Blog Update: Catch Up week

As the new season is in full swing I would like to use this week to follow the new season of anime and catch up on some older anime i will try and do a review over the weekend however I may not get the time

~Ota~

Reel Anime 2013 Review: Momo e no Tegami

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Magic

Ending Theme: "ウルワシマホロバ 〜美しき場所〜" by Yuko Hara

Production Studio: Production I.G

Staff:

Director: Hiroyuki Okiura

Script: Hiroyuki Okiura

Storyboard: Hiroyuki Okiura

Unit Director: Naoko Kusumi

Music: Mina Kubota

Original Concept: Hiroyuki Okiura

Character Design: Hiroyuki Okiura, Masashi Ando

Art Director: Hiroshi Ohno

Animation Director: Masashi Ando

Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi

Director of Photography: Koji Tanaka

Executive producer: Hiroyuki Ikeda, Kazuya Hamana, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Shigeru Watanabe

Producer: Arimasa Okada, Keiko Matsushita, Mariko Noguchi, Motoki Mukaichi

Assistant Animation Director: Akira Honma, Ei Inoue, Takeshi Honda

Deputy Animation Director: Toshiyuki Inoue

Editing: Junichi Uematsu

VA staff Sub

Karen Miyama as Momo Miyaura

Toshiyuki Nishida as Iwa

Yuka as Ikuko Miyaura

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Momo e no Tegami was an anime by Production I.G responsible for the works such as Patlabor and the Ghost in the Shell series, The End of Evangelion, Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+, xxxHolic, and FLCL just to name a few and are on my list of favourite animation studios with Kyoto Animation and Studio Bones therefore I went into the movie with high expectations so without any further ramblings my review of Momo e no Tegami.

The story was a captivating tale of a girl trying to discover the words left to her by her father, the idea itself is very compelling and the way the story is introduced left little substantial plot issues this for me was the major selling point as I.G spent the most part of seven years working on this project the animation felt nostalgic to a degree and it had the charms that a Ghibli film so readily displays

The animation as stated tied in with the style of story relating it to previous works of the similar genre and this aided in giving an atmosphere that shone throughout the movie as I constantly got drawn into the compelling and touching story due to the well animated scenes.

The characters of Momo e no Tegami were a credit to the director Hideaki Anno as they were enjoyable and for the most part entertaining however the character traits of Momo seemed to flip from being scared to death of these “goblins” to completely forgetting this fear moving on to the point where she not only can look at them without flipping hell itself to being able to threaten them to basically leave in a matter of 10 minutes which didn’t really do her any favours in my opinion.

The music was by Mina Kubota who is absolutely flawless in her execution of the sound track resembling her previous works like Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora and Aria the Origination music so as probably assumed I had no issues with the soundtrack as a whole with refreshing folk classical style resembling the music of studio ghibli works.

All in all the movie was a testimony to I.G for 7 years of hard work to create an amazing work of art with only minor characters leaving me to give it the following scores

Story	6.5/10
Characters	7.1/10
Animation	8.9/10
Sound	9.0/10
Personal Enjoyment	7.8/10
Final Verdict	7.8/10

This leaves me give it a recommendation to buy it when released.

~Ota~

Reel Anime 2013 Review: Kotonoha no Niwa

Genres: Drama, Romance

Ending Theme: "Rain" by Motohiro Hata

Production Studio: CoMix Wave Inc.

Staff:

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Screenplay: Makoto Shinkai

Storyboard: Makoto Shinkai

Unit Director: Makoto Shinkai

Music: Daisuke Kashiwa

Original creator: Makoto Shinkai

Character Design: Kenichi Tsuchiya

Art Director: Hiroshi Takiguchi

Animation Director: Kenichi Tsuchiya

Sound Director: Yō Yamada

Director of Photography: Makoto Shinkai

Producer: Noritaka Kawaguchi

VA staff Sub

Kana Hanazawa as Yukino

Miyu Irino as Takao

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From the creators of anime such as Byousoku 5 Centimeter and Hoshi no Koe Makoto Shinkai has the art of tugging heart strings in his movies to create a magical on screen experience this was highly relevant in his latest movie Kotonoha no Niwa.

The story was all that you would expect from Makoto as it heavily resembles his previous works as it has a very touching theme covering love beyond typical standards and he portrays this theme well with a well structured story with enough time spent on each character as to give each of them a purpose.

The animation was the part that truly shined with the fluid and in depth colors gave the movie the more surreal feel with the animation at times looking completely realistic and to that I give the animators all the credit as it really couldn't have brought me into a state of complete connection to the film if the animation was second rate.

The characters were an essential part of the anime however I felt the lack of a reason why Takao ditches first period of school whenever it rains leaves confusion however it never seemed to ruin my enjoyment of this movie and the emotion I felt during the movie. The other character of importance Yukino in my belief made the relationship complete as she struggles with her feelings and the pressures from her own life make her the cornerstone of the movie.

The music brought an amazing amount of heart to the movie with an outstanding performance from Motohiro Hata with the song "Rain" being the number one played track on my Iphone since buying the soundtrack. the background music was a mix of orchestral and piano pieces that gave the movie the emotional feel the director wanted to convey,

Overall Kotonoha no Niwa was in my opinion the best anime screened at Reel Anime 2013 as its compelling story combined with relateable and likable characters and animation that leaves you wanting more I have evaluated all these factors to give Kotonoha no Niwa the following score

Story	9.1/10
Characters	8.9/10
Animation	9.8/10
Sound	8.9/10
Personal Enjoyment	9.6/10
Final Verdict	9.3/10

with my recommendation to buy when released to DVD by Madman Entertainment

~Ota~

Sticky Trigger Review: Ribbon No Kishi

Genres:  Adventure, Comedy

Opening Theme: "Ribbon No Kishi" by Yoko Maekawa

Ending Theme: "Ribbon No March" by Yoko Maekawa

Animation Studio: ----

Staff:
Director: Chikao Katsui, Kanji Akabori
Music: Isao Tomita
Original Character Design: Osamu Tezuka
Character Design: Kazuko Nakamura, Sadao Miyamoto
Art Director: Kazuko Nakamura, Sadao Miyamoto
Chief Animation Director: Kazuko Nakamura, Sadao Miyamoto
Animation Directors: Teruto Ueguchi, Toshio Nitta

VA staff Sub
Yoshiko Ohta as Sapphire
Noriko Shindou as The Queen
Chieko Kitagawa as Plastic
Goro Naya as Lord Nylon
Kyoji Kobayashi as King
Masashi Amenomori as Duke Duralumin
Reiko Mutoh as Hekate
Ryusuke Shiomi as Devil Mephisto
Takako Sasuga as Twink

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Ribbon no Kishki is a true classic along with Astro Boy and Marine Boy. Ribbon no Kishki was made in 1967 and directed by Chikao Katsui and Kanji Akabori the animation was done by Toshio Nitta who was responsible for works such as the animation for the anime Magic User's Club and key animation for Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. The story was a compelling tale of a young girl named Sapphire who was brought up as a boy to be a heir to the throne as only males can take that role.

The animation throughout was on par for the time it was released with repetitive background use and non fluid movements the animation by today’s standards would be considered below par however the animation being hand drawn is an amazing achievement for the team that created it. To put into perspective the movie Redline took 3 years to hand draw every frame and it only lasted an hour and a half.

The characters were belittled by the one main character Sapphire leaving a lot of development aspects that I believed still needed resolving. The voices of the characters were well voiced with Yoshiko Ohta as Sapphire and Noriko Shindou as “the queen” (going back to the lack of development to the point of not even having names) these parts in my opinion were the best out of a good bunch of VA staff.

The Music of Ribbon no Kishki was very simple with regal tunes as background however nothing was really standout as a track you would want to listen to as a standalone track. The opening Ribbon no Kishki was a nice piece and was accompanied by suited animation however again not something that stood out.

Overall the anime was a nice couple of hours over a couple of weeks and not marathon worthy however looking how the show withstood the test of time to be a show that still can be watched as an all time classic anime has me rewarding with the following scores

Story	7.8/10
Characters	6.2/10
Animation	7.3/10
Sound	8.7/10
Personal Enjoyment	7.4/10
Final Verdict	7.5/10

You can find my reviews for Sticky Trigger Entertainment here

Anime Review: Tari Tari

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Opening Theme: "Dreamer" by AiRI

Ending Theme: Shiokaze no Harmony" by Shirahamazaka High School Chorus Club

Animation Studio: P.A. Works

Staff:
Director: Masakazu Hashimoto
Music: Shiroh Hamaguchi
Original Character Design: tanu
Character Design: Kanami Sekiguchi
Art Director: Kazuki Higashiji
Chief Animation Director: Kanami Sekiguchi
Animation Directors:
Eriko Itō (eps 1, 8, 13)
Kanami Sekiguchi (ED)
Kayoko Nabeta (eps 3, 11)
Kousuke Kawazura (OP; eps 4, 10, 13)
Manamu Amazaki (eps 7, 13)
Mutsumi Sasaki (eps 2, 9)
Yurie Oohigashi (eps 6, 12)
Yuuko Yoshida (ep 5)

VA staff Sub
Asami Seto as Konatsu Miyamoto
Ayahi Takagaki as Wakana Sakai
Natsuki Hanae as Atsuhiro Maeda
Nobunaga Shimazaki as Taichi Tanaka
Saori Hayami as Sawa Okita

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An anime that draws you in with a compelling story is a gift to any reviewer myself especially as the ending to any anime is the most important part of any anime series (looking at SAO :I) as it gives closure and a sense of accomplishment after completing it. So without further rambling my review of Tari Tari.

Tari Tari was about the struggles of Konatsu Miyamoto as she creates a choir club to go against the current choir club that had her excluded for an on stage mistake. She then recruits Wakana Sakai, Atsuhiro Maeda, Taichi Tanaka and Sawa Okita and merges two club ideas to form the Choir and sometimes Badminton club. this setting seemed to work to the shows advantage only letting it down in the last episode as I felt it needed an OVA to tie up all the ends as some characters needed a bit more development.

The characters gave an atmosphere to the anime that other anime lack as the characters were likable and this gave allot of leeway for the developers to hit you with emotional scenes when needed which is a quality that is lacking in a vast majority of anime released in the past few years.

The animation quality was to P.A, works a major credit the animation was solid hover the coloration at times felt lacking but overall the times where that occurred were mainly transition shots witch I cant really complain about but the best way to show quality is by giving examples.

For what its worth the animation was a triumph for P.A. as lead.

"Dreamer" by AiRI

"Shiokaze no Harmony" by Shirahamazaka Koukou Gasshou-bu

As Tari Tari was an anime focused around music it was only natural that the quality of the sound track would have been the highest priority and it showed with amazing choral pieces and probably my favorite song of any OST "Kokoro no Senritsu" by Shirahamazaka Koukou Gasshou-bu as its melody just screams awesomeness. This is a soundtrack you can buy and listen to as the songs are unique and while the OST is small, it has allot of quality and that is what I prefer in an OST.

Overall I heavily enjoyed Tari Tari for its exceptional soundtrack and beautiful animation its only downfall was that it deserved an OVA which it never got but in the whole I have no real complaints, so with all considered I have awarded Tari Tari with the following scores for Story, Characters, Animation, Music and Personal Enjoyment.

Story	7.8/10
Characters	8.2/10
Animation	9.3/10
Sound	9.7/10
Personal Enjoyment	9.6/10
Final Verdict	8.9/10

Giving a recommendation to Buy it if you enjoy music anime, and for further recommendations I would recomend Love Live! School Idol Project, Natsuiro Kiseki

Tari Tari is available on Crunchyroll here

~Ota~