Baldr Force EXE - 01

Technology has yet to reach the point where one can dive entirely into a virtual world, but we wish it had.  Thusly this makes for such a popular setting in the media, whether it revolves around machine overlords harvesting our bio-electricity (Matrix) or jumping into virtual robots.

Baldr Force EXE is set in the (possibly) near future wherein technology has allowed mankind to plug their brains directly into a computer.  This allows mankind to manage systems easier or just hang around with each other in a virtual world.  Of course, any time man creates great technology to further the world someone will try to use it for evil or profit.

Our "hero" Souma is a member of a gang of hackers, Steppen Wolf.  At least he was until they decided to hack the highly advanced virtual security company FLAK.  The plan apparently fell apart and while they were rushing to get out of the system, FLAK's virtual robots came to beat up their virtual robots.  In the process the current leader of the gang was killed in the virtual world which apparently leads to your head exploding in the real one.  In the first few minutes the episode are are several rather bloody displays of this fact.  Regardless the rest of the gang was arrested in the real world and due to serve serious time, but a hacker is a terrible thing to waste.

And lo, the anime memes begin to list off.  Firstly the main character is recruited by the very organization that wronged him, FLAK.  The team consists of the usual crew: a middle-age battle-hardened commander, a nerdy chick who runs the system letting them enter the virtual world, an unsociable robotic (in personality, not body) chick, a playboy, and a slutty chick.  Together they work to fend off hackers and keep the peace in virtual land.  And by fend off hackers, I mean get in virtual robots and shoot at the hackers' virtual robots.  This leads to Souma being a bit shocked as, again, when someone's virtual body gets destroyed, their head explodes in the real world.  To wrap all the common anime elements up, he then meets a little girl in the virtual world who calls him "Big Brother."  Granted this is not always meant in the literal sense in anime, but the episode ends with the "random mystery girl appears" cliffhanger.

Baldr Force is a typical story of a man seeking revenge.  It simply oozes with every anime stereotype imaginable that, while not that bad of a thing, makes it entirely predictable.  One can imagine that the random mystery girl is probably tied to saving Earth or some such.  Ignoring the generalities a moment, the show is very well set up.  Baldr Force involves a man with a clear mission who questions the way the world works and a crew consisting of all our beloved anime stereotypes.  I personally question the logic in plugging one's brain into a computer to hack something instead of just using the old-fashioned way.  This would involve much less risk of cranial explosion.

Check out some virtual robots and exploding heads on Funimation's Hulu account here.

Astro Boy (1980) - 01

What is a man to do when his beloved son steals his robot-car and dies tragically in an accident.  The only thing a mad scientist can do.....is rebuild him as a robot......with rocket feet.....and lasers.....from his rump.

Astro Boy is the classic tale in which the renowned scientist Dr. Tenma was too busy with work to have some time with his son Toby.  Toby then responds by stealing his car apparently.  Tenma's first reaction is rather hilarious: "Don't you know a young boy can't drive a robot car?!"  But the outcome of this act proves to be more dire as young Toby gets in a fatal accident.

Fortunately the robot he was working on was to be a boy robot for no reason other than the fact that this is a kid's show (hilarious instance of breaking the 4th wall).  Tenma decides to steal the robot and raise it as his son.  This robot was apparently originally a war machine of some sort that the Ministry of science wanted to make to be human-like, but their attempts thusfar had ended in failure.  Clearly making it a child with rocket feet and lasers from its fingers and rump was what they were missing.

Tenma proceeds to be rather fickle in his treatment of Toby the robot.  As a budding creature, the robot is,oddly enough, very childlike in its actions.  Slowly it is taught of the world around it and of its own massive power.  Tenma, at times, would be very fatherly and nurturing.  Yet, at other time, he would be rather angry at the young robot's lack of control over its massive strength and its tendency to break things.  Tenma would tend to take Toby back into his graces when he uses his powers to save lives, but his affection is too late by the end of the episode.

In Toby's wandering after being yelled at by his father, a deliciously evil man appears.  A tall man in a white suit and top hat takes advantage of the naive young robot and has him sign away his ownership.  With the young robot tired after a heroic scene to save people, the vile man drags him away to be in his robot circus.

Truly the classic renditions of shows surprise us at times.  Astro boy managed to have its own careful balance of comedy and serious situations.  Sometimes the comedy simply lies in how seriously they take certain rather silly situations.  Just remember never to let your young boy drive a robot car.

Take a look at the past's look at the future on Funimation's Hulu account here.

Romeo x Juliet - 01

For the avid anime viewer, a common thought comes to mind: "What would [insert literary work or film here] be like as an anime?"  Romeo x Juliet takes the classic work of Shakespeare and adds a floating city, a superhero clad in red, and dragon-pegasi.

This rendition begins on the floating city of Neo Verona.  Upon this island the Capulet family had ruled, but the Montague family assassinated these rulers and took control themselves.  The first scene shows the adorable young Juliet and her faithful servant witness the murder then escape due to the swift action of a guardsman of the family and his dragon-pegasus.  The Montague family then steps up to take control of the city and rule it with tyranny.  The nobles of the city sit fat in their houses while the people suffer.

The episode continues with an instance of the tyranny in effect as a young girl is being punished for a crime falsely accused.  Though the people deny the crime, a noble had decreed that she was the culprit and thusly the town guard was to enact her punishment.  Then, from nowhere, an individual clad in red cape and wide brimmed hat with a black mask appears and loudly denounces the act taking place.  After a bit of nonlethal swordplay and some comical escape routes, our hero is stopped by a broken bridge and nowhere to go but down.

Then rides in a gallant young noble on a dragon-pegasus that looks favorably on such heroic acts and comments on the slender frame of our crimson hero.  Soon we find this young lad to be Romeo, son of the current Montague in power whose mere visage oozes with evil tyrant.  The crimson hero we find out later (spoiler alert, but obvious from the opening) is none other than Juliet in disguise.  Though their passing is swift, both feel a draw to the other.

In classic Shakespearean style, a certain individual makes an appearance as the playwright of the troop that is hiding young Juliet.  In common anime style for eccentric characters, William the playwright is portrayed as a flamboyant man with more than a passing interest in those of his own gender.  This is either odd or poignant when he has such interest in Juliet, disguised as a man.

One more versed in the original works of Shakespeare may notice more of the artistic license taken and whether Romeo x Juliet properly conveys the same message, but on its own this show looks to be an interesting watch.  Dragon-pegasi and acrobatics aside, the story of the "star-crossed lovers" truly takes a fresh turn as Juliet sees the corruption of the city from below and Romeo sees it from within the system.  One can also applaud the bold reference to the author of the original text.  This tends to be easier when the original writer isn't around to step up about it.

Check out this reworking of Shakespeare's classic tale on Funimation's Hulu account here.

Beck - 01

There comes a time in every young man's life when he just can't take being the small, weak one anymore.  There comes a time when you need to grab your guitar, find a guy with long hair, and start a band.

Beck: Mongolian Chop Shop begins with the dreary life of young Tanaka Koyuki.  Koyuki is your standard wussy high school anime guy.  He's not too smart, he's not too strong, and his best friend is this really creepy-faced guy.  In regular style, he's childhood friends with the pretty, popular, kind girl whom he's too much of a wuss to ever ask out.  He's the type that gets dragged around by his friend's shenanigans and suffers the consequences of it.

Yet after getting beat up by thugs he can at least keep kids from bullying a dog.....a really weird dog.  Here we meet the long-haired punk owner of said dog, Ryusuke.  He seems to be a nice guy, but speaks somewhat brutish English.  Often the ability to speak another language defines a certain quality of a character in an anime.  At times this shows a character to be more cultured, but often speaking English in an anime is attributed to being a delinquent.  Considering his rather colorful use of the language later in the episode, the latter likely defines him.  To top it off, he belongs to a punk band.

Before long (again in classic anime style) a situation presents itself where beefier delinquents (clearly delinquents given they speak only English) harass Koyuki and friends.  Koyuki of course steps out of his wuss shoes and tries to tell the brutes to politely buzz off to little avail.  Ryusuke, of course, swoops in to save the day by luring the brutes into an alley to fight proper, then pulling out a gun and heavy amounts of expletives (in English) to try to scare them off.  Koyuki again tries to be a big man and go help Ryusuke only to find that he got pounded when the yankees (anime term for American-ish delinquents) discover the gun was a toy, but at least he tried.

One note this show suffers from is what the anime viewer refers to as Engrish.  The use of the English language makes a point but is performed somewhat awkwardly.  Granted, the original audience of this show (the Japanese) would likely not pick up on it being awkward English as well.  In addition, this is a foreign language to them so they have to speak slowly, clearly, simply, and loudly so that the Japanese viewer has time to translate it in their head.

For the start of a series this show is very stereotypically driven.  Boring guy with hot childhood friend meets interesting guy and then boring guy goes on to be less boring, theoretically.  This start of a show is just a bit too run-of-the-mill, but it does reinforce the fact that he's a boring guy.  If it weren't for the opening, one would never know from the first episode what the show is really going to be about.

The opening is rather spectacular though.  It truly gives you the feel of a garage band of misfits hitting the road to make a buck and play some tunes.  Whether you're a fan of the musical style or not, you ponder the possibilities of becoming a "hit in America" yourself (though this line has a bit more meaning to the normal viewer of this show in Japan).

If you long for the road to musical stardom, check out Beck on Funimation's youtube account here.

Sengoku Basara -01

Imagine, if you will, a battle crazy samurai in blue armor riding a horse with motorcycle handles. Then imagine him leaping off this horse, drawing his six katana, and lunging into battle against a dual trident wielder in red armor who shoots fire.  Then imagine that these are just two of the main characters.

Sengoku Basara is an anime set in the period of Japanese history defined by massive conflict between samurai warlords.  Classically this is done between massive armies masterfully positioned by expert strategists, but sometimes anime and video game titles will jazz it up a bit with over-the-top generals wielding crazy weapons and explosive power.

Sengoku Basara is no slouch in this area with a plethora of peculiar and powerful looking generals and warriors.  From the effeminate swordsman, to the giant axeman, to the scantily clad female ninja, this anime covers the rainbow of feudal era anime warrior archetypes.  Even Nobunaga, classically depicted as a demonic general that everyone inevitably fights against, appears as a...demonic general that everyone eventually fights against.

The action is just as surreal as blue samurai and red samurai literally fly around, strike each other faster than the human eye can see, then cause giant blue and red explosions.  In the first episode, one of their clashes of power causes an explosion that produces a mushroom cloud that conflicting armies a mile away could see.

While the story likely loosely (and I mean very loosely) follows the historical sets of conflicts, one really doesn't care much.  If you like swords, explosions, and the occasional really weird set of armor, then Sengoku Basara deserves a look.

Check it out on FUNimation's youtube account here.