And this month, a few anime that we thought was worth watching that we watched this month!
…No seriously, it’s just a few. Unfortunately I’ve been getting behind on my anime, and so has everyone else. It happens. I should try and change that with the Labor Day Weekend coming up now. Expect me to catch up on some stuff by next week.
For now, me and Ben will just talk about the anime we watched that we thought was pretty good in August.
Justin: And almost by default, though the choice is actually solid, my favorite anime that I watched this month was Knights of Sidonia.
I know, I know, what makes this choice even weirder is because I just spoke to Ed Chavez about the series this week. Well, last week I was actually trying to watch the series so I didn’t go into the Kinokuniya event cold! I was personally hoping I would like it, since it had been praised and all, and so I can actually feel like I can go to the event feeling great. I loved it! This is definitely going to be in my Top 10 anime this year, just on the simple fact of how captivating the series is. There’s huge, alien like monsters who appear after being dormant for 100 years, and you have humanity try and fight off or Sidonia will perish. You have cool characters that seem to accept who they are. The music is pretty good. The battles are actually satisfying! It all manages to work in a way that’s exciting and compelling.
I do feel like some elements regarding the pacing was weird and jarring at times, but it’s hard to hate on an anime that has one of its important characters to the main character die off-season.
Ok, they did eventually show how they did die, but an anime that has the balls to do that in this day and age needs to be praised. Whatever the case, I read the manga of this and was not impressed. The anime has definitely tempted me and has made me want to try out the series again. But I say before you do that, go watch this anime. Even with the CGI…which, I dunno, I didn’t have a lot of problems with it. But some others did. Oh well.
Just one note: don’t even think about trying the English dub unless you want to wreck your ears as badly as I did. I’ve never thought I’d say that in this day and age.
“You’re just a voice, pal! You don’t know a damn thing about racing!!”
Ben: Well, it’s time for me to go back to classes, and this semester’s a rough one. It’ll be hard to find any time to enjoy any anime for the next couple of months. However, in the days before I had to go back to the drudgery that is known as college, I caught a film with a few friends of mine: Redline! That was probably a smart choice because Redline was one of the more enjoyable films I’ve seen in recent memory, and watching it with a group made it even better.
Redline centers around a pompadour-sporting speed freak nicknamed “Sweet” JP and his quest to compete in the deadliest race in the universe that takes place once every five years; Redline. Throughout his journey, he meets up with other racers who have qualified for the race, and through them we start to get glimpses on JP’s life and how he got to the situation he’s in now. That doesn’t even account for the fact that the Redline race is essentially an over-glorified illegal street race, and this time, Redline is being hosted on a militarized planet that will stop at nothing to get rid of the race. Then a bio weapon comes into play, and everything falls apart in a glorious display of speed and destruction.
Even though the plot runs razor thin at times, Redline still manages to be an incredibly entertaining film from beginning to end. We see that JP and another racer, a woman named Sonoshee “Cherry Boy Hunter” McLaren, actually know each other from a long time ago through JP’s flashbacks, although McLaren doesn’t seem to remember him. We also see JP’s two friends who essentially make up his crew; a mechanic named Frisbee who got mixed up with the mob, and an older alien mechanic referred to as “Old Man”. Throughout the film, we see Frisbee’s dealings with the mob and how he seemingly exploits JP’s racing career to help rig the odds and help the mob.
There are three qualities this film possesses that make it truly unique: great animation, great voice acting, and a superb soundtrack (essentially just this song). In terms of animation, Redline looks superb. The amount of detail that went into expressing the unique art style is commendable. The voice acting (at least in the English dub I saw) was great, and this is just another anime to add to the list of dubs that were done with care.
The only disappointing aspect of the film was the fact that it only showcases two races in its roughly 100 minute run time: one at the start and one at the end. The bulk of the film is the buildup to Redline. That’s not necessarily a negative, however. As a man who enjoys dialog and buildup, I found the middle of the film to be very enjoyable nevertheless. I just wish there were more races, and more opportunities to hear that kickass Yellow Line song.
The ending takes the cake. JP and McLaren win the race… through the power of love! I guess the ending is another problem I have with the film because it’s just too abrupt. Right after the race is done, the film essentially ends! I guess the film doesn’t really concern the aftermath of the race, but it would have been nice if it were able to show us a little bit of what happened afterwards.
Redline is a crazy film, and one that I look forward to revisiting every now and again. Are there better films out there? You betcha. Are there more entertaining films out there? Sure. For me, though, Redline scores pretty high on both of those lists. For anybody who hasn’t seen this film yet, you can see the fantastic English dub here.
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Ben
20 year old university student studying economics by day, snooty anime blogger by night! I have high standards for anime, but I also keep an open mind when it comes to shows outside my comfort area, which usually includes dialogue-heavy drama. Always happy to have a discussion.
Latest posts by Ben (see all)
- Anime Worth Watching August 2014 - August 29, 2014
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- Notes of Space Dandy Season 2 Episode 6 - August 13, 2014
- Notes of Space Dandy Season 2 Episode 5 - August 6, 2014
- What Ben Learned From Watching Baccano, Part III (Episodes 7-13) - August 2, 2014
