| |
ALARIS' REVIEWS
27th July 2010
Anime Sampler #03: Red Garden (2006), FLCL (2000), Blassreiter (2008)
Red Garden (2006): Eps 1-3
Summary: Four schoolgirls unwillingly recruited as killers investigate the mystery behind their friend’s eerie ‘suicide’.
An intriguing setup, oozing with mysteries, but the unrelentingly grim, sparse tone is too bleak for me. None of the characters are terribly interesting or sympathetic, and the series has an emotional monotone reminiscent of Serial Experiments: Lain (1998), completely devoid of warmth or humour. However, if surreal and bleak is your thing, Red Garden is pretty slick.
This series will appeal to people who are interested in the plot, and derive satisfaction from the unfolding story, rather than the characters and their journey. However, for me, it’s too depressing a ride. Anything with schoolgirls being regularly brutalised isn’t my kind of entertainment, unless it’s as funny and poignant as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (1997).
**
FLCL (2000): Eps 1-2
Summary: An introverted, 12 year old boy has his world turned inside out by an alien girl, who knows something about the machines that have mysteriously started bursting from his head.
Yes, it’s weird. No, it’s not my kind of weird. From the writer who contributed to Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997), Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995), and RahXephon (2002), Yōji Enokido has brought us an anime series even more oblique than Utena, more surreal than Eva, more incomprehensible than RahXephon, and more hyperactively random than all three put together and doped on diet pills.
The series is artistically interesting, with some unique scene compositions and striking images. However, the episodes I watched didn’t have the dramatic plotting or intriguing concepts that made Utena, Eva and RahXephon so much more engaging. Also, the main character in FLCL, Naota, has a disposition similar to the morose Shinji from Eva, which doesn’t bode well for me.
*
Blassreiter (2008): Eps 1-3
Summary: In a slightly futuristic world, strange human/machine hybrids terrorise the city. When motorbike racing superstar, Gerd Frentzen, becomes a paraplegic after an accident, a suspiciously funky scientist makes him an offer he can’t refuse.
Blassreiter reminds me a little of Bubblegum Crisis (1987) and Virus Buster Serge (1997) in the rogue machine theme, and the curious costuming. However, Blassreiter plays it a little more sophisticated than the former two. Aside from the voice actor for Hermann – Gerd’s loyal buddy – who seems to be acting in a much more dramatic series than everyone else, the acting is fairly low key. The story unfolds at a respectable pace, punctuated by some decent action scenes.
The CG is a bit distracting at first, but the animation is worlds ahead of poor Virus Buster Serge. Blassreiter isn’t sufficiently unique or engaging to stand out, but it’s reasonably watchable. And extra points for sword fights on motorbikes. Oh yeah!
**+ |
|
 |
