Anime: Juubee-chan 2: Siberia Yagyuu no Gyakushuu

I almost never write reviews as I don't see the point in re-iterating what people have already seen. However some animes deserve recognition and to be quite honest this anime was very, very, very suprising.

I watched the orignal Jubei-chan and it was quite bad. I stopped watching half-way through it and finally finished it one day. It left a very sour taste in my mouth as almost the entire anime felt like it was fluff. There was absolutely nothing there. The only plusses to it was the animation. Everything else totally blew. The fight scenes were amazing (Samurai Champloo / Rurouni Kenshin level fight scenes).

I came across Jubei-chan 2 a couple months back and I got it just because it had a 7-8 rating. I didn't consider watching it till recently because of the first season of Jubei-chan. The first episode opens with a movie quality battle and you go woaw, but thats no suprise. The last series had a couple nice battles in it, so I merely disreguarded it and then my fears of another crappy season of Jubei-chan came to pass as the first episode starts to turn into a crappy comedy (the guy with the review above mentioned the Ruffians and they are certainly annoying as all heck). I put up with it and eventually reach the last minutes of the anime in which everything starts to twist and turn in some odd way for the better. My interest was immediately drawn and I continued to watch till the last few episodes.

Somehow in someway they took a stupid/generic plot and turned it into something amazing. The plot didn't change at all. It's still the same old plot but the way the characters revolve around it can't be thought of in any other way then a well planned out anime. As far as I can tell if the ruffians didn't exist in this anime, it would be a very, very, very serious anime in which you would have to slowly work your way through otherwise its painful for you as a watcher. Alot of the stupid comedy in this anime off-sets how serious things really are. You don't realise this till towards the end of the second season.

The animation in this anime is quite extraordinary. The amount of detail not only put into the battles but the entire series shows the effort that was put into this. In some animes the animation only picks up in battles or in the first few episodes of it to sort of show off. Throughout this entire series (including the first) the anime is very well drawn. The little details that sometimes disapear are drawn in, even in the next episode. Wounds stay where they're supposed to, they don't magically heal. The quality doesn't degrade and it doesn't degrade the feeling of the fight scenes at all because they aren't drawn better then the rest. The world is very dynamic in that manner. Episode 2x11 the clouds roll over right as the battle is about to take place so you can see the sparks and sheen off the swords (they don't just magically appear in broad daylight).

The sound is quite amazing as well. The way the sound is added really gives ambiance and helps to draw you into it, which rarely happens except in the best of animes. Even if it is the same song played over, the way its integrated into the time/place all adds up to give not only your eyes but your ears quite a treat.

Character development lacked in the first one but was made up ten fold in the second one. You start to get drawn into the characters even though there isn't much to them (you shouldn't need characters with alot of substance in order to feel the way they do. alot of animes do that in order to make up for the lack of feeling for the characters). Even people that shouldn't be in certain scenes somehow compliment the overall development of the plot.

The battles in this series need there own place in this review. Each battle is so extremely well thought out you can't do anything besides sit there with your jaw on the floor waiting for the battle to finish so you can breathe again. For the first time out of any series I've seen I've noticed premonitions taking place right before a battle begins as one of them plans out there first moves (in 2x11 you can hear sword slashes before anything ever happens, if you slow them down they match the following sword slash sounds as they engage). I don't think the battles are overdone or too fast at all. The pace at which they move and how fast they can move their swords matches almost perfectly, on the contrary some animes people can move uber fast but there swords move so slow they can easily dodge except for the finishing move which can never be dodged. If your going to watch this anime for anything it should be for the battles.

This is a pretty incredible anime if you think it over after your done watching it (it's disapointing its rated so low. I know I would've rated it pretty bad if I hadn't watched the second season.). There is really no other way to explain what happens in this anime besides a extremely well thought out anime (overall). Maybe I'm writing this too soon after watching this anime but this certainly rivals the best if you watch the entire thing from start to finish.

Now this was a surprising anime. At first, it was a rather bad surprise, but it turned into quite a good one. So, this is obviously the sequel to Jubei-chan - Lovely Gantai no Himitsu, and it shows in most aspects.

The bad part of this is that the so-called "ruffians" are still present, and they are as annoying as ever. They have now been joined by one character which used to be interestion in the first season. They still represent comic relief at it's worst (Who the hell need comic relief in the middle of the final battle of a 2 season anime?). They get significant (annoying) screen time in the first 4-5 first episodes of the serie, but the best part is their screen time decreases as the anime. They still decrease the overall value and enjoyment of the anime, but much less than in the first season.

Now on to the review itself. The animation is the same quality remains the same you still get those two different very recognisable art styles ("cute n cudly" and "Kakkoi") that blend together very well. The combat scenes are pretty well choregraphed and animated. However they do tend to try making it look too fast, so sometimes the animation gets a little choppy, but that's really nitpicking.

The music is usually un-noticeable. The only song you will remember is the opening theme (which is also played during the battles). This one really saves the whole soundtrack from mediocrity. Most of the seiyu work is pretty standard, with a special mention to the "cute mode" Felicia for the most nerve-grating voice ever.

One of the point in which there has been a lot of improvement since the last season is the story. They managed not to fall into the "enemy of the week" trap. While it still follows the 300-year-old-grudge plot line, it manages to pull some nice twists.

Admittedly the weak point of the first season, the real surprise was that we finally get some character developement. The main characters do get a proper background, and their opinion and feelings change deeply according to what they live. Character such a Felicia and Jiyu evolve in a very interesting way. While other characters don't get as much developement, their evolution remains interesting.

All in all, Jubei-chan - Siberia Yagyuu no Gyakushuu is a good anime, and I really liked it. If you did like the first season, then be sure to watch the second season. If you like cute girls (and I mean cute in the most basic "kawaii" sense) that transform in just as cute (although somewhat older and classier) warriors, then this is definitely an anime you'll want to watch.