An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Cheerful Plunder – Bodacious Space Pirates Spoiler Review

Just saying the title of this one, “Bodacious Space Pirates”, puts you in a certain kind of mood, doesn’t it? High-flying adventures! Laser beams! Who gives a clipped penny about actual space physics? But sometimes you can’t entirely judge a book by its cover. Bodacious Space Pirates is a lot of fun, with the sort of positivity you would expect, but it does have its own themes and tone that’s a less manic chaos and more warm contentment. And I for one welcome that.

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In the Name of Fanservice – Isuca Spoiler Review

Back when I reviewed Omamori Himari, I may have mentioned that there was certainly room for a show that was similar to Shakugan no Shana, but significantly steamier, with a stronger lean towards the romance and possibly even a greater helping of ecchi fanservice to go along with it. Omamori Himari was a disgustingly incompetent show, failing any attempt it made to be just that. Isuca, on the other hand, at least comes a little bit closer.

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When the Wimpy Kid Joins the MIB – elDLIVE Spoiler Review

Last year, I reviewed DearS, a show with a premise that vaguely reminded me of a western film, in that case District 9. They ended up being pretty much nothing alike in tone, style, or content (more’s the pity), but it was an interesting comparison because it was, in some ways, like two students submitting different work for the same project.

When I started up elDLIVE, I was reminded of that experience because, once again, a 12-episode anime seemed to have the same setup as a pretty famous movie – in this case, Men In Black. For those who don’t know, Men In Black is a science fiction action-comedy about a relative normal who ends up recruited by a secret organization staffed by both exceptional humans and strange aliens, that polices the presence of aliens on Earth, handling crimes and cases related to the many extraterrestrial creatures that live secretly among us. And that is, basically, the idea behind elDLIVE as well.

If you’re one of the people who likes that I normally don’t curse in these reviews, you may want to skip this one. Sometimes, a bad word is the only way to describe something. That said, let’s dig in.

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