Showing posts with label cencoroll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cencoroll. Show all posts

Monday, December 7, 2009

Happy Birthday, Animeshoon!

Exactly today two years ago, this blog was born. So to celebrate that, I offer freebies for my readers and random visitors, whom I love even when they don't comment *urk* ^_^


Hotarubi no Mori e (In the Forest of Fireflies)
story & art: midorikawa yuki
length: one volume (one-shot)
ddl: 4shared (scanlated by DragonVoice)


A little girl is lost in an enchanted forest and is rescued by a masked young boy. They become friends but the boy refuses to let her touch him. Years pass, the little girl grows up. She returns to the forest and finds that her feelings for the boy has changed. The boy still refuses to be touched, saying that he will disappear...





Paprika
director: satoshi kon
script: minakami seishi, satoshi kon
voice cast: hayashibara megumi, furuya toru, yamadera koichi, emori toru, otsuka akio

In the near future, a revolutionary new psychotherapy treatment called PT has been invented. Through a device called the "DC Mini" it is able to act as a "dream detective" to enter into people's dreams and explore their unconscious thoughts. Before the government can pass a bill authorizing the use of such advanced psychiatric technology, one of the prototypes is stolen, sending the research facility into an uproar. In the wrong hands, the potential misuse of the device could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate a dreamer's personality while they are asleep. Renowned scientist, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, enters the dream world under her exotic alter-ego, code name "PAPRIKA," in an attempt to discover who is behind the plot to undermine the new invention.



Cencoroll
director: atsuya uki
script: atsuya uki
voice cast: shimono hiro, hanazawa kana, kimura ryohei

A huge monster shows up on the top of a building of an ordinary city, prompting the Defense Forces to go into action and causing the citizens of the city to start an uproar. Yuki, a brave-hearted and naturally inquisitive girl, happens to know a secret. Her friend Tetsu has been keeping and raising a strange creature called Cenco. Instantly becoming fascinated by Tetsu and his pet, a mysterious boy appears with control over the huge monster threatening the town. With that, an unexpected battle begins.

Friday, November 27, 2009

In Review: Cencoroll

I've been meaning to review this anime but haven't found the time. Well, now, since the fansubbers of Aoi Bungaku are kind of late in releasing the new episodes, I guess I have no choice in the matter. You're gonna have to make do with this humble review of a refreshingly new anime from manga artist Uki Atsuya while I wait for Episodes 07-08 (subbed by A.Niger) of Aoi Bungaku to finish.

TITLE: Cencoroll
DIRECTOR: Uki Atsuya
SCREENPLAY: Uki Atsuya
STUDIO: Anime Innovation Tokyo, Aniplex
VOICE CAST: Shimono Hiro, Hanazawa Kana, Kimura Ryohei
SUMMARY: A huge monster shows up on the top of a building of an ordinary city, prompting the Defense Forces to go into action and causing the citizens of the city to start an uproar. Yuki, a brave-hearted and naturally inquisitive girl, happens to know a secret. Her friend Tetsu has been keeping and raising a strange creature called Cenco. Instantly becoming fascinated by Tetsu and his pet, a mysterious boy appears with control over the huge monster threatening the town. With that, an unexpected battle begins. (from ANN)

Based on the premise alone, one must wonder what's all this stuff flying around about Cencoroll. After all, animes with big blobs of monsters controlled by teen-aged boys and the girl who gets mixed up in them are a dime-a-dozen. Even the battle between the boys and their (humongous) pets has a bit of "pokemon nostalgia" in it. So what is the big deal?


It's hard to pin-point exactly what makes Cencoroll an excellent and different anime movie. Maybe it's the fact that it is different that makes all the difference, but then to explain that would mean we're right back where we started.
BUY:

Cencoroll (Limited Edition) (R2) @ Play-Asia
Cencoroll (R2) @ Play-Asia
Cencoroll (DVD) (First Press Limited Edition) (Japan Version) @ Yes Asia
Cencoroll (DVD) (Normal Edition) @ Yes Asia
Cencoroll is an adaptation of an award-winning one-shot manga, called Amon Game. I've never read it so I can't make a comparison. The film itself is a short, clocking in at a measley thirty minutes so there is little time for world-building or character development. What you see is what you get. Literally. And yet, amazingly enough, time is not really a handicap.

Think of Cencoroll as a snapshot of that time in your life when you recently got a new pet and you're quickly getting tired of it. That about sums up Tetsu's attitude to Cenco, the titular monster whose bulbous, off-white body is really quite something weird. What Yuki, the main girl character, finds curious and out of the ordinary, Tetsu views as mundane and boring. This, despite the fact that Cenco can shapeshift into anything, including an amusing toy panda, a bicycle and even a car. In that regard, Cencoroll is honest: People can get used to anything, even to the violent and the fantastic.
Visually, Cencoroll is spectacular. Not in the "oh-my-CGI fireworks, explode my eyes" kind of way but something quirky. The hilarious giant pudding scene comes to mind. Of course, I'm quite aware that this is an essentially indie film, almost wholly created by one person, but it's visual potential can stand up to par with all the lot out there. The design is pleasant and something about it reminds me of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I think maybe it's the abundance of gray in the film's color palette.

The music is pretty good. I'm not into electronic, artificial voice stuff but supercell/ryo does a pretty good job with the theme for Cencoroll. Interestingly, the film does not have a BGM. This serves only to highlight its "raw" quality and allows viewers to judge the film for itself without the emotional prompt and treatment that music often provides.
IN SUM --

Cencoroll is a quirky little anime that gives you a snapshot of what the genre is still capable of, given the appropriate resources and a little imagination.
MORE INFO:

OFFICIAL (JPN)
OFFICIAL (Anime Innovation Tokyo) (JPN)
Cencoroll @ Wikipedia
Cencoroll @ ANN
More Screencaps from Cencoroll