https://www.tendocity.net/ Fri, 15 May 2026 02:43:12 +0000 MyBB https://www.tendocity.net/showthread.php?tid=4675 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:40:50 +0000 Great Rumbler]]> https://www.tendocity.net/showthread.php?tid=4675 Synopsis: In the near future, the development of colonies on the moon and other outerspace endeavors has led to a build-up of debris floating around the Earth. To remedy this problem, the Debris Section was formed. Their task being to collect harmful debris and remove it from orbit in order to keep ships and satelites safe. In other words, outerspace garbage collectors.

First Glance: A hard-scifi series that takes a serious and realistic look at space and space travel.

Impressions: Planetes is one of the few anime series...no, scratch that. Planetes is one of the few works of scifi that isn't a book to show a realistic and serious depiction of space and what it's like to actually be there. Newtonian physics are proudly on display and there's no giant robots or impossibly talented heroes to muck things up.

Space is a dangerous place. One mistake and you can die or get others killed. And even avoiding mistakes can cost you your life, such as spending too long out there and getting cancer. We also get to see the effects that being born on the moon can have. The series even depicts what happens to third world countries that are rapidly being left behind. Very few scifi series have ever gone this far in setting up a realistic and believeable world. This is the closest thing that television has come to 2001: A Space Odyssey, though the two aren't exactly similar in other regards.

As far as the characters go, there's quite a few to choose from. Some are merely there for a little comic relief from time to time, while others play key roles in revealing some aspect of life in space. The two main characters, Tanabe and Hachimaki, can be either interesting or annoying, depending on what your tolerances are. Tanabe sees everything in a positive light and always tries to do her best, along with spreading her belief that love solves all problems. Hachimaki tends to see the bad in everything and is often grumpy or disinterested regarding most things. Their best scenes are probably in the last few episodes, but don't let that deter you because their are plenty of other interesting characters that show up along the way.

The animation is really good and, as I said, depicts outerspace very well. As in, things that are put into motion stay that way unless acted on by another force. I wouldn't say that it's the best I've ever seen, but it's among the best I've seen in the past few years certainly. The art style compliments the animation and tone of the series very well, so that's another plus.

Conclusion: There's really not much I bring up about this series that would be a negative. In my book, it's one of the best out there and certainly near the top as far as science fiction goes.

Score 4.5/5

Specs: 26 episodes available as part of perfect collection.

Acquisition Difficulty: Easy.]]> Synopsis: In the near future, the development of colonies on the moon and other outerspace endeavors has led to a build-up of debris floating around the Earth. To remedy this problem, the Debris Section was formed. Their task being to collect harmful debris and remove it from orbit in order to keep ships and satelites safe. In other words, outerspace garbage collectors.

First Glance: A hard-scifi series that takes a serious and realistic look at space and space travel.

Impressions: Planetes is one of the few anime series...no, scratch that. Planetes is one of the few works of scifi that isn't a book to show a realistic and serious depiction of space and what it's like to actually be there. Newtonian physics are proudly on display and there's no giant robots or impossibly talented heroes to muck things up.

Space is a dangerous place. One mistake and you can die or get others killed. And even avoiding mistakes can cost you your life, such as spending too long out there and getting cancer. We also get to see the effects that being born on the moon can have. The series even depicts what happens to third world countries that are rapidly being left behind. Very few scifi series have ever gone this far in setting up a realistic and believeable world. This is the closest thing that television has come to 2001: A Space Odyssey, though the two aren't exactly similar in other regards.

As far as the characters go, there's quite a few to choose from. Some are merely there for a little comic relief from time to time, while others play key roles in revealing some aspect of life in space. The two main characters, Tanabe and Hachimaki, can be either interesting or annoying, depending on what your tolerances are. Tanabe sees everything in a positive light and always tries to do her best, along with spreading her belief that love solves all problems. Hachimaki tends to see the bad in everything and is often grumpy or disinterested regarding most things. Their best scenes are probably in the last few episodes, but don't let that deter you because their are plenty of other interesting characters that show up along the way.

The animation is really good and, as I said, depicts outerspace very well. As in, things that are put into motion stay that way unless acted on by another force. I wouldn't say that it's the best I've ever seen, but it's among the best I've seen in the past few years certainly. The art style compliments the animation and tone of the series very well, so that's another plus.

Conclusion: There's really not much I bring up about this series that would be a negative. In my book, it's one of the best out there and certainly near the top as far as science fiction goes.

Score 4.5/5

Specs: 26 episodes available as part of perfect collection.

Acquisition Difficulty: Easy.]]> https://www.tendocity.net/showthread.php?tid=4672 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:07:01 +0000 Great Rumbler]]> https://www.tendocity.net/showthread.php?tid=4672 Synopsis: A traveler named Kino goes from country to country, never staying in the same place for more than three days. Her only companion is a talking motorcycle named Hermes. Together they bear witness to the many facets of human nature and desire, only taking direct action when there's no other choice available. It is not their place to pass judgment, but merely to observe.

First Glance: Surrealistic fable from the director of Serial Experiments Lain? Sign me up!

Impression: Kino's Journey is surreal, yet filled with real human emotions, desires, and ideals. It's depressing at times, yet strangely uplifting. The world here is ugly and terrifying, yet exhilarating and often very beautiful. We are presented with different human philosophies and emotions in the form of various "countries" that each have something about them that is different from that last. Like the country that so strongly desires that to have their own unique culture that the purposefully make up new customs to try and entertain travels, not knowing that their practice of making new customs has itself become a custom. Or the land where war has been completely abolished, but where peace comes at a cost. Or a land where only "safe" books are allowed. The list goes on from there.

This is not a show that you watch to be entertained or in order to watch thrilling action, though it does offer some of that. No, this is a show you watch in order to take a peek into what makes humans human, not with the all excess baggage of one who has a vested interest but from the calm and detached view of one who merely wants to observe new things and new places.

The art style and music are the technical highlights of the show. The art style because it helps to give us so many new and different and fantastic places that we've never seen before, with each new country has its own personality. The backgrounds have an almost storybook quality to them, which goes along with the fable-like quality of many of the episodes. The music is also very well done and fits in very well, especially the haunting flute solo from episode two.

The animation in Kino's Journey is a bit limited in its range and there are very few scenes that show more than the movement of a few characters, making obvious the show's low budget. Nevertheless, it's not an action series where this kind of detailed and elaborate animation is needed and so the show does not suffer from this deficiency.

Conclusion: If Mushishi requires patience to get into, this requires you to be almost a saint. It's not standard anime fare by any means and if you're not hooked by episodes four, you probably won't ever be. However, if you can manage to stick with it that far and watch the show from the standpoint of desiring to watch something new and intelligent, it's hard to find a better series than Kino's Journey.

Score: 5/5

Specs: 13 episodes across four volumes and a thinkpak release.

Acquisition Difficulty Easy]]> Synopsis: A traveler named Kino goes from country to country, never staying in the same place for more than three days. Her only companion is a talking motorcycle named Hermes. Together they bear witness to the many facets of human nature and desire, only taking direct action when there's no other choice available. It is not their place to pass judgment, but merely to observe.

First Glance: Surrealistic fable from the director of Serial Experiments Lain? Sign me up!

Impression: Kino's Journey is surreal, yet filled with real human emotions, desires, and ideals. It's depressing at times, yet strangely uplifting. The world here is ugly and terrifying, yet exhilarating and often very beautiful. We are presented with different human philosophies and emotions in the form of various "countries" that each have something about them that is different from that last. Like the country that so strongly desires that to have their own unique culture that the purposefully make up new customs to try and entertain travels, not knowing that their practice of making new customs has itself become a custom. Or the land where war has been completely abolished, but where peace comes at a cost. Or a land where only "safe" books are allowed. The list goes on from there.

This is not a show that you watch to be entertained or in order to watch thrilling action, though it does offer some of that. No, this is a show you watch in order to take a peek into what makes humans human, not with the all excess baggage of one who has a vested interest but from the calm and detached view of one who merely wants to observe new things and new places.

The art style and music are the technical highlights of the show. The art style because it helps to give us so many new and different and fantastic places that we've never seen before, with each new country has its own personality. The backgrounds have an almost storybook quality to them, which goes along with the fable-like quality of many of the episodes. The music is also very well done and fits in very well, especially the haunting flute solo from episode two.

The animation in Kino's Journey is a bit limited in its range and there are very few scenes that show more than the movement of a few characters, making obvious the show's low budget. Nevertheless, it's not an action series where this kind of detailed and elaborate animation is needed and so the show does not suffer from this deficiency.

Conclusion: If Mushishi requires patience to get into, this requires you to be almost a saint. It's not standard anime fare by any means and if you're not hooked by episodes four, you probably won't ever be. However, if you can manage to stick with it that far and watch the show from the standpoint of desiring to watch something new and intelligent, it's hard to find a better series than Kino's Journey.

Score: 5/5

Specs: 13 episodes across four volumes and a thinkpak release.

Acquisition Difficulty Easy]]>