Now I know promised to review more of the ladies of CA at the beginning of the month, and for those wanting to call me out on that, well, I just have one explanation:
Yeah, I don't have any explanation you haven't read before, so instead, let's forget about that and move on. Instead, we have two interesting personalities to look at today.
What's interesting about Internet Entertainment is that anyone can do it as long as they have the means, the will, and the expertise of subject, and, as inevitable in the vast world of the Internet, overlapping will occur. Very few ideas presented on the Internet are truly unique or original, and if they are unique, chances are, they won't be for very long.
This brings us to the subject animation critics, and particularly, Channel Awesome. The very first animation critic for the troupe was Will "(That Dude in the) Suede" Dufresne, who did anime reviews starting in July 2008. Before that Doug Walker did some animation reviews, but it was less about the art and more about the stories being told. After Dickinson was narrowly beaten out for Nostalgia Critic by Lindsay Ellis in the summer of 2008, she became the site's second animation reviewer, debuting her line of reviews in November.
Source: http://thatguywiththeglasses.wikia.com
I made the mistake before of calling her an anime reviewer when what she really is an animation reviewer. Yes, she does a show called Anime News Editorial, but those aren't reviews, but video editorials. Her actual reviews, the majority of the episodes focus rather on American animation. A lot of her early reviews did swing more towards anime, but by 2010, her work focused almost entirely on American animation and particularly on famed animator Don Bluth.
Her style is very straight-forward with very few jokes, even fewer than Ellis. Her reviews really are reviews, and she gives well-informed and constructive critiques to her subjects. Really, the only time you see her attempt humor is when she's either reviewing something truly awful or she's paired with another reviewer. This comes as a mixed bag - without forcing any humor, she comes off as quite respectful and makes it tough for the trolls to find something to latch on to, but on the other hand, she can come off as quite dry, so if you're expecting something in the vein of Walker's "Nostalgia Critic" or Ellis's "Nostalgia Chic," she's not going to be for you.
Our other subject for this discussion is Chapman's "JesuOtaku," who could considered Dickinson's spiritual successor as Channel Awesome's female anime reviewer. She got started in 2009 doing videos on YouTube, and then in February 2010, on the recommendation of former CA contributor Lee Davidge of "Still Gaming" fame, she joined Channel Awesome and put out anime reviews for the site, her first review debuting March 1.
Source: http://thatguywiththeglasses.wikia.com
Her reviews are a mix of both bad and good anime, a mix of straight-up analysis with a little humor dashed in. In that regard, she's a lot like Ellis in style, though perhaps not quite as dry in her wit, still, very entertaining to watch, certainly worth viewing, though much of her humor is usually found in opening and closing segments (or in textual jokes that flash on the screen now and again), or bounced off of other more comedic reviewers, so you come for a gag or two and stay for the review.
In style and tone, Chapman and Dickinson compare favorably - both straight-up reviewers who occasionally dabble in comedy. They have put out plenty of content for the site since JesuOtaku first released a video in March 2010, though MarzGurl still put out a lot more content (but fewer actual reviews). Both are animation reviewers. Both love anime and have done anime reviews, and both have put out videos singing along with anime. Yet there are some differences; for instance, JesuOtaku gives out ratings for her reviews, which not many reviewers on the site do, interestingly enough. The majority of MarzGurl's reviews are everything Don Bluth - from his movies, to TV, to straight-to-DVD releases, to his video games. Dickinson was on the scene at least a year before Chapman, though many fans have more of an affinity for Chapman since she's put out more content recently (visibility is the name of the game - very few people care about you if you stop working, I'm quickly finding out).
Still, there's no getting over the similarities, all the same, and I recommend both reviewers to you if you're looking for less laughs and more straight-up analysis. Having said that, here are my six recommended MarzGurl reviews and six recommended JesuOtaku reviews.
(A quick preface, some the videos may not be on YouTube, so some of these videos will merely have link to the source on thatguywiththeglasses.com, which is where I recommend you see all of the Channel Awesome reviewers I've reviewed.)
MarzGurl:
Released: May 2009
This is one of Dickinson's few anime reviews and it is one of her better ones. The movie itself is an Indonesian animated filmed with heavy anime influences butchered for an American audience by the infamous Joseph Lai. The level is such that she release has more energy in her delivery and has more snark than her usual reviews.
Released: May 2009
Of all of Dickinson's early work, this may be her best video, though admittedly, having Linkara helps a million. Aside from thoughtful analysis, and both give great analyses of this bizarre film, Linkara adds that humor that's not usually present to this degree in MarzGurl's reviews; however, she does a great job playing off of him and the two of them present a pretty good video. Yeah, it is cheating to add a crossover to this list since she isn't the sole focus of the video, but it's too cool to pass up.
Released: September 2010
First, when you click on the link, you're going straight to Part 1; if you like Part 1, check out the other three parts on the website. This miniseries is a break down of everything wrong with infamous anime licensing and dubbing company, 4Kids Entertainment (which filed for bankruptcy Oct. 5 and merged with a Delaware corporation, 4Licensing Corporation). It's a great deconstruction and critical dressing down of company trying to entertain kids and doing it wrong. If you don't mind the four parts, give them all a watch.
Released: June 2011
An interesting tidbit about MarzGurl's reviews as that nearly all of them can be broken in sub-series - first with the short-lived "What's My Anime?" (which Beauty and Warrior falls under), and then a string of reviews about other poor adaptations called "Translation/Adaptation Terrors." This is the last video in that sub-series and it's arguably her best review - period. Another Joseph Lai job, combine an anime that's so bad, you can't believe it exists until you see it, plus a great influx of snark, constructive criticism and sight gags, and you have an excellent review worth the watch.
Released: August 2011
Months before the "Ali Baba" Translation Terrors and a whole year after, MarzGurl set off to review just about all of animator Don Bluth's works and works inspired by, based off of or continued from his works. The Secret of NIMH is one of the best animated movies of all time, and Dickinson does a great job breaking down the movie and presenting an critical look into the film despite the bias the title shows (mostly).
Released: April 2012
I could have chosen any of the other Bluth movie reviews to list here, but this review was slightly better than the other more recent videos she's done, and by recent, I mean in the past 12 months. It's the last her Bluth movie reviews (though she would review two TV series based off Dragon's Lair and All Dogs Go To Heaven after this review) and she does a great job deconstructing the changes between this movie and the original, along with some good criticism.
JesuOtaku:
(Look! Videos I can find on YouTube!)
1. "Welcome to the NHK"
Released March 2010, this is JO's third review offering to TGWTG about a young shut-in who can't get in to college or succeed in life and believes it all to be a conspiracy headed an evil, secret organization - you know, the ultimate in excuses. The review itself has just a little bit of humor to spice up what is really a solid analysis of a title known to anime fans, but not so much to casual audiences. Definitely give it a shot, if for the subject material, alone.
2. Chobits
Released: February 2011
Fast forward 11 months and we have a review with a clever little opening segment parodying a magical girlfriend anime about a lowly bachelor who finds a realistic girl robot who brings color into his dull existence. Some good analysis, one that will not offend most of fans of the show, with a little jabbing here and there make for a delightful showing.
Released: March 2011
Let me get this out of the way - I HATE this anime. I hate it with the passion equivalent to the energy given off by a billion suns. As a writer, the sheer idiocy portrayed in this series drives me to my limits as a critic. Having said all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed this review, and not just because she says the same about the writing, but because she enjoys the show, and has fun at its expense during the review, while still providing great critical analysis. Lovers (and haters) of the show will enjoy this review.
Released: August 2011
As a guilty please, I dig fan service anime. Yeah, that may come of as misogynistic, but generally, many of these anime are either too goofy to take seriously or so bad, they're good (think The Room or Birdemic), hence my justification for liking "Tenchi Muyo!" despite the fact the story is crap and the main protagonist wouldn't know what manhood is if you showed him a picture of his own genitals. This JO review was the second installment in a three-part crossover saga with Bennett The Sage into some of the worst the fan service genre has to offer and all three movies are bad and all three movies are good. The two really work off each other well, and while JO adds her usual insightful analysis, her disdain for the show makes for some heavy-handed snark that is just pure deliciousness.
5. FLCL
Released: October 2011
I was a bit weary when I saw this anime on JesuOtaku's review list, for precisely the reason that FLCL (pronounced "fooly cooly" - I don't know why either) is my favorite anime of all time, and if you watch all of her other reviews, JO is more about substantive storytelling than just plain, out-there goofiness, not to mention her dislike of inconsistent art quality and style - both of which the production studio behind FLCL, Gainax, is most famous for. Having said that, she places her biases aside and see the show for what it is and delivers a good review that is both critical and praising.
Released: August 2012
The last of the "Bennett the Sage" mini-series of reviews comes a fan service zombie apocalypse anime that would be more of infamous Italian film maker Bruno Mattei's bag and his fans' than it would be fans of the "Living Dead" series or "Shawn of the Dead." Again, both White and Chapman have great chemistry together and humor to what is otherwise an awkward anime to talk about - it's not quite "so bad, it's good" and yet sincere enough in what it's trying to do that you can't bring yourself to loathe it either. The review is a great watch, and the anime is fun for zombie fans and fan service fans alike (seriously, I've never seen breasts jiggle in this manner - JELL-O DOESN'T JIGGLE THIS MUCH), though likely for only one sit.
To close this out, I want to apologize for all of the links, and lack of videos, but that's not my fault, but that's OK. The reviewer I'm reviewing next is one of the more famous and polarizing reviewers on the Internet.
