Customer Reviews

Pumpkin Scissors, Vol. 1: Honor and Blood

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although the premise seems a bit cliched, and the trailer doesn't nearly do it enough justice, Pumkin Scissors is a wonderful little series that establishes itself nicely in this first season. We're introduced to a delightful cast of characters and a situation that is unique to war-driven anime: it takes place after the war. Each character is well developed and they seem as much like a family as the guys at Section 9 in GitS. Anyone looking for action won't be disappointed, but this is a drama driven war story that doesn't get to heavy into it's main plot. This is something only touched upon lightly, but you know there is something bigger going on. Instead, the majority of the series is character exploration and a collection of stories about the Pumpkin Scissors dealing with the effects of war on the populace. It really is a great series and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new anime.

I'm a bit ambivalent towards this show because most of the characters in the "War Relief" team are stereotypes that I've seen before (lecherous dude, mild intellectual, cheerful girl who serves tea and a middle-aged chief who spends much of his time reading a paper and has nothing useful to say). For an army unit, this group is pretty useless. The bright stars are 18 year old Alice, noble born and idealistic, cute and prone to striking dramatic poses with her sword and the giant Randall. Yeah, Randall makes this show for me. He's well over 7 ft tall, seemingly indestructible and wields an awesome pistol - great for killing the crews of tanks. The giant doesn't speak much but I find him the most interesting of the team. It's amusing to see people react to him! Alice is remarkably accepting of Randall, not even asking about his past, but I think their relationship will deepen as the show progresses. One thing for sure, with Randall the "War Relief" team became a lot more combat-worthy!

The war was over and the empire would never be the same. The after-math of a major war could leave cities, towns and the people in chaos as famine, plague and problematic people are common place.

The Empire has created a new division within the 3rd section of the Information Bureau. The new division is called "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" and their mission is to assist areas that are devastated.

Unfortunately, to some people, the "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" is looked at as a group of people who are just the pawns of the Empire that is just there to suppress the people and really, just organized to be "politically correct".

But leading the "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" is Lt. Alice Malvin, a daughter of royalty but chooses to serve the military and help the people who became the casualties of war. She believes in justice, while many think she's out of her mind.

But with each dangerous and deadly mission, she meets up with a very tall soldier who joins the group. A former corporal of the 901 anti-tank battalion but what the PUMPKIN SCISSORS don't know is that once he turns on his blue light, he becomes like a willow-the-wisp. A killer who fears no one, not even tanks and seems to have super-human abilities and healing factor.

"PUMPKIN SCISSORS" is based on a manga series found on Monthly Shonen Magazine published by Kodansha. The TV series is 24-episodes long and the first volume contains episodes 1-4.

The first volume of "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" is an exciting tale of a division that the Empire really doesn't put too much faith in but with each episode, the odds are always against the four-person team but somehow they pull through.

In a way, "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" reminds me of "Fist of the Northstar" (not the violence) in a sense that you see a group of underdogs who come into an area, they don't look like much because there are only four people in the group but watching Lt. Anna Malvin show her true heart of wanting to help people and then having the tall corporal who longs for peace but once his lantern is turned on, turns into a killing machine.

Although the series, episode by episode works in this type of fashion of the team venturing to different villages and helping them with their problem, there is a balance of humor and violence. It's actually quite interesting because sometimes when things get deep, there is always an upcoming humor element, a human element and then of course, there is bloody violence.

On episode 1, it's merely an introduction to the characters but how many soldiers have tured corrupt and using tanks to hurt people. In this case, shooting a chemical weapon against the people in the village, leaving it to PUMPKIN SCISSORS to obtain the antidote.

Episode 2 features a corrupt noble who is willing to give a lot of money to a resident who can survive a game of cat and mouse. In rough times, many villagers take part in the game to hopefully win the money but because the noble uses a tank to catch the villagers, no villager has survived the game. PUMPKIN SCISSORS is called to stop this man but instead, the team are forced to be part of the game as mouse.

These are examples of the kind of storylines featured on the PUMPKIN SCISSORS anime series.

I enjoyed the animation for this anime series, its nothing super spectacular but I like how they capture the essence of villages and also the battle sequences and the references to the 901 past.

GONZO continues to do a great job and the Japanese voice work is good but I also enjoyed the English dub because I felt it captured the characters quite well and more believable.

Special features include the clean opening and ending theme and previews for other ADV series.

"PUMPKIN SCISSORS" is definitely an anime that people shouldn't judge by its DVD cover. Or even its name. I suppose I was a bit skeptical with the references to a pumpkin and the cover is not exactly showcasing the excitement of this series. But know right now, "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" is a very cool action-based anime series.

I enjoy the series because the "PUMPKIN SCISSORS" are always looked at as an underdog group that is not too important to the empire. They are just there to be the "make you feel better" speech givers to those who survived the war but have no food, have no jobs and yet at the same time, you have a leader of the PUMPKIN SCISSORS division who thinks about the people and if they aren't eating, she feels its her obligation to not eat as well.

And for her being a daughter from a noble family, she learns how fortunate she is to have food on her table but at the same time, because of her beliefs, she wants to see right with the people in the ravaged villages who feel that they have no voice when it comes to the Empire and Anna wants to be their voice.

"PUMPKIN SCISSORS" shows the side of post-war and how villages all over have been destroyed or people left to die by starvation and sickeness.

I do feel that the humor at times felt a bit kooky especially when you enjoy the violence and the action sequences for the series. To see a dog bit into the heads of people (as a humor plot device) just wasn't funny for me especially how one soldier's job was to watch over that dog.

But I really like the characters in the series. Anna has a pure heart of wanting to help the people, as does the corporal who despite seems to be lost because all he did was kill the enemies during the war and now that there is no war, trying to evaluate what peace is about and also understand why "PUMPKIN SCISSORS, specifically Anna, works hard for peace and to help all people.

All in all, it's a straight forward anime thus far. It's enjoyable to always see the underdogs triumph but the first volume introduces the characters nicely and you can tell the series is setting something up something major, especially the past of the corporal and possibly why, when he turns the lantern on, he turns to a killing machine.

An enjoyable series that is full of action, intrigue and suspense. A good balance of violence and a touch of zany and kooky humor. I highly recommend this series.

It has been said that securing the peace is every bit as challenging as fighting the war, and that is certainly true in this collection. It tells the story of a military intelligence unit (that acts more as a civil affairs unit) trying to make a difference in a brutal postwar environment. It is led by an idealistic young aristocrat turned soldier named Alice Malvin, and populated by a diverse of both professionals and misfits.
The story revolves around the groups efforts to try and help their battered homeland, and the resistance they get from both nobles and peasants who are either profiting from the disruption or hurting from so many broken promises. In the midst of this, the team must try to understand their newest member, a huge but gentle man who can turn into a brutal killer with no regard for his own safety in an instant.
This works out to be a pretty good setup for this story, as Alice's inexperience clashes with the cold hard reality around her. There is also the question of her new addition, and questions about special weapons that haunt this story line. I only wish that more time would have been spent on the conspiracy and less on the soldier himself, but hopefully that will improve.
There's an interesting and challenging story at work here, and I definitely think there's quite a bit of potential. But, don't expect to walk into a simple war story. This one is going to take time, and a bit of patience.

After seeing this first volume I can understand why the buzz became so huge right away. This opening volume really set the stage for a story that I'm going to be interested in seeing more of. The characters were fun and this volume started some mystery that I'm now just as curious as the characters are to solve it. This is one that I'm suggesting everyone keep a close eye on.

PUMPKIN SCISSORS is a collaborative effort between Gonzo and AIC, and is based on the six-volume manga series of the same name. Here in the aftermath of the Great War one Alice Malvin is charged to take command of an elite team where tanks are attacked with handguns. Her mission is to expose corrupt power lords - but her discovery of an alien military technology challenges her mission.