[Anime Review] Antique Bakery (2011)

After watching the Korean movie, Antique Bakery, I watched the anime series of the same title to see how it compares. Overall, it's pretty good. The movie and the anime series follow the same storyline pretty closely and are almost identical to one another. The additional hour of watch time that the anime gives you allows viewers to enjoy some additional story fillers that are pretty amusing. I found that the anime series was funnier for some reason (loved the exaggerated facial expressions). I especially enjoyed Chikage's character in the anime series. However, the Korean versions of the other characters were more enjoyable for me. While the anime series is nearly as good, I liked the Korean movie version just a little bit more.

[Anime Review] Brave 10 (2012)

A super cranky ninja named Saizo finds himself unwillingly saving a priestess named Isanami. Isanami's home, the Izumo temple, had been brutally burned and she is the only survivor. She manages to bribe Saizo with food into escorting her to Shinshuu to enlist the aid of laidback, playboy lord, Sanada Yukimura. While Yukimura allows Isanami (and Saizo) to stay, he has his own agenda. He is in the process of gathering his brave ten warriors who will help him take over the world. Mwahahahaha!Just kidding (kind of). They're not really the bad guys. Instead, the ten warriors will discover why the Izumo temple (and Isanami in particular) were targeted by the Leyasu's forces and make sure she doesn't end up in their hands. Or dead.

This is a quality, action/adventure anime. The fighting is totally kick-ass and there's a ton of great eye-candy as can be expected in a series like this. There's even yaoi fanservice! Also, the warriors are a fun, interesting bunch of nutjobs and you can't help but fall in love with them. Even Isanami, who is weak, useless, and a big 'ole whiner, eventually grew on me. The OST's are pretty catchy and I found myself actually listening to the beginning and ending songs for almost each episode.

However, just as the story was getting good and you were sucked completely in...the series ended! That's the problem with these super short, 12-episode anime; there isn't enough time for the story to develop properly. Just gathering the 10 warriors took 9-10 episodes and THEN the story began. So the last episode felt incredibly rushed. The very ending, after the credits, was cute and highlighted each of the warriors' personalities. Viewers ended the series filled with affection for the Brave 10 and smiling. Also, there was a lot of room left for a possibly sequel. We can only hope.

Brave 10 has everything one looks for in an action anime: interesting and amusing characters, exciting fight scenes, a solid plot, and humor. It just didn't have enough episodes to carry it all out. It is definitely worth watching anyway. You can check it out at Crunchyroll.com.

[Anime] Kids on the Slope

Slice of Life/ Music

12 Episodes - Summer 2012

Synopsis:  

The story of Kids on the Slope really starts rolling when the classical piano-trained Kaoru encounters Sentaro and falls head-over-heels in love with jazz. One thing to look out for is the performance scene of an excellent jazz piece in every episode. Up-and-coming young jazz musicians are employed here, with Takashi Matsunaga (Kaoru) on piano and Shun Ishiwaka (Sentaro) on drums. Yoko Kanno produces the sessions, which are then used directly for the anime. Jazz standards like “Moanin’”, “My Favorite Things”, and “Someday My Prince Will Come” are played along with improvisational performances that reflect the mood of the characters at the time, whether they’re in high spirits, or feel lonely, confused, angry, and so on. How these occasional performances and feelings are portrayed and directed is one more highlight of the show. Director Watanabe’s “sessions” are a mix of images and music, so innovative and exciting visual expressions should be expected.

Click below for my review. May contain spoilers, so proceed with caution.