Nice review :P
Speed Grapher tv Review
Story & Characters
This plot turned out to be surprisingly good, considering that on the back cover it sounded rather boring. It is a
sophisticated plot, and the story flows rather smoothly with a slow gradual rise to the climax, with some intermittent
small climaxes. However, unlike many series, where at the end of every few episodes (or every episode in some cases)
there's a 'big' climax that falls down to no suspense at the end, this series only has one
'big' climax at the end. This means it is difficult to pick up in the middle (or skip a few episodes) and not
have missed important parts of the series.
I realize that many people do not like plot spoilers, and I consider explaining the plot well past the first or second
episode a disservice to you, so I will give as general of a plot as possible, and the major themes I saw present in this
story. Essentially this story is the story of Tasumi Saiga, an ex war photographer, and the mission he undertakes to
save Kagura Tennouzu, a 15 year old girl, from the Roppongi Club (a club of corrupt elite social figures, who use the
club to fulfill their desires), and its founder, Choji Suitengu. The major themes present are corruption, revenge,
desire, photography, crime, and supernatural powers.
The plot is unique in that it takes some themes that are present in a lot of anime, and mix in some new themes, to
create a different story. The story is not repetitive in any way, so it does not give off the sense of déjà vu that
many other series begin to reek of half way through. Certain important characters are well developed, and this improves
upon the story greatly. However I should note, that I didn't like Kagura, as I felt her personality seemed to be
locked up and hidden. Unfortunately this series also lacks a the 'wow factor' that prevents it from being an
absolutely superb series, however it is well balanced and good overall. It is obvious that this series had a lot of
time and effort put into it, from a well written plot, to the sound and graphics and the layout of the scenes and
settings. I wish I could explain the 'wow factor' that it's missing, however you can tell that certain
series just have it, and others don't. This story was on the borderline, and was so close, but just missed.
Rating:
Art
It was apparent that the graphics were not skimped upon in this series (and I'd certainly hope not, when the main character is a photographer). It is very apparent that the creators of this series carefully laid out the scenes, such that there is fluid movement, and nowhere where the video could be replaced with a still picture (or a picture that they slowly zoom or pan across) for extended periods of time. Colors matched the mood and do an excellent job setting up the scene. The effects, like when there was an explosion or other such effects, they looked like what they were supposed to be while still matching the style of the anime (with the exception of Suitengu's blood, which seems to glow, and I don't think it should...). The opening and ending song periods had nice graphics that followed a clear path, and were not necessarily a random collection of images from the series, which is more than most series can cobble together. there was good integration between the graphics and the sound, such that most things seemed natural. There are a few exceptions, however those exceptions were done with good taste in mind. For instance, they did a nice job with the graphics filters for a sound shockwave, and they correctly assumed that I did not need to hear said shockwaves for 10 min, as that would get annoying, but it did lose some impact. The Overall the graphics were very good, with the only exception being the last few episodes, where there was not enough contrast, and the scenes were dark (the projector I was using at the time didn't help the situation much either).
Rating:
Sound
The sound was amazing. Whoever did the sound for this anime was really talented in his/her choice for music and sound
effects. Speed Grapher's opening song is 'Girls on Film', by Duran Duran. I could not think of a better
opening song for this anime, and this is by far (leaps and bounds) my favorite opening to any show of any nationality
and genre/style. They did such an outstanding job in the choice and implementation, that I watched the opening for
every episode (normally I watch the opening once and never again, to get to the actual show faster). Some things to
note about the opening, is that the song was shortened (however it was shortened quite well, such that it's new
ending meshes perfectly with the original song). The ending songs were also better than many other anime opening and
closing songs, however there's nothing particularly special to note about either of them (although I do like the
second one, 'Break the Cocoon', by Yoriko, better than the first one, ' Hinageshi no Oka', by Shione
Yukawa). The sound effects were well chosen (fire's actually crackled, footsteps didn't always sound like
boots in a hallway or high heels on a tile floor, and how far away the sound was supposedly happening changed the actual
sound effect instead of just changing volume). There were some instances where the sound did not really match what was
happening on screen, however when those instances when it did happen, it probably was not because of a lack of the
proper sound effect, but more of nobody wants to listen to that sound effect at blaringly loud volumes for extended
periods of time, so they sacrifice some impact that the sound adds to the scene, to make the scene watchable.
If you are looking for casting of the voices, you can easily find more information elsewhere. I consider that not very
important. I look more for how well was the part played, anything that could have been better, anything that was
outstanding. As such Bob was outstanding; he sounded like a gay man of African descent (although the man who voices him
is not actually of African lineage), as his character was portrayed visually as well. And bringing up the end of the
pack was Kagura, who didn't seem to portray as much emotion as the other characters. An interesting character was
Tsujidou, whom I could not initially tell if he was a girl or a boy, and the voice did nothing to alleviate the
confusion, as the voice actor has a very unisex voice where it actually sounds like a girl trying lower her voice to
sound like a boy.
My rating scale for sound is rather logarithmic , in that it is fairly easy to get past a 5 as long as the show
doesn't do anything stupid with the sound (however certain shows have gotten 3's and 4's for not synching
the sound with the what was happening, and using random sound effects), a 6 to 7 is where most everything falls, as the
sound was good, but nothing particularly special, and maybe one or two semi minor things that could have used major
improvement (like a character has a really annoying voice, and you just want them to shut up every time they start
talking). Getting an 8 means that the show has overall good sound, and there is nothing obvious for improvement, and
opening/closing songs are decent but not great (this is where most anime peak, and it used to be all, until now). A 9
means that great depth was taken in consideration of theme music, character voices, sound effects and the like. This
anime actually found people that were decently proficient at English, for the few English parts, such that it was easily
understandable (still had a Japanese accent, however ethnicities could still be picked out, like a character of African
lineage had a voice that sounded like someone of African lineage). A 10 is essentially the peak of a Disney production,
where I could quote most of the movie and know all of the songs by heart, and many Disney movies don't make it
here, so a rating of a 9 is the holy grail for anime in my opinion.
The sound was superb and is the new standard by which I will evaluate all future anime that I watch. Please keep in
mind that this is not as amazing as a Disney production (for sound), however I will also say that for the probably
disproportionate amounts of money and time to production that the two companies have (Disney has much more time and
money), this sure comes close, and certainly beats out all the other anime I have seen.
Rating:
Presentation
Presentation was... well excellent. I like the style. They did not slow down action to attempt to make it more 'epic' (which usually backfires and makes it look stupid), a good balance of scene setup, and plot progression. Shots were set up with apparent and deliberate thought behind the them, and did not exude a rush job of 'any shot to fill screen time' mentality at all. The presentation helped the plot, and kept it exciting... for the most part (back to the lack of 'wow factor' issue). There was not too much humor, (I can't recall laughing once), however the serious style of the anime was exceptional to the point that adding humor might have ruined it. There was some fan service, however it was nothing to get excited about and was more of fan service that fit the plot rather than fan service for the sake of fan service. All in all the best part of this anime in my opinion was the integration of all the aspects, from plot, to sound, to the art/animation, opening and closings, to the presentation; all boosting each other's score. It shows near masterful integration with the only downfall being the lack of that elusive 'wow factor'. The 'wow factor' is based highly on opinion, however I feel I can safely say this lacks it. I cannot say what they could have added to give this anime a 'wow factor', however I can point it out what it was in other anime to give an idea of what I'm talking about; One Piece - the lack of caring what the audience thinks, just telling a story to tell a story; Code Geass - the unpredictability of its outstanding plot; Black Lagoon and Samurai Champloo - the action scenes; Death Note - the battle of minds between Kira and L. The presentation had nothing obviously wrong with it, and everything about it was well above par, however that 'wow factor' prevents this anime form a 10 in this area.
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.6667 (very good)
Reviewed by e1ectric, Jul 01, 2010
Comments
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rukasu04 Mute Member Aug 12, 2010
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SchRita Aug 27, 2010
It's good you made comparisons.
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patriz0 Oct 05, 2010
have any pictures?
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Warpten29 Jan 11, 2011
This great, thanks for the anime's review it inspires me!
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angelxxuan Banned Member May 20, 2012
wow what an indepth review here. this is another non mainstream anime, and I like the detail you did to the piece. this has got to be one of those anime which had the details to the artwork and didn't bother to stop there and just kept on pushing it to the max, along with the music and plot.
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