Anime Sunday: Kujira no Kora Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering one of the last series I watched this season. It’s my Kujira no Kora Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: The story focuses on a boy called Chakuro, who lives on the giant vessel called a Mud Whale that drifts over the sea of sand. In the Mud Whale, society is divided into two kinds of people: the Marked, who can move objects with their minds using a strange power called “thymia”, at the expense of shortened lifespans, and the Unmarked, people who lack thymia but enjoy longer lifespans. Chakuro and his friends have never seen anyone from the outside world, and they spend their days yearning to explore and learn about it. One day, the Mud Whale encounters a lonely island…

Plot: The plot is very mysterious and I got immediate Shin Sekai Yori vibes from the story. Whether the story ends up going in a direction similar to that particularly depressing series I have yet to determine, but I’m absolutely not hopeful for a happily ever after ending. I won’t go too much into the plot, but I will say I’ll probably end up watching this later when I’m not so stressed out with life, the Holidays are supposed to be relaxing right?

Characters: The main character Chakuro seems to be a bit of a misfit, actually no he is definitely a misfit. He is deemed too emotional by those around him and that gets in the way of his job on the Mud Whale as the Archivist, who must record his observations without emotion according to the rules set down by the elders. The rest of the cast is also fairly interesting.

Art: The art is pretty good, not ufotable quality by any means, but it’s definitely not poorly done either.

Music: It fit the series very well.

Overall: Worth watching at least the first episode, though whether you should continue or not I’ll leave up to you and how well you handle depressing stories.

For those who like: Mystery, Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action, Adventure?, Interesting Plot, Good Cast of Characters, Average Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or possibly overly depressing stories.

Manga Monday: Queen Millenia by Matsumoto Leiji

Hey all, I’m back with my first Manga Monday in a while, and it’s a Quick Review for a really old series. It’s Queen Millenia by Matsumoto Leiji!

Plot Synopsis: The series takes place in the (then) futuristic year 1999. Professor Amamori discovers a 10th planet in the Earth’s solar system, which he names La-Metal, while at his observatory in Tokyo. Its diameter is 9 times that of Earth. Amamori notes the planet has a highly eccentric orbit and, as it emerges behind the distant Pluto, Amamori realizes that La-Metal is on a collision course with Earth. He calculates that the planet will impact Earth on 9 September 1999, at 9 o’clock, 9 minutes and 9 seconds.

Plot: So yea this series was written way back in 1980, and was serialized in an actual newspaper (rather than a magazine). It’s definitely one of the earliest series out there, but it’s related to the authors previous work Captain Harlock.

Characters: Yayoi, our heroine, is an incredibly mysterious girl, who just happens to know things for reasons even she doesn’t know. Hajime, the male lead, on the other hand is a spunky kid who has a huge interest in anything related to space.  The rest of the cast is very eccentric as well, although that might just be me projecting onto them because of the artwork.

Artwork: Speaking of which, the artwork is definitely some of the earliest I’ve seen, and frankly I was a bit appalled at how off the art was until I learned that this originally ran in two different newspapers, instead of a magazine like most series do today. This means that the lack of detail you see in these chapters is totally intentional to save ink. It also leads to some really hilarious art. Characters look like totally deformed monsters sometimes.

Overall: This is worth a read, if you can get over the sometimes awkward looking artwork.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Seinen Series, Mystery, Early Manga.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Bookish Wednesday: Star Alliance by Ken Lozito

This week I’m covering the third book in the Ascension Series. It’s Star Alliance by Ken Lozito!

Plot Synopsis: A daring rescue resulted in one of their own being captured. A soldier desperate to prevent the enslavement of humanity. Held prisoner by a vicious alien whose race is determined to conquer the galaxy, Zack wakes to find that he is cut off from everything. Zack must figure out a way to escape his captors and a prison full of dangerous aliens to get back to his ship. Did his friends even know he was still alive? Kaylan commands the Athena, Earth’s most advanced spaceship. The crew is far from home and caught in an intergalactic war. The Boxans demand that they leave the star system, Xiiginn warships are hunting them, and the Athena is hopelessly outclassed. Kaylan must choose between leaving Zack to his fate or risk the lives of the crew for the slim chance of rescuing him…

Plot: The plot of this entry is pretty good, although there were parts that I wasn’t very happy with, particularly the sudden love triangle between Kaylan, Katy and Zack that popped up at the end of the last book.

Characters: We get introduced to a few newcomers, but mostly it’s still the same cast as the previous book. That being said I enjoyed the Boxans quite a bit. Though Klaadamore is a bit of a pessimist….

Overall: A good entry, marred with some really frustrating plot devives.

Manga Monday: Buster Dress by Sadamatsu Ryuuichi

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got a Quick Review for you all. It’s Buster Dress by Sadamatsu Ryuuichi!

Plot Synopsis: At the end of the 22nd century, the human race has created a new colony called Second Earth. After a mysterious terrorist attack, a unit made up of Buster Dress, an incredibly intelligent A.I. mech, have been deployed to investigate. Aoi Haruto , along with his BDD-223 Gunhawk embark on a journey to solve this mystery.

Plot: The plot is pretty good, it’s a very interesting twist on the Boy becomes Giant Robot pilot trope, as Gunhawk is pretty much his only friend. The action wasn’t as intense as it might be in later chapters but what was present in this first chapter was pretty good.

Characters: We get introduced to Haruto and Gunhawk in this first chapter, but we also got to meet a couple other faces, including a young girl mechanic who obviously has a thing for Haruto. Frankly I liked her quite a bit, but we don’t even get to know her name.

Art: The artwork is amazing, if I didn’t know that it wasn’t I’d say it was published by Shueisha for the excellent quality.

Overall: This looks to be a pretty interesting series, give it a shot if you love Sci-Fi and/or Giant Robots.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Mecha, Great Plot, Excellent Cast of Characters, Fantastic Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Bookish Wednesday: Star Shroud by Ken Lozito

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m covering a new series I came across recently. It’s Star Shroud by Ken Lozito!

Plot Synopsis: Kept secret for 60 years, the discovery of an alien signal forces a NASA pilot and computer hacker to team up to investigate an alien structure discovered in the furthest reaches of the solar system.

Plot: The plot of this first entry was pretty good, it was very engaging and it got me hooked almost instantly. That’s a pretty rare event these days for me, so I know that this series has some potential. There were some plot points that weren’t super original, but for the most part I really enjoyed this book.

Characters: Zack Quick is one of the main characters we get to experience in Star Shroud and he’s probably one of my favorites. He’s smart, and likeable. Most of the cast is very good, although some like Jonah Redford I just can’t stand. Our other “Main” character, Kaylan is also interesting, if somewhat naive and stubborn.

Overall: If you love Sci-Fi at all you’ll love Star Shroud.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Exploration, Astronauts, Action, Adventure, Great Plot, Excellent Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.