The Avengers ‘65, vol. 2

This is the further adventures of secret agent John Steed and his sidekick Emma Peel. I do adore this show, even though the plots are a bit repetitive and there are plot holes everywhere. I am somewhat surprised that anyone’s plans work at all; everyone makes stupid mistakes on all sides. Steed in particular is fond of making phone calls in places where he can be overheard (either insecure location or on a house phone in the bad guy’s territory). Mrs. Peel is not the best sneaker (leaves doors open). The bad guys need to read the Evil Overlord List; they tend to want to gloat when they have Steed and/or Mrs. Peel in their hands.

Steed is good in a fight, and excellent at schmoozing with the men and flirting with the women; Mrs. Peel is not bad in a fight, and is clearly the brains of the operation and has many useful skills (whatever skills are necessary for the episode), though she does have to be rescued often.

The lack of explanation and/or resolution is a bit annoying (why are these people doing this? what did they do about the atom bomb?), but the point of the show is the banter and action and Diana Rigg in a catsuit or other skin-tight outfit, not the plot.

 

—The Episodes—

• Death at Bargain Prices

  The plot in this was bland: a grandiose plan to take over the country. An agent is found dead in an alley; the only clue is a department store receipt from the previous day, which was Sunday and the store was closed. Mrs. Peel gets a job at the store, and ends up working in women’s underwear her first day and in toys the second (wearing the catsuit with space-age boots; there’s a Dalek on the wall with the model planes and other toys). Most of the action takes place in the store, with a little in Mrs. Peel’s apartment; she has the niftiest peephole (an eyeball with lid, though anyone outside would know when she looks through it). While at home, she is writing a paper on thermodynamics for some reason.

  The plot in the episode involves a grandiose plan to take over the country by someone who never read the evil overlord list (three men with guns might not be a match for two people who keep showing up where they don’t belong; telling them your plan might be a bad idea). The previous owner of the store lives on the top floor with the discontinued lines; he rambles on about the good old days and how everything is disposable these days. There was a computer system with lots of blinking lights and switches and things (which Mrs. Peel was familiar with). Her fighting style was karate-ish, and she did shoot someone in the shoulder. She did get kidnapped (tied up and wrapped in a carpet) by three armed men. Steed received a black eye early in the episode, and got to hit someone over the head with his bowler. There were all sorts of weapon-ish things around (garden implements) that no one used in the fight scenes; Mrs Peel should close doors behind her when sneaking around.

   

• Castle De’ath

  The fishing industry in Scotland is having problems; there are no fish nearby, and so the fishing fleets must fish farther out, in competition with others. A frogman who was investigating was found dead near Castle De’ath in Scotland. Steed is posing as historian John ‘Jock’ MacSteed, who wants to write about the 13th laird, Black Jamie, who was a traitor. Mrs. Peel is posing as an agent of an organization devoted to advising castle-owners who intend to open their castle to the public how to attract tourists, which causes some conflict between the laird and his cousin Angus. Mrs. Peel wanders through the dungeon, doesn’t close the door behind herself, gets knocked out early in the episode, and is locked in the dungeon (unharmed, slept on the rack). There is an attempt to crush Steed in his bed; the breakfast conversation the next day was interesting. Mrs. Peel can pick locks, use a crossbow, and sketch decently.

  …I did not need to see that much of Steed (he went diving wearing a speedo-type suit and was captured); he ends up chained to the wall in his clothes. Sadly, he rescues himself, gets captured again and held at gunpoint, and eventually escapes. Mrs. Peel gets knocked out AGAIN. Angus wears white briefs under his kilt. They actually used the weapons on the wall this time. Mrs. Peel shot someone with the crossbow (implied killed!). I think this episode has the highest death count so far. I’m not sure why anyone was messing with the fish in the first place, though.

   

• The Master Minds

Sir Clive Todd is shot while attempting to steal documents, and has amnesia. Mrs. Peel acts as his nurse, and is not a morning person, and there is a gratuitous pan down her skin-tight outfit when she removes her coat. There is also a Mensa-type organization (RANSACK, IQ 145+); Mrs. Peel completes the entry paperwork for herself and Steed, and is hired as a secretary there (and provides answers to Steed; even with the answers, he scores less than 100!). RANSACK members are staying at a school near a military base, with tests and meetings and exercise and hypnosis to plan and execute the bad guy’s plot.

This episode actually has a decent plot, though there is no reason why the bad guys are plotting beyond generic trying to gain power.

vol. 1
The Avengers Forever
The Nitpicker’s Guide to the Avengers
another fansite

Agatha Christie’s Marple: Series 1: The Body in the Library

This is the second of the 2004 adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries (first here), with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. It also features Joanna Lumley as Dolly Bantry (full cast at imdb).

The Body in the Library starts off one morning with a body of a blonde young woman found in the library of Gossington Hall, which is the residence of Colonel Arthur Bantry and his wife Dolly. They are a respected, middle-aged couple, living in St. Mary Mead; Dolly is on good terms with Miss Marple and respects her abilities, so her first move is to send for Miss Marple. Col. Bantry denies any knowledge of the woman, though his denials are met with some disbelief. Basil Blake, who is involved in the film industry and who has wild parties and a platinum-blonde girlfriend is also suspected, though somewhat less after said girlfriend shows up while the police are questioning him. The body is eventually identified as Ruby Keene, a dancer (exhibition and with guests) at the Majestic Hotel in Danesmouth, 18 miles away. Mrs. Bantry and Miss Marple decide that the Majestic would be a perfect place to get away from the scandal for a while, and find more motives and suspects. Conway Jefferson, an elderly and crippled man, had taken a fancy to Ruby and was planning on adopting her; he reported her as missing. His son-in-law Mark and daughter-in-law Adelaide (and her son by a previous marriage) are also staying there; Conway Jefferson was crippled at the same time as his wife, son, and daughter were killed (book: airplane crash; movie: WWII bombing). Ruby’s cousin Josie was the main dancer/hostess, but she had sprained her ankle and brought Ruby in to take care of the dancing while she recovered; her dance partner was also the tennis pro, Raymond Starr. There are also some implications of relationships among the latter four.

This adaptation is very close to the book, especially with respect to the dialogue; it had been years since I read it, but recognized a lot of it. There were a few characters cut out; most of the police bits were given to Col. Melchett and Inspector Slack (Sir Henry Clithering, retired from Scotland Yard and admirer of Miss Marple’s abilities was cut out completely; Superintendent Harper of Danemouth’s part was reduced considerably). Adelaide Jefferson had a boyfriend in the book, which added extra subplots and suspects, but he was also cut out completely. The one major change was that two of the characters switched roles, though it did not have much effect on the story overall.

I liked the interaction between Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry; they were good foils for each other, though Mrs. Bantry’s attitude occasionally verged on proud parent showing off child (look, isn’t she wonderful!). She was also described in the book as ‘an ecstatic Greek chorus’; that description crossed my mind at one point while watching. I assume this adaptation was set in the early 1950s; I don’t remember seeing anything with a date. The book was written in 1942, but there was nothing to tie it to a specific date. The adaptation’s style (costumes, hair, makeup, sets) made me think of the past, no specific time period (though probably due to a lack of knowledge on my part). I had no problems with the acting.

I have the same complaint about Miss Marple’s characterization (not the acting) in this one as I did in the last one; she is supposed to be elderly and dithery, and is not. The Miss Marple of the books would not still be pining for her WWI soldier 30 years later; the opening is Miss Marple listening to the radio, drinking tea, with a picture of the soldier on the table next to her. I don’t think the books ever mention previous relationships (though I’d be surprised if there weren’t any). I think they did make her younger; if she was a young woman in 1918, she would not be as old as she should be in 1951; even assuming she was Young Miss Marple’s actress’ age (31 in 2004), she would only be 64 in 1951. In the books, she is always described as old, elderly, frail, and in one case ‘a dithery, fluffy octogenarian’. She did knit in this one at the hotel one night, which made me happy.

Some of the minor characters had characterization changes; Colonel Melchett in the book respects Miss Marple’s abilities, but in this was not happy to see her at the hotel and was dismissive of her (which was more like Inspector Slack in the books). Basil Blake looked older than I thought he should, but his age was never mentioned; they also changed his house from something described as “half timbering and sham Tudor” aka “The Period Piece” to a more modern house (white and angular).

There were only two changes that really bothered me: Raymond Starr in this was essentially a gigolo; in the book, he would have been offended to be called that and had in fact left a previous position when he realized that was what he was considered; the other change was gratuitous but was also a major spoiler.

A large part of this was taken up with flashbacks of everyone’s version of the events of the night of the murder; maybe if I’d been paying more attention, I would have noticed the subtle differences in people’s stories and the indications of the solution; however, I found it kind of boring to watch essentially the same scenes several times. I also think the producers felt they had to add in more sex and violence to the story; admittedly, the violence is there, but it’s easier to skip over a short description of a dead body than it is to ignore the same body on screen (there was a subplot involving a Girl Guide found dead in a burned car; I didn’t want to see that body). The sex was more implied than shown; Raymond was often shown entering and leaving rooms at around the same time as random women, but nothing was shown on screen. I think this is also the reason for the gratuitous spoiler (which I found out beforehand from the amazon reviews, unfortunately).

Next: A Murder Is Announced which I reread before watching instead of after (saw it at the library last month and checked it out), and am not sure if I’d read it before (if I did, it was a very long time ago). I may skip it and go on to The 4:50 from Paddington; I liked that book better, and I don’t think there’s any real reason to watch them in order.

Diana Wynne Jones: The Game

I read this because it was Diana Wynne Jones and the library had it; if they hadn’t, I’d have waited and bought it once it was in paperback (or possibly earlier, if I’d checked the price; it’s only $11.99 in hardback). This is a young adult novella, 176 pages double-spaced with large margins; I assumed hardback book = hardback price and so did not consider buying it at this time, but I’m glad to see that the price is reasonable.

Hayley is an orphan and lives with her grandparents. Her grandmother is very strict (everything has its place and must be in it); her grandfather is less so. He works at home, and has rooms full of newspapers and books and maps and computers (rooms for each). They have a large house on the outskirts of London, and she is home-schooled and only occasionally leaves the property, always in the company of a maid (and often just shopping for the household). Her grandfather often gives her books to read and shows her various things on the computer (sometimes cartoons, sometimes more educational); her grandmother is often upset by whatever he shows Hayley. One day, Hayley wanders into his rooms while he is looking at the mythosphere and feels drawn to it; her grandmother is appalled and tells her to forget about it. Of course she doesn’t forget it, and ends up being sent off to relatives in Scotland, where she finds out more about it and spends time wandering through it.

I feel kind of culturally-ignorant for failing to identify many of the characters, even when called by their full names or otherwise blatantly identified, but they were not strictly mythological. I was happy to see the guide at the end. I really enjoyed this (only put it down long enough to change rooms); I do like anything that involves wandering through worlds, changing things as you go; I also enjoy books loosely based on fairy tales, myths, and/or legends or books using those sorts of characters in other settings, especially the ancient gods or heroes are still among us type stories. My only complaint is that the ending seemed a bit abrupt. This is an extremely minor complaint; the resolution was satisfying, but happened too fast. I will buy this book eventually.

tactics, v3 (DVD)

This is an anime series based on the manga by Sakura Kinoshita (Matantei Loki Ragnarok) and Kazuko Higashimiya. The manga had two volumes released by ADV a couple of years ago, but was dropped; Tokyopop acquired the license and retranslated and rereleased the first two volumes (v3 is due in December; the plot sounds like it might be eps 10-11, and ep12 is from v4).

The DVD uses (dub and sub) the same translated terms that ADV’s version of the manga did: goblin for tengu, demon for oni (Haruka is a demon-eating goblin), though they did get Sugino and Muu-chan’s genders correct. I think the Tokyopop translation uses tengu and oni and other such terms; I would much rather have the Japanese terms (with translator’s notes, if necessary) than a not-really-equivalent English term (though a quick poke at the internet shows goblin for tengu occasionally used; I really hate demon for youkai, but everyone uses it).

The art is OK. The character designs are in places very similar to Loki’s; I first heard of this series on a Loki fansite (something that I thought was Freyr and Loki was in fact Haruka and Kantarou). Suzu is an extra added girl who looks exactly like Reiya (but has a different personality); I don’t know why they felt the need to add a random girl to the cast (it’s possible she’s from later in the manga, though she was introduced in the first episode, which was completely different from the manga).

Overall, this series is OK; I will probably keep renting it, but don’t know if I care enough to buy it eventually. Haruka is a generic strong and silent bishonen, I don’t like Kantarou much (he is not a nice person), and the rest of the cast is vaguely annoying. So far there are hints of a plot somewhere, but it’s mostly generic monster-of-the-week episodes: something weird happens, Kantarou investigates and avoids work and hits on wealthy women, Haruka broods and protects Kantarou (or vice-versa), Youko worries about money, Suzu tags along, and occasionally Sugino and Muu-chan show up. The source of the disturbance is taken care of somehow (the disco exorcism theme is very out of place), and everyone goes home and maybe Kantarou writes an article about the relevant form of supernatural phenomenon. If I wasn’t somewhat interested in anime (or anything else) based on folklore/mythology, I wouldn’t have made it this far (it would have stayed in the bottom of my queue).

11. Will of the Winds – Part Two

This didn’t make much sense to me; I watched v2 when it was released last September (2006), so I don’t remember much about Part One (this was released in January, but Netflix didn’t have it until recently). It had twins, one with more powers than the other, the powerful one was ill, people were dying, one or both were in love with Haruka. I thought the person responsible for the killing did not face enough consequences, but was glad that the plot did not take the easy way out (sacrifice as atonement).

12. Of Roses and Goblins

Kantarou is hired by a wealthy and beautiful woman to find the source of the spirits infesting her house; Haruka and Youko are acting as servants. There are art-smugglers in the background, and beings who are interested in the demon-eating goblin. There are random philosophical musings about youkai/human relationships.

13. Woodland Nightmare

A missing warship is found in a forest near Mount Fuji; the members of the military who found it start dying, and blame a demon-eating goblin. The military approaches Kantarou, and he goes to investigate with Haruka, suspecting a plot against Haruka (something happened before with the military, I think); Youko and Suzu follow, more people die, and the culprits have appeared before (it was indeed a trap). This was a decent episode (not so much of the parts that annoy me) and it was nice to see some semblance of plot.

14. The Woman Who Loved Books

This focuses on Kantarou’s editor Reiko, her issues being a career woman in this era, her love of books, and the ability of objects to eventually acquire spirits. It was a bland episode; Reiko’s (extremely) mini-skirt annoys me (inappropriate for the time period). Kantarou used the events of this episode to fulfill his obligation to Reiko (he had an overdue manuscript).

15. The Fading Song of the Summer Cicadas

The group goes to stay at a villa rented by Suzu’s father, but nobody is there at first. The wife of the owner (who Suzu remembered from a visit several years before) might be dead (the husband claims it was his fault, but Suzu met her and said she seemed real). Overall, this episode has a dream-like atmosphere (very soft, faded, occasionally black and white, sunset). If more of the show was like this episode (except for the random “comedic” interlude with Kantarou vs Sugino for the watermelons), I’d like the show more; this was weird and creepy and did not follow the generic episode plot.

info at ANN

Hellsing Ultimate III

This is the third in a series of anime OVA adaptations of the Hellsing manga by Kouta Hirano, intended to be extremely faithful to the manga. There was a thirteen episode TV series in 2001; it diverged from the manga halfway through. I’ve heard both the unfinished state of the manga and reluctance on the part of the producers to tell a story about Nazis as reasons for the divergence.

The point where the manga and the TV series diverged was reached in this episode; it covers the hiring of the mercenaries, the temporary alliance between the Hellsing organization and the Vatican (though the Vatican is tempted to sit back and hope that Hellsing and the Nazis destroy each other), the discovery of Millennium and its link to the Nazis, and the trip to South America (Millennium fled there after WWII). In the hotel, Alucard and Seras wake up to discover that they are accused of being terrorists and murderers and are attacked by SWAT teams. Half of this episode is the slaughter of the SWAT teams and other police (complete with impaled corpses outside the hotel) and Alucard’s fight with Tubalcain Alhambra (the leader of the South American section?) and discovery of the Major’s involvement. Alucard was involved with WWII and had some contact with the Major (a Nazi) then.

I ended up watching the dub; the main cast was the same as in the TV series (also true for the Japanese). Several characters had some sort of accent; they were mostly slight accents (noticeable but not overwhelming). This is extremely violent and gory; it was way past my threshold for violence. Such things were easier to ignore in black and white on a manga page than animated in color on screen; I knew this beforehand, and watched it anyway. The quality of the animation is excellent; the music isn’t very interesting, though. I liked the music from the TV series better and wish they had hired him for this or used some of that music; occasionally there were bits that were reminiscent of it.

Hopefully Geneon will have resolved their issues one way or another by the time the fourth OVA is released (no release date in Japan yet; the official site says 2007.XX.XX, and amazon.jp doesn’t have it listed at all). Volume 9 of the manga is apparently being released in Japan next week; hopefully we’ll see it here sometime soon, though I still haven’t read v8.

update: v9 of the manga was indeed released in Japan on 2007.11.09; Hellsing IV now has a release date of 2008.02.22 (two versions, ￥7,875 or ￥5,985).

Anime News Network listing
official site (Japanese)