The "Other" Animes

Two years is a long time. In those two years, I've been exposed to more than just one extremely fine anime. I've slightly updated and changed the descriptions of the old animes I've seen and enjoyed, and I've also added two new ones: Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou and Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa.

At any rate, I've brought back a page that I killed off in the first version of this white-background design. As time progresses, and I don't forget that this page exists, I plan to add short summaries of animes that really strike me as something worth watching. I'll attempt to present them as objectively as possible, but no guarantees.

Currently Featured Animes:
Bastard!, Fam and Iri: Ruin Explorers, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, and Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa.

Possibly Featured at a later date:
Kodomo no Omocha, Marmalade Boy, Rurouni Kenshin OAV, Vision of Escaflowne

bullet Bastard!

A six volume OAV, Bastard! is about an power-hungry (and womanizing) wizard named Dark Schneider. After a failed attempt to overtake the world (followed by a failed attempt to escape), Dark Schneider was imprisoned in the body of a boy named Lucie, and is freed only after 15 years. However, his personality melted with Lucie's sweeter, more naive persona, therefore keeping him under control--somewhat. And with this extra control, he is able to keep his cool while defending his world, Metallicana, from an evil prince attempting to revive the most evil being in the universe, Anthrathaxis. With Lucie's adoptive sister, Yoko, by his side, Dark Schneider battles with various opponents such as Gara [the Ninja Master], his adopted elf-daughter Arshes Nei, and a powerful fire demon named Efreet.

Bastard!'s good points stem from its interesting plot twists. (Mild spoiler) The reason Arshes Nei decides to wage battle against Schneider is because the evil prince has implanted something in her that will kill her unless she literally obtains possession of Dark Schneider's heart. She doesn't want to die, plus as his former lover [he was more than just her adoptive father], she's jealous of Yoko. In essense, she's set up.

In addition to that, the comedy of the various scenes and lines will almost always draw a chuckle out of you. (Spoiler) In one scene near the end, Dark Schneider appears to be dead, and everyone's keeping a respectful distance from his body... but Yoko marches up to the body, grabs hold of him, and starts smacking him, yelling for him to wake up (much to everyone else's shock) Dark Schneider and his ego is also amusing: "You can't kill the most handsome man in the world!"

All in all, Bastard! is a really well done shounen anime. (However, it is NOT for those faint of heart--there's a lot of graphic depictions of battle wounds, etc) I currently will not be having any links to any Bastard! pages, since they're usually better maintained at a place like The Anipike. If you're interested in buying the manga, I've heard that it's available from JUMP comics.

bullet Fam and Iri: Ruin Explorers

An OAV series based on Kunihiko Tanaka's manga of the same name, Fam & Iri [Ihrlie in Romanji] is a shoujo anime that has the standard heavy emphasis on friendship and working together. This, like Bastard!, is set in another world, a world once mostly involving magic and wealth. Then a war came, destroying most of the world; afterwards, people began to search through the ruins in search of the past powers: magic and wealth. Such people became known as Ruin Explorers...people like Fam and Iri.

The story focuses equally on both Fam and Iri, Fam being more of a side-kick to Iri's aggressive personality. However, Fam plays an equal role in their missions, for she can use her magic fairly easily, although she refuses to use it to hurt people [ticking Iri off at times when they need her magic the most]. Iri is on search for "The Power", in hopes of gaining enough strength in order to get revenge on her master for casting a curse on her....a curse that makes her turn into a mouse anytime she casts a magical spell.

While doing their usual looting, they encounter a con-artist named Gulf, who sells them a map, saying it will lead them to "The Power"....a power once strong enough to keep a kingdom thriving. Iri, still thinking of revenge, agrees to buying the map, and away they go, in search of the power. Along the way, they encounter others searching for "The Power" [Rasha & Miguel], as well as a Prince named Lyle who searches for the man who destroyed his kingdom. Ultimately, however, they all must team up in order to defeat the evil guy, Ruguduru, who wants "The Power" to conquer the world--or is he evil?

Most of this anime's appeal comes from its small but cute details. Otherwise, it's just a standard, bland shoujo anime--especially its ending. One of the more amusing scenes includes a fight in which Iri is mistaken for a guy... only to have her shirt slashed open and cause her opponent to freak out!

Fansubs have been long pulled off the market. Ad Vision did a really crappy job on the dub, so I'd definitely recommend subbed version for this anime. I kept one link for this anime, since the page is actually still up after all these years. It's nothing fancy, but it's nicely done and has some nice screen shots: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~bcheng/FI/fi.html. If you're interested in the manga, it's available from Hobby Japan Comics.

bullet Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou

(commonly translated as "His and Her Circumstances"... I prefer "The Circumstances of Boyfriends and Girlfriends", but then, what do I know about translating? ^_-) Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, also known as "Karekano" for short, is a 26-episode anime series that's based on earlier parts of the manga of the same name (done by Tsuda Masami). The premise for the manga/anime involves two main characters: Miyazawa Yukino and Arima Soichiro. As a first year high school student (sophomore year in the US school system) Miyazawa Yukino has it all together: not only does she appear elegant and refined, she's also at the top of her class, drawing much admiration from her peers. The catch? It's all a facade. At home, Yukino wears an old tracksuit, rather large glasses, and has her hair in two pigtails. She studies like crazy in order to earn the praise and admiration of all those around her, not because she just wants to achieve. Her world is knocked upside down, however, when a boy in her class is chosen to be class president over her: Arima Soichiro. What she doesn't know (but we learn) is that Arima, like her, is at the top because he feels as if he must: not to win praise and admiration, but to feel as if he's worthy of his adoptive family, his aunt and uncle who took him in and loved him when his own father and mother couldn't.

The anime mostly concerns itself with how these two people learn to reach out to others. Yukino in particular learns to control her desires for empty admiration and turn it into true friendship; Arima learns how to trust and accept love from another source besides his adoptive family. The show is highly character driven, and rather than having outside circumstances move the plot along, the actions of the characters themselves form the basis of the show. The anime series is very brief in comparison to the nine tankoubon released; naturally, some parts of the anime are covered in less detail than the manga. In either case, the series is quite sweet, appealing to those who don't mind the inner workings of a particular romance and the friendships that go with it.

There are quite a few good Karekano sites out there. The best one I've found so far is http://karekano.cjb.net/. It has some good background information, has a nice layout, and best of all, features a number of quality links if you're interested in finding out more. If you're interested in the manga tankoubon, it's available from Hakusen Sha.

*Screencap taken from the AMO Karekano website.

bullet Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. One of THE Miyazaki (Miyazaki Hayao)'s works. One of his best works, in my opinion. (I promised to try to be objective, but I'm afraid I can't be in this case) Most of his works, from what I've seen, seem to reach deeper into pondering some sort of meaning of existance. I'm not trying to say that he's all about spirituality and castles-in-the-air philosophy; no, Miyazaki creates a world in which the characters must try to figure these things out for themselves. Often these worlds themselves reflect on some aspects that he sees today in our world.

Such is the case with Nausicaa. Nausicaa is the princess of a small valley, after a holocaust (apocalypse, perhaps, depends on your interpretation) of Seven Days of Fire. In this world, humans are forced to live more the way humans did back in the medieval days--basically working the land. They gain power by conquering other nations. And they live in fear of what they don't understand: a large toxic forest that continues to grow.

The anime and the manga differ wildly. The anime is a one and a half hour movie [there about], and pretty much compresses the storyline. It also makes it much more upbeat. The manga, however, keeps inline with what human nature encompasses: greed, anger, cruelty, etc, in addition to all the positive aspects. I'm aware that this is basically a very brief summary of the show itself, but Miyazaki's works encompass more than just one story. For more information, please go to the Nausica.Net.

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Last updated: May 2000