Anime Review Roundup

Two reviews for you last week, and it was one disappointment followed by a pleasant surprise. The funny thing is that both disappointment and surprise stemmed from the staple anime ingredient of fan service. First up was Shikabane Hime Corpse Princess Part 2. Part 1 was a qualified delight, a dark, spooky story about the dead rising, and the undead princesses recruited by a sect of monks to put them back down again. Some fantastic atmospheric animation, interesting characters, and a compelling story all promised much, especially with the way that it was balanced with comedy and that staple ingredient that I mentioned, fan service. Part 2 is now upon us, and it's where the story gets really dark, but to balance it, the humour gets dafter, and the fan service gets more blatant. Click on my review to see just why this isn't a good idea.

The surprise came in the form of Sekirei: The Complete Series. This is one of those anime about ridiculously over-bosomed girls getting into knock down fights, where one or both of the combatants lose their clothing. Shows like this have never appealed to me, with the most recent such entrant into the UK market, Master of Martial Hearts, plumbing new depths of banality and offence. But Sekirei finds the right balance between its sex and violence, keeping the two mostly separate. The sex part is invested in the sort of harem comedy hijinks that you would see in Love Hina or Ah My Goddess, while the violence stays firmly in the super-powered tournament realm, quite well animated and fun to watch. Unlike other shows in its genre, Sekirei never gets nasty, and always remains fun… hence the pleasant surprise.