Tower of Druaga is like that ugly girl with the glasses whom you have never actually met in real life, and when you finally do meet her, you realize that she’s in fact very attractive and doesn’t actually wear glasses. Also, there’s probably a that’s-what-she-said joke somewhere in that title…

Now hold your horses. I know all those regular readers of my blog out there (all three of you) are probably going, “OMG DM is actually blogging about an on-going series (that’s not made by Sunrise)!” Wrong. Uh-uh. Sorry to disappoint you but this post is about the first season of Tower of Druaga which aired last year.

So why blog about it now? Because I just watched it (while fishing in Dalaran). It’s also cool to be non-conformist and blissfully ignorant of current blogging trends. At least that’s how I like to think of it.

So basically Tower of Druaga was an 80s arcade machine that probably no one other than hardcore Namco fanboys cared about until Gonzo randomly decided to make an anime out of it and even after that. Since the game was just an 8-bit maze with probably zero story to speak of, it is difficult to understand why Gonzo decided to license this franchise instead of making a new one. Maybe it was free, or maybe they really, really wanted to do 8-bit gags.

The punchline of the entire series?

The premise of the show is nothing to write home about — A group of adventurers with radically different personalities go on a long and arduous quest to climb a gigantic tower and slay the generic demon king who is terrorizing the land in ambiguous manners — which is why I was reluctant to give this series a try. Fortunately, I did.

The impulsive young boy, the silent mature lady and the likeable heroine

People who read my Gundam 00 ‘reviews’ probably think that I am a joyless cynic whose icy soul has frozen beyond the reach of the simple wonders of mainstream entertainment. That is actually quite true when it comes to anime. I find it difficult to sit through a 20-minute episode of Akikan! without mentally dismantling every line of dialogue down to its tiny core of cliché. This makes Tower of Druaga particularly worthy of compliment, considering that it managed to keep me distracted for the entire length of its 12 episodes and kept things interesting and fresh enough that I had little time to pause and deconstruct its entire existence. Bravo.

“This story is so stereoty… WAIT OMG TENTACLE SECHS”

So I shall do that now instead. Stripped down to its bare fundamentals, Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk (i.e. the first season) is essentially a cleverly-crafted gateway drug. The first episode is a blatant attempt at chipping away the hardened outer shell of even the most cynical critic with a non-stop barrage of gags and parodies that poke fun at the fantasy adventure genre, and for the most part it works remarkably well.

The core humour at work in the series is smart and, barring the first episode, seldom over the top. The clever use of cultural anachronism provides a focal point for the audience’s wandering attention until the larger plot eventually takes over. It also helps that the animation quality is rather good and does not distract from the story, except for maybe parts of episode 7.

And the opening sequence is just pure genius.

Probably go down in history as the most awesome OP ever

The entire story of the first season can probably be summed up in one sentence, but that’s because it is only the beginning of the real epic. After drawing the audience in with its charming humour, the first season eventually focuses on developing the main characters and to make the audience fall in love with them, so as to set the stage for the larger story.

I’m melting…

And in case I am giving the wrong impression with my bias selection of screen captures, Druaga is definitely not a gag anime per se. There are gags, but the overall feel is a lot closer to Scrapped Princess than Excel Saga, and my personal opinion is that things will only get more serious and emotional in season two.

I know this isn’t helping my case

It is still too early to judge Tower of Druaga as a whole, for a great appetizer is nothing without an equally enjoyable main course, but The Aegis of Uruk is no doubt one of the best appetizers from Gonzo in a long, long time. Let’s hope that the currently-airing Sword of Uruk will not turn out to be a let-down.

On another note, Fatina is so hot. I know that so far every single hint in the show, including the opening sequence (usually a rather accurate indicator of future plot direction), says that Kaaya is the heroine of the show, but I just can’t help but root for the underdog. I mean come on, Fatina and Jil make such a cute and entertaining couple.

She can climb my tower any time if you know what I mean. Well, high-rise public housing, but close enough.

P.S. I keep reminding myself to get down to writing my Comiket reflection piece, but I just—Oooh shiny thing.

So why do I like it? I can’t really say for sure, but it’s entirely possible that maybe I’m just a huge idiot sentimentalist. That’s medical jargon for a type of fatal heart disease.

Romeo x Juliet is Gonzo‘s latest attempt at making famous dead people spin in their graves. Similar to Gankutsuou, it is an adaptation of a classic story reinvented with an anime twist. Or in other words, Gonzo is saving money on story writers again. Good thing William Shakespeare forgot to renew his copyright.

The story is about Romeo and… Juliet. Surprise! What an unexpected twist. Anyway, Romeo is the successor in line of the Montague family, a house that rules over the city of Neo Verona, an aerial city that defies physics. Juliet is the sole survivor of the Capulet bloodline, the previous rulers of Neo Verona who were murdered by Romeo’s father in a bloody coup.

How the heck does she stuff all that hair in?

Under the protection of Capulet loyalists, Juliet was kept in the dark about her terrible past. She was made to dressed like a boy in order to hide from the soldiers of Montague. One day, she met Romeo by chance, resulting in much homoerotic tensions due to her disguise, and eventually the two of them fell in love (no, like duh), blissfully oblivious to their families’ entwined history. And they lived happily ever after. Not.

On her sixteenth birthday, Juliet’s past was finally revealed to her and she found herself torn between lust love and revenge. Sweet ironies of life. Teenage angst ensues.

Frankly, the entire courtship was quite undeveloped. They more or less fell in love at first sight. While I’m sure no one is expecting anything otherwise, it wouldn’t have hurt for Gonzo to at least make a little more effort. And while it is campy and clichéd, I do like the use of iris flowers as a plot device that links Romeo to Juliet.

Perhaps the best part of the entire series has got to be the opening theme. “Inori ~You Raise Me Up~” by Lena Park is a Japanese recording of the inspirational piece “You Raise Me Up“. A sample clip is on her website. It’s a very soothing song and Lena’s voice has a rough edge that makes it really beautiful and sincere. In episode 7, she also sang it with the original English lyrics as an insert song. Brilliant. I’m getting the single off Amazon.

One funny thing to note is that for the first few episodes, the opening credits misspelled Shakespeare’s name as “Whilliam”.

There’s also a supporting character called William in the story. He’s a budding playwright and mostly fills in as comedic relief. (Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a coffin spinning at 400 revolutions a sound.)

So anyway, if you are looking for an interesting plot, excitement or profound philosophical themes, go elsewhere. But if mushy shoujo romance is your can of mushroom soup, then look no further than Romeo x Juliet.

P.S. Almost forgot to mention. There are flying horses in Neo Verona! ZOMG!

More info after the break.

Original Work: gimik / Kadokawa Shoten
Director / Storyboard / Producer: Keiji Gotoh
Character Design / Animation Director: Megumi Kadonosono
Series Composition / Script: Hidefumi Kimura
Mechnical Design: Kanetake Ebikawa
Art: STUDIO EASTER
Animation Production: Aslead
Project Producer: Atsushi Itou
Content Producer: Kiyonori Hiramatsu
Official Site: http://www.kiddygrade.com/

ES Members Éclair and Lumière were involved in a battle to determine fate of the galaxy and they prevailed in the face of danger. However, years passed and now the galaxy has entered another era of chaos. The general feel of the Kiddy Grade universe remains unchanged and the story takes place after the end of the first series, though the exact time lapsed has not been confirmed yet. The new heroines are “Asukuuru” (resembles Lumière) and “Kufiiyu” (resembles Éclair). Look forward to possible appearances by characters from the first series. The limited edition pilot episode DVD is 7-minute long and cost ï¿¥2,940.

All information taken from Moon Phase Zakki.

The names are direct romanization from Japanese (アスクール and クフィーユ), so they are almost definitely wrong. I tried googling around in French but couldn’t find anything close.

More sci-fi yuri action coming your way soon.

According to Moon Phase Zakki, a sequel to Kiddy Grade is in the works.

[タレコミ]「キディ・グレイド」続編「キディ・グレイド2（仮）」制作決定！

「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 SOS団ラジオ支部」第35回放送内で、リュミエール役の平野綾がしゃべってた模様。エクレールとリュミエールのその後を描く。パイロットフィルムを先行公開予定。

Demoonificator:

Kiddy Grade Sequel “Kiddy Grade 2” (tentative title) is in the works!

Aya Hirano, the seiyuu of Lumière, revealed that a second Kiddy Grade anime is in the works during the broadcast of “Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu SOS-dan Radio Subdivision” episode 35. The new anime will continue to focus on Éclair and Lumière. A pilot episode will be released first.

This has got to be true because Haruhi-sama said it! Continue reading for what I think Kiddy Grade 2 needs…

The first Kiddy Grade series was kind of nice, but it didn’t leave much impression other than a swath of Éclair x Lumière H-doujinshi. Here are some suggestions from me for Kiddy Grade 2 to achieve the status of ultimate moé!

1. Make Lumière more tsundere
2. More girls
3. Introduce a meido-fuku dojikko who is often sexually harrassed
4. Make her shoot laser beams from her eyes as her ES power
5. Rename GOTT to SOS団
6. Bunny costume shall be the new work uniform
7. Ponytails
8. Instead of just incest, get yuri incest!
9. Throw in 12 sisters while you are at it
10. Trap(s) — Everyone is doing it

Okay so my suggestions suck like a vacuum cleaner, but seriously, will anyone ever be able to watch Kiddy Grade 2 without thinking of Haruhi-sama every time Lumière speaks? It will be a whole new viewing experience. 楽しみ～