Anime/Manga Review: Blue Exorcist

Author: Kazue Kato

Genre: action, supernatural

Target Age: Teen

Content: violence, language, supernatural elements, some scary scenes, some suggestive humor

Episodes/Volumes: ongoing

Story: Twin brothers Rin and Yukio Okumura were raised since birth by the priest and exorcist Shiro Fujimoto. Since he was seven, Yukio secretly trained to be an exorcist. When they are teenagers, their guardian Fujimoto is possessed by Satan, ruler of Gehenna, and dies. It turns out that Rin and Yukio are the sons of Satan by a human woman. Because Yukio developed with a weak body, all of Satan's power was inherited by Rin. Satan intends to use Rin's power to invade Assiah, the human world. Rin decides to use his power to defeat Satan once and for all, so he goes to True Cross Academy, the Japanese branch of a worldwide organization led by the Vatican. He is shocked to discover that not only is his brother Yukio already an exorcist, but also one of his instructors.

Along the way, Rin meets other students training to be exorcists. His superiors, Yukio included, order him to keep his powers a secret, so when a demon shows up and needs to be destroyed, he often runs off to take it on alone. Unfortunately, this leads to his classmates assuming that he's trying to hog the glory for himself. Inevitably, bonds form between the classmates, but this bond is put to the test when they learn Rin and Yukio's parentage. When the leaders of the Vatican find out about Rin's powers, Rin's circumstances go from bad to worse. It does not help that the headmaster of True Cross Academy, Mephisto Pheles, has plans of his own for Rin.  (It also doesn't help that Mephisto is Rin and Yukio's half-brother.  Guess which parent.)

Though Yukio is the younger of the two, he tries to protect Rin and help his brother maintain his humanity. Yukio is terrified that if he doesn't keep an eye on Rin, Rin's powers may overtake him and transform him into a complete demon. Though it's not touched upon a lot, Yukio is also afraid for himself because something strange is happening to his own body. Thankfully, he doesn't have to handle Rin alone; a high ranked exorcist named Shura helps train Rin to control his powers. He hates her guts, but at least he performs her training exercises.

Character interactions can be intense, and each character has his or her own quirks. A rivalry develops between Rin and his classmate Bon. The rivalry stems from Bon's insistence that Rin learn to rely on others to complete a mission rather than try to be the hero. Izumo puts on a tough girl show and is initially cold to everyone. She is especially so towards the seemingly naive Shiemi, but Shiemi's optimism (and tendency to see the world through rose colored glasses) gradually enables Izumo to loosen up. In an anime only storyline, the young monk Konekomaru allows himself to be possessed by a demon out of a desire to kill Rin because Satan killed everyone at his temple. This is dealt with in a single episode, but it illustrates an interesting conundrum. Many characters in the series are after Rin for one agenda or another, but the reason is because of his bloodline, or at least his powers. Those who attack him out of hatred for his bloodline are curiously oblivious towards Yukio. It seems they are okay with Yukio being the son of Satan simply because he did not inherit Satan's power.

Availability: The manga is already available in North America. The anime does not have an English dub yet, but will be released in North America starting in December 2011. It can currently be viewed online on Hulu and Crunchyroll.

Music: First Season One opening: "Core Pride" by Uverworld

Second Season One opening: "In My World" by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D

First Season One ending: "Take Off" by 2PM

Second Season One ending: "Wired Life" by Meisa Kuroki

Recommendation: Anyone who likes supernatural based stories and action may enjoy this. A word of caution for the easily offended: the story basically uses Christianity from the Japanese point of view, and the interactions between humans and demons are not always of the hostile variety. The revelation of Satan's true motives for wanting to take over Assiah may be a little weird for some people.

Manga Review: Nightmare Inspector: Yumeki Kenbun

Author:  Shin Mashiba

Genre:  fantasy, horror

Target Age:  teen

Content:  supernatural and horror elements

Volumes:  9

Story:  Nightmare Inspector is basically a manga version of The Twilight Zone, but without Rod Serling.  It tells the story of a young girl named Mizuki and a young boy named Hiruko.  Mizuki runs a shop called the Silver Light Tea House, but doesn't receive many customers looking for tea.  Most people who show up are looking for Hiruko.  He is a baku, a dream eater.  Those who suffer from nightmares ask him to investigate the dream and help them overcome it.  The price for his services is to allow him to eat the nightmare afterwards.

The stories are episodic in nature.  The series does not know the definition of "happy ending."  Some stories end better than others, but even those have an air of dread or sadness when all is said and done.  There are twist endings galore.  Over time, Hiruko realizes the nightmares are connected somehow, not just to each other, but to him as well.

Some backstory is revealed gradually through the first few volumes.  It is shown that Hiruko is not the first baku to work at the Silver Light Tea House.  Mizuki's brother Azusa was the original baku, but he disappeared after visiting a place called The Delirium, which allows visitors to live out fantasies.  When Azusa disappeared, Hiruko arrived in his place.  The relationship between Mizuki and Hiruko is that of brother and sister, but it is not until the final volume that this is explained.  Hiruko always carries around a mysterious briefcase, which Mizuki believes is connected to Azusa, but Hiruko allows no one to touch it.  Later, a man named Hifumi shows up on the pretense of seeking room and board, but he has an ulterior motive of his own.

The stories are dark, seriously dark, and some are pretty frightening.  The characters live in a bleak world.  The climax of the final volume gives the only true happy ending of the entire series, but it comes with a high price, and the final scene is heartbreaking.  When Hiruko's true nature, which even he was initially unaware of, is revealed, he resigns himself to it, but he knows that he has lost something valuable.

Recommendation:  Anyone who likes twist endings and dark foreboding tales may like this.

Anime/Manga Review: Yu Yu Hakusho

Author:  Yoshihiro Togashi

Genre:  action, fighting

Target Age:  Teen

Content:  violence, fantasy fighting, some language, some scary scenes and supernatural elements

Episodes/Volumes:  112 episodes, 19 volumes

Story:  Yu Yu Hakusho tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a high school delinquent.  Though he has a reputation as a troublemaker, the single act of pushing a child out of traffic gets him run over by a car.  On the verge of death, he meets Botan, the young and beautiful Grim Reaper who rides a broomstick.  She tells him that Koenma, the son of the king of the underworld, has given Yusuke the opportunity for survival; if Yusuke becomes a "spirit detective" he can eventually be returned to life.  Yusuke obviously takes the offer.

After his revival, Yusuke continues working for Koenma.  In the process he befriends his rival Kuwabara, another delinquent at his school.  After being sent on missions to capture them, he later befriends the demon criminals Kurama and Hiei, who join him to earn a pardon from Koenma.  Despite the circumstances of their meeting and the underlying animosity, the four quickly develop what the Japanese call "nakama" (a deep sense of camaraderie beyond friendship, a good Western equivalent being The Three Musketeers).  They express disgust and shock whenever enemies betray each other.  The character dynamics and rivalry can lead to some comedic moments, particularly between Kuwabara and Hiei.  Hiei often implies that he would betray the team if it were in his best interests, but when the opportunity arrives, it seems the "power of friendship" gets the better of him.  (I know that sounds goofy, but it makes sense in context.)

The anime and manga follow several story lines, but they are all just excuses for fighting.  Three of them feature tournaments, two on Earth and one in the Demon Realm.  The battles are flashy, with very little actual hand to hand combat.  Most of it utilizes energy manipulation, similar to the Dragonball series.  Typical of the genre in the 1990s, it may take several episodes to complete a single battle, and there is much dialogue during the actual fight.  The animation and artwork may seem goofy at times, especially during the comedic moments.

Voice:  The Japanese voice acting is good.  Opinions are mixed on the English dub.  Some fans like the English dub, others don't.  The English dialogue has many discrepancies with the English subtitles, often showing completely different lines of dialogue.  However, one reason the English dub is so popular is because it is often more entertaining than the Japanese dialogue and tends to evoke more laughs.  Viewers should sample both the subtitled and dubbed versions before deciding which one they prefer.

On a humorous side note, the Portuguese dub featured the character Kurama as a girl.  Granted, he does have a bishie look that is easy to confuse for female, and some girls in the story even confuse him for another character's girlfriend.  He is a demonic horticulturist, so his weapons of choice are plant based.  His favorite weapon is a rose whip.  However, a scene where Kurama had no shirt on revealed he was a boy, and the studio had to redo all his lines.

Music:
opening:  "Smile Bomb" by Matsuko Mawatari

ending:  "Homework never Ends" by Matsuko Mawatari

ending:  "Sayanora Bye Bye" by Matsuko Mawatari

ending:  "Daydream Generation" by Matsuko Mawatari

ending:  "Kissing the Unbalanced" by Hiro Takahashi

ending:  "The Sun Is Shining Again" by Hiro Takahashi

Anime Review: Samurai 7

Genre:  steampunk, action, drama

Target Age:  Teen

Content:  sci-fi violence, some language

Episodes:  26


Story:  Samurai 7 is a futuristic/historical revision of Akira Kurosawa's classic epic Seven Samurai.

The premise follows the basic story line of the movie, but places the traditional samurai within a science fiction themed environment.  A few peasants seek out seven samurai to protect their village from bandits, but all they can pay the samurai with is rice.  The basic characterizations of the samurai are the same, though liberties are taken for the sake of the story.  For example, in the opening credit sequence, the samurai's names are written in katakana (Japanese phonetic script for foreign words and names) to illustrate the "foreign" world they live in.  One samurai, Gorobei, was designed to appear with African ancestry.  Kambei, the de facto leader, was originally intended this way, but redesigns produced a character who appeared of Southeast Asian origin.  Katshiro has a traditional Japanese appearance, while the others are a tad ambiguous (which is quite common in anime).

The story begins with a reference to the war that led to the present political strife and socioeconomic restructuring.  If the viewers were unaware of the sci-fi theme, they may be surprised to see a samurai using only his sword to take out an airship in midair!  And mecha!  And lots of explosions!  The bandits, known as the Nobusari, are veterans of this war who are left without masters and jobs.  The people of Kanna village send their water priestess, Kirara, and another villager, Rikichi to the city to find seven samurai willing to protect their village for rice.  Needless to say, their first efforts are unsuccessful.  The samurai either say no and yell at them for being so foolish, or eat the rice and then say no.  When Kirara finally meets Kambei, she just knows he's the one.  At first he refuses to help and states that he's lost every battle he's ever fought.  Eventually, Kirara is forced to take a drastic measure (which involves nearly getting herself killed) to convince him to help her.  After he agrees to help, the other six samurai decide to join because they are so intrigued by Kambei.  The samurai quickly earn the ire of Ukyo, the spoiled son of a rich merchant.  he makes a point of challenging the samurai and claiming Kirara as his own.  He begins as a sheltered moron who thinks he can take whatever he wants, but he is more than meets the eye, to everyone's misfortune, including his own father.

The samurai themselves have their own individual quirks, which sometimes causes strife among them, and the character dynamics drive much of the story.  Many of the villagers do not trust the samurai at first, as the Nobusari were samurai, now transformed into machines and mecha.  The village appears as a typical farming community of feudal Japan, whereas the city is pure steampunk.  It can feel a little strange seeing these two worlds coexisting, and even the peasants show awe when they see the city for the first time.

Since it is a time of war, there is much tragedy to go around.  The villagers are terrified of the bandits not only because the bandits steal their food, but also kidnap their women, and the reason behind it, revealed later in the series, is quite unsettling.  Rikichi is especially on edge because his own wife was taken by the bandits before the story began.  Not everyone, samurai included, walks away from the battle unscathed, and not everyone will see the end of the war.

Voice:  Most of the English voices are good, but a few of the peasants' voices miss the mark.  Ukyo's voice helps mark him as an annoying brat, which makes his ulterior motives that much more sinister when they are revealed.  The show can be enjoyed in either language.

Music:
opening -- "Unlimited" by nanase Aikawa
closing -- "Fuhen' by Rin'

The opening song "Unlimited" is a contemporary pop song, while the closing song "Fuhen" is slower and more traditional in style.

Recommendation:  Anyone who likes samurai and battle sequences, if he or she is willing to accept the technology angle.