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BLUE DROP ~Tenshi Tachi no Gikyoku~
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Animation - 9.0 |
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Sound - 8.0 |
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Story - 7.0 |
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Character - 9.0 |
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Value - 7.7 |
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Enjoyment - 8.3 |
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Average - 8.2 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This anime is very hard to review. For once, GONZO makes a decent anime with a very moving story which is unlike GONZO which relies more on their graphics rather animation. This anime seems light but when you reached the end, it is one heavy anime and an involved one. Something like Maria Sama but without the religion and aliens in its place.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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foofoobar |
(2008-08-26 22:58:14) 2008-08-26 22:57:29 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| An odd cross between Gunbuster and Mariamite, Blue Drop is quite beautiful in its handling of its characters. The central romance storyline between Hagino and Mari rises to several wonderful moments rivaling those of the best yuri and non-yuri relationships. While the sci-fi elements provide the backbone of the story, they are also the weakest part of the series. The small episode count, however, keeps the story moving past these shortcomings without rushing past the sweet episodes in these girls' lives. The end result is an enjoyable, if flawed, series that should appeal to romance fans.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Blue Drop does in 13 episodes what many other series do not in that span of time-manage to convey a cast of memorable characters without having too much filler and carrying the weight of the story until the very end. It's a series that mixes slice of life with sci-fi tendencies almost seamlessly.
Indeed, to say that Blue Drop isn't a romance as well would be like taking away a huge part of the story, but by no means is it condescending or even graphic. In fact, I'd likely name Blue Drop as one of the best series in the Fall 2007 season if it were not for a few rough patches.
The story revolves around two girls-one is a girl named Mari who comes into an all girls school, away from her grandmother and home for the first time in an attempt to adapt and learn how to be around other people. She also has a distinct identity as the only survivor of a catastrophic, yet undeterminable tragedy that claimed the lives of thousands of people. While she has little to no memories of the incident, her interactions with people are limited and sometimes abrasive and stand-offish.
Hagino, the other primary character in this tale, is a seemingly perfect student whom has a large admiration and following in the all girls school. However, she keeps her true identity and intentions a secret-as an alien sent to earth to examine the human race, as her people prepare to invade the country. Hagino and Mari's first encounter is a bit harrowing, but the two soon build upon a steadily growing friendship and even a base of attraction as they come to know each other.
It is, to be frank, a shoujo-ai/yuri title, but the elements are not all that frank or graphic in portrayal. As a straight female watching this, even I couldn't help but feel quite close to the main characters and enjoy their developing relationship, which was steady and progressive between transitioning from the school life they enjoyed to Hagino slowly bringing Mari to terms with Hagino's identity as an alien. Even the secondary characters have a construction about them that makes them more than simply 2-D, and if you like slice of life series, you'll like the character's interactions in the school environment. Yet, the story isn't limited to that alone.
In the same vein, the story builds upon a developing tension from a sci-fi perspective and slowly unravels the mystery behind the event that Mari survived as well as Mari's own identity. I don't think the sci-fi story is as strong as it could have been, but its clear that it's an element of the story and not necessarily the end of the means-the characters are really what define the story more so than the action sequences (well animated particularly-but leaving some void spots-probably my main contention with the series overall, but even then, it was well suited in consideration). It also delves into emotion not only coupled with developing and severing bonds, but also revolving around loss in war-time tragedies-very brief, but nonetheless effective in terms of the raw emotion they wished to come across.
This series, in many respects, could be compared to Simoun, but it's not quite the same.
Animation for this series is quite well done-the series blends CGI with the animation constructively well-and the character design, backgrounds, and coloring were all exceptional for the 2007 standard. Music is also something to note in high regard-from the OP "Blue" (my favorite among the two) and the ED themes both performed by Suara, to the inseries music, which I believed helped to enhance the atmosphere, particularly in the more slice of life tendencies. Voice acting was very well done, and it helped to note it because I think without it the emotions this series carried wouldn't have the same weight.
Characters-for me the collective cast was the best part of the series to watch, as they truly defined the story to a tee. Hagino and Mari are pretty much the focal point of the series, but some of the side characters were well developed and portrayed in their tensions as well. Some may find the progression of the story to be a bit sluggish in points, but the sacrifice to that is that you come to know the characters a lot more than you would otherwise, and for a 13 episode series, I think it was handled very well.
The ending was well done, though to a certain point, you feel like you expect it to happen, but it still hits you because of the connection with the characters. Overall, I definitely enjoyed Blue Drop, heck, probably even more than most of the shoujo-ai titles I've seen, probably not thematically, but just the emotional connectivity the series comes to portray. I would recommend this to those who want to see a good sci-fi/slice of life series that's a bit different than your standard fare, but I wouldn't come into it with too many expectations.
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3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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