Film at-a-glance:
Genre: Various, Surrealism 
Creators: Atsuko Fukushima, Shōji Kawamori, Shinji Kimura, Yoji Fukuyama, Hideki Futamura, Masaaki Yuasa, Shinichirō Watanabe
Studio: Studio 4°C
Length: 85 minutes
Year: 2007

I think that it’s probably inevitable that if you watch as many films as I do you’ll likely start to get tired of the same old same old. The familiar tropes, the repetitive action scenes and predictable plot twists as start to wear thin after a while. After a while, you start to crave something different. I think this is why so many film geeks and film critics begin to gravitate towards more experimental and surreal films over time. And although anime can fall prey to the fads of mass popularity as easily as any other medium, there are a few productions that satisfy that lust for weirdness, including Genius Party.

Genius Party is a production of Studio 4°C. It’s not a single film but rather an anthology of seven short films, each crafted by a different director with a completely different animation style. In this respect it’s quite similar to another collection of short films I’ve written about before: The Animatrix. In fact, Studio 4°C actually worked on The Animatrix. However, there’s one big difference between that anthology and Genius Party (other than the fact that the former work takes place in an already-existing fictional universe): the Studio gave the directors, writers, and animators complete creative freedom when making Genius Party. This result of this decision are some of the most surreal pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen. 

Exactly how surreal the shorts are varies significantly. For example, Shōji Kawamori’s incredibly colorful short Shanghai Dragon is about a young Chinese boy who picks up an alien artifact which crashes to Earth which can bring to life anything he draws with it. He then proceeds to use it to, with the help of two members of the galactic police force, to fight off an alien invasion of his home city using the power of his imagination. Yoji Fukuyama’s Doorbell is a horror story about a boy who is either slowing having his life replaced by a doppelganger of himself or who is slowly going completely insane (it is intentionally very ambiguous). And Atsuko Fukushima’s eponymous Genius Party seems to be about the life cycle of a bird-like creature on a planet straight out of Terry Gilliam’s acid-fueled dreams. I says ‘seems to be about’ since that particular short has no dialogue and could just as easily be an allegory for the political situation between Japan and China for all I know. But then on the other hand, the short by Shinichirō Watanabe (who I’ve covered several times before), Baby Blue, is a completely realistic romance story about two teenagers about to move away from each other.
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So if you’re a fan of really surreal cinema you’ll love Genius Party. Alternatively, if you just want something really different from mainstream films or anime, than you should give Genius Party a shot. Just whatever you do, don’t watch it on drugs. This movie will do that for you.

This article is part of an ongoing series; recent entries have covered Psycho-Pass and Durarara!! Check back every Wednesday for a new article!

You can watch Genius Party here.

​Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Cyberpunk, Police procedural 
Creators: Urobuchi Gen, Shiotani Naoyoshi, Motohiro Katsuyuki
Studio: Production I.G. 
Length: 22 episodes (season 1), 11 episodes (season 2)
Years: 2012-2014

I remember I was once talking to some friends of mine about our respective tastes and favorite genres. I had been watching and reading a lot of science-fiction lately, so I mentioned I enjoyed series like Ghost in the Shell, Minority Report, and Blade Runner. And in response to this, one of my friends asked if I only liked “dark, depressing, monochromatic cyberpunk”. Well, I don’t exclusively watch series and movies which fit this description, I certainly do enjoy a good cyberpunk flick, and one of the best anime cyberpunk series is Psycho-Pass. 

It’s the year 2112. Deciding to return to the isolationist policies of the past, Japan has closed itself off from the rest of the turbulent world. Wishing to establish a perfect society, much of the governance of the country has been handed off to a massive computer network called the Sibyl System. The System uses advanced technology to monitor the mental and emotional state of each citizen, which it then quantifies into a number called a “Psycho-Pass”. A low number represents happy, productive, stable member of society. A high number represents a citizen who is unhappy, rebellious, or otherwise emotionally unstable. If your number gets too high, then you will be marked for (non-voluntary) therapy or, in extreme cases, execution. 

The story follows a young woman named Tsunemori Akane who’s fresh out of the national police academy and is assigned to the Public Safety Bureau as an Inspector. But most of the department’s heavy lifting is done by men and women called “Enforcers”, latent criminals whose Psycho-Pass has exceeded normal limitations but are allowed to hunt down other criminals on behalf of the state. This largely reduces the Inspectors’ job to that of a glorified baby-sitter, a situation that Akane is distinctly dissatisfied with. She begins to revive the ancient and mostly-forgotten practices of investigative police work. But this in turn puts her at risk, because the more she understands criminals and their motivations the higher her own Psycho-Pass number will go. 

If Ghost in the Shell is the anime version of Blade Runner, and Stand Alone Complex is comparable to NCIS, than Psycho-Pass is essentially the anime version of Minority Report. Although the Sibyl System doesn’t actually predict crimes before they happen, Psycho-Pass deals with many of the same philosophical issues raised in the film. The Sibyl System, by reading an individual’s emotional state, merely indicates the predilection to commit crime rather than crime itself. This raises a slew of problems and philosophical conundrums, such as in the first episode when an innocent civilian who is the victim of a violent crime is so traumatized by the event that her Psycho-Pass exceeds acceptable levels and is marked for death by the System. In a society where everyone is constantly monitored for criminal tendencies, the police have been neglected and have decayed to little more than the Sibyl System’s executioners, which is especially ironic considering that the weapons carried by both Enforcers and Inspectors are tied to the System and will only fire if it gives proper authorization. And of course, there’s the problem of what happens if a person is able to commit crimes without their Psycho-Pass being elevated…
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Psycho-Pass was created by Production I.G., the same studio responsible for both the film and television adaptions of Ghost in the Shell. Because of that, as well as the moderately similar subject matter and equivalent tones, makes the two series feel like cyber punk cousins of each other. The show is also strongly influenced by classic cyber punk films like the aforementioned Blade Runner and Minority Report, so if you’re a fan of the genre or science fiction in general you can’t go wrong with this series. In addition, the series was created by Urobuchi Gen, the same writer behind both Fate/Zero and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, although it’s not quite as depressing or as violent as either of those series. 

In addition to the show’s two seasons, there’s also a recently-released movie which wraps up some plot points from the second season, but I have not yet had a chance to see it. But from what I’ve heard, it’s really awesome. So if you’re like me and love dark, depressing, monochromatic cyber punk series and movies, or if you want to give one a shot, then you can’t go wrong with Psycho-Pass.

This article is part of an ongoing series; recent installments have covered Durarara!!

​You can watch Psycho-Pass (season 1) here.

Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Drama, Crime, Urban Fantasy
Creators: Takahiro Omori, Noboru Takagi, Ryōgo Narita
Studio: Brain's Base
Length: 26 episodes (season 1) and 36 episodes (season 2)
Years: 2010 (season 1), 2015-2016 (season 2)

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Carter Sigl’s Guide to AnimeLand! I must admit, its been so long since I wrote a full review of an anime series that it feels a bit odd. I must also admit that during part of the hiatus for this series I was also taking a hiatus from watching anime. The reason for this was because I had frankly watched most of the series I really wanted to watch; I think I burned myself out on anime as a medium, and I went back to watching live-action television. However, I eventually found an awesome show that knocked me out of this lull: Durarara!!

The district of Ikebukuro, Tokyo, is a city of many stories and many secrets. One of those secrets is of the city’s “color gangs”, such as the Yellow Scarves and Blue Squares. Another is about how a shady corporation called Yagiri Pharmaceuticals is supposedly engaging in illegal human experimentation. There have been attacks by a mysterious serial killer known as “the Slasher” (due to all of the attacks being committed with a knife). And strangest of all is an urban legend about a black-clad motorcyclists known as “The Headless Rider”. And yet, all of these conspiracies have the same cast of characters associated with them, and at the heart of them is –strangely enough- three high school students named Mikado Ryugamine, Masaomi Kida, and Anri Sonohara.

Durarara!! Is based on a series of light novels by Ryōgo Narita, the same author who penned the Baccano series. And like its predecessor, Durarara!! possesses an enormous cast of characters. In addition to the three high schoolers, we have a manipulative information broker named Izaya Orihara, a man with inhuman strength named Shizuo Heiwajima, a back-alley doctor named Shinra Kishitani, and a small group of anime fans/small-time gangsters led by Kyohei Kadota. There are many more characters, but I can’t go into all of them, especially if I’m trying to avoid spoilers.

Unlike, Baccano, however, the story of Durarara!! is told in a single linear narrative. This, along with the fact that it has many more episodes, in many ways make it a simpler series to follow than Baccano. It doesn’t sit neatly into a single genre, however. On the hand, there is a lot of action stemming from the criminal and semi-criminal associations of many of the characters. On the other hand, the show places a lot of emphasis on the interpersonal drama between them as well. And the series also has a strong element of urban fantasy running through it as well.
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Overall, Durarara!! is an incredibly well-rounded series. It has a complex and intricate plot, well-developed and interesting characters, high-quality animation, and a good balance between action and drama. Whether you’re just joining us on this trip through the wonderful world of anime or you’re a veteran looking for something new and fun to watch, you can’t go wrong with Durarara!!

Hey everybody, and welcome back to my weekly series, Carter Sigl's Guide to AnimeLand! I've been on hiatus from writing this series for a while, so I'll give you a refresher in case you're just joining us on this wonderful trip through the world of anime. This series is meant to provide a window into the entire medium of anime, specifically for those whom have little to no experience with it. It can be daunting to begin this journey, even if only through the sheer amount and variety of content available. All the series and films I recommend I've seen personally, and I only recommend the good stuff (naturally). For an even more in-depth examination as to why I'm writing this, check out the introductory article I wrote at the start of the series (a year and half ago!)

Anyway, each Wednesday I'll be writing about a different film or series. However, this week is a special round-up of many of the series and films we've covered in the past (plus a few which are coming soon). Specifically, all these entries are ones that are available via the awesomeness that is Netflix (and no, I'm not being sponsored by them). Of course, not everything I've covered in the past is on Netflix (including Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, two of my personal favorites), but much of it is, and a huge number of people have access to it. In addition to Netflix, Hulu and Crunchyroll are excellent platforms for anime.

So, on to the series!

Series at-a-glance:
Genre: Mecha, Action, Comedy
Creators: Hiroyuki Imaishi & Kazuki Nakashima
Studio: Gainax
Length: 27 episodes
Year: 2007

This is the story of a boy named Simon, his big brother Kamina, and how they accidentally dig up a mecha suit and use it to save the universe. It’s utterly ridiculous, extremely hilarious, and completely over-the-top. One of my all-time favorite series, made by the mad geniuses of Studio Gainax.

You can read my full article of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann here.

​You can watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann here.

Series at-a-glance:
Genre: Action, Comedy
Creators: Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima
Studio: Trigger 
Length: 25 episodes
Years: 2013-2014

The spiritual successor to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (made by many of the same creators) it somehow manages to be even more insane and awesome. This time it’s the story of a girl named Ryuko and a talking school uniform which gives her awesome powers in order to save the world. 

You can read my full review of Kill la Kill here.

You can watch Kill la Kill here.

Series at-a-glance (FMA):
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Creator: Seiji Mizushima, Shō Aikawa, Hiromu Arakawa
Studio: BONES
Length: 51 episodes
Years: 2003-2004

Series at-a-glance (FMA: Brotherhood):
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Creator: Yasuhiro Irie, Hiroshi Ōnogi, Hiromu Arakawa
Studio: BONES
Length: 64 episodes
Years: 2009-2010

Edward and Alphonse Elric made a grave error by trying to resurrect their mother using the science of alchemy. Now they roam the land in search of the Philosopher’s Stone in order to undo their terrible mistake. 

You can read my full review of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood here.

Click here to watch Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Series at-a-glance:
Genre: Fantasy, but see below
Creator: Yuki Urushibara
Studio: Artland
Length: 26 episodes (season 1) and 20 episodes (season 2)
Year: 2005-2006 (season 1), 2014 (season 2)

Ginko is a wandering doctor and shaman, with the rare ability to see the nature spirits known as mushi with which we share our world. A unique series which often seems like a fantastical nature documentary, with hauntingly beautiful animation. 

You can read my full review of Mushishi here.

You can watch Mushishi (second season only) here.

Genres: Action, Comedy, Chanbara
Creator: Shinichiro Watanabe
Studio: Manglobe
Length: 26 episodes
Year: 2004

​Join vagrant swordsman Mugen, mysterious ronin Jean, and ditzy waitress Fuu as they travel across medieval Japan searching for “the samurai who smells of sunflowers”. Director Shinichiro Watanabe fuses together the classic samurai story with beat-boxing, graffiti, and modern hip-hop music. 

You can read my full review of Samurai Champloo here.

You can watch Samurai Champloo here.

Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Horror, Magical Girl
Creators: Shinbo Akiyuki and Urobuchi Gen
Studio: Shaft
Length: 12 episodes and 1 film
Year: 2011​

The first few episodes of this series try to trick you into thinking it’s a cute show for little girls about friendship and magic. In actuality, it is a dark and twisted tale of madness, despair, and the high cost of hope. 

You can read my full review of Puella Magi Madoka Magica here.

You can watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica here.

Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Drama, Crime, Urban Fantasy
Creators: Takahiro Omori, Noboru Takagi, Ryōgo Narita
Studio: Brain's Base
Length: 26 episodes (season 1) and 36 episodes (season 2)
Years: 2010 (season 1), 2015-2016 (season 2)

The district of Ikebukuro, Tokyo- a city of many stories and many secrets. Durarara!! is the story of three friends named Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri and how they discover those secrets and stories, including those of the city's "color gangs", a "colorless" gang called The Dollars, a pharmaceutical company rumored to be illegally experimenting on people, a mysterious serial killer called "the Slasher", and the urban legend of a black-clad motorcyclist known as "The Black Rider".

My full review of Durarara!! is coming soon!

You can watch Durarara!! here.

Series at-a-glance:
Genre: Cyberpunk
Creators: Naoyoshi Shiotani, Katsuyuki Motohiro, Gen Urobuchi
Studio: Production I.G.
Length: 22 episodes (season 1), 11 episodes (season 2)
Years: 2012-2013 (season 1), 2014 (season 2)

​Set in a near-future version of Japan ruled by a computer network called the Sibyl System, this series follows young detective Akane Tsunemori of the Public Safety Bureau. But in the future, you’re not arrested based on evidence and testimony; you’re arrested (and executed) based on your emotions and thoughts.

My full review of Psycho-Pass is coming soon!

You can watch Psycho-Pass (season 1) here.

Film at-a-glance:
Genre: Science Fiction
Creators: The Wachowskis, Andy Jones, Mahiro Maeda, Shinichirō Watanabe, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Takeshi Koeke, Koji Morimoto, Peter Chung
Studios: Studio 4°C, Madhouse, DNA, Square Pictures
Length: 8 short films, 101 minutes total
Year: 2003

Neo may be the One, but he’s not the only one fighting against the Matrix. This anthology film features many different directors, studios, and animation styles, but all them trace the less well-known stories of The Matrix universe. 

You can read my full review of The Animatrix here.

You can watch The Animatrix here.

​Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Fantasy, Action
Creators: Urobuchi Gen, Aoki Ei
Studio: Ufotable
Length: 25 episodes
Years: 2011-2012

Wizards would seem to have it all, what with the magical powers and unimaginable wealth. Than what’s so valuable that it would cause them to start killing each other? Why the Holy Grail of course, with the ability to grant any one wish. 

You can read my full review of Fate/Zero here!

You can watch Fate/Zero here!

Series at-a-glance:
Genre: Action
​Creators: Kōichirō Hatsumi, Yasuyuki Muto, Jinsei Kataoka
Studio: Manglobe
​Length: 12 episodes
Year: 2011

​Ganta has had a rough day. First a mysterious man with magical powers massacres his entire high school class. Then he’s blamed for it and sent to a prison which is also an amusement park. And in this prison, you only survive as long as you can keep the guests smiling. 

My full review of Deadman Wonderland is coming soon!

You can watch Deadman Wonderland here!

Series at-a-glance:
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Studio: Production I.G. and Wit Studio
Length: 25 episodes
Year: 2013

With his hometown in ruins, young Eren Yeager becomes determined to fight back against the giant Titans which threaten to (quite literally) devour the human race. 

You can read my full review of Attack on Titan here.

You can watch Attack on Titan here.

Film at-a-glance:
Genre: Fantasy
Creators: Atsuko Fukushima, Shoji Kawamori, Shinji Kimura, Yoji Fukuyama, Hideki Futamura, Masaaki Yuasa, Shinichiro Watanabe
Studio: Studio 4°C
Length: 7 short films (85 minutes total)
Year: 2007

This collection of seven short films often venture into the incredibly strange surreal, from the story of a Chinese boy who finds a paintbrush which can alter reality to some that are barely comprehensible. But all are incredibly beautiful.

My full review of Genius Party is coming soon!

You can watch Genius Party here!

"With kindness comes naïveté. Courage becomes foolhardiness. And dedication has no reward. If you can't accept any of that, you are not fit to be a Magical Girl."

—Homura Akemi

Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Horror, Magical Girl
Creators: Shinbo Akiyuki and Urobuchi Gen
Studio: Shaft
Length: 12 episodes and 1 film
Years: 2011
Highlights: The Powerpuff Girls meets H.P. Lovecraft

Before we talk about this series, we should talk about the subgenre of anime known as “Magical Girl” series. Both the characters and the genre itself are known in Japanese as mahou shoujo (literally “magical girl”). A magical girl is, as the name suggests, a young girl (usually between the ages of 10 and 16) who has certain magical abilities which both help and hinder her life. The subgenre descends, surprisingly, from the 1960s American sitcom Bewitched, which featured a witch named Samantha trying to live a normal life as a suburban housewife despite having magical powers.  The show turned out to be tremendously popular with Japanese teenage girls, and with various alterations the manga and anime industries absorbed the idea to create the magical girl subgenre.

The magical girl subgenre intersects with numerous other anime genres; most series are classified as a subset of more general fantasy, but others fall into the range of sitcoms, dramas, and occasionally even sci-fi. Magical girl series can range widely in content; many follow a similar plot as Bewitched, with its characters trying to live normal lives despite their powers. Other series, especially since the popular Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha was released in 2003, have drifted in a more action-orientated direction, forming the “Magical Girl Warrior” style. Generally speaking though, magical girl series fall into the shoujo demographic (ie, aimed towards younger girls). As such, most of them tend to have characters who are dressed in frilly pink costumes, have some sort of cute animal sidekick, and fight using the powers of friendship and love; the kind of thing that most parents would be okay with having their little girls watching.

As I discussed in a previous article, I don’t really watch any shoujo anime because generally speaking characters dressed in frilly pink dresses and fighting with the powers of friendship and love don’t appeal to me very much. However, magical girl series frequently do have large periphery demographics of viewers who are not little girls. This is part of the reason why more action-orientated magical girl series have become popular in recent years. However, it wasn’t until 2011, with the release by Studio Shaft of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, that the genre was turned on its head so badly that it may never recover.

Kaname Madoka is an ordinary high school girl living in the futuristic metropolis of Mitakihara. She has a loving family and a best friend named Miki Sayaka. Her mundane life changes the day an unusual transfer student named Akemi Homura transfers into Madoka’s class; Homura acts as if she has met Madoka before, and the mystery is compounded by the fact the Madoka dreamed of Homura before meeting her. Later that day at the mall, Madoka and Sayaka run into Homura again, who is attacking a strange, furry creature. They rescue the bizarre (but cute) animal from Homura’s aggression, but are soon attacked themselves by horrifying monsters. In the nick of time they are rescued by an upperclassmen from their school, a girl named Tomoe Mami. She reveals herself and Homura to be Magical Girls, who use their powers to battle monsters named Witches which feed on and spread negative emotions. The creature they rescued, Kyubey, offers to make Madoka and Sayaka Magical Girls as well. Kyubey says that Madoka has more magical potential than any other girl he has ever met, and in exchange for fighting the witches he will grant her any wish she desires.

This sounds like a fairly ordinary premise for a fantasy series, and the show is fairly ordinary at first. This, combined with the show’s opening animation featuring Madoka’s silly hijinks as a Magical Girl with happy music playing in the background, might be enough to trick you into thinking this is a standard Magical Girl series. However, what on the surface appears to be a cute show for little girls about magic and the importance of friendship quickly reveals itself to be something very different. In reality, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a dark, twisted tale of darkness, madness, and despair.

Much like Neon Genesis Evangelion did for mecha anime, Madoka Magica brutally deconstructs the magical girl genre, showing the logical consequences of all the tropes present in the genre. Yes, all of the teenage girls have wondrous magical powers. But in exchange for that power, they are forsworn to a life of conflict and violence, fighting monstrous entities which are quite literally incarnations of madness and despair capable of driving their friends and family to commit murder or suicide (the Witches themselves look like they were animated by Terry Gilliam while he was on a really bad acid trip). Yes, the girls get a wish granted in exchange for this, but there's nothing that says they have to wish for something positive. Even if they do wish for something positive, that wish may very well come back to bite them in ways they never intended. Yes, there is a cute, furry creature which grants them this power. But most of them never stop to ask why they are being granted this power, or if the cute creature has any ulterior motives. And when I say they have to fight witches, I mean that quite literally, with all the violence and blood and potential death that entails. Many of the characters die, often in gruesome and horrible ways.

It should be ominous to say that Puella Magi Madoka Magica was primarily inspired by the German epic Faust, about a man who tries to make a deal with the Devil in exchange for magical power (hint: it doesn’t end well for him in most versions of the tale). It should also be ominous to say that this series was written by Urobuchi Gen, the writer of Fate/Zero who has gained the nickname “Urobutcher” for his habit of brutally killing off his casts, and believe me, he earned his nickname for Madoka Magica. What makes this so twisted is how Urobuchi shows how, in reality, a happy magical girl series which runs on the power of friendship and magic would degenerate into a cosmic horror story which would have H.P. Lovecraft shaking in his boots.

For example, one of the main themes in Madoka Magica is how being a selfless heroine is not only impractical, it’s actually impossible. All of the characters are initially empowered by what seem like selfless, idealistic wishes. However, as time goes on, the series exposes how most of these wishes aren’t actually selfless at all, and how the cognitive dissonance between their perceived purity and actual selfishness only leads to greater despair. Even the wishes that are genuinely selfless only lead to greater pain in the end, as they backfire in ways that were never expected, leaving the girls bitter and broken. Other major themes include the high cost of hope and the inevitability of despair.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica was a massive commercial and critical success; never before had someone deconstructed the very concept of the magical girl series so completely. The show gained a huge following because of its combination of utter darkness, adorable girls with magical powers and cute outfits, and pervasive despair. The combination is bizarre and wonderfully perverse, creating a show which is depressing, cute, and downright horrifying all at the same time. If you can accept all of that, then maybe you are fit to be a magical girl. 

Before you say anything, I am well aware of the fact that The Legend of Korra is not an anime series since it was made by Americans. In fact, I even referenced the series in the first article of this very series because it is very often mistaken for anime. Why is that? Well, it’s because The Legend of Korra is something very different from typical American animation. The typical American animated show tends to be one of two things: either a very childish series typical of American conceptions of “cartoons” or, more recently, a comedy series such as The Simpsons or Family Guy aimed at “adults”. In short, it’s either made for hyperactive 10-year-olds or obnoxious teenagers. I believe that the reason anime has become so popular in this country is because it provides something that our own domestic animation seems incapable of: mature, sophisticated shows which deal with complicated adult themes. We’ve never had any animated series that could compete with anime or, for that matter, high-quality live-action television. That is, until now. Because now, we have The Legend of Korra.

The Legend of Korra is a sequel to Nickelodeon’s earlier series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Both series take place in a fantasy world based off East Asian and Native American cultures. Some of the people in this world have the power to “bend” (control) one of the four classical elements: Earth, Fire, Air, or Water. Only the Avatar, the bridge between the physical and spirit worlds who is continually reincarnated, can bend all four elements. The Last Airbender was a high fantasy series about the Avatar Aang, who is the “last airbender” since the rest of his people were killed in a genocide perpetrated by the Fire Nation. The series follows him and his friends in their quest to bring an end to a war that ravaged the world for 100 years, fought between the Fire Nation on one side and the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom on the other. The latter group succeeded and brought balance back to the world. Time passed, and eventually Aang passed away. But the Avatar cycle continued.

Fast forward 70 years after the end of the war and we have the new Avatar, a young Water Tribe girl named Korra. She is reckless, impulsive, and hotheaded. She has already mastered waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. In order to begin her airbending training, she journeys from her home at the South Pole to the largest and most important city in the world: Republic City. But 70 years of social, political, and technological change have made the world very different than what Aang knew. Republic City is a modern metropolis complete with skyscrapers, automobiles, and the newly invented radios. Electricity lights the world and airships ply the skies. The world is enraptured with change, which Korra must guide. She must fulfill her duty as the Avatar and bring balance to the world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was a highly unique show for American television. The Legend of Korra is an absolutely revolutionary show for American animation. It takes everything that made its progenitor show good and ramps it up to the next level. This is because of The Legend of Korra’s fundamental theme: change. This is partly manifested in the show’s fictional universe, which is stunningly well-developed and detailed. This world possesses entire fictional cultures, politics, and a detailed history. Although much of this was inherited from The Last Airbender, Korra takes it the next level by showing how that world fundamentally changes with the passage of time, history, and progress. Technology advances, cultures evolve, and the entire world must learn to move on.

The theme of Korra is change, and this manifests not only within the show but in its very nature. The Last Airbender, for all its uniqueness, was still a children’s show. As it turned out, it was massively popular outside its intended demographic, attracting almost as many teenagers and adults when the target demographics’ siblings and parents sat down to watch with them. The Legend of Korra was written from the start with this in mind. The Last Airbender is, at its core, an epic battle of good versus evil, and as such draws on the tradition of epic and heroic fantasy. Aang had to battle an evil, power-mad overlord bent on world domination; the character wouldn’t feel too out of place in a Tolkien or Rowling novel. Korra, on the other hand, is much more real; our hero struggles with communists, fascists, anarchists, and religious fundamentalists. And none of these antagonists are cartoony or goofy villains either; all of them are portrayed as complex, nuanced people with their own lives and personalities. All of them are sympathetic to a degree, and all of them make valid and important points about the state of the world even if their methods mean that they are opposed to Korra.

Over time, it became increasingly difficult for the show’s creators (Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, often shortened to “Bryke”) to keep up the fiction that The Legend of Korra was meant for children; despite the show never showing any bloodshed, there are a number of onscreen deaths which leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. Furthermore, the show positively embraced adult subjects including terrorism, the clash of modernity and secularism with tradition and religion, political revolution, rape, mental illness and sexual identity. That’s right, in a kids show. Although this is quite typical anime (due to the Japaneses’ much more enlightened opinion of the subject of animated programming), this is completely revolutionary for American television, where most animation falls into the categories of either South Park or Frozen. It proved too much for its broadcasting network Nickelodeon; the first two seasons (Book One: Air and Book Two: Spirits) were broadcast on television, but the second half of season three (Book Three: Change) and the entirety of season four (Book Four: Balance) were distributed in digital format via the internet. Honestly, I’m surprised it took that long, as the show was quite up-front about its much more mature format.

All of that isn’t even getting into the technical aspects of the show. The writing and voice cast for the show are superb, leagues ahead of anything else on American TV. The action sequences are incredible, at least as good as the best anime I’ve seen. Benders in Korra’s world channel their powers through martial arts, creating a style of fighting blending the magical with the physical with such perfection as I’ve never seen anywhere else. And the actual animation and artwork is simply breathtaking. I mean, The Last Airbender looked good, but Korra looks absolutely amazing. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself.

The Legend of Korra has rightfully earned its place among my favorite anime series. I say this knowing full well that it is not an anime series, but it’s just impossible for me to lump this in with any of the other American animated shows I’ve seen because Korra is so far beyond them. It has completely revolutionized American animation by incorporating what makes anime so superior: well-written plot and characters and mature and sophisticated subject matter. We’ve turned a page and can never look back. The Legend of Korra is now the gold standard of Western animation and is the first American series able to go toe-to-toe with the best that Japan can throw at us; it shows that we can make cartoons just as good as the best anime. It’s The Legend of Korra, and it’s complicated, it’s beautiful, and it’s just all-around awesome. Just go watch it, you’ll thank me later.

Joe-Kage: Personally, I don't see what's so important about a bridge. I mean, come on... First one guy makes a bridge and everybody uses it, they're like: "Woo! Look, a bridge! That's new!" So, like, these other two guys make another bridge, and it's kinda like the first one, but people use it anyway because the other guy is like: "Ooh, their bridge is pretty good too! Check it out!" And then these other three guys are like: "Oh, we're going to make the best bridge ever! We're going to combine our talents and be like oh, look at our bridge, it's totally amazing, ooh." And it's like... turns out really good, and it's like the best one out of all the other bridges. Everybody subscribes to it...

Naruto: Subscribes to it?

Joe-Kage: I mean, uh, everybody crosses it, because it's a bridge. Yeah. And before you know it, everybody and their mother is making a bridge. So there's a bridge, everywhere. Nobody even knows why they're making a bridge anymore. They just want people to cross it. They don't care where they're going. The first guy is like: "I'm gonna go to conventions to promote my bridge." It's like... it's just a bridge. It's not a big deal. Get over it.

Naruto: What's he talking about?

David Bowie: Apparently, bridges.

— Naruto The Abridged Comedy Fandub Spoof Series Show

The original Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series (YGOTAS) remains my personal favorite, despite the fact that I haven’t watched Yu-Gi-Oh! since I was about nine. LittleKuriboh’s sharp wit, non-stop references to anime and movies, and the show’s extremely self-aware nature make it one of the best parodies ever made. However, LittleKuriboh’s love for the source material means that it never becomes mean-spirited and always stays fun. Whether it features Kaiba screwing the rules because he has money, Florence's plans to take over the world and star in a bad soap opera, or Yami being totally not gay, pointing out how little sense Yu-Gi-Oh! makes never seems to get old.

Attack on Titan Abridged, based off the popular anime series Attack on Titan, is another personal favorite, despite it having only one episode because of disputes with the show’s production company. Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto, Attack on Titan is actually a very dark, violent show, which is why it’s so funny when a montage of people being viciously murdered by Titans is set to elevator music and cheery pop songs. Although I tend to enjoy anime on the darker and more violent end of the spectrum, I always thought that Attack on Titan would be better if it lightened up a bit, and this abridged series is the perfect outlet for that. I was never really a fan of Eren Yeager, but changing him into “Yeager-Bombastic!” gives the show a whole new lease on life.

Approximately every 60 years, in the city of Fuyuki, Japan, a conflict known as the Holy Grail War is fought. The purpose is for the world’s secretive society of mages (magic users) to fight over a priceless magical artifact. Called the Holy Grail even though it is not the literal Biblical chalice, it is capable of granting the victor one wish. In order to try to prevent the conflict from becoming a bloodbath and risking exposure of magical society to the wider world, the rules of the War have been codified over the course of time and are arbitrated by the Holy (Catholic) Church. Each of the seven participants, rather than fighting personally, summons a Heroic Spirit to fight on their behalf. Each of these is a spirit of a legendary figure from history or mythology, and these Spirits are sorted into “classes” (such as Saber, Archer, and Assassin) in order to preserve their identities (its easier to work magic on someone if you know their True Name). The Mage Masters have their Spirits fight each other, and when only one is left that Master can claim the Grail and make their wish. Or at least, that’s how its supposed to work; in actuality the rules don’t stop the Masters from ruthlessly murdering each other in pursuit of the Grail.

Fate/Zero is the story of the Fourth Holy Grail War, taking place in the 1990s. Featuring a large ensemble cast, our nominal main character is a man named Emiya Kiritsugu, known throughout the magical world as the “Magus Killer” for his expertise in assassinating magic-users. As a soldier and assassin who has witnessed all manner of warfare, Kiritsugu has developed a cynical and efficient way of thinking, always prepared to sacrifice the few and the innocent in order to save the many. His wish for the Grail is to end all conflict, so that his wife and daughter and anyone else will never have to see the things that he has. But the Heroic Spirit he summons, a Saber class, is the polar opposite of him. Where Kiritsugu is a cold and detached modern soldier, Saber is a medieval knight who personifies the highest concepts of chivalry and honor. Despite neither of them being able to understand each other, the two of them work together to fight the other Spirits and Masters to claim the Holy Grail.

Originally published as a light novel before being adapted into an anime series, Fate/Zero is one of many entries in the Fate setting by publishing company Type-Moon and is in turn part of a massive fictional setting called the Nasuverse (named after company co-founder Nasu Kinoko). It is a prequel series to an earlier entry called Fate/stay night, which tells the story of the Fifth Holy Grail War. It should be noted that since many of Type-Moon’s works were made as video games or visual novels, the continuity between works or even within works is a bit fuzzy, due to the games possessing branching storylines and multiple endings. However, since Fate/Zero was originally made as a light novel, it has only one narrative, making it the easiest Fate entry for new fans to delve into.

The Fate series, particularly Fate/Zero, has become well known for its extremely high production values and fantastic action scenes. Since it takes place in a modern magical world, Fate/Zero is able to include such unusual (and awesome) situations as a chase scene with a flying chariot and a motorcycle; mages fighting each other with spells, grenades, and sniper rifles; and the Japanese military calling in airstrikes on Eldritch abominations. What makes Fate/Zero especially notable compared to the other entries in the series is a much darker tone due to being written by Urobuchi Gen, nicknamed "Urobutcher" for his tendency to write bloody and tragic stories. As such, not only is the series very violent (good comparisons would be Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill or Neil Blomkamp’s District 9) but it is also entirely unafraid to kill off main characters.

The true core of Fate/Zero, however, is the philosophical struggle between Kiritsugu and Saber. Each of them personify a certain orientation toward conflict and, subsequently, human nature. Saber believes that human nature cannot be altered and that violence and war are inevitable. Therefore, war should be made as civilized and humane as possible by adopting chivalry and codes of honor between combatants. Kiritsugu believes that war is hell and that no one should have to suffer through it, which is why he is pursuing the Holy Grail. Still, he believes that goal is worthy enough to justify anything he has to do to achieve it, including manipulation and murder on a wide scale. This conflict is supplemented by the ideological and moral struggles of the other Masters and Spirits in the War, as the show delves deeply into what these people want and believe enough in to stake their lives on a bloody magical battle royale.

Possessing a fantastic mix of extremely well-choreographed action, engaging philosophical conflicts, and a beautifully tragic tone, Fate/Zero is a both a fantastic anime series on its own and a great introduction to the Fate series and Type-Moon’s work as a whole.

"I was never good at anything. I never had any dreams. But, Arata told me that if I become the best karuta player in Japan, I would be the best in the world. If I can be the best in the world at something, I think it's worth a shot." 
-Ayase Chihaya 

Series at-a-glance:
Genres: Drama, Josei
Creators: Suetsugu Yuki and Takayama Naoya
Studio: Madhouse
Length: 50 episodes (two seasons)
Years: 2011-2013
Highlights: An introduction to the Josei genre

In addition to fitting into traditional genre categories such as comedy, action, and drama, anime is categorized into four genres defined by age and gender. The first is shōnen, which are series targeted at pre-teen and teenage boys. These series generally focus primarily on action and “the cool factor” with a lesser emphasis on realism and character development, though there are exceptions. Due to the importation of series such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, this is the genre most well-known in the West. Shōnen series covered on this blog include Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Attack on Titan, and the first half of Trigun. Seinen is the older counterpart to shōnen, generally targeted towards college-age and young adult men; these shows tend to be much more mature and sophisticated due to their older audience and generally feature much more realistic character development. Some seinen works we have covered on this series include Ghost in the Shell, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Cowboy Bebop. Obviously these two categories are not mutually exclusive, with series such as Neon Genesis Evangelion blurring the line between them. 

Shoujo is the female counterpart of shōnen, being aimed at young and teenage girls. These shows are typically highly cutesy and pink and focused on romance and friendship. We have not covered any shoujo shows in this series because I don’t watch any shoujo. Josei is the female counterpart to seinen, and while it generally has shoujo’s emphasis on romance and friendship, it also possesses seinen’s emphasis on mature themes and realistic character development. Josei is the least lucrative of the four genres, and these anime series are rare. One example of this genre is Eden of the East, and another is Chihayafuru. 

Chihaya Ayase is a girl who is convinced she has no talents of her own, and for a long time has had only goal in life: to support her sister in her modeling career. That is, until she meets a boy named Arata Wataya. He is a skilled player of a card game called “karuta” (meaning “One Hundred Poets”), who sees her play and believes she has potential in it. The two of them become friends as he teaches Chihaya and her friend, Taichi Mashima, karuta. They are separated when Arata moves to a different town, but Chihaya keeps her passion alive by starting a karuta club at her high school. Arata has helped Chihaya develop a dream of her own: to become the “Queen”, the best female karuta player in the world.

Often referred to as “the other anime about a card game” (in reference to Yu-Gi-Oh!), the game portrayed in the show is a real sport. A karuta deck consists of 100 cards, each of which has an ancient Japanese poem printed on it. A game has two players facing each other, who divide the cards between them and lay them out in a grid pattern in front of them. A reader then draws cards from a matching deck and reads the poem printed upon it; the players then have to swipe the card off the board before their opponent does. The game continues until the board is empty, and the player who took the most cards is the winner. Chihayafuru uses the game of karuta as a plot device to bring its characters together, as well as provide tension and a form of action in the form of competitive games.  

Although the show places karuta in the center stage, in actuality the show is really just a drama series about Chihaya and her friends, most of who are fellow karuta players. Because this is a josei series, the character development and relationships are portrayed in a very realistic manner. I was a little bit hesitant to watch Chihayafuru initially due to my limited experience with josei series; however I quickly grew to enjoy it as a both a drama show which portrays a refreshingly realistic version of interpersonal relationships and as a change of pace from the typically dark and action-orientated series I usually watch (and write about in this series). 

So, if big, dark actions shows aren’t really your thing, or you just need a change of pace, then Chihayafuru is a great entryway to the josei genre. 

In 1995, Production I.G. released what would become one of the most influential anime movies of the last 20 years: Ghost in the Shell. Based off the manga series by Shirō Masamune, its pioneering mixture of a cyberpunk vibe, noir look, and transcendental ending would come to define science-fiction anime, as well as introduce a generation of westerners to the medium for the first time. Its effects even bleed over into American cinema, with the Wachowskis citing the film as a major influence on their blockbuster Matrix Trilogy. So, it comes as no surprise that Production I.G. decided to expand the film into a highly successful media franchise, the first of which is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (its second season is called Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig).

The year is 2029, and the world has become heavily interconnected and wired into a ubiquitous, next-generation version of the internet. Technology such as cybernetic limbs and cyberbrains improve life for the fortunate who can afford them, while also blurring the line between human and machine. Japan managed to survive the Third and Fourth World Wars, but the government has become oppressive and society is beset with crime and terrorism. Tasked with managing this potential powder keg is Section 9, an elite counter-terrorism unit of the Japanese government. They specialize in cybercrime, such as brain-hacking and memory editing. Under the overall command of Chief Aramaki and commanded in the field by Major Kusanagi, they are called in to manage everything from cyber-terrorists stealing from banks with computer viruses to rebel groups intending to tear down the government to counter-espionage of spies from the American Empire.

Although it is based on the same setting and characters present in both the 1995 film and the original manga, Stand Alone Complex does not exist in the same world as either of them. The series, while drawing on the cyberpunk and Noir influences of its earlier iterations, blazes its own path by injecting influences from cop shows into the mix. As such, while the show does occasionally touch on the big-picture, “how do we know if we’re human?” questions the film and manga focus on, SAC in general focuses much more on the combative and investigative side of Section 9, meaning this often feels more like an American police show rather than mind-bending science fiction.

Both seasons of Stand Alone Complex give its episodes different designations depending upon whether or not they are connected to the season’s overarching plot. In the first season, independent episodes are called “Stand Alone”, while “Complex” episodes follow the members of Section 9 as they attempt to track down the elusive cyber-terrorist known as “The Laughing Man”. In 2nd Gig, episodes are given one of three designations: “Individual”, “Dividual”, or “Dual”. “Individual” episodes are tied into Section 9’s conflict with a terrorist organization known as “The Individual Eleven”. “Dividual” episodes are stand-alone episodes. “Dual” episodes connect to Section 9’s relations with a rival organization of the Japanese government, the Cabinet Intelligence Service. However, 2nd Gig’s designations are mostly cosmetic, as the two story lines are highly interconnected, and even most of the stand-alone episodes relate to the plot in some way.

Combining the best aspects of cyberpunk, neo-noir, and police procedurals, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is one of the best science-fiction animes and one of the best police animes all in one. It has the awesome action of a police show, the gritty future world of cyberpunk, and the distinctive visual look of Film Noir via way of Blade Runner. Whether you’re a fan of classic cyberpunk, neo-noir movies, or police shows such as NCIS, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has something for everyone.