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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |||||||||||||||
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| Rent | Forbin | # | ||||||||||||||||||||
That's why it was a rent, it was a good show, with no real plot to show for it. In fact for Character Development the ONLY one that developed was Enora.(Girl on the left). All the others including Vess and Gran did not change. What Did I like about it
Last updated Saturday, August 19 2006. Created Thursday, August 03 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rent | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | AstroNerdBoy | # | ||||||||||||||
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While this wasn't a bad series, it was little more than shounen fare. The opening had elements that seemed borrowed from various anime. The OP theme seemed like something Fullmetal Alchemist used. Imagry used in the OP reminded me of Full Metal Panic. The incidental music reminded me of Inuyasha (very similar). And certain elements in the story reminded me of Vandread. Sadly, KBS doesn't do anything as well as the above-mentioned elements. While the series has a happy ending, don't expect a lot in the way of answers. I would have loved to have known more about Vess and Gram's past. Why was Vess chosen to be the adopted daughter of a very rich and powerful family? No answer is given. Why was Vess then allowed to join the military? How did the young girl with the telepathic abilities join the pirate crew? How and why did the doctor join the crew? What were the Naval Witches and why was one of their members the 2nd in command of the Ship of the Aurora? Apparently they are aliens, but why are they on Mars? Why does the cat talk? How did it join the crew? How did the porpoise join? Why did an RB save Gram? Why is there water covering Mars? What exactly happened with the original settlers on Mars? I could go on, but I think you get the point. Next on the list was the cliched moments. Sheeze, there were a ton of them. Starting with Gram's rescue by an RB to his becoming a master RB operator in no time. Then there was his mysterious past and being given some precious artifact by someone who abandoned him as an infant. Thus he's the key to the Martian treasure and he's the savior of Mars...or something like that. So I had a couple of eye-rolling moments from time-to-time. Still, there was just enough here to keep me interested and wanting to watch the next episode. So on that level I was certainly entertained. With all of those unanswered questions, the series is a bit frustrating. I can't help but wonder if some answers were provided in the game. If so, that would be bad, but not unheard of. However, even if that was the case, one would expect the writers to do a better job. Then again, this is a shounen mecha title and the writers did only what they had to do. On the plus side were some of the seiyuu performances. I really liked Ester and her seiyuu Orikasa Fumiko made it more enjoyable. Likeable characters as a whole helped a lot as well. And as I stated earlier, there was just enough here to keep me coming back for more. Bottom line: the shounen crowd and those with less anime exposure will get the most out of this. It was just worth a Rent just to see once, but nothing more.Last updated Tuesday, December 14 2004. Created Monday, November 29 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Buy | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Jan-Chan | # | ||||||||||||||
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If you enjoy this type of story, then you might want to check out - Patapata Hikousen no Bouken and Fushigi no Umi no Nadia. While I agree with Astro-boy about this series having a (very) formulaic story line with a number of serious plot short-comings (some of which are so large that you can sink a battleship through,) but I have to admit that after about the 3rd episode, I kind of stopped noticing these types of things and I just got caught up in a very fun and entertaining story of Gram, Vess, pirates in submarines, and a quest for lost treasure. If one can enjoy a bit of a simple story (with all of its short comings), this is a very fun tale of how pirates can be good guys, and how the military is really the bad guy. And how some characters are free enough to move between the two extremes. Yes, of course there are a number of unrealistic (and improbable) situations, but they still can be very fun when they are woven into the story, if only just to let the different characters interact and spend some time together. (I think the best understanding might be in remembering the movie “Swiss Family Robinson”, how did they have zebras and tigers on an isolated island? Hey, never mind the details! Just enjoy the story!) This series does have a number of very fun moments, which are very entertaining. And the good guy overcomes all and wins (big time) in the end. (I hope I did not give away any plot spoilers, oh well…. You probably would have seen it coming anyways!) So, if you can enjoy a fast moving story that mixes adventure, humor, and danger, with a fair bit of romance and a lot of underwater mecha action, then you really might enjoy this series. I did, and I am inclined to over-rate it as a BUY, because I can find myself wanting to put my brain in park, if only just to kick back for a few hours and enjoy watching this series again, some time soon. 1 - Raid! The Ship of Aurora 2 - Furious Attack! Round Buckler 3 - Jr. / Dream Deployment 4 - Contact! Gram, Vess and the Submarine 5 - Anna`s Struggle! Our Dream Fleet 6 - Ah! Revolution of Glory and Passion!? 7 - Friend or Foe!? The Mercenary Pirate 8 - Gorgeous! Extravagant Ball 9 - Thump! Swimsuit-riddled Bathhouse 10 - Sightsee! Romance of the First Martian Immigrants 11 - Break Through! Federation Trap 12 - Bizzare! The Ghost Ship Drift Zone 13 - Daring, Fearless! Bride on the Bottom of the Ocean 14 - Big Jailbreak! Beyond Love and Passion 15 - The Enemy Below! Dive deep, quietly. 16 - Enter! Historical Ship, Castle of Eichi 17 - Rebellion! The Universe`s Greatest Pirate! 18 - Marriage Proposal to the Captain!? The Man Known as "Doctor" 19 - Fly, Kibougou! Over that Gate 20 - Duel! Gram and Vess 21 - Good-bye My Friend! A Man`s Dream Lasts Forever 22 - Discovery! Sanctuary of the Olympus treasure legend 23 - God`s Stone! Free For All Battle 24 - Earth Forces Attack! The Ship of Aurora`s Break-through Tactic 25 - Run, Gram! Rescueing the Captured Comrades 26 - The Dawn of Mars! Mars Daybreak Last updated Tuesday, October 14 2008. Created Wednesday, November 17 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Series Web Site | http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/kenran/ |
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