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Kanon (2006) Review

Kanon is the story of Yuuichi Aizawa, who comes to live with his Aunt and Cousin. He has visited this town before when he was young, but for some reason cannot remember any of the details of his previous visits. During his stay he meets quite a few young women and explores his connection to each of them. Sounds like your typical harem show. In fact, this is a remake of a rather average 13 episode series aired in 2002. The new series is much better. Even though the storyline is the same, this series is 24 episodes long, so there is much more detail in the story this time. Unfortunately, the ending is the same.

There are two stars of this series. One is Tomokazu Sugita who does an excellent job as Yuuichi. The other is the studio, Kyoto Animation. Everything from the art, to the new story details is extremely well done. If you liked the older series, I would highly recommend the new one. You will enjoy the improvements greatly. However, as I said above, the overall story and ending are the same.

The story itself is fairly typical of a harem show. Yuuichi spends a couple episodes exploring his relationship with each girl. At the end he makes a choice between the girls. One of the best things about this show, is that there is practically no infighting between the girls. For the most part, the show is broken up so that there is not much overlap between the girls. In fact, they mostly tend to disappear once their story is told. While I appreciate the lack of angst due to infighting, I was disappointed with the disappearing act. I would like to have seen more of the other girls throughout the rest of the show. While there is little angst bewteen the girls, there is quite a bit of sadness in each of the girls' stories. This show is known for "sad girls in snow" for a reason. Be prepared for lots of tears. Some might even be your own.

I really like what Kyoto Animation has done with this show, but it is still a remake of a story that was rather average to begin with. I like the characters, but wish there were more of each of the girls throughout the rest of the show. The small patches of humor were well done. There is a lot of sadness, but mostly happiness in the end. I rated the original 2 stars. With the added detail and much, much better art, I was happier with the remake. If you have to choose between the two, definately go with the newer version.

Final rating: 3 stars.

Shuffle Memories

Shuffle Memories is a concept I have never seen before. It is a 12 episode series that is a recap of a previous 24 episode series. I'm not sure how this actually made it on the air. Maybe it had something to do with the animation budget being practically non-existent. The only new content in the series is the final episode and a new Opening and Ending for each of the five main female characters. The first episode is an introduction episode. Then each of the girls gets an episode that begins their story. Then a second episode that completes their story. The final episode is completely new content. I started watching this, but only made it through the first 4 episodes. I decided that I would rather watch the original series again rather than sit through another 6 recap episodes. However, I did watch the final episode. It was excellent. It was really funny, and it was nice to see all the characters again. (I was, however, very disappointed that Nadeshiko-sensei was left out.) The fanservice was superb. I would rather this had been an OVA with more than one episode of new content. I'd definately buy the final episode, but probably not the entire series. I really loved the original Shuffle, but I can't image the need for an 11 episode recap series. I honestly don't know how to rate a show that consists of recap episodes of another show, so I'll just rate the new content.

Final rating: 5 stars for the new content.

Final Fantasy V First Impression

After finishing FFIII, this is the only Final Fantasy game I haven't played. FFIII was played mostly for completionist purposes. However, this game I believe will be thouroughly enjoyable. This is the second game of the series to feature the job system. I am a sucker for the job system. I have been since Final Fantasy Tactics ate my soul. The job system in Tactics was perfect. It is the reason I've logged more hours into Tactics than all other Final Fantasy games combined. I am a whore for the job system.

The job system featured in FFIII was barely a shadow of what was to come. The job system in FFV is obviously the next step. It is pretty much the halfway point between FFIII and Tactics. In FFIII you could choose a specific job that had abilities that differentiated it from the others. That was pretty much the extent of the system. Changing to another job, you would lose all the abilities of the previous job, and gain the abilities of the new one. In FFV when you choose a job, you gain a special "job ability" that you can use until you switch jobs. In addition, you have an extra ability slot that you can equip another ability to. As you level up in your job, you learn other abilities specific to that job. These can be equipped (only one at a time) to the extra ability slot. This is where it gets good. Once you change jobs, any of the abilities that you have learned from your previous jobs, can still be equipped to the extra ability slot.

So, for instance, I can level up my Black Mage and learn "!Black Magic" Level 4. When I switch the character's job to White Mage, they get the default "White Magic" job ability, but I can also equip the "!Black Magic" ability to the extra ability slot. Now I can use both White and Black Magic. Most of the mage classes have a single ability that levels up with the job. So you'd have to level up your Black Magic ability to use higher level spells. The other classes have more interesting and varied abilities. Knights can learn Cover or Two Handed. Theives can learn Steal or Flee. All of these abilities can be learned from the different jobs by the same character. The amount of character customization available is amazing. Of course, I'll have to have my characters learn every skill available. I'm so screwed. I'll be playing this game for months.

So far, the story seems to be pretty decent as well. Based on the lengths of FFIV and FFVI, I'm barely beginning to scratch the surface of this game. I really can't imagine why this game wasn't regionalized the first time around. I can understand FFII and FFIII, since they were so different from the first game. But I think the job system is fleshed out enough in this one to have been successful.

Current party configuration:
Mystic Knight with the Two Handed ability from the Knight job.
Ninja with the First Strike ability.
White Mage with Level 5 Summoning Magic.
Time Mage with Level 4 Black Magic.

Ikki Tousen

It's got an interesting story, superpowered combat, epic fanservice, and even some sex. So why is this not the best show ever? It seems it was assembled by a team of mentally disabled 5th graders. I don't know how you screw up something like this. There was so much potential here, all of it squandered. It seemed like a lot of the story was just lost, most of the characters are barely introduced, and then discarded, and the fight scenes almost always seemed rushed. What I thought was the main theme of the story was never resolved. Can the fighters resist the fate of their namesakes, or not? Overall this was a terribly executed series. However, it does contain enough raw material to keep me interested. I will be watching the new series Dragon Destiny. Hopefully, it will be better.

Final rating: 2 stars.

Kashimashi

I'm really on the fence about this show right now. I'm up to episode 9 and I think the determination of whether I like the show or not will depend on the ending. I really like the characters, and even if the premise is really silly, I think the story being told is entertaining. The fan service, while fairly light, is passing, and the humor hits me just right. I'm really liking the scenes with Namiko and Asuta. The thing holding me back is that I'm expecting the show to turn on the angst. I fully expected it after episode 6 and still half-expect the end to be a tear-fest. But each episode since has teetered up to the line and then redeemed itself, mostly due to the characters involved. Yasuna and Tomari are both angels. I will hate this show if it turns them into bitches. Also, after episode 9 I'm beginning to wonder if the show will have the "Ultimate Ending''. I've never seen it happen, and while in most cases it wouldn't really work well, I think it might here. If there is a decent ending I may have to watch this show again. I think I'll enjoy it a great deal more if I'm not worried so much about the end.

Update:

I was right. They ramped into the drama right at the end. But luckily it was only the last few episodes and it resolved itself quickly. Not the "Ultimate Ending," but a happy ending nonetheless. There is a small bit of abiguity at the end of the final episode, but that is completely resolved in the OVA. This will probably be included with the R1 release as a 13th episode. As I said, everything is resolved, and everyone lives happily ever after. A beautiful ending. Made even moreso by the fact that it was my preferred ending. I won't spoil it here.

Initial rating: 3 stars.

I think I'll watch this again once it is released in R1. Without the fear of angst hanging over me, I may just bump this up to four stars. I think I'll enjoy it much more the second time.

Drive

Fox has been advertising a new show called Drive lately. Apparently it is about an illegal cross-country road race. It looks kind of interesting for a couple reasons. First, it stars Nathan Fillion, who I really enjoyed in Firefly. Secondly, it calls to mind some great road race movies of the past: Cannonball Run, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Rat Race, etc. Although this show seems to be more of a drama than a comedy, hopefully they will be able to work in some humor. Thirdly, it is co-created, written, and produced by Tim Minear. I really enjoy some of Tim's past works. I own the DVDs of Firefly and Wonderfalls and really love both shows. I started watching The Inside when it was on, but it was taken off so quickly that I couldn't tell if it would be any good. Hoepfully, Drive will be good, and FOX will be able to keep it on the air.

Final Fantasy III

I finally finished Final Fantasy III for the DS. I had been putting it off for a long time. The last available save point is right outside the Crystal Castle. Which means that a Game Over at any point after that would mean restarting from that point. And there are 6 bosses between there and the end. Not to mention the boss-caliber random encounters. I knew if I made it to the final area and got wiped out, I would be so discouraged that I wouldn't be able to play the game for a month or more. But, I steeled my nerve and went for it. My final party setup was: two devouts, a monk, and a knight, all at level 50. By the time I made it to the final boss, the party was level 53. I had very little problem with the last boss. I came close to losing a member a couple times, but for the most part I didn't have much trouble. Final play time: 26:41:42. I missed some of the side quests though. I found Leviathan, but didn't beat him. Never found the other two big summons, or any of the extra classes.

This game was difficult. It was probably the most difficult of the remakes so far (excluding FF1 on original settings). I played this mainly for completionist purposes. It was one of the two Final Fantasy games I had never played. Also, I am determined to support all the re-issues in the hope that Square-Enix will continue to remake their older games. Specifically, I want a re-issue of Chrono Trigger and a remake of FF7. I also wanted to support the graphical remake. I really liked the way it was done, and hope for more of the same from Square-Enix.

I had fun playing this one, but the more difficult sections and bosses really started to grate on me by the end. Perhaps I had a bad party make-up, or needed to do a little more grinding in between sections. But, I finished it and, for the most part, had fun doing it. Next up is Final Fantasy V.

Fruits Basket 26 - Final

This episode is divided into two distinct sections. The first is the resolution of Kyo's transformation. I felt this was kind of rushed, and wasn't really impressed with the scene overall. The buildup is Kyo remembering his mother. She attempted to keep him isolated from others in order to prevent him from being tormented about his "true form." However, Kyo realized that she couldn't accept his "true form." Tohru shows up and Kyo tries to run, but Yuki appears and restrains him. He accuses Kyo of trying to run away, and encourages Tohru to tell Kyo how she feels. Tohru says that she is very frightened of Kyo at the moment, but that the fear does not change the fact that she still wants them all to be together. She wants them all to go back to the house together. Kyo calms down. He realizes that unlike his mother, who denied the existence of his terrible form, Tohru accepts it. Although she fears it, her fear is proof of acknowledgement of reality. The fear is not enough to change her feelings about living together with Kyo and the other Sohmas. Kyo reverts to his human form, and Tohru embraces him, changing him into his cat form. She carries him back to the house with Yuki.

The second part of the episode deals with Tohru's confrontation with Akito. Tohru tells Shigure that she wishes to meet with Akito. He tries to discourage her from this, but she is determined. Shigure, Yuki, and Hatori all get dressed up and accompany Tohru to the meeting with Akito. Kyo tags along as well, but stays outside the Sohma residence. During the meeting we realize that Akito has taken the brunt of the Sohma curse and has been destined since his birth to die because of the curse. This is why all the others defer to him. This has also made him a bit crazy. At one point he grabs Tohru by the hair and forces her to kneel in from of him. At this point both Yuki and Shigure show some stones and jump up to grab his arms. Akito orders Hatori to wipe Tohru's memory, but even Hatori is feeling rebellious. Tohru diffuses the situation by telling Akito that, while she can't image how difficult it must be for him, that he is not dead yet. She tells him that he is still alive, and that he should be alive while he can. He releases her hair and the meeting is over. This scene also felt really rushed to me. Once it was over, there really wasn't much of a feeling of closure. Plus, there are still a lot of unaswered questions about the curse, and about the Sohma family in general.

Overall, this series surprised me. I started watching it with almost no knowledge whatsoever about it. After the first couple episodes, I was ready to drop it. However, after the introduction of Kagura and some of Shigure's antics, I decided to keep watching it. Most of the time it was nothing to write home about, but the occasional comedic scenes with Kagura, Shigure, or Ayame were really enjoyable. Also, the touching scenes between Tohru and the various Zodiac members I thought were really well done. Momiji and Hatori in particular. Those scenes and the scene at the shrine between the three friends, were the high points of the series for me. I don't think I'd ever purchase this series, but I would consider renting any followup seasons.

Final rating: 3 stars

Fruits Basket 25

Tohru has fled into the forest after seeing Kyo's transformation. After falling, she leans herself against a tree and vomits. Akito shows up and begins taunting her. Shigure appears and actually seems to be warning Akito off. Akito leaves, and Shigure apologizes to Tohru. She gets up and walks away without saying anything.

We are shown that Kazuma's grandfather was the previous Sohma cursed by the Cat. He was locked away by his family and shunned. As Kazuma grew older he felt shame for how his grandfather was treated. He resolved to help the next Sohma to be cursed by the Cat. He found Kyo as a boy and practically adopted him. He took him away from the people who tormented him for his curse, and raised him at his dojo.

Back at the Sohma house, Kagura asks Yuki if he will go after Kyo. Yuki replies that he and Kyo hate each other. This is the way it has always been and always will be. He turns the question back at her. Kagura replies that, as one of the Zodiac herself, she can never give Kyo what he needs. The only person who can is Tohru. Only an outsider can help him. Upon hearing this Yuki runs out.

Meanwhile, Uotani has been called out to the graveyard by Hanajima. Hanajima has been drawn there by "vibes." They find Tohru slumped across her mother's grave. Uotani attempts to comfort Tohru, but Hanajima tells her to stop. Hanajima tells Tohru that she knows where she needs to be. Uotani again tries to comfort Tohru, but Hanajima physically prevents her. At this point Uotani is furious. She doesn't understand why she can't comfort Tohru. Hanajima tells her that they are there to make sure Tohru does what only she can do. They cannot help her do what she must, they can only encourage her to do it. Uotani tries again to go to Tohru and Hanajima physically tackles her to prevent her from reaching Tohru. Tohru finally gets up and walks away. Once she is gone Hanajima falls to her knees and bursts into tears.

This scene was heartbreaking. There was so much emotion here. The determination and fury of Uotani was frightening. She could not understand why Hanajima would not let her comfort her friend. The person who always comforted others, and always had a way of making someone's troubles seem less. And Uotani was being prevented from doing the same for Tohru. Hanajima's breakdown afterward showed just how difficult it was for her to do what she did. She wanted to comfort Tohru as much as Uotani did. And Tohru just lying there, motionless, through it all. The most potent scene in the entire series so far. Even more heartbreaking than Momiji's story.

Not much in the preview for next episode. I can only assume Tohru brings Kyo back to the house. I'm not sure if there will be a confrontation with Akito or not. The anime probably only follows up to a certain point in the manga. It looks like there will be many questions left unanswered. That's too bad.

Fruits Basket 24

A mysterious stranger observes a scene between Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki. Kyo is not feeling well due to the rainy weather. Tohru offers to have him walk under her umbrella, but Kyo would never do anything so unmanly. As they walk away, Kyo seems content, if not happy. The stranger remarks on Kyo's expression, then reports back to Akito. Apparently, those possessed by the Cat have an additional physical form. From the discussion between Akito and the stranger, this form is not as pleasing as Kyo's cat form. Akito predicts that once Tohru has seen this form she will leave the Sohma house. This plan will also have the beneficial side effect of tormenting Yuki.

Back at the house, Kagura has come to visit. Shigure sends Kyo and Kagura out on a date (to do the shopping for dinner), and then does the same for Tohru and Yuki (who go to the "secret base." I really enjoy the interaction between Kyo and Kagura. She always tries the lovey-dovey approach with Kyo first, no matter how doomed to failure it is. Then the violent followup. Their trip to the market shows how much Kyo has changed. He's actually kind to Kagura. Well, as much as Kyo is able to be kind. He even relents to walking home with her holding hands, as she remembers a time when he was the one asking to hold hands.

When everyone returns home, the mysterious stranger is there. He turns out to be Kazuma Sohma, the Sohma martial arts trainer. (Not a zodiac member as I speculated last episode.) He is also the Master that Kyo trained with in the mountains. During their private reunion Kyo asks if he will be able to come and live with Kazuma now, as was promised him when they last saw each other. Kazuma declines, and says that Kyo can remain living in the house as he is now. Kyo protests, and insists that he hates living in the house, but Kazuma realizes the truth.

Kazuma arranges for a meeting between himself, Kyo, and Tohru. The other two have no idea what he has planned, but from the looks on Shigure, Yuki, and Kagura's faces, everyone else does. It is a testament to how much control Akito has, that the three of them do nothing to interfere, even though they obviously know that something terrible is about to happen.

When everyone is in place, Kazuma strips away Kyo's beaded bracelet, and he is transformed into his other form. Once Kyo realizes that Tohru has seen him, he flees into the forest. Tohru, horrified, runs away.

Not much in this episode other than setup for the climax. The preview for next episode doesn't really give any information.

Fruits Basket 23

Yet another of the Zodiac cursed Sohma family shows up. This time it's Ritsu, the monkey, who we heard about back in the Hot Springs episode. Ritsu is the child of the manager of the Hot Springs. And Tohru realizes it almost immediately due to his constant apologies. While I found the manager's apologies pretty funny, Ritsu seems to go quite overboard. I was tired of the joke pretty quickly into the episode. Unfortunately, it went on and on.

Ritsu came to the house in order to meet Tohru, after hearing how special she was from all the other Sohmas. Of course, he makes a complete nuisance of himself to the rest of the men at the house, with the possible exception of Shigure. The funniest part of the episode is how Shigure winds Ritsu up by telling him how much of an annoyance he is. Once Ritsu is in full freak-out apology mode, Shigure says, "Just kidding." This repeats quite often, and while I got tired of Ritsu's apologies, I thought Shigure's blatant enjoyment of torturing Ritsu was quite funny. He even tweaks Hatori and Kyo once.

True to form, Ritsu and Tohru have a heart-to-heart where Ritsu explains how horrible his life has been and Tohru remembers something her mother used to say. Ritsu is of course cheered up by this talk and resolves to become more confident and to stop wearing women's clothes. (I'm being rather snarkish here, but the scene is very well done, as in previous episodes. I actually did feel sorry for Ritsu, and Tohru always comes across as completely sincere. Even after the nth time it still is rather touching.)

Next time it looks like we get another Zodiac member and some serious setup for the showdown with Akito.

Cooking Mama: Cook Off

Over at Kotaku they have a "frankenreview" of Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii. The DS version was a real treat. It was cheap, simple, and fun. I'm looking forward to additional recipes and multiplayer. The review numbers are rather disappointing. The worst of the complaints seems to be control issues. That is my main fear with any Wii game. Hopefully the controls are fine, but just take some getting used to. I'm not concerned at all about the "boring/tired/same as the DS version" compaints. That seems like a good thing to me. The simple, fun playstyle is what I enjoyed about the DS version. However, I was not expecting a full $50 price point. One of the biggest draws about the DS version was how cheap it was. I may wait a bit for the price to drop on this one before I pick it up.

All Reviews

I'm going to use this post as a list of all my reviews. I'll keep updating it and adding more as I get the time. Currently I'll just be listing the basic rating score. Later I may add a small blurb or more detailed impressions.


Anime

Ai Yori Aoshi (26 episodes) - 5 stars.*
Berserk (25 episodes) - 1 star.
Castle In the Sky - 2 stars.*
Cowboy Bebop (26 episodes) - 4 stars.*
Cowboy Bebop The Movie - 3 stars.*
Dragon Half (2 episodes) - 3 stars.
Excel Saga (26 episodes) - 4 stars.*
FLCL (6 episodes) - 4 stars.
Fruits Basket (26 episodes) - 3 stars.
Hellsing (26 episodes) - 3 stars.
Ikki Tousen (13 episodes) - 2 stars.
Kanon 2002 (13 episodes) - 2 stars.
Kanon 2006 (24 episodes) - 3 stars.
Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ (13 episodes) - 3 stars.
Kiki's Delivery Service - 4 stars.*
Maburaho (24 episodes) - 2 stars.
Porco Rosso - 2 stars.
Shuffle (24 episodes)- 5 stars.**
Shuffle Memories (12 episodes) - 5 stars. (for the new content)**
Spriggan - 1 star.


* I own this.
** I am in the process of buying this, or will buy it when it is available.

Rating System

The following is my rating system. I started with the Netflix rating system, but mixed it up a bit.

0 stars - I hated it.
1 star - I didn't like it.
2 stars - meh. Nothing really good or bad here. Just average.
3 stars - I liked it. A good way to pass the time.
4 stars - I really liked it. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Definately worth a purchase.
5 stars - I loved it. One of my favorites. I will buy this.

These are my personal ratings. They are based on my preferences. Your mileage may vary. Don't blame me if you hate a show I rated 4 or 5. Especially if it is a genre that you are negatively disposed to initally. Do some research before taking my rating as gospel. And don't crucify me if I rated your favorite series 1 or 2. Different strokes and all that.