Still got another few days left, and dreading writing Saturday's epic-length post, I think by now everyone can see why I generally have to write reviews pretty soon after I finish a work. Well that and why watching eight or so different tv/anime shows a week doesn't phase me, although I have certainly found that it takes more effort to review the comics that either have a lot of different plot-lines or take a lot of breaks and I generally don't have that problem with anime. In any case, last year's T reviews.
Thistil Mistil Kistil by Sarah Schanze
Coal is a fallen warrior on his way to Valhalla but things aren't going as planned. As he is informed by a few angry gods his special pendant is not a replica of Mjölnir but actually a piece of it stolen by Loki. It turns out that Loki has also stolen small pieces from other weapons of the gods and so they appoint Coal to find Loki and track down where these missing pieces have gone off to.
This series definitely gets points for having a different setting, aside from Tolkien's works I can't think of that many stories that have heavy Norse influences* and the art also has a distinct look, I believe it was inspired by The Secret of Kells which was inspired by illuminated manuscripts of the time which makes it all the perfect choice. A really big reason I like the comic however is because of how Loki is portrayed. My first brush with Norse mythology, way back sometime in elementary school, had Loki as a trickster but not a "bad guy" so I've always been rather partial to that interpretation ever since which fits this Loki rather well. I really like the banter he and Coal have and I'm curious how to see how the other main characters who have yet to be introduced will fit in with the rest of the story.
*you guys would not believe the stuff Tolkien stole, it's rather amazing.
Toilet Genie by Cari Corene
The first installment in the DOOR series, Skittlze was an average pug (loved her owners but rather dumb over all) who stumbles across a man chained to a toilet who grants her three wishes, the third of which turns her into a girl. Before Skittlze goes off to discover just how well this last wish will turn out she asks the man how he ended up being chained to a toilet which is an interesting story indeed.
This comic is a lot more "artsy" than most comics I read, both in the actual art style and in the way it's creating it's on overarching mythology, and I'll admit that it took me a few tries to really get into the story but now that there's a good chunk out I think it's easier to get into. Part of the reason I had a bit of a hard time was with the art actually, the character designs are very stylized but by now they've grown on me and I really like how the mythological parts of the story are done in watercolors instead of the normal coloring style. This story is one that's better to be read in chunks than in single page updates but when read together it's weaving together an interesting mythology and history and I'm curious to see where it goes next.
Transpose Operator by Roxy Polk
Sometime in the future everything went to hell and Earth is now a wasteland where the atmosphere kills you and there are mysterious androids running around with seemingly sinister plans. It's in this situation that our heroine wakes up, has no idea who she is or any knowledge of the world but she's determined to survive and find out anyway.
The protagonist of this story is one of the most badass characters I've ever seen, how many characters could wake up in a strange hospital, know absolutely nothing about themselves and the world, be chased by TWO groups of strange people and get through all of that without having a break down (and nearly managing to evade both of them wearing nothing but a hospital gown to boot!)? That's really what attracted me to the comic when I first came across it and even the horror aspects of the story, a genre I normally don't like, added to the setting and made me more intrigued. I've read plenty of dystopian stories and some of them have had horror elements as well, nothing says the future has gone wrong like disturbing medical experiments after all, but it doesn't mean it's any less effective here. Oh and it's total conincidence that the comic came off of hiatus today, I honestly did not plan that.
This is one of those weird little categories that I'll only use every now and then, ONA or original net animation which is exactly what it sounds like, an animation that was original released over the web instead of via DVD or TV. Time of Eve is another one, although it was also combined into a movie which is why I labeled that as a movie, other than that I don't think I've seen many ONAs. I really hope this one gets rebooted and picked up as a full series however, it's wonderfully fun and a shame that it's only 25 minutes long.
Kyosougiga (Capital Craze Comic)
Summary: In an alternate version of Kyoto (called Mirror Kyoto in the subs) Koto and her two brothers are on the hunt for a mysterious black rabbit and after they find it they will be able to go home. But certain factions in the city seem to think that Koto herself has an important connection to the city and aren't so keen to let her go.
The Good: It's very difficult to tell a complete and satisfying story in just half an hour and while Kyousogiga doesn't pull that off perfectly it does a really good job. It was able to set up a basic plot, establish almost half a dozen characters and generally just be a really cool, half an hour distraction. There is a plot, I had been afraid that it would be a half hour of nonsense accompanying some interesting imagery, and I was interested by the characters and each of the main characters had enough screen time for them to feel at least partially fleshed out. More than anything else I feel like this story has a lot of potential but even in short form it was fun to see.
The Bad: Earlier in the year a five minute promotional video for this was released and barely any of the scenes were used in the ONA which makes me rather sad since the PV seemed to tell a story with pieces that were missing from the end version. While the story worked for the ONA it did seem like it was missing several scenes, like an explanation for exactly why Koto and her brothers are trying to find the black rabbit/how that will send them home (I'm also curious how they can all be siblings since the brothers are yokai for sure yet Koto seems fairly human). This feels like a story that needs more time to flesh itself out and I'll be disappointed if this is all that ever comes of the idea.
The Audio: There were a number of really fun to listen to tracks that worked great with the crazy visuals. The voice acting also seemed rather solid, no overacting or flat characters, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did this ONA look good but it sounded good as well, it's amazing what you can do with a budget and not have to stretch it as much.
The Visuals: Some people are comparing this to FLCL because of their crazy visuals and the comparison is rather apt. There's barely a quiet moment, there's always something moving on screen and it looked really good even when watching a low quality fansub. Having watched this twice now I'm amazed at the amount of detail put into the scenes, usually there's a main object of interest moving and then one or two pieces of the background moving around as well, and with such a vivid color scheme it simply looks gorgeous.
I've heard that the youtube stream (there are legal, non-region locked youtube and niconico streams, they just don't have subtitles) at the very end has a date in March with an announcement about an announcement so I have my fingers crossed that this will turn into a full anime in the spring or summer season (heck, stick this in the noitaminA slot, at least this would kinda work for it). I'm not sure what else they could announce besides a movie/tv/manga deal so I really hope everything works out!
Also, I don't know if any tropers read this blog but I just created the works page for this today and I'd really love if someone could help out and put some more examples down, I know there have to be more than what I've thought of.
