Anime Reviews
"F"
Final Fantasy: Advent Children
review by Jenn M
Apologies in advance, folks. I love this game. I know it like the back of my hand.
I don't even know how many gaming hours I've put into it because the timer stops at 99:99:99, and mine's been stuck there for the past, oh, 4 years. So there's no prelude, no primer, no background on this one, and spoilers aplenty. This is a Final Fantasy VII fangirl review. My target audience is people who've played the game, know the story, know the characters, and maybe even read a little bit of fanfiction.
There is so much to comment on in this film that after my summary/thoughts on the story I'm resorting to the stylistically abhorred subheading categories layout! Arrgh!
In the 2 years since the game's end, most of the main characters have scattered and live separate lives. The exception are the remaining Turks, who still uphold their posts as protectors of Rufus Shinra. The fate of the Shinra Company is vague and not really mentioned, other than Rufus's admission that they significantly contributed to the Planet/Sephiroth/Meteor problem during the last go-round.
The Geostigma and Sephiroth clone stories give the characters every excuse to round up the old gang again for some old-fashioned questing and problem-solving, but there's not much happening in the narrative department. This movie and its storyline exist for the sole purpose of bringing the FF7 cast to life using the latest in CG technology. Many times I found myself simply waiting for the next character to show up so I could see how he/she was rendered.
Of course the story left the usual head-scratching for me - faithful leaps of logic and acceptance were no problem, as it's customary in most of the FF games. I still don't know what the heck Geostigma was, despite Vincent's beautifully throaty explanation, or how Sephiroth could have remanifested through a clone. It's simply not explained. Well, it's not explained very well but who cares! This is how the characters should have looked in-game. Now wouldn't THAT have been awesome!
There is eye-candy aplenty, and the animation detail is stunning. It's a far cry from the polygon bodies of the original game, and it should well be! Part of me truly believes that Square made this movie to make up for the crappy animation in the greatest FF game in their series.
Do I recommend this movie? If you are a FF7 fan, ABSOLUTELY. If you aren't, just check it out for the animation. Don't expect to understand what happened, or where the heck Bahamut came from, but do enjoy Reno's obnoxious attitude, Vincent's brooding, Sephiroth's awesome badness, the impossible sword battles, and the deliciously wicked motorcycles!
That being said, the new costume designs for Cloud and Tifa hint at other FF influences. What struck me first and foremost about Tifa's outfit was that it looked just like Rinoa's (with slight modifications)! Was it cool? Yes! But original? Unfortunately, no. The color black suits Tifa nicely but it's still Rinoa's outfit!
Cloud's outfit remains reasonably faithful to the game except for the flowing fabric additions to cover the geostigma on his arm (I'm glad they didn't put him in a purple jumpsuit). And continuing with the "flowing black fabric" theme going on here are Kadaj's and Yazoo's outfits.
These modifications allow the characters to blend in and are consistent with the new Midgar, which is heavily industrial, dark, and similar in flavor to that of Tim Burton's Batman. The new getups also convey a bit of maturity in that they are more like uniforms rather than costumes as in the game.
The other characters' costumes were only slightly modified, so for purposes of this review I consider their status relatively unchanged. It bears noting that the Turks' and Rufus' costumes were completely faithful to the game, and the addition of realistic fabric movement and flow to their clothing was delicious to behold. And I must also point out that fraying the edges on Vincent's cape was a great touch.
Unfortunately, I didn't recognize most of the seiyuu in the film but I absolutely cannot argue against the appropriateness of their casting. Every character's voice was exactly as I had imagined during all those hours of gameplay, but I'll just mention the top three that impressed.
Although he appears only for a short time, Sephiroth's voice was the most crucial. I could not wait to hear his voice and when I heard it, I knew Toshiyuki Morikawa had absolutely nailed it. He was so spot-on it gave me chicken-skin!
I was also particularly pleased with Shogo Suzuki's rendition of Vincent. Sufficiently somewhere between a mutter and a rumble, Vincent's rather monotone voice was beautiful but not as delightful as Sephiroth's. (Yes, Vincent is my favorite character.)
Keiji Fujiwara was hilariously fitting as Reno, with just the right amount of punk-ass attitude and cockiness.
Trust me, the detail has to be seen to be believed.
In regards to the CG form of in-game locations, I was most impressed with the Forgotten City. Sure the trees were white in the game, but here they really glow. Each tree is like a fluorescent bulb, which has a cool yet eerie effect. Another perfect fit!
There is another part in the graphics department that I found endlessly entertaining. Watch closely and see how many familiar shots, sequences, or FMVs you can spot throughout the film. I get the distinct feeling that the programmers must have had so much fun recreating scenes in CG exactly as the originals appeared in the game. Here's just a few to watch out for: Red XIII and the pups at Cosmo Canyon; Sister Ray charging up to fire at Diamond Weapon; the opening fly-out and then fly-in to Midgar; Lifestream arriving to halt Meteor above Midgar; Sephiroth and Cloud's face-off; destruction of the Shinra Building; and Sephiroth removing Jenova's metal facade in the lab. All of them nearly frame-for-frame from game FMVs! It's beautiful! Now, if only the game had looked that awesome!
Full Metal Alchemist (the movie)
review by Kell Komatsubara
At the end of the series, Ed was transported from his world to ours. In our world, he finds himself in pre WWII Germany, stripped of his alchemist powers. There he finds someone who looks like his brothers, Alphonse Heiderich a rocket scientist. The Nazi party is trying to get into the world of Ed's so they can use the alchemist power to rule the world of theirs, and use the rocket to get there. While this is happening, Ed meets a gypsy girl, and the fun begins...
"F"
Final Fantasy: Advent Children
review by Jenn M
Apologies in advance, folks. I love this game. I know it like the back of my hand.
I don't even know how many gaming hours I've put into it because the timer stops at 99:99:99, and mine's been stuck there for the past, oh, 4 years. So there's no prelude, no primer, no background on this one, and spoilers aplenty. This is a Final Fantasy VII fangirl review. My target audience is people who've played the game, know the story, know the characters, and maybe even read a little bit of fanfiction.
There is so much to comment on in this film that after my summary/thoughts on the story I'm resorting to the stylistically abhorred subheading categories layout! Arrgh!
Review
The story of FF:AC parallels the original game story in that there is a rather intangible enemy. This time, instead of figuring out why the Planet is in pain, Cloud and friends are trying to figure out what the Geostigma disease is and how to combat it. A potential Sephiroth problem also appears in the manifestation of three mysterious brothers who bear an eerie similarity to the game's star villain.In the 2 years since the game's end, most of the main characters have scattered and live separate lives. The exception are the remaining Turks, who still uphold their posts as protectors of Rufus Shinra. The fate of the Shinra Company is vague and not really mentioned, other than Rufus's admission that they significantly contributed to the Planet/Sephiroth/Meteor problem during the last go-round.
The Geostigma and Sephiroth clone stories give the characters every excuse to round up the old gang again for some old-fashioned questing and problem-solving, but there's not much happening in the narrative department. This movie and its storyline exist for the sole purpose of bringing the FF7 cast to life using the latest in CG technology. Many times I found myself simply waiting for the next character to show up so I could see how he/she was rendered.
Of course the story left the usual head-scratching for me - faithful leaps of logic and acceptance were no problem, as it's customary in most of the FF games. I still don't know what the heck Geostigma was, despite Vincent's beautifully throaty explanation, or how Sephiroth could have remanifested through a clone. It's simply not explained. Well, it's not explained very well but who cares! This is how the characters should have looked in-game. Now wouldn't THAT have been awesome!
There is eye-candy aplenty, and the animation detail is stunning. It's a far cry from the polygon bodies of the original game, and it should well be! Part of me truly believes that Square made this movie to make up for the crappy animation in the greatest FF game in their series.
Do I recommend this movie? If you are a FF7 fan, ABSOLUTELY. If you aren't, just check it out for the animation. Don't expect to understand what happened, or where the heck Bahamut came from, but do enjoy Reno's obnoxious attitude, Vincent's brooding, Sephiroth's awesome badness, the impossible sword battles, and the deliciously wicked motorcycles!
Okay, now for the categorical fangirl drooling.
Costumes
I confess to being a big fan of Tetsuya Nomura, the almighty Final Fantasy character designer. Next to Sakaguchi himself, selecting Tetsuya as director was an informed choice. Tetsuya designed these characters during the first go-round (for the game) and knows them all extremely well, so he was the perfect person to revisit them for the film not only as a character designer, but also as a director. That being said, the new costume designs for Cloud and Tifa hint at other FF influences. What struck me first and foremost about Tifa's outfit was that it looked just like Rinoa's (with slight modifications)! Was it cool? Yes! But original? Unfortunately, no. The color black suits Tifa nicely but it's still Rinoa's outfit!
Cloud's outfit remains reasonably faithful to the game except for the flowing fabric additions to cover the geostigma on his arm (I'm glad they didn't put him in a purple jumpsuit). And continuing with the "flowing black fabric" theme going on here are Kadaj's and Yazoo's outfits.
These modifications allow the characters to blend in and are consistent with the new Midgar, which is heavily industrial, dark, and similar in flavor to that of Tim Burton's Batman. The new getups also convey a bit of maturity in that they are more like uniforms rather than costumes as in the game.
The other characters' costumes were only slightly modified, so for purposes of this review I consider their status relatively unchanged. It bears noting that the Turks' and Rufus' costumes were completely faithful to the game, and the addition of realistic fabric movement and flow to their clothing was delicious to behold. And I must also point out that fraying the edges on Vincent's cape was a great touch.
Seiyuu
When I first heard about FFVII: AC, one of my biggest fears was the transition from "silent film" to "talkies". In my mind, it was extremely crucial to get the characters' voices right or all would be for naught. Unfortunately, I didn't recognize most of the seiyuu in the film but I absolutely cannot argue against the appropriateness of their casting. Every character's voice was exactly as I had imagined during all those hours of gameplay, but I'll just mention the top three that impressed.
Although he appears only for a short time, Sephiroth's voice was the most crucial. I could not wait to hear his voice and when I heard it, I knew Toshiyuki Morikawa had absolutely nailed it. He was so spot-on it gave me chicken-skin!
I was also particularly pleased with Shogo Suzuki's rendition of Vincent. Sufficiently somewhere between a mutter and a rumble, Vincent's rather monotone voice was beautiful but not as delightful as Sephiroth's. (Yes, Vincent is my favorite character.)
Keiji Fujiwara was hilariously fitting as Reno, with just the right amount of punk-ass attitude and cockiness.
Graphics
The detail in this film blew me away and is nothing short of crazy. The movement of flowing fabric is extremely silky and surface textures are all awesomely mad! There's an amazing shine on Sephiroth's Masamune and Cloud's new bike has a slick shine. Tifa's hair is reminiscent of Aki Ross (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) in how the individual strands move together. Check out the fragmented reflective surfaces of the broken windows on the Shinra Building. Trust me, the detail has to be seen to be believed.
In regards to the CG form of in-game locations, I was most impressed with the Forgotten City. Sure the trees were white in the game, but here they really glow. Each tree is like a fluorescent bulb, which has a cool yet eerie effect. Another perfect fit!
There is another part in the graphics department that I found endlessly entertaining. Watch closely and see how many familiar shots, sequences, or FMVs you can spot throughout the film. I get the distinct feeling that the programmers must have had so much fun recreating scenes in CG exactly as the originals appeared in the game. Here's just a few to watch out for: Red XIII and the pups at Cosmo Canyon; Sister Ray charging up to fire at Diamond Weapon; the opening fly-out and then fly-in to Midgar; Lifestream arriving to halt Meteor above Midgar; Sephiroth and Cloud's face-off; destruction of the Shinra Building; and Sephiroth removing Jenova's metal facade in the lab. All of them nearly frame-for-frame from game FMVs! It's beautiful! Now, if only the game had looked that awesome!
Full Metal Alchemist (the movie)
review by Kell Komatsubara
At the end of the series, Ed was transported from his world to ours. In our world, he finds himself in pre WWII Germany, stripped of his alchemist powers. There he finds someone who looks like his brothers, Alphonse Heiderich a rocket scientist. The Nazi party is trying to get into the world of Ed's so they can use the alchemist power to rule the world of theirs, and use the rocket to get there. While this is happening, Ed meets a gypsy girl, and the fun begins...