Spring Impressions Part 2: Fullmetal Alchemist 2, Sengoku Basara, Shangri-La, Tears to Tiara
Posted by: Noirsword in Anime, First Impressions
It’s time to get naked and commence part 2 of WH’s spring impressions with a batch of action oriented shows. Huzzah! For this installment I cover first impressions on the Fullmetal Alchemist reboot, hotblooded Sengoku Basara, the less than subtle environmental Shangri-La, and visual novel-to-anime Tears to Tiara.
Fullmetal Alchemist – Brotherhood:
So apparently BONES, not content with having one FMA run, decided to reboot the entire series and make an adaptation that would more closely follow the manga. I had no problem with the direction the original anime took halfway through its run, which some loved and some hated. Having never touched the FMA manga, I can’t really say much besides the fact that I enjoyed the series anyway.
I presume this reboot will briskly cover the beginning of the story, as we were thrust straight into story in medias res with abridged introductions to fan favorites such as Armstrong, Hughes and Mustang as Edward and Al chase down a rogue alchemist trying to destroy the military’s central headquarters. We’ll presumably go back to the beginning in the next episode to cover what was admittedly a slow beginning to the original series and the narrative will go from there, this time following the manga more closely.
The animation was very crisp and clean as expected from BONES with some nice action sequences. Music as in the first series was mostly forgettable but did manage set the mood appropriately. The comedy was here in spades with Ed being the butt of the joke on every occasion, even going so far as to be insulted by the villain of the week. All in all, a very engaging first episode that left a favorable impression. BONES has managed to draw me back into the world of FMA. Though I still question why FMA needed a reboot, I won’t complain too much because it’ll be something fun to watch.
FMA returns for a slightly unnecessary but nevertheless fun second round.
Sengoku Basara:
Sengoku Basara in two words is “Hotblooded manliness”. Sengoku Basara in more words is a slightly camp game to anime adaptation with a story loosely based on Japan’s warring states era, mostly focusing on Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune. I don’t know if the story is supposed to be serious or not. It tries to be serious when valid tactics are being discussed and then we see weird crap like soldiers doing a choreographed dance, Masamune yelling catchy Engrish phrases, and Yukimura lightheartedly exchanging wall shattering haymakers with his lord among other things.
Despite the abundant goofiness, it was quite fun to watch if only for the nonsensicalness of the fights. To say the fighting was simply over-the-top would be an understatement. The first duel between Masamune and Yukimura, I kid not, caused a small natural disaster around a five mile radius as the two turned into blue and red energy spirals and exchanged blows at DBZ speed… I must also mention the overly ornate costumes too. Near the beginning of the episode we were introduced to a series of people, each with a get-up more ridiculous than the last, eventually resulting in Norio Wakamoto (as Nobunaga) ordering us to worship him.
Animation was downright gorgeous, and the fights were very well done. I wasn’t planning to watch this, but somehow Sengoku Basara snuck its way onto my list with its campy yet hotblooded fights. Also, Norio ****ing Wakamoto as Nobunaga. Enough said. I’ll include a couple screenshots to show what I’ve been talking about.
Get wild! Let’s party! Put ya guns on! Sengoku Basara has enough testosterone for over 9,000 men! Yay exclamation points!
Shangri-La:
Not a very strong start for Shangri-La, as the first episode left me a bit bored and checking the clock every couple minutes. Apparently global warming has occurred, and the new hot commodity is the carbon trade or something. Not much could be gathered from the first episode, and most likely the story will get going as the show continues. It wouldn’t be fair to say the first episode was bad as it had a decent amount of exposition culminating into a fight with the (world?) military at the end.
The designs for the most part have been stylized away from the original Range Murata illustrations, and the animation was decent with a big focus on the picturesque scenery showcasing how global warming has affected the world. The water level has risen and most of the infrastructure of the “old world” has been overtaken with abundant amounts of vegetation. This is on the fence to keep watching. Everything about the show was fair enough, so I’ll give Shangri-La the benefit of the doubt and continue watching to see where the story goes when it finally gets going. I also really want to see Kuniko’s giant boomerang thing kick some ass. Finally, it seems the show’s three principal characters are lolis, so if that’s your thing then you know… Go for it. Gozo’s last loli show involving magical pantsu girls was a roaring success, and although Shangri-La is decidedly different in tone, let’s see if Shangri-La follows suit. A couple more screens have been included for good measure.
Environmentalism and lolis. A winning combination?
Tears to Tiara:
Decent enough for a first episode, but I was left lost with little exposition and no explanation for anything. The story was less a plot and more a sequence of events happening for some reason or another concerning the awakening of a devil king. Everything about the show from the fantasy setting (complete with unpronounceable names), plot and action was decent. Not great, not bad. Just decent.
This is based on a VN, and I sure hope the VN made more sense than this episode because this didn’t make much sense to me. The real draw of the show is the girls if I’m not mistaken, and judging from the opening sequence there are a lot of them. I’ll give Tears to Tiara a couple more episodes to change my mostly impartial impression.
Tears to Tiara left me more confused than a five year old at a strip club.
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What was so confusing about Tears to Tiara? It seemed really basic to me. 1)Fanatic priest looks for sacrifices. 2) Said evil bastard gets lucky and finds what he needs 3) He tries to rez the demon king and make a deal with him 4) Riannon’s bro tries to save her 5) Riannon’s bro is too slow and fails, the DEMON KING REVIVES!!! The end.
That wasn’t so hard was it?
FlameStrike: Well the thing is I’d appreciate at least a small bit of exposition before stuff starts happening. I understood what was happening but not why. And the little bit about The Ages of Man doesn’t constitute exposition. Is Tears supposed to be on Earth or is it some sort of Earth-like fantasy setting?
If they were going to start with this demon resurrection plot, I’d at least like to see some exposition showing how it was sealed, as well as what makes Rainnon so special. Something like that would have been nice. Instead I reaffirm that I was completely and utterly lost much like Bugs Bunny after taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque.