It’s the first edition of the Old School Showdown, and you’re not going to want to miss it. The war of first episodes begins and I get all the impressions and fluff out of the way. Find out all about the OSS on the features page.
All three of these shows are ones that I’ve attempted to watch or been wanting to watch for ages now. For whatever reason, I haven’t gotten around to it until now. Listed below is a quick summary for each show, as well as my initial impressions…consider this the introduction before the showdown begins.
Noir
Series Summary:
The series follows the story of two young female assassins who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries from their past. While at first they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, there are clues and hints given throughout the series that they are more than meet their eye. During the course of the series, they are lured into more and more traps by a secret organization named Les Soldats (”The Soldiers” in French).
Impressions:
Noir is by far the oldest of the three animes I’m watching, and it had already been out in the US by the time I figured out fansubs and developed a taste for anime. Thus, though it had always intrigued me with it’s prestigious reviews and gorgeous cover art, it got overlooked because I was poor and held a high disdain for English dubs.
I managed to get a hold of the series (in English dub, but by now I don’t care), and after the first episode I’m already looking forward to watching it. It’s got assassin chicks, a mysterious plot, and sick sound effects. I’d rant more, but there’s a lot to cover in this post and I want to save the juicy details for later on.
Samurai Champloo
Series Summary:
Samurai Champloo is about the journey of a girl named Fuu and her two bodyguards / traveling companions, Mugen and Jin, as they travel across Edo era Japan in search, at the girl’s behest, of a particular samurai who smells of sunflowers.
Impressions:
I must have watched the first episode of this like four times already, but some twist of fate continues to prevent me from getting any further than episode 3-4. Well no longer I say, no longer! I will finish this series, and the OSS will help me focus and get it done.
That said, how do I continue to put this on the back burner? It’s samurais + funk! That’s like…Riex heaven or something. Needless to say, I’m impressed by this show…it’s odd, full of style, great fight scenes, and characters I already list as “PIMP“. Let’s see where it takes me…
Romeo x Juliet
Series Summary:
Romeo×Juliet is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet along with numerous references and characters from other Shakespearian plays. Though the premise of the adaption differs greatly from the original, several of the play’s themes are still present in the anime.
Impressions:
I love Shakespeare, but I’m not really sure why. Regardless, I got excited after watching a couple trailers for Romeo x Juliet back before it aired. I picked it up right off the bat and mysteriously ended up only watching the first episode. I checked out pictures and such on RandomC, but never delved into the plot or watched any more episodes. It’s time to change that.
As I stated before, I love the craziness that = Shakespeare, and even though the characters in the anime don’t go around conversing in “Shakespearian”, I can already feel an immense, epic undertone that seems present in all of his plays (that I’ve read). A sense that the plot is going to grab a hold of your heart and rip it to shreds…all while a full sized orchestra plays in the background. The animation is great, the art style completely draws me in, the brief fight scenes were adventurous, and I can’t wait for more. ♦
Notes: Summaries are pulled from the Anime News Network. As of right now, I’m not entirely sure which show I’m rooting for as they all seem pretty kickass at the moment. Let’s see if that lasts through the next 3-4 episodes! I think I’m getting better at the highlighting thing…
The Forecast: I’ve still got to get that review for Sword of the Stranger done. Part 2 of Disenchanted and the ED Champs post are also in the works.
Updates: Added Shin’s “Atarashii Prelude” and itsubun’s “itsubun” (lol) to the blogroll. Go check it out! I added the pictures back to the Riex Interviews Naruto! post…now with bonus hover captions.
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