Wednesday 30 December 2015

1000 Anime Crossover: Catching Up With 2015 Reviews

With 2015 nearing its end, this will be the last post for the year for the blog, covering everything I've reviewed so far on my other blog 1000 Anime which hasn't been linked to or rated by the system on this site already. From now on, these 1000 Anime review tie-ins will be monthly and will combine all the anime reviews from that month into one tidy block.

From https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/
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#12: Lensman (1984)
Directors: Kazuyuki Hirokawa and Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Screenplay: Soji Yoshikawa
Voice Cast: Toshio Furukawa/Kerrigan Mahan (as Kimball Kinnison); Chikao Ohtsuka/Michael McConnohie (as Peter vanBuskirk); Katsuya Kobayashi/Gregory Snegoff (as DJ Bill); Mami Koyama/Edie Mirman (as Clarissa MacDougal); Nachi Nozawa/Steve Kramer (as Worsel); Seizo Katou/Tom Wyner (as Lord Helmuth)

Abstract Spectrum: None
Abstract Rating (High/Medium/Low/None): None

An incredibly weird debut in hindsight for Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Known for his realistic character designs, dark and moody atmosphere, and lashings of violence and sex in his cinematic work, this drastically contradicts with the perceived viewpoint of him, an adaptation of a popular Western sci-fi novel series turned into a Star Wars rip-off. Even if he's made anime that goes against his public image, this is very alien and belongs to a period before Akira (1988) burst internationally that'll be disarming for some anime fans, lengthy and sometimes expansive animated blockbusters from a period in the early and mid-eighties that is different from anything made after Akira. Barring some trippy three dimensional animation from early eighties computers, Lensman is very un-abstract. It's certainly not the LSD dream that the theatrical Space Adventure Cobra film made two years earlier was.

Personal Opinion:
For my full viewing, follow the link HERE.

From https://asianflixs.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/roujin-z-screenshot.png
#13: Roujin Z (1991)
Director: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Screenplay: Katsuhiro Otomo
Voice Cast: Chisa Yokoyama (as Haruko Mitsuhashi); Shinji Ogawa (as Takashi Terada); Chie Satō (as Nobuko Ohe); Kōji Tsujitani (as Mitsuru Maeda); Hikojiro Matsumura (as Kijuro Takazawa)

Abstract Spectrum: None
Abstract Rating (High/Medium/Low/None): None

Growing into a personal favourite of mine, Roujin Z is also a very underrated nineties anime. It's not however abstract in the slightest despite its unconventional narrative, about an elderly man being a guinea pig for a nuclear powered care bed that goes amuck. Wacky with a heart to it is an appropriate description of the feature film instead.

Personal Opinion:
For my full viewing, follow the link HERE.

From https://avvesione.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/gatchaman_crowds-01-
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#14: Gatchaman Crowds (2013)
Director: Kenji Nakamura
Screenplay: Kenji Sugihara, Shinsuke Onishi and Toshiya Ono
Voice Cast: Maaya Uchida (as Hajime Ichinose); Daisuke Namikawa (as Jō Hibiki); Ryota Ohsaka (as Sugune Tachibana); Aya Hirano (as Paiman); Ayumu Murase (as Rui Ninomiya); Daisuke Hosomi (as O.D); Kotori Koiwai (as Utsu-tsu); Mamoru Miyano (as Berg Katze)

Abstract Spectrum: Pulp/Weird
Abstract Rating (High/Medium/Low/None): None

A drastic reinterpretation of the famous Gatchaman franchise, this urban set series which is as obsessed with the effect the interweb has on people as it is heroes fighting bad guys has a very deliberate, bright tone that's different for other anime, a fun series with some very intelligent ideas casually thrown at the viewer with greater subtlety that other works. It's a pretty straightforward story for its twelve episodes however. The really interesting prospect is if I see  director Kenji Nakamura's previous 2007 series Mononoke, a period set occult and horror themed work that has been described as having very unconventional (and beautiful) animation and at least one story within its various ones that's incredibly weird. A further tantalising prospect is that the anime and live action screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka, an auteurist voice known for very unconventional gems like Serial Experiments Lain (1998) and Malice@Doll (2001), wrote some of the scripts, which gives the series a huge chance of getting on the Abstract List knowing of his writing trademarks.

Personal Opinion:
For my full viewing, follow the link HERE

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