Shelf Life

Beast Wars

If there is one major grievance to air about Heaven’s Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork, it's that it is a feature length film, and not a longer work. It's a story that would greatly benefit from being told as a 13-episode season, or at the very least, a six episode OVA. Instead, it tantalizes viewers with tidbits from the Hiyori arc of the manga, without allowing enough time for any one scene to sink in comically (first half) or emotionally (second half).

The movie opens on an incredible scene—Tomoki and the rest of the New World Discovery Club are up to some unusual hijinks, in which a giant, Godzilla-sized chicken is stomping around the city. It's quickly dispatched when one of the girls is transformed (via magic) into a gigantic version of herself. Once this random puff of comedy is over, we get a quick rundown on what Angeloids are, and then the story switches to high school gal Hiyori Kazane. For reasons not entirely understood by her friends, she has a big crush on Tomoki, and longs to be part of his fun-loving group. Eventually, she also joins the New World Discovery Club, after being forced through a gauntlet of Tomoki's pervy antics, but before she gets a chance to enjoy her new surroundings, things go haywire. For reasons I don't want to spoil, Hiyori's true existence is revealed, in the meantime causing most everyone to also lose their memories of her. In a final act that's much more serious than the ones preceding it, we see how Tomoki and his friends deal with Hiyori's awakening.

For the most part, The Angeloid of Clockwork is entertaining, but it's just too short. There are plenty of scenes that evoke the TV series—there is still plenty of goofy shenanigans involving the New World Discovery Club, and plenty of fun, pervy humor (at some point, Tomoki gets up on stage during a school Battle of the Bands and sings a song about nipples—wearing a shirt with holes cut out around the nipples—but these scenes feel fleeting. Often, they feel more like reminders to fans that the TV series is indeed a slapstick comedy, rather than genuine efforts to instill humor in this movie. The effect is a mostly serious movie that has laughs thrown in, seemingly at random. This is great while those scenes are happening, but they almost always end too soon.

It goes without saying that this movie is aimed squarely at viewer who are already fans of the Heaven's Lost Property franchise. Or, at the very least, viewers who've seen the first season, or read some of the manga. Otherwise, it simply wouldn't make any sense. That having been said, it delivers on some of the work's more notable offerings—the fanservice is fun and plentiful, and Tomoki's lasciviousness almost always elicits a smile. From a storytelling point of view, though, it's too jumpy, too scattered, all because of the time constraints. The Hiyori arc deserves more screen time than it has to fully tell the story. As a result, The Angeloid of Clockwork feels more confusing than entertaining. If you're already a fan of the manga, and want to see this story brought to life, then the movie is a good idea. Otherwise, you might find yourself a little disappointed. [TOP]

Whereas Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts is a fun, campy, and unique take on arena battles, its sequel, Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts 2 is a disappointment. It takes everything that made the first series enjoyable—the creative Summon Wars that pitted students' avatars against each other using stats reflective of their test scores—and turns it into little more than a gimmick. Instead, it chooses to focus on mindless filler. The students find themselves on a beach vacation, in which considerable time is spent watching the boys learn how to smooth talk girls, and watching as the girls trade various insecurities over their bodies and crushes. After a couple episodes of this, the first main arc transitions to a school training camp. In an effort to snatch back some blackmail evidence, the boys of Class F launch a multi-class effort to invade the girls' bath, unifying in their desire to peep. This is when the Summon Wars gimmick is brought back, but instead of being the entertaining strategy-driven War of season one, it's little more than an excuse for the characters to summon their avatars. Whereas it was deeply interesting in the first season to see how the disadvantaged Class F students would defeat students ranked higher than them, the second season just uses it as a cheap way to infuse the story with action. Aside from a few moments when the students exclaim, “Agh! I can't believe his/her score is so high!” the guts of the battle system barely matter.

There is one arc, though, where the Summon War gets a fresh makeover, and that's during the Haunted House storyline. For whatever reason, the students' avatars are transformed from their usual chibi selves into more ghoulish entities, like vampires, horse-headed warriors, and sexy cat women. In general, I'm pretty sick of anime jokes about flat-chested girls, but even I laughed out loud when the flat character's avatar turned out to be a giant granite slab with limbs. Granted, the Summon War that follows still doesn't have the oomph of those in the first season, but the change of scenery and avatars at least provides something new.

Luckily, what Baka and Test - Summon the Beasts 2 does retain from its predecessor is the pretty visuals. The artwork in the series is great to look at, using textures instead of traditional shading, and pleasant watercolor backgrounds. Unfortunately, there is only so far a series can be carried on visuals alone, and this season simply doesn't inspire repeat viewings. Fans of the first season can surely be entertained by this sequel, but they'll be disappointed if they're expecting it to have the same strength of writing. It has moments of laughter and creativity, but for the most part, it's all mindless fluff.[TOP]