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“The year is 1931. The location is Shanghai, China. The Imperial Japanese Army has been dispatched to mainland China due to the relatively recent First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, and World War I. In this cosmopolitan city of intrigue, there is a special military spy organization called Sakurai and their deeds which are buried in history will be revealed.” With obviously fictional characters, real events, and superpowers straight out of the DC comic world, this series tries to do the impossible. Create sixteen episodes that make Japanese history seem less boring. Well, mission accomplished. Thank you Netflix for being there while my computer was down. That means, of course, that we are watching with English dub today. More than anything, this anime’s intro is artistic. The images shown have almost nothing to do with the show, other than being a confusing mess of numbers and letters. That confusing mess is intentional. The series is about a secret spy organization, after all. The only part that is understandable is when characters come up on screen, and then it just becomes a character lineup (which is the laziest way to make an intro). The song, however simplistic the lyrics may be, does its share of the work. It gives the impression that Sakurai, and its members that are shown in the intro, are important and have a major influence on the workings of history within the show’s own confines. At the very least, it would get an audience to sit down and watch the first episode. The action in this series is engaging. It has moments of real suspense, never having to resort to going above a PG-13 rating. The obviously fake powers give history the twist it needs to be invested in, and the viewers can pick up a lesson or two. The characters also all seem to have at least a minimum of tragic back-story, but no one person’s is overbearing. The tragedies end up breaking down into crushed dreams and expectations, a dead loved one, and a missing brother. This series revolves around one of those tragedies, but it’s pushed aside for a majority of the time. I just wish this show’s characters would have more personality than the standard flock. In essence, they are: the devoted sister, the over-protective butler, the young hotshot, and the much too serious military man. Characters can be more than the basic traits that flood the entirety of the medium. The good news is that none of these people are detestable, but none of them are worth rooting for either. They are just there to tell a story, no more, no less. I try not to bring this up because it’s a matter of subjectivity and is open to a lot of debate, but the voice acting in this series is atrocious. It’s partially because the voices do not fit the look of the characters but also because the animation makes the lips appear to be flapping mindlessly. With these two things combined, the dub becomes an infuriating mess to watch. There is also a moment in episode two where the music that the violin is supposed to be making doesn’t actually match the bow strokes. That’s one example of the dubbing mess of this show, but it occurs in other spots and it makes me want to hit my head against a wall. There is also the fact that this series is half filler. For a show that only runs sixteen episodes, that is a bad call. I understand that these episodes are an attempt to flesh out the characters, but that can be done just as easily by putting them in plot relevant scenarios and showing how they adapt and interact to the situation. There is a finite time to tell a story, so tell the story. Honestly, I don’t know what to say about this series. It does give an interesting spin on real historical events, but they are events that almost no one in America would understand. For that reason, the history and its significance is lost to an American audience. The opening is not perfect, but it would draw an audience into watching at least the first episode. The voice acting, though done professionally, is sub-par, but the show itself is entertaining, even in the goofy fillers. In short, I wouldn’t recommend this series, but I wouldn’t avoid it at all costs. And now, for the sake of my insanity, I want to look at something I actually have an opinion on. Baka and Test, here I come.
June_Lani · Wed Aug 14, 2013 @ 01:51am · 0 Comments |
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