Finally!!

After lots of efforts and a long wait, I finally managed to establish our very own university anime & manga society; the University of Strathclyde Anime & Manga Society (USAMS). We held our first meeting today at the Debates Chamber in the Student Union building from 6:00 to 8:00 pm (well, it actually lasted more than 2 hours because I took a long time to do the introductions and stuff but I digress). I screened the first episodes of School Rumble (first season), Honey & Clover (first season), Starship Operators and Monster.

The attendance was less than expected but that is probably because it’s a Friday night and most people have other things to do. Our next meeting will be on a Wednesday night so hopefully we will get more members to attend.

The people who attended loved all 4 shows. As expected, School Rumble was a riot and resulted in more laughs than the other shows. All members thought Monster was impressive and of high quality (not surprising really. It is Monster after all!). They also enjoyed Honey & Clover and Morita was an instant favourite! Starship Operators got them thinking and speculating which is exactly what I want. Hopefully, they will enjoy the episodes screened next meeting (^_^)

Pumpkin Scissors First Impressions

An anime about war relief?!!
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I’m hooked \(^o^)/

I was attracted to this anime before it even aired solely because of the artwork on the official website. After watching the first episode, I can indeed say that this is going to be a very interesting show.

I’ll try and list some of my observations from the first episode. First of all, the story takes place in a fictional European setting but judging from the names, the military outfits and the military gear, the setting is heavily based on Germany. It is possible that the Germany in question here is Germany under the rule of the Kaiser and it is also possible that the story is based on Germany during the Nazi era. I personally believe that the Germany in question here is the one that was under the Kaiser rule and that is for three reasons:

a) The country in the anime is an empire and modern Germany form 1871 to 1918 was also a monarchy under the rule of an emperor (Kaiser in German)

b) Chemical weapons, which were featured in this episode, were used extensively in World War I and Germany during that war was still a monarchy. Both side of the war have used this nasty weapon extensively with disastrous effects.

c) The setting and military gear that was used in the so called “Blood calls out for more blood war” in the anime is very reminiscent of the settings and gear during World War I.

What makes this anime interesting is that, unlike many movies about this subject, it doesn’t try to demonise fictional Germany here. Instead, it focuses on a very important and interesting subject and that is war relief. It’s always easy to start a war but it very hard to rebuild nations after the war ends. The after effects of wars can last for decades and that is strongly emphasised in this anime.





I am very pleased with the art and animation. The character designs are very attractive and fit the serious nature and European setting of the show and that was what attracted me to the show in the first place. I also like the Pumpkin Scissors outfits a lot and I don’t mind having one. The animation is clean and solid and the staff have done a very good job of animating the military and civilian gear that was used in World War I. It’s interesting to note that the animation was jointly done by AIC and Gonzo. While I don’t have a favourable opinion towards AIC, I must admit that they did an excellent job at animating Gun X Sword. The combination of their talents with the tried and tested talents of Gonzo should (hopefully) keep the animation and art at a high level throughout the series.





The voice acting is excellent and all the chosen voices fit their roles perfectly. Not only that but we also have a character (Miss Stekkin) that is voiced by Kana Ueda so Kana fans rejoice (^_^). Kana also sings in the ending song.

The opening is a fast exciting song that fits the action (or battle) nature of the show. The ending is a cute funny song that seems to tell the life of the messenger dog in the anime (Mer kun). I like both songs and the animation in both is also well done.

The main focus in this anime seems to be on two characters, Second lieutenant Alice Malvin who leads the operations of the Pumpkin Scissors battalion and the retired corporal Randal Orland. As usual, anime openings are very spoilerific and the opeing to this anime is no exception. Based on what I have seen in the opening and the actual episode itself, I’m guessing that Orland was (along with the other soldiers in his battalion) basically a guinea pig for a tragic conditioning experiment that aimed to produce invincible soldiers. A sort of brainwashing so to speak which is similar to what you see in Gunslinger Girl. The battle mode of the soldier is then activated using a blue light lantern. This is only a guess though so don’t come chasing after me if it turns out to be wrong. Alice on the other hand seems to be of aristocratic breed but she seems very motivated and idealistic for an aristocratic girl (Alfredo, forgive me). She probably has very good reasons for joining the military and that will probably be revealed later on. As for the dog; he is either very hungry or he has a strong sense of justice that makes him bite jerks in the head (-_-;;)

And that’s that. I am definitely looking forward to the next episode. A lot of thanks goes to Eclipse for picking this show. Oh, and one more thing; it’s interesting to have an anime with the title “Pumpkin Scissors” that starts airing in October which is also the month of Halloween. (^o^) Pumpkin fans rejoice!