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News Report Archive - February 2010 |  |
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News Report Archive - February 2010 | |
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Dating game adaptations can be excruciating. Most of them have weak male leads -- a stand-in for the player -- and stereotypical girls to stalk. Not much promise, right? Air: The Movie shows its roots in its predictable plot, but surprisingly, it's easy to watch. Rather than crowd the show with the entire cast of the game, the movie sticks to its leads and stays focused. That's not to say that this film doesn't play to its own genre conventions; it could have been much better. But if you're a fan of tear-jerkers, this one isn't half bad.
Once upon a time, OVAs were quite the rage in Japanese animation. It was a great way to tell a quick story that engaged viewers and left us wanting more. That market has all but dried up, but there are still some short OVAs out there worth seeing. One is Pale Cocoon, made by upcoming filmmaker Yasuhiro Yoshiura in 2006. It's a sci-fi piece whose production history makes it a parallel to Voices Of A Distant Star...and though it's not as good as Matoko Shinkai's amazing debut, it makes Yasuhiro Yoshiura one to watch for the future. (And for sharp-eyed readers, you'll find his 2008/2009 follow-up Time of Eve in the upcoming review queue.)
Sometimes, shows just don't get enough love to be noticed. While I've found a number of reviews of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou since I've watched the 4-OVA series, I'd really not heard anybody talking about it beforehand. There're a couple of reasons for that...it's slow and contemplative, involving robots that aren't robotic and a post-apocalypse that's pretty darn nice. It also has a significant change in styles between the first two episodes (released in 1998) and the second two episodes (released in 2002), along with a couple minor problems. But for fans of slice-of-life shows like Aria, this will be a welcome find worthy of your time.
Bottom line...I have strep, and my throat feels like it's been carpetbombed. Thankfully, I was able to write my review of Sky of Iriya, Summer of UFO well before my immune system started beating up on me. So let's get right to it, shall we?