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Viewtiful Joe
Anime DVD Review
No, you did not read wrong, it was not misprinted. It is Viewtiful, not Beautiful, Joe. If you've played the game like me (yes, there are female gamers out there), I loved the game and I have to say the anime did not disappoint this Viewtiful Joe fan.
Beautiful is too girlie a word to describe Viewtiful Joe but 'niiiiiiiiice' is not strong enough. When you look at it, there is an odd mixture of a refreshing new look but also nostalgia of the good old days of comic books, 2D cartoons, and classic movies. It has been a while that animes and games gave us clear distinctions of good guys versus bad guys like the old days. Personally, I kind of miss it when bad guys are just bad because they want to and not because they have bad childhood memories or something.
 Mixing 3D and 2D graphics, along with a hand-drawn comic book look to the characters, gave the anime a 'niiiiiiiiice' look but the best part of the anime (and the game, too) is it's dialogue. There is nothing old style about it at all. The sarcasm, the snide remarks, the smart-ass comments, it's as today as you can get. There were moments when Joe gets a flashback from his "mentor" that you feel a little of the nostalgia creeping in, but Joe comes back with a new twist and we are back in the present again. Even when there were moments when nothing was said, you can see the smart-ass questions and answers going back and forth in silence. Picture a toilet that is upside down on a ceiling, villain tells damsel in distress to use that toilet, she goes in, USES the toilet (don't ask me how, it's a girl thing), flushes and comes back out. The look they gave each other was priceless.
One more thing: I was leery that anime would be able to capture the slow and mach speed powers that Viewtiful Joe had in the game. I was blown away by how the anime presented it; it had me rolling on the floor. I loved it! I'm not going to spoil it for you by telling you how it was done; this is something you have to see for yourself.
Reviewed by Carolyn Whu, June 2006
Below: Promotional artwork from the Viewtiful Joe video game series.
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