SAINT YOUNG MEN

I totally forgot I watched this last weekend. Saint Young Men became one of those Tumblr phenomenons my roommate introduced me to, because I don't tumble. Saint Young Men is a four chapter OVA adapted from a manga of the same name. Its main characters are none other than Buddha and Jesus, and they live in an apartment together. Was it a recipe for success?

Tell you the truth, it wasn't half bad, even  hilarious some parts. It's a film that only could have come out of Japan, and I'm glad someone finally thought to make such a story. It would have been easy to make the story incredibly insensitive, which I found to be a double edged sword for the OVA. Maybe it should have been more offensive? Saint Young Men does the typical Japanese pop culture narrative and squeezes oddities into ordinary circumstances... and that gets boring real fast. Why are Japanese writers so obsessed with normalcy? Do I really need to see Jesus going to a grocery store? 

Anyway, I could tell you about it, or you can go watch it. I'd choose the latter. It's a little quirky, and a lot Japanese.

The New Powerpuff Girls!

Tonight, Cartoon Newtork threw old school faithfuls and new blood hipster kids for a loop by debuting the Powerpuff Girls remake. If the thought of this 22 year old neckbeard watching little girl cartoons with his roommate makes you cringe, get out. Real men watch Powerpuff Girls.

I really dig this new vision for the franchise, though there's no word of any long-term plans that I know of. My roomate Leslie compared the visuals to Gumball, another CN animation. I think it's a good call, sans inclusion of any real-life backdrops. Powerpuff Girls had some amazing three-dimensional pseudo South Park CG rendering going on, to fantastic results. The real draw-in for me is the strong, almost realistic lighting in the show. A real treat, guys.

Powerpuff Girls has a nice modern touch for the most part, the intermittent breakdance battle and use of 1990s slang term "word" withstanding. Even with all its modern coolness and digital sheen, the characters are pretty much the same, which is where this episode gets things right. The Mayor's pickle fetish is downright hilarious; Blossom still rants about justice and shit; and Professor Utonium's still an unfulfilled adult who wasn't ready for kids. The only dynamic that's odd is Mojo Jojo's lack of redundant speech, which was present but not as prevalent as I remember. 

All in all, I'd love me some more Powerpuff Girls. My favorite girl back in the day was Blossom, but Buttercup's got some cute spiked-hair badassery vibe that's pretty cool this time around. Actually, everyone's got cool hair in this remake. Watch the show for the hair, people. 

The Sore Throat Blues

So I've been sick with some ambiguous throat infection flu thing, and now I've lost my voice. Every time I try to speak, I sound like a caveman grunting English for the first time. Anyway, here's some of what I've been up to this week:

1. Finished Katawa Shojou on the Lilly Satou Arc

Those of you around for my depressing post-graduation days might recall my article on visual novel Katawa Shojou, "Life After Immersive Video Games." I grew fond of pipsqueak sprinter Emi Ibarazaki and then felt lonely after beating the game. I eventually played again, and I most recently beat the Lilly arc, which was pleasant. I'm pretty sure she's the character the creators favored, like how Liara's obviously the main female in Mass Effect.


2. Watching Chaos;Head on Netflix

My friend Leslie used to marathon anime back at college, which is how I wound up seeing a lot of interesting shows. Tried it again this week with Chaos;Head. The show follows some delusional otaku who's getting photos of murders that haven't happened yet. Worse, he might be the one committing the murders. Despite the potential, not much has happened in the anime. There's a lot of build-up that is taking a while to go anywhere, and I can only watch our crazed protagonist lose his mind for so long. The verdict's still out on this one.

Drawn by Mushiboy.

3. Kill la Kill

You've just gotta watch it, guys. It's Gurren Lagann, but more female-centered. And I can't get enough of that Lady Satsuki. Her badassery is delicious.


4. Space Dandy

While the first episode wasn't spectacular to me, the second episode was surprisingly funny. If not for the fact that I can't use my vocal chords, I would have laughed out loud several times. I wound up snickering silently and slapping the couch and clapping my hands. This being mute thing is so weird. Space Dandy is worth a try for anyone who still hasn't seen it.


That's all I've got for now. Keep your otaku game strong, folks.

Auditory Gold: The Kill la Kill OST

Kill la Kill makes shockwaves within the anime universe for its flirtation with female empowerment and fanservice, insane animation and ultra-stylized combat, and a story line simple enough to pull in fans of differing genres. My passion for this show, however, would not be complete without the original soundtrack: I don't speak a lick of Japanese, but I've listened to the series while doing other things, just for the music. And trust me, the connection between a good series and good music is a strong one (in case you couldn't tell, I'm really digging Kill la Kill).

The OST is heavily electronic, so anyone who likes 8-bit music, Royksopp and dubstep should feel at home. I gotta say, though, Hiroyuki's made some catchy and eclectic themes on this soundtrack. With that said, Hiroyuki displays his versatility by lacing the sounds of robot coitus with classical compositions; if Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer made a band together, you might end up with the Kill la Kill OST. "キ龍ha着L" is probably the most traditionally classical track, but matches Kiryuin Satsuki's regal nature and shady machinations. There's an electric guitar that sneaks up from behind the brass that drives the intensity up.

My favorite tracks happen to be themes that played during critical moments in the anime. The track "k1ll◎iLL" which begins as a frenzied dubstep mash-up with some sweet bass and drum beats apropos for a Capcom or Bandai arcade fighter. The noise gives way to a rising strings ensemble that plays faster and faster until near silence ensues... and then the choir singers come out. It's all goosebumps and chills from there. In the anime, the track plays over the first engagement Matoi Ryuko and Kiryuin Satsuki have, and I've watched that third episode multiple times just to see and hear and experience that high over and over. Another intense track is "AdラLib," which plays as Matoi Ryuko is defeated by the enlightened kendo master Sanageyama. It's entirely melancholic piano, and it is a beauty.

I have absolutely no criticisms of this album. I don't even like saying that because my inner cynic needs to complain about something, anything (I guess the English tracks sound like poor translations, but I don't recall any instance of Japanese songwriting that sounds good in English). Alas, I can't find anything that wasn't dynamic, wasn't intense, wasn't clever. An anime like Kill la Kill could have had any number of approaches to its soundscape, but the super dramatic approach has to be respected when you're dealing with an anime that, on surface level, seems anything but serious. 

FIRST SQUAD: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

I recently bought First Squad when rightstuf.com was having their massive holiday sales; I also got me the Birdy the Mighty: Decode series for $15, which made me real happy. Back to First Squad: what we've got here is an animation by Studio 4°C, scripted by Russian author Alexey Klimov and Eiko Tanaka. Already a strange concoction, right?

First Squad, being a one shot OVA and all, throws us into a pre-established world and catches us up as we go along, exposing that during WWII Russia fought Germany through both military and occult means. The main character Nadya attended a Russian cross between boot camp and Xavier's School for Gifted Mutants, and honed her clairvoyant powers. He singular mission? To stop dead German crusader Baron von Wolf from being revived, as he would kill the Russian army with his ghost forces. 

I can't say with a straight face that First Squad is any good, of course. I mean, a secret occult war is a great concept on its own, and the movie has a lot of cool ideas and is endearing in that 1980s and 90s action/adventure/fantasy way, but the film ultimately tries doing too much with its 75 minutes. Nadya's a prototypical amnesiac being chased by twin German blondes, is rescued by an old wizard who mentions she's destined to save Russia, has to go into the nether realm to find allies, and barely gets to fight von Wolf in what is the shortest climax I've ever seen. 

I wouldn't mind seeing First Squad: The Moment of Truth turned into a much longer animated series. I feel like most stand alone OVAs are made with that as the secret goal anyway. With all the money that goes into an animation, a single direct-to-DVD release can't be a huge return on investment. Can you please make a First Squad series, Studio 4°C?

Some Ol' Bullsh*t: Boondocks Season 4 Pushed Back to April?

So the news on junkiemonkeys.com is that Aaron MacGruder's satirical masterpiece The Boondocks, which was supposed to air January on adultswim, has been pushed back to April? No official word from the network from what I know, but tweets from Thugnificent and the show's music producer point to April. Nothing to worry about yet, since the show is definitely being produced, and I assume the wait will be worth it. 

Image and news from junkiemonkey.com.

Can Hollywood Make Kite Fly?

Kotaku recently put up the trailer for the Hollywood version of Umetsu's Kite, a 1998 OVA that roams the slimy underbelly of otaku cult fandom for its explicit rape scenes and gory police action. I reviewed Kite and its sequel for Project Otaku a while back; don't watch the sequel, Kite Liberator, if you value your time at all. Anyway, the fanboys at Kotaku were quick to note their apprehension for another Hollywood anime adaptation that would potentially botch up any merits the original material has. Ever seen The Last Airbender? Dragonball Evolution? Don't.

With all the talk of shitty anime remakes by Hollywood studios, I wonder if anime/manga are meant to be adapted at all. Spike Lee's Oldboy wasn't too well received either, though Park Chan-wook's film adaptation is pretty damn famous. Is it just a Hollywood thing? Do I need to watch more Asian adaptations of anime/manga material for some better perspective on the issue? Are they any better? 

Judging from the Kite film trailer, and based on what I know of American media, I think that Hollywood sees many Japanese franchises as inherently campy. Anime and manga are great mediums for accomplishing feats unimaginable in live-action, just like comic books and cartoons are in America. Even when making superhero films, Hollywood has to be careful with the material: it's not like Daredevil or Ang Lee's Hulk were financial blockbusters. And last summer's Man of Steel devolved at some point into an absurd CG glorification of destruction when Superman trashed Metropolis with Zod, something even Superman faithfuls couldn't ignore. The more exaggerated the fiction, the easier it is to make the film project a terrible one.

Bottom line? Adaptations of super-fantastical works are always risky ventures. The otaku community is especially defensive of material because they think studios are always off the mark: in the case of The Last Airbender, I'd have to agree. But I'm hoping Kite will at least be okay. Samuel L. Jackson's in the movie, guys, it can't be that bad. Right? 

Space Dandy: The Jury's Still Out?

just saw the first episode of Space Dandy, that new Shinichiro Watanabe joint that aired on adultswim. not really sure what to think of it yet. maybe next episode i'll get a better idea?

there's jokes about boobies, and butts, and about a restaurant sorta like Hooters, except it caters to alien races that ogle at human women. maybe i've become more sensitive to women's issues lately, but it doesn't seem like a clever or original, or even tasteful note to start a series on. it doesn't even feel like a Watanabe thing to do, to talk about booty booty booty booty rockin everywhere. if Johnny Bravo were turned into an anime, i guess Space Dandy would be the result, except Johnny Bravo was a little obnoxious too.

the immature sexual jive breaks down once Dandy ends up warping through dimensions and onto an alien planet. i think "psychadelic" is a good word to use here. like, the amount of animation stunts pulled off this first episode remind me of Redline, a fantastic film you should all watch if you haven't already. and "psychadelic" works for Space Dandy, the silly pseudo-disco romp that it is.

my homegirl Lauren Orsini puts it best: 

"Space Dandy is entertaining enough, with bombastic dialogue, plenty of fanservice, and explosive fights. But is there anything truly new or exceptional about it? "

http://otakujournalist.com/why-is-the-media-covering-space-dandy-while-other-animes-get-ignored/

eh, being against the tide of popular opinion is a regular occurrence for me, so i understand if Space Dandy continues to explode onto the 2014 anime scene. i'm also quick to judge a show, since i don't think anything worth watching takes its sweet time getting to the good stuff. we'll see where this goes.

RE: Launch

hey, faithfuls! i know i've been away on business at projectotaku.com since last june, and i'm proud to say the site's doing alright. but i'm in need of some serious down time when it comes to blogging: for me, that involves blogging on my own, without the anxieties of writing as a site manager or anything like that. i'm kicking my shoes off and getting comfortable right where this aniblogging journey started, right here on anime-guardians.com. expect regular updates from me on, well, anything nerd related that comes to mind.

it feels good to be back.

- nelson rolon
creator of anime-guardians.com
anime.guardians03@gmail.com