Nearly thirty years ago, we were introduced to shape-shifting robots from a distant planet who travel to Earth. Over the years, Transformers has generated a large fan base through several TV series, a trilogy of blockbuster movies, and is Hasbro’s most successful toy line.
Transformers: Rescue Bots is the latest chapter in the Transformers’ universe. It centers on four Autobots who travel to Earth to meet Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). Optimus assigns the Rescue Bots to assist a family of heroes in a high-tech town. Unlike previous series including Transformers Prime, which has a darker tone, Rescue Bots is geared for younger viewers. Follow the adventures of Chase, Boulder, Heat Wave and Blades as they protect our planet. Transformers: Rescue Bots airs Saturdays 9:30am EST on the Hub.
Supernatural is a television series that debuted on the WB network in October 2005 and currently runs weekly on the CW. The series follows the tale of Sam and Dean Winchester as they travel across the country hunting various supernatural creatures such as werewolves, vampires and demons. Years ago, when Sam and Dean were young, their mother was killed by a yellow-eyed demon. Since then, Sam and Dean have been on the hunt for the yellow-eyed demon, dealing with "odd" jobs along the way. The show gathered a large following over the seasons, making it one of the CW's most popular shows. During those years, the Winchester brothers have fought against demons, angels, evil spirits, and even each other. Supernatural's fan base has grown worldwide and is currently airing in various countries. Warner Bros. Japan wanted to take the show somewhere that it's never been before.
Japanese animation studio Madhouse Inc. was assigned to produce the anime version of Supernatural. Madhouse has produced other anime including Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Trigun, Di Gi Charat and Death Note. With help from series creator Eric Kripke, Madhouse was able to gather all kinds of resources for the anime including comics and sidestories, as well as the series itself. The anime series covers the first two seasons of Supernatural with some episodes taken from the comics and even a few anime-only originals. Select episodes from the live action series have been retold with new vision while still retaining the suspense and humor that made Supernatural popular. The action in the anime Supernatural is taken to a level that can't be done in the original series.
One instance is an episode that flashbacks on Sam and Dean's childhood when they were hunting with their father. A spirit had taken possession of junked cars and formed them into a giant robot type beast; something that couldn't be achieved in the live series. Another is the reimagined episode with a creature known as a Shapeshifter. Its metamorphic ability was upgraded to something more dynamic than when Eric Kripke introduced it in the first season; this scene alone was really cool. The Shapeshifter first puffs its body up, then it spreads the skin apart and emereges in a new form like a butterfly from a cocoon. The appearance and metamorphic sequence of the Shapeshifter in the anime were above the live series' budget, where it simply removed its skin off like wet clothing.
Supernatural is also known for the development of its characters. The anime does not disappoint. The chemestry between Sam and Dean plays out much the same way as the series. Dean is the older brother, always willing to do anything to protect his younger brother. Sam has always looked up to Dean and continues to do so. John Winchester is still the tough-as-nails hardened hunter that Kripke made him out to be. Sam and Dean's father is hard on his boys but deep down he loves them. I like how Madhouse made John into a bad-to-the-bone loner type of guy who drives around in a hearse, a great re-imagining for his wheels. This John Winchester is an awesome character and is just as gritty, if not more gritty, than his television counterpart.
Being a fan of Supernatural, I didn't know what to expect from the Japanese versions of Sam and Dean. However, I keep my mind open and I have to say I'm impressed with Yuya Uchida, who voices Sam Winchester in the Japanese dub of the series, and Hiroko Touchi, who voices Dean. Madhouse's Naoya Takayama, who supervised the scripts, truly brought the same suspense and mystery to the anime that it had in its live action counterpart. Takahiro Yoshimatsu's character design is truly impressive. He captured the essence of the Winchesters; they resemble the actors that portray them in Kripke's series; they also bring the same charm that actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles do in the series.
Yuya Uchida has voice acted in Eyeshield 21 (Shien Mushanokoji aka: "The Kid"), Naruto Shippuden (Rinji), Soul Eater (Franken Stein), and Black Butler (Ash).
Hiroko Touchi has several popular anime series under his belt with Bleach as Kūgo Ginjō, Trinity Blood as Abel Nightroad, and Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO as Major Michael Colmatta. He has also voiced for several games including Uncharted, Final Fantasy XIII, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Touchi has also dubbed for Will Smith and Christian Bale.
Andrew Farrar does a good job filling in for Jenson Ackles, who couldn't appear until the final two episodes because of scheduling issues, voicing Dean Winchester for the English dub. Jared Padalecki voices Sam throughout the anime series.
I have watched Supernatural since the beginning partly because of my interest in the unknown, but also it's a fun and entertaining show full of suspense, mystery, action, and humor. There are twists and turns that'll keep you wondering as to what's gonna happen next, and you'll have to keep watching to find out. Though the anime is a retelling of those episodes, I still had the same feeling that I had and still have for the live show. Supernatural: The Animation is sure to entertain fans of the original series as well as invite new fans of both series. I recommend this for anyone who's a fan of the show or looking for a cool new anime to watch.
Director: Tatsuya Nagamine Production: Toei Animation Original run: 07 Ferbruary 2010 - 30 January 2010 Episodes: 49 Tsubomi Hanasaki is a 2nd year middle school student who loves plants. One day, she dreams of a mysterious flowering tree that wilted, causing fairies to disappear. She also saw two mysterious people fighting, one wanting to destroy the tree and one protecting it. When she transfers to Myodo Academy, the fairies that she saw in her dream appear. They beg her to become a Pretty Cure to protect the Great Tree of Hearts, but she refuses. However, a mysterious enemy called the Desert Messengers came, and the Heart Flower of her new classmate, Erika Kurumi, is stolen. To save Erika, she has to become a Pretty Cure and fight.
It's hard to get more magical girly than the Pretty Cure franchise. All of the key elements set forth by such predecessors asSailor MoonandMermaid Melodyare there. Cute little animal mascots? Check. They even have their own catchphrases. Inane transformation items? Check. A perfume bottle that's utterly useless except for the spraying on of a new outfit. Color coded hair and outfits? Check. Not necessarily the colors of the rainbow, and how pink was used twice, but the sentai is still there. Powerful evil bad guy dudes bent on destroying the world? Check. Though at least they have a reason why they need to only operate in the same city as those blasted meddling kids. Recycled final attack always used to hurt/destroy the monster of the week? Double check. Though, to their credit, they don't use big hearts or musical notes, instead being bent towards a more violent method of purifying the beasties.
Almost every episode has a feel-good story. The main characters (the Precure) walk in on someone being depressed about something, find out what it is, then run around like it's their life's purpose to rid the person of their woes. Fashion club? Maybe they should rename it to the volunteer club! What a pity it is then that they are never able to actually resolve a single issue themselves. It always turns into the badguy's using the person's depression to create a rampaging monster, and the magical buttkicking layed upon the monster is what actually manages to cheer up the person, but the sentiment is still there. Girls find people who are upset, and at the end of the day that person is happy again. If you manage to ignore the violence, then Pretty Cure is sweet on an injecting frosting directly into your bloodstream proportions.
Then again, the violence is still there, and redeems the show in the eyes of another target audience entirely. A concept employed but never detailed in previous magical girl series' is the empowerment of the magical girl transformation. When transformed, these otherwise innocent, frail, and entirely human children can suddenly jump across rooftops and be crashed through a building without being hurt. To them however, instead of reveling in these new abilites, they decide to only blast a single recycled magical attack to hurt or destroy the monsters every time. Not the Precure. The first thing the Pretty Curenotice when they first transform is that they are suddenly super strong and super fast. The second thing they notice is that there is a giant, rampaging monster over there tearing up the landscape. Therefore, they fall on the very human response to the situation of a nail needing hammering, and beat the monster up. Punches, kicks, throws, Who cares if they accidentally crush that apartment building with a monster shaped projectile? It's the monsters fault for existing! Then once it's weakened enough they can resort to the recycled magical attack sequence to finish it off. Actually, the fight scenes that occur in every episode could be attributed to Street Fighter in content, where the recycled finishers are considered the super moves. One cannot win a fight with a single super move from the beginning of the match. The enemy has to be beaten up and weakened alot before that could happen. Therefore, while the super move finisher is visually the same every time, the entire fight leading up to it is unique. They even throw in random flashy special moves in a truly non-recycled fashion! The Character designer/art director is Ryuutarou Masuda, so the series shares the same style as worksOjamajo DoremiandStreet Fighter Alpha. Namely, slightly more simplified, more cartoony than would otherwise be common among Anime. The rounder shapes and flat but more colorful images serve as a boost to the overall quality of the show. Scene continuity isn't as necessary, so character development occurs faster. This makes for improved sentimentality, one-shot characters who's plights we can better understand, while still allowing time for the other stuff. The fighting also improves because they can afford to be flashier without having to resort to rotoscoping (animation style where real life footage is traced onto an animation cell. Outlines are squiggily and the art looks terrible, but it allows to seamless fluent motion and is easier to animate). Recurring characterizations are a stark improvement over previous magical girl shows, especially with the bad guys. Instead of mindless manifestations of evilness, the bad guys are pretty muchHuman in personality. They are all of them fully aware of, and approve of, the methodology and expected result of their actions, so they cannot be dissuaded through words or exposure to love or some other thing (and with that level of action, who would want them to?), even though they are perfectly capable and willing to sit down and discuss their reasons. In addition, they show an ability to argue and hold conversations, and partake in things like hobbies and activities. At one point, a desert messenger said "I'm bored, so I think I'll try and beat up the Precure today!", which leads to a noteceable lack of urgency on their part. Because of that lack of urgency, it leads us as viewers to wonder why they even bother to begin with? The show needs not be a full year-long if so much of it feels like filler. Sweetness and Violence don't really go together. It's like oil and water. You cannot make soup with oil and you cannot deep fry with water, so it's difficult to make a singular dinner with both. The Sentimentality is sweet enough for the girls to put up with the violence, and the action is good enough for the boys to suffer through the sweetness, but both parties still encounter a full half of the show that they can't like, so I have to give it an even steven 2.5 out of 5. Bonus points for having an actual history and previous generations of magical girls, including a still-living grandmother who was the previous incarnation who herselfdefeated the main bad guy some 50 years beforehand. *Note* - The video clip below shows off the typical quality of fight scenes, however it contains heavy spoilers.
On request, I was asked to watch and review Heroman, a half-year anime series from this last spring. The watching part was easy. I'd been following it since it started after all. It's the reviewing part that has my mecha in a twist. There is so much that is both good and bad about this series that I barely know how to start, and even worse is that I'm not too confident enough in my literary finesse to describe the goods and bads without directly spoiling things for those who haven't yet watched the show. So I decided to simply start from the inception and not bother with parsing my words at all.
SPOILER ALERT - This review will contain spoilers, so skip to the last paragraph if you don't want that. - SPOILER ALERT
Orphaned American boy Joey lives with his grandmother, working at a restaurant in the west coast city of Center City, while going to school. Upon hearing of a new toy robot called the Heybo, Joey believes that getting one will make his life better, turning him into a hero to protect his friends and family. However, he cannot afford to buy it on his meager salary. His luck changes when he picks up a broken down Heybo abandoned by a school bully. He tries to fix it, naming it Heroman, but does not have any luck in getting it to work. However, when a bolt of lightning strikes it, it transforms into a giant robot, just in time to save his friend Lina from impending danger. Now, Joey and Heroman are Earth's only defense against the evil insectoid Skrugg aliens, unknowingly summoned to Earth by Joey's science teacher.
That's the official overview of the story. Here is mine;
The Skrugg, an intergalactic race of technologically superior cockroaches, have set their eyes on the destruction of earth. Joey, an average kid from California, comes upon a toy robot that can transform into a super powered giant mech, Giant mechs and alien cockroaches collide and a fight for the survival of the world commences.
No less accurate, but gives off a completely different feel. Right?
My first problem with this series is Heroman himself. Itself. Heroman started out as a Heybo, a common off-the-shelf plastic toy robot, probably made in china. After being run over by a car, a wimpy boy who works part time at a cafe decides to try to fix it himself, since he could never afford one otherwise. The kid's shoddy repair job (including a generous amount of Scotch Tape and lots of left over pieces) combines with a bolt of lighting to somehow manage to turn this plastic toy into a giant robot (that isn't even really that big, maybe Shaq sized), complete with a controller gauntlet for the kid himself. Seriously? That's how Heroman came to be? They could have so easily gone the B-movie route by including some strange alien artifact, unknown chemical, or black box technology in the repair of the toy to provide the catalyst for the super transformation. There was even a bumbling mad scientist type included among the main character list to provide it. Instead they went with this, which is so arbitrary and illogical that I wonder why they even bothered? If they skipped the whole inception thing, played it off as 'he was always here', and used that time for some of the better things, the show would have stated off so much better. Also, right out of the box, so to speak, Heroman has a seemingly large amount of autonomy. How much? They never say. Enough however to be able to do exactly what his controller wants off of the basic command of "Heroman Go!” and the will to go berserk when his precious controller is knocked unconscious by the enemy (not to mention the intelligence needed to recognize the difference between that and say... going to sleep at night), but not enough to ever show a different facial expression, engage himself, anticipate even the most obvious of commands, or any decision making of it's own in general. Thirdly, Heroman is a plastic toy that was struck by lightning. Yet somehow, its standing regular punch seems to pack more concussive force than a 120mm high explosive shell fired from the main cannon of an American M1 Abrams tank. That's before it is empowered by any number of augmentative specials. Finally, I have absolutely no problems with its coloring scheme. Red-white-and-blue is very aesthetically pleasing and very appropriate for an American super hero. The problem I have is that Heroman started out textured after the American flag. I highly doubt that the bolt of lightning was too concerned about what people might think about the coloring of this new robo it's about to create, and I'm pretty darn sure that Joey wasn't thinking especially patriotic thoughts while watching his precious new toy get fried by an act of god, so why the flag?
I'm not entirely disenfranchised by the robot completely. Heroman, by its nature, is neutral. It is a really big toy under the command of its controller. Should someone with less of a moral fabric as Joey become it's controller, Heroman would have blithely followed his commands and been no less powerful for it. Autonomy aside, that makes it believable, but otherwise forgettable as we concentrate more on the moral and caricature development of its Controller. Also, Heroman has some really cool special movies, such as a Misaka Mikoto Mimicry, and a super devilman growth. I'm not sure how the feedback thing operates that gives Joey his superpowers, and I won't beat on a dead horse how illogical it was for him to even get superpowers, but they were really cool. In a contest between Joey and the Flash, Joey would win 25 times out of 10, simply because he is twice as cool at his worst than the Flash was during his prime.
The next issue is the Skrugg. Those alien bug people thingies. As cliche as aliens might be, they do serve as a good antithesis to the newly minted superhero. Physically, technologically, and morally superior to humans, they also have a nice plot device in the form of the zerg-like ability to make any other creature into Skrugg-like versions, making them more powerful and blindly loyal. What I don't like, is that one skrugg learned the English language with little more difficulty than clearing it's throat, then instantly after every single one of them decided to adopt it as their language of choice, including a full set of cultural slang and human character traits, despite already having the much more efficient communications method of telepathy. Over time, it became really really hard to remember that these things were actually Aliens, because of how readily they fell into human mannerisms.
I have to get to the production itself. Heroman takes place in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. Ok, they call it "Center City", but everything from the skyline of downtown to the location on the map to the weather and living conditions of the residents just SCREAM L.A. Other major cities of the country remain un-name-changed (possible exception of Washington D.C. being referred to as simply Washington), so who did they think they were fooling? Whatever. Aside from the name, the setting itself was perfectly portrayed. Now, I don't know weather to be impressed or shamed of this, but one thing the producers captured perfectly was the sheer level of American arrogance. This is an anime, made in japan, voiced in Japanese, and released (first) for a Japanese audience, but the monikers and overall dialogue lent itself to a decent dub of true American communication. The overall plot took place in America, and (despite being a world threat) was treated as an American problem for us Americans to contend with. The other continents of the world (didn't even bother to mention Country names) were given a bare cursory glance to enhance how American it was of us Americans to save the world from yet another American-only problem. Yaay! Go America!
The NIA (National Intelligence Agency, a sort of in-show combination of the CIA and NSA) were very well portrayed, in both their professionalism and abilities, a good dose a adult logic and mannerisms when everyone else is tripping like kids (for being kids, obviously). That other scientist in contrast was extremely cartoony, and so very difficult to take seriously.
Probably one of the very best features of Heroman was the destruction. Compliments to Madhouse for putting the effort to it. When things broke, they broke. Into pieces, the individual pieces falling this way and that to leave rubble splayed around the area that was broken. Even better was how the destruction persisted. If a house was crushed, and the action took the characters through that same area in a later episode, the same house would be seen in the same pattern of rubble, but from a different angle. This happened all across the city. There was no such thing as a background, either, apparently. Usually there is a noticeable shift in quality between static background images and moving debris, but not here. The destruction on even background scenes occurred seamlessly with the foreground animation, rendering it absolutely beautiful. Also, the background music was wonderfully composed and presented, lending such a heart-wrenching drama to the precisely placed destruction in such a way as to do a good disaster movie proud.
One more thing that did the show well was the addiction level. Mostly instigated by the wonderful destruction, but the first few episodes were extremely “meh” (especially after the first-episode hyper Stan Lee Made This-ness wore off), but 6-8 episodes in the dynamic changed to an "I've got to see more!" feeling during the episode’s cliffhanger scenes. That died off quickly later as the drama tapered off and new story arcs began, but the damage was done and the addiction set in. I was VERY annoyed during those mid-season 'anime' episodes, where they abandoned all pretenses of plot in order to pursue the more anime style cliche's of the misunderstanding laden date episode, and the obligatory trip to the beach.
As much quality as was thrown into the destruction, one might think that the producers could spare the time and expense to maybe vary the outfits a little sometimes. I mean, sure. Long multi-episode quests with the characters constantly fighting for their lives won't present an opportunity to readilly change clothing, but it was seriously disturbing to find out that the big-breasted homeroom teacher taught school in the same outfit that she jogged and swam in! The only time any character ever wore anything different, ever, was their swimsuits (which was their normal outfits sans some fabric). The rest of the time it was cheerleader outfits and yellow hoodies. Where do they get off presenting that kind of animation shortcut? Absolutely nothing else in the animation side of things was significantly skimped on budget or quality (Heroman command recycling being a notable but understandably exception).
(Sigh)... it's hard to structure so many pluses and minuses into a form that flows from one point to the next when they were so convoluted to each other originally. If I sounded bipolar in how I went from super amazed to super disgusted and back again through out all of this, keep in mind that it's exactly how I felt throughout each episode of the show, as they intermingled so many goods and bads together into a convoluted 23 minute package. I did manage to cover all the main points I feel, so I'll leave it to you to sort it all, as you feel fit.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!! I like Stan Lee, but I am not the kind of person who sprays hot hug and experiences a manly joygasm over his name, so I am going to rate this show fairly, based on all the goods and bads combined and without a fandom bias. In my opinion, Heroman deserves a 3 out of 5. As a superhero show, it was plussed with mindless action but lacking in any real logic. As a romance show, it utterly failed for even trying. As a disaster show, it excelled further than any other anime I can name to date! A pity that this wasn't a true disaster show than (well) portrayed characterizations with really bad dialogue and cookie-cutter images. Major negative points for a major character who's major hangup is being stubbornly upset over the fact that her super popular super heroic father didn't come home to her one day because the selfish bastard stupidly sacrificed himself to pointlessly save the lives of a worthless couple hundred of his co-workers from a not-at-all dangerous being trapped alive in a cave-in at the mines. Some bonus points for the addiction factor. More bonus points for including real death of real human characters that had real important roles and lines and backstory. END OF SPOILER!!!!!!!!!
Transformers: Rescue Bots is the latest chapter in the Transformers’ universe. It centers on four Autobots who travel to Earth to meet Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). Optimus assigns the Rescue Bots to assist a family of heroes in a high-tech town. Unlike previous series including Transformers Prime, which has a darker tone, Rescue Bots is geared for younger viewers. Follow the adventures of Chase, Boulder, Heat Wave and Blades as they protect our planet. Transformers: Rescue Bots airs Saturdays 9:30am EST on the Hub.
