Anime Review: Hand Maid May

 Hello fellow Otaku & Metal Heads!

There’s definitely been plenty of anime that is a copy of another series. For every Devil Hunter Yohko, there’s a Demon Fighter Kocho, and so on. Some of these copycats work sometimes, while others can be horrendous failures. Today’s series is something of an in-between: a show that while not perfect, still manages to be entertaining in it’s own right. It takes elements from an iconic series, but it doesn’t take too many elements so as not to be a complete copy. With those words said, let’s look at the quirky Hand Maid May, and see if it’s a 100% copycat.

Story/Setup
Hand Maid May centers around Kazuya Saotome, a second-year engineering student at Ochanomizu Industrial University, that also happens to be something of a nerd in his off-time. It’s his dream to create a robot (or Doraemon, as he calls it. Curiously, it happens to look like a squid.), and spends a majority of his time creating it and it’s artificial intelligence. His jealous friend/enemy Kotaro Nanbara gives him what looks like information that will help his project, but instead it’s a virus that will destroy his work. In the process to fix his system, Kazuya accidentally orders a so-called “Cyberdoll” from the Cyberdyne Corporation website. His order appears at his house not too much longer afterwards. What happens afterwards is where things get interesting.

Kazuya opens his package, and out pops the Cyberdoll known as May. An “Artifical Intelligence” no larger that a Barbie (Maybe larger), May immediately settles into Kazuya’s life, and helps him out with things inside & outside his apartment. Over the course of the show, more cyberdolls appears at his home. Some are trying to take May away (Because he technically didn’t pay for the order), while others are merely interested in Kazuya’s life. This causes some friction with his friend Kasumi Tani, the 18-year old daughter of the apartment complex’s owners, who has feelings for Kazuya. A couple other life events happen, but they don’t seem to break apart the group, who always pull through with high spirits.

Like I said above, I consider this series to be a partial copy of another show. A partial copy of Chobits, to be exact. There’s definitely some parallels between Hand Maid May, and the previously mentioned series: there’s the issue of technology becoming more human, our obsession with the latest piece of equipment, conflicts that arise when we get more connected to our machines than our humanity, etc. The major difference is that while Chobits takes these issues more seriously (More so in the manga, slightly less in the anime), Hand Maid May is considerably more lighthearted. For a majority of the show, it takes more of a comedic & fan-service route, with only a couple moments devoted to the seriousness that these issues might raise. Only towards the end of the series do things become darker, but even then this is fleeting, as the situation is fixed, and everything goes back to normal. If you were thinking that this would be exactly like Chobits, and has the same amount of that show’s maturity, then you’d be wrong.
                       
Animation
Right off the bat, Hand Maid May is a show that can be easily identified as a series from the early 2000s. It’s apparent that computer animation was used to primarily animate this show, or at the very least used to supplement a more traditional pencil-and-paper animation style. It’s actually managed to age surprisingly well: there’s definitely moments where the computer side of things hiccups from time to time, but overall the two sides (If indeed two styles are being used) mesh together nicely. The computer animation smooths out the traditional pencil-and-paper, while the pencil-and-paper brings an old-school feeling to the show. By today’s standard, Hand Maid May isn’t a magnificent looking anime, but it’s a simple looking anime that doesn’t strain the eyes.

Voice Acting
For a title from the 2000s, Hand Maid May’s voice acting was surprisingly well done. There’s definitely some roles that are mediocre (Mostly secondary characters), but this is due more to how old the dubbing is. All of the other voices in the show are perfectly adequate: the actors don’t put in a massive amount of effort, but the effort they do put in is more than enough for what they’re given. I was actually surprised to hear some familiar voice actors in this series almost immediately: Lia Sargent, Wendee Lee, Bridget Hoffman, and Michelle Ruff bring their iconic voices to the roles they were given, and out of all the voices given, it is these four actors that put out the most effort, and thus they are the most memorable.

Characters
Hand Maid May’s cast of characters are simple, but distinct. They’re simplistic because there’s not much to their character: the show gives you precisely what it wants you to know, and whatever else is left to your design. Nothing more, and nothing less. Despite that, what background you are given about these characters is enough for you to pay attention to the series. You learn their general mood, feelings, and habits. You can even feel the believability of their shift in emotion, but again, there’s not much going on. What is going on is that each of them are their own person (Or Cyberdoll, in the case of the obvious): they all have their own personalities & habits, thus making them their own individual. They don’t necessarily stray far for their core being, but small things do change when it’s required to do so.  

Availability & Pricing
Hand Maid May was a Geneon/Pioneer title, and like many series put out by those companies, they haven’t seen a re-release to this day. I’ve only been able to find it on FYE & Amazon, but the prices are rather high. Of the two, FYE’s pricing is a little more reasonable (Yet still rather expensive): For a brand new copy of the complete series, the cost is $76.98 dollars, with FYE members having to pay $69.28 dollars instead (That’s still expensive, but slightly less so). The pricing for a collection of the series on Amazon is a horrific $99.99 dollars. Used copies vary at both locations: FYE used pricing is probably all over the place, but Amazon has a more consistent used price range, going from $34.99 to $59.95 dollars. Used is the smartest way to go in this circumstance, as new copies are probably too expensive for the average otaku.  

Overall Impression & Rating
Hand Maid May isn’t necessarily a show with staying power. It’s attempt, whether purposeful or not, to copy Chobits comes back to bite it in the ass. Most moments where the opportunity to try & deliver a meaningful message aren’t used properly, and when it actually tries, it doesn’t try enough. If you take the “Chobits Copying” out of the equation, then you have a mildly entertaining series. The humor in it is fun, and the fan-service, while excessive in some moments, can probably delight anyone who loves that kind of stuff. Simply put, Hand Maid May might not be the most memorable anime, but it is certainly an entertaining anime.

Hand Maid May gets a 7 out of 10

With this review out of the way, it’s time for our 3rd music review, and our first look at one of the big 4 of Thrash! See you soon!


***
By the way, the Cyberdyne Corporation in Hand Maid May should not be confused with the Cyberdyne Systems company from The Terminator. Wouldn’t want to order miniature killing machines, now do we?

Anime Review: HaNaYaMaTa

Welcome back to the Heavy Metal Otaku blog!

Today’s review is a rather special one for me. Despite not have a release in the United States (Apart from the links below), this series is one of the most emotional anime I’ve ever watched. Couple with a nice animation style, a great cast, and a simple but fun story, and you have one of the best anime of the decade (So far, at least). So as not to reveal anymore in this introduction, let’s take a look at the charming HaNaYaMaTa, and see if it deserves the praise that it has received.

Story/Setup
Naru Sekiya is an average Japanese student. She has a normal appearance, a normal intelligence, and is normal in arts and sports, despite loving heroines from fantasy & fairy tales. Everything about her is normal! Everything changes one fateful night: while walking home from school, she encounters what she believes is a fairy, but is actually a transfer student by the name of Hana N. Fountainstand (From America.......from Princeton, New Jersey.....let that sink in for a second). This chance encounter with Hana introduces Naru to the world of Yosakoi, a modern style of dancing that was adapted from a traditional summer dance. At first reluctant, Naru eventually comes to love this new world she’s discovered, and through the process becomes a strong-willed individual. During this journey, she brings in friends old & new into the fold, and in the process they grow up & learn things about the world that they didn’t know before.

On the surface, HaNaYaMaTa’s story looks & feels a lot like other “Girl-Power-Cutesy” series out there, especially K-On. To a certain extent this is true: there are indeed many cute tropes in this show, with some being more obvious than others. If you dig beneath the surface, however, then you’ll find something much more profound. At it’s core, HaNaYaMaTa is a coming-of-age story. Sure, there have been plenty of them in the past, and there are some now, but what makes this show so superior to many of these kind of series (Especially most of the newer coming-of-age shows) is how realistic it feels. Their problems can feel like your problems when you were young, their happiness can feel like your happiness, etc. There’s definitely a girly aspect to HaNaYaMaTa, which makes sense when you consider that the show focuses on the girls, and this aspect might turn off some male viewers, which I can understand. If any male anime fans can get past this, then they’ll find something very worthwhile!  

Animation
The animation within HaNaYaMaTa is very simplistic. Not lazy, but simplistic. The show has a more normal look & feel to it. It would be more accurate to describe this show’s animation as Slice Of Life: nothing is over the top, they don’t try to do anything wacky, and there isn’t anything absurd. With that said, this is one of the best looking shows that’s out there so far for this decade. There’s a very clean look to everything that’s going on, all of the characters either look nice, cute, or handsome (In the case of the two male characters), and there’s a general amount of hard work put into the show’s looks.

Voice Acting
At this moment in time, the show only has the original Japanese dub & subtitles. In regards to the Japanese Dub, I’d say it’s alright. Everybody seems to have a voice that matches the character they were given, although there were times that they seemed to be more high-pitched than normal Japanese dubbing.

Characters
Every....character.....works....in....this....show!

The main cast is absolutely delightful. Each of the five girls have their own distinct personalities, with different likes & dislikes as well. They each have their own personal flower as well, with their physical beauty matching & reflecting their inner being. Despite their differences, they all come together to become really great friends. At the beginning of HaNaYaMaTa, the girls are all in some kind of rut, but by the end of the last episode, they are at a completely different point of life, improved for all the right reasons.

The first girl we see is Naru. Like I said in the Story/Setup, she’s very shy & ordinary. She’s not that eager to try new things, with her only joys in life being reading books & sword practice at home. Her only real friends are Yaya, a girl with her own dreams & problems (More on this in a little bit), and Tami. When she first encounters Hana and her constant pestering to try Yosakoi, she’s really not sure what to do. After something personal thinking, Naru reluctantly decides to go along with Hana’s plan. In contrast is Hana herself: Hana is very tomboyish, excitable, and overall is a very happy person. Her positive attitude is infectious, as Naru & a few others are eventually drawn to her.

There are other girls that are drawn into the eventual Yosakoi club. Yaya is a girl that has an even mix of good looks & brain power, making her very popular (The irony is that Yaya has messy handwriting, which provides some of the show’s humor) at school. Not only that, but her family runs a noodle shop, and she’s in a band with three of her own friends (More on this soon). Tami is equally as nice looking as Yaya, and is highly skilled in dancing. However, she has something of an Electra Complex towards her father, and is always trying to be an ideal Japanese woman to please him. Machi is Tami’s closest friend, and is something of a contrast herself. Machi is more strict, serious, and is very much a no-nonsense person. However, Machi’s one weakness is her love for sweet things, which provides for some funny moments. Like I said earlier, these girls are in some kind of spot, and through self-discovery and/or through the urging of a friend, they learn, grow, and mature.

There’s two other characters that deserve some mentioning about. Sari Tokiwa (Sally-Sensei, as the girls call here) is the girls’s English teacher. She also happens to be Machi’s older sister, and there’s some drama there, but to reveal it would be a major spoiler. Like Naru, she’s reluctant to be a part of the Yosakoi club, but after some prodding from Naru & Hana, she becomes their advisor. Sari can be very ditzy at times, but there’s other occasions where she can be surprisingly smart. The other is Masaru Ofuna, a 33-year old male (One of only two male characters that make appearances) that runs the Yosakoi Masaru shop. Despite looking like a threatening individual (Hana called him a “Bald Yakuza” when she first saw him), he’s quite friendly, and is eager to teach anyone the art of Yosakoi. Though not quite in the spotlight as the girls, they still provide to the overall story of the show.

Availability & Pricing
Sadly, HaNaYaMaTa isn’t available outside of Japan yet. Airing sometime in the middle of Summer (July, if I’m not mistaken), the last episode was put out only recently. Unless you have enough money to import the manga, or anime if they’ve put it out on DVD, you may as well wait until it comes over here (If it comes over here).

Overall Impression & Rating
I hope to sweet zombie Jesus that this series gets a release here! Despite two small blemishes, the otherwise pristine nature of HaNaYaMaTa makes it a gem. I’ve laughed, cried, and even clapped throughout this entire show, and despite how feminine & girly it all is, I can safely say that I would watched this show over & over. No ifs, ands, or butts about it!!!

HaNaYaMaTa gets a 9.5 out of 10

So that was my review for HaNaYaMaTa. I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll see you soon!

* If you’re looking to watch the show, here are two links to the series:

http://wyyww.animefreak.tv/watch/hanayamata-online

http://www.crunchyroll.com/hanayamata

On top of that, there is also the manga out there to read. Here’s a link:

http://www.mangahere.co/manga/hana_yamata/

** If you would like to learn more about Yosakoi and it’s history, check out the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosakoi

Album Review: Judas Priest's British Steel

Hello everybody! Welcome to the Heavy Metal Otaku blog, and welcome to our second album review. Our first album review, Untouchables, was an album that while fun, certainly had some fair share of problems. Today’s album, however, comes from an equally famous, and perhaps more prestigious band. If you couldn’t guess from the hint in my last review, today’s review comes from the library of the iconic Judas Priest.

Yes indeed, today’s a review of Judas Priest’s classic 1980 release, British Steel. I have to admit that when I was growing up, I wasn’t the biggest Priest fan. Like a lot of bands my parents listened to, they played the snot about them. Maybe not 24/7, but enough that I would hear songs rattling in my heads for days. Bands like AC/DC, and singers like Ozzy Osbourne, I didn’t manage to enjoy them until recent years, and Judas Priest definitely belongs to this group. Now there are many albums of their’s that I enjoy, some of which are older, and othesr new. Before I get to them, I wanna get to one that’s a favorite of fans, and with that said, let’s look at their 1980 classic, British Steel!

Background
Coming off of Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather, Judas Priest brought back the commercial sound that they established in their previous album, but there were some relatively big differences with British Steel. They partially abandoned some of the darker lyrical choices from previous albums, the songs were written only by the current band members of that time, and they used analog recordings of smashing milk bottles, billiard cues, and trays of cutlery, thanks to the lack of Digital Sampling. British Steel was released on April 14, 1980 to universal applause among fans & critics. On May 11, 2010, the album was released to celebrate it’s 30th anniversary. Included with this addition was a DVD and CD of a live show that was recorded in late 2009, as part of a anniversary tour for the album.

Basic Description
Deserves every bit of praise it gets!

Although British Steel has a more commercial feel than Judas Priest’s previous album, what it gets in more mainstream vibes, it puts out some of the most well-crafted Heavy Metal songs of all time. Each individual tune had a lot of love & care put into them: the instrumentation is top notch, the vocals are superb (Rob Halford’s trademark screech is used to full effect when it shows up), and the overall mood that the album creates is definitely a metal mood. Although there are some weak points, British Steel is an otherwise fantastic album. One in which metal heads should listen to a couple times, if not outright buy the album.

Best Songs
There’s a two-way tie for best songs off of British Steel. Not only are they the best, but they also happen to be my favorites as well!

The first is the album’s opening tune, Rapid Fire. The standout feature of this song is the speed: the guitars & drums play along at a rate that you’d expect someone to slip up, but this isn’t the case. They’re played fast to be sure, but they also happened to be playing steadily as well. Halford singing is equally impressive, as he’s singing pretty fast, but not quite as fast as the instruments that are being played. Simply put, Rapid Fire is the kind of song that you listen to when you’re breaking the speed limit as you’re driving on down the road.

Rapid Fire

The other hit off of this album is Rapid Fire’s diametric opposite, Metal Gods. I don’t mean opposite in terms of quality, cause this song is equally as good as the previously mentioned tune. The instrumentation is great, as well as the vocals. What makes this Rapid Fire’s opposite is it’s speed. Metal Gods is played much more rhythmically, almost to the point when it feels like a church chant. Adding to this rhythm is when the chorus kicks in, as the vocals become almost droning in nature. You’ll definitely feel a bit of whiplash when you transition from Rapid Fire to this little ditty!

Metal Gods

I must give an honorable mention to the song You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise before I move on. This isn’t necessarily a horrible song by any means: the instrumentation is played well enough, and Mr. Halford brings his patented screech to the table at one point. I just feel that the previously mentioned articles are a little dated sounding than most of the other songs on British Steel. What I really like is the message of this song: simply put, it’s basically stated that you don’t have to be an old person to be a smart person. Sometimes, a little ambition & drive can make you a clever individual, and I can definitely get behind this message!

You Don't Have To Be Old To Be Wise

Worst Songs
Oooooooh Boy! Where to begin....

First off, I’ll talk about two songs that are outright duds! Right off the bat we have United, an incredibly weak piece of music. Of all the songs on this album, this one sounds the most dated Although this plays about as slows as Metal Gods did, it doesn’t have the drive that the previously mention song has. On top of that, there a big patriotic “Us vs Them” mentality going on as the song plays. It gets annoying rather quickly, and you’ll probably watch to chuck the album in a flaming garbage can. Another patriotic style song is the incredibly cheesy Red, White & Blue, which can only be found on the reissue of British Steel. Again, this is about as patriotic as United was, and has about as many problems, I give this song a little length of rope, since said cheesy factor gets to me sometimes. Still not a great song, but nothing unbearable.....which is where we get to the other bad songs on this album, and where things get a little personal.

United

Red, White & Blue

Like I said earlier, I wasn’t a big fan of Judas Priest growing up. With my parents playing them somewhat frequently, it was really hard to get into them. Of the songs that they played, Breaking The Law & Living After Midnight were the ones I heard the most. Even to this day, I still can’t bring myself to like these two songs. I feel that they’re both the same: generic instrumentation, weak singing, and incredibly commercial. Out of these two, I am willing to give Breaking the Law a chance from time to time. It’s just as generic as Living After Midnight, but at least there’s some variation with the instrumentation. There’s at least some variation with the singing, and there’s at least some form of drive. Again, not my favorite song by a long shot, but I’m willing to give it a try when it’s on the radio.

Breaking the Law

Living After Midnight

Overall Impression & Rating
Like I said earlier, British Steel deserves every bit of praise it gets. There are certainly some shortcomings, but they done completely take away how good this album is. This album was definitely at the spearhead of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which crashed onto our shores and definitely left it’s mark. If you’re curious about Judas Priest, of if you just want to add a classic to your metal collection, then pickup British Steel while you can!

British Steel gets a 8.5 out of 10

See you soon!

Anime Review: Tenchi Muyo Mihoshi Special

Hello fellow Otaku & Metal Heads!

Today’s review is the counterpart to the Magical Girl Pretty Sammy review from last time. While that mini-series was obscure, this special may well be forgotten by the larger anime crowd. So as not to delay it any further, here’s a look at the Tenchi Muyo Mihoshi Special. Enjoy!

Story/Setup
It’s a sunny day at the Tenchi residence. Everybody is outside, getting chores does & loafing around. At one point, Mihoshi’s laziness & incompetence is brought up, with Ayeka basically saying “How did you end up in the Galaxy Police?” From there, we get a story about a big case that Mihoshi worked on. Familiar faces show up, and unexpected surprises occur when you least expect them. This might not be the grandest setup for a Tenchi entry, but it’s simple, and it’s easy to follow along with.

Animation
The animation in this special looks & feels roughly on par with Tenchi Universe. I really can’t talk about this much, as what I would be saying here is basically repeating what I will be saying in the eventual Tenchi Universe review. I’ll give you the basic version: it’s not horrendous, but it’s certainly a downgrade.

Voice Acting
Already I’m copying myself, but considering what’s going on, I don’t think it’s a crime.

“If you’ve watched the OVA, Universe, or Tenchi In Tokyo, you’ll recognize the voice cast right away. The original cast sounds exactly the same as within the OVA: their strengths are the same, as well as their weaknesses. We have some new voice actors play characters exclusive to this miniature world, and they perform their roles quite well. On a somewhat related note, the voice acting in general has managed to age remarkably well. Despite not getting re-released by Funimation, there’s still a crisp element to the voices.”

I will add that the first voice actor for Kiyone can be heard here first. She pretty much does as good of a job in this special, as she does in Tenchi Universe. Apart from this, it’s the same as the Pretty Sammy mini-series.

Characters
In an interesting twist, the Mihoshi Special marks the first time that Kiyone makes an appearance. She basically acts like she acts in Universe: full of herself, and kind of a bitch (Sorry to any female viewers). The one good thing I will say about her in this special is that she doesn’t seem as bitter, but that’s just me. In another twist, the special marks the first time that Sasami as Pretty Sammy makes an appearance, along with Ryo-Ohki as a boy. They pretty much act like their mini-series counterpart, only more condensed. Apart from that, the rest of the cast is the same. Whether it’s the OVA cast or the Universe version, I’m not sure (Given that we have Kiyone, Sammy, and male Ryo-Ohki, I’m betting that this is the Universe cast).

Availability & Pricing
Just like Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, this special was paired together with the previously mentioned series. As for the availability & pricing of this special, just look at my previous review for details.

Overall Impression & Rating
The Mihoshi Special feels a bit like a copout. While the Pretty Sammy mini-series goes by quick, there is at least some development within it. It has at least some depth to it, and at least some character. As far as this special is concerned, it goes back so fast that it doesn’t have time to develop, and you’d almost swear that this half-hour special was more of an afterthought. Still, if you are a hardcore Tenchi fan, it’s worth at least a single view. It might not be the most memorable Tenchi release, but there’s some entertainment to be found.

Mihoshi Special gets a 7 out of 10

Until next time, when we’ll be looking at some steel.....some British steel, that is. See you soon!




***
I realize in hindsight that maybe I should have reviewed this after I looked at Tenchi Universe. I think this marks the first time that I’ve made a so-so review. Yeah, my bad!