"Let's Eat" K-drama

I haven't enjoyed a K-drama this much in a long time.   "Let's Eat" is  romantic comedy with FOOD PORN.  Seriously.  Every show has a long series of shots of the actors eating delicious food and looking extremely happy doing so.  I am amazed these actors did such a good job of eating on camera without looking like total messes and still conveying "this is yummy" all at the same time.  Each show had me hungry while watching.  Soo Kyung is a 30 something woman living alone in  Seoul who slowly becomes friends with her neighbors Dae Young, a younger man who is suspiciously slick, and Jin Yi, an optimistic and naive younger woman.  The chemistry between all the actors is very good and the comedy made me laugh out loud quite a bit.  There is a strange subplot involving a serial murderer, but it does serve to get the romance going.  If you want to watch a charming show with gorgeous people and gorgeous FOOD, watch "Let's Eat."

"Ping Pong the Animation"

Spring 2014 season has started and one show has stood out for me so far.  It's "Ping Pong the Animation."  The art style is unique, realistic but simplistic at the same time.  The dialogue is very realistic as well, almost like a live drama.  This one episode introduced Hoshino (aka, Peco) and Tsukimoto (aka, Smile) two talented first year students in a high school ping pong team.  They're childhood friends who trained at the same ping pong dojo (who knew there were ping pong dojos). They sneak over to the another high school to peek at the new Chinese exchange student recruited for ping pong.  All the dialogue from the Chinese student Wenge and his coach are in Mandarin, and it's not broken Mandarin or magically changed to Japanese. It's refreshing to see the producers committed to using fluent Chinese speakers.  Can't wait to see more of this noitaminA show.  It's currently streaming at Funimation in the United States.  Elsewhere it can be found at Crunchyroll.

"Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden"

Oh Kircheis.

I put off watching the last two episodes of "LoGH Gaiden" because I didn't want to end the epic marathoning I've been doing on all things "LoGH."  But I have finally finished watching the main series, the "Gaiden" side stories series, and the movies which are retellings of the main series.  I admit the last season of the main series was a bit slow going, but it was all very satisfying.  I read that there is going to be a remake soon, but I find it hard to believe any animation studio will undertake to adapt the novel series in such a deep and detailed way that the existing 110-plus episodes does.  I hope to watch a "mature" anime like this again.  It's a war story that is sympathetic and critical to each side.  Loyalty and honor exist in the Galactic Empire and the Alliance.  So do corruption and greed.  Heroes Yang and Lohengramm exemplify loyalty and honor, but have opposing views on government.  The existence of this conflict alone makes this an anime of note, but the fantastic art style, classical music soundtrack, and intelligent internal and external dialogue really put this over the top.  Oh yes, and Reinhard von Lohengramm is super fabulous.

"Legend of the Galactic Heroes"

I've been binge watching this 100-plus episode OVA series these last few days.  It's a fabulous space opera, full of political intrigue,  large scale space ship battles, and enjoyable characters.  Sure, it's full of long-winded explanations of past galactic history, but even that is fascinating to listen to.  The show is so deep it goes past 500 years sometimes to tell the backstory.  It's the democratic, but corrupt, Free Planets Alliance versus the autocratic, but corrupt, Galactic Empire in a fight for literal universal domination.  Yang Wen-li is an unwilling but capable military leader of the Alliance and Reinhard von Lohengramm is the charismatic up-and-coming military leader of the Empire. They develop a respect for each other's abilities even as they try to kill each other over several battles.   Each has their own cadre of several trusted subordinates and a cast of hundreds to interact with as they fight for victory.  In particular, Reinhard's relationships with his sister Annerose and his bestie Siegfried Kircheis are a big part of the show.  Yang Wen-li's relationship with his ward Julian Mintz is also a big part of the show. I've reached episode 62 and watched "My Conquest is the Sea of Stars" 60 minute OVA.  I really like the realistic art style of each person.  It's not moe eyes and adolescent bodies, although I do appreciate how gorgeous Reinhard is (see above).  The second season is a bit more gory which was a bit of a surprise, but I think it well emphasizes the devastation of war.  Seems like Yang is always treated badly by his government and that maybe he should just join von Lohengramm sometimes, but that wouldn't fit into Yang's character or the story.  Well, that may change since I haven't finished the series yet, but I am working on doing just that.

"The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya"

I recently bought the DVD/Blu-ray combo pack for "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya."  It's getting a bit scarce to buy, so I decided to order it before it's some outrageous price on Amazon.  Kyoto Animation really hits a home run with this feature as part of the continuing story of Haruhi that began in the two television series.  I have not read the novels that the Haruhi television series is based upon.  I can forget the ugliness of watching the "Endless Eight" episodes in the second season after watching this movie.  It's beautifully animated and has a time-twisting plot that manages to make Kyon less of a whiny character.  It's sort of like "It's a Wonderful Life" from the point of view of one of Jimmy Stewart's friends.  The setting is at Christmas time which also fits with the "It's a Wonderful Life" feeling.  In fact, now is the perfect time to watch the movie, since it's set in the 10 days or so before Christmas. 

"Yowapeda" (or Yowamushi Pedal)

This is a refreshing sports series that has you cheering for the whole cycling team at Sohoku High School, especially freshman Onoda Sakamichi (the wide eyed guy above).  Onoda begins high school hoping to join the anime club to get some friends, but ends up joining the cycling team after discovering that after all his biking to Akihibara to buy anime goods, he has a real talent for bike racing.  It's a sports shonen show (i.e., lots of racing), but the real draw is seeing Onoda bloom into a racer and making friends, especially with Imaizumi and Naruko, two other talented freshmen.  Each show has lots of laughs and makes you smile.  Everyone is super earnest and it's fun to watch.  I'm up to episode 10 and each show has been great.  Looking forward to more.

"Ando Lloyd - A.I. Knows Love?"

While reading Anime News Network, I came across a tidbit about a J-drama featuring Kimura Takuya called "Ando Lloyd - A.I. Knows Love?"  Thoughts of "Absolute Boyfriend" ran through my brain, so I looked into it.  It's currently airing now and I just watched the first episode.  It looks promising.  It's got a likable romantic couple and a science-fiction premise.  A genius scientist (Kimutaku) and his fiance (Shibasaki Ko) is targeted for murder.  He doesn't manage to dodge his murder but somehow, he has arranged for a Kimutaku-lookalike android to be his fiance's bodyguard.  Why they are being targeted and who is behind all these androids from the future is still unclear.  I have to watch the rest to find out.  It's nice to be interested in J-drama again.

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood"

I've tried to watch this show a few times, but never got past a few episodes.  I think the idea of watching a long show like this was a bit daunting.  But I had some time off recently and thus decided to try it again.  I managed to watch the show on Netflix, reaching episode 52, thinking, wow how is this going to end so fast?  Then I realized there was another season of 12 episodes that Netflix doesn't carry.  I tried to watch on Hulu, but alas, I really hate Hulu (all the commercials) and I wasn't going to go the subtitle route (only subs available for last 12 eps) since I had already watched the 52 episodes on Netflix dubbed.  I broke down and got a Funimation elite subscription just to finish the series.  

There are two main plots.  Edward and Al try to bring back their mother from the dead using alchemy.  Of course it's a big fail and Al loses his body and Ed loses an arm and leg in the process.  Al's soul is trapped in suit of armor and Ed has to use prosthetic arm and leg.  They join the military as state alchemists in order to find a philosopher's stone which may help the regain their bodies.  In addition to Edward and Al looking to find the stone, there is also a compelling military and political storyline involving a decades-long plot for world domination.  I really enjoyed watching this complex and complete story.  The multiple characters, each of which has their own back story, are likable, even some of the bad guys. Edward, Al, Winry, Roy, Hawkeye, Alex, Olivier, and the evil crew of almost immortal homunculi were extremely well characterized.  The action scenes were well animated.  The alchemy battles were cool and sometimes even a bit horrifying (especially when Roy used his snap flame alchemy).  I liked how the state alchemists had ethical dilemmas in regards to their roles in the Ishvallan war.  The never-give-up attitude and bonds of friendship and family lay the moral foundation for this complete story.  The end actually has an end, thanks to the fact that it's based on a completed manga.  I also tried watching the first "Fullmetal Alchemist" but never finished that either.  I have read that it is also good and deviates from the manga unlike "Brotherhood" so I will try to watch it again sometime.  Thumbs up for the epic movie-ish background music and catchy opening and ending theme songs.  In conclusion, it's a compelling, entertaining, emotional action anime that I wholeheartedly recommend.  Will we ever see anything as ambitious and successful as this?  I hope so.

"Shin Sekai Yori"

I had tried to watch the show while it was being simulcast, but never got past episode 3.  I just got bored with it.  After listening to a rather glowing review on an anime podcast, I decided to try it again.  I am glad I did.  I ended up doing a marathon watching of the rest of the 25 episodes.  Watching the show is incredibly suspenseful because the show is one big mystery that keeps you hooked till the end.  Throw in some likeable characters who aren't afraid to actually make decisions, some interesting time-skips, a mysterious world built around a tightly controlled dystopia where everyone is psychokinetic, mutant animals, missing children, acceptance of same sex pairings among adolescents, a true atmosphere of dread and horror, and a satisfactory conclusion, and you have a winner.  I think this type of show benefits from a marathon style watching because each episode usually ends on a cliffhanger and the maintenance of the tension is easier when shows are watched back to back.  This is based on a single novel which helps it avoid the open ended ending trap with a lot of anime.  There is a true feeling of horror sometimes which I rarely feel with anime.  It's a great drama/horror/mystery. 

"Castle in the Sky"

I've been meaning to watch this Miyazaki film for a while and I finally did.  I wasn't really expecting anything and I was pleasantly surprised.  I went on a Miyazaki binge and bought "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Castle in the Sky" and "Whisper of the Heart."  All are new to me except for "Totoro" and I really enjoyed "Nausicaa" as well.  I have to admit I thought "Nausicca" dragged a little bit in the beginning for me, but "Castle in the Sky" kept me interested the entire time.   I think it's because the two main characters Sheeta and Pazu are so darn likable.  Both have a never say die attitude and are so capable they are even able to easily fit in with a pirate crew.  They are constantly on the run so I guess that's why the pace is good.  The art is beautiful and the same glorious semi-European fantasy land setting seemingly in most Ghibli movies is here as well.  The music was also very beautiful.  The ending was a bit predictable, but I guess there was no way around it given the environmental message of the movie.  I was surprised how the character of Dola evolved in the movie and I thought Cloris Leachman did a really good job with her voice acting for that character.  James Van Der Beek ( yes, Dawson) and Anna Paquin (remember the little girl in "The Piano"?) do pretty good jobs as the voice actors for Pazu and Sheeta.  I have only seen the dub version, but plan to watch the Japanese version with subs the next time I pop this into the PS3.