Are you not at work right now? And not at school either? Do you have a fast enough internet connection? And do you have an account on youtube? (If you don't, it's free, and only requires an email account.) If so, do the following things I'm about to tell you.
Forget Gurren Lagaan. Forget Lucky Star. Forget Gundam 00. Forget Code Geass. Forget Slayers. Forget Shikabane Hime. Forget Lyrical Nanoha. Forget all of the series I just mentioned, even the ones I like.
Now, go to youtube. Go to Bandai Entertainment's channel. They are hosting the English dubbed version of Kurokami, an animated series inspired by a Korean manhwa. ("Manhwa" is really just "manga" pronounced in Korean. So in effect, I'm saying Korean comics. Isn't international trade a wonderful thing?)
Watch it. NOW.
Granted, as of this writing, I've only seen the first four episodes, but what I have seen was utterly captivating.
The backgrounds are beautiful, and the animation is top-notch, especially the fight choreography. There is usage of hand-drawn cels, CGI, and even cel-shading in the animation, and it all looks great. The music is sparse, but effective. The intro however, is one of the best I've ever seen. I need that full song on MP3.
The story at first seems like a rip-off of Bleach, and to be honest, I still feel it's a lot like the early volumes of Bleach, but it's much darker than that series. By the end of the first episode alone, expect to be shocked. The characterization is great. I won't say too much right now, but the characters in Kurokami are very interesting in their own right. The plot is mysterious, and yet, you sometimes feel like watching because you just want to learn more. It can be very emotional, and yet very funny in the same episode.
I've only found one flaw so far, and that is . . . *sigh* there is some fanservice that does not add anything to the show. Granted, it's not as obnoxious as the titillation of the Code Geass anime, but some of the fanservice in Kurokami could've been erased. Other than that, try it.
Now, this show apparently isn't that popular. And I've already looked up archives on messageboards, and everyone outside of youtube commentors just says the same damned thing:
"I watched this back when it was first fansubbed; it was nothing special."
Yeah, that was the same thing you otakus said about Eureka Seven, Trinity Blood, and Scrapped Princess. Man, were you fuckers wrong on those counts! And now you're wrong again! And just to get it out of the way,
"Why would I watch Kurokami in English!? PHUK THUH ENGLISH LANGUAGE!"
Okay, let me try to reason with some of you. So you're a dub hater. Okay. Try watching Kurokami in English anyways. You just might be convinced otherwise about the state of dubs, because the dub in Kurokami is fantastic. It's like Bandai is saying, "We're sorry for Code Geass. Here's a dub you'll all love!" Kurokami does sound better than Bandai's dubs of CG and Gurren Lagann, and by that account, it is awesome. Again, I'll go into more detail later, but trust me, when it comes to English dubs, Bandai at its best is very hard to beat.
THIS SERIES NEEDS MORE LOVE! I can't believe the only people who like Kurokami so far are youtube commentators. Wow. Youtube commentators are more intelligent than anime otakus. It's official. Well, if you're a true fan of animation like me, please, try Kurokami. For me. If you like action series with a heart, you owe it to yourself.
In my next post, I will show off my knowledge of dub actors some more. And in the post after that, I will talk about nothing but my favorite (so far) character from Kurokami. Oh yes, blogosphere; we're in for a fun time now.
