Anime Review Roundup

No news this week, just reviews, beginning with Naruto Shippuden Box Set 21. It’s been a while since our last dose of Naruto goodness, which means a fair bit of catch-up for a reviewer who’s lost the plot threads in the intervening half year. After a bit of work, I finally got back into the groove with Naruto Shippuden, only to learn that what started off as a fun, entertaining ninja action show, has since become a full blown war epic! Click on the review to read more. No more current trailers for Naruto Shippuden, so here’s a blast from the past, wholly unrepresentative.

Next up was the turn of Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse - Part 1. The title is enough to leave me shuddering, but the show itself had me bewildered. It’s a giant robot show set in an alternate history where aliens invaded in the early seventies. Thirty years later, humanity is fighting a desperate battle for survival. Muv Luv kicks off with a brutal and gory scene setting two parter, before transforming into mundane relationship hijinks set in a relatively peaceful training camp, and then coming back to some action and political intrigue. Click on the review to see if the story is worth sticking with.

If I felt ambiguous about the first two titles for review this week, there was no such vacillation when it came to Space Dandy: Season 2, a show which I loved watching when it was first streamed, and eagerly looked forward to for its home video release. Just like Naruto, it’s been a bit of a wait for its second part, but the wait has been worth it for the sci-fi comedy anthology show. This second season sees the sci-fi get even more fantastic, the comedy even funnier, and there are musical episodes too. Click on the review to see why you should buy this series.

Utawarerumono. I’ll be honest. I bought this series for the title alone. In a world where we get shows with names like Muv Luv, Utawareremono just rolls off the tongue, despite the spelling nightmare. Like Muv Luv, it’s based on one of those video games, but the anime itself unfolds like one of those mediaeval real-time strategy games. It follows the story of a masked amnesiac man who wakes up in a small village, and winds up getting involved in the local politics. From random bloke, to village chief to king, to Emperor to... It’s a hell of a promotion ride over 26 episodes. But it has a nice collection of characters, some wonderfully cute moments, and a fair bit of comedy as well. And it’s got epic war sequences, oodles of bloodshed, and a body-count in the tens of thousands. If it weren’t for the character designs and cutesy moments, they’d be comparing this show to Berserk.