Midori no Hibi

Name: Midori no Hibi
Type: Television Show
Episodes: 13 (Containing Suspected OVA)
Rating: Teen (Male), Any Age (Female)
Runtime Per Episode: 24 min
Director: Kobayashi Tsuneo
Produced By Bandai and others
Year Produced: 2004

... Otherwise known as Midori Days, Midori no Hibi was inspired by the manga of the same name by the mangaka (God, woot); Inoue Kazurou, who is also the author of some of my personal favorites (in case you couldn't tell) like Aoi Destruction and Ai Kora, and a couple others that look interesting, but I am too lazy to translate for myself.

Either way, this anime is the first that I am doing that was (more of less) directly translated from the manga.
And... it held up really well!
I don't know if Inoue Kazurou consulted on this or not (since it didn't credit him or anything), but it was still really funny (to me, there were apparently a lot of complaints about Aoi Destruction, but then again, it might be either an acquired sense of humor... or just inspired lunacy).

I'm not sure how to tell this without spoiling it, but the story's essentially a slice-of-life comedy about a delinquent (with a good heart, obviously) who's reputation has built itself around his "Devil's Right Hand".  The man's name is... Sawamura Seiji.

Surprisingly accurate depiction of a beginner...

... 20?

As you can tell, Seiji has been having some "Lady Problems"... he can't get one (that's about the worst Lady Problem).  Girls are afraid of him because... well... he might pull a shiv and shank them.  Either way, it is his fate, no, his curse never to have a girlfriend... ever.

Teens

Twenties

Thirties

Retirement Home

That's pretty bad.  All he's ever wanted is to have a girlfriend, live a normal, happy school life, and buy a scooter...

But the fates and the common sense of every Japanese school girl are conspiring against him.  Poor guy.
Little does he know that there is a girl out there who understands his poor, tortured soul... well, not for long.

How rude.

Yes, you've seen it now, the secret behind the whole story.  He finally got himself a girlfriend!  And she's always close at hand, literally!
I hope you'll excuse the poor joke/pun/whatever, but it's true, a dream come true!  He should be happy, right?  Well... maybe not, but still, what a turn of events!  Just thinking about it, you shouldn't have been able to see this one coming!

Now Seiji has to get used to having a girl (Kasugano Midori) who's totally into him... as his right hand.

 

What'll happen to his delinquent life?!  Well, it'll have to keep going because he's built up such a reputation that everyone wants a piece of him now!  An unfortunate situation, you might say.

The slice-of-life comes from the fact that the anime is mostly about their daily life together, but with the underlying main story of trying to get Midori back into her original body (which is sitting in bed all this time with a mysterious illness), and trying to get Seiji better understood by his classmates, with some classic Inoue twists, turns, fan service, and plenty of...

Full...

Frontal...

Nudity.

... I am so getting banned.

... Um... Yeah, okay, could you... stop staring and let's... get back to the re... view...

... Okay!

Since I read the manga before the anime (as I am want to do, whatever this means, since the literal translation does not make any sense), I had a hard time figuring out how to write about the character development.  It was... good?

The characters remained true to the manga, I can say that much without a doubt.  Each character was allowed enough flash-back time to make their point, and the relationship between Seiji and Midori was integrated into their characters over the course of the show.

The art style was awesome, as a huge fan of Inoue Kazurou, I also came to appreciate his classics.

And my friend's personal favorite...

Okay, granted.  The second one isn't exactly and original, but it's still a classic and funny as hell.

The animation was smooth and flowed well, there were even a couple of fight sequences that were pretty good.

More importantly, there were also some sequences that weren't technically action, but rather random mayhem, which I can't display here because I don't have the skill.  Basically, most of them are in the first episode during house-call by the gangsta' girls (is this in correct form?).
There's also an epic car-punching sequence in there.

The Japanese version of this anime was really good, and the English one wasn't so hot, as usual.  Actually, you should probably just stick to listening to the Japanese acting exclusively unless I tell you that the English version is worth a try, which isn't very often.

The music wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite to my tastes.  I'm more into rock music than what appears to be the norm for anime intro and outro music.

To put it as simply as I can, watch this anime, and then read the manga... or the other way around.  Inoue Kazurou is awesome at what he does, plain and simple, and even if it is a take-off of Love Hina, Ai Kora is the best manga I've read in a while.  Too bad nobody's WORKING ON IT!
I'm pretty sure that I still like the manga better, but the best thing about this anime is that it didn't hurt my view of the manga at all, and it actually brought up some stuff that I never thought about before I watched the anime, cool, yeah?
Oh, and this is one of the main reasons that still I like the manga better...

'Nuff said, x2.

Something gets lost in translation, I'm afraid.

If you've agreed with anything that I've written here, then you should check it out... even if you're an adult who doesn't give a crap about anime and manga and shit for teenagers like that, you should still read it.
Just do it!

Midori no Hibi Minitheatre

Coming up next!

Mugen no Juuin!

DNA²

Name: DNA²
Type: Television Show
Episodes: 12
Rating: Any Age Able to Handle Underwear
Runtime Per Episode: 26 min
Director: Sakata Jun'ichi
Produced By Bandai and others
Year Produced: 1994

In the future, there is an overpopulation problem.  "Yeah, what else is new?" is probably what you're thinking right now, but fortunately, I have good news for you!  It's not your fault!
It's his fault!  That one in the middle, middle right, dammit!

His name is Momonari Junta, and he's your average high schooler... well not exactly, I mean, if he was, then what would be the point of an anime?  Has there ever been an anime with a truly normal character with normal, common surroundings?  If there has been one, then was it any good?
Actually, now that I think about it, Junta is about as far away from a normal guy as you could get without having a sex change and moving to another planet.

For a start, he reminds me of SSJ4 (and just what the hell does the "J" stand for?  Super Saiyan... what?!) Goku.

Junta

 

Goku

... that's okay, you don't have to see it.  I actually don't really see it just looking at it like this, but when you see the anime (if you want to), you'll see the DBZ... almost blatant ripoffs...

 

   

Junta also can't talk to girls.  At all.  And he really has trouble in more... intimate situations.

Cause and...

... Effect.  Note the chunks there.

Granted, that would be a rather awkward situation for anyone not used to it, but... damn.

Either way, you're probably still confused at how this... pathetic soul could be responsible for the overpopulation problem.  I mean, the dude can barely stand to look at a woman wearing a swimsuit, how could he possibly make one pregnant?

I'll tell you how!  When he gets shot by a time-traveling woman from the future, sent back in time to stop the "Mega Playboy" (that's supposed to be him, by the way)!  Major gear shift, yeah?  Well, I'm sorry, but I couldn't think of any better way to introduce it, so here I am.

Her name is Karin, and she's from the future... and she's got a crazy hairdoo, but then again, all of them do.  She also reminded me of something out of DBZ.  Probably because of the outfit.  It kind of reminds me of something that I saw in one of the shows.  In case you haven't figured it out yet, I haven't ever actually watched a whole episode of DBZ.

Anyway, she was sent back in time to prevent Junta from becoming the Mega Playboy by shooting him with a DNA bullet.

As far as I can figure this one, it's a new invention that ultimately destroys a DNA strand, or something along these lines.  But... wouldn't that kill you?  I'm not a geneticist, so I'll just go with it.

Only problem is that when she actually shoots him with it, he turns into the Mega Playboy (what a good name).  That's right.  Got the wrong bullet.  Now that she's turned the total pansy into the unstable Mega Playboy, Karin has to stay behind in the past to try and find a way to keep him from impregnating 100 women.

Character development was... practically non-existent.  A little harsh, but this wasn't the greatest anime that I've seen.  I like it over a couple of others, and it's funny enough to keep my interested (especially in the end), but the story and character personality and depth were kind of lacking.

As I understand it, this was adapted from a manga by Katsura Masakazu (who also did Video Girl AI.  I didn't read it (though I found it once and was planning on reading it, but I ultimately didn't)), but now I kind of wish that I had.  Then maybe I would have understood it better, or at least appreciated it more.  Maybe I'll read it now and try watching it again.

I've already said everything that I can about the art style, and that is that it really reminds me of DBZ.  But when you think about it, most animes in that time period had the same look to them.  I don't know if Toriyama Akira went with the flow of the age, or if the art style followed him, but there you go.

It had some classical moments in it, which were good.  I haven't seen a good sledgehammer in a long time.

BITE IT, ASSHOLE!

And I don't want you to think that this anime was without attractive qualities beyond the sledgehammer...

That was from the first episode... like, within the first five minutes!  Damn.

The Japanese version of this anime was pretty good.  I agreed with all of the character choices, and I especially liked Tominaga Miina who was Karin.  Then again, I liked Karin hands down.

The English version... don't bother with it.  I don't know how to explain it, but there's something about lip-syncing to Japanese words is really hard for English-speakers, even more so when you don't know what you're doing, which is most everybody (especially back then).

Decent intro and outro music, if you like slightly depressing songs (though the intro wasn't that slow).

Since I was kind of out of my depth for this anime, I don't really know what to say about it.  If you're not a big fan of the old/classic style of animation and drawing, you should probably move on, but if you prefer stuff from this age, then you might want to watch it.  I don't know if this is good or bad by the standards of the time in which it was produced (since I'm not a big fan of that style), so I can't tell you how good this is in comparison, so you'll just have to watch and figure it out for yourself, sorry.

I also don't know if you should read the manga and watch this anime, or if you should do only one, or if you should do neither.  All in all, I didn't consider watching this a waste of time, and it didn't give me an annoyance headache, so it was pretty good, just not outstanding.  Make you own decisions, I'm sick of being asked to do everything for you, dammit!

DNA² Minitheatre

Coming up next!

Midori no Hibi!

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig

Name: Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig
Type: Television Show
Episodes: 26
Rating: TV-14
Runtime Per Episode: 25 min
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Produced By Animax, Bandai, and others
Year Produced: 2003

One of the few animes that I can stand to watch in English, Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. (both of them), were produced about 7 years after the movie directed by Mamoru Oshii and was the first thing reviewed on this blog.

The classic troupe (with the same voice actors from the original Japanese version) and a couple of new faces make a return/entrance, to hunt down crime on the mean streets of New Tokyo, now!  Screw Hong Kong!
Actually, in all fairness, I thought that the movie was set in New Tokyo (I'll explain the "New" part later), but as I was looking around the net for verification of my plot summary, I figured out that the director said that it was set in Hong Kong, and that, if you looked carefully, you wouldn't find any hirigana or katakana (two character sets exclusively from Japan (since Japan got most of it's third alphabet, kanji, from China)) in any of the sign names... you might find English though... odd.

Chief Aramaki (Old Ape) and the Kusanagi (Queen Kong/The Major) now have a new foe!  A Super-Class-A Hacker (a term you'll hear quite a lot through the series)!  What is that?  No idea.  As far as I can figure, it's an honorific saved for those who have the ability to quickly and effectively hack/infect (via standard computer virus) other people's cyber brains.
It all started on February 3, 2024 when a man kidnapped the CEO of a micro-machine manufacturing cooperation called Serano-Genomix, demanding him at gunpoint to reveal a secret that "the world needed to know"... but what was this secret?  And who was this masked man?  And what does it have to do with the events occurring today... in mean, in the future...

The first part of a two-season run (though the two seasons have close to nothing linking them story-wise), Ghost in the Shell S.A.C 1st Gig is... strange in it's episode layout... actually, both "Gigs" were.

There were two types of episodes; Stand Alone episodes, and Complex episodes (and you can tell the difference by the color (green and blue respectively) and the fact that it tells you over the episode name).
Stand Alone episodes are just what they say.  The anime equivalent or a oneshot, or just a normal anime episode (pardon me, I have a mind more adapted to manga).  A plot that is summed up during the episode with practically no impact on the others except random flashbacks and references down the line.
Complex episodes, however, are part of the main story; that of "The Laughing Man".  I don't know what to relate it to, since I don't have television, and rely on downloading to get all of my anime and stuff, but that's the way it works.

The same thing goes for the 2nd Gig, only those are called Individual and Dividual episodes (new names for Stand Alone and Complex episodes, but pertaining to the main plot in that one.)

As far as the character development goes, even though some new characters were introduced, the plot still revolves around Motoko, Batou, and The Laughing Man, so you don't get to see much about them.  Togusa looks like hell though.  That's what married life does to some guys, though.

It's hard to describe character development, actually, since I watched the movie long before the show, and as such, couldn't really tell if there was much deep, probing ventures into the psyches of the characters...
Actually, that's a lie.  You get to know Batou a lot better through the series.  Like the fact that he grew a pony-tail.  A new aspect of his personality is revealed, and you learn about his jaded past (and how he lost his eyes!).

The art style was very different from the movie.  Don't be frightened by the opening sequence.  Actually, that's what I was afraid it was going to look like, and I was very happy when it was... well... not that.  There was a lot more color and shine in this one.  The eyes are probably the most apparent change in the art style (they get a lot more... anime...)

See?  She's also a lot more... I dunno... purple.

Animation style and flow is still good, and since it was for TV, that had to kick up the action factor, and drop most of the philosophic and (God, I'm getting sick of this word) existential stuff.

I don't know if I should be happy about this or not, but I found it well balanced for television.  Just enough action to keep them watching, but just enough thinking to make them question their existence a little (if they haven't been numbed by the movie already)... good work!

Again, good voice acting.  While they kept the original cast from the movie in Japan (as earlier stated, geez, don't you read anything I type?!), they changed almost everybody else except for Aramaki.  Among the new cast are (as far as I am concerned) a couple of stars!  Richard Epcar as Batou and Crispin Freeman as Togusa.

I don't particularly like or dislike Freeman, but I noticed that I've been seeing him quite a lot.  Saw him in Noein, and heard him for about a second in Hellsing (which I will be reviewing rather soon).

Now I do like Epcar.  I haven't seen him as much as Freeman, but I like the characters that I've seen him play, and also he's just got a inflection in his voice, and knows how to use it!  The guy's awesome!

As for the dubbed vrs. subbed argument, I can't lend much to it.  It was nice seeing the original voice actors in the Japanese one, made it easier to transition, but, like I said, I can stand this show in English (probably because I watched it in English first, though that doesn't always make a difference).  Now this show is one that I can stand to listen to while I'm "working".

I found the soundtrack and such better than the movie.  The movie had it's own charm, as I stated (the wailing children charm), but the anime was more into the punk/rock scene, with a couple of... "pop" (is that the correct term for "Inner Universe"?) numbers in there.
My personal favorites included Lithium Flower by Scott Matthew, Run Rabbit Junk by... someone, probably Yoko Kanno (who composed the music for pretty much all of the music), and Inner Universe by Origa.  You can also get an OST CD with all of their songs on it.

In the end... it really depends on what you're looking for.  If you want the action and more multi-ped tanks, watch the anime...

 

If you want the philosophy, the self-awareness, the more depressing (or should I say "realistic") story-line, or the nudity, then you should watch the movie (I think I know what you'll pick if you're a guy).

I can't attest to which one I like better, so the best that I can say is watch them both... just for the experience.  If you don't, then...

... I'm afraid you'll just have to accept the consequences... and the bullets and the pain.

I've also been told that the games produced for the Playstation are quite good, though since I'm too poor to afford a controller, I can't attest to it personally.

Once again, check out MiniTheatre for this one, and again, if you want to listen to the English version, go to the dual-audio folder.  Actually, I got mine from a Mediafire file folder, but it's only the English version.  I'll give you the link anyway.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig Mediafire Folder

Coming up next!

DNA²!

Player Tutorial / Downloading Homepages

Hey, I told you that I'd teach you how to use a media player when the time came, so here I am.

First thing first... tell me what type of media player you're using.

In case you didn't figure it all out yet, I don't really have much of a technological sense, but I am a fast learner depending on how bad I want to impress someone (or show them up).

Thus, if you bring me the name of the player, or at least tell me what Operating System it runs on, then I can help you.

Personally, I use Ubuntu most of the time anymore, but I am a born Windows user as well, so just bring your problems unto me, and I'll make sure that you'll learn your lesson and go ask someone who's qualified to answer.


If you don't need lessons on how to use a media player, I'll tell you this;

In future, I'll be posting direct links to the web pages that have download links to the anime that I am watching/reviewing.  I'll also include the name of the host so you'll be able to better prepare.

Before I give you any of those, I'll give you two main pages that I am currently using;

MiniTheatre
Ani4Free

Remember what I was talking about in my first post?  Ani4Free is the Uncle Ho place, so watch your back.
I do get the impression that it is Vietnamese (probably by the fact that it almost has a heading that says "We're Vietnamese"), so be careful.  I also still have no idea how to access the downloading information locked behind those spoiler bars.  If anyone, anyone at all has any answers, please leave me a comment.  At least I'll know someone's reading...
You do need an account at Minitheatre, but it's free, so you shouldn't be complaining.
About Ani4Free... since I can't finish the regestration form, I don't actually fully know if you need an account, but I do know that you can't download anything from the site without one.

I'd also like to point out that I'm giving you the links to the pages were the links to the shows are.  I want anyone who's using this to realize the hard work and time that went into translating and encoding, decoding, zipping, unzipping, baking, toasting, and washing these anime shows and movies.

"Good Work" to all the people at Minitheatre and Ani4Free, you go.


Enough of that; for right now, I'll give my insider review of each of the Files Downloading Hosts from the perspective of a cheap free user.


Rapidshare

The first uploading host that I ever downloaded from was Rapidshare, and thus it is first to be reviewed.  I don't really like it.
Rapidshare is good and you'll probably find a copy of everything ever uploaded to the net on this server, but it suffers from three crippling flaws (as far as I'm concerned);

1. Anywhere from 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM Pacific Time (you can do the conversion math), the line is jammed with Premium Users and stuff, so pitiful Free Users like me can't get a slot, and thus have to wait until all hours of the morning to do any downloading in bulk... but then you hit problem 2, which is...

2. Seemingly slower download rate.  I don't know if this is a superstition or a file size or what, it just seems to me that Rapidshare takes 2-3x longer to download files than most other places.

And...

3. Excruciating wait-time between downloads.  Rapidshare and a couple others are in the practice of keeping people (me) from downloading a crap load of files at one time, so they put a restriction on how many files you can download in an hour.  I think it's somewhere around 4 if you don't drift off and forget.  Actually, Rapidshare is better than the others that I am thinking of in this regard.

Anyway, if you want to find a file for sure, it's probably on Rapidshare, so check there when you can't find it anywhere else, but make sure it's nighttime.

Megaupload
My second-favorite host, Megaupload has practically no wait-time between downloading sessions, just a relatively small 50 seconds per download.  You can still only download one at a time though.

Mediafire
Probably my favorite for reasons that will be made clear when I say;
-It's free
-It's fast
-It's unlimited
Crystal clear now, yeah?
Mediafire doesn't have a download limit that I have become aware of yet; you can download as many as you want, when you want.  Cool yeah?
The only problem is that Mediafire seems to be slightly more obscure than the others, but that's okay.


There are a couple of other places out there, but their pretty much mutant Rapidshares or something that I can't explain or (when you get right down to it) use.
The 3 Rapidshare clones are Deposit Files, Hotfile, and Uploading.  Same rules apply.
The only mutant one that I can remember is Badongo which you just have to experience to appreciate.

Also, check out a place called FilesPump for all of your uploading host search needs.  Just type in the name and go!

Now, I hope none of you are thinking about further violating the copyright laws placed on these anime, because that would just be uncool.  Try and reign in your business sense and stick with your "Stay out of Federal Penitentiary" sense.

This small review in no way means that these are the only hosts out there, if you don't like these or whatever, you just have to find them for yourself.  Happy Hunting!

Ghost in the Shell (Movie)

Name: Ghost in the Shell
Type: Movie
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 83 min
Directed By Oshii Mamoru
Produced By Bandai Visual and Production I.G.
Year Produced: 1995

In the not-so-distant future (now, at least, the story is set in 2029), computers have taken over, but in a much nicer way than the Terminator.  These computers ask you if you want fries with your Happy Meal.
Yep, cyborgs.  Actually, there is a whole spectrum of body and being types, with just one of the many exciting options being cyborg.  There's also "Prosthetic", "Android", and "Human" (but only if you don't have any money).

With the turn of this new technological age, there comes a whole new set of problems.  Malfunctioning robots, cooperate and cyber terrorism up the wazoo, and also... robots becoming self-aware.

Major Motoko Kusanagi, the Ocular-Implanted Batou, and the rookie human Togusa now roam the mean-streets of Hong Kong, looking for the scum of the net.  But something much more... weird is going on.

A super-hacker by the name of "Puppet Master" is hacking into people's cyber-brains and controlling them (mind control is just around the corner, people, get ready!).
So now it's up to our plucky band of new-age, near-indestructible heroes to find and stop him, even if Motoko has to get naked and wheel-kick some sleazy criminal, that's a sacrifice that I am willing to make for anime.

All in all, this was a very smooth anime, as expected of a classic.  It got all around good marks from both me and the public.

The character development was well rounded and presented in a good time frame.  I'm not sure what else to say other than that it was interesting enough to me to keep me watching, and not in that way where you just go "God, I wonder what kind of idiotic mistake he's going to make next".

Even though I find the whole "Who am I" question very "Ugh, headache", I was still mesmerized by the idea of self-awareness, especially when it's not done in the classic Terminator way (i.e. become self-aware, then launch nukes at humans).
I'm not sure why anyone or anything would want to be more human because we're the dumbest creatures on earth.  Self-awareness has given us wars, racism, and fruitcake!  I'll stop right there to avoid having to have an argument with myself about all of the benefits of self-awareness, so just forget about all of the good things in your life like medicine, television, and chocolate.

Other than that, the plot kept a good pace, and it had action and nudity, that's all I need in a movie.

The artwork was good very good all the way through.  Actually, where I determine the quality of the artwork and general animation is during action sequences, or at least the sequences where there is the most movement, and since this movie had plenty of those, it gave me good time to check it out.
It wasn't all jerky and glitchy, and it kept a good pace/frame rate.

The cool thing about the movie that I noticed was that almost the entire thing took place at night.  It lent a kind of heavy tone to the whole thing, all dark and stuff.  I also noticed that, since it was at night, most of what you could see was lights out of windows and such.  Gave it another tone of isolation and technological dependence or independence depending on how you look at it, a kind of reliance on the net.  I'd say it was sad, but then I'd have to go outside and... (shudder) enjoy nature.

Again, the voice acting was very good on both sides (Japanese and English).  When I watched the movie, I remember finding Motoko's voice (Mimi Woods) really awesome, but for some reason, after watching the anime, she kind of sounds weird now, but still good.
I thought that you were supposed to stick with your first impression.  Maybe quantity wins out over first impressions in this case.

The music wasn't to my taste, and unless you're into the soundtrack to The Omen or any other score involving choirs of children wailing in an extremely depressing and... screechy way, you probably won't be much into it either.  But it was interesting.

All in all, this really is a classic.  5 out of 5, A+, whatever.  I'm not sure what else to say, watch it.

Seeing as this is an anime that is know to pretty much the entire world (there's a freaking Italian dub of it, damn), you should watch it even if you're not into anime or robots or whatever.  You'll learn something, I guarantee it.

When it comes to adaptations, they usually suck, but even so, you should probably consider watching at least the first season of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex anime, and you should defiantly read as much of the manga as your mind can stand.
I'm not aware or any other anime that contains both the same content and style, so you're out of luck, so just keep yourself occupied with the 2 other movies, the 2 anime series, and the 3 manga books until I get around to discovering something like it.

I haven't watched Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, but I keep hearing bad things about it, so you should either steer clear of it, or if you're going to watch it, keep your mind open and it might not be that bad.  I'll watch it as soon as I have the time... right after Naruto.

The Ghost in the Shell movie covers the main story in the Ghost in the Shell manga by the talented Masamune Shirow.
Personally, I liked the manga better for the art style, the presence of actual humor, and the more vibrant color, but I have to admit that the movie delivered the existential message in a more easily understandable way.

Download links... download links... don't have any.  Actually, I'm watching a copy that I (no WAY!) bought online.  The best that I can do is tell you is to check at MiniTheatre.
If you want to get the English dub as well, then check under the Dual Audio tab.

Coming up next!

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig!