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Ga Rei ~Zero~

“Ga-Rei” was a series that had aroused a large amount of suspense from within me, even though; it had its own share of gruesome violent content comparable to a Quentin Tarantino movie.

I was originally drawn to the manga and I found this animated version to be a somewhat a whole new approach to the storyline.

The anime was more or less an introduction to the world of “Ga-Rei”, a society where demons and spirits roam free out in the open and a secret government agency would be employed to provide extermination procedures to rid this world of such impurities. It was not easy to grasp the plot of the anime by watching the first episode and I think the people who did not read the manga will be somewhat confused and disturbed about the content displayed in that episode. The timeline of the series starts in the third episode as the second episode acts as suspense to the conclusion of the series. I think that this type of set-up is somewhat unusual, but understandable since this technique has somewhat served its purpose of producing a dramatic effect to the story, which relates to the theme of killing someone who was special to you. From the portrayal of various conflicting events, the overall picture of the process of making the difficult decision to killing that special person develops as the series progresses to its finale.

There was a tremendous amount of character development throughout the series. Most notable are the two female leads; Kagura and Yomi. Kagura transformed from a tightly disciplined, shy and reserved personality to somewhat some what more sociable and laid back. Even then, she was not quite confident with her part-time job with the agency and revealing it to her friends; after various events, she eventually becomes more mature. Yomi was portrayed in the first episode as a ruthless demonic assassin and as the series progresses, it describes through various events how she transformed from a top agency employee to a murderous traitor against her will.

I’d felt that the overall pacing of the show was somewhat a bit rushed. I think that given the number of episodes, a lot of events had to be covered in a short time to give a more detailed description of the storyline.

The animation was quite good. The frames provided reasonable detail for an action series. The dark and vivid colors used were quite suitable for this kind of series and gives a sound description of what the “Ga-Rei” universe is like. The drawings were reasonably detailed as it was in the manga.

The music and soundtrack was also quite suitable to describe the atmosphere of the show. I think that the typical rock music used in this series was suitable for any action series with a similar feel.

Overall, I’d enjoy watching “Ga-Rei ~Zero~” all the way to its splendid finale. I would say it is one of the most memorable action series that I’d watched recently as I hadn’t seen such uniqueness in storytelling for a long time. I give this show an 8/10.

Review by Jie Jack Xu (SUAnime Screenings Director)

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Asatte no Houkou

This week, I’ll go with something that is a bit more laid back.

‘Asatta no Houkou’, namely ‘A direction of the day after tomorrow’, was a series I came across a while ago. At first, I thought that it was like any other regular slice-of-life series which lacked a true story-line like ‘Minami-ke’ and ‘Azumanga diao’. However, after watching, even though it wasn’t something that had much “wow-factor” in it, but I still found it to be enjoyable to watch after a stressful day from work.

Firstly, I’d felt that the ideas being put into forming the plot of the story were neither very original/realistic. There are several other series out there which implement brother/sister relationships. Also, the idea that the protagonist would sympathize for a girl who he knows isn’t his real sister is not something that could happen easily in the real world. However, the ideas did seem to somehow blend nicely with the fantasy elements of the show. The plot was not something that was hard to understand, and the themes aroused gave a sound description of an ideal world where the less fortunate will eventually always be rewarded.

There were a tremendous amount of character development with all of the leads in the story, particularly Harada and Shoko, which had switched ages with each other and had to endure this change for the duration of the series. I thought the show has put in a fairly good effort in describing the two characters’ experiences throughout the series, especially with the opening dialogue where the two female leads talk about obtaining something that they’d lost, which, prompts the viewer to expect something related to that in the coming scenes. Although, this technique could be seen in many other shows, I thought that the way it had been used was fairly acceptable.

The pacing of the show was a bit slow in the beginnning. It took the other characters (besides Shoko) quite a while to discover who Harada really was after the age switch. I thought that the story could be more interesting if she was discovered earlier and have the other characters face the situation as well as the two leads.

Animation of the show was reasonable for something that aired in 2006. However, the feel of it was more like one made much earlier. At times, I thought that the overall artwork was little dull and some of the objects and figures had irregular shapes.

The music was great. The lyrics of the ending theme seemed to fit the show quite well. The soundtrack had some very interesting melodies. I felt relaxed after watching each and every episode.

Overall I give this show a 7/10.

Review by Jie Jack Xu (SUAnime Screenings Director)

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Macross Frontier

To this day, I had written few reviews if any, but I do not regret writing one for Macross Frontier, which was so far the most memorable series that I’d watched recently.

I was not a fan of sci-fic anime, and in the past I would describe it as a genre that I’d avoid the most. However, Macross Frontier had most certainly distinguished itself from all the others.

The story was very well written and I felt the series has alot more integrity to it than what it appears to be. It seemed to convey a deep message about the real world and how people regardless of race should try to understand each other, and by being together they can find strength. I thought that these sort of shows were few of the most meaningful to watch.

The pacing was neither too fast or slow in the beginning, but it felt quite rushed towards the end. It felt as if they did not want to keep us in suspense any longer as the story approached its final stages.

The artwork was quite impressive. However, at times it felt that the colours were a bit over done. But overall I was satisfied by the effort that was put in in terms of art and animation.

Sound effects were nicely done. I just hooked up my surround sound speakers and it felt like I was in the middle of a space war. But it was still excellent without the speakers. The music in my perspective was absolutely flawless and all of the songs fits the show quite well, especially ‘Lion’ and ‘Intersellar Star’. Mayn and Megumi Nakajima had done a wonderful job at conveying the emotions within the music. Well done!

Character design was quite excellent. I had become immensly attracted to Ranka Lee right after her first appearance in the series. She was a fresh and cheerful character who developed her determination and confidence as the story progresses and the struggles she had to overcome throughout the series. Sheryl who was initially  arrogant in personality progressively showed her more emotional side since her encounter with the male lead, Alto. Character development of all other characters were also nicely done.

And of course, I’d totally enjoyed myself while watching this series. I found myself craving for more after each and every episode and it was quite sad for me to see it all end.

I’d rarely given any show, let alone a  sci-fic show much praise in the past. But Macross Frontier would definitely deserve my praise. Overall a 10/10 from me for this series.

Review by Jie Jack Xu (SUAnime Screenings Director)

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