ANIME

School Rumble vol. 6, Glass Fleet vol. 5, Wizards anime reviews

I just received another big batch of titles (Shuffle, Black Blood Bros, and more), so I’ll just take care of some of my pending reviews in one fell swoop. I’ll be back with a full review of Glass Fleet vol 6 in the coming weeks. On to the reviews.

School Rumble vol. 6
After seeing the incredibly funny vol. 5, you could say I was looking forward to seeing the final disc of School Rumble. In fact, I did a little digging to get a little more info regarding the characters’ respective back-stories, as well as differences between the show and the manga from which it draws its inspiration. However, what I read online made me a bit concerned. From what I could discern, the manga series is still ongoing, so an anime series that finished a few years back would obviously have a hard time tying up all the narrative loose ends. And that’s exactly the problem with this final volume. About two episodes in, the show just goes into fake-out mode, with multi-layered dream sequences, parodies, alien invasions, and other lengthy diversions. It’s as if the writers knew they couldn’t come up with a satisfactory ending, and didn’t even bother to try. As such, the episodes kind of wear on the nerves. Furthermore, some of the characters that were tolerable on the previous disc, become downright annoying here. I kept hoping Harima would wake up and notice how much more interesting Yakumo was than her idiot sister Tenma… But yes, I was introduced to the series very late in the game, and some of my reactions may not match up with those who have following the series from the start. I was just made aware of the School Rumble Extra Class DVD, coming out in the next few months, and it looks like the gonzo-crazy will continue there as well. As it is, I can’t really recommend this disc to anyone other than existing School Rumble fans.

Glass Fleet vol. 5
This show seems to be pretty divisive. You either love it or hate it – nothing in-between. You probably know from my review of Glass Fleet vol. 4 that I was pretty impressed with what I saw. A bit pretentious, but nonetheless intelligent, fun, and interesting. And with disc five, I can safely say I’m completely digging this show. Picking up from where volume 4 left off, this disc sees Cleo and crew battling Vetti’s army, making their way to B.B.’s home planet, pondering the possibility of an alliance with Vetti himself (in order to battle Pope Gorna, naturally), and exploring a bit of Elmer’s backstory. The setups and intrigue may seem complicated at first, but they’re easy to follow if you give them a chance. There’s loads of swashbuckling action to be seen, primary team members are lost to the fray, and more secrets about the church’s rise to power are revealed. Good stuff. Glass Fleet may not be for everyone, but at least it doesn’t insult your intelligence. An awesome show for those who demand more from animation than just shrieking girls, fan-service, and ultra violence.

Wizards
Okay, so this isn’t anime, but I picked it up on sale at Fry’s the other weekend. I rember watching Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards back when I was a kid, and not thinking too much of it at the time. Now…it’s still pretty boring. The story is uninspired and borderline stupid, the voice acting for the most part grating. But there are some awesome low-tech animation techniques at work. For example, Bakshi’s usual rotoscoped battles, crazy mixing of styles, and some cool layerings of traditional film and cell animation. But aside from an academic animation appreciation, there’s little to be seen here. In fact, the $5.00 I paid for my copy might actually have been too much. See it in order to see just how far animation has come since the 1970’s.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been an off and on anime fan since the days of Streamline Pictures. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

Tags: Action, ANIME, Comedy, crazy, epic, glass fleet, school rumble