No I'm not scrapping the barrel, nor am I desperate, this is an anime I finished recently and between this one and the next, I will bring up an important issue with today's anime, so buckle up for Cat Planet Cuties.
The show doesn't give you much introduction as main character Kio comes across busty Cat Girl Alien Eris at his uncle's party in Okinawa. Meanwhile the sudden appearance of aliens prompts a secret agent of Japan, a CIA wannabe, an Alien fanatic, a dog alien race and later a cult of cat worshippers all want a piece of Eris. As time goes on more Cat Girl Aliens come by as Eris makes herself at home in Kio's house while Aoi Futaba (3rd Person in anime named that after the Transvestite in You're Under Arrest and Vivid Blue from Vividred Operation) and Manami Kinjou play out a complex love triangle to win Kio's love.
This series had potential, it really did, it had a plot with infinite scenarios, clever references, decent action, decent ecchiness, some touching moments and some of the cutest looking cat droids ever, but it throws away what it could've done in favor of the complex love triangle, I mean seriously you call the show Cat Planet Cuties and Eris gets less screentime than Aoi and Manami, that's really a shame as this plot was so easy to get right that it's frustrating that they didn't, it doesn't help that Manami spends all her time getting Aoi and Kio together and complains about Aoi's shyness and inability to confess, yet Manami is being a hypocrite by not telling Kio her own feelings and this plays out for half the series of 12 episodes and there are plenty of scenes where this plot is not important in the grand scheme of things, then again the show has a habit of not throwing bones for it's audience as quite often were made to question why certain characters and situations crop up like the movie director, the terrorist, the Russian military lady and that Catgirl who also seems to narrate the show.
After all that, you can't help but feel unsatisfied and no amount of ecchiness or cute robot cats is going to save this train wreck. Dub is a little bit mediocre, so I'd go for subbed version for general viewing.
Final Verdict: This anime fails to use it's strengths and suffers as a result as were stuck watching a love triangle that doesn't finish, which is a shame because it really had potential.
Now I'll teach you about a harsh reality about reboots from the Inspector Gadget school of cartoons.
Inspector Gadget is an 80s cartoon co-produced by the States, Canada and France about a bumbling cyborg police officer with an endless supply of gadgets, paying homage to the Pink Panther's Inspector Clouseau in terms of character. With Gadget's niece Penny and her dog Brain, the trio attempt to stop the nefarious villain and head of MAD, Dr Claw, who on the scale of villains comes between Dreamstone's Zordrak and He-Man's Skeletor in terms of level of intimidation and competence, mainly for being unseen to the viewer and having a dark grizzly voice much like a long term smoker.
Inspector Gadget is formulaic to the point where you can explain any episode using this synopsis.
1. The Episode starts with something normal, usually Gadget spending time with Penny and Brain.
2. Chief Quimby then informs Gadget about a mission usually appearing out of nowhere.
3. The mission then explodes in Quimby's face regardless if he tries to avoid it or not.
4. Gadget goes on the mission but usually ends up mistaking MAD Agents for friendly locals.
5. Penny is solving the case behind Gadget's back while Brain watches over Gadget so he doesn't kill himself but Brain seems to take all the slapstick.
6. The case is solved usually by Gadget's dumb luck.
7. Dr Claw curses Gadget.
That pretty much sums up all 86 episodes with very little variation. But despite being this formulaic it still maintained a level of unpredictability in how the case was solved much like how in Scooby Doo it's never the one with the most obvious motive, and that charm made it well loved in it's era but I can't say much for the sequels.
Gadget Boy & the Gadgetinis need their own pages and don't get me started on the live action films so lets come to 2015 and look at the reboot.
While it keeps the formula intact there are some problems; Penny is now a teenager but her character feels dumber as a result, Dr Claw remains unseen but his level of competency is now the same as Dr Eggman; it's in CGI or the franchise killer as I call it and finally the new character Talon is annoying.
All I can say to the modern one is this. You had one job, the formula was easy to remember and you still messed up, there's no reason for Talon to exist nor should the focus be entirely on his personal battle with Penny which goes nowhere, but I digress, I can't expect the values of today replicating what was good 30 years ago and if it wasn't a reboot it would be okay but since it is a reboot it can only be judged as one.
But like the sad treatment done to Knuckles the Echidna, I can't forgive them for *Cringe* modernizing the theme music and *nearly vomits* changing the Gadget car. That felt dirty to say.
So overall the original Inspector Gadget is charming despite being formulaic but the reboot took said formula and misread the recipe and created something which is okay but mediocre compared to it's original counterpart.
Now to kick off a bonanza of reviewing over the next couple of days we begin with Panty & Stocking.
Daten City is on the edge of both Heaven and Hell, and is under constant attack from malevolent spirits, so the Afro wearing Reverend Garterbelt acquires the help of the anarchy sisters Panty & Stocking who are trying to get back into heaven after being expelled; from there each episode which is 10-15 minutes long is a mixture of shameless antics, pop culture references and art styles very similar to Western Style Cartoon Network.
I can tell much fun was had with this series by the way Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial portrayed the title characters in the dub, it feels almost therapeutic for an actor to just swear as much as they want and it shows in the quality of the series. How much they get away with has only been surpassed by South Park but like South Park it doesn't always get it right.
The villain team of Scanty & Kneesocks are active in far too many episodes and get tired very quick, there's an episode dedicated to a washed up salaryman that has no place in the series and has a rather jarring shift in tone for a series that relies on adult jokes and outright anarchy as it's selling points and lets not go into the final scene of the series.
So while the series really goes all out to beta test the censors to the maximum it falls fowl of it's own creation when it tires out it's jokes by the end of the series. It's still enjoyable regardless and I welcome the dub for best viewing.
Final Verdict: Panty and Stocking achieves what it set out to do and while it does grow tired in places, the stuff it does well prevents it from being bad. It is definitely not for younger fans, so please respect your country's age viewing laws.
Those who regularly read my reviews can usually tell if I'm preparing a big review as the hiatus is usually long and today is no exception as I review Space Dandy.
The opening narration does a better job of explaining the plot so I'll post that instead.
Space Dandy: he's a dandy guy in space. He combs the galaxy like his pompadour on the hunt for aliens. Planet after planet he searches, discovering bizarre new creatures both friendly and not. These are the spectacular adventures of Space Dandy and his brave space crew, in space.
Yeah he's actually called Space Dandy, together with a vacuum cleaner robot named QT and a Bettlejuician named Meow (Or a space cat if you prefer) the crew of the Aloha Oe try and make a bit of money out of registering rare aliens so they can enjoy an easy life by going to the unsuitably named Boobies bar and restaurant chain which is basically a fictional space version of the real life equivalent Hooters. For those who don't know it's a chain of bars and restaurants where all the waitresses are rather well endowed and Boobies is just a simple goal for the suave Space Dandy. As for the actual alien hunting well, it's a little difficult to review, there's no such thing as a typical episode, every episode is unpredictable, you don't know if you've been dropped into a comedy, drama or down right depressing and thought provoking thriller and depending on your tastes, some episodes come off better than others but you're almost guaranteed to find at least one episode you'll love and at least one episode you'll hate.
The endless possibilities of Space Dandy can keep this series going for ages and you'll never feel out of place in any episode, you can watch this show in a random order and the only episode that will matter is the first episode as it introduces Meow, the other episodes can be seen at any time in any order, even the final episode, the universal law in this anime allows it. I hope there are more seasons because there's so much more Space Dandy can do.
The dub is good and suits the show better than the Japanese audio.
Final Verdict: It's unpredictability makes every type of anime fan welcome even if they're not interested in the show itself, it has the setup to do anything it wants and runs with it, making it an unforgettable ride. Definitely worth the watch and I hope more is made.
Two reviews? You lucky, lucky people, next up is Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi.
In the land of Osaka we join childhood friends Arumi and Sasshi as they contemplate the changes going on in their shopping district Abenobashi which involves Arumi moving away after her family's restaurant closes, but an incident with Arumi's grandpa triggers a series of events that sends the two kids to different worlds all called Abenobashi but themed after different genres such as Fantasy, Space, Film Noir etc. Arumi and Sasshi must navigate each world to get home but Sasshi is hiding a terrible secret from Arumi.
Now I can see what they were aiming for in this anime, an Excel Saga style reference filled gag anime, but the execution is a little to be desired but it's not because it doesn't meet Excel Saga's high standards of humor or the Gainax trademark of twisting the story, it's actually the language barrier between Japanese and English.
Quite a weird assessment considering that anime starts in Japanese but that's the problem; Comedy in Osaka is done with a series of stand-up routines usually between two people and relies on a lot of play-on words and puns as part of it's jokes, this makes Abenobashi very dialogue heavy and hard to translate into English despite the best efforts of the dubbers, subtitle translators and reference notes, it's still amusing when you do get it but it makes it a chore to watch and when you do reach the end you feel a little short changed by the twist at the end.
The dub is a good effort on ADVFilms part but can't get passed the language barrier, I would go as far as saying that it probably shouldn't have been exported.
Final Verdict: While the show is funny, the very Japanese comedy is hard to translate whether your reading it or hearing it and it can become a chore to watch as a result, if you do understand the culture enough to get the jokes then give yourself a cookie, but it becomes a salty cookie when you reach the plot twist.
