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falconstrife86
Reviews
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
Another bad sequel
The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride was like any other Disney sequel I've seen. It's nice to see what happened afterward, but it could have been greatly improved. The visual wasn't as authentic as the first movie. In the "My Lullaby" sequence, there was little atmosphere to go with the song, unlike the "Be Prepared" sequence in the first movie, which held much more visual atmosphere with steam and an overall hellfire look towards the end. Much the same can be said for other sequences in the movie. As for the characters, I found Kovu & Kiara, as well as the new supporting cast were under developed. I was also sad to see what a small part Nala, Timon and Pumbaa played in the movie, and even more so when the Hyenas made no appearance. There were a couple of good things, though. I really liked Nuka and Vitani, and the songs "My Lullaby" and "One of Us" were both pretty good.
Shaman Kingu (2001)
Not as good as the manga
Shaman King by Hiroyuki Takei (the creator) is a wonderful manga, and a great anime (albeit short). The tale of a young boy (Oyamada Manta) and his shamanic friend (Asakura Yoh) and the adventures they go through in Yoh's quest to be Shaman King - one who controls the king of spirits.
At a distant glance, Shaman King seems like another fighting show like Dragonball, but when more closely examined one finds that Shaman King is much more complex. What is at first a tournament to control the Great Spirit becomes a dramatic battle to keep the reincarnation of a former (psychotic) shaman from destroying all humans and weak shamans.
Unfortunately, though, the anime fails to bring some light upon important characters. Yoh's mother barely plays a role in the show, as compared to the anime. Manta's family is completely cut out of the show, while in the manga his abusive father presents Manta and eventually Yoh with serious conflict.
The English dub of Shaman King is one of the most painful things to ever happen to anime, though. To start, the show was originally rated PG-13. 4Kids dumbed it down to PG. Many of the characters were butchered in different ways; 1) Manta became a bratty, arrogant kid named Mortimer (not to mention his family's servant, Tamura, becomes his rich uncle Jerry).
2) Yoh became a cheeseburger-obsessed freak, who's philosophical thinking was demolished.
3) Ryu went from a brotherly young man to a self-absorbed moron named Rio (not to mention they diminished his bisexuality).
4) Ren went from a proud Chinese shaman to an irritating, British punk named Lenny (not to mention that his father En was turned into Uncle En).
5) Horokeu gained an identity crisis, holding two names (Trey Racer and Horo Horo).
6) Hao went from a frighteningly evil shaman to an arrogant, irritating punk named 'Zeke'.
However, whether it be the dub or the original, Shaman King relies heavily on the secondary characters, unlike most other shows.
Takei has also integrated history and legends into Shaman King.
The characters Amidamaru and King Hao are based on people who existed centuries ago in Japan. It also gives some insight of feudal Japan.
Horo Horo introduces the culture of the Japanese tribe, Ainu, while adding jokes. While his name is Ainu for 'Wolf', other characters often tease him and call him "Boro", which means 'rag'.
Faust VIII is based on Johann Faustus from the 1400's, and his advanced oversoul is named "Mephisto E", after Mephistopheles, whom the original Faust made a deal with to gain knowledge. One may also notice that besides being somewhat identical, the German characters Faust VIII and Eliza are very similar to Hitler's image of the 'perfect race'.
Overall, I'd say that the original animated version is okay. In any case, the English dub is the most painful way to experience Shaman King. The best way to experience Shaman King, though, is to read the manga.
Open Water (2003)
The Worst Kind of Boring
Open water is the story of what happens when two people are left in the middle of an ocean. The summary sounds interesting, but unfortunately the story is disappointing.
The story is run in a fashion similar to that of Jurassic Park 3; there is little action, which is run very briefly and often halts too suddenly, and there is an everlasting antagonist as the main source of danger.
The main characters could have made the movie much more interesting, had they been more developed. With the exception of one or two good suggestions, Susan was pretty well dead-weight throughout the entire movie with a rather monotonous personality. Daniel, however, managed to add to the movie. Unlike Suzy, his personality changed throughout the movie, depending on the situation.
The movie painfully lacked intelligence on the characters' parts (primary and secondary), and little can be said about the predictable plot.
What kept this movie from receiving a rating of '1', is the music (probably the best thing about the movie) and the fact that digital enhancement was absent, which helped to establish some atmosphere.
There are all kinds of boring, but this movie was probably the worst kind.
Tôkyô goddofâzâzu (2003)
Dramatic, Touching and Fun
A wonderful tale taking place during the holidays about an unlikely 'family';
Gin, a middle-aged man who claims to have lost everything; Miyuki, a teenage runaway with a somewhat touchy temper; Hana, a middle-aged transsexual.
When the homeless family discover an abandoned child in the garbage, they venture on to find the child's family. Throughout the movie, they face a variety of obstacles, including incidences of faith and crime, and inevitably their own pasts. The action is dramatic, the resolutions are touching, and the characters, though differing in personalities, are all fun at one point or another (particularly the outgoing Hana).
Though some incidences are incredible, the characters are somewhat realistic, and the story itself proves that not all animation is for 'kids'. One thing that should be clarified, however, is that while Hana is a transsexual, homosexuality is scarce in the movie.