Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet Anime Review

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
Suisei no Garugantia
Viz Media
Complete Collection - 2 discs
330 minutes - 13 episodes + 2 OVA episodes
$69.98 (2014) DVD/Blu-Ray 4 discs
$44.98 (2014) DVD only
ISBN 782009243571
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Kazuya Murata
Studio - Production I.G

Synopsis: Humanity has left Earth behind and traveled to the stars, but conflict has followed them. The human race is in dire battle with a formidable alien species called the Hideauze (called the whale-squids).  The Galactic Alliance is sworn to eradicate the aliens to keep humanity safe, but the aliens have shown no quarter. Ensign Ledo is a Machine Caliber pilot during a massive assault on a Hideauze space stronghold. The human forces fall into disarray as the Hideauze unleash a powerful weapon. During the retreat Ledo and his battle suit "Chamber" are pulled into a wormhole.

The Galactic Alliance suffers a difficult defeat attacking the Hideauze home planet

Separated from the fleet and awakening on a strange planet covered in a seemingly endless ocean, Ledo discovers he has been in stasis for six months. A group of native scavengers have found him and taken him back to their floating city called the Gargantia.  He considers them primitives, but realizes he's been stranded light years from the fleet with no way to rejoin them.  He joins the ranks of the Gargantia in order to survive and mostly due to the brave, beautiful girl Amy who befriends him.

Chamber, controlled by Ledo, appears to the citizens of the Gargantia

Ledo's status on the Gargantia is elevated due to controlling Chamber who possesses tech light years beyond that of the natives' crude mech suits. They scavenge the underwater depths to find tech left behind by a lost civilization. A great mystery begins when Chamber alerts Ledo to the fact the ocean planet is actually humanity's birthplace - Earth! What caused humanity to leave this planet behind for the stars? The stakes become high when Ledo discovers a whale-squid lurking among the waters. What is their terrible secret and how did they find Earth? Ledo and Chamber are not alone on the planet and are headed for a desperate showdown for survival! Can even their formidable might save the Gargantia and the remnants of humanity?

Amy becomes Ledo's guide and first friend on the Gargantia

Pros: Really nice animation and character designs, some interesting science fiction plot concepts - especially the twist near the end of the series, very likable characters, the OVA episodes are included, Ledo's character development was well done, Chamber (the mecha Ledo pilots) is another good character, some very mild fan-service (particularly the pirate captain Lukkage)

Ledo struggles to find his place on the Gargantia and away from his mission

Cons: Characters are all fairly one-dimensional and simple, situations and plot devices are fairly simple, ending could have been more severe with heavier casualties - it tied up a little to neatly, fan-service seems out of place in this series which develops into a post-apocalyptic mystery, no second season = no more answers to dangling plot points at the end of the series

A diving suit is destroyed when a nest of whalesquids are disturbed

Mike Tells It Straight: Gargantia is an original release from Production I.G and directed by Kazuya Murata, best known for his work on Code Geass and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos movie. Story concept is done by Gen Orobuchi who is a well-known series creator and writer (nicknamed the Orobutcher for some of his darker series). He's best known for being the creator of Psycho-Pass and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He also scripts the first and last episodes here.

Ledo and Chamber go wild when they discover whalesquids exist on Earth

I enjoyed watching Gargantia for the slick visuals and casual science fiction. The plot is a fairly straightforward riff on the 'stranger in a strange land' storyline crossed with the 'hero's journey'. The characters are definitely the strong point for the series. Ledo is a great main character who grew up in a sterile outer space society too busy churning out soldiers to fight a desperate battle with the Hideauze.  His immersion in Gargantia's emotional human society begins a journey of soul-searching and eventual transformation into a hero.

The pirate captain Lukkage and Pinion are captured by a mysterious cult fleet

The other Gargantia crewmembers were fun to watch and Amy was a plucky supporting character slash love interest for Ledo.  You can tell the chemistry between the two early on and especially when Amy's friends try to cozy up to the new alien boy.  Chamber is awesome as a mecha and as a character.  More than just a robot suit, it ('he') is a genuine character.

The cult fleet rules with a Machine Caliber Striker which is very familiar to Ledo

The series does a great job balancing serious themes with lighthearted moments. Overall it stays on the light side and I think that serves it better than going too dark. Fans of Orobuchi may be disappointed with the ending if they're expecting a major bloodbath. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of heavy moments as the mysteries get revealed, but it's not overwhelming.

Striker is controlled by Ledo's superior Kugel who also was stranded on Earth 

The plot twists and characters keep you engaged throughout and it's a decent series.  I didn't think much of the series when I first watched it, but somehow it ended up in my collection.  I think the science fiction elements reminded me of why I got into anime in the first place and that's what I really liked.

Ledo finds a second home with Amy and the crew of the Gargantia

Psycho-Pass Anime Review

Psycho-Pass Season One
Saiko Pasu
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
550 mins - 22 episodes
$159.98 (2014) Blu-Ray
$64.98 (2014) Parts 1-2/ea.
ISBN 704400094309
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Katsuyuki Motohiro/Naoyoshi Shiotani
Studio - Production I.G

Synopsis: The year is 2113 and Japan has achieved a peaceful society through the use of an advanced technological system which predicts the probability of a person committing a crime through neural scanning.  The Sibyl System is unique and uses a crime coefficient to determine whether at any time a person will be likely to commit a serious crime.  Cymatic scanners are honeycombed throughout each city to read the 'Psycho-Pass' of citizens and detect latent criminals.  The Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division is in charge of hunting down these latent criminals to remove them from active society.  A non-cloudy Psycho-Pass is a badge of honor in this society and proves an individual is highly stable.

Akane (driving) is a rookie Inspector with Public Safety
and her partner is Ginoza

The Sibyl system also performs aptitude tests and determines the vocational ability of citizens.  Some are graded to menial labor while others with exceedingly clear Psycho-Pass scores are given prestigious jobs.  In this way a new class system governed by a computer system has emerged.  When the Criminal Investigation Division hunts latent criminals they are armed with a special handgun called a Dominator.  These weapons are linked directly to the Sibyl System and are able to read the crime coefficients of anyone they are pointed at.  When they are pointed at someone with an unacceptably high coefficient score then the system arms them with an appropriate sanction response.  These range from stun to complete annihilation for those given an extreme sanction order.  This is a society where you are punished for crimes you may someday commit and lawfully killed if the your crime coefficient is high enough.

Akane is paired with the Enforcer Masaoka who was an experienced
detective before being labelled a latent criminal by the Sibyl System

Latent criminals are typically apprehended and sent to rehabilitation facilities where they are treated to reduce their crime coefficients and eventually rejoin society.  The success rate is not very high and many find their Psyco-Pass scores going even higher.  Some latent criminals are drafted by the Criminal Investigation Division to become Enforcers who assist Inspectors in apprehending more latent criminals.  The Enforcers are still incarcerated at PSB headquarters and only allowed to move in public under the supervision of an Inspector.  Both Inspectors and Enforcers can carry Dominators.

The Dominator is a variable handgun settings ranging from
incapacitation to complete cellular annihilation 

Akane Tsunemori is a rookie Inspector with an incredibly low and stable Psycho-Pass.  She scored so high on the aptitude placements that she could choose any profession and chose the Criminal Investigation Division.  Her naivete as a rookie is highly apparent, but she is determined to do a good job.  Working with Enforcers for the first time is a shock.  She's never been around latent criminals and society assigns a massive stigma to them.  She's surprised to find they are just like regular people yet have high crime coefficients.  She works with Unit One and struggles with the moral questions posed by trusting in the Sibyl System.  What if it's not perfect?  Can it be fooled?  These questions haunt Akane as she gains more experience investigating crimes and dealing with latent criminals.

From left - Shion, Kagari, Yayoi, Kogami, Akane, Ginoza, and Masaoka

Unit One is made up of:

• Akane Tsunemori - bright and shining new Inspector with an incredibly clear Psycho-Pass.  What will happen to her perfect mental state when exposed to latent criminals and those who have passed wholeheartedly to the dark side of human nature?
• Nobuchika Ginoza - senior Inspector to Akane and tasked with training her in dealing with the Enforcers and hunting latent criminals.  He treats the Enforcers as second class citizens and warns Akane to limit her association with them or risk clouding her Psycho-Pass.
• Shinya Kogami - intense, passionately driven and an adept detective.  He's obsessed with solving a particularly gruesome case from the past which caused his Psycho-Pass to become permanently clouded.  
• Tomomi Masaoka - an old school detective with skills to rival Kogami's and a prosthetic cyber-arm.  He's honest and becomes a mentor to Akane which makes her begin questioning the accuracy of the Sibyl System.  He describes the Enforcers as hunting dogs for the Inspectors.
• Shusei Kagari - a spirited young man who was determined to be a latent criminal at the age of 5.  He is good-natured and enjoys teasing Akane.  
• Yayoi Kunizuka - she is the calmest member of Unit One despite being a latent criminal.  
• Shion Karanomori - analyst and support for Unit One, she is also a latent criminal

Unit One is sent to investigate a series of murders at a drone factory
which is completely cut off from the outside world

Several new and disturbing crime trends have recently started and Unit One is very busy investigating them.  They include popular online avatars being taken over by a mysterious killer, a copycat serial killer with links to the case Kogami is still trying to solve, and the appearance of a technology which may be able to fool even the Sibyl System.  Who is Makishima and what are his links to these seemingly unrelated crimes?  Akane, Kogami, and the entire Unit One will be put to the ultimate test to determine whether the Sibyl System is truly foolproof.

Kogami fires his Dominator

Pros: Interesting premise based on psychological profiling to regulate society, great characters and their interactions, opening/ending theme songs are really good, animation quality is top notch, some major plot twists which build up to the first season ending, Makishima is a worthy opponent (loved all the literature quotes and references), the relationship between Tsunemori and Kogami is powerful, Tsunemori's trials and character development are strong by the end of the series, there's a second season

Akane talks with virtual celebrity Spooky Boogie

Cons: Only 22 episodes (typical TV series is 24 to 26), currently only an over-priced complete collection ('limited edition') available (this should change as an economical box set is released in the near future), ending was a bit too philosophical

Akane, Shion, and Yayoi discuss a case

Mike Tells It Straight: I'd heard good things online about Psycho-Pass and decided to check it out (definitely not buying the over-priced, limited edition complete collection that's out right now).  It was a great mix of sci-fi and crime detective stories.  The animation was good, soundtrack was excellent (opening/ending themes plus background music during episodes), mix of characters was interesting, and storyline progressed to a decent conclusion.  There were quite a few plot twists thrown in there which kept me guessing and I dug the philosophical topics the series presented.

Who is the enigmatic Makishima?

The premise of having a society run by a supercomputer that judges people on potential outcomes was novel.  Akane seemed like a weak character when she started out as a rookie, but really picked it up by the end of the series.  She gets put through the wringer big time.  The antagonist, Makishima, is a worthy foe and he was a great character (loved the literature quotes and references he mentioned).  The varying crimes Unit One investigated were curious and used a two-episode style (introduce the crime in the first episode and then resolve it in the second).  The second half of  the series focuses on the Sibyl System and apprehending Makishima.

The sudden appearance of this group of helmeted thugs spells disaster

It's a dark show at times with serial killers and gory deaths (the Dominators can literally blow people apart).  I thought the guns were a bit gimmicky, but they served a distinct purpose to the plot.  The characters were good although practically no development happened outside of Akane.  The pacing is great and I liked the moral questions posed (judging criminals before they have even committed a crime).  Some good suspense and drama with a distinct conclusion.  I heartily recommend this show and it's well done.  Sure, there's plenty to nit-pick with the plot and the ending could have been handled better, but I found the series engaging.  Looking forward to checking out the second season when it's released.

Is Akane truly cut out to be an Inspector?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom Anime Review

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom
Funimation
Complete Collection - 7 discs
650 mins. - 26 episodes
$74.98 (2012) DVD/Blu-Ray
$59.98 (2011) Parts 1-2/ea.
ISBN 704400087745
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Koichi Mashimo
Studio - GENCO/Bee Train

Synopsis: A young Japanese man awakens in a room with no recollection of who or why he is there.  All he knows for certain is someone is trying to kill him.  He exits the room and is confronted by the attacker - a girl wearing a mask.  She tells him "If you want to live, come at me with everything you've got!" before renewing her attack.  The young man manages to survive her attacks and land an offensive move.  The girl is revealed to be named Ein and the top assassin for a powerful criminal organization called Inferno.  Inferno's top assassin is designated "Phantom" and the young man will now be trained to become a killer.  His memory lost, the young man is named Zwei by the man in charge of the "Phantom" project called the Scythe Master.

Ein gives the future Zwei a little motivation to fight back

Ein begins Zwei's difficult training and it is revealed his survival instincts and innate talents as a killer may even surpass hers.  She is an emotionless killer and brainwashed by Scythe Master to be an obedient puppet.  Zwei goes through the same brainwashing, but still clings to the hope of discovering his missing past.  Inferno is a coalition of criminal organizations and continues to grow by adding new groups.  Inferno uses the Phantom to keep their members in line and frighten opposition.  In the event a group refuses to join then Inferno convinces the second-tier members of the group to join by putting them in power after the Phantom eliminates the first-tier.

Zwei is trained by Ein to become an emotionless tool for killing

A high-ranking member of Inferno, Claudia McCunnen manages the Scythe Master and his Phantom project.  She dislikes and distrusts him due to his conniving and sadistic manner.  She plants the seed in Zwei's mind that he is not just a tool, but has individuality.  It leads to his alignment with her instead of blindly following the Scythe Master's commands as Ein does.  Claudia is attended by a tough woman named Lizzie who grew up and joined Inferno with her.  It is revealed Claudia's brother died as a street thug and she is living out his dream to become a powerful member of a criminal organization.  She plans to someday lead Inferno through cunning and manipulation.

Claudia manipulates Zwei

A power-struggle between Claudia and Scythe Master leaves Ein and Zwei on opposite sides.  Two deadly assassins with skills honed to a razor's edge.  Who will dominate Inferno?  Will Zwei regain his lost memory and can he free Ein from Scythe Master's programming?  Even if he can help Ein, will the two be able to escape from Inferno and live a normal life after spilling so much blood?  

Ein and Zwei pose as a couple to stake out a location

Pros: Slick animation style and backgrounds (thanks to Bee Train), nice CG (computer graphics) effects, music is pretty good, loved the evil masks Ein and Zwei wear during jobs, a few interesting plot twists, some fan-service (Lizzie in the first ep and plenty of Claudia throughout), adequately dark ending

Zwei takes aim during a hit

Cons: Predictable and cliche, main characters are totally apathetic and boring, too long at 26 episodes, the head of Inferno looks like a wussy version of Sephiroth from FF7 and is named McGwire, assassins in high school drama, totally lame LA street gang called the "Bloodies" (a play on the actual LA street gang the "Bloods"), the title of the series - why not just Requiem for the Phantom (instead of having Phantom twice)?, Zwei taking in a little girl

Zwei takes in this little girl after she witnesses a hit

Mike Tells It Straight: Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom is based on a visual novel game (i.e. choose-your-own-adventure) called Phantom: Phantom of Inferno.  Seems kind of silly to use the word Phantom twice in each title, but I guess it's consistent.  Requiem was not the first animated adaptation of Phantom of Inferno - back in 2004 (2006 for the US market) a 3-episode OVA (original video animation) called Phantom: The Animation was released.  The game and OVA must have been fairly well-received to spawn a full animated series.

Ein after a particularly hard day at work

Bee Train (the animation studio) helped produce this series and they previously created a pair of very similar, well-known series - Noir and Madlax which focused on assassins (although those two series starred women assassins). The studio is very good at assassin movies and this series is put together very nicely.  The action flows pretty well and the plot kept me relatively interested through most of it.

Scythe Master and his deadly puppet assassins

Unfortunately for Requiem I feel assassin shows are a bit played out in anime - Noir, Madlax, and Golgo 13 (assassin shows in general due to Hitman, Assassins, and The Specialist) have all come before .  They have all come before and Requiem doesn't add much to the genre.  I don't need to see another slow-motion assassination with classical music playing in the background.  The typical anime assassin's personality is completely apathetic and boring.  I get it - killing makes you an emotionless shell, but these are not characters I can form any emotional attachment towards.

Zwei and Ein as creepy puppet killers

If you loved Noir and Madlax then Requiem is a nice return to this corner of the genre (although no girl-on-girl romance thing happening).  I thought it was passable, but too long for a full 26-episode series.  Let's just cut to the chase and have our heart-wrenching death-duel between Ein & Zwei.  The addition of Drei (btw, ein, zwei, drei = 1, 2, 3 in German) was superfluous to the main story.  Decent action, only semi-decent plot, and pretty visuals, but drags on and nothing new conceptually.

TO BUY and Recommendations: