Comic Party Revolution (Preview Version)
Chimaera
Welcome to Comic Party Revolution! Despite the name, there’s nothing revolutionary about this disc here, in either style or substance. It is simply not fun or funny, and that’s a shame, because with the word “comic” in the title, you’d at least expect a good laugh or two along the way instead of the glaze-eyed “What in the world is this train wreck of animation that I am watching?” stare that quickly takes over as you keep glancing towards the clock hoping the pain will end. Personal distaste aside, let me get right to the content, what little of it there is.
Of the four girls on the cover, this preview copy only introduces us to two of them, but in the worst way possible. The first episode features “bashful” Aya, and while she’s nice in a mousy, struggling, yet horribly gifted artist sort of way, the fact that she spends most of the episode being goaded along by her friends and associates without so much as a distinct personal opinion clearly demonstrates a lack of appealing qualities and her absolute unsuitability for ComiPa, a large comic market where everyone gathers periodically to sell their doujinshi. As a viewer, it is difficult to care immediately about a character who cares so little about herself that she comes off as easily manipulated and in high need of an injection of both energy and self-esteem to compete in the frantic-paced world of ComiPa that the world of these “artists” revolves around.
One of these characters who did make a distinct impression on me was Eimi, and that’s because she spent the entire second episode attempting to hide the fact that she was attending remedial classes because she wanted to go to the beach instead. Not only is this dumb when she spends most of the episode in her school uniform, but she also spends the entire episode yelling about how her summer is ruined. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can figure out what’s going on. In fact, you can do it with one and have one cell to spare.
After about three minutes of this one note spoiled, shallow brat, I was actually rooting for a beach scene in which a giant shark would come out and swallow her whole. When I’m thinking about this episode now, I’m not even sure what the remedial lessons were for. In reflection, I can only hope these lessons were in Character Development 101, but I seriously have my doubts.
Dominantly displayed Mizuki appears briefly in the third episode and pitches a pretty mean game of baseball, and that’s all I can remember about her. I saw more of Yu in all these episodes, and she isn’t on the cover at all – much like Eimi. I can tell you all about Yu actually, because she appears to take everything way too seriously and lets the viewer know it at every opportunity possible. Given that doujinshi is roughly similar to what most of us would call fanfiction, Yu is definitely the scary writer/artist you don’t want to meet in a dark alley after hours at ComiPa. Goodness knows what she might do to you with that temper of hers if you tell her that her well-documented and analyzed “one true pairing” is just not in the cards for her favorite manga couple. Kazuki (the male lead of the series) is about as interesting as a slice of unbuttered toast. The other girls are fairly indistinct, and that’s because this is a crowded show with too many characters to sort through.
I can’t even give away the endings here, so don’t worry – the episodes just appear to stop with no clean resolution. If I’m going to spend time watching a character race around in ludicrous situations, then I want some sort of closing scene to my episode that wraps it up. Show the viewers some courtesy! I can appreciate the lack of continuity per episode, but on the whole it makes this series slapstick, loud, brash, brightly colored wannabe sitcom that is flatter than the paper that the characters publish their art upon.
The English dub is horrible. The men’s voices are okay, when they can get a word in edgewise, but the female voices had me immediately running for the “Japanese with English subtitles” option. I have no issues with reading movies or anime, but when it becomes a requirement to sit through a disc without wanting to fling it Frisbee style, that’s a problem.
Not to totally rain on this parade, I have to say that Mizuki’s outfit on the front cover is adorable! See, I’d buy that but I most certainly wouldn’t buy this DVD – and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, either.
