30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 20: Anime Character that Gets on Your Nerves

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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This one really made me think, but in the end I’ve decided to choose Yuka from Elfen Lied because not only is she annoying, but she’s also jealous, incestuous, and definitely whines far too much! I can’t stand her – even her voice winds me up! I’ve never wished death on a character before but when it came to Yuka I really wanted Lucy to kill her. If she’s not clinging to Kouta, she’s crying or nagging or just generally being a pain in the ass!

SO ANNOYING! Yuka, Elfen Lied

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My choice for this post may be a little controversial as she’s such a fan favourite, but bear with me. The character that gets on my nerves the most has to be Asuna from Sword Art Online.

Double Asuna = Double Annoying! Sword Art Online

Some characters are annoying from the very start of a show and your opinion of them never really changes. You sigh every time they come on screen, and you’re pleasantly relieved when they don’t get any airtime for a while. Is there anything worse than a constantly irritating character? Well, how about a character who starts off as your favourite only for you to grow to hate?

Let’s be real here: Sword Art Online started out as a refreshingly original, philosophical, and breathtakingly animated show, but by the end of the first series it’s ideas became tired and some of its characters’ suffered from disappointing arcs. Asuna is one of those characters. Beginning as one of the strongest players in the entire game, Asuna was tough-talking and crazy talented with a sword – even giving Beta tester Kirito a run for his money. As an inevitable but nonetheless sweet romance blossomed between them, Asuna’s vulnerabilities started to come out more and more – as did Kirito’s. But the difference between Asuna and Kirito was that whilst he continued to go from strength to strength in the game, Asuna’s strength and agency fell further and further back, until she seemed to be more a of simpering damsel than the once powerful knight she began as. Eventually, through strange plot contrivances, Kirito leaves her behind altogether and continues adventuring with a different partner.

If you compare Asuna’s character development to that of her nearest equivalent – Cecily Campbell from The Sacred Blacksmith – you can see how nonsensical this regression really is. Cecily is a lone female knight in a fantasy kingdom who begins as an untrained, clumsy novice and grows to overcome the inherent sexism of her faux-medieval setting; her own personal weaknesses; and a traumatic sexual assault to become a well-respected warrior.

Cecily Campbell battling on even with a broken sword.

This is not only a satisfying arc for a ‘strong female character’ stereotype, but just generally a satisfying and straightforward arc for any heroic character; making Asuna’s comparative strong-to-weak transition look even more bizarre for the action-fantasy genre that I thought the show was supposedly updating.

Asuna battling in an early episode…

…and Asuna later on in the series.

Honourable mentions: Misa Amane (Death Note), Tea Gardener (Yu-Gi-Oh!), Nunnaly Lamperouge (Code Geass), Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass), Eren Jaeger (Attack on Titan).

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Although I certainly don’t hate this character, her choices annoy the hell out of me. My most annoying character is Chi Chi from Dragon Ball Z.

Chi Chi, Dragon Ball Z

Chi Chi didn’t always bug me. She started off as a cute kid, then at the end of Dragon Ball she was a fiery individual and the perfect match for Goku. It was in Dragon Ball Z that Chi Chi really started to anger me. Her dreams and aspirations for Gohan were for him to knuckle down with school and one day become a great scholar. However, it is clear from episode one that Gohan was born with great power lying dormant, and he is clearly destined to follow in his father’s foot steps of becoming the world’s next savior.

At the end of the Cell Saga we think that’s going to happen: Gohan becomes a beast, and the very first to master the Super Saiyan 2 transformation. Below is a clip of the final blow he hits Cell with, named the ‘Father-Son Kamehameha’ as Goku (his father) is the one that finally gives Gohan the inspiration to release his full power, and with it he annihilates Cell, and becomes the most powerful Dragon Ball character.

However, Chi Chi destroys this and makes Gohan go to school and he becomes and absolute lame person! Gohan fights back by training in secret, and taking on the identity of the ‘Great Saiyaman’ to fight crime. It makes you think though: what would Gohan’s power be like if he continued on the path he was on during the Cell Saga?

SHUT UP CHI CHI.

She’s bossy, she’s complains all the time, she doesn’t see the bigger picture, and she’s controlling. The worst thing is that she wasn’t always this way, she used to be adorable and understanding, so I try to remember the good times. Like in this adorable picture:

Awww!

But now all I see is this annoying woman who tries to make the two most powerful individuals in the world do homework, go to parent evenings, and take driving lessons… but I guess if that didn’t happen we wouldn’t have these hilarious moments:

Brum, brum, beep, beep!

And Goku loves her, so I guess she can’t be that bad…

Family fun

Just let Gohan punch bad guys for crying out loud!

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 19: Most Epic Scene Ever

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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[SPOILER ALERT: There are some spoilers in this post about character deaths and the results of epic battles!]

For me, one of the most epic scenes I’ve ever seen in anime is in The Irregular at Magic High School, in a scene in which Tatsuya Shiba is challenged by Hanzo Gyoubushoujo Hattori when he is proposed to be added as a member of the School’s council. Because Tatsuya isn’t a particularly strong magic user Hanzo believes defeating him will be a piece of cake… and then Tatsuya kicks his ass:

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To love anime is to love its preoccupation with melodrama and exaggeration, I think. Everything from Ichigo Kurosaki fighting on after losing half his body weight in blood in Bleach, to Light Yagami furiously writing in his room and manically laughing to himself in Death Note. Whenever someone mentions epic moments in anime to me, there’s a bunch of scenes that spring to mind, but the very first one nearly every single time is the opening 6-minute battle scene from Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo featuring Asuka battling an Angel in space.

Film poster for Evangelion 3.0

Evangelion is packed full of WTF and epic moments – both quietly devastating and irrepressibly loud – but this battle, rendered in gorgeous HD and cinematic scope from the Evangelion rebuild series of films in 2013, truly left me gobsmacked when I first watched it. It’s fast, furious, intense, and one of the best pieces of animation I’ve ever seen.

It starts off with nothing but the blackness of space and whispered voices over multiple telecommunications devices. Then, slowly, Asuka’s ship fades into view. The camera follows it, the voices get louder, and the ship becomes clearer. We see Asuka housed in the cockpit – fingers flicking at switches and her breathing raspy and meditated. Then we are swung downwards to see a shot of the eerily red sea of Earth. Asuka begins to lock in on her target, and then suddenly it zooms into a view – an Angel – screaming as though it were human.

Asuka tears through the Angel’s A.T field as though it were jelly, and then rips off her own helmet to scream through her intense exertion. This is when the real fight begins, and you can watch the full 6-minutes and 38-seconds here in all its insane glory – trust me, it’s worth it!

Asuka in battle, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo

Honourable mentions: Asuka’s death (End of Evangelion), Tetsuo’s end (Akira), Titan reappears behind Eren (Attack on Titan), Allen Walker fights the Earl and saves Lenalee (D.Gray-Man), “YOU’VE GOT MAIL!” (Digimon – The First Movie), pretty much everything in Death Note, the reveal at the end of Full Metal Alchemist, the Takihoma sacrifice themselves (Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex), Cloud vs. Sephorith (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children).

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One Piece is one of the most epic anime out there. Everything is big: big moves, big people, big countries, big boats…it’s crazy. So it’s no surprise to me that I turn straight to One Piece in terms of epic scenes. For my most epic scene though it has to be the final moments of Whitebeard.

Edward ‘Whitebeard’ Newgate

This is Edward Newgate, otherwise known by his pirate name of ‘Whitebeard’. He is one of the most powerful pirates in One Piece, classified as one of the ‘Four Warlords’, and he and his fleet are seen as one of the biggest superpowers in the world. Back in the day, he was rival to Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, and was constantly battling him for the title.

Whitebeard may be old now, but he still rightfully deserves the title of most powerful man. He is able to use a technique known as ‘Haki’ which enables him to battle the strongest of the strong. He also boasts a Devil Fruit power which enables him to manipulate vibrations. These vibrations are more like quakes, and with them he can create tsunamis, earthquakes, or just blast through the air and destroy anything in his path.

Ka-Boom!

However, when he goes to war against the whole of the World’s Navy to rescue Luffy’s brother Ace (who has becomes like a son to Whitebeard) he is pushed beyond his limits and is killed in action. However, its what he says and how he dies that makes this scene so epic.

In the world of One Piece, there are a growing amount of people who stop believing in the grand treasure called the ‘One Piece’, and it would seem that the Great Age of Pirates may be coming to a close. However, Whitebeard’s final words are an announcement to the world, to those who are watching the battle that the One Piece is most certainly real. After he says this he dies…standing up. I know this is a cliche in anime and Eastern mythology, but you can’t help but admit that it’s the coolest thing ever. This was also the first time I saw this cliche, so for me it will always be amazing and unique.

So boss.

But it doesn’t stop there. The narrator lists the amount of injuries he sustained in the war, and how many scars he bears on his body: two-hundred-and-sixty-seven sword wounds, one-hundred-and-fifty-one guns shot wounds, he took forty-six cannon shots, he was punched through the torso twice, but as the wind blows his jacket off his back, it is revealed that he has never sustained an injury on his back, as he never retreated or surrendered.

So three epic, epic, points for this scene showed Whitebeard to be a boss, not once, but twice! But not only that, his announcement led to a new era in the Pirate Age, an era in which everyone believes in the ultimate treasure – the One Piece.

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 18: Favourite Supporting Female Character

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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My favourite supporting female character is Madison Taylor from the English Cardcaptor Sakura dub. Not only does she make awesome costumes for Sakura to fight against the Clow cards in, but she also films the fights as well. She’s also clever as she often spots the Clow cards before Sakura!

Madison Taylor, Cardcaptors

Honorable mentions: Winry Rockbell (Full Metal Alchemist & Brotherhood), Mami Tomoe (Puella Magi Madoka Magicka)

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My favourite female supporting character by far has to be the ultimate anime tough girl, Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Asuka Langley Soryu, Neon Genesis Evangelion

If main character Shinji can be characterised by crippling depression, self-doubt, and self-confidence issues (What a catch! Am I right, ladies?) then Asuka as a supporting female character serves as his polar opposite. Feisty, hot-headed, and supremely self-assured in her skills as her NERV’s “best” Eva pilot, Asuka fulfils all the expectations of an anime action hero that Shinji subverts. Perhaps in another version of the story that hasn’t already been explored through TV, manga, or film, Asuka would be the main character leading the charge against the Angels, and meek and nervous Shinji her sidekick instead.

However, as the series progresses, this dynamic begins to break down as the cracks in her resilient armour start to show under the immense pressure of constantly averting global devastation and a devastatingly brutal battle, causing both her mental and physical health to disintegrate.

The less said about THIS scene the better.

Despite this, she’s still an absolute boss in battle:

Asuka kicking butt.

And a hilarious bully:

BAKA Shinji!

Honourable mentions: Tsubaki Nakatsukasa (Soul Eater), Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail), Rukia Kuckiki (Bleach), Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) Riza Hawkeye (Full Metal Alchemist & Brotherhood).

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My favourite female supporting character is R. Dorothy Waynewright from The Big O.

R. Dorothy Wayneright

Dorothy is an android created by scientist Miguel Soldano. Roger, the show’s protagonist, rescues her in the first episode of the anime and to repay Roger for saving her life, she moves into Roger’s house and assists him in whatever way she can.

Being an android Dorothy possess superhuman strength, speed, agility and intelligence, though she still has a lot to learn to what it means to be human. These physical attributes makes her a great partner for debonair Roger in Big O. She’s kind of the Robin to his Batman.

Dynamic Duo!

As a character, Dorothy is also great to watch. Her dry, sarcastic humor is hilarious especially when she gets the opportunity to rattle the ‘too cool for school’ Roger Smith. She is also a confusing character, as you never know what she’s thinking. She is able to show emotions, and she definitely has them, but she hides them well too. Her cold humor and expressions are also kick-ass in a fight as well, making all of her athletic stunts look effortless, and every time she’s talking to a bad guy, it feels like shes holding up a middle finger throughout the whole conversation.

Her relationship with Roger is interesting as well, as the two clearly have feelings for each other, but they both silently agree that it will never work what with the slight hurdle of Dorothy being an android and all. But this doesn’t stop the two from caring for each other and having those infuriating ‘will-they-won’t- they’ moments.

She’s also an amazing pianist:

This GIF goes with pretty much any music.

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page! 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 17: Favourite Supporting Male Anime Character

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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My favourite supporting male anime character is without a doubt Captain Levi Ackerman from Attack On Titan. You only have to watch this clip to see how awesome he is:

Honorable mentions: Shogo Makishima (Psycho Pass), Roy Mustang (Full Metal Alchemist & Brotherhood) and Daru (Steins Gate)

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I had a real tough time with this one as I often love the supporting characters even more than the main characters in some anime. I’ve noticed as well that a lot of the supporting characters I love are kiiiiiiind of either psychopaths or douchebags. Hmm.

So with this in mind, my favourite supporting character pick is unsurprisingly my favourite loveable douchebag of all anime: Kanda Yuu from D.Gray-Man.

Kanda Yuu, D.Gray-Man

The online D.Gray-Man Encyclopaedia describes Kanda as “a handsome young Japanese man usually found in a foul mood,” and I think this summary is pretty much nails Kanda. Raised by the European branch of the ‘Black Order’ (Exorcist soldiers) to fight against The Earl (aka the Devil), Kanda is a ‘Second Exorcist’ who wields a supernatural blade named ‘Mugen’ and also possesses enhanced artificial regeneration abilities that enable him to take massive amounts of damage in battle and recover fairly quickly.

Personality-wise, Kanda is grumpy, uncooperative, and snappy – your typical ‘lone-wolf’ stereotype. Imagine a prettier, taller, and less hairy version of Wolverine and you’re pretty much there, as this clip demonstrates:

However, main character Allen Walker’s unrelenting positivity and determination to befriend Kanda result in some pretty funny squabbles between the mismatched pair, with Kanda bestowing him with the nickname ‘beansprout’ due to Allen’s weediness at the start of the story.

Kanda gets wound up by Allen a lot.

However, as Allen goes from strength to strength through the show, Kanda’s respect also grows for him, and he proves himself again and again to be fiercely loyal and honourable – even at the risk of his own life. The more recent chapters of the on-again, off-again manga have also revealed the tragic truth of Kanda’s origins – which only made my love for him as a character even stronger.

Kanda’s secret past is revealed.

Plus, just like Wolverine, he’s ridiculously unstoppable in battle:

Honourable mentions: Lavi (D.Gray-Man), Calcifer (Howl’s Moving Castle), Grell Sutcliffe (Black Butler), Dr. Stein (Soul Eater), Bakura (Yu-Gi-Oh!), Shuu Tsukiyama (Tokyo Ghoul), Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan).

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For my favourite supporting male character, I have to return to Dragon Ball.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, and no -I’m not talking about Vegeta. I’m going to talk about someone with an even more interesting story arc, and that’s my man Piccolo.

Piccolo, Dragon Ball

Piccolo is a champ with an odd origin story. Long ago, a Namekian landed on Earth. This Namekian would one day visit the Gaurdian of Earth and wish to take his place. However, the Gaurdian of Earth at the time told this Namekian that he had too much evil within his heart to protect the world. So, this Namekian split his mind, body, and soul in two parts and became two different Namekians: one being Kami the Guardian of Earth in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z; the other becoming The Demon King Piccolo.

King Piccolo

Now, King Piccolo is our Piccolo’s father. King Piccolo terrorised the world for years until a martial arts master sealed him away in a jar like a Genie. Decades later, this Piccolo is set free and is on the hunt for the Dragon Balls to restore his youth. Unfortunately he does so, and it’s up to Goku and the gang to stop him. Goku does so by punching a hole right through his chest (so bad ass), but with his last breath King Piccolo spawns an offspring, and sends him to a forest to hatch and grow.

Piccolo Vs. Goku

Piccolo is born with his fathers’ hatred and evil, and dedicates his life to killing Goku and taking over the world. Piccolo faces Goku in the final of the World Martial Arts Tournament and it’s this fight that brings Goku’s story in Dragon Ball to an end, to be concluded in Dragon Ball Z. However, Dragon Ball Z is also where Piccolo’s story continues, and this is where it gets really interesting.

Piccolo training Gohan.

In Dragon Ball Z, Goku dies, but don’t worry – he doesn’t stay that way for long. In the meantime however, Piccolo takes Goku’s son, Gohan, away to train him for the Saiyan’s arrival. It is at this point that Piccolo’s character changes for the better. Piccolo and Gohan become close friends as Gohan becomes older, and it’s this friendship that starts to turn Piccolo into one of the greatest fighters for good.

Piccolo and Kami fuse.

Piccolo is a funny character is great as well as he’s such a grumpy guy. In Dragon Ball you have a lot of happy characters and a few angsty characters, but Piccolo I feel is the only grumpy character there, which makes him stand out, and that’s why this image of him hiding at a dinner party is amazing:

Lol

He is the most powerful Namekian, and for a short time was one of the most powerful fighters in the world, being even more powerful that Super Saiyan Goku at one point. His fight with Android 17 is something that everyone should watch, as it truly shows what he can do. Later he kicks back and becomes more of a teacher, and teaches Trunks and Goten how to fuse to become Gotenks.

But for me, it’s his relationships that make him a great character. His friendship with Gohan will always be the best thing ever in anything, but Piccolo and Goku become close friends and sort of colleagues in martial arts. He gets pushed around by Chi Chi and Bulma (just like everyone else); him and Vegeta have a silent understanding; and Piccolo also forms tight friendships with the other Z Fighters – friendships you would think to be impossible after watching the original Dragon Ball.

He still tries to be the big scary guy though, which makes these GIFs that much more hilarious:

Yes, there is an episode when Piccolo and Goku learn to drive.

IN DA CLUB.

He’s also named after a type of Flute:

Is she… crying?

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 16: Anime With the Best Animation

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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For me this has to be something from the collection of Studio Ghibli films I’ve seen: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbour Toroto and Princess Mononoke. I think that renowned director Hayao Miyazaki‘s animated films have some of the best animation in the industry, and I also think the fact that the animation is largely hand-drawn makes me appreciate the art and skill that goes into the creation of his works. I admire that his films’ stories are beautiful and symbolic.

“Uh?” No-Face, Spirited Away

I think out of all the Ghibli films though, I’m going to pick Spirited Away as the best in terms of animation, just for the attention to detail that was given, how colourful it is, and how diverse the characters designs are.

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Like Jess, and probably every other anime fan in the world, I am a huge admirer of Hayao Miyazaki’s signature style of animation, and the fact that Studio Ghibli is known as the ‘Disney of the East’ tells you just how well-respected they are in the industry. In fact, you can see Disney/Pixar’s John Lasseter pay homage to Miyazaki by including a Totoro plushie in Toy Story 3:

Totoro plushie in Toy Story 3

However, I’m actually going to give my favourite animation pick on this occasion to a completely different anime – Soul Eater. It’s not because I think that the quality of the animation itself is superior, but because Soul Eater was one of the first anime series’ I watched that had such a dramatically different visual style to most others. The opening title sequence remains one of the best I’ve ever seen:

Quite often, when a manga gets adapted from page to screen, it loses the artists’ distinctive style in favour of something more mainstream and easier to animate – i.e. Death Note, Tokyo Goul, Gangsta, etc. – but Studio Bones (one of the best animation studios in my opinion) who picked up Soul Eater, thankfully decided to try and replicate Atsushi Okubo’s fantastic Tim Burton-esque style:

The Soul Eater Moon in the Manga

The Soul Eater Moon in the Anime

As the world of Soul Eater is so nutty and surreal, the style of the art really does marry itself completely into the feel of the story and the character of that world. It serves as far more than just an aesthetic flair – it’s a vital tool in Okubo’s storytelling technique and one of the reasons why Soul Eater has remained so popular after the anime series ended all too quickly.

Honourable mentions: Any Studio Ghibli film, Neon Genesis Evangelion (reboot films), End of Evangelion, Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, Ghost in the Shell (film), One Piece, Final Fantasy XII, Metropolis (anime adaptation), Summer Wars, 5 Centimetres Per Second.

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You know what’s the hardest thing to animate? WATER!

7.8 too much water.

Ponyo has a load of water, and it looks freaking beautiful:

I’ve never seen the Ocean like this.

Damn straight! The water in Ponyo crashes, splashes, flows, swells, sprinkles, spreads, bulges, and foams. And the water in Ponyo has different textures as well, as well as just looking wet as you’d expect, it also looks weirdly gelatinous, hard, heavy, light, sharp… It’s crazy.

This guy is a mad man.

Not only is it beautiful, but this film was hard graft: The whole thing – like most Studio Ghibli films – was HAND-DRAWN.

In a canon of filmmaking that has made Miyazaki’s name synonomous with great anime in the same way that the Beatles’ name is synonomous with great music, Ponyo is probably the most impressive example of his immense talents.

Hayao Miyazaki stories are told with the precision of a master filmmaker. As a director, his visual vocabulary and specialized storytelling are like fellow stylistic auteurs Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton or Quentin Tarantino — directors whose aesthetic sense is so strong and storytelling so unique that every film they make, even the small ones, are worth exploring.

Ron Barbagallo, Animation Art Conservation.

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 15: Favourite Animal Sidekick, Pet, or Summoning From Any Anime

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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With most of the anime I have watched featuring sidekicks and pets this was a hard choice for me. Do I go with lovable Gatomon from Digimon? Food-mad Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura? Or maybe even the evil Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magika? So many choices… ARGH.

Okay, so I’ve decided to go with Psyduck, my favourite Pokemon, and my favourite episode of Pokemon is the one with all the baby Psyducks: “The Psyduck Stops Here”.

Awww!

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This is a no-brainer for me. Cardcaptor Sakura is one of my top three favourite anime of all time, and therefore Kero-chan (or Kerberos in his true form) has to be my favourite non-human sidekick character.

Kero in his cute form and in his true form as ‘Kerberos’.

Whereas some anime sidekicks are often (excuse the pun) sidelined as just cute little pets, Kero-chan plays a crucial role in Cardcaptor Sakura as Sakura’s guide, teacher, friend, and battle coach. Whether he’s giving her sage advice on capturing the Clow Cards, or helping Tomoyo prepare new matching battle outfits for he and Sakura, or teasing Syaoran, or demanding pudding, he’s an irreplaceable part of the story, and totally loveable!

I mean just look at his adorable bedroom in Sakura’s sock drawer:

EVERYTHING IS SO SMALL!

Or the ‘Leave it to Kero-chan’ segments after each episode of the first series where he inexplicably had his own tiny office!

Leave it to Kero!

OR JUST LOOK AT HOW HE EATS CAKE OMG:

KAWAII!

Honourable mentions: Happy (Fairy Tail), Mokona (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle & xxxHolic), Jiji (Kiki’s Delivery Service), The forest spirits (Princess Mononoke), The Baron (The Cat Returns), Ein (Cowboy Bebop), Timcampy (D.Gray-Man) Pikachu (Pokemon).

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The best creature sidekick for me needs to embody the bond between man and beast – the whole ‘man’s best friend’ thing. It needs to be your best friend, and most reliable support. It needs to be loyal, fast and powerful. It needs to have a skill that only an animal can have as well, otherwise you might as well just have another human friend, and finally, even though your animal friend needs to be powerful, it needs to also have adorable tendencies as well. This is anime, after all!

My favourite anime animal that comes to mind when thinking of all these qualities is Terry Cloth from Toriko.

Terry Cloth

Now, I know what you’re thinking: it’s just a wolf, but Terry is no ordinary wolf. Terry is a Battle Wolf. Battle Wolves are the largest and most powerful wolf species in the world of Toriko; a previously presumed extinct species native to the Gourmet World. One of its survivors has been revealed to be a member of the fearsome Eight Kings (The Eight Kings are eight beasts, each from a different ‘King’ species, individually regarded as the most powerful beings in the world). Terry, however, is the offspring of a Battle Wolf clone that the International Gourmet Organisation (IGO) created.

Toriko and Terry meet and after Toriko saves Terry’s life, the pair then bond, and Terry becomes his official Animal Partner which is rare as Battle Wolves are not known to like humans.

This battle was awesome.

Now to tell you why Terry is awesome. Like all things in Toriko, Terry is huge. You see that orange dot on Terry’s head in the image above? That’s the seven-foot Toriko. Also bear in mind that the image above is Terry as a pup, he gets a lot bigger. And at that monstrous size anyone can ride him, making him an awesome steed for all.

But the best thing about Terry is his loyalty to Toriko. He is so loyal that he has undergone training to improve his strength and speed so he can stand by Toriko for any fight. The training pays off as well, Terry is naturally strong and fast but his training has taken him to crazy levels.

Scary…

He can be a scary beast, but he’s also a loving companion. Look at these cute pictures of him. Look at them!

Oh

my

GOD

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 14: Anime That Never Gets Old No Matter How Many Times You’ve Rewatched It

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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For me this is a toss up between some of the anime series’ I watched when I was younger, including: Pokemon, Digimon and Cardcaptor Sakura. But I think my choice for this challenge is going to have to be Cardcaptor Sakura as it’s the one I’ve re-watched the most and always enjoy.

Some of the Pokemon episodes annoy me – especially when Ash can’t remember having a Butterfree – and with Digimon I never watched all of the series as I hated the one with the train… *Googles what series is called* Ah yes, Digimon Frontier. So Cardcaptor Sakura is a no-brainer!

Carcaptor Sakura

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My original choice was going to be Cardcaptor Sakura, as it’s the only series that I’ve re-watched 3 whole times, and I will almost definitely watch it again and again in the years to come. However, as I thought it would be better to pick something different to Jess, I’m going to with a Studio Ghibli favourite of mine: Howl’s Moving Castle.

Howl’s Moving Castle

This film is like a classic Disney movie to me – I know all the words, I know the story back to front, and yet I never get sick of revisiting it, and it never ceases to make me feel exactly the same feelings I did upon first watching it. Films like this feel as good as a hot drink on a cold day – nurturing and fulfilling every time.

The story is essentially a fairy tale in which each character must learn a valuable lesson: selfish but talented wizard Howl must learn self-sacrifice in order to find true love; and shop girl Sophie must conversely learn to love herself before she can love another; the villainous witch must learn to let go of unreturned affections; and the King must learn to abandon a self-serving and pointless war… I could go on through the entire cast, but I won’t. Howl and Sophie are the missing pieces in each other’s lives – but they must overcome societal and personal obstacles before they can prove it to the other.

Moreover, like all Studio Ghibli films, it’s filled with vibrant and interesting characters, humour, magic, brilliant world-building, anti-war rhetoric, and breathtakingly drawn scenes like this one:

Howl in his bedroom with Sophie by his side.

The little digs at Howl – the fabulously vain ladies man – are also really funny. One scene in particular that I quote constantly is when Howl dyes his hair with the wrong potion (due to Sophie rearranging everything in an effort to clean the Castle) and laments about how hideous he looks. Sophie – who has been cursed with an ageing spell – tries (and fails) to comfort him:

(Sorry for the poor quality – that was the only clip I could find!)

Honourable mentions: Cardcaptor Sakura, Death Note, Princess Mononoke, Ouran High School Host Club, D.Gray-Man, Black Butler, Neon Genesis Evangelion.

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I don’t re-watch this anime often, but when I do, I love every episode all over again. The anime I that never gets old for me is Outlaw Star.

Outlaw Star

The series takes place in the “Toward Stars Era” universe in which spacecrafts are capable of traveling faster than the speed of light. The plot follows protagonist Gene Starwind and his motley crew of an inherited ship dubbed the “Outlaw Star”, as they search for a legendary, outer space treasure trove called the “Galactic Leyline”.

SPACESHIP!

Most anime I can re-watch happily, but even in some of my favourite anime there are episodes that I either don’t like or are impartial to. But with Outlaw Star I love every episode. I love how ‘old timey’ it feels even though it’s set in space, and every member of the crew is interesting and are genuine, fully-rounded characters. Re-watching Outlaw Star to me is like reading your favourite childhood book, just like when a Harry Potter fan picks up The Philosopher’s Stone again and is reintroduced to Hogwarts.

The Crew

Dragon Ball is always going to be my favourite anime ever, but when it comes to revisiting it, I prefer to read the manga than watch the anime. Whereas Outlaw Star is so fun to watch, and the cast are like old friends, even the narrator sounds like a parent is reading me the tale. It’s the best.

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 13: Anime Character You Are Most Similar To

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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In terms of personality, I find definitely find similarities between myself and Madoka Kaname from Puella Magi Madoka Magicka as she sees herself as a person without special qualities or talents and is against fighting. She also cares deeply about her friends and family.

Madoka Kaname, Puella Magi Madoka Magicka

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It’s difficult to relate to many anime characters as – less face it – they’re not exactly the most realistically written fictional characters, are they? If I had to pick a character that I identify the most with though, it would probably be Maka Albarn from Soul Eater.

Maka Albarn, Soul Eater

I like that Maka is academically driven to do well in school (which I was) but also isn’t a stereotypical awkward nerdy girl – she can still kick some major butt. She’s also fiercely independent, get’s wound up easily, bottles up her insecurities, and highly values her friends and those close to her – all traits I can identify with. Plus, the Soul Eater Shibusen academy is like my Hogwarts. I’m still waiting for my acceptance letter from Lord Death.

Shibusen Academy

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This is probably the hardest question on this list for me. Anime characters are so over the top that it’s hard to pick one that I think fits me. I guess I’m an emotional guy and I love to eat…so maybe, Toriko from Toriko?

Toriko, from Toriko

Toriko is a Bishoku-ya or Gourmet Hunter, which means his role in the world is to hunt for ingredients for the Government (International Gourmet Organisation). These ingredients are then distributed around the world and sold to the public, or IGO-owned restaurants. Toriko is an incredibly powerful fighter and loves his job.

Toriko’s personality is like mine in certain aspects. He is described as a glutton and quite rightly so, as he has one of the biggest appetites in the world, which I can certainly identify with as I have admitted in the past that I do tend to eat for fun.

EAT!

He is very particular with his food as well, only allowing the best ingredients in the world to be added to his ‘Full Course’. When it comes to food I would like to think that I’d eat anything, but it has to be just right. Especially with fruit, I love fruit, but if I notice anything ‘wrong’ with a piece of fruit I refuse to eat it.

He is also super-emotional, just like me. He also has strong bonds with all his friends, always insisting that he and his friends take part in feasts together, and he can’t help but overreact to delicious ingredients. He’s stubborn and has tendencies to throw his toys out of the pram as well, much like me. However, I have his good stuff as well. I may tend to overreact, but I feel that I have strong bonds with all my friends, and love eating food with them all.

Just wish I had his physique…

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 12: Saddest Anime Scene

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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[SPOILER ALERT! There will be death scenes discussed in this post.]

I’m ashamed to say that there have been many moments in anime that have genuinely made me shed a tear, and so this is another hard choice for me. However, I think I’m going to have go with the Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood chimera scene as it truly ripped my heart out. How could a father do that to his daughter? Not only is it one of the saddest moments I can think of from any anime that I’ve seen, I don’t think I’ve ever cared so much for a minor character in the grand scale of the series!

Honorable mentions: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Mami’s death), Steins Gate (Mayuri dying over and over), Death Note (L’s death) and Digimon (Leomon’s dies and his DNA gets absorbed).

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Ooooooohhh… All the feels 😦

I cry pretty easily, but out of all the anime that’s made me tear up, there is one traumatising film that I pretty much cried the whole through watching (as I’m sure most people did) and that is Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies.

Grave of the Fireflies

Set during WWII in Japan, an American firebomb separates two siblings – teenage Seita – and his little sister – Setsuko – from their parents, leaving them to fend for themselves in this heart-wrenchingly anti-war story. Undoubtedly one of the most tragic parts of the film comes when Setsuko deliriously hallucinates that rocks are rice balls, and tries to persuade Seita to eat them. The animators spare us none of the horrific reality of their starvation either:

Seita and Setsuko.

Just when I thought I couldn’t weep anymore watching it, little Setsuko inevitably passes away. Following this, Seita wanders aimlessly into an underground station and slumps against a pillar to beg for money or food. People pass him by without a second glance – as though he is invisible – and eventually he begins to fade away until he is gone completely. And that’s it. That’s how it ends. No happy ending. No hope. Just the harsh reality of the human consequences of war.

Seriously – don’t watch this one if you’re in even a vaguely sensitive mood. It will destroy you!

Honourable mentions: Maes Hughes’ and Nina Tucker’s death (Full Metal Alchemist), L’s death (Death Note), Ash getting frozen by Mewtwo (Pokemon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back), Spike Speigel’s death, (Cowboy Bebop), Chiaki’s disappearance (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time).

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I’m an emotional guy and get invested pretty easily in things, I get a tear in my eye when I watch John Lewis adverts for crying out loud. So when it comes to talking about the saddest moment in anime, I do have a good list, but there is one scene that always comes to mind first. The funeral of the ‘Going Merry’ ship from One Peice is my saddest scene in anime.

The Going Merry.

The Going Merry was the first ship that the Straw Hat Pirates sailed on in search of the fabled treasure:  the ‘One Piece’. It was given to the pirates by Usopp’s friend, Kaya, after they defeated Captain Kuro – a pirate who was posing as her butler to steal her wealth. The Going Merry was the ship that took the Straw Hats to the infamous ocean, ‘The Grand Line’, and they even took the ship into the skies in search of Sky Island. It was during this arc that The Going Merry started to fall apart. She was splitting at the seams, but Usopp made sure she stayed together. However, the inevitable happened, and eventually the Going Merry sank.

The Going Merry’s Funeral

The funeral of the Going Merry was so upsetting for me. Bear in mind that this boat has been with the Straw Hats for over three hundred episodes, almost eight-years of viewing. The Going Merry is a special ship as well in that the care that the Straw Hats gave the ship imbued it with a soul so that the ship could  communicate with it’s crew and act on it’s own accord. So when it sank, it actually died. The saddest moment of the funeral is when the ship herself apologies that she can’t take them all the way, she then thanks them for being her friends and goes down in a blaze of glory. It may sound lame, but I remember sobbing when I watched it for the first time.

Here is the scene remastered in a special episode if you want to watch it:

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!

 

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 11: Favourite Mech Anime

This post is part of The 30 Day Anime Challenge Series alongside the Cosmic Anvil Kickstarter campaign. Click here to read the introduction, and click here to check out and support the campaign to help us fund the printing and distribution of our first collected volume of our manga-inspired comic series, Age of Revolution.

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Unfortunately I really haven’t seen any Mech anime, unless Digimon Adventure 2 counts when they use Armor Digivolution?

Digi-Armour Energise!

Apologies! I did mention I still need to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion if that makes up for my lack of Mech anime knowledge!

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Jess, you do need to watch more Mech anime (because its AWESOME) and you should certainly watch Neon Genesis Evangelion as it’s not only my favourite Mech anime, but it’s also my favourite anime series ever.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

What do I say about this insane masterpiece of an anime that hasn’t already been said?

The basic (and I mean basic) story follows 14-year-old Shinji Ikari in a post-apocalyptic re-built version of Tokyo, fifteen years after a global cataclysm wiped out a huge chunk of human civilisation. Shinji discovers he is one a handful of teenagers – that includes two girls called Asuka and Rei – destined to pilot the giant Eva mechs to ward off the earth from intermittent attacks from alien/supernatural beings known as ‘Angels’. The base of operations for the Eva pilots is NERV, which turns out to be headed up by Shinji’s absent, creepy father, Gendo. Their mission? To prevent another catastrophe from happening. Or at least, that’s part of their mission…

The history of the show’s creation is a lesson in exceeded expectations. Animation studio Gainax originally commissioned just a run-of-the-mill Mech anime from director Hideki Anno, and what Anno produced was an infuriatingly intricate thesis on theology, philosophy, psychology, and the nature of human existence that fans still obsess over to this day, fifteen years after it’s release. Evangelion went on to dramatically redefine and rejuvenate a well-established genre – not to mention become one of the most critically and commercially successful anime ever (the franchise has generated a whopping 150 billion yen so far).

Co-Pilots Kaworu and Shinji inside the Eva 13 (Rebuild).

The Mech in Evangelion were also revolutionary for the genre. Far more than just suits or robots, they’re biologically fuelled and biologically linked to their pilots, which also unfortunately means that their pain is shared by their pilots. A similar idea that inspired Guillermo del Toro’s Jaeger mechs in his 2013 film Pacific Rim. In fact, the Evas are so animalistic that they can even break free of their pilots’ control by entering ‘berserk’ mode – which looks exactly as you’d expect:

Mech anime are always set in world’s in turmoil. After all, you don’t really need a Mech in a time of peace, do you? What raises Evangelion above others of the genre is not only it’s grand scope, but the relatable (if not melodramatically heightened) angst of its teenage characters. Haunted by abandonment, depression, and severe insecurity, Shinji is one of the most emotionally unstable heroes I’ve ever come across.

You really do feel the weight of the world’s survival constantly balancing on his tiny shoulders, and he continually seems ready to be happily crushed by it just to make all the nightmare-fuelling trauma stop.

Honourable mentions: The Big O, Code Geass, Eureka 7, Guilty Crown.

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I don’t watch a lot of Mech anime, which is surprising as I do love Mechs. A a kid, pretending that I was in a giant robot was the norm, thanks to my breakfast consisting of cereal, juice and Power Rangers. I think the few that I have watched have been pretty good, and my favourite is probably one of the most underrated animes out there: The Big O.

The Big O.

The Big O is set in Paradigm City, a New York-styled city that has been contained under huge domes. Forty years ago, a mysterious event took place that erased everyone’s memories. In this world of amnesia, Roger Smith assumes the role of a negotiator for the city and fights crime with his two partners: an android by the name of Dorothy and his Butler, Gordon. But if the occasion calls for it, Roger calls out the secret third member of his team – the giant robot Big O!

Roger calls Big O with his watch.

The Big O is a crazy mix of Film Noir and Mech anime. The aesthetic style is also very rooted in the 50s/60s, taking inspiration from Toho’s Kaiju movies and Western Detective dramas. This mix of genres makes Big O a really interesting watch as the story has a good balance of investigative work and giant robot battles. Roger is also one of the coolest protagonists in anime: slick and stylish, a bachelor in the James Bond mold, and a mysterious past which slowly gets unlocked as time goes on.

The action is awesome as well. For an anime that makes you think hard, it pays you back tenfold with awesome giant robot fights!

Big O Vs. Big Fau

Big O is an awesome Mech as well: it’s strong, it’s quite nimble for a steampunk design, and it packs a ton of weapons as well. The bond between Big O and Roger is interesting as well. There are times when the scene that is shot in a way that makes the mech look as if it’s expressionless face is emitting some sort of emotion, and you do get the feeling the Big O and Roger are brothers in arms and have some sort of spiritual relationship like Ed and Al in Full Metal Alchemist. I highly recommend this anime to anyone who loves mech, but get ready to have your mind messed with.

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Written by The Cosmic Anvil Team.

Check out our own Welsh-manga (or ‘Wanga’) series, AGE OF REVOLUTION on our official site and Comixology! And if you want to join the fight to get the AGE OF REVOLUTION Volume printed check out our Kickstarter page!