GeekNights 080305 - Kitaro

Rym

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the new Hakaba Kitaro anime. In the news, John Ledford blames piracy, and Otakon 2008 is set to have the best panels lineup yet after substantial changes to their policies regarding them. Also, as a GeekBack/Bite, Vertical Inc has sent us the Guin Saga Manga, which, if you want to read it (for free), should drive you into enter our contest.

Scott's Thing - Star Wars Intro
Rym's Thing - Oh no!

Li_Akahi

That Star Wars intro was cool, but I think that the Pixar films do a much better job at emulating that style of credits (especially the Incredibles).

Eryn

Ah, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the animation/camerawork in Hakaba Kitaro felt like going from panel-to-panel in a manga. I only saw the first episode, and for the most part I liked the art style and the "manga-matic" feel. However, I felt there were many portions of the episode that went by too quickly. The first half of the episode felt especially rushed (second half, after Kitaro's birth, was better). I suppose that might have just been the director trying to cram in as much information as he could in order to get to Kitaro's birth/the appearance of Medama Oyaji faster, which is understandable, but it still threw me for a loop in some parts. "Wait, huh-- Hey, you didn't explain the-- How did he-- Where's the-- Holy crap, slow down already!"

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing more episodes, especially if the pacing stays at least at the speed it was at in the second half of the first episode and the series retains that "manga-matic" feel.

Also, I agree: "Mononoke Dance" is the frickin' buisness! Both the opening sequence and the song itself are so great. I didn't even know what Hakaba Kitaro was when I downloaded that song, but when I heard it, I immediately thought, "Damn! Now there's an instant classic anime song if I ever heard one!"