Shigurui: Death Frenzy

Death Frenzy is a accurate title for this numbing, only periodically entertaining orgy of violence and depravity. The series opens with a infamous tournament being held in feudal Japan where skilled warriors are pitted against each other in a battle to the death for the amusement of a rather demented ruler. One of the first pairs to fight are a blind man and a warrior missing an arm. It turns out the two have a deep hatred for one another that spans back many years, when they were both students of the same fighting style. The rest of the series goes back in time to show us how these hardened warriors met and the tragedies that befell.

Shigurui is atheistically well made, both the art style and soundtrack complement the setting greatly and are somewhat minimalist(especially the use of color ) for the most part, although the character models are very detailed. The story telling is also strong point of Shigurui, the unraveling tale aided by careful pacing. The two major problems with Death Frenzy are in its characters and the excessive graphic content.
Our two protagonists, while having their moments are bland and rather unlikeable. I'm certainly not saying characters must be tailored for audiences approval, but the way these two are presented leaves much to be desired, it is hard to feel anything strong for them, which is imperative since the whole plot revolves around them. The rest of the cast fare even worse, they come in two flavors, psychotic or simply evil. This leads me to my next big gripe, the pervasive and often gratuitous sadism and cruelty, the worst of it against women. It reminded me of the content found in some of Tashiki Miike's more extreme films like Ichi the killer, but lacking in the artistic creativity and black humor found in his work. I have nothing against graphic content in anime or film, and posses a stomach of iron, but Shiguri wades in it incessantly and certain scenes are clearly only meant for shock value, whats worse, none of it is presented with any creativity, humor or purpose, it just contributes to what is already an incredibly bleak series, making for a rather depressing and eventually unpleasant viewing experience. Well made and not without its moments, but not worth the ordeal.

Grade:C+

Reviewed: episodes 1-8(out of 12) Format: English Dub, DVD

Love Hina

Love Hina is one of most well known and popular harem series in anime, and not without reason. One of the most appealing aspects of Love Hina is that it is rooted in reality(as far as harem series go) there are no aliens, magical girls(unless you count Su)or supernatural elements. The main story involves typical nice guy Keitarou trying to fulfill a promise he made many years ago to a childhood sweetheart that they both would meet again has Tokyo University students. Now a young adult, Keitarou is understandably in a bind; hes a poor student trying to get into one of the most exclusive colleges in the world. In the meantime he is called on by family members to take over management of a quaint (all female) inn. It's at the family inn that he meets Naru, a beautiful girl around his age, who is trying to get in to Tokyo U based on a long ago promise as well, is Naru Keitarou's childhood sweetheart? Has the female population of the inn increases, hi jinks galore ensue.

Love Hina is based off the mega-popular manga, and I must say, is inferior to its source material, while it's a good anime in it's own right, it fails to capture all of the magic of the manga. With that issue aside, Love Hina is a very energetic, humorous romantic comedy that can be both charming and sentimental at turns. The cast, like the animation is bright and colorful. Naru makes for a excellent female co-lead, which brings me to the show's biggest problem; Keitarou himself.
At first you can't help but cheer him on and feel sorry for him, but after awhile, you end up being thoroughly annoyed by him. He fits the bill of a male harem lead much to well; he is a utter doormat, and completely lacking of a backbone. Kietarou's spinelessness becomes unspeakably frustrating, leading to moments were you just want to shut the tv off. There are also some completely unnecessary and pointless detours in the plot that don't exactly work in the show's favor as well. Despite it's disappointing shortcomings I would still gladly recommend Love Hina, taken has a whole, its an entertaining, fun anime and still one of the better offerings this genre has.

Grade: B

Reviewed:episodes 1-24(complete) Format: English sub, DVD