The song is by Tinie Tempah with Eric Turner providing the chorus between Tinie Tempah’s rhymes. The video itself is pretty straightforward in that it rarely uses many of the video effects tricks other AMV creators have been using of late. This creator just does a great job of taking the scenes from the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and lets each sequence match the tempo and feel of the song. This particular video from this series has the producer focusing on one of the leads in the show, Kamina.

Kamina is sort of like the Han Solo of the series and also ends up becoming the mentor to the main lead of the show in Simon. This video is only the second one I’ve picked which uses the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann series as the backdrop. As much as I truly enjoy this video it’s still not the best I’ve seen using this series. That honor goes to Nighthawk’s “Spinning Infinity”.

Anime: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Song: “Written in the Stars” by Tinie Tempah feat. Eric Turner

Creator: tehninjarox

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: The Way You Are

Posted on by Arleigh

The latest AMV of the Day is actually one I just stumbled onto on youtube while looking for something that wasn’t even related to AMV’s. I know I would take a hit by admitting that I like the song this video ended up using but dagnabbit it’s a catchy and sweet song.

“The Way You Are” is the title of the AMV by editor xwiz89 who takes scenes from two anime series, Bakemonogatari and Nyan Koi!, and ends up with an anime music video that does a great job highlighting the two relationships which occur in both series. While the video makes the coupling sweeter than how they really appear in the series the way xwi89 edits the video makes that sweetness feel natural.

The title itself was taken from the title of the song by Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are”, and while it’s a song that has had it’s legion of detractors it’s still one that I ended up liking when first hearing and I’m going to assume that the AMV’s editor felt the same way. The song just fits the video and, if any, it helps sell both anime series to those who might not have heard about it and still not sure whether to give it a look see.

Anime: Bakemonogatari, Nyan Koi!

Song: “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars

Creator: xwiz89

 

Past AMVs of the Day