Anime Review: The Law of Ueki

[Samurai Goomba]

Yeah, Hunter X Hunter and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure are the only "fight" mangas I can stand. Well, and Battle Angel Alita, but that one is quite unique.

Ways that Battle Angel Alita is unique from other "fight" mangas/anime:

1. Main character is a girl.
2. Story has nothing to do with fanservice or female nudity.
3. Established and important story characters die constantly and often without a heartwarming speech of any kind.
4. Main character doesn't always win. She also doesn't really train (she just remembers stuff about kicking butt that she's forgotten). No "montage" song for her.
5. Really moving dialogue. It's good stuff.
6. Romantic love figures heavily into the story. Not the junior high stuff, but the "I want to spend my life with this person" kind.
7. Amnesia plotline actually goes somewhere really interesting.
8. Support characters are good for something other than being meatshields or dying heroically.
9. Characters don't gain power levels or any of that crap. If they get stronger, it's because they either spent a few years wandering around killing people, or they installed themselves in a more powerful body.

Just a few off of the top of my head.

 

[Khada]

i have this anime on dvd and i quite liked it. you are correct in that its not an anime that breaks the mould but if your a fan of anime you know that every anime has its own charm regardless. i should note that ive only really HATED one anime ever.... GANTZ... dear god its terrible.

most anything else i have found enjoyable to some degree. i would give uki a 3/5 (average anime)

 

[Sparrow]

WORSE than Naruto? No, you've got to be lying. That would be the first comming of the apocalypse.

On a side note, I did like DBZ as a child. No idea why.

 

[RollForInitiative]

On a side note, I did like DBZ as a child. No idea why.

I think that's generally the target audience.

Yeah, Hunter X Hunter and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure are the only "fight" mangas I can stand. Well, and Battle Angel Alita, but that one is quite unique.

Thumbs up to Battle Angel Alita, most definitely. Such a dirty and brutal cyberpunk setting for a "little girl" to live in.

At least the schtick for the powers was a little unique for a shonen anime.

I won't argue that. There were some really weird powers in there as well, some of which were genuinely laughably absurd (the power to turn whistles into lasers, sugar into electricity, etc.).

Quick, James:

Renton vs. Shinji. GO!

*blink* *twitch* *EXPLODE*

 

[Sparrow]

On a side note, I did like DBZ as a child. No idea why.

I think that's generally the target audience.

But-- I, erm.

(Oh crap. That was a slight obvious truth to the face.)

 

[John Funk]

Quick, James:

Renton vs. Shinji. GO!

*blink* *twitch* *EXPLODE*

No dodging the question!

 

[Syntax Error]

Snip

Unfortunately, I think Yoshihiro Togashi will not be able to complete it in the next decade. The guy's a real life example of Incurable Cough of Death.

i have this anime on dvd and i quite liked it. you are correct in that its not an anime that breaks the mould but if your a fan of anime you know that every anime has its own charm regardless. i should note that ive only really HATED one anime ever.... GANTZ... dear god its terrible.

most anything else i have found enjoyable to some degree. i would give uki a 3/5 (average anime)

Read the Gantz manga. The halfway point of the anime is actually the first major turning point for Kurono. In the very next chapter, he goes up in an assignment. Alone.

 

[RollForInitiative]

Quick, James:

Renton vs. Shinji. GO!

*blink* *twitch* *EXPLODE*

No dodging the question!

In terms of who I prefer? I find them both irredeemably loathsome characters, to be honest. If you'll excuse my language, one's an ass and the other's a twat. How am I supposed to compare them? If anything, I suppose Renton edges out ahead sheerly by virtue of being more willing to pilot the giant robot and being capable of landing a girl. Having to watch either of them makes me want to beat my head against a brick wall in pure frustration thought; it's like having a front seat at the Robot Pilot Special Olympics.

 

[RollForInitiative]

i have this anime on dvd and i quite liked it. you are correct in that its not an anime that breaks the mould but if your a fan of anime you know that every anime has its own charm regardless. i should note that ive only really HATED one anime ever.... GANTZ... dear god its terrible.

most anything else i have found enjoyable to some degree. i would give uki a 3/5 (average anime)

Read the Gantz manga. The halfway point of the anime is actually the first major turning point for Kurono. In the very next chapter, he goes up in an assignment. Alone.

The manga was significantly better, if only because the horrible pacing was less of an issue when you turn pages at your own rate. Unfortunately, the story didn't seem to be going anywhere after two hundred chapters and they'd offed most (all?) of the people I was interested in following.

 

[Syntax Error]

snip

Well, Gantz is entering its Final Phase, so the mysteries must finally be answered. The last few chapters dealt with a reporter digging deeper and deeper into the mystery. He's led to believe that he's found some answers then he sees his informant

Spoiler

transferred by Gantz for Katastrophe.

There are also a lot to be answered, such as

Spoiler

1. Just what is Gantz?
2. What's the deal with those aliens?
3. What are the implications of Cloning Kurono?

and more that I can't remember.

I gotta agree with you that the pacing is horrible, but the characterization and fight scenes more than make up for it. I was actually pumped up when I read the part where

Spoiler

Kurono downed the big bad dinosaur in one mission. Without his armor and all the while shouting "I'M IMMORTAL! I CAN NOT DIE!!!" And that's just one of his amazing feats the leader of the Gantz Tokyo team.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Snip

Unfortunately, I think Yoshihiro Togashi will not be able to complete it in the next decade. The guy's a real life example of Incurable Cough of Death.

Yeah, I know. Sigh. A shame, too, because aside from 1 volume somewhere that I thought was crap (can't remember the exact one, but it was one of the early 20s in the American release), HXH has been extremely solid. The most recent volumes in particular... It's just been getting better and better. Hopefully they'll at least make it through this arc, but I'm really doubtful Gon will ever meet his father (not a spoiler, because that's his goal from the first volume of the manga), or that he'll ever finish things with Hisoka (also not a spoiler, Hisoka shows up in volume 1 or 2.)

I think the concept of the "Nen" and all the different applications, though not exactly unique (Nen=Chi in many ways) is probably one of the best explanations of super-powered combat. Right up there with the "Ripple" from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Ripple also=Chi).

 

[RollForInitiative]

Snip

Unfortunately, I think Yoshihiro Togashi will not be able to complete it in the next decade. The guy's a real life example of Incurable Cough of Death.

Yeah, I know. Sigh. A shame, too, because aside from 1 volume somewhere that I thought was crap (can't remember the exact one, but it was one of the early 20s in the American release), HXH has been extremely solid. The most recent volumes in particular... It's just been getting better and better. Hopefully they'll at least make it through this arc, but I'm really doubtful Gon will ever meet his father (not a spoiler, because that's his goal from the first volume of the manga), or that he'll ever finish things with Hisoka (also not a spoiler, Hisoka shows up in volume 1 or 2.)

I have to admit that I'm personally not much of a fan of series that run as long as most shonen series typically do. I vastly prefer concise, character-driven stories with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. What I've seen of Hunter X Hunter has been good thus far, but I'm wondering how long it will hold my interest before I begin to view it as "more of the same." I hold the same general view of the ever-popular One Piece as well.

Maybe it's just me, but I think it takes far more talent to tell a story that ends than it takes to tell a story that drags on for ages.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Snip

Unfortunately, I think Yoshihiro Togashi will not be able to complete it in the next decade. The guy's a real life example of Incurable Cough of Death.

Yeah, I know. Sigh. A shame, too, because aside from 1 volume somewhere that I thought was crap (can't remember the exact one, but it was one of the early 20s in the American release), HXH has been extremely solid. The most recent volumes in particular... It's just been getting better and better. Hopefully they'll at least make it through this arc, but I'm really doubtful Gon will ever meet his father (not a spoiler, because that's his goal from the first volume of the manga), or that he'll ever finish things with Hisoka (also not a spoiler, Hisoka shows up in volume 1 or 2.)

I have to admit that I'm personally not much of a fan of series that run as long as most shonen series typically do. I vastly prefer concise, character-driven stories with a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. What I've seen of Hunter X Hunter has been good thus far, but I'm wondering how long it will hold my interest before I begin to view it as "more of the same." I hold the same general view of the ever-popular One Piece as well.

Maybe it's just me, but I think it takes far more talent to tell a story that ends than it takes to tell a story that drags on for ages.

Oh, I agree. Hence my love of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, a series in which each "arc" is basically a generation, and every arc is a closed story with a beginning, middle and end.

But HXH... It's difficult to put into words why, but everything in HXH just works. And it keeps working. Yeah, it's a "journey" manga, and it's a "hot-blooded young man fight" manga, but that's balanced with the likable characters, genuine character progression, and really interesting story arcs.

If you find yourself starting to tune out at any point, I'd recommend sticking with the series for at least one more volume/a few more episodes. I was all set to stop reading (after the aforementioned crap HXH volume, which I still maintain is just bad), but the next volumes after it assured me that it was simply an anomaly.

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned the formula goes something like: for every episode past #26 (or every manga volume past #10) the chance of the level of quality dropping grows exponentially. There's a reason most anime are 26-ep runs. Unless the creator has a very clear idea where he wants to go and how everything will end, you wind up getting a lot of mindless filler and pointlessly extended fight scenes. But as I said, HXH seems to be the exception to the rule. That and Cromartie High School.

 

[RollForInitiative]

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned the formula goes something like: for every episode past #26 (or every manga volume past #10) the chance of the level of quality dropping grows exponentially. There's a reason most anime are 26-ep runs. Unless the creator has a very clear idea where he wants to go and how everything will end, you wind up getting a lot of mindless filler and pointlessly extended fight scenes.

Well put and very, very true. You can generally tell when the writer knew what story they were trying to tell from the get-go, as opposed to the writer that is making the story up as they go.

But as I said, HXH seems to be the exception to the rule. That and Cromartie High School.

I think Cromartie High School is probably the exception to nearly every rule ever conceived. So...bizarre. I'll openly admit that I have a plush Mechazawa.

 

[Dresos]

I loved this anime and despise the way this reviwer portrayed his opinion as facts. If it looks interesting give it a try but never believe that someone elses' opinion should apply to you.