My collection of short anime reviews

Their life in hell is just about to start.

Today is a momentous day in the short history of this blog, with the event of my mini-review of Asatte no Houkou anime. Read on to know why. As this is a 2006 anime, it will compete with Kiba the TV Animation for the Best Anime in 2006 title.

The physical disadvantage quickly manifests itself for our formerly-tall snobby lady.

Story:-
A snot-nosed kid and a snobby lady inadvertently swapped ages, and their life turned into chaotic hell. They don’t even try to get back to normal as they adjusted to their new forms, especially with dealing with their skeptical family and friends. And that’s basically is the story muahahahaha.

Sure, sure the synopsis is oversimplified, and yeah the story is not exactly a masterpiece, but it has charm, which is something I do not really expect from this title. The story is still pretty good, which gives this anime a boost.

Character developments are done well, albeit maybe a bit lacking in certain places. Speaking of that, the two main characters are excellent and really drive the anime forward. They injected life into this series and actually the major source of what makes this series appealing to me in the first place. I started every episode in anticipation to see what each one of them will do next.

It really helps that there are no single episode here that are wasted, with each dedicated in advancing the story or doing character developments or even both. The ending is also done very well, although I do not really like it. Not too long with only a dozen episodes, the anime did not have any weakness in this aspect.

So, what did a graduate from a certain university in Boston, Massachusetts do when trapped in a 12-year old body, in summer vacation?

Character Design:-
In general, character design in this anime is well done. Not many black hairs here, and the snot-nosed kid older brother looks suspiciously like a hentai anime character.

The answer is NOTHING! Especially if she has to…

Voice acting:-
The snot-nosed kid has some dodgy voice acting early in the series, and the director probably has whipped her into shape because she improves as the series goes on. Anyway, voice acting here is good, without any outstanding characters.

Music:-
This anime has excellent OST and OP theme, but not the ED theme. That insert song at the second half of the anime is also great. A positive point of this anime.

…babysit a 24-year old crybaby that started everything in the first place. Truly my fave character here.

Animation/Direction:-
Like the voice of the snot-nosed kid, the animation is dodgy too in the early part of the series, in certain scenes. As with her voice, it also improved as the series goes on. No action or fast-paced scenes in slice-of-life anime thus no comment on choreography. The directing is good, especially at controlling the flow of the story very well.

The daddy is at the left, mommy at the center and the child at the right. Don’t be alarmed by the size ‘abnormality’ here. Do not call the FBI.

Conclusion:-
9 out of 10. And for the first time in the history of this blog, doing what the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya cannot do, this anime dethroned Kiba the TV Animation to become my Best Anime of the Year 2006. Unlike Nodame Cantabile, this anime should be easier to be beaten, with the only problem is that I seems not be able to find any good 2006 anime that deserved a perfect score. If only Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a 2006 anime…

I forgot why I took this screenshot, so here is the filler caption.

Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-1U

My favorite character in this series. My long-time character image in LowYat.Net forum.

Di Gi Charat is one of those anime I have always wanted to watch, but I have no willpower to get it. In a sheer coincidence, I managed to get it without having to spend time trawling around the tubes, and here is the review for it and also for the prequel Panyo Panyo.

Story:-
Three interplanetary aliens lands in Akihabara, Tokyo and was forced to work in one of the shops there, violating child labor rules. Even in slavery, the main character dreams of becoming a great idol and she works towards that end while working as a cashier at Akihabara. Meanwhile in the prequel, the same main character is still trapped at her home planet, doing whatever she wants.

The original Di Gi Charat is awesome (enough to get at least 9 points), but the prequel is not. The main character Dejiko is different in some certain (but important) ways in both titles. I watched the TV series first before the prequel, and I really miss the cynical but awesome Dejiko in Akihabara as I watched the prequel even more. The prequel may be longer, but cleary inferior. Maybe this is the result of over commercialisation?

Dejiko in Akihabara also has that freestyle storytelling mode you can see in Galaxy Angel or the latter half of Haruhi Suzumiya, and this allows this anime to appeal to a wider audience. This is better than the story-laden prequel that main fits as a morning-slot title aimed at younger audiences like elementary school students. The audience has to be that, or else how else you can explain the excessive singing in that prequel?

Character developments are more evident in the prequel than the Akihabara version, but that’s to be expected. The story in the prequel as a whole is average, but considering the probable target audience, it may also have to be expected.

Anyway, the Dejiko, Puchiko and Usada Utada Hikaru in Akihabara version are awesome, but less so in the prequel. Maybe I should consider looking for the remake of the TV series and see whether it is better or not.

Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro, what did you do not like?

Character Design:-
It is very well done, although seems to be dumbed down in the prequel. As the main characters are aliens from outer space, I will excuse the lack of black hairs here.

Voice acting:-
A positive point for this series, at least for the Akihabara version. Voice acting in this series is awesome, especially for Dejiko, Puchiko and Utada Hikaru. These three really stands out. It was diluted somewhat in the prequel, but I still think they are very good.

Music:-
For Dejiko in Akihabara, only the Party Night insert in episode 15 is of any good, because the OP/ED themes and OST is almost non-existent. The OST in the prequel is decent, but not so the OP/ED themes.

Animation/Direction:-
Both have decent animation, especially the prequel. Fast-paced scenes do not seem to be affected by low frame-rates, but choreography is average. And so is the directing for both titles good but not the best.

Conclusion:-
If I only watched Dejiko in Akihabara, it would got at least 9, but coupled with the prequel, it loses 2 points, so 7 out of 10 it will be.

Unfortunately, she is being dumbed down in the prequel, so no screenshots from there.