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Saikano - Girlfriend (Vol. 1)

Saikano - Girlfriend (Vol. 1)

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.08
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: SAI KANOt believe people find this remarkable
Review: *sobbing*...I cried...I sob for this anime...because I spend nearly 100 bucks on this whole series and I'm never gonna get `em back. *sobs*

~SERIES REVIEW~

Bring out the tissues and let your feelings go haywire with a lack of reason, because I am going to review what some otaku proclaimed to be the saddest anime series ever seen. This is "SAIKANO", or what's called to certain fans as "Saishu-Heiki Kanojo", or "She, The Ultimate Weapon." It's a dark, unfair romance series that deals with the consequences when merging the facts of love and war. Yep, if you were expecting a shed of light and hope in this anime, you won't find it. If there's an anime that can actually make me shed a tear, I had the curiosity to be the judge of that. Seven months and four DVDs later, the only tears I shed for this series are tears of exhaustion.

There's a war going on in "SAIKANO." It's every country in the world against Japan. The conceptual focus is on a small redneck town of Hokkaido, where Shuji, the main nerd, narrates the story on his first real relationship with a timid height-deficient girl, Chise. (Their faces remind me of young putty versions of Renée Zellweger and Jeff Goldblum.) By the end of their first date, they act clumsy, premature, and uncertain about their irreconcilable relationship, but when they kiss in the open night, they knew they are in love. Later, Shu-chan was having a fun visit to the mall in Sapporo with his friends. The enemy planes bombs the city, killing countless lives. In the aftermath of the destruction, the injured Shuji gets a glimpse into the cloudy wreck; a sight of someone he never wanted to see in his own eyes.

It was his girlfriend...who was the ultimate weapon, and Shuji is still in love with her. (That's Right! She's a walking WMD!)

Like the name of episode 7, everyone's changing. War was near, and the tragedy of the Sapporo Air Raid caused the people of Hokkaido to face different directions. Some enrolled to the army; some became too devastated to hope; some avoided the trauma. For Shuji and Chise, they begged it was all a dream. Their relationship took a turn for the worst. The military keeps taking Chise as a trump card for the battlefield. Meanwhile, a past came back to haunt Shuji, under a hot former teacher named Ms. Fuyumi, who seduced him when he was in middle school, and now she's back in need of "support" while her husband's at war, who's also "supporting" Chise. Even worse, the more Chise's being used as a weapon, the more she becomes one, losing her sense of humanity. The couple tried breaking up to ease their sorrow, but love can't break them apart. They tried to move away from their homeland and pretend to be a couple after a downhearted series of events, but war eventually came and destroy their marital bliss. With the war at its final stage and Chise's path to doom, the little planet plays its last love song when it all came down to its apocalyptical climax.

By the end of series, I felt no happiness, no sorrow; I felt nothing. Let me explain.

"SAIKANO" didn't clear up some things: "How does this war happen?", "Is Chise suppose to be android or something?", or "Why is everyone apologizing and saying "Dummy?"" (Actually, that last one was rhetorical) I dislike how this anime didn't let me in on many details. Even if the theme here is more focused on relationship, at least the anime should resolve some unexplained parts of the story. That way, I would've understand the morbid experience from the events the characters suffer, which could've make me feel remorseful. Not that it matters, since this anime tries to make up for that, by having the characters (mainly Chise) CRY THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SERIES. This anime has more sob moments than a 24-hour "Beaches" marathon, and with Chise, her weepy performance makes Tammy Faye act like The Terminator. I wonder if a better title for this series would be, "She, The Ultimate Crybaby." No offense, they're being exaggerated, not emotional, and it's annoying.

For what it's worth, though, what "SAIKANO" does, it does very exceptionally, in the most violent and heartbreaking way. What would do if you find out your lover is a weapon that can demolish a town in one shot? It experiments the idea with Shuji and Chise, and that unique direction is very effective. There are moments in this series that deserve to be mentioned and thought-provoking. Like in episode 9 when Shuji was visiting a friend who was fatally-injured, and the friend was confessing everything and discussing about the past and the "what ifs", while another friend is at war just to protect a special girl from Hokkaido, only to realize there's nothing to protect but himself, leaving him in fear. That came up as one of the most powerful scenes in anime history. Granted that I wasn't devastated like the fans that saw that episode, but I should.

It may be depressing, but "SAIKANO" pulls no stop for having typical anime comedy-fare, not to mention having some dark comedy as well. I find the dubbing surprisingly pretty good. At first, the cast sounds like cartoon rejects from Hanna-Barbera, but as the story progresses, they get better and they can pull off some heavy performances, even if some sounded wooden and one of them killed the pronunciation of manga with "mahn-joh." (MAHN-JOH!)

The art bothers me in this anime. WHY THE HECK IS EVERYONE BLUSHING?! The character designs look like they were made for a Japanese PBS children show. Not only that, it's baffling, considering Chise's stature; at times she looks young, but then at times she looks more adult, SHE CONFUSES ME! Alright, so the designs were based on the original work, and I respect that, but the chunky look, following by the uninspiring drama music, takes away the seriousness of the premise and ends up being more of a sappy romantic soap opera.

THE FINAL WORD: Sad. It's sad not only that "SAIKANO" is depressing, it's also sad that when taken away the melancholy parts, I'm seeing a moderate anime with some half-finished plots and unappealing art. However, I like the concept and despite the characters being too melodramatic, they act humanly enough to feel sorry for them, which helps understanding the anime's sentimentality. There's certainly room for some improvement, but if "SAIKANO" has anime fans crying, it served its purpose. If you looking for an anime romancer that's different and can make you shed a tear, by all means check this out. Results may vary, though, because I certainly find nothing to cry about here, and I wept from "Ghost."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gomen nasai, Shujichan.
Review:
Saishu Heiki Kanojo definitely qualifies as shojodo. But there are many layers to this 13-part series. As usual, I was most attracted to the character development in Saikano.

Watching Chise and Shuji try to maintain a relationship during wartime was enthralling. There is a sense of dread in each episode with an understanding everyone will die during the war, but the characters accept this and attempt to make the best of their time. Things like meat are cherished, and some of the usual rules a society get thrown out.(...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Just Saikano
Review: Despite the fact that this story may seem to be about war and weapons (the main character is a weapon herself...), it is not! This story is not about war, not about weapons, but more about a simple girl who has a huge conflict between what she is, what she is becoming and what she wants to be. In the middle of it all, her Boyfriend.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Love Story
Review: I am not going to say so much about the story, rather that its the most tragic and beautiful love story I have ever seen unfold. The bottom line with this anime is that its sad, realy sad. This series litteraly left me numb after watching it. It also contains the realities of war and a touch Sci-Fi with Chise being the Ultimate Weapon, a girl who only wishes to be a normal girl in love with her boyfriend.

This might not be the anime for you if you dont like love stories or tragedies, but if you like both than this story will definately leave a long lasting impression on you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A powerful Emotional Anime....
Review: I first saw this series as a fansub a while back and was surprised when I heard it was coming to the states. Saikano (or "My Girlfriend the Ultimate Weapon/She the Ultimate Weapon," depending on how you translate the Kanji), may be dismissed by some as just a war story. While that is a part of it, it certainly isn't the whole story. The bread and butter of the story is the relationship between Shuji and Chise as the War goes on and Chise continues to evolve as a weapon.
The highlight I enjoyed the most out of this was the emotion behind the characters and the story. Saikano will make you laugh, wince in pain or surprise, and cry, yes, cry.
The English release is fairly noteworthy, there is an extra disc with commentary and documetaries about Saikano, which are fairly interesting. The Japanese language track is very well done and emotional, the English track, while actually fairly decent compared to most animes, just doesn't seem to match the Japanese track emotionally. Chise's voice actor fits the character pretty well, but Shuji's English actor is a little dry on some lines.
Overall, Saikano is a must for any anime fan. The story is good, and the emotion and feelings you feel from watching this anime will last for a long time. It is one anime you will not be dissapointed with in buying.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: IT WAS LIKE TORTURE TO WATCH
Review: i hated this anime.. my bro bought it and i watched it...i thought it would b very good since i heard many good things about it but i hated it. me and my friend watched it together thinking wow this will be great but it stank..we even stopped watchin on episode 3 put the volume down nd voicedover wenever they opened their mouths...then we decided to giv it another try nd endure the pain of watchin it again so we did...nd we hated it again! so yeah nd the art stinks in my opinion...hav u seen their noses its a fricken lil stub!! nd man u would think the guys would b better lookin ...the main character guy wats his face is just horribly ugly...looking at the cover of the dvd it thought he was chise's grandpa! i kno u shouldnt judge it by the way he looks or watevah but damn how can u blame me if me nd my friend were laughin our asses off everytime it showed his face ..i mean comeone seriously at least make his hair black or sumthin so he doesnt look 10 times his real age...also u shouldve seen me nd my friend's face wen we discovered chise was 17 years old! nd wats with all these gurls liking watshisface he is fricken ugly! nd chise nd watshisface look more like grandpa nd granddaughter than boyfriend nd girlfriend...all in all i hope the next volume is better cause my bro said he was gonna buy it -_- i think he should've bought rahxephon instead---way better art ...yeah i hated this anime but i guess it depends on ur tastes...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wow... 0_o
Review: INCREDIBLE. That's the word I'd use to describe this amazing story of love, war, death and life. An inmense paradox beautifully boxed by Shin Takehashi...
Saikano tells the story of 2 teens in their last year of high school, named Shuji and Chise. They suddenly become involved in a bloody war that takes the lifes of many of their friends...but the most astonishing thing is that Shuji's girlfriend, Chise, is a weapon herself... (yes, you are not allucinating, you read WEAPON)...A very powerful machine of destruction that will destroy anything on her path to protect the ones that she loves...
I also bought the comic books and the DVD chapters are 100% faithful to them (exepting the "unappropiate" scenes...)Anyways, you won't regret this buy...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow
Review: it makes you cry, whimper, scream and want to hit the tv screen.

but whether you like it or not, they're just like real people...and thats exactly why its so good.

no one is truely good or bad, no true right or wrong.

i cried for 4 hours when i saw this. its worth it though. every minute, every tear.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: HEART WRENCHING LOVE STORY!
Review: Shy Chise and nervous Shuji are high school seniors who have just started dating. One day while visiting Sapporo, Shuji is caught in an air raid by an unknown foreign power. As he runs through the city streets avoiding falling bombs, a mysterious weapon appears and single-handedly wipes out the swarm of bombers.

The weapon? His girlfriend, Chise.

What do you do when your girlfriend becomes the ultimate weapon?

Discover how Chise and Shuji divert their focus of war, destruction and killing into love and strength.

The Saikano anime series by Gonzo Digimation, aired on Family Gekijo July 2, 2002, on CBC and continues to be broadcast throughout Japan. The manga was first published in Japan in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits from 1999-2001, selling over two million copies in Japan!

This is a super sad love story. I can't find my eyes dry while watching it. I still feel very sad about it after a week. (...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SAD
Review: These episodes are the saddest thing ive ever seen...it deals more with the characters than the fact that Chise is an ultimate weapon...so if ur looking for blood and gore ur outta luck...but it doesnt matter cuz Saikano is one of the best anime out there and you will think about it all the time and how depressing it is to what Shuji and Chise fall in the love and the story that follows...i strongly recommend that if u want a good story and something that will stick with you...u better get these episodes


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