I'm a sucker for an Evangelion reference

Think I saw a quick Bayonetta one in there too.

After thinking about it, I'm no longer bothered by how much I enjoy BakaTest; what does bother me is that I'm enjoying it more than anything else airing. Katanagatari is sadly inert, Vampire Bund is neither good nor bad enough to enjoy genuinely or bathetically, and almost nothing else even interests me enough to try it. I'm about six episodes behind on Dulalala, mainly because the first two episodes were too busy laying groundwork to hook me. I'll probably end up waiting and marathoning it like I did Baccano. So, time to clear out the DVD backlog a bit.


Guyver TV actually has a pretty decent story, but unfortunately the show as a whole is terribly bland. It's missing any kind of directorial style, distinctive shot composition, or special attention to detail so it comes off as fairly boring overall. "Sedate" is pretty much the last word you want to use to describe a laser-spewing monster fight, but that's just how this show rolls. The monsters are the highlight of the show, particularly the occasional glimpse of EvilCorp office politics; they're like glimpses into some much more entertaining series marrying Power Rangers and the Office, with various rubber monsters undermining each other's authority and criticizing project overruns. In fact, that kind of takes over the last three episodes entirely, sadly underlining the Guyver's own lack of screen presence, and then it has one of those "time to go read the rest of the manga" non-endings. OK at best.


Fortunately, the Skull Man turned out to be a much better (and slightly gothier) version of Guyver than Guyver was. It's actually surprisingly demanding of the viewer; the plot is quite twisty and treats the title character's own identity and motivations as one of the major mysteries, and there's kind of a Man in the High Castle alternate history happening in the background too (with some very retro touches like all the right-to-left script on the signs). I watched this all in one sitting, and that really helped keep everything straight, especially since many of the male characters look pretty similar. Another mild knock against it is that the sequel hook at the end will probably seem abrupt if you don't know the origins of other Ishinomori heroes like Kikaider and Kamen Rider. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes moody pulp action and doesn't mind the occasional missile-shooting cyborg clown showing up.


Watched X-Cross the other day too. I think I mainly want to write about it because hardly anyone else has, but I don't have all that much to say about it either... mainly because I don't want to spoil what fun there is in the surprises. Overall it's OK, maybe even a little above average but I was still left wanting something a little more audacious. Perhaps my barometer has been permanently warped by true loonies like Takashi Miike and Nishimura's posse but X-Cross seems neither fish nor fowl-- it's zany but not campy, tense but not scary, and definitely not splattery despite one or two onscreen amputations. It's a popcorn movie, which is OK if you're expecting that, but I was hoping for better. I note that the notorious cat-eating Shokotan is in this, but she's in Tokyo Gore Police too and I know which movie I enjoyed more.


I also finally checked out Michiko & Hatchin, which at least early on seems to be relying entirely on charm and atmosphere-- so it's a good thing it does both of those really well. I've never been to Brazil, but I've spent a fair bit of time in the Caribbean and it's definitely bringing back memories.

The Skull Man

The Skull Man is, in many ways, a very typical BONES production. Gorgeous, stylish, evocative, and compelling with amazing bursts of action. It's also riddled with loose ends and unanswered questions and full of a supporting cast that are far more interesting than the "main" characters, many of them clearly gifted with incredibly deep back stories we never get a glimpse of. It manages to simultaneously be surprising and tritely predictable.

The first few episodes suggested some kind of anime mixture of Batman and The Count of Monte Christo from the point of view of an outsider, a reporter trying to track down a brutal vigilante with hints of supernatural power. Add in some anime tropes of a spunky female sidekick and a mysterious old man who seems to know everything that's going on but refuses to say anything straight out and you have a pretty standard concept with the usual high production standard from BONES. I was expecting a formulaic and probably episodic show that would peter out mid-way through.

The show had an oddly compelling character to it, however. Maybe it was the somewhat retro feel to it with character designs that were clearly an homage to old classics or the strange, anachronistic pseudo-alternate history setting but the first several episodes manage to maintain a surprising momentum despise a startlingly slow pace (in hindsight). Very little is revealed about the histories of the main characters or the Skull Man himself. The supernatural elements of the show even come racing into the forefront when people start transforming into man-beast hybrids and having big knock-down, drag-out fights but the show still manages to maintain silent on what's really going on.

When it does start spilling the beans, though, it doesn't stop. The cast is fleshed out and the pacing picks up quickly, but more importantly The Skull Man keeps the audience guessing with a constant stream of red herrings and twists and turns that throw the original premise on it's ear, only to throw out the new premise as well. Conspiracies appear and collapse only to be replaced by another organization. Secrets are revealed - and then exposed as fakes themselves. This never feels cheap; instead, it keeps the otherwise simple, standard anime hero fighting monsters fresh and interesting.

Not everything gets resolved in the end. In fact, the ending is a huge, gaping hole begging for a sequel. The core storyline does get wrapped up, but many subplots receive little attention and some of those conspiracies introduced are clearly a platform for a further chapter in the series. Looking back, The Skull Man doesn't quite add up to more than the sum of its parts and it isn't really anything new, but it is all put together in a rather fresh way and is a great deal of fun.

Definitely recommended in general, especially for anyone who likes a bit of atmospheric action, likes guessing at what's "really going on," and can handle a very open-ended "conclusion."

based on full series, 13 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube : Crunchyroll

The Skull Man, episode 2

Set in an alternate history Japan that doesn't seem to be too divergent yet, The Skull Man comes across as Batman from the other side: a reporter returns to his home town on the trail of rumors about a "Skull Man" who attacks people in the night, leaving a trail of bodies behind him. Aside from a brush with the mysterious figure during a brief fight, it has yet to get very supernatural or even feature much of the titular character. Instead we follow the reporter as he tries to track down leads on the vigilante and runs across a variety of people with their own agendas and interest in whatever is going on in the town.

Being a BONES show, it is of course wonderfully animated. The designs feel a bit retro, but work well enough and are really the only thing that really the only thing that seems vaguely "alternate history" so far, inconsequential backstory notwithstanding. So far its been content to build rather slowly, however, and hasn't been particularly flashy.

That relatively reserved pace means that there is little to gauge the show on so far, but it's been pretty solid, again, like most BONES shows. It remains to be seen whether it will ultimately come together better than many of their past works or if it will end up feeling like a bit less than the sum of its parts, full of great characters (often with the supporting cast being far more interesting than the main characters) and bad-ass fight scenes but never really quite gelling for some reason.

For now there is some novelty to be had in having no information about the vigilante and his quest for vengeance, learning everything along with the reporter. The characters have shown glimmers of depth beyond their archetypes as well, and BONES is always good for a ride at least, so I'll give this some time to play out.

based on 2 episodes : ANN : Wikipedia : YouTube