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- BirthdayDec 15, 1984
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Apr 8, 2008
SDF Macross definitely falls into the catagory of Classic Anime; at the time it was made it was groundbreaking, refreshing and exciting.
After all these years it has lost little of its excitement and appeal, and its place in the history of anime is well earned.
The story took time to get moving but was actually rather intriguing once it got going, revealing itself to be more than just humans-kill-aliens-and-vice-versa and giving a fresh look at some of the things that we might perhaps take for granted within our own lives - even today more than 20 years later.
The art, however, has naturally suffered with the times
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and the advancement of technology and animation techniques: this, however, detracts little from the overall viewing experience.
The vast majority of the characters were enjoyable to watch and very likeable, with one or two exceptions. I found Lynn Minmay and Lynn Kaifun in particular most irritating, especially the former and her seeming inability to appear on screen without singing one of her mostly cringe-inducing songs that sadly get stuck in your head (the less said about "My boyfriend is a pilot" the better). The overall score of the show was fairly sound; it was just the overplugging of these songs that let it down.
The climax that came two thirds of the way through the show was a most memorable experience, and the show could easily have ended there, but instead continued on for another dozen episodes or so. This was not in itself a bad thing, as it allowed for a closer look at the personal lives of some of the characters, as well as some reasonably interesting theories about what might occur in the wake of the aforementioned "climax" (no spoilers here ;)
However, it meant that the actual ending of the series feels very rushed. It could have done with running for longer (which I believe it could have done comfortably, plot-wise at least) and tying up more of the loose ends.
On the whole, though, this anime has much to offer, not only being one of the first big mecha animes, paving the way for so many many more, but also through having a good solid story in its own right.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 3, 2008
For someone like me that has never played the games before, a lot of this anime's references will be utterly lost, however that doesn't stop it from being a fun and enjoyable anime in its own right.
The story is midly confusing (probably attributable to the short lenght and its links to the games) and moves quite quickly in places which certainly doesn't help those with no game knowledge, but that doesn't really detract from the overall experience.
This OVA is pretty much carried by its characters, which were interesting, varied and utterly insane: from a block-headed protagonist (who nevertheless remains endearing, despite his occasional displays of
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stupidity); S and M pirates (terrifyingly hilarious); the nose hair guy (also terriyingly hilarious, especially when the romance starts).
If you've played the games or know much about Final Fantasy in general, you will probably watch it with different eyes, but for a novice like me, I found this a thoroughly rib-tickling (for those who've seen it, pun intended) little series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 2, 2008
This show had a lot going for it: good clean animation, a range of interesting-looking characters, a reasonable story line...and dragons (because we all love dragons...well, I do)
The problems arise because all, or at least most, of this potential disappears due to a lack of following through.
The characters reveal themselves to be pretty detestable. I said they were interesting-looking, but once they started opening their mouths, well, that's a different matter. The only ones I didn't hate or at least dislike were the ones that never really had enough airtime for me to build up a dislike for them. They were mostly flat and underdeveloped
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and just plain irritating, although nowhere near as irritating as the protagonists, who just seemed to be very very stupid. Jin and Toa couldn't see beyond how besotted they were with each other (which got really boring really fast), Kazuki couldn't get over his personal (and somewhat jarringly over-the-top) vendetta against Jin, and Gio took most of the series to figure out that three really does make a crowd (admittedly when realisation did eventually dawn on him he proceeded to instigate the highlight of the series by: blowing stuff up - lots of stuff.)
The animation was the other thing that really annoyed me. It was fine, there were no real problems with it - until the CG dragons came along (the CG looked very out of place amongst the otherwise perfectly fine artwork), closely followed by massively over-endowed ladies (as in serious spinal injury type bosoms).
The only thing that stood out for me above the rest was the music. It was a little generic, but I still enjoyed some of the themes.
Overall it was a bit disappointing to say the least, but if you happen to want to watch something with the single intent of picking holes in it and laughing at it, then this is right up your street.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 28, 2008
On the surface, Mai-HiME could have ended up like any other generic Mahou Shoujo anime, but it manages to create a story and a set of characters that holds your interest with style and a subtly powerful emotional message.
As the story unfolds at the start of the series, the story moves slowly and perhaps a little predictably, with the HiME being revealed and gathered, but there is always an air of uncertainty beneath it that piques your curiosity and makes you want to watch further.
And as the series progresses, you begin to see why you watched further, as the plot begins its rapid spiral into
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almost uncontrolled despair, with such a level of emotional anguish and turmoil that can only be described as painfully beautiful. At its roots the story is actually very simple: there is much pain in the world, but love is good. But the incredibly vivid way in which the series does it makes the sentiment far more tangible than mere words, and you experience a small glimpse of the many and varied emotions and sufferings of the characters, who are themselves very easy to relate to.
The cast is well-rounded and very secure in that all of the characters fulfill there own specific role without becoming irritating - even those characters that could be described as "the bad guys" always give you some small way in which to empathise with them. And with such a large cast (noteably one that never becomes overcrowded, despite the large number of important characters) there is always someone that you can see a bit of yourself it, be it in a friendship or a mannerism or a belief. The characters are, in this way, very real and very endearing.
As has already been mentioned, there is a focus throughout on emotions, and the score by Kajiura Yuki assists with the portrayal outstandingly, from the depths of the sorrows; to the terrifying angers; to the gentle power of the friendships and the loves; even to the quiet excitement of the battles. The heart-rending cello cues in particular are played with such passion and sensitivity as to induce tears in even the driest of eyes. (I got quite choked up over this anime, and I'm not ashamed to admit it ;)
Overall, there is so much to recommend this series. There are moments of light-hearted friendship that contrast perfectly with the overwhelming gravity of the fate of the HiME. It is a very well-rounded and complete series that deserves all the adulation it receives.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 26, 2007
Story: The main premise is that the protagonist (that's the one who gets the least screen time out of all of the characters) has a phobia of women and he breaks out in hives when he's touched by one. This premise is pretty much ignored throughout the anime. Yes, when he is touched by another girl, he breaks out in hives, but apart from that, nobody really pays much attention to him or his condition.
Art: This was fine overall. The only thing I didn't like was that for some reason (could just be the version I watched, not sure) the blood (as in nosebleeds) was
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brown.
Sound: Again, this was fine.
Characters: Two words - obnoxious and irritating. The protagonist was rarely seen/heard, the only other male character was a persistant pervert (persistant to the point of annoying) and the myriad of attractive bishoujo that flocked around him had severe personality problems, such as: defining anything and everything as "edible"; requiring anger management for overly violent tendancies; being the most selfish/spoilt brat ever invented. The most endearing character was the...thing (don't really know what it was) that they called Shrimpy.
Overall Enjoyment: If you like bishoujo and don't really care about anything else, you'll like this. If you want something with more depth (bishoujo and depth can go together, ie Maburaho and others) then look elsewhere.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Nov 20, 2007
I was expecting quite a lot from this anime, and I didn't get it. The characters are attractive, the story sounded interesting enough on paper, but it just lacked style. Some of the scripting is so forced and unrealistic that it just makes you squirm with embarrassment. And the fight scenes...erm...they got glossed over. The scenarios and the plot were far too "convenient", pushing the bishounen characters into situations where they could touch each other endearingly (aka inappropriately, yahoo!) and struggle with their inner most feelings (aka lots of angst).
Saint Best is a bishounen-fest. There isn't really much else to recommend it. There are only
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( I think) 2 female characters in it; a goddess who seems to need her strapping lads to do everything for her and a midget angel that bounces about thinking she's being very cute (aka putting "dechu" on the end of every sentence - argh!)
If you're happy with just looking at the characters (lets be fair, they do look nice) then go for it, but I recommend turning off the audio and subs, because otherwise you'll spend a lot of time cringing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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