Memorable Anime Villains

What’s the definition of a villain? Someone with plans to take over the world; wants to kill the main character; wants something someone else wants; power? There are many motivations for villains and each is distinct from the other. So, I decided to do a little write up of ten very memorable anime villains. To do this, I recruited the assistance of a very close friend of mine, Hasteaguy. We both picked five villains each, one per anime franchise, and they’ll be listed on this post as every other pick. And there will be spoilers for quite a few of them, so if you are currently watching an anime with one of these villains and don't want it to be ruined for you, I suggest you stop reading now. For those of you who don't really care if there are spoilers or not, here are some very good badies starting with Hasteaguy’s pick:

ENVY FROM
FULL METAL ALCHEMIST

The evils of humanity stem from the seven deadly sins: Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Wrath and Envy. The Homonculi, created in Full Metal Alchemist, are named after these sins, and each symbolizes their sin in some way. They are created by trying to bring a person back from the dead with alchemy, but instead making something that is alive but not human. Envy was created in the same way. Like the other 6 Homunculi, Envy is preternaturally strong, fast, tough, essentially ageless, and also comes with it’s own unique power: the ability to shapeshift into any form it chooses. Because of this (and because of plot spoilers) we don’t know (until later) whether or not Envy is male or female, because it can be whichever it wants. Envy is largely reputed as the cruelest of the Homunculi, laughing and joking gleefully when seeing others in pain. It kills without mercy or hesitation, betrays others readily and never regrets any of it. It’s not just a brutal killer either, it uses it’s shapeshifting abilities to masquerade as people and can manipulate others almost as well as Lust, the most manipulative of the Homunculi.

GRAPHIC VIOLENCE WARNING
Envy "Accidently" Shoots Child

However it’s temper keeps it from being a master villain; for the temptation to flex it’s jealous urges is just too strong for a 175 year old being. Guess being petty never get's old. Beneath this cruel exterior, Envy is secretly envious of humans' inner strength and the mutually beneficial friendships that they share, as most of the Homunculi show little real concern or emotional support for each other.

It holds, in its dark “heart”, a grudge against Edward Elric especially, actively putting it’s utmost efforts into hurting Edward every chance it gets, torturing him, killing his friend Hughes by masquerading as his wife, and *gasp* Calling him short! Envy says that it can never forgive him, though why and for what, we won't know until later in the series. In a show that is known to be very graphic and disturbing, for a mainstream anime, Envy stole the show for many, as a deliciously evil, revenge-engine.

LIL SLUGGER FROM
PARANOIA AGENT

This one is a different kind of villain. Lil Slugger is the villain hiding in your mind. The one you go and blame when you don’t want to own up to your own faults and just wish they would disappear. This makes him entirely impossible to arrest. Although he is a figment of your imagination, it is very convenient that every victim describes the same person; a middle schooler wearing a red baseball cap, golden roller blades, and carrying a bent gold baseball bat. All this makes Lil’ Slugger pretty deadly to the world mentally and, in some cases, physically. Some of the victims even go as far as to injure themselves in order to use this bad coping skill named Lil’ Slugger. Starting with Tsukiko Sagi and the pressure to create a character, to someone needing money, to a woman with split personality disorder, to a young girl trying to get away from her perverted father, and even entailing stupid stories like a woman carrying a fetus with a bent bat!

F-ING WHAT?!?!?

Eventually, all the citizens from Japan began to suffer from paranoia; and, as they do, Lil Slugger becomes stronger and stronger. He finally does get stopped at the hands of Tsukiko and the odd connection he has to Maromi. By the end of the series, the victim count is exceedingly high at god knows how many people!

*sigh* All I have to say to the characters in Paranoia Agent...... FIND BETTER COPING SKILLS INSTEAD OF THIS FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION!!!
Fan Made Paranoia Agent Trailer

CHAR AZNABLE FROM
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM,
ZETA GUNDAM, AND
CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK

Char, a.k.a Casval Rem Deikun, is kind of unknown to those who haven’t seen the first Gundam series, but to those who have, he’s the one who started it all. He’s the Ace Mobile Suit Pilot of the Principality of Zeon, known as the Red Comet, and is the rival of Amuro Ray, the protagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam. To give you an idea of just how badass this guy is: he singlehandedly destroyed 5 Federation battleships, in a single mobile suit, repeatedly whips Amuro just to prove he can, and always looks badass despite the silly mask and blond hair.

Also he has the most badass Headshot in Gundam history.
GRAPHIC VIOLENCE WARNING
Char Headshot!

It pays to be a stone cold pimp.

Char is a wonderful mix of passion, pride, charisma, and vengefulness. He can inspire people to battle at his side to victory with ease, while instilling fear in his opponents. Another defining trait is his tendency to hold deep grudges. First: against the Zabi family for killing his father and stealing the rule of Zeon; Second: against Amuro Ray for killing his pupil, and object of his affection, Lalah Sune. So yeah, he’s The Princess Bride's Inigo Montoya, in a big red mech.

Technically he flips back and forth from villain to anti-hero. In Zeta Gundam he changes sides and fights as a protagonist against the Titans under a new name. He almost becomes a new leader for the free world, In Space (lol), like he was supposed to be after his father. However, in Char’s Counterattack, he gets fed up with how disgustingly corrupt humanity has become, and sought to bring about the next evolution of humanity into Newtypes (space dwelling humans), by dropping asteroids onto earth. The logic behind this is that if humanity can’t live on Earth, they’ll move into space, and evolve into Newtypes. Smooth Criminal that one.

Char’s character and appearance has become so popular in the Gundam universe, he’s shown up in multiple series’ under different characters.

Full Frontal - Gundam Unicorn
Schwartz Bruder - G Gundam
Zechs Merquise (Milliardo Peacecraft) – Gundam Wing
Neo Roanoke (Mu La Flaga) – Gundam SEED
And several others.

All these Char Clones, as they’re called, emulate some form of Char’s personality or character, from the mask they wear, to the alias they use, to the vengeful attitude, pride, antagonist/anti-hero stance, or general badassitude in a Mobile Suit, and most of the time, all at once.

His name is Char Aznable, you killed his father/girlfriend, prepare to die.

MEDUSA GORGON FROM SOUL EATER

In Greek Mythology, Medusa was a Gorgon who had snake hair and would turn people to stone if eye contact was made. Medusa Gorgon of Soul Eater is a witch who is really really into snakes and can pretty much scare the living daylights out of anyone that looks at her.... Yeah, see the similarity? Medusa is one of the few anime villains that would prefer to use brains over brawn, having other people do the dirty work for her. She has a very twisted idea of experimentation, even using her own son Chrona and trying to make him into a Keshin. After the experiment fails, she moves on to attempting to revive the Keshin Asura and even succeeds! In the process, however, she is killed by Professor Stein.... Or so we believe. She comes back, possesses the body of a young girl named Rachel, and is right at it again; but this time she stays out of the conflict between the DWMA and her sister Archane until she deems it the right time to move. That and she wants Professor Stein for herself. Oh and did we mention the Pumpkin Panties/Bloomers she wears this time?

Pumpkin Panties!

Medusa has no qualms about taking exactly what she wants, and, if you don't comply, you better be prepared to die. She wants power and madness to swallow the world (Madness is a weapon in Soul Eater, go with it). Most importantly, however, she wants knowledge. Like Professor Stein, she’s a scientist and knowledge is the one thing a scientist ever really wants. But, unlike Stein, she takes it to new heights when she involves her own child, the well being of all the witches, and even her own life while masquerading as the school nurse at the DWMA. Medusa is a cold yet calculating character that will quickly be able to decide wether you are useful to her or not. Actually, now that I think of it, she's not really a human character. She's more like an animal, with her predatory ways and the way everything she touches around her pretty much ends up in serious trouble (Yeah, I know, snake. Ha ha). Medusa cemented herself as one powerful, slippery witch who will kill you the instant she doesn’t find you useful to her anymore. With snakes that dwell in her own body, and on the tattoos she posess on her arms, Medusa is certainly one of the more vicious and cold witches in anime to date.

Speaking of the word Vicious....

VICIOUS FROM COWBOY BEBOP

When you first see this guy in the wonderful mishmash of mostly unordered chaos that is Cowboy Bebop, you never expect to see him again. He just looks like a big stereotype, fixed scowl, gravelly voice, and few words to say. Most of all: his name is Vicious. That’s a name that I’d come up with when I started up Xbox Live as a 12 year old because I want to seem dark and edgy… until in the scene at the opera house and everything is justified: Faye is at the opera house but is captured. She asks the tall and evil looking man “who are you?” And he replies, “Vicious.” And she. Becomes. Terrified. Vicious is an incredibly heartless character that has been quoted by JesuOtaku as, ‘wanting everything and nothing at the same time’. At first it seems he’s loyal to the Syndicate and will do anything and kill everyone to get to the traitor Spike. But then we see that he hates the Syndicate and wants to destroy them and take the spot at the top. Not even his friends and comrades or even lovers matter to him at all. Literally, vicious and calculating, nothing and no one will stop this man when he sets his sights on a goal. And he’ll go to the darkest extremes to get it. Again, he’s one note, but he’s played so well that he’s up near the top of many people’s lists, and here he is again.

Spike v.s. Vicious
Skip to 1:10 and watch to 4:30

LIGHT YAGAMI FROM
DEATHNOTE

Yeah, yeah, yeah we all knew that this was coming and where this is about to go. Light is your average honor student who, one day, stumbles across a mysterious notebook on the ground. Soon enough he discovers what it is and what it can do. The DeathNote is the notebook of a Shinigami that can cause death for those whose name is written in it as long as you know the person’s birth name and their face. Now with something like this, you would think that the good student would either return it or even study it for scientific purposes. Oh no! Of course not! In the first episode, Light declares that he will wipe out all evil and become the “God of a new world”.

"God of the new world"

........Yeah....... Anyone who will declare themselves God is going to need a lot of counseling. But Light doesn’t take his new found power lightly. With current technology at his disposal, he can search for the names and faces of any criminal he chooses. And even good people like policemen who are investigating him are taken down by his power. Not only is Light intelligent, he is a master manipulator and liar, fooling, not only the Kira investigators but using the women he loves until he can’t get anything out of them. As JesuOtaku puts it, “If the villain is a snappy dresser with a sliver tongue and the good guy is a greasy gnome with poor people skills. Who are you going to believe, right?”

Now I know what’s coming next. “Light’s an anti-hero!” or “He had good intentions!”. The best argument that can be used is that Light was a good person and was just mislead by the DeathNote. However, and sorry Kira fans, anyone who calls themselves God in the first episode is not a hero of any kind. Near, I believe, put it best, “You yielded to the power of the Shingami in the notebook, and you have confused yourself with a God. In the end, you’re nothing more then a crazy serial killer. That’s ALL you are. Nothing more and nothing less.”

In the end, Light is a intelligent and cunning villain who has killed thousands of people while the world watched in either fear or admiration.

LADD RUSSO FROM
BACCANO!

What makes villains fun to watch? They hurt people, create almost nothing that isn’t designed to hurt people, and generally have no redeeming positive qualities. So why does Ladd Russo, the lead hit man for the Russo family, keep on showing up as such a fun character? Lets take a look at what he’s like. Ladd is, for lack of a simpler phrase, OUT OF HIS DAMN MIND. He becomes excited at the presence of, or the promise of violence and death. He takes utmost pleasure, and repeatedly says that he does, at killing. Fast, slow, it doesn’t matter so long as they never see him coming. Nor does it matter who, as shown by this clip:

GRAPHIC VIOLENCE WARNING
Ladd Shots Chezlaw

For those who didn’t click, that was a child. And he shot him in the face, while smiling. So if all this is true, why do we love watching this guy?! I’ll tell you, he enjoys what he does, so we do too. Most slashers in shows and movies don’t know who they are or what they want, and kill to validate their existence or a cause. Ladd however knows exactly who he is, and what he wants and loves every second of it. He’s gathered people of similar interests and is betrothed to a masochist for his sadist. Ladd’s only failing as a character is his impetuous and rash nature. Causing his downfall later in the series, and several poor choices, made simply for the "fun" of it. Even when he’s literally beating someone into a bloody paste with his bare hands, the amount of giggling fun he brings to the screen makes you smile along with him, and then consider checking yourself into an asylum.

Ladd is a boxer!

THE MAJOR FROM
HELLSING ULTIMATE

The original Hellsing anime didn’t have a great baddie to fall in love with (stupid Incognito), but the OVA gave us back the man from the manga who ran with the Nazis (Hooray!). So far in the OVA, The Major hasn’t had much screen time besides at least two released episodes, but boy does he play a HUGE role in them. During World War II, a special operation was conducted to create a strain of vampiric, Nazi soldiers for an ensured victory. The Hellsing Organization’s Walter and Alucard foiled his plans and destroyed the research lab. However, The Major and his followers escaped to South America. Now, he returns with a battalion of 1000 vampires (and a werewolf and a physics theory). Is he carrying out his orders to take down England? Oh hell no! That would make him a normal dictator! The Major is only occupied by one thing. It’s a rather simple little thing too. What does he want? War. So simple right? Don’t think so? Just listen to, probably, one of the most badass villain speeches ever in anime history!

The Major's Speech

Yeah, crazy badass villain in the building here! It’s funny that one of the most awesome villains happens to be a Nazi supporter, but does that really matter? The Major is just an awesome guy who is having a love affair with war.

OROCHIMARU FROM
NARUTO

Before anyone says anything, yes, I know. Naruto is a bad show, but we’re not talking about Naruto. We’re talking about the first major villain we’re introduced to, and, no, Zabuza doesn’t count. At first we don’t even know he exists until he literally PULLS HIS FACE OFF, after biting a little boy and cursing him.

Orochimaru v.s. Anko

Then it’s revealed that Orochimaru (ironically voiced by the same voice actor as Zabuza [Steve Blum]) was actually a member of the Leaf Village, until he became obsessed with gaining power and immortality, and a serious snake fetish. As one of the three Legendary Sannin, and a previous member of the Ninja Terrorist Group, the Atasuki (wow that sounded sillier when I actually said it), Orochimaru is notoriously powerful.

For SEVERAL seasons, leading into Shippuden, Orochimaru is seemingly unkillable. He always either escapes, or finds a new body, or pulls a new technique out of thin air to confound the protagonists. Onto the next point that most people find the most unsettling about him are his general mannerisms and appearance, and especially his techniques. Orochimaru is pasty white, has snake fangs and snake-like eyes. That’s pretty creepy by itself. Throw in techniques that often involve him stretching out or morphing his body to either form or produce snakes FROM UNDER HIS SKIN! That’d be pretty creepy too, but it gets worse. Orochimaru plans to gain immortality by finding the perfect body. To get that, he experiments on people, literally cutting them apart, or putting himself inside them and then later pulling their faces off to become them. He's like a combination of Medusa from Soul Eater and Ed Gent. The sheer perversion, presentation, and staying power of this character makes him a reoccurring nightmare of many fans and nonfans of the series. However, because he’s attached to Naruto, he’ll stay out of the top slots I’d imagine.

BEATRICE FROM
UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI

Yeah I know, “Stephanie picked another witch as a villain, how typical...” Well insult me all you want, but once you understand why there is another witch on here, then you won’t be so snippy about it. Beatrice and Medusa are fairly similar; both are rather intelligent, cunning, and both know exactly what their goals are. The difference, however, is their hobbies. Medusa is fond of experimentation and gaining knowledge, and only is cruel when it's beneficial to her work. While Beatrice....

Rosa's Dinner
Start at about 1:16 to 4:40ish

Yeah.... Beatrice is a million times more twisted then Medusa could ever be, mostly because it's more fun. Beatrice’s main goal is to get Battler Ushiromiya to admit she is a witch and his family had died from magic. She does this by playing little “games”, involving different scenarios of the Ushiromiya family members dying by strange circumstances. And she does this in the most brutal and tortuous ways possible..... It can be rather disturbing to watch. And she and Battler play this game for several years, all the while everyone including Battler is dead on the island they are staying on. Time just stands still for Battler now while he’s stuck playing Beatrice’s game, and he’ll never escape until either he defeats the greatest witch ever to exist, or succumbs to her will (which will probably involve being naked and being horribly dismembered at the hands of goat-men).

GORE WARNING
Start at 6:16

.....Oh snap......


There are plenty more villains that deserve mention, and I actually hope to do a countdown list, in the future. For now, you just read about ten memorable villains that will either make you cringe, laugh, or even cheer them on. Comment in the section below on your favorite villains, or your opinions on this list.

Written by: Stephanie (Lilac Anime Reviews) and Decker (Hasteaguy)

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Le Chevalier Eon Review (English)

“In the name of that truth and loyalty, I shall have my vengeance.”

Le Chevalier D’Eon is a Mystery/Horror anime based on the manga by Tow Ubukata and published by Kodansha. Del Rey produces the American manga. The 24 episode anime comes to us from Studio I.G. and is currently licensed by Funimation. It originally aired from August 2006 to February 2007.

The story begins in Paris, 1753, when the body of a woman named Lia de Beaumont is found in a casket floating along the Seine. The only clue regarding her death is the word "Psalms", which is written in blood on the lid of the casket. D'Eon de Beaumont, Lia's younger brother and a knight in service of King Louis XV, takes it upon himself to investigate his sister's mysterious death, along with the strange disappearances of a number of French women. In his journey he comes across three companions to help him. Lia's body, however, was found to be infused with mercury, making it unable to be decomposed. The Church, declaring that, because she could not return to the "dust she had come from," refused to let her be buried, saying that her soul would forever wander, never able to go to heaven. D'Eon, angered by this, also uses it as a drive in his investigation. Lia, however, still feels the need to avenge her death, and so, when D'Eon is in battle, she can sometimes possess his body and fight.

The look and animation of Le Chevalier D’Eon is fairly well done. Since this is a historical anime, you have to make sure the look isn’t too harsh or in your face, as well as depict the locations of France, Russia, and England accurately; and this anime does this very well. Also, since this is a mystery story, the atmosphere and the mood have to be set very well at the right time. Occasionally, there are times where a certain mood is completely wrong for the scene, but it doesn’t take too much of a toll on the series as a whole. On the downside of all the technical pieces of it, the animation can be a little bit taxing sometimes; mostly when it comes to a character’s face. A lot of times, the expressions seem a little distorted, especially when a character is either sad or in pain; and ESPECIALLY for Durand. He seems to be the biggest target for messed up facial expressions, and it kinda takes away from the series a little bit.

The plot of the anime isn’t historically correct at all, but it does make for a good story. The story seems rather simple, Lia is found dead and her brother D’Eon is trying to find out who killed her. By the time you get to the end of the Russia trip (which is about episode 13), you believe you know who it was and you think the series would be over...... Nope, you still have twelve more episodes to go till you finish the series. Now there’s something called the “Royal Pslams” or some silly thing that they’re trying to get back to Louis XV now. You’d think the story should have ended, but nooooo it has to keep going because it wants to confuse the living daylights out of you. But overall, despite some flaws, it makes for a very interesting and mysterious story line that will keep you guessing.

The series takes a lot of the historical facts and puts them to use in the series. Obviously, the members of the royal family in France, Russia, and England are real, but there are other actual facts in the story. For instance, D’Eon de Beaumont was a real person. He was a French spy who worked for Le Secret du Roi, the secret organization D’Eon and his companions are a part of in the anime. However, he did not have a sister who died and possessed his body, people believed he was actually a woman at birth instead of a man. Other real life figures the story uses, loosely, include: Marquise de Pomadour, Duc d’Broglie, Duc d’Orleans, Comte de Saint-Germain, Vorontsov, Count Cagliostro, and Lorenza.

There are so many characters in the series it is crazy! You not only have D’Eon and Lia, but you have their three companions, characters in France, characters in Russia, characters in England, the bad guys, one time characters, reoccurring characters, characters merely existing to show off their funny hats..... Good grief you don’t even wanna know how many big characters are in the series. Because of this, the character development isn’t really there. Throughout the series, D’Eon is the only one with any real big development. Durand, Robin, and Taillagory (D’Eon’s companions) have little development, but towards the middle (Durand) and the end (Robin and Taillagory), there seems to be last minute things thrown in. No other major characters have much development. As a matter of fact, a few minor characters have more stinking development in the series. Katerina of Russia is one, Lorenza is another. It’s kind of bothersome when your minor characters go through a lot more then your major characters.

In regards to picking a language to view the series in, I highly suggest the English dub for two reasons. One, D’Eon sounds more mature and Lia sounds a little less angry and crazy. Two, the story takes place in France, Russia, and England.... It makes no sense to listen to the Japanese audio if this is where the story takes place. With that in mind, the voice acting in general for the English dub is done by a rather strong cast. David Matranga (High School of the Dead, Canaan) as D’Eon and Taylor Hannah (High School of the Dead, Red Garden) as Lia, as I said before, are much stronger choices then their Japanese counterparts. Tyler Galindo, Illich Guardiola, and John Swasey as Robin, Durand, and Teillagory are very good choices as well; the best being Illich Guardiloa’s Durand (D.N.Angel, Kiba), even though his face looked like he was in torture from time to time. Other well known voice actors you might recognize are: Jay Hickman (Princess Tutu) as Louis XV, Hilary Haag (Trinity Blood) as Belle, Brittney Karbowski (Soul Eater) as Anna Rochefort, Shelley Calene-Black (Canaan) as Marquise de Pompadour, Jessica Boone (Canaan) as Katerina. And here’s one you might not expect: Vic Mignogna is the voice of Sir Dashwood. There will be a character every now and again that irritates the living crap out of me (Peter III... ugh) but it makes me feel better when they’re gone (He he, Peter gets hanged). The real big character that I truly find believable is Marquise de Pompadour. She not only is a woman pushing for a movement, but at points she sounds more French then any other character that is even related to France. I know last time I mentioned Shelley Calene-Black I didn’t mind her performance as Canaan, but this clearly makes up for it in spades!

As an end product, Le Chevalier D’Eon is a loose historical depiction of France before the revolution, adding mystery and supernatural into the mix. Although some poor technical choices were made, the overall series doesn’t completely fail. The English cast was picked carefully, with real good results.... most of the time. But, over all, it’s a must see. The mystery is there; The supernatural is there; The history is there, loosely, and it’s a good watch if you like adaptations of historical events and people that, maybe could have happened, but obviously didn’t.

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Zombie Loan Review (Japanese)

As the month of June comes to a close, it’s time for the second and final review of Zombie Month! This one is way different then High School of the Dead, and, luckily, doesn’t have fan service every five seconds (My niceness is gone for that series now)! The anime? Zombie Loan.

This Action/Comedy series is based off the manga by Peach-Pit, published by Square Enix. The English version is available from Yen Press. The thirteen episode anime is from Xebec M2 Studio and has yet to be licensed in America. It originally ran in the summer of 2007.

Michiru Kita is a special girl who possesses Shinigami Eyes, a power which allows her to see the span of a person's life, indicated by a ring (invisible to normal people), around the person's neck. When a person is marked to die, a gray ring appears, which darkens over time. Once the ring turns completely black, the person dies. Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, two boys in her class, both have black rings around their necks, and to her surprise, are not yet dead. It is revealed that after a tragic accident that was supposed to kill them both, the two boys made a deal with a secret loan office called the Zombie-Loan. In return for keeping them alive, the two have to hunt zombies for the loan office. When Michiru gets involved with them, she finds that her life has just become more complicated.

The look of the series isn’t a big stand out, but it’s not terrible either. I would say it’s more of your average anime rather then a flop. It has it’s unique moments with the drawing and the colors, but it’s still nothing too spectacular. The animation isn’t lazy either. Zombie Loan just seems like your average, put together anime.

The story is pretty interesting. It certainly takes the idea of zombies with human wills and desires and makes it stand out among different zombie stories. It plays out very nicely with some of the characters in the series, especially Chika Akatsuki. He’s the big character who wants to be truly alive again, so he’s doing whatever he can to get himself out of debt with Zombie Loan. You don’t seen as much aspiration in Shito Tachibana, but it’s because of completely different reasons. The one big problem with the plot is how the anime ended. By episode 11 you have a resolution to the current troubles they get in, but then for two more episodes it looks like the beginning of a new season. However, there are only supposed to be 13 episodes total in the series. According to online sources, only the first 11 episodes aired in Japan; the last two that make the 13 are only available on DVD. My guess is Zombie Loan wasn’t received well in Japan and eventually got the ax by the end of the first season. The last two episodes that never aired made it to DVD as an extra and a preview of what could have been; because the start of the second season looked like the story would really pick up. I’m just sad it never took off.

The characters, as I said before, are mostly zombies with human will. The only ones who are not zombies would have to be Mr. Bekko and Koyomi (although, they both have tricks of their own). Michiru Kita, in the beginning of the series, isn’t a zombie, but she dies, then Chika and Shito decide to save her because of her Shinigami Eyes. The three main characters each go through their own piece of development, and, in fact, they go one at a time through the series. First is Michiru, then Chika, and last is Shito. Is it a bad thing they they focus on one person at a time? Not if it works in the series, and for Zombie Loan it actually does. Sticking with one character for a few episodes while they develop works pretty well for this anime. At points, it does have it’s problems, but you don’t have to worry about trying to follow multiple characters developing at once. On the other hand, the way they did character development also kind of dumbs the series down a little.

So, the animation is average, the story is okay, and the characters aren’t half bad...... There really isn’t much to talk about. Besides a few very memorable pieces here and there, there isn’t anything exciting to make me say “Wow! This is awesome!” Sure the idea of zombies with human will is an interesting idea, but I’m pretty sure something like that has been done before somewhere. It was exciting to watch, but after you finish you don’t really remember or care for the show. The show is just a big hit or miss depending on the viewer. Sadly, for me, it is a bit of a miss. I’m not saying it’s not bad, cause it’s not, I’m just saying I’ve seen it done better. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but compared to High School of the Dead, Zombie Loan is like dirt while High School of the Dead is like a raging fire destroying everything in it’s path, deliberately engaging you as opposed to just existing.

At the end of the day, Zombie Loan takes a different approach with the word “Zombie” to create a fairly unique concept. Otherwise then that, it’s your average anime. I think I understand now why Zombie Loan was cut short. I still recommend this show for it’s concept and it’s characters, but, again, it’s a hit or miss depending on the person.

Well, that’s it for Zombie Month! Hope you enjoyed looking at reviews for two zombie anime. Both High School of the Dead and Zombie Loan are pretty good watches, whether you prefer fan service and survival to different kind of zombies and interesting characters. The next couple of reviews for July and August are:

Le Chevalier D’Eon

Baccano!

Memorable Anime Villains (With assistance from Hasteaguy)

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

If you have any suggestions for future reviews, send my a shout! Leave a comment on this review, leave a post on the Facebook page. I’m still currently looking for anime to review in the future, and, so far, have a fairly good size list. The more anime suggested, the more reviews I’ll have in store for all of you!

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High School of the Dead Review (Japanese/English)

Well, it's June! And you know what that means! It's ZOMBIE MONTH!!! And what better what to start this two review fun with one of the most current popular anime out there. The one that has more fan service and zombies then you can shack a stick at! HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD!!!

High School of the Dead is a Horror/Drama anime based on the manga by Daisuke Sato and published by Kadokawa Shoten, and is available in America by Yen Press. Studio Madhouse picked up the anime version, and made it's run in late summer of 2010 with 12 episodes. Anime Network currently holds licensing for the series.

Takashi Komuro is a normal high school boy, until an infection breaks out that turns people into zombie-like creatures. Along with his friends & the school nurse, they fight their way out and continue their journey to find out what exactly has happened to the world. (Anime News Network)

The look and the animation is amazing! There was really nothing lazy, or bad about the animation quality. Color and style are used well for this anime, and the animation doesn’t seem to have any problems. The one thing I have to be nit-picky about, is the zombies sometimes looking like clay animation rather than drawn. Does it look cool? Sure. Does it work for the series? Not really.

The story is pretty basic: Survive. And it does tell us how the characters attempt surviving the hoard of zombies that are around every corner. The one major thing that is never explained, but does leave the viewer to wonder, how did the infection start? Was is a virus, supernatural curse, or the careless actions of a corporation trying to cure cancer? We don’t know, but we also don’t need to. The story is about surviving the slavering monsters around us, and that’s it. Even with all the fan service in the series, that you would think would be a distraction, the story is immensely involving and actually keeps you on the edge of your seat. With all the chaos and death happening around them, and the realistic way the characters react, in highly traumatic ways, the story manages to pull almost every heart string you possess. You can relate to these characters in their struggle, even the most annoying ones manage to be sympathetic, and keep us involved with the story, right up to the very end.

Each of the characters have little bits of development here and there throughout the story. More development comes from Kohta Hirano, Saeko Busujima, and, maybe, Takashi Komuro. Everyone else doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to go through in the series. As for the characters in general, they aren’t bad. Some are more annoying then others, but for the most part it shows what individuals go through in a crisis like this.

The voice acting in the Japanese is good, with the characters sounding like how you would expect them to. The english dub, however, is a bit of a different story. I gave Jessica Boone props for her role in Canaan in a previous review, but as Rei Miyamoto it seems like she dropped the ball a little. Some of the lines spoken by her character seem a little too forced to be believable. Maggie Flecknoe (Red Garden) as Saya Takagi is rather annoying, but, then again, she’s the know it all genius, so it kinda fits. Mark Laskowski (Super Dimension Fortress Macross) as Kohta was certainly a bad choice to make. The only time the voice fits is when he goes all military on the group. Leraldo Anzaldua (Canaan) picks up the main male lead in Takashi, and doesn’t do too bad with it. But the two people from the group for favorites voice acting would be Taylor Hannah (Le Chevalier D’Eon, Red Garden) as Saeko and Monica Rial (Soul Eater, Baccano!) as Nurse Shizuka Marikawa. They are certainly the better fits for their characters. Oh! And here’s a surprise for you. Remember Brittney Karbowski? The woman who voice Black Star in the Soul Eater dub? Well, she’s back..... as a little girl. Little Alice Maresato.

Now, this can’t be a review about High School of the Dead without talking about the one thing people remember this show the most for: the fanservice. So how does it really stand up to the series? Well, I can say it is a pain watching the show with it occurring every minute (I would say five seconds but I feel generous right now). As the first anime I have ever seen with this much boobs and pantie shots, I have the feeling this anime was solely created for (Lonely) men. I guess when the original creator discovered he had no clue how to make it seem less like a porno, he threw in a zombie apocalypse just to make it more badass. If you didn’t have the distracting fan service, this would certainly be an awesome series. However, since we do, it kind of takes away the show’s quality. I will say, if you’re a guy who loves boobs and zombies, or girls with huge boobs KILLING zombies (seriously, every female lead in the group has tits that should be impossible. Especially the nurse, that poor, broke backed impossible creature) then here’s an anime for you.

At the end of the day, High School of the Dead is an exciting story with amazing animation and imaging, but way too much boobs and panties. If you took out the fan service, the story would probably be more effective rather then the way it is now. A few of the characters are likable, but not all are. If you must see this series, since EVERYONE always talks about this, watch the Japanese version; it has better voice acting. All I have to say now is, viewer discretion advised....... BOOBIES!!

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