Random Anime Theatre IV

Yes, it's time for the psuedo-regular feature that's the intellectual equivalent of a circus peanut...

Guardian of Darkness: Okay, Japan, we know the Izumo myth cycle by now, rehasheded as it is once again for Guardian of Darkness. Between Dark Myth and Eight Clouds Rising - reviewed previously - we don't need the scene anymore where the person goes and looks up the myth like it's some obscure legend lost to modern Japan. I think people notice when Susanoo-wo and Orochi are popping up again what the deal is with this swiss-army knife of Japanese mythology. We've seen Susanoo-wo as a cosmic horror, a crazy evil psychic, an alien invader, so what now? The deal this time is that Susanoo-wo is a suit of um... spiritual power armor, more or less, or a kaiju-sized warrior, depending on what the plot needs. And Orochi is an evil dragon. And all of it involves two protagonists that are essentially whines given bodies. From the reluctant protagonist to the childhood friend who's really in love with the protagonist to the self-sacrificing Buddhist nun... we've seen this all before. If you really want the Izumo cycle recycled again, read Orion or at least watch Blue Seed. Yes, it's a rare day when Blue Seed is the high-water mark for anything at all. Some of the kaiju-sized battles in this are pretty fun, but overall it's a fair anime otherwise, and my growing distaste for "yesterday's Izumo myths, today!" doesn't much help.

The Humanoid: Before you watch this movie, have you had a good pot of coffee? Did you know coffee is the most widely consumed beverage in the world? Did you know coffee is a metaphor for the human spirit? So The Humanoid tells us, anyway! Though the cover for seems to try and sell this anime as a dull skin(less) flick about a robot, it's a dull sci-fi piece with cookie-cutter characters and a rather modestly-clad robot who learns to love and... an odd amount of focus on the aforementioned coffee. So I'll say it: The Humanoid hints at hot coffee, but instead provides that disgusting Japanese canned coffee. Yeck.

Time Stranger: This is an oddity - it's a movie follow0up for the GoShogun anime, despite the fact GoShogun has never come to the states in any commerical form. I imagine if I had seen GoShogun, I would feel rather differently about the whole thing, but it comes off as trying to get a bunch of in-jokes amongst people you've never hung out with before. Add in that it's a surrealist "forty years later" piece for what seems to have been a relatively straight mecha show, and it's a tough one to watch and understand. Most of the movie is told as a dream sequence, but I didn't get that in my first watch-through... I figured it must be a flashback at the time, being unfamiliar with the series. Knowing that now makes the whole thing make considerably more sense, and probably would be more enjoyable now that I know that. The characters certainly seem cool, and there are some neat action sequences, but overall this seems to depend a lot on the viewer having a love of the preceding anime. Throughly okay for its time, though perhaps a bit overly sentimental for my taste.

Legend of the Last Labyrinth: With only two episodes, we never get to find out what the legend is, much less about any labyrinth. What we do get is a charming story where a boy is walking in the woods and a magical girl falls on him and... well, it's pretty much Ah! My Goddess with a bit more conventional magical girl show mixed in. If you've seen one harem anime, you've pretty much seen them all, and such is doubly so here, particularly when the girl's sisters show up and it descends into villain-of-the-week a la Sailor Moon. It's all been done elsewhere and better many, many times over. I can only see this being really entertaining if you haven't seen a harem anime before, but there are better ones if you haven't - try Ah! My Goddess, the Tenchi Muyo or El Hazard OVAs, Saber Marionette J, Mamotte Shugogetten, Dual, Love Hina, Urusei Yatsura or anything like that before you bother with this one. It's just mind-bloggingly derivative in a genre of anime that's already very, very worn out.

Hyper Dolls: Probably the best of the night, this comedy two-part OVA - yes, once again, two seems to be the magic cancellation number - features a pair of alien superheroines and, of course, their ordinary teenage sidekick. Or is that male sidekick the main character? Anyway, it's obviously inspired by Dirty Pair, with two heroines that could care less about the troubles they're assigned to fix. In any case, the absurd gags are funny enough to hang in for two episodes, and it made a nice capper to the night. Coming from Pioneer, it reminds me why there was a time I liked just about everything they released, but that was before the company started milking its cash cows (particularly Tenchi Muyo) to death. Not exceptional in any way, but entertaining. Once again, I wish there was rather more than we get.

Don't know when the next'll be; we'll see.

Legend of the Five Rings: Scrolls of the Phoenix

I've discussed my like for Legend of the Five Rings before, and I thought I'd revisit the campaign I did during the gap between the original blog here and the recent revival.

Over a year ago, I decided that after problems with party division in earlier Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) games, any game I would run would be largely single-clan, for one, and two, I would try and avoid making the Shadowlands - the big blatant evil of the setting - a major plot element. Mind, it would still be there, but no more than any of the clans might be about.

After some discussion with my players, I opted to run a Phoenix-centered game. I felt it would let me play nicely with Rokugan's more spiritual elements while being able to also run a relatively social game as opposed to the war-and-big-evil centered campaigns I used to do. More specifically, the game would be set during "Winter Court", the traditional time of intrigue across the setting. While armies fail to march, samurai of all sorts manuever for the favor of their lords and misfortune of their foes.

I got some good player contributions out of this one, so I thought it'd be fun to look back on it. Here's one of many letters sent by his player to his lord. Notes follow!

My Lord Shiba Yoma,

Your most humble servant, Asako Senosuke, here writes the events witnessed during Winter Court at Pale Oak Castle.

I received your letter and the enclosed invitation at Asako Haruko’s court a week ago and was en route within the hour. I arrived at Pale Oak last evening and was greeted at the gate by Isawa Nodotai. I presented him with a tapestry I acquired before leaving Kakita Mizu’s court. Isawa Nodotai, received it well and welcomed me into his home. I appear to be early for court and took the time to familiarize myself with the area.

The Shogun’s army had already encamped itself upon my arrival and from what I can gather there are over a 1,000 soldiers standing outside the castle. I have yet to meet the Shogun himself however. I believe he is staying in the encampment. Security seems truly heavy here. Many traditional Isawa – Shiba guard pairs, paper checks at every gate, and every guard armed with well crafted blades. One wonders. The town itself has a true rarity, a glass-blower. I will have to acquire a piece of his work. It would make for a fine gift, though transporting it would prove difficult.

I met with your other envoys to the court, though I fear I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with them at great length. Shiba Shigetoki seems to be a man of, singular purpose, even for a Shiba. I am certain that even a cold would have trouble harming Isawa Momoru on his watch. Isawa Momoru is, quiet, I have had trouble getting him to open up, and so has the rest of court. I have done my best to cover for his, very few, minor faux pas. He is a competent Kami-speaker, but he is lost at court, and knows it.

I have met only a few notables here so far, the most predominant being Kakita Sukune, a Kakita Actress and apparently the head of the jester academy. I have begun some small amount of dialogue with her, and seemed to be seeking me out as I sought her.

I have also been withing close proximity to and therefore have met a Unicorn by the name of Ida Konyo. He is loud, boisterous, and irreverant. He claims to be an explorer of some renown, speaking of a ruin in the depths of Unicorn lands. Apparently a small civilization or town was there before some object fell from heaven. I do not know the truth of his claim, but he seems sincere if nothing else. Tomorrow I hope to send a message to Isawa Nodotai. He seems heavily worked already. I plan on asking him if he requires any assistance.

Your Humble Servant, Asako Senosuke

Some observations in retrospect:

• Asako Senosuke, to be noted, was a blind courtier and swordsman, in that order.
• Pale Oak Castle is the primary diplomatic castle for the Isawa family of the Phoenix Clan, largely created to host other people while keeping their own secretive research at their home castle private. Or to "not bore visitors with our plain academic matters", as the case may be. It and its shugenja master, Isawa Nodotai, can be found in Secrets of the Phoenix.
• Isawa Nodotai's name, probably on my account, was frequently confused as "Notodai" or even "Nicoti" or other permutations. The Japanese names used in L5R are great for atmosphere, but can be hard for us western players to parse sometimes.
• The Shogun is the military head of Rokugan. Due to political manuverings in the game's metaplot, he's currently settled in on Phoenix lands, creating a tense political situation in this Winter Court.
• Glass is rare in Rokugan, and so the glassblower would come to be a recurring feature in the game. It should be noted that any glassblower would have to learn from - or have the skills passed from - a foreigner. Such is a common practice in the Unicorn clan, who hosted the craftsman in question.
• Shiba Shigetoki, a bushi, and Isawa Momoru, a shugenja, were also PCs in this campaign. Shigetoki was a simple but devoted bodyguard for Momoru, excellent at going relatively unnoticed (due to a random roll for his ancestors). He would go on to show a great streak of compassion as the game went on. As for Momoru, he was skilled in the Void, the joining of all five elements, but was thrice-cursed with social ineptitude, a pronounced limp (due to a sorcerous mistake), and a dark background that... remains a mystery for now. Or, rather, I should say, he was gifted with the ability to avoid social entanglements, had a rather striking gait, and knew well the power of secrets.
• ... which is the sort of line so would expect from Kakita Sukune, who was fun to play as one of the more plain-spoken figures in the court, though she veiled it through sarcasm and faint praise. Rokugani jesters are more about sharp comments and wit at other's expense than outright tomfoolery, making her a dreaded, if not feared figure in the courts.
• Ide Konyo, as would be revealed later, is actually an Emerald Magistrate working undercover. The Emerald Magistrates work under the Emerald Champion, the right hand of the Emperor, so his presence here is significant...
• Two PCs go unmentioned here - Moto Bataar, a Unicorn warrior-poet, and Isawa Kenjiro, a Phoenix shugenja specializing in the element of air. The former hadn't been in contact with Senosuke yet, and the latter had yet to enter the game.

More of these player contributions to come!