The Anime Music Dilemma

After watching the Rozen Maiden Overture OAV, I noticed there was a commercial at the end of the last episode that promoted the new TV series Venus versus Virus. I was interested in the background music they used for the commercial and I said to my self that this is probably the opening theme for that show. I checked the first episode on YouTube and it really turned out to be the opening theme.

You know, it’s really a shame. I really like the opening song but the story of this how is definitely not my cup of tea. It’s interesting how many anime shows have some of my favourite openings and endings but I don’t give a damn about the stories in any of them. A good example is Bleach. I have no interest whatsoever in the story of Bleach but I love many of the openings and endings used in that show like "*~Asterisk" by Orange Range, "Rolling star" by YUI, "Life" by YUI and "My Pace" by SunSet Swish. Another example is Jigoku Shoujo. I love the opening for the first season and the ending songs for the first and second season but I have no interest in the show itself. Strange isn’t it?!

Speaking about Bleach, I think they should make a spinoff show based on it starring Orihime and Kon. They’re about the only characters in the show that I find inetersting (>_<).

About Auchinawa, Overture and other stuff…

Man, it’s been a long time since I posted anything here. University studies can sure take away a lot of your time. Oh, well. At least I don’t have any exams anymore. I took my final university exam yesterday and all that is left for me is to undertake my industrial training project next semester and write a long report about it but I think I can handle that better than handling exams. I managed to watch quite a lot of old shows in the past few months so I wasn’t completely isolated from the anime scene. Also, I’m thoroughly enjoying running my anime club even though I run into technical difficulties every now and then. I feel like the club is my own child and I have to watch over it until it grows up and is able to stand on its feet. I also managed to attend my first anime convention (It was called Auchinawa 2006 and was held in the Quality Hotel in Glasgow). While the convention wasn’t as big as the ones you see in the US or Canada (and I didn’t expect it to be) it was still an interesting experience. The one thing I was proud of the most was the fact that an article I submitted to the convention supervisors got published in the official convention booklet which was handed to every person who attended the convention (^_^). I submitted the article after the submission deadline so you can imagine the look on my face when I opened my copy of the convention booklet and saw my name on the contents page. One of my friends who attended the convention with me wondered why I was standing in a queue with other people to get my official convention badge when I was one of the official contributors of the convention booklet! Now, that I think about it, he’s got a point (>_<).The Article was about the phenomenon of anime blogging and I got the idea from one of Jeff Lawson's posts where he mentioned the need to have an anime blogging panel in anime conventions.

Now for the main reason for this post, namely Rozen Maiden Overture.



I have to say that this OAV left me speechless. Definitely one of the best OAVs that I have ever seen. The art and animation were oozing with quality. The music (especially the ending theme by Kukui) was gorgeous. The most important aspect, however, was the story. We now know how Shinku and Suigentou met and how they ended up hating each other. I’ve seen a side that I’ve never seen before of both Shinku and Suigentou (and Souseiseki for that matter). I completely agree with a Garten that both dolls share a responsibility of the tragic turn of events that led to the current status quo in Traumend. I also agree with the irony of Suigentou taking Souseiseki’s Roza Mystica at the end of Traumend after she was Souseiseki’s innocent victim when she met her for the first time. This OAV even managed to make me feel sympathetic for Suigentou, something I never thought would happen. I have to admit that the true beauty of Suigentou appears when she is sad and broken! (I know that’s harsh but it’s true!).

I have one more thing to say. I really think Father Rozen (the dolls’ creator) is a BLOODY BASTARD. What the hell is with all this Alice game crap. He’s basically toying with them (pun not intended!) I bet he’s sitting somewhere watching over them and enjoying seeing them suffer! The dolls must start using their brains (assuming they have one), unite together and declare a rebellion against Rozen and his stupid game. Now that would make a great ending! At least I can count on Suiseiseki, the only voice of reason in the group, to achieve this. You go girl! You will always be the one and only true Alice (^_^).

A lot of loose ends have been tied here and I have no doubt in my mind that a third season is in the works as we speak. Now I know why Taro Aso, the foreign secretary of Japan, is fond of this story. I think his political attitudes are very similar to that of Shinku (>_<).

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!