Welcome to 2016 my fellow readers! Today we are going to start off the New Year with a brand new anime review. The reason for that is because I intended to review this anime instead of Cowboy Bebop. However, I had to wait for this anime to finish it's second half before I can make a proper review for it. So I had to binge watch Cowboy Bebop so I can fulfill my promise of giving you anime-related posts. Anyway, the anime is finished, I finally watched it and now I am more than happy to review one of the anime shows of 2015 which is called Owari No Seraph. Also, I will be trying this new thing in these reviews where I try to make them as spoiler-free as possible. That way, you can read my reviews before considering your decision on watching them or not.
Also known as Seraph of the End and Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign, it is based on the most recent manga of the same name and it is written by Takaya Kagami (A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives, The Legend of Legendary Heroes) and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto (Kure-nai). It is brought to life with the help of Wit Studios, the same animation studios that brought you one of the most high-grossing anime shows of 2013, Attack on Titan. The manga and the anime itself came at the same time, so it is safe to say that we will be expecting more from this show considering the buzz it has created. There is also an ongoing Light novel for this explaining the story of one of the major characters. The anime is also split into two parts during the year. First focuses on a battle in Shinjuku and the second half is called Battle in Nagoya, and as the name implies, the story takes a dark turn during a mission in Nagoya.
Plot
Okay now let me break it down for you; An apocalypse occurred in Japan and it killed almost the entire population. The survivors are children, random demonic creatures, and the worst...vampires. The vampires take over everything, taking advantage of the calamity by offering protection for the humans in exchange for their blood. Now this starts a tyrannical rule amongst vampires and the people are now treated like food or "livestocks". Mikaela and Yuuichiro, the captives taken to the Vampire Kingdom, dream of a life of their own away from vampires. They attempt to go after that goal, but it failed terribly and this left Yuuichiro as the only survivor. Before he can grieve, he learns that not all the humans are dead and there is Japanese Imperial Demon Army and the Moon Demon Company, and their only purpose is to exterminate all vampires. Yuuichiro joins them to avenge Mikaela and his orphan family. But little did he know the Mikaela actually survived and become one of the vampires (photo: taringa.net)
Hello! And it is time for one more Anime Review. I am about to review one of the most classic Anime shows of all time... Cowboy Bebop! It is based off the manga created by Cain Kuga of the same name. The series is directed by Shinchiro Watanabe from the studio Sunrise. Yes it's the same studio that created the beloved Gundam series, Cyborg 009, Inuyasha, Code Geass, and..... Voltes V. So it's safe to say they are experts of the Mecha series, hence Cowboy Bebop is a Mecha Anime. Hahahahahaha. Nope. It's so much more than that.
Okay let me break it down for you; it’s a story about bounty hunters failing at being bounty hunters and in spite of this struggle, they still try to do everything in order to live in the Solar System. Oh, and they may also have to confront with their inner struggles and issues too.
The storyline isn’t like the usual anime that we would
normally see nowadays. Each episode has a unique story and they all seem quite
independent of one another. Since it is the anime of the good old days, you
don’t have to expect that everything in each episode to connect. It reminds me
of one of those cartoons I would look forward to every Saturday morning when I
was a kid. Of course, there will be two-episode arcs here and there to make the
anime look exciting, but that’s just it. And no worries, each episode is
thrilling and epic. The action scenes are all very creative and I can tell the
creator pulled up a few Bruce Lee inspirations for Spike’s fighting moves. I even further researched the anime to see the hidden tones and messages they were trying to portray, and I was completely mind-blown because everything about the anime was apparently philosophical. Like, I can imagine this Anime being featured in an English class and the professor will be like, "Okay, class. Analyze what this show is trying to express and write a paper on it.". It's that kind of Anime. And
yes, the anime has its own whimsical and touching moments, especially when it
gets down and deep with exploring the characters. But I think that’s where they
faltered a bit.
The characters have interesting backstories, and I like how
it drives a certain episode to the edge. Not only that, each of their stories
have a weight. However, I thought their stories could’ve been explored a bit
more. Spike’s story had the most dominance in the anime, and his past with the
syndicate was just compelling. I appreciate how the story still maintains its mysterious
ambience, but it became too mysterious and not only that. the conclusions to
these backstories end up getting a bit rushed. Apart from that minor issue, I
thought the storytelling was great and compelling.
The setting for the Anime is very sci-fi and I can see why
it attracted a lot of Westerners. I can see a lot of similarities of this anime
and our current Western Sci-fi films, books, and series. In the world of Cowboy
Bebop (which takes places in the year 2071), you can live in any planet or moon
on the Solar System because the Earth is no longer a good place to live in
(*looks at a certain Pixar film that had that kind of premise*). Surely when
this Anime was released during its time, the sci-fi ideas shown here were
genius and mind-blowing. I like how society in this Anime has somehow made many
planets habitable. For example, there is an episode where they arrived in Venus
and most of the characters there mentioned many health-related concerns because
Venus was still toxic to live in and the place was not for everyone. And in
this anime, the most ideal place to live in was Mars (well what do you know). Also, if Sci-fi concepts are not enough for you, there are a few gangster and detective themes to enjoy, too. Everything that is considered epic in film and series are all mixed into one series. On top of that, I like how the way of life was still very mundane, in spite of
the major changes and technological advancements. I think the setting is my
favorite part of the Anime of all.
The driving forces of Cowboy Bebop are not the plot twists
or the cliffhangers, but the characters. They are just so enticing to look at.
We have Spike, who is obviously the main guy of the group. He decided to become
a bounty hunter because he thought it was his best way to move on from his dark
past, where he almost a had near-death experience. There is Jet, who owns the
ship called The Bebop, and he handles the mechanics and also the cooking. He used
to be a cop, but an accident caused him to quit the police force. Then there’s
Faye Valentine, a gambler who is just trying to find ways to have a life. We
have Ed, a wandering little girl who is also an excellent hacker. And finally
we have Ein, the most adorable Welsh Corgi I have ever seen.
Now the music is mostly a mix of Jazz and Country, and with
a little bit of rock. The opening of this Anime has the Sherlock vibe to me,
maybe because I usually associate Sleuths with Jazz music. But then you remember
they are bounty hunters, which is something Cowboys in the wild wild west would
do. Now this anime manages to combine the two and create a very unusual
soundtrack.
The art of this anime is really good. The ships and the look
of space is very well-drawn, considering its time. And I love how the random
people they encounter in the story are not lazily drawn in a way that most of
them have similar features. They are all very distinct, because the anime
considers not just one race, but every race. You will see people of Cherokee
descent, African Americans, the typical White American, the Chinese, and many
more, all drawn with their distinctive looks. The effort put into this Anime is
just incredible, because they don’t put all the details into their ships and
main characters, but to everything. The way the other planets look during
civilizations, the way some planets look after certain natural disasters, the
way Earth looks like probably 60 years from now, nothing is glossed over. It is
drawn in a way where my eyes were looking at almost everything because
everything is portrayed in realistic details.
This hands-down the most realistic anime I’ve seen, and it
is even in the Sci-fi category.It's Star Wars meets Sherlock meets The Godfather meets A Chinese Martial Arts film by Jackie Chan meets A Million Ways to Die in the West. The
characters are just so compelling and almost relatable, the storytelling is
great in spite of a few run-overs, and the art is even realistic. I will give
this anime a complete set of five eggs. I am proud to say this anime is
Sunny-side certified.
If you’re into Star Wars, Star Trek, or anything that is
Sci-fi, I personally recommend Cowboy Bebop, especially if you are about to try
Anime for the first time. It is definitely a classic. It doesn’t really contain
any interesting outlandish galactic uniforms or lightsabers, but these
characters all have interesting stories to tell.
And that is it for my last Anime review for the year! Expect
my next Egg Tray segment to be filled with Sci-fi and anime stuff, because I’ve
been into a lot of that recently. But that will not be my next blog post. My
last blog post will be posted before the end of 2015 and I assure you it will
be an interesting read. Till the next post~ Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
to all~
