Impressions: Code Geass, VOTOMS, Master Keaton, Kaiji and Dennou Coil

Sorry that I haven't posted for a week, but I had a bad case of real life and not a whole lot to say. Well except for the whole ADV announcement. And all I can say is finally… but still no word on Kurau. And I just shelled out to buy the first three disks. And no word on Welcome to the NHK either. Which isn't a good thing. But I've got my fingers crossed and breath held on that one.

Anyways on to what I've been watching.

Code Geass: You know I hate to be one of those pretentious people who gush over this show. But… damn. There's so much about this show that I like that it's hard to sort it all out. Yes, I like Lelouche. To be fair, I did like him better as the anti-hero at the beginning because he was strangely unaware that he was treating people like his father had treated people. And I have to say the combination of genres didn't bother me in the slightest. I really enjoyed the dichotomies and the dramatic irony. Good lord, did that show have some dramatic irony.

In fact, if I have any problem it's that it had a tendency to either rush complications or drag them out too far. Slight spoiler ahead. For instance, they kill Clovis off really quick, but Cornelia's still alive by the end of the series. The same thing with Mao. There's a bunch of scenes hinting at his character, but when he finally came up he got killed off really quick. It ended up making him feel more like a plot device (or an explaination for what happens with Euphie.) But it really is a small gripe in what was overall one of the best mecha shows I've seen in a long time.

Armored Trooper VOTOMS: So OnDemand has a Anime Selects channel and they have (or had depending on when you're reading this post) the first seven episodes of this series up. Now, I'll admit that a lot of the Gundam that I've watched has made me a bit leery of 80s mecha shows. But again, this one actually surprised me. First of all, no whiny boy pilot. Yeah, that's right, the pilot in this one is a veteran solider who gets caught up in a larger conspiracy. He does get a bit angsty a couple of times. And he put the tacit in taciturn, but a cast of rakes, scoundrels and corrupt cops makes up for it. Really I don't have any other way of describing it except for, "This is what would happen if you crossed Gundam with Blade Runner."

My only complaint are the costumes. In a show that is as dark as this show is, all of the side characters are wearing stuff that looked like it'd gotten dropped out of an episode of Superfriends. But if you can get past that this is honestly a good show.

Master Keaton: Okay, so this is a series I bought because it's been compared with Monster. And it's a good series so far (I've only watched four episodes of it), but it is episodic, which doesn't really bode well. It's at least worth a rent if you can find it. And so far it's a fun series. But I'm going to have another blog post about something pretty specific this show does that is interesting.

Kaiji: Yes, I bit the bullet and started watching this one. And I have to say, it's good in that action movie kind of way. It's main saving grace is that Kaiji is a jerk. And that the stuff that the characters go through is inventive in a "just believable enough so I can suspend my disbelief" kind of way. But it isn't something I couldn't live without. I'll admit that I love the OP on it though. Man, I wish I could find a copy of that, because that alone would be worth it.

Dennou Coil: This is a show that my mind isn't made up on either. On the one hand, it's got crazy cyberspace going ons, creepy anti-virus drones and a fairly interesting mystery. On the other hand, I'm not in love with the characters. It isn't that they're bad. It's just that they're pretty flat right now. Not completely flat, but certainly not piquing my interesting. I'm holding out hope that it gets better.

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