Anime Review: Heroman

Title: Heroman

Genre: Sci-fi/Mecha

Creator/Studio: Stan Lee/Bones

No. of episodes: 26

Recommended Age: 7+

Rating: 10/10

Distributor: None, streaming online at http://www.crunchyroll.com

Summary: Joey Jones is an ordinary American boy living in an ordinary American town. That is, until the local mad scientist successfully contacts alien life. Just one problem: it's the Skrugg, an evil, insect-like race. As fate would have it, lightning strikes Joey and his toy robot, turning it into a sentient (albeit silent) giant robot that Joey can control with a remote and voice commands.

Review: When I learned Stan Lee was involved, I had to check this show out. I'm a huge fan of his work. It's easy to see the parallels between this and some of Stan Lee's comics. For example:

1. It takes place in America. Stan Lee is a firm believer in "write what you know". It's why all his stories take place in New York City. He spent most of his life there.
2. Joey is a teen hero. Most of Stan Lee's heroes started out as teenagers.The hero has an alliterative name.
3. Joey has an alliterative name. Stan Lee gave many of his heroes alliterative names in order to make them easy for him to remember. (Okay, maybe that's not all that relevant)

I really enjoy most, if not all, of the cast. Here are my five favorite characters.

Joey is an admirable boy who wishes to be as heroic as his father, who sacrificed himself to save his fellow miners. He has a courageous heart like any true hero.

Next is Simon (aka Psy), Joey's best friend. What makes him so cool is even though the kid's on crutches, that doesn't stop him from helping out Joey and fighting alongside him. He's the kind of friend everyone wants.

Then there's Lina, a blonde cheerleader that fits another type found in many superhero stories: the plucky girlfriend. Lina is essentially the Mary-Jane Watson of the show. She has a cheerful personality and even though she gets kidnapped once or twice, she's courageous enough to prevent her from being annoying. There's only one thing preventing the two of them from hooking up: Will, her older brother. He's like Flash Thompson from Spider-man: a jock with a bad attitude (to be fair, Flash and Peter's relationship did eventually mellow out).

The last character I like is Holly, Joey's big sister. At first, I thought she was obnoxious because of her crass personality and her penchant for beer. (definitely not ladylike) However, as her character developed, I saw her as a foil for Joey in that their opinions on their father differ. While Joey admires their father, she feels as though he abandoned them. In fact, when she discovers Joey is controlling Heroman, she's understandably angry about it.

The Skrugg are definitely a scary race. They kind of remind me of the aliens in the Alien movies, and with the exception of their leader Kogurr, all have a hive mentality.

This is an excellent series, even if you're not a Stan Lee fan, although it's easier to appreciate if you like his stuff.

As for the plot and pacing, I think the show did it well. It moved at a quick pace, but it still took enough time to show us how the characters were reacting to being invaded. Some actually tried to negotiate with the aliens, while others saw them as a threat and joined Joey in the fight against them. And for once, Washington DC was brought into the story and we didn't get a George W. Bush clone, since it was being done during his tenure! This time, although the president does seem to vaguely resemble him, we aren't made to see him as a stupid person, just someone who makes rash decisions because he's concerned about the citizens. The plot didn't come to a complete halt when it was time to develop characters, which I enjoy.

Music/Score: The music was not what I expected. I'm used to a more stirring score in superhero stories, like in the Superman or Batman movies. This was a little too cheerful.

Sub/Dub: Because there's no dub yet, I can't give a comparison. I thought the voices were okay, but I felt Joey's voice was a little high for someone who's on the cusp of puberty.

Violence: 4/10: For the most part, the show's pretty mild, except for the fact that Kogurr eats those who fail him.

Sexuality: none

Religion: none

Nudity: none

Related Media: There's a Heroman manga that inspired this anime, but I don't know if it's translated into English yet.

Anime Review: Gintama

Hello, I'm Rocklobster! I sat through this somewhat entertaining shonen anime so you wouldn't have to. But seriously, I've decided to turn this site into a review site beginning with this post. Since I recently finished Gintama, I decided, why not start with this one?

Genre: Comedy/Sci-fi
Creator/Studio: Hideaki Sorachi/Sunrise
No. of Episodes: 201
Rating: 7/10
Distributor: Streaming online from http://www.crunchyroll.com. Also available on DVD from Sentai Filmworks, a subsidiary of ADV.
Summary: In an alternate history version of Tokyo called Edo, aliens established relationship with Japan centuries ago. As a result, today aliens can be seen as commonplace and the policemen are shinsengumi. The story focuses on Gintoki, a war vet who now helps anyone who can pay him for room, board, and the next issue of Shonen Jump. Helping him out are his two friends, Shinpachi (heir to a dojo and all-around nerd) and Kagura (alien girl with impressive strength and speed)
Review: When I first found out about the show’s premise, I thought I was going to get a straight-up action series. While there is action, this series is focused more on comedy. The only problem I have with the show is that it lacks cohesion. In between arcs is filler that ranges from tolerable to terrible. To sum it up, this is a guilty pleasure. If you like this kind of nuttiness, it make work for you.

I have three favorite characters: First is Kagura. She is very cute, but should not be underestimated, because she is impressively strong and fast. She has a very helpful personality, but has difficulty fitting in with her friends because she isn't human. Underneath is a girl who misses her father, who we meet later in the show. To make matters worse, she also has a psycho brother. (And I do mean psycho!)

Second is Shinpachi. Shinpachi is the "straight man" of the cast. Whenever there is something that is just plain illogical, you can expect him to object to it, and like everyone else on the show, he knows he's a fictional character, so he'll often complain about the plotholes and such. (It's very funny, trust me)

Third is probably the strangest character on the show: Toshiro Hijikata. What's so strange, you ask? How about the fact that the dude is obsessed with mayonnaise. You'll see him dump almost the entire bottle on everything! (it's a wonder he actually has any in the bottle when he's done)

The stories themselves vary. At times, you get some really good action, but when the story goes into filler mode, it can make you wonder why you got into the show in the first place. I think the funniest story of all was the one that was a parody of Dragonquest. The most awesome one was when one of the Shinsengumi got a possessed sword.
Language: (6/10) There is a LOT of bad language and suggestive humor. Although most of it’s censored, it’s pretty obvious what’s being censored, and the sexual humor goes uncensored.
Violence: (5/10) The show basically has two modes: filler and arc. In filler mode, the show is quite humorous and uses slapstick. In arc mode, the violence can range from fistfights to some mildly bloody moments.
Nudity: (2/10) I saw a couple full-frontal male nudity scenes. Both were censored with pixel mosaics, but still unwelcome.
Sexuality: (3/10) While there is no sex per se, I’m giving this rating for the humor. It’s also hinted that Shinpachi’s sister has an intimate relationship with a woman who wears an eyepatch. She even almost gets married to her.
Religion: (1/10) Early in the series, Gintoki discovers a neighbor who’s actually a demon. Later, we meet a family that can summon Shinigami.
Music: The music ranges from great to okay. Let me put it this way, you’d better like j-pop. It's mostly very upbeat, and really fits the show. I really liked the third opening song.

Voice acting: To be honest, I'm not that great at differentiating Japanese voices. However, I think the voices were appropriate for all the characters.
Related Media: This is based on the Gintama manga from Shonen Jump and is distributed in America by Viz. There is also a feature-length movie based on the Benizakura arc.