Majikoi-Oh! Samurai Girls comes exploding out of the gate with an action packed first episode. Class 2-F and 2-S of Kawakami Academy are settling their differences in a massive battle (using prop weapons that don’t kill but still hurt a whole lot). Yamato Naoe is 2-F’s tactician, and has prepared a number of strategies for dealing with his opponents, especially when they break out Momoyo Kawakami, a very powerful fighter (one of the semi-ill defined ‘Big 4’), who also happens to be his love interest. After the battle he asks her out, only to be rejected for the second time, an event that precipitates several of his other female friends to start pursuing him themselves– revealing that this isn’t just a high school brawler show, its more accurate category is unwilling-harem-comedy-action-fanservice show, although it takes a while for the real plot to come to the fore. The show is based on an adult visual novel, and you can certainly tell.

Going a little against the grain of the standard unwilling harem comedy, Yamato more or less enjoys the attention (except from the highly perverse Miyako), but the only girl he really wants, isn’t in the harem, at least not in the standard way. The tension between the two is actually rather thoughtfully played out, and Momoyo is distinctly blind to how clear it is to everybody else how she really feels and that her possessive-but-not-romantic treatment of Yamato is rather unfair because of it. Much like it’s harem-action-comedy sibling Sekirei, it does have a deeper plot going on behind the harem antics.

There’s little time in the series for a lot of character development though , each of the main girls gets a half episode focus to really introduce them and explain their own particular reasons for liking Yamato, which vary from the standard ones, to creepy to faintly ridiculous. There are also several episodes that feel like pure filler, which to my mind frankly has no place in a series with only 12 episodes as it is. One of the filler episodes is however absolutely hilarious and also extraordinarily pervy at the same time, making it impossible to forget that the show has a strong reliance on fanservice.

One of the highlight characters is Yuki Mayuzumie who is the most shy of the girls, but a talented swordswoman. Her character has a rather interesting device surrounding it, the charm on her phone strap is apparently inhabited by a god, Matsukaze – and they’re best friends, with Matsukaze doling out advice ranging between good and sort of crazy. It is admittedly a rather silly mechanic, with extended scenes of her conversing with her phone strap, who also talks to the other characters, but is also a remarkable amount of fun. They are also both voiced by Emily Neve who does an excellent job with both of them.

The fanservice levels are of course high, but this is more Ikki Tousen than it is Strike Witches. It’s never entirely gratuitous (expect perhaps the concept of the ‘festival’ episode, but that’s played more for laughs), but it is very prevalent (indeed Yamato spends half an episode trying to convince Christiane that it’s OK for him to see her naked, and all the girls sit around watching his favourite ‘adult videos’ at one point to try to understand what he likes…), so if that’s really not your bag, then you might want to consider something else.

The show never quite recaptures the feeling of the action in the first episodes, but there are a lot of good fight scenes in the second half of the series as the actual plot starts coming into focus. The girls fawning all over Yamato never goes away, indeed heating up even as the stakes around them raise, but there’s an oddly involved plot behind everything. Issues like nationalism, high military technology, corruption and personal responsibility all tie directly into what was largely just going on in the background for the first few episodes.

The dub is good, although I found Carli Mosier’s voice for Momoyo a little on the grating side, but that’s more a personal preference than a criticism to her performance and as mentioned above, Emily Neve puts in a great turn in the show. There are a series of ‘shorts’ (animation-less comedy segments with the characters reflecting on the episode before and previewing whats coming next) to be found on the 2nd DVD as well as promos, trailers and clean openings and closings.

Over the top, funny, fanservicey and action packed, there’s a little something for everyone in here. Anyone interested in the plot development will have to struggle through the fan service to get there, but it’s worth it for a fun ride with some nice ideas. The series could definitely have done with being longer, but much like Sekerei, perhaps a sequel series (teased by the ending, but yet to appear) will round it out properly if considered as a single longer series. Definitely fun to be had here.

Ratings
Story
Swinging somewhat wildly between intrigue and harem comedy.
Animation
Good quality, flowing well during the battles.
Audio
A fair dub.
Extras
Shorts, promos, trailers and clean openings/closings.
Overall
Too short to do itself justice, but some good stuff to be found here.

Some horror thrives on understatement: the unexplained noise, a fleeting shadow, unsettling whispers. Hellsing Ultimate is having none of that – the eagerly-awaited Volume 5-8 Collection dials the action up to eleven with a rip-roaring, eye-popping, adrenaline-crazed orgy of action as Alucard, Integra and Seras battle undead Nazis and fanatical priests in the burning streets of London. A gorgeous, gore-splattered rollercoaster of an anime, Hellsing Ultimate is a must for any horror fan. Available on DVD and Blu-ray from 20th May (Manga Entertainment).

Win a Hellsing Ultimate: Vol 5-8 Collection on DVD right here!

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With a title like Loups=Garous staring out at you, the first thing you’ll want to know about is the werewolves. Are they nice and big and hairy? Do they howl at the moon, fangs dripping gore? All mighty good questions. But wait a sec, we’d better fill you in on the story, hadn’t we?

It’s set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been decimated by a virus and those who survive live in splendid isolation, interacting online and dining off synthetic food. Society is highly regulated and everyone is under surveillance. But then children start to go missing, and a group of schoolgirls set out to investigate. They include Tsuzuki, a hacker whose mastery of tech enables them to escape the constant monitoring; the mysterious and taciturn Kono, who seems to know more than she lets on; Myao, a blade-wielding female samurai type in traditional garb; and Makino, who wears a cybernetic headband and gasps in horror a lot.

The premise is intriguing, and the initial sketching in of these characters’ lux but eerily lonely lives is nicely done. But the plot – which is to do with human trafficking in illegal immigrants – is needlessly tangled, and the handling is ponderous and stiff. Even the (occasional) action scenes are lethargic, with goons trudging towards the girls so slowly you would think their trousers were made of lead. It also doesn’t help that the whole thing is seen through the point of view of Makino, who is so wet she’s lucky her cybernetic headband doesn’t short-circuit.

There’s also a problem with the film’s tone, which lurches from adult violence and impenetrable exposition to some strangely childish moments, as when Tsuzuki decides that they should take time off from uncovering the dystopian truth about the society in which they live in order to form a girl band – yay, everyone dance and sing! As for the animation, it’s clean but not exceptional, with some evocative urban nightscapes, but certainly no better than you would find in an average anime TV show. Oh, and the werewolves? There aren’t any. The title’s metaphorical. Or something. Grrr!

Ratings
Story
Initially intriguing but ultimately mystifying conspiracy nonsense.
Animation
A few nice backdrops, but generally no more than competent, and the character design seems rather juvenile and simplistic for such a dark, adult-themed tale
Audio
Some decent guitar pop by the rock group SCANDAL.
Extras
Plenty to tuck into if you're still awake after watching the film.
Overall
Loups=Garous tempts with a modish title and a promising set-up, but sadly it's a bit of a screwed pooch, what with its soporific pace, its turgid storyline and its lame-to-the-point-of-annoying lead character. The synthetic TV dinners look tasty though.

“I’m sure you’ll love it, it’s just like…”

One of the easiest ways to recommend a show to anyone is to cite something it resembles. More even perhaps than western TV, anime is built on the reuse and reinvention of ideas, each one tweaked and modified into new shapes. The shonen battle show, the romantic comedy, the 4-panel sketch adaptation, each has been presented dozens of times in radically different shapes and forms. There’s nothing wrong with refinement of course, but it means that it’s rare that we see something entirely unlike what’s come before. One such show was the genre-busting Revolutionary Girl Utena and now director Kunihiko Ikuhara returns with a new story that likewise feels utterly unique.

The story is…difficult to explain, but centers around the Takakura family, consisting of fraternal twins Kanba and Shouma and their little sister Himari. The three live together in a ramshackle little house, devoid of parents but happy in each other’s company. It’s not a happiness that can last however, as Himari is seriously ill and on a day trip to the aquarium she collapses and passes away. Naturally the brothers are devastated, but their grief is short-lived. Himari is resurrected by the power of a mysterious souvenir penguin hat, but now is often possessed by a cold and haughty alternate personality. She threatens the brothers that Himari will die again unless they retrieve the mysterious ‘Penguindrum’. To help they’re given three adorable penguins (one for each sibling) who can’t be seen by other people, and together they set out to find out what exactly the Penguindrum is.

If you’re thinking that description is utterly bizarre, you’re absolutely right, and incredibly that might actually be short-changing it. The important thing to emphasise though is that this isn’t simply oddness for oddness’ sake, and that Penguindrum isn’t some sort of wacky comedy show. Rather, it’s one of the most impressively nuanced character dramas in recent years, and a show which uses its more outlandish elements to speak about big issues like love and hate, obsession, family ties and destiny.

Destiny is the key word in Penguindrum and the issue about which the characters most obsess. The Takakura brothers are constantly fighting their fate, the fate that aims to take their sister away from them. Shouma even opens the show talking about how he hates the word ‘destiny’, because it proves how cruel and unfair God is. In contrast, much of this first set revolves around the Takakuras’ relationship with Ringo Oginome, a girl who is obsessed with the idea of fulfilling the destiny written down in her diary. She’s a perfect encapsulation of the style and tone of the show – her antics are played for laughs at first, but as her true motives are unraveled she becomes a darker, more disturbing character who nevertheless remains both sympathetic and tragic. The show isn’t afraid to question its characters and reveal both good and bad sides of them, making us sympathise with their struggles while at the same time asking ourselves where our sympathies really lie.

Throughout these 12 episodes Penguindrum assumes a dreamlike tone that touches goofiness, despair, surrealism and everything in between. The show deliberately blurs the line between illusion and reality, leaving the audience unsure about what’s actually happening and what’s merely an example of the show’s deft touch for visual allegory. It’s one of those rare stories that you feel could never be told in another medium, so integral are the visuals to the narrative. There’s a wonderful array of stylish flourishes, like Ringo’s frequent paper-cutout fantasies, or the scene where a childhood memory is acted out by cuddly toys, which stands out as one of the most funny and yet deeply creepy sights ever put on a screen. It’s rare to find any piece of media that has as much atmosphere and mystique as Penguindrum.

What’s also important though is that the show doesn’t lose itself in these fantasies completely. Instead of being the point of the plot, they are the means to an end, and the end is to embellish a tightly written, extremely compelling mystery that ticks along at an excellent pace. While we get far more questions than answers in this first set, those questions are so intriguing you rapidly become pulled in to the story and the show’s structure does an excellent job of that ‘one more episode’ feel. And while I’ve noted the show isn’t a comedy, it’s still often very funny, using its surrealism to sell goofy jokes and whimsical scenes. In particular the three penguins are utter delights, often stealing scenes with their individual tics.

If there’s a disappointment to be found here, it’s in the release presentation.  The Japanese audio track is superb, featuring a set of beautiful, catchy and melancholic musical themes and an amazingly strong array of voice work from a cast of largely unknowns. The same cannot be said of the English performers, who struggle to inhibit their characters and end up producing one of the worst dubs I’ve heard in recent years. The lone high spot is Monica Rial’s Himari, but even then she lacks the necessary iciness as her penguin alter-ego, and the rest of the cast flounders. They often can’t even match the lip flaps properly, a worryingly amateurish mistake. The translation is also riddled with colloquialisms, such as ‘for the win’ that feel totally out of place. Disappointingly these also carry over to the subtitles (which often appear to be ‘dubtitles’ – straight transcriptions of the dub) which are also riddled with spelling and grammar errors. It’s not a deal breaker but disappointing nonetheless.

In a medium often filled with imitators, Penguindrum stands alone. Naturally, that means it won’t be for everyone, and many may struggle with its surrealism, the abstractness of its ideas and the less than conventional presentation. But for those who are willing to embrace its weirdness, the ideas and themes here are some the richest, most thoughtful and most satisfying ever seen in anime, and they’re wrapped in an irresistibly stylish look and atmosphere. We’ll have to wait for part 2 to see if the show can deliver on all its promises, but even without that conclusion Penguindrum is one of the most uniquely brilliant works ever to come out of Japan.

Ratings
Story
A weird but wonderful adventure with surprisingly deep and serious themes
Animation
Incredibly stylish and beautiful, bursting with colour and personality
Audio
Fantastic music and an excellent Japanese track let down by an insipid dub
Extras
Clean opening and ending, promotional trailer
Overall
A mad, beautiful dream of a show that fascinates and compels like nothing else

The city of Stern Bild has individuals with great power, called NEXT, a number of whom dress up as superheroes and fight the bad guys, on the prime time TV show “Hero TV”. It’s a fresh take on the superhero genre and we really enjoyed the first volume released (see our review here).

The last volume left us with the revelation of a NEXT calling himself Lunatic, who is completely on the side of justice – unfortunately his kind of justice involves murdering anyone and everyone he deems a worthless criminal with impunity. Barnaby (the Bunny of the title) is convinced that Lunatic is working for some shadowy organisation called Ouroboros, a member of whom he witnessed murdering his parents when he was a child – but we discover that things are not entirely as they seem.

The first two episodes (out of 8-13 on the DVDs) are a touch weaker than the others, but we get some good screen time with Origami Cyclone, who’s special power isn’t in fact a gratuitous photobombing  ability but something very impressive, although he’s never sure how to use it to actually do anything heroic. We also finally meet Dragon Kid properly who turns out to be a lot of fun.

The rest of the episodes deal with Barnaby’s sudden recollection of the face of the man responsible for his parents death – Jake Martinez, however this revelation comes with incredibly bad timing. The city is soon under attack by an army of tank walkers  and being held to ransom by none other than Ouroboros themselves, who have come to reclaim Jake, who had been languishing in prison for some time.

What follows next is a high stakes series of games of cat and mouse as the heroes try to outwit and stop Ouroboros and some almighty beat downs at the hands of Jake, who is a very powerful NEXT himself! Kotetsu gets a whole slew of great scenes and development and his partnership with Barnaby is shown to get significantly better as trust slowly builds. Other than the aforementioned Origami Cyclone and Dragon Kid, theres not a lot of individual screen time with the other heroes, but they do all get to play their part during the battles with the tank walkers.

There are a few problems here, mainly in that Kriem, the mastermind of the plan to rescue Jake, appears to be channelling Harley Quinn in a not even remotely subtle way and the entirely baffling question as to how on earth they kept Jake locked up in the first place, given his powers, is completely ignored (so far as I could tell anyway). However these are but minor annoyances, the episodes presented here are excellent, they nicely ramp up in pace and there’s a slew of great set pieces and scenes to be found.

The animation is still great and I didn’t notice any 2D/3D integration issues this time round and the dub is still nicely played. There are 50 minutes of what seem to be tv spots/interviews on the first DVD by way of extras.

Much like the first volume, this is filled with great episodes, here’s to hoping the last two volumes keep the pace and do justice to what has so far been an excellent series.

Ratings
Story
A solid continuation of a well written story.
Animation
On the whole, excellent.
Audio
A great dub cast.
Extras
TV Spots/interviews.
Overall
A great series, breathing life into old conventions.

Hardly have we had time to unbuckle our swashes after Part 1 of Bodacious Space Pirates, than Part 2 comes sailing over the horizon. Just to remind you, the central character, Marika, is a schoolgirl by day, pirate by night (and weekends and holidays, obviously), plying her trade on the space ship Bentenmaru among the frontier planets of a vast galactic empire. Early in this half-series, her crew comes down with a highly contagious space monkey virus, and while they’re sitting around in their pj’s in quarantine, she’s forced to keep the ship running all by herself in order to maintain her letter of marque (her pirating license). Well, not all by herself, because the girls of the Hakuoh Academy Yacht Club are quick to lend a hand.

Not that pirating is a particularly stressful occupation, the way the Bentenmaru does it. It’s basically just a sideshow put on to impress the passengers of luxury cruise liners, who gladly hand over their valuables in exchange for the thrill of a brush with these colourfully clad vagabonds. However, Marika ups the ante when she takes on the job of rescuing former Yacht Club President Jenny Dolittle from a loveless arranged marriage – an act which puts her at odds with Jenny’s uncle, who controls the powerful transportation company Hugh and Dolittle.

You might recall that we expressed some reservations about the first half-series of Bodacious Space Pirates, but we’re pleased to say that this second instalment builds nicely on the virtues of Part 1 while resolving some of its issues. The main problem was that the various elements, although fun in themselves, didn’t seem to hang together very well. But in this half everything gels nicely. For much of the time, Marika’s original pirate crew are demoted into a backroom, advisory role, leaving it up to the Yacht Club girls to do the pirating, and this turns out to be a winning formula, especially when the girls don cosplay outfits rustled up by one of their schoolchums who is a keen sewer.

The scripts are stiffened with hard SF jargon and tricky sub-goals, as when the girls have to get the Bentenmaru’s potentially explosive FTL drive up and running. The mood turns darker towards the series finale, which sees the Bentenmaru facing off against a formidable pirate hunter ship, but generally the tone is sunny and carefree. As for Marika, despite the fact that she looks ridiculous in her pirate costume, she continues to be a surprisingly persuasive character – easygoing, a bit of a flake, but able to snap into action at the drop of a cocked hat.

As with Part 1, Part 2 makes use of a subtle blend of 2D and 3D animation, and there are some unexpectedly gutsy space battles, coruscating with vivid E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith-style death rays. One of the luxury liners that the Bentenmaru boards is called the Princess Apricot, and it looks like a floating sundae. That’s very much what this second half of Bodacious Space Pirates is like – a giant dessert with enough sprinkles and swirls to keep you entranced until the very last spoonful. Well worth shelling out a few pieces of eight for.

Ratings
Story
Much more cohesive than Part 1, and all of the episodes featuring Marika's schoolmates are winners.
Animation
Cute character design and Dinky toy-bright space craft. Plenty to look at.
Audio
An orchestral score bubbling with jigs and shanties, a sharp and witty English dub.
Extras
Some TV trailers, clean opening and closing credits. Not exactly a pirate's hoard.
Overall
More fun than a barrel of rum, more colourful than a parrot on your shoulder, Part 2 of Bodacious Space Pirates turns out to be a quite a treasure. If you want our advice, you'll hop on down to the shops to get a copy as fast as your pegleg will carry you.

King of Thorn begins promising the world, or at least the end of one. Humanity is riddled with an epidemic of the Medusa virus, so called because it turns people to stone. As it happens, Venus Gate, a pharmaceutical company, has been preparing underground cryogenic chambers for just such an eventuality. But, as each chamber can only hold 120 people, many are sure to die.

Among the lucky few is schoolgirl Kasumi, who finds herself being transported by bus to a remote Scottish castle which is the location of one of the chambers. Her twin sister Shizuku, however, will not to joining her in stasis.

So far, so good. The Medusa virus is introduced in an eerie scene in which a girl comes hurtling out of a high window, only to smash to rubble on the pavement below. Then comes the switch to Scotland, an unusual setting for an anime, the castle and greenery beautifully depicted in washy, watercolour-toned animation. The stage seems set for a Chrichtonesque thriller with tartan trim.

Instead, King of Thorn turns into something like a cross between Resident Evil and a particularly scary gardening programme. Kasumi and her 119 fellow cold sleepers wake up to discover that the underground complex has been invaded by giant brambles and vicious mutant bats, who proceed to gorge themselves on the groggy humans. In short order, the 120 are culled down to just seven – a motley crew including a police officer, an ex-con and a dodgy Italian senator. The survivors have no choice but to plod their way to the surface through various overgrown and creature-infested levels.

OK, there’s a bit of running and jumping and swimming (flooded levels, a la The Poseidon Adventure and Alien: Resurrection), but it feels like a plod because it’s something we’ve seen so often before. Along the way, it turns out that not all of the characters are what they at first seem, but that’s been done zillions of times before too. There’s much angst, and a number of nagging questions – What is going on? How long have they been asleep? Is there a possibility that that is all some kind of dream? – but it all serves only to increase the feeling of muddle. As for the answers – which eventually come courtesy of Venus Gate’s head honcho – you’ll need a diploma from MIT to understand them. There’s a nice dragon/thorn-creature at the end though, and some of the animation (the bits that aren’t plunged in subterranean murk) is very stylish.

Ratings
Story
An interesting start, but subsides into a humdrum escape adventure
Animation
Some sensitive character design and nuanced digital painting, but it all rather gets lost.
Audio
Decent voice acting and score
Extras
A seminar and interview with the director and other bits and pieces
Overall
A promising end-of-the-world hypothesis subsides into a routine shoot-'em-up weighed down by cryptic exposition and humourless, hysterical characters.

Vampire Princess Miyu is a 26 episode anime based on the OVA and manga of the same name.  The titular princess is a shinma (demons who prey upon troubled people) and also a Guardian.  As Guardian she is chosen to track down and send rogue shinma back into the Darkness.  However, it is not entirely clear exactly who she is guarding, because she appears to show only apathy at best towards humans.

This is a bit of a strange series on a number of fronts.  I couldn’t help but feel that it needed to be half the length.  The backgrounds of the main characters are vague at best, completely glossed-over at worst and plot exposition is so rare that the majority of episodes could have occurred in any order. This isn’t to say it is a bad series – it certainly has some excellent episodes, which would be outstanding in any series, not just within the confines of this one. However, the sheer amount of boring time-wasting episodes that you need to slog through to get to them is something of a struggle.

Miyu is less than compelling as a character as she just seems to hang around with a standard cliché high school girl set and her more interesting but even more mysterious bodyguard Larva, and otherwise undertakes her duties as Guardian in a somewhat nebulous manner.  There is also the enigmatic character of Reiha (a Snow Woman and shinma) that is equally interested in sending other rogue shinma back to the Darkness, but for the longest time we have no real idea why.

The problem is that it is never entirely clear for whose benefit all this (back to the Darkness) stuff is for.  It doesn’t appear to be for the shinma, as Miyu just seems to be doing this out of duty rather than reason.  It also doesn’t appear to be all that beneficial to humans due to both Miyu and Reiha’s incredible apathy towards them.  In no episode does it ever turn out well for a human (which does lead to an applause-worthy false protagonist in the first episode), even when quite clearly Miyu could have saved people, or prevented harm.  There is also the issue surrounding the way she feeds.  She has to take the blood of willing people who, in return, she promises endless wonderful dreams to.  What actually happens, though, is that she locks them into one recurring happy memory whilst, in the human world, they will appear practically comatose for the rest of their natural lives.

The series is from ’97 so don’t be expecting the animation quality of today. For a mid-nineties series, it is fairly nice, though.  The dub is ok at best, largely mediocre, with precious little passion coming from any of the performers. The extras on the DVDs are marginally interesting, providing the Japanese opening and some fairly nice galleries of the shinma.  On a technical note, when the original series was released on DVD, the first 3 episodes were combined as one mini-movie, much as the way anime used to be presented on VHS.  The backlash meant that this was not repeated for the rest of the volumes. However, this format has been kept (for those first 3 episodes) for this DVD release.

Vampire Princess Miyu has the odd bit of interest here and there but is saddled with too much downtime and lack of interesting characters.  There are gems to be found, particularly the story about dolls, but too many of the episodes feel like you have to force yourself to get through to the end of them. There are definitely some interesting stories in here, especially if you like Japanese horror tales, but an unispiring dub along with the pacing ultimately cripple what could have worked much better as a far shorter and tighter series.

Ratings
Story
Disjointed Japanese horror. A few excellent stories hidden amidst some fairly weak fare.
Animation
Fine for a mid 90's series.
Audio
A mediochre dub.
Extras
Japanese opening and Shinma galleries.
Overall
Theres some good stuff in here, but its a struggle to find at times.

Character is the heart of any story. In some ways, it’s even more important than plot, because when the characters are good enough you’ll be happy to follow them no matter where the plot takes you. Slice-of-life shows are the very epitome of this – the best remain engaging despite the fact that barely anything happens. Why do I make this point to open a review of Ga-Rei Zero? Because, for all its plus points, the absence of character gnaws away at the heart of this show.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – Ga-Rei Zero is set in a world where demons are real, but kept secret from the public. Instead, an elite undercover squad of government agents act as a rapid response unit, eliminating threats without anyone ever knowing. I’m sure this idea was original once upon a time, but it certainly isn’t now and it’s hardly a world I want to be catapulted into. Because this is anime though, it chooses not to focus on the military hard-asses who make up most of the team, but instead on a pair of teenage schoolgirls who work alongside them – the older, more confident Yomi Isayama and her adopted little sister, the shy, reserved Kagura Tsuchimiya. Both are descendants of a long line of ‘Vanquishers’, demon slayers who command powerful spirit beasts and battle the forces of darkness.

The relationship between Yomi and Kaguya is the crux around which the entire show pivots. Unfortunately, that doesn’t turn out to be a good thing.  Try as it might to invest us emotionally in them, they’re ultimately shallow characters and I had a lot of trouble caring about either of the two. ‘Show, don’t tell’ is a classic rule of any visual medium, but in defiance of that, the show often decides the best way for these characters to convey emotion is for them to vomit it out in long, poorly written speeches describing exactly how horribly anguished they are.

Kagura’s entire character seems to revolve around a severe inferiority complex which has dramatic potential but ultimately makes her seem whiny and in constant need of rescue and reassurance, weakening any impact she has. Yomi fares better to begin with but suffers horrible character derailment for little reason other than the fact it’s a plot requirement, and her big sister role for Kagura never really quite rings true. Their relationship is too perfect, too idealised. There’s none of the friction or competition of a real relationship, be it blood or friendship. Disappointingly the show is also not above playing their relationship for cheap lesbian teasing, with one particularly gratuitous scene standing out. They just never convince as two people who live for each other.

The show also has an unusual structure, which is intriguing and clever but also perhaps slightly poorly handled. Basically the first two episodes take place in the ‘present’, after which the show moves backwards into an extended flashback that ultimately circles round and links up with the events of the opening. It’s a cool storytelling trick that invests an air of foreboding over much of the proceedings, but it’s also poorly paced and the same effect could have been achieved in ten minutes rather than two solid episodes. It also causes the nearly unforgivable sin of a decent chunk of the climax being stock footage. There’s also the issue that, as a prequel, there’s a maddening lack of closure and as a result said climax ends up fizzling out a bit.

One area where Ga-Rei Zero definitely doesn’t stint is in the level of violence on display. Though it’s never unleashed enough to be schlocky or exploitative, what we see is strong and explicit, and largely used to good effect. It’s definitely not for kids though – we’ve got decapitations, dismemberment and stabbings galore and there’s plenty of blood splattered across the screen. In comparison, fanservice content is much milder – there’s one full frontal topless shot but aside from that there’s relative restraint, though fanservice does occasionally intrude uncomfortably into scenes that seem primarily designed for horror.

Artistically, the show would probably be best described as serviceable.  It never looks cheap or rushed and animating studio AIC does an admirable job of keeping everyone on model and moving smoothly. But there’s little flair and dynamism to the visual presentation, which mostly takes place through darkly tinted filters in a variety of grim urban environments. The occasional bright spot (the chief villain’s blue tinted butterfly motif is especially striking) can’t make up for a mostly flat feeling. Likewise, character design is supremely generic, with Yomi and Kagura being particular culprits. If you sat someone down and asked them to draw ‘ordinary anime schoolgirl’ I’m pretty sure that something like these two would pop out.

Audio wise however we’re on a slightly surer footing. Music is decent, particularly the opening ‘Paradise Lost’, which has an enjoyably epic feel. Composer Noriyasu Agematsu also contributes some strong incidental music which really adds to the impact of key scenes. The Japanese voice track enjoys the benefit of a fine vocal cast, while the dub is decent but perhaps a little lacking. Perhaps the biggest problem is Leah Clarke as Kagura, who does spunky just fine but struggles in any scene that requires heavyweight emotion. In contrast, Alexis Tipton does much better as Yomi, demonstrating an admirably decent range.

Ga-Rei Zero‘s biggest problem is not one that it’s easy to articulate in a review. It looks decent, the plot clicks together competently and everything goes down pretty easily. I never dreaded watching it but neither was I driven to do so. There’s no incentive to be drawn into the world, no personalities to grow attached to, to cheer on or hurl scorn at. It’s a show where we know things are emotional because the characters tell us they’re emotional, not because we feel the emotion ourselves. ‘Will you kill someone you love, because of love?’ the tagline asks. It’s a shame then, that love is perhaps what Ga-Rei Zero lacks the most.

Ratings
Story
Competently constructed but disappointingly shallow
Animation
Fluid and sharp but with a lack of real style or flair
Audio
A decent dub is paired with some excellent music
Extras
Clean opening and ending, location scouting videos
Overall
Shows promise and occasionally sparks, but ends up sadly flat and lifeless

Shakugan no Shana has an incredibly tangled backstory, and, sorry, we really can’t face going through it all again. So if you’re interested, please check out our recent review of Season 2, Part 1, where we laid the whole thing out for you… Okay, done that? Great. In which case, you’ve probably noticed that we weren’t all that impressed by the second season’s first 2-disc box set. “The once-mighty series hanging up its katana,” is how we put it.

Well, good news. Turns out they were saving all of the action for the second box set. Season 2, Part 2 is packed with ruckus after ruckus from beginning to end. It all kicks off at the school Autumn Festival, which is so chock-a-block with excitement they’re still talking about it five episodes later. Bosomy Crimson Denizen Pheles wants to free her long-lost lover Johann from inside the Midnight Lost Child. As this device is situated within Yuji’s chest and is the only thing keeping him alive, this can’t be allowed to happen. Cue a battle which devastates whole city blocks (they get repaired again once the dust clears, so fret not). Then there’s the super-powerful hired assassin who comes along to, well, assassinate everyone. Cue another battle which devastates whole city blocks (fret not, etc). Meanwhile, Bal Masque, led by drop-dead gorgeous triclops Bel-Poel, concoct a nefarious plan to awaken the Silver, Margery Daw’s old nemesis. Cue yet another, etc, etc.

Along the way we learn a lot more about the Midnight Lost Child, which gets opened up and sealed shut again like a well-used bento box as various friends and foes tinker with it. There are also plenty of unforgettably imaginative touches – such as the moment when the Silver, who looks like a medieval knight in armour, tries to punch his way out of Yuji’s chest, and some spacey sequences concerning the Supreme Throne Hecate, a pint-sized but numinous figure who continues to be deeply enigmatic.

As always though, the real joy of the series lies in its lovable cast of characters. Yuji and Shana are now on opposing arcs – she’s mellowing out and becoming less inclined to thump people for no reason, while he’s steadily toughening up, to the point where he actually considers severing all human ties and devoting himself to the life of a wandering hero. He has the tools to do it, too, as all those hours of early-morning training in swordplay and spell-casting finally seem to be paying off.

Remember Yoshida – great cook, tends to quiver and bite her lip? Her fondness for Yuji is put to the ultimate test when she’s given an amulet which she can use to summon help for him in times of need, but only at the cost of her own life. And she’s not even officially his girlfriend yet. Say what you like about those Misaki City chicks, they certainly know the meaning of the word commitment. And check out Sato and Tanaka, the two teenage lunks who hang out with Margery Daw. Back in Season One, their menage-a-trois with the Singer of Elegies was an hilarious running gag, but by now the boys are growing up and becoming men, their personalities deepening in ways which are touching and surprising.

The love triangle between Yuji, Shana and Yoshida is still dragging on a bit, but otherwise this a triumphant return to form after the disappointment of the first half-series and a crystal clear reminder of why Shakugan no Shana is such compulsive viewing. A show that’s hung up its katana? Serve up those words in a lunch box with some rice balls and we’ll eat them.

Ratings
Story
Characters you care about caught up in mind-boggling action set-pieces.
Animation
Exploding masonry, interlocking spells, flashing swords, clanking armies of robots – the animators were kept busy on this one
Audio
Good work in both the original and the English dubs. Melodic new opening and closing songs by Kotoko.
Extras
A nice selection of spoof shorts with chibi animation. You probably have to be Japanese to find them funny though.
Overall
The shortcomings of Season 2, Part 1 are forgiven. This 2-disc set sees the show back to its flaming, hazing best.