Early Impressions - Shikabane Hime: Aka

Posted October 27th, 2008 by Nick
in

It seems this season has been a bit light on anime for me. There just wasn't much that really stood out for me to watch this season. I've mentioned Time of Eve before, and that is one that I'm watching as it releases. Yet it only has an agonizingly slow one-episode-every-two-month release, though I do think the ones released so far are worth the wait. Another series that for some reason was picked up on my radar was Shikabane Hime: Aka.

Makina HoshimuraMakina Hoshimura

I've only seen the first two episodes before Funimation acquired the series to stream online and to sell for download, but they were enough to get me interested in the 13-episode series. Since Funimation is releasing the series on Youtube (where I can stream video from there to the XBox 360 using TVersity) and I've determined that the quality of the streaming video is good enough to comfortably watch on the front TV1, I'll probably take that route from now on once they post the third episode.

Ouri KagamiOuri Kagami

As to why I'm sticking with the series, well, Martin hits on some of the reasons, especially when it comes to atmosphere and direction2. But what really is keeping me curious is Ouri Kagami: Why is he keeping so calm about what's going on? And what the hell is up with that cat? Hopefully, the 13-episode series delves into that and doesn't leave me hanging...

But even if it does, I still got to watch an anime series that has an undead girl akimbo-wielding machine pistols in a school-girl outfit. That has to count for something, right?

Good, bad, I'm the one with the sub-machine guns.Good, bad, I'm the one with the sub-machine guns.

  1. 1. minus some blocking artifacts in some areas, but the video quality is still watchable
  2. 2. And I agree with his observation with the comedy and slapstick being a bit out of place, though I'm not finding it distracting right now

Re: Early Impressions - Shikabane Hime: Aka

On October 27th, 2008 Author (not verified) says:

I loathe MAC-10. It's the worst gun I ever had a misfortune to shoot (well, technically I shot MAC-11, the long-receiver version in 9mm which they made out of the long-receiver .380, but it's supposed to be an improvement). It has a terrible balance, hard to charge, _very_ difficult to control. I only was able to hit the target while holding it by the silencer. I understand that it's only anime, but still.

Re: Early Impressions - Shikabane Hime: Aka

On October 27th, 2008 Nick says:

I know what you mean on these types of machine pistols. The closest I've gotten to fire was the Steyr MPi 81, and I have the same complaints you did for the MAC-11. Even with a shoulder stock, it was really hard to keep on full auto and stay on a target that's only 7 yards away. I couldn't imagine not having the shoulder stock and holding it one-handed.

Too bad the local range didn't have their MP5 and M-16 working when we went to try out the full autos. I'll have to check with them again to see if they fixed them.

As for it being anime, it's like complaining about live-action actors shooting blank weapons that don't have any kick compared to a real gun that actually sends lead at a high speed in the opposite direction the gun pushes into your hand...