Shelf Life

The Laughing Woman

After a long and brutal war, a peace treaty was finally signed. Unfortunately, the country is still suffering from the ravages of war and the poverty it caused; trying to help is Pumpkin Scissors, a group comprised of a few soldiers whose job it is to provide war relief by shutting down evil nobles, helping to open collapsed railroad tunnels, and what not. The leader of the group is Alice, a noble who thinks that she should use her family status to help others, even though her own family thinks she's nuts. Everything changes when they meet a new guy, an ex-soldier who used to fight for a secret anti-tank squadron. Goofy and slightly oafish on the outside, he's actually an incredibly skilled and fierce fighter. His gimmick? He carries a blue lantern by his side; whenever he turns it on, it unleashes his super soldier powers and he becomes a tank-destroying demon.

Let's not lie. The blue lantern is a little silly. I realize it's probably psychological, and turning on the lantern probably has some kind of Pavlovian effect connecting him and his past training, but watching him dramatically turn on the light every episode is a little over the top.

Pumpkin Scissors is kind of interesting, if not a bit overdone at times when it talks about class equality. Yes, it's vitally important to Alice's character that she be constantly thinking about the difference between nobles and regular folk, but talking about it every time she's on camera gets a little cumbersome. Overall, the show is fun to watch at times, but you don't really take anything away from it in the end. At least there's a dog, and he is dreadfully cute.[TOP]

Unlike other anime series that have been compiled into movies (namely the various Gundam ones), The Laughing Man actually makes sense. This is extremely exciting. Personally, I vastly preferred this continuous story to all the stand alone episodes, so being able to see it in one go is rather satisfying. You don't have anything breaking up the action, and for the most part, the pacing is very similar to the Solid State Society film that was made. As an extra, the movie comes with a second disc that includes some face time with various Japanese staff and cast members, and the Tachikomatic Days that were bundled with the episodes.

The one downside is, of course, time. With the TV series, there was plenty of time to explore the different types of technology, and how it affected everyone. Because so much of the series (and franchise) focuses on man's reliance upon technology, much of the appeal is in looking at each individual case. With the movie compilation, it just barrels through the storyline. It's cool if that's all you want, and you've only got two hours to spare, but for the full experience, I'd still recommend the series.

Think of this as Ghost in the Shell for lazy people. It has all the most important scenes, and you get a pretty good gist of what's going on. Say you're about to go out on a date with someone who, for some reason, is obsessed with this show. You can plow through this baby in two hours and wow him/her with your anime prowess. Or, if you're interested in the show, but you don't know if you want to invest all that time, Netflix this first to get your toes wet.[TOP]

Still smarting from her encounter with this robot called Blue Breaker, Honoka takes some time to contemplate her past without her parents, as well as the strengthened relationship she now has with her new shipmates. It isn't long before the robot is back, though, so it's back out into the open with her own suit of armor.

I really wish they wouldn't spend so much time focusing on her and her fights. They're really not that interesting. Great, there's a girl in a robot zipping around trying to kill things. It's really not that exciting, especially since this series doesn't have the world's best visual effects and animation to begin with. I'd rather they focused more on the characters. They're the best part about the series. As goofy as the narrator still is, his ruminations about the characters and their pasts and the way that they've learned to cope with the harsh life around them plays a big part in making this series interesting.

The Third still isn't a series that really strikes my fancy in a big way, but it is steadily getting more and more interesting. It feels a little disjointed at times, but as we learn more about Honoka and her blue eye, it makes the scene transitions between her and the Third less awkward. With all the other series coming out this season, this show isn't at the top of my lists, but for as little known as it is, it's surprisingly not that bad.[TOP]