Otaku In Kenya

DragonballZ Kai in with the old out with the new :( Has to be a long one)

I am writing this review with mostly one intent in mind: to get across the point of how much is being cut. I know that we were all excited to have the story condensed, but I think that this has gone a bit further than anyone expected. That does not make me upset, as we can all go back and watch the original again if the original is what we want, but I think that it should be addressed fairly openly. I will also address art, since that is the other big change.

I hope no one minds the spoilers, as I am assuming that most people have seen Dragon Ball Z that are watching this series, and anyone who is not cannot be spoiled very much about what is not there.

Story:
First of all, some extraordinarily gratuitous events that needed to be cut, such as Krillin gathering up the gang again to train, have been left out and improved the series. Some cuts, however, have changed the story in an irrevocable manner. None of these are exactly necessary to the plot's core, which is fighting anyway, but they are all central to the development of the story and how the characters call out to us.

- Vegeta and Nappa's apparent saving of and then ruthless destruction of Arlia is left out entirely.
- Goku being captured by and tormented by Princess Snake is entirely left out (a hilarious episode before, I think).
- Goku battling the red and blue demons and taking their fruit, gaining massive strength, are completely left out, so Goku has no apparent power jump just from reaching Kai's planet, changing how important Kai is to him.

Again, none of these episodes being cut is necessarily awful nor great, but they all matter to how we felt about the characters and the story in the original, I think.

Furthermore, I think that what we have seen from the Nappa versus everyone fighting so far shows us that the fighting will feel enjoyable, and probably not be condensed quite as much (although I could be wrong). The pacing of that felt really proper to me, so I think we can really look forward to future fights being fleshed out better than in the original.

Art:
In talking about the art, there is not that much that needs to be pointed out, but there are definitely a few big problems. I think that they have done a great job of making it into a widescreen series from what was not widescreen. There are three big types of errors that I have noticed, sadly.

1) There are moment's like Nappa after he stopped flying above Piccolo in episode 10 (19:53 for me) where he looks incredibly blurred for a few seconds. This is not a one time occurrence, and it is really ugly when it happens. Sometimes this is due to original art, but this instance did not seem to be there in the original DVD to me (maybe the bold lines sometimes make it happen). Sometimes blurriness from the old version is cut out though, so this is not always badly done!
2) They somehow really ramped up the brightness for this show, but occasionally something comes out darker than it should be and jars the senses when it switches back to brightness.
3) The bold border lines of each character gets really thick then bulges to being thinner rather at random. This is the one that actually constantly bothers me and merited a 6 for an art rating. I almost hesitate to point this out because it seems to be one of those trends one cannot unnotice after noticing.

All in all, the devotion built up for the characters (or dislike of characters like Chi Chi) is still rather consistent with the original, and many of us watched Dragon Ball or the original Dragon Ball Z and already have our feelings set about each character anyway. Whatever may be, this is a good effort, and will make it at least slightly easier to share this show with casual fans, which is a major win for the franchise.

If anyone wants a final ruling or something, then I guess that my feeling is this: I would honestly prefer the original by a bit to this point because the original plot never particularly loses steam until the Ginyu Force saga is wrapping up. I am very excited to have Goku versus Freiza and beyond condensed, as there was so much unnecessary (Trunks powering up for a full episode, as good of a joke as it may have provided). I also think that the original art (or previous digitally remastered, less bright, less bold version) is fun in its own right, and probably actually more fun than this to look at when one considers it enough.

If I got anything drastically wrong, then please let me know and I will attempt to deal with it.

Canaan - Review



I absolutely love this anime so far; the music is awesome, the whole atmosphere of the anime is awesome, the characters are actually pretty human, not those typical anime stereotypes.

I don't really get the story yet, but I don't really care, because it's one of those animes where you get truly captivated by what's happening right then and there.

This anime is not made by amateurs, that's for sure; anyone can see that, judging by the high-quality art, sound, characters and the matureness of the whole thing.

It's a pretty realistic anime, a modern-time gun-fight sort of anime, so people who are content with those rosy red mahou shoujo escape-from-reality things should stay away (though I personally love those too).

The main character is an assassin, so this is basically that sort of thing. Female assassins, terrorists - that sort of thing, mostly, yes.

Oh, and she's is so adorable, Canaan!

Having just discovered my new favorite anime, I felt like I just HAD to post a review on it. (After Bleach Anime Ending)
The story revolves around Toriko who is one of the “Heavenly Kings” and also has a nickname of “The Glutton”. He is a Gourmet Hunter who specializes in hunting down rare and delicious ingredients. These Gourmet Hunters spend their life creating their ‘Life’s Full Course Menu’ consisting of what they think would be their ideal full course meal. Accompanying Toriko on his journey is a wimpy side-kick/burden called Komatsu. Of course a more sinister and deeper storyline brews in the background beneath the episodic/short arcs plot format that has been presented thus far. The world that this takes place in is a shared world with One Piece,  but the focus points of the series is so different from One Piece it really makes no difference if they are in the same universe.

Whilst I may love this anime, it is definitely not the best anime ever. I love it because it is such fun to watch, plus every episode starts off with some ridiculous food item like soba grown on trees, hamburger clovers, caramel islands, butterflies made out of fries (called butterfries, okay, this is the only one that gross me out) and it always leaves me hungry. The rest of the episode however is more about action and the chase of catching a monster that looks so unappealing you wouldn’t believe how delicious it is meant to be despite the descriptions that Toriko gives whilst stuffing his face. So in order to allow the viewer to connect with the ingredients of that world and give the viewer a slight impression of just how good it is meant to be, they describe by comparing it to the fine ingredients that we know of in our world i.e. wagyu, ootoro etc.

If you are getting the impression that this is a cooking anime or a food-type anime, you might be disappointed. Whilst a big emphasis has been placed on food, those food seem so unreal you don’t really feel a connection to it. It might make you wish they were real and you could get your hands on them, but it is not about make you run to the kitchen, whip out your frying pan and start cooking. At least not the way Yakitate Japan got me baking bread out of a rice cooker =_=”.(Feeling)
 The animation and fight scenes might give off a “Dragonball-Z” feel at times but it is overall entertaining to watch. Realism is definitely not the main focus of these scenes and the animation is mediocre at best(Ol'Skul feel to it). The touching scenes are not going to tug on your heart-strings, and the action scenes are not going to get you jumping out of your chair. The comedy is not going to have you laughing till you cry and honestly, after this description you are probably wondering what’s so good about this.

Well, to me, it is the mixture of the light-hearted atmosphere with a little bit of everything that makes it one of those anime that you can watch daily without trouble, like a family show. Then again, it could just be the refreshing look of a hero who looks more like a hero than a regular John Doe. Or perhaps it is the vivid colors of the animation that makes it so much fun to watch. Too bad there is only one episode each week.(Bad direct download links from our major anime sites)

Pros

The characters are highly interesting and are filled with masculinity that you can’t help but feel like muscles are awesome by the end of an episode. It is easy to draw a muscular character, but to create a character that is masculine without having the thought of disgust pop into your head is such a delicate balance that Toriko just manages to pull it off. If you were to compare the version of Toriko in episode 2 with the Jump Festival special of Toriko, there is a vast difference in the character and had they stick to the Jump version, I probably would not like this show as much. Toriko in the series is more approachable in his mannerisms than his jump counterpart.

As for the fight scenes, brute force is not the only trick up the sleeves of the characters in Toriko. Nope, if you want some magical elements, there are “magical” powers as well. And the fight scenes thus far is highly entertaining.

FT island did the ending song for this anime. =)

The character designs are not pretty by any means and I honestly wished that they had refined the characters a bit more, but neither are they hard to watch.

Also, the show is filled with testosterone up to the point where after an episode I feel more manly. =_= Thus the female crowd might be put off by it.(yes the Know Themselves)

Rating: 8/10