Anime Worth Missing
Most of my anime reviews are positive. This is not because I'm a generous critic -- I'm not -- but because I research any title that looks interesting before I order or borrow it. Now that I have some knowledge of the field and have found a few reliable critics, what I select to watch is usually at least good. Nevertheless, I occasionally find a stinker. Here are some titles to avoid.
Devil Hunter Yohko
The Complete Collection, Vol. 1
Three episodes on two discs
When she's about to turn sixteen, Yohko learns that her destiny is to be the 108th devil hunter in her family, succeeding her grandmother. However, she must remain chaste until she comes into her power on her birthday. Of course the forces of evil tempt her to lose her virginity prematurely, and they very nearly succeed. Yohko subsequently acquires a manager and a sidekick as she battles more evil spirits.
The first episode of Devil Hunter Yohko is one step from hentai and I do not recommend it at all. The two following episodes are much less offensive. They are a sort of comic mahou shoujo version of Vampire Princess Miyu and are mildly entertaining, but not enough so to compensate for the first episode. While they are nowhere near as pornographic as the first episode, nevertheless in battle Yohko's costume is often slashed in curious ways.
If you want a magical girl comedy, watch Jubei-Chan; if you want a creepy story, watch Miyu. If it's fan service you're after, there are many better sources. Don't waste your time on Yohko.
It's a shame that the series' creators focused on the adolescent Yohko. Her motorcycle-riding grandmother reminds me of Pansy Yokum, and a series based on her could have been fun.
FLCL
Six episodes on three discs. Viewed: two episodes
A pink-haired woman whacks adolescent Naota over his head with her Rickenbacker bass. Subsequently, giant robots emerge from his forehead. Lots of other stuff happens; it's all rather surreal. People who have seen the whole thing say that there is in fact a story that sorta makes sense; I'm content to take their word for it. FLCL is of some interest as an experiment in computer-based animation, but inventive though it is, all the novelties get tedious without a solid story. (If you are curious about the art, download Shameless Rock Video, which uses FLCL as its video source. (There are innumerable AMVs based on FLCL, but this one has music by Deep Purple, who are far better than The Pillows.)) It doesn't help that the second episode employs Christian imagery for no obvious reason; it's not so much blasphemous as just pointless. FLCL frequently gets very high scores at anime review sites, but there's more flash than substance to it.
Prince or princess?
Heroic Legend of Arslan
240 minutes on two discs
This is one big, disorganized, unfinished mess. An epic set in a fictional version of ancient Persia, it begins with two movies in wide-screen format, continues as lower-budget 4:3 OVAs, and stops at the half-way point. The kingdom of Pars has been conquered by a neighboring kingdom, and young Prince Arislan -- or is it Arslan? -- assembles a band of allies to recapture his homeland. The pity is that this could have been a very good series, but it was crippled by uninspired writing and inconsistent production, and it was never finished. (You can find synopses of the Arslan manga here, which does tell a complete story.) The version I watched was dub-only, which starts mediocre and gets worse; possibly the subtitled version is better. As it stands, I can recommend it only to cosplayers who are looking for an excuse to dress in silks and jewels.
(The picture above is ancillary art and is not from the anime itself. The guys are all that pretty, though.)
His and Her Circumstances
26 episodes on five discs. Viewed: six episodes
After he was through with Evangelion, Hideaki Anno started this story of two neurotic high school overachievers who fall in love. About half-way through he abandoned the project, which was continued by others and allegedly features numerous recap episodes and a classic Gainax non-ending. Based on the reviews I'd read, I was expecting anime as Woody Allen would have done it; what I found was too much angst and not enough wit (perhaps it is like Woody Allen, after all). I did time at three different high schools, but I never met anyone like any of the characters here. It is worth watching an episode or two of His and Her Circumstances to see how it is possible to make an anime without an animation budget, but otherwise I can't recommend it.
Nazca
Thirteen episodes on four discs. Viewed: seven episodes
Kyoji discovers that he is the reincarnation of an Inca warrior. His teacher Tate also is an Inca warrior; in fact, virtually everybody Kyoji knows in modern Japan is a reincarnated Inca. Tate wants to cleanse the earth of all its corruption using some mysical Inca power, or something like that, and Kyoji must stop him. Perhaps the connection between the Incas and modern Japan is explained in a later episode, along with why the cultured and considerate Tate now wants to destroy the world, but what I've seen of the story doesn't make much sense. Nor do the costumes -- when did the Incas discover spandex? The plodding pace doesn't help.
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Text copyright © 2005 by Don McClane
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