Squeaky Clean Anime Review: The Earl and The Fairy (Hakushaku to Yosei)

Okay, I hope you guys are ready to see me be a little harsh on a shojo anime again. But don't let that give you the wrong idea, I LOVE shojo anime/manga. But I can see why this anime never got licensed. Minor spoilers ahead in the Story category.

Genre pie chart

Synopsis: Taking place in 19th century UK, Lydia Carlton is a fairy doctor-she can see fairies. When she is on her way to visit her father in London, she is kidnapped. Then she's rescued by a mysterious man named Edgar Ashenbert. Edgar claims to be the "Blue Knight Earl" and wants to reclaim his title with Lydia's help. Along with a talking cat, a frisky water/horse spirit, and two demonic servants, they set out to solve the mystery of this "inheritance" case.

Story and Characters:
Now, I've read the manga, but not the light novels. And I will be making comparisons between the manga and anime. So, let me try to put the story into a satirical form:
Edgar: Help me become the Blue Knight Earl. Lydia: Why do I have to?
Edgar. I can kill you. But I also think I love you. Lydia: Uhhh...
Raven: I am Edgar's loyal servant. Nico: MORE SHRIMP!!!
Edgar: Mr. Carlton, please let me marry your daughter. Lydia and her father: ?!?!?!?!
Edgar: You know, I was once in love with someone named Ermine. Kelpie: I want to mate with you, Lydia.
And then there's Huxley, who I really don't remember much about him.
I give the story creativity points. But looking at the story as a whole, it only vaguely made sense to me. The transition from different plot points is sometimes sudden and/or doesn't make sense. This is the kind of story that needs to marathoned in order to remember everything and to remember all the mysteries and "clues" in the anime. It's also not very enjoyable, either. But that may just be me, because I was waiting for some real chemistry between Lydia and Edgar.

I am not afraid to say I was struck with bishi fever when watching this anime. Obviously, there's Edgar, but then there's Kelpie, the water spirit in love Lydia and kind of looks like Kaname from Vampire Knight (CURSE YOU). And there's (another) character every other fangirl seems to love but I didn't, Raven. All these bishis did have some sort of a (back)story, but was either applied too lightly (Paul, Kelpie), or too heavily (Raven, Edgar). The character relationships, especially the ones involving Ermine, seemed a bit confusing, and would be more confusing had I not read the manga. Okay, let's talk about Lydia. I have mixed feeling about her. I appreciate that she's not entirely helpless and she isn't stupid, either. But she's stubborn, although with good reason. She doesn't develop much, except for her (reluctant) feelings towards Edgar. And like Lydia, I also had mixed feelings about Edgar. He's manipulative, a charmer, and not afraid to get what he wants by any means necessary. But at least he didn't treat Lydia like trash. I think this "split" was a good idea, though, because it offers a bit of darkness and "reality" to a main male character in a fantasy anime. It's even better if that kind of guy is your thing, if you get what I'm saying. He isn't clueless, like Tamaki Suoh, or very abrasive, like Kyo Sohma. But I think Edgar is fine as he is, because he's a different type of male love interest in shojo anime.


Art and Animation:
The Earl and The Fairy was produced by studio Artland, who also made the anime Mushi-shi. The art style isn't that different between the two, but it didn't suit The Earl and The Fairy very well. I thought the art was too flat and the colors were a little too pale. But I also thought they put more work into drawing Edgar than anyone else in the anime. Because this is a 2008 anime, I expected this to be a very beautiful looking shojo anime. Honestly, I expect shojo/romance anime to look nice (Ouran, Clannad). Cardcaptor Sakura, an anime that's 10 years older than The Earl and The Fairy looks better, in my opinion. Which is a shame, because the artwork in the light novels and the manga is VERY beautiful. And is it just me, or were all of Lydia's formal dresses really ugly? However, I can understand why they didn't want to put a lot of effort into drawing or the art.

The animation is about average as well. What comes to mind when thinking about the animation is whenever Raven fights. I just thought the flash of green and then seeing all the enemies go down was kind of cheap and cheesy. The opening animation also looks kind of cheap. But this is a shojo anime, and I think animation isn't supposed to be one of it's focuses.

Music:
Before I talk about the music, I would just like to say there is no voice category for this review because this anime has never been dubbed. Yeah, after my Attack on Titan review, I realized I can't judge the original voices in an anime very well.
I don't think there was at least one memorable OST track. I think it "set the mood" of the anime, but just wasn't exceptional in any way. The opening theme was okay, but it wasn't that great. It really didn't fit a historical, shojo anime, either. And I'm pretty sure the ending (well, this is mostly the animation we're talking about here) caused almost as many ovaries to explode as did the trailer for the Free! anime.

Execution and My Enjoyment:
Kind of how I said a high school slice-of-life comedy should not be super-long, a shojo anime should not be only 12-13 episodes. I don't think that's enough time for true, satisfying romantic development. The story was just too much to be compressed into 12 episodes. Normally, one volume of manga = 4-5 anime episodes. The first volume of the manga became the first 2 episodes of the anime. Yeah, I think you get the idea what the pacing of this show is like. This anime had far too much (somewhat disjointed) story elements crammed into 12 episodes. I don't mind when an anime tries to do a lot of things, like in Angel Beats, but that balanced many different genres, while The Earl and The Fairy had too many plot points condensed and overlapping.

Overall, this anime had nothing really special about it, and had a story that was too complicated (for me) in 12 episodes. The production quality is a bit low, in my opinion, and from episode 3 onward, I kept trying to remember what had happened and who was doing what. Along with the changes made from the manga, things got confusing fast, and watching this anime almost felt like a chore towards the end. But, like I've said many times before, I partially watched this to catch bishi fever. Enjoyment may vary between person to person depending if they prefer a complete retell of the original story or a different one.

The Score:
Averaging the 7 values for the categories listed above, I give The Earl and The Fairy a 6.54/10 and my teal flag. I would recommend this to anyone who wants bishi fever and can marathon these 12 episodes and not get confused.
Story: 6.7 Characters: 6.7
Art: 5.5 Animation: 5.4
Music: 5.2 Execution: 4.2
My Enjoyment: 6.1

Similar anime include Hanasakeru Seishōnen and Hatenkou Yugi. (Sorry, I got these from MyAnimeList.) But these do sound good. 

ONE OF THESE DAYS, I WILL GIVE A POSITIVE REVIEW OF A SHOJO ANIME.

NEXT REVIEW: Chobits

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 25 April 2014
Originally Published: 25 April 2014

IMPORTANT REVIEW UPDATE

I JUST HAD A BRILLIANT IDEA FOR MY REVIEWS:

Okay, I think a numerical average isn't enough to say if you should watch an anime or not. So, in my next review that comes out this Friday, I will start using this added system.

This system works by using 5 different colored "flags". Each color means something different on whether you should watch an anime and when.

These are the flags, and this is what they mean:

Pink Flag: Drop everything and watch this NOW. Anime that have earned Selena's Pink Flag include Death Note, Angel Beats, and Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood).

Orange Flag: Finish what you're watching, and then pick this up. Anime that have earned Selena's Orange Flag include Ouran High School Host Club, Kaze no Stigma, and Sword Art Online. 

Teal Flag: Watch this if you have time. Anime that have earned Selena's Teal Flag include Chrome Shelled Regios, Nabari no Ou, and most shonen anime longer than 100 episodes. 

Gray Flag: You probably shouldn't watch this, but if it sounds like your thing, go ahead. Anime that have earned Selena's Gray Flag include Rosario+Vampire, School Rumble, and Vampire Knight.

Black Flag: DO NOT WATCH. BAD BAD BAD. Anime that have earned Selena's Black Flag include This Ugly yet Beautiful World, School Days, and (shudder) Eiken.

I hope this can help my reviews get better! I am editing my next review and it will come out on Friday.

Cheers,
~Selena

Squeaky Clean Anime Taste Test: Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist) Episodes 1&2

From now on, I plan on regularly posting. I haven't quite figured out the schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'll post a review or something like this on a Friday or Saturday.

Okay, this is how my taste tests (first thoughts) will work (For now):
-They will not be longer than 3 episodes.
-I won't say a whole lot, unless it's about an ongoing seasonal anime.
-I won't do one for a lot of the seasonal stuff. Only what I feel I need to blog about.
Got that? Good.

Funny story about how I started watching this. No, I did not watch this when it came on Toonami. Instead of studying for a quiz (at least I spent part of my lunch studying), I decided to use a Chromebook I checked out from the school library and pulled up justdubs.tv (It's a good site, it's free, and it wasn't blocked.) I meant to click on Black Lagoon (I'm on episode 5) but accidentally clicked Blue Exorcist. So, I thought, "Why not?" And so I did. There was a substitute in my biology class, so she let us "study". So. Much. Win.

Okay, enough of that, let me talk about my first impression of this anime!
First off, the story. (Let me try to keep this short) Rin Okumura and his fraternal twin brother Yukio lived in a monestary with a priest/exorcist as a (foster) father. But when demons from the "other world" invade, Rin learns that the king of all demons, Satan himself, created Rin as a body for him to use when he invaded the human world. Then he is given a sword named Kurikara that sealed away his powers to keep with him at all times. So, Rin decides to enroll in an exorcist academy in order to defeat his father.

Not many characters are introduces in the first 2 episodes, but it's enough to get you attached to them quickly. I don't think there's a character I particularly hate so far, except maybe the punks who pick on Rin. Rin seems to follow the typical "I must get stronger!" troupe that pretty much every shonen anime protagonist falls into. But I also liked Yukio, partly because of his dub VA. So far, I don't think any one character is spectacular, but I'm only 2 episodes in.

The art is fine, I didn't have any problems with it. The animation, however is really good. I've only seen some action in the first 2 episodes, but I noticed it's not "cut-up" like a lot of other shonen anime do. I just hope that won't change as the show progresses. Ehhh...it probably will.

I didn't pay much attention to the OST that much, but both the opening and ending themes are great. I liked them. Hopefully, when I continue with this anime, I'll pay more attention to the OST.

The dub is actually pretty good for a shonen anime. You've got Bryce Papenbrook and Johnny Yong Bosch as the main characters, and they're easily recognizable. There is some cheesy dialogue, but when the show needs to, it doesn't sound like the actors are just reading off a script. So, I recommend the dub over the sub. (But IMO, you should always watch a shonen anime dubbed unless there is no dub.)

Blue Exorcist is another shonen anime and doesn't really do anything to set it apart from the others. It serves its purpose very well, though, and doesn't deny what it's trying to do.

Yes, I did enjoy these first 2 episodes. A LOT, actually. To be honest, this was a lot more fun to watch than the first episode of D. Gray-man, another shonen anime about exorcists. The first episode is great, but after seeing the second episode, it feels like the events of a first episode were stretched into 2. I found myself getting attatched to this anime, even going as far as considering buying a Blue Exorcist messenger bag off Craigslist for $15, despite having only seen the first two episodes. So, this should go without saying, but I am very excited to continue with this anime.

And now for the interesting part! I actually noticed that Blue Exorcist is a cross between two other shonen anime, Bleach and Naruto. Why?

Similarities to Bleach:
-Main character has an "evil" self inside them
-Uses a sword to fight evil beings
-Likes to pick fights.

Similarities to Naruto:
-Hated as a child because they're demonic
-Main character is a bit of a knucklehead
-(Probably) Blamed for their father's death
-THIS MOMENT:

Honestly, the first thing I thought when seeing this was "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"

So, how did you guys like my first thoughts on Blue Exorcist? Should I do first thoughts more often? And if you're going to comment, please no spoilers for the anime or the manga.

My Earl and The Fairy review will come out NEXT WEEK FRIDAY. It's almost done.

Cheers,
~Selena

Last Updated: 18 April 2014
Originally Published: 18 April 2014

Death Note Literary Essay!

I'm sorry I didn't publish a review in March, and the one I gave you was...kind of bad. So, to make it up, here's something I wrote for my English class. FUN STORY: We had a student teacher for a term, and HE IS A FANDOM PERSON \(*^*)/. So, wen he told us to write a literary essay on anything, I chose one of my favorite animes. So, here it is!

Selena H. C(Not giving away my last name)

Mr. Lucas Jordan

Pre-IB Literature and Composition I

Wed. 12 March 2014

Death Note Literary Analysis

The manga/anime series Death Note has many themes among its intense, complex story. Some of these themes may be controversial, but one looms taller than the rest. And that is absolute power corrupts even those with the most noble of ambitions. In the story, Light’s main goal and primary focus of the story shifted from killing criminals and “cleaning up this rotten world”, to finishing off those who got in his way. He manipulated women and their feelings to his advantage, only to dispose of them like broken dolls in the end. Eventually, power corrupted Light so much he was willing to sacrifice his family for his own ends. The (almost) absolute power of the Death Note crafted Light into the anti-hero we all know and (love or hate, you pick).

Part of how Light became corrupted is how much he focused on killing criminals. At the start of the rising action, Light realizes his goal of killing criminals and becoming “God.” But once his foe, L was introduced, Light vows to eliminate him. As more and more of Light’s adversaries are introduced to the story, Light decides to kill anyone who gets in his way, seeing them as no better than the criminals he targets. From then on, the story is less focused on killing criminals and more focused on the cat-and-mouse chase between the two ideals of justice. The whole “cleansing the world” idea sort of got tossed out of the window and was only used as a means so Light wouldn’t get caught. His “duty” went on the back burner, so to say. First, Light had to use Raye Penber to kill the FBI agents in Japan, and then finish off Raye himself. Then Light killed Naomi, Raye’s fiancé, because she was too close to the truth. Light was even considering killing Misa, because he thought of her as a nuisance. Slowly, Light’s standards for killing people with the Death Note changed as the stakes got higher and higher. The absolute power of the Death Note corrupted his morals. That includes manipulating women in particular, and their hearts.

Another way Light became corrupted was how he manipulated many women and their hearts, only to use them or finish them off. First, a whole episode was spent seeing how Light manipulated Naomi Misora, the woman looking for her fiancé’s killer. He built her trust, only so he could find out her name to write in the Death Note, because she was too close to the truth. Then we have Misa Amane, driven by love/infatuation for Kira, because he brought justice to her parents’ killer. Light realized he could use her, so he took advantage of her pure, undying love for Kira. But as useful as Misa was to Light, he still found her annoying, and treated her badly. In fact, Misa was so in love with Light, when she found out about his death, she committed suicide the same day. And lastly, we have Kiyomi Takada, a former girlfriend of Light's. He promised her to be his goddess, once he conquered the world as Kira. She was willing to do almost anything for him, like Misa was. But in the end, after she killed Mello, Light used the Death Note to have her commit suicide. She was no longer useful to him, and he needed to destroy the evidence pointing to him. And if manipulating women’s trust and romantic feelings weren’t enough, he was willing to sacrifice his family to not get caught.

Lastly, power corrupted Light so much, his goal was more important than his family. When his younger sister Sayu was kidnapped by Mello and his gang, Mello demanded the Death Note that was in the possession of the task force. Light’s father, Soichiro, agreed to make the deal, but Light wasn’t as eager. He briefly considered using the Death Note to kill his younger sister so the deal couldn’t be made. But, whatever left of his morals kicked in, and Light let Mello have his victory. It was because of the deal that the operation to catch Mello and retrieve the Death Note happened. And it was because of this operation that Soichiro died. Light only wanted his father to write Mello’s real name in the Death Note while he still had the Shinigami eyes. It is clear that Light was willing to do anything if it meant his success in the end.

In conclusion, The Death Note corrupted Light in many ways, and really drove the plot into interesting directions. It went in a cycle, see. Light initially decided to kill criminals, but soon focused on eliminating whoever was against Kira. Then, Light thought of ways to manipulate women to his advantage. Finally, he was willing to sacrifice his family, so no one would be safe from Kira’s justice. This anime, without a doubt, proves that absolute power can corrupt anybody, no matter how intelligent or what their goals are.

Source:

Death Note. Dir. Tetsuro Araki. Perf. Brad Swaile, Alessandro Juliani, Shannon Chan-Kent, Cathy Weseluck. VIZ media, 2006. DVD.

Comments correcting my grammar are welcome. Yes, I will eventually do a full Death Note anime review.

Also, I am planing to do "Fandom Tops", Top 5,10,25, you name it, lists relating to fandoms. So far, I have 2 lists planned out. Which would you like to see first: Top 10 books/book series that deserve a (bigger) fandom, or Top 10 ridiculously sweet and kind male characters in anime? PLEASE comment which one!

And that's all from me! You are also welcome to suggest Fandom Tops, but I will say I have limited firsthand knowledge.

Cheers,

~Selena

Squeaky Clean Anime Movie Review: Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

Movies based off video games have certainly earned their lackluster reputation. But, in this case, I proudly present you with an exception to this trend. In honor of the release of the final game in the Layton series here in the US, I present to you, my first anime movie review, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva.

Genres: Video Game, Adventure,
Synopsis:
The story is told as a long flashback, from between Curious Village and Diabolical Box, to between Last Specter and Miracle Mask (I live in the US, so the names may be different where you live). The professor receives a letter from a former student of his, inviting Layton and Luke to an opera she is starring in. But the opera soon turns into a deadly game for the quest of eternal life. Can the Professor, along with new and familiar faces alike, solve the mystery and expose whoever's behind this baffling case?


Story and Characters:
Okay, first of all, if you're not familiar with any of the Professor Layton games, they are known for having many rather large plot holes. But, to be honest, it's these plot holes that actually define a Layton game. With plot holes, come a lot of speculation. And eventually, your brain starts to fill in the gaps, especially after going through the story a second time. And the actual plot you are given is quite fantastic, in my opinion. Anyways, BACK TO THE MOVIE. Like most anime movies, you have to grasp at what's going on very early on, and it will all make sense towards the middle of the movie. As an actual entry in the Professor Layton chronology, it actually serves its purpose very well. And if it wan't initially planned, I'd say these guys did a darn good job planning the story. (I'm sorry if I don't say a whole lot about this movie in this review, it's really easy to give spoilers.)

The cast of characters isn't terribly large, and it probably feels that way because we've seen some of them in Last Specter. I think everyone gets enough screen time and development in the movie. Besides the main characters that we've all seen before, there's also Janice (or Jenis) who stars in the opera. Then there's Oswald Whistler, his dead daughter Melina, and the rest of the rich and famous members of the audience that get caught up in the game. Every character contributes to the story, and each one is memorable in their own way.


Art and Animation:
The art is exactly what you'd expect from the Professor Layton series. P.A Works did the animation, so it looks exactly like the full animation cutscenes from the game. The art is 2-D, simple, charming, and looks beautiful when it wants to.

Now, the animation isn't like, super high quality, but knowing the Professor Layton series, it does its job fine. There are a few fast, action scenes, but they're very enjoyable and not so "cut-up" like a lot of shonen anime likes to do.


Voice and Music:
The first thing you may notice about this dub (if you live in the US) is that not all the voice roles are consistent with the games. Yes, I know some of the roles are the ones used in the European English dub, but it was still a little strange to me. I just wish they weren't so lazy and decided to use the localized VA's.

The OST of this movie actually has a lot of repeated or slightly varied tracks And many of these are variations of themes we've heard before in previous Layton games. A lovely change to the OST is that we hear the original Japanese vocals by Nana Mizuki. And they are FANTASTIC. The ending theme was stuck in my head for days.


Execution and My Enjoyment:
Like I said before, this movie does its job almost perfectly. It fits right into the story, and is even referenced in Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy. It doesn't try to do anything crazy to throw off the whole scheme of the games, and that's great. Watching this movie is essential if you want the full Professor Layton story.

As for enjoyment, well... I've seen this move many times, actually. but that's because I am a BIG fan of the Layton series. How much you enjoy this movie really depends on how much you like the games, because the movie follows a very similar pattern. There are a few plot twists, and you can even solve puzzles during the movie. Yes, there are PUZZLES IN the movie. but there's only about 4 or 5.


The Score:
Averaging the 8 values for the catergories listed above, I give Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva an 8.1/10 and would HIGHLY recommend this movie to anyone who has played the first four Layton games. Seriously, you should. But if you haven't, then sadly, this movie is not really for you.

Story: 8.8 Characters: 7.2
Art: 7.5 Animation: 7.2
Voice: 6.8 (Why you no localize?!?!) Music: 8.8
Execution: 9.0 My Enjoyment: 9.5

For similar wait... Actually, I can't really think of anything similar to recommend. However, there is a live action movie based off the first Ace Attorney game, a series very similar to Professor Layton. If you've played the game (they do skip over some of the events from the game) I suggest you check out the live action movie.

SORRY I didn't publish a review for March! This was supposed to be it, but I'll try and get out my next review and something else out for April.

NEXT REVIEW: The Earl and The Fairy (Hakushaku to Yosei)

Last Updated: 8 April 2014
Originally Published: 1 April 2014