Seirei no Moribito - Guardian of the Sacred Spirit

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Original release by Anime-Kraze
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Seirei no Moribito takes place in a country resembling ancient korea or china, ruled by an benevolent emperor (as far as ancient emperors go). Balsa - a highly capable spear wielding warrioress - witnessed how the emperor's youngest son fell from a bridge into a raging river and jumped in to save him. Just when it seemed that they would both be crushed by floating debris, a mysterious force surrounds her and the prince, preventing them from being crushed. Whatever this force is, the astrologer-historians of the imperial court determine, that this force comes from a spirit inside the prince and will destroy the empire, unless killed itself. Thus the benevolent emperor orders to have his son killed (but he feels bad about it) while Balsa is hired by the empress to protect his life.

This is a pseudo-earth fantasy series , although without elves, orcs and similar. It features spirits and shamans and "the other world" though, paying homage to asian folklore. Despite the mystical elements, the action moves along pretty realistical lines. The protagonists are human and the combat is within human levels, meaning there are no special moves or other superhuman feats with the exception of some displays of shamanic magic. But despite that, the action scenes are highly captivating due to the smooth animation and convincing choreography.

The characters themselves are detailed, convincing and grow as the story progresses. The character design is a bit unusual for this kind of story, but it's a good thing, really. E.g. Balsa is a beautiful but muscular and battle-scarred woman in her late twenties - as opposed to the usual 16 year old warrior schoolgirls that seem so popular in shonen type animes. Chagum - the young prince - is used to a spoiled palace life, but he is neither arrogant, demeaning nor imperious - he's rather lost without his mama. Neither are the "bad guys" simply evil - but that is nearly a standard feature of many animes.

The visual art is beautiful and detailed, making a feast for the eyes at times. Trees inside a forest, little cracks in cliff walls, dust whirled up by galloping horses - you can see the effort the studio made in creating this. The music accompanies the series well but doesn't stand out, producing no memorable songs.

Sex&Violence: Pornwise, no sane person should be able to find anything objectionable. There are plenty of battles and even though Balsa takes great efforts to not kill anyone, the same doesn't apply to others. Even so, every battle is firmly embedded in the story and not just inside for the sake of action.

Conclusion: Great anime with a captivating story, a couple of plot twists and solid action. It's a bit toned down when compared to your usual action flicks and it probably appeals more to an elder audience - or a more demanding one. If you prefer romance to panty shots and martial arts to big fucking fireballs, then you have found the right series. Highly recommended !

Vexille 2077

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Original release: Dodgy
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Vexille 2077 is a CGI science fiction anime of the pessimistic kind. Japan has decided to isolate iself from the world - again - because of disputes over the ethics behind several applications of robotic technology (and probably even more disputes over whale hunting for scientific research). Because Japan didn't want to let ethics stop them from doing what they want - again - they terminated foreign relations and built electronic countermeasures that prevents all kinds of surveilance, barring even satellites from peeking inside.

A hi-tec special-ops called S.W.O.R.D. launches a strike team on behalf of the US government to infiltrate fortress japan because of very well-grounded suspicions, that Japan's secret technologic advances will pose a threat to the world very soon. One of the special agents is a woman named Vexille, which explains the name of the movie - however, no explanation for name of the woman is given, so I'm left to assume that the authors named her for the sound of it, or that the french translation "flag" has a deeper meaning.

Anyway, the movie starts with solid action, moves on into a dystopian nightmare and finishes with more action and a finale that should give japanese the creeps. The art is an eyecatcher, the robots and battlesuits look really good, the battles are nicely done and show off the advantages of CGI animes. The characters are a bit flat but the story is a new twist to an often told story.

Sex & Violence: Plenty of violence but no naughtyness I can remember. The total bodycount effectively reaches millions and the background story is fit to cause depressions. Kinda like Matrix without the funny stuff and the cool characters.

Conclusion: Nice action flick, not more - not less. Entertaining and thrilling and visually astounding.

Moyashimon

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Original release by BSS
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Another campus comedy, only this time it's not about beautiful music but yucky bacteria. Sawaki is a first year student at an agricultural university on the outskirts of Tokyo, who has a unique ability: He can see microbes with his bare eyes. It's not a mutant power great enough to scare Magneto, but it's valuable nonetheless, something his sempai Hasegawa - a hot goth babe (not loli goth) - readily points out by comparing him to a high-tech electron microscope.

Speaking of hot babes, there are two more female main characters: Aoi, unofficial "Miss Agriculture" and UFO-believer, and Hazuki, a freshman obsessed with cleanliness who tends to receive amourus treatments from directions she doesn't expect. Add somophores obsessed with sake-brewing, loli-goth crossdressers and a professor that enjoys fermented food that reeks worse than rotten cadavers (actually, he even eats those) and you're set up for a truly wacky series. It's a shame it's only 11 episodes long.


You'll also be confronted with lots of microbes of the talking kind. Don't expect them to look like real microbes, though. The things are constantly used to explain all kinds of biological processes - and I admit these weird lessons tend to stick. But I somehow doubt that these easy-to-understand explanations will be included in the latest batch of teaching materials - although with japanese you never know ...

Sex&Violence: Implied, but not shown. No pantyshots or other fanservice apart from the aftermath of a bed scene. You'll also get a good share of implied homosexuality, so everyone can get their fill.
No violent violence - in fact it's even less violent than Nodame Cantabile since no one is beating up girls for laughs.

Conclusion: Funny and lighthearted. I really enjoyed it (just like the creator of Nodame Cantabile, since she drew the moyashimon microbes into a panel of her manga to illustrate how contaminated Nodame's room can get). Recommended if you like it funny.

Nodame Cantabile

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Original Release by Froth-Bite, Kanjisub
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Megumi Noda - "Nodame" - is a gifted but rather unorthodox piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. She plays by ear rather than by the score and her mood influences her music strongly. She is messy to the point that fungi grow in her appartment, sucks at cooking but excels at eating. She also has a unique way of speaking - or rather exclaiming - ranging from "Gyabo" over "Pugya" to "Mukyo" and other noises I don't understand. In short, she's weird, but funny.

Her love interest, Shinichi Chiaki, is quite the opposite but equally talented. A top student from a rich family, strict, organized, a master on the piano and the violin, but aiming at becoming a conductor. He also lives in the appartment right next to Nodame, allowing the quirky love story to unfold.

Now, the series could have taken the easy way out, concentrating on the romance and letting the setting provide a background for the story. However, the story nearly takes second place to the true star and protagonist of this show: The Music !

Sometimes the music plays in the background, sometimes it's performed by the characters and sometimes the music is the center of attention, merely accompanied by animated pictures that enhance the audio experience.

I mentioned the good music that came with the "Victorian Romance - Emma" series and it's true, it has some beautiful songs. But with Nodame we are not talking about Songs ... we are talking about true masterpieces. Classical music that counts among the greatest achievements of mankind, performed by excellent soloists and orchestras and recorded in high quality.

Yes, I know, many people find classical music boring (unless it's from a Hollywood movie). And it's true that many pieces are not very memorable, unlike modern songs, which usually focus on one single melody. Classical music is at times hard to ... let's say understand. But this series does it's best to provide everything needed to understand and it manages to bind your attention to a single musical piece for an unusual long amount of time by making the music an important part of the story.

This anime will make you enjoy classical music even beyond the series. And even if it doesn't, you're still left with a funny story of two young people finding each other - even if one desperately tries to avoid his fate. The main characters are detailed, likable and grow noticeably over the episodes. The same is true for the support cast, although the complete lack of true antagonists creates a rather relaxed atmosphere.

Sex&Violence: Nothing objectionable apart from the rather ungentlemanly behaviour Chiaki displays towards Nodame. On the other hand, Nodame doesn't act very ladylike either ... she's rather childlike at times and we all know that children need a good spanking. ^_^


Conclusion: Highly valuable from a pedagogical and cultural point of view. Also highly entertaining of you don't mind the lack of giant robots or half-naked swordswomen. If you're undecided, then I strongly recommend you view at least the first episode, because it's a perfect sample of what awaits you for the rest of the season.

PS: This series probably has the highest amount of OSTs for 23 episodes ever. You will have no problems getting all the music you liked in the series.