Anime Review: Kurogane Communication

Anime Review: Kurogane Communication

Submitted by: Bryan Khoo (VP)

Cast:

Yui Horie as Haruka
Rica Fukami as Angela
Hiromi Ishikawa as Spike
Houchu Ohtsuka as Cleric
Junko Shimakata as Trigger
Kenyuu Horiuchi as Reeves

Runtime: 24 eps at 15 min
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction, Mecha
Age Rating: Teenagers

Summary (courtesy of animenewsnetwork.com): The Earth is deserted. The human race has been wiped out. Robots now inhabit the world. However, only one human remains. A young girl named Haruka is the last human left on Earth. With the help of 5 robot friends, she will find out how the Earth became a place for robots, and her own past. The five consist of Spike, Reeves, Trigger, Cleric and Angela.

Main Character Haruka

Animation: Well, this series is about 10 years old so the animation is pretty dated. However, the robot designs are very varied which makes each individual on the show unique and easily identifiable. The backgrounds might seem a little bland but once the more mechanical backdrops are shown, the details look very good. Overall I think the series has some good animation.

Reeves: the strongest male robot ever with an apron

Spike, Trigger and Haruka

Sound: I liked both the opening and ending themes, and some of the BGMs like the suspense one really fit into the scene. However, many of them weren’t as inspired and kinda lacked any ‘ommph’. Maybe 3/5 for sound.

The whole gang

Storyline: The beginning episodes till about 10 are mostly for developing the characters and at times can be very slow and dull for those who want action or a good story. After those episodes though, the series does pick up. Issues such as the loneliness of Haruka can really be felt and the development of the robot Angela is very interesting. This series also has a very happy ending so those who hate sad endings will love this show.

Angela (or Major Motoko?)

Cleric: The smart one

My take: The series is quite short if you watch it and probably can take just 1-2 days to complete thanks to the roughly 10mins runtime of the show. The show is more interested in developing the characters and exploring certain themes so those looking for an all out action anime will be disappointed. The robots are quite ok in terms of characters with maybe only Angela really being interesting. But, she really looks like a mechanized version of Major Motoko from Ghost in the Shell. Spike becomes very irritating and I kept wishing he would die because he gets on my nerves. Reeves is excellent as the only gay robot I’ve seen to date. There is some nudity later on which is a little warning to those who are turned off by it. However, it is a great series that you can watch with a friend or if you’ve got some spare time.

3.5/5 stars

Anime Review: Afro Samurai

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kelly Hu, Ron Pearlman
Runtime: 5 episodes at 25 min each
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Rating: Mature
Submitted by: Bryan (AMCC, VP)

Summary: The tale of Afro Samurai is one of bloody hardship and pain. Along his solitary path of revenge for his murdered father, he sheds no tears and knows no love. Forever chased by powerful enemies in a lawless technology-speckled dystopia, he evades bullets and blade to reach his final prey: a man who will not die. But Afro will reach his quarry - even if it means painting a road of blood and brains from here to the bitter inevitable end.

(courtesy of aniDB.com)

Animation: The studio doing the animation, Gonzo has done many great anime and the scenes in the show are very high quality. The fight scenes are sometimes fast and might be hard to catch but are very impressive. And this being a collaboration between the US and Japan, the style used in the series to mix aspects of both cultures does not seem so weird which is a great job by the design team.

Sound: Now for many who do not like English dubs in their anime, this may put them off from watching this series. However, with the famous names voicing the characters, they do a very good job and for me at least, it helped me get over my irritation of English voiced anime. As for the music, since it was made in collaboration with the US, the music is done by hip hop groups such as RZA which complements the style very well.

Storyline: The story is very straightforward and for some, leads to a very predictable plot. The infusion of hip-hop and feudal Japan ideas however, help keep the story interesting. The plot also calls for a few flashbacks which help flesh out the characters and even then, the violence is in full motion. The ending to me has a very nice twist but seems a tad out of place.

My take: Overall, the action is very fluid, gory and violent which is fine by me. The fights however at times can be very short by almost ‘Ghost Rider: The Movie’ standards. The ending was satisfying but somewhat puzzling yet helps set up the potential for more sequels. There are some bits of nudity so I wouldn’t recommend watching it with your siblings (although the violence should be the main reason they shouldn’t watch it). Still, it is a much watch anime with its positives far outweighing its negatives.

Overall: 4/5 stars

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