Anime

Appleseed

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  • Title: Appleseed
  • IMDB: link

Deunan Knute, the main character of Appleseed, has had a less-than-normal life.  As a legendary female soldier, and survivor of the Third World War, you could say she is something close to badass.  She is the main reason that I enjoyed this anime, not for the twist, or the CG animation, but for the hardcore female badass.  Usually with anime there is the alpha male and the weakling little girl who screams, cries and flashes her panties.  Now, not all are like that, Noir is about two badass girls, Aeon Flux has another badass lady, but for some reason I could never get through Noir’s entire series box.  As for Aeon Flux, I just could not stand the dreadful artwork, sorry to say, but it sucks.

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A Tree of Palme

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  • Title: Parumu no Ki
  • IMDB: link

A Tree of Palme is basically a futuristic Pinocchio tale.  Just like the Disney movie, a small wooden puppet with the name of Palme ventures out into the world to become more humanly.

Palme was originally created to care for the creator’s ailing wife Xian.  When a mysterious woman named Koram, who turns out to be a ghost, gives him the Egg of Touto he vows to protect it.  Koram entrusts little Palme with a big mission to deliver the egg to Tama, the world below.

After attempting to pay attention for 30 minutes I ended up shutting it off.  It moved too slow for me, and it was just too weird.  I was hoping when I picked this one out that it would be good, but I couldn’t even watch it.  The story may have been too slow and too dry for me, but the animation is beautiful.  So sorry for the insanely short review this time, hopefully next week I’ll pick out a good movie or series that I will actually pay attention to.  The one star is for the sheer beauty in the animation by the way.

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Porco Rosso

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  • Title: Porco Rosso
  • IMDB: link

Who said pigs can’t fly?  Porco Rosso is about a guy who was once a WWI ace fighter pilot that is now cursed to have the face of a pig for the rest of his life.  Porco, also known as Marco, began his life as a handsome fighter pilot for the Italian Air Force.

When he and his comrades were flying through enemy territory, they found themselves in the midst of a battle.  Fighter planes flying everywhere, shooting left and right and everyone except Porco was gunned down.  Porco was struck down but when he awoke, he found his plane flying by itself.  The plane rose up through the clouds to reveal a white band of planes overhead.  The planes were fallen seaplane pilots on their way to heaven.  When Porco looked to the side of him, he noticed his good friend Bellini and he called out to him but was unheard.  Bellini had just married a girl named Gina before they left for the war, and when he was flying up towards the band of pilots Porco told him that he can’t leave her alone.  After that point, he began flying for himself.  He took his seaplane and left.

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Tokyo Godfathers

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  • Title: Tokyo Godfathers
  • IMDB: link

It’s funny how a child can bring people closer together, and pull them from the depths of desperation.  In the movie Tokyo Godfathers, by the same person of Paprika and Millennium Actress, three homeless friends happen to be in the right place at the right time.

One Christmas eve, the three friends were digging through some trash for presents for one another when they discovered an abandoned infant.  The child was crying, cold and hungry, so the three did the right thing and took it in for the night.

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Blood: The Last Vampire

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Have you ever watched something and it left you wanting more?  Well, Blood: The Last Vampire did that to me in the worst sort of way.  This anime starts off with a pretty decent beginning full of suspense and sword slinging action ending with pools of blood.

Blood: The Last Vampire
2 Stars

Have you ever watched something and it left you wanting more?  Well, Blood: The Last Vampire did that to me in the worst sort of way.  This anime starts off with a pretty decent beginning full of suspense and sword slinging action ending with pools of blood.

With a main character like Saya, not much can happen in the story that she does not already know or will not take care of.  Saya reminds me of another character named Balsa from Guardian of the Sacred Spirit, an anime I reviewed a few months back.  Coincidentally, Blood: The Last Vampire and Guardian of the Sacred Spirit are linked by Kenji Kamiyama, he wrote B: TLV and directed GotSS.  Saya is another one of those girl power characters, but her lack of friendly speech makes her less like the other weaker Japanese school girl personas, who basically only exist for comic relief.  Saya is part of a secretive government branch that tracks and destroys these monsters they refer to as Chiropteras.  For those who haven’t seen Blood+, read Jeff’s review or watched this movie before, Chiropteras are demons that feed off human blood.

 

After you get the gist of what the movie is in the first 5 minutes, it delves into the story and does not stop the action until the end.  Forty minutes of watching Saya track and attack more Chiropteras, the movie is over.  Granted the entire film is only 45 or so minutes, but I didn’t think it would be a wham-bam thank you ma’am sort of thing.  I mean I feel like I just had a good first date with an awesome guy and he decided not to call or text the next day.  Awfully disappointing, even with its beautiful animation.  I clearly could have spent my hour more wisely by heading to the mall and throwing away a few hundred dollars on some much needed shopping, but that wouldn’t have geared me up to watch the series.  Now, Blood+ has already been reviewed, so go check that out here.

My apologies for the extremely short review this time around, but there wasn’t much to rave about, or rant for that matter.

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