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Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season
Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season
Aug 19, 2018 5:03 AM
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Overlord III
Overlord III
Aug 17, 2018 3:59 AM
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Boku dake ga Inai Machi
Boku dake ga Inai Machi
Jul 17, 2016 3:12 AM
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Tokyo Ghoul
May 13, 2015 4:03 AM
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Arsene_Lucifer Oct 10, 2018 5:36 PM
Over 2 years absent, and I'm still the last person who commented XD. So, how has it been?
Arsene_Lucifer Apr 26, 2016 6:35 PM
Yo! Happy Birthday!
Arsene_Lucifer Oct 17, 2015 8:51 PM
Yo man how you been doing?
Arsene_Lucifer Aug 30, 2015 7:08 PM
Hey! I've been back in California for a while so everything going well. Recently got interviewed for two jobs so that's off my back for now. I'm also helping two of my friends and my brother with writing. It's easy with my little bro since he knows I'll give my honest feedback on what he writes, but my other two friends they won't. They're afraid of me as if I'll tear apart whatever they write lol. I also manage to get rid off my stalker.

It took about a month to get my restraining order since it wasn't a domestic case and the filing would take longer to approve if I didn't have proof that she was a potential threat. I got her father who is divorced and he helped me out. Sadly, he said my case was tame in comparison to the 38 year old she went out with first. WTF came to mind when he said that to me. There was other things in the process like paperwork and an attorney look over it, but my money. Man, having it go into things I never thought I would ever need does not put a smile on my face.

When I did get it approve I was given the option of either doing the process in court, delivering the restraining order by mail, and do it personally. I was confused since I always thought it was done in court, but oh well. Pittsburg school system is broken so I should have expected the same for how its city is run. So I call Briana from a friends phone and tell her to meet me in a park. I bought a bouquet of flower and a nice looking envelope.

At night, when we're alone in some random park. After giving her some flowers I spout some BS about second chances. I make it appear like I'm going to confess to her with a poem before opening it up and saying in a over the top manner "RESTRAINING ORDER BITCH" shoving the papers in her face. Her face went from being happy to being absolutely shock to looking like she was about to cry. I still go on, telling her if she ever follows me around, my family, appear anywhere near me intentional or not I will call up the police and have her arrested. Her dad would help me out because of some unknown family issues. When she was about to show what I assume was her showing some humanity and getting the point that we never were a couple says why to me. The only thing that came up to my head at that time was the last time I broke with a girl by saying she's a Clingon. I'm pretty sure it went over her head like everything else she disliked hearing, but that seemed to have resolved it. She stopped bothering during the rest of my time their.
Arsene_Lucifer Aug 3, 2015 12:02 PM
Status update and other stuff
I finally quit my job at Sugar Creek (the bacon factory I worked at here in Pittsburg). Right now, I'll be enjoying some down time before heading back to California and starting the process again of maintaining a steady life on my own. Sadly in August, I'll have to do some more packing and moving around personal items. So I still won't be very active here until I get to California in about three weeks, but at least I get more opportunities to be on MAL compare to before.

There's still some things here that need fixing like a broken car engine and some bad floor work, but with my help I was able to put my family in a much better position than when I came here. They don't have to worry about not having food or loosing the house for a while. I also bought them a couple of nice things on the side that they've wanted. I would consider it a success, even if everything is not exactly fix. Some things are out of my control; like the terrible roommate my parents won't kick out for some reason. In my short time here I helped my folks out more so than their roommate ever does. It doesn't help matter that the roommate doesn't even pay for child support so on top of being a terrible roommate who eats allot. It wouldn't be much of a big deal if he put more than 50 dollars for grocery, but nope sometimes he gives less to my folks which pisses me off. Off course I can't do anything since I don't own the house, and also my dad can prove to me he's not hypocrite when it comes to parenting. Our relationship is complicated.

So I'll get out what happen here in Pittsburg, Kansas in this spoiler. Be warned though, working a full month (as well as overtime) without a day off has my head sorta fuzzy at the moment.



I manage to squeeze in time to see a couple of anime series, but sadly for most of them I don't have much nice things to say about. Lets start with Blood-C which is essentially the anime equivalent of being rick-rolled. Except of being mildly annoyed it makes you feel like you wasted your whole time when the twist in a 12 episode series basically amounts to saying "We knew this suck, but we still did it either way". There was plenty of things wrong with it from the weak writing and repetitive episodes structure. The really cheap animation didn't help matter. Backgrounds are usually deserted so when a episode tries to make it look suspicious that an entire school campus was empty you just assume is business as usual. I laughed when the characters acted like it was a big deal not to see people outside when most of the series have a lack of background characters. The music was forgettable all of which sounded like stock music you could find for free on the web. Pretty much it sucked. The only thing enjoyable about it was mocking the opening theme with my little brother and just laughing at the fact our mocking of how voice actor sounded (we basically joke it was more fitted for a mystical dragon) like actually turned to be a plot twist.

Another series I also finished here was Knights of Sidonia. Oh where to begin with this trite. It's basically the most uncreative and generic sci-fi story ever written. Granted allot of the ideas it uses have been done to death before, but in Knights of Sidonia it plays them straight without effort to go against an establish genre norm. It was a boring series to see because I able to predict every plot twist and who was going to die in the series within seconds of introduction. Now it does have the same issues Attack on Titan has like the lack of characterization before characters dies and inconsistent pacing, but it was twice the length of Knights of Sidonia so things like the world building, some developed characters, and some engrossing moments were pulled of successfully. In Knights of Sidonia since its shorter the issues are harder to forgive since the aliens never feel like a major threat. At one point in the series there's a montage of the MC killing Gana (or as I called them Ganerea since making fun of it was entertaining while predictable things occur). The length is my biggest issues with the anime. Due to it being 12 episodes there's major tonal shift causing for some unintentional hilarity. In one episode the ship crew made a big deal of turning the ship left and dozen of people got killed. I laughed at the fact the crew didn't bother taking into account the Gana can make turns acting like it would act tension. For a series that has future tech the people in the universe are really stupid.

In one episode around 300 Knights disobey orders to save a single person, yet in the final battle in the anime when fighting against a planet size Gana around thirty are sent. Surely some of those knights would disobey military orders to save Sidonia since those same knights put Sidonia in danger when leaving it in order to save Tanikaze. There's also odd humor about making fun of the fact the only person who can save Sidonia needs to eat more.

For me it was too familiar to too many sci-fi stories that did nothing to separate itself from the crowd. In the anime medium I don't see it as anything special either. It doesn't have the tight writing or fantastic character moments like Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199/Space Yamato 2199 nor the style or entertainment of Cowboy Bebop. Like I said in the last paragraphs it shares many of the same issues I have with Attack On Titan (though I love it, the flaws makes it interesting to discuss with other), but due to the length and lack of creativity of seeing anything new being done it’s a forgettable viewing experience.

Another series I saw here is a 3 part OVA called Garzey's Wings. Oh man what was absolutely rushed train wreck which words cannot do justice to. It's currently only the fifth anime I have given a 1 too (the others being Mahouka (obvious reasons as to why), Green Green, Blood-C: The Last Dark, and a one hour movie). It was rush, had terrible animation, hilariously bad voice acting, and altogether was incomprehensible beyond belief. To top it all off I see the studio behind it in the closing credit is J. C. Staff. This made Garzey's Wing an even stranger experience since it's completely out of character to what J.C. Staff usually does.

I am enjoying a couple of anime don't worry. I'm currently watching Yona of the Dawn which has a typical story if your familiar with the princess outcasted from her kingdom storyline making it predictable. However, the pacing works to its favor since it provides time to develop characters, include world building, and at around be just a pleasant watch. I was actually surprise I had a better time seeing the first episode than I expected since at the time I just first episodes of Death Parade, Steins;Gate, Monster, and another series I can't remember which failed to hook me in any way. Yona of the Dawn comedy is also pleasant helping it feel different from my experience with the fantasy genre. I would still recommend you try checking it out even story beats will familiar to you.

Monster I'm liking a good deal. I do have issues with it like there being allot more plot convenience than expected and switching focus frequently. As a whole though the slow pacing is to my liking. I do favor slow pacing despite what animes I have on my favorite list since more time spent to developing a story properly I have a great appreciation for. The characters are interesting, the mystery surrounding Johan keeps it interesting, and that music is godly. I'm not kidding. As soon as I heard the opening theme I made sure to obtain a copy of the OST for monster. Another series I'm liking is Log Horizon. I'm almost done with it, but unfortunately my work held back from finishing it for some time and the fact my little brother wasn't in the mood to see it together.

Reviews wise I sadly didn't plan anything in advance. My free time got eaten up more so than expected. Sometimes I would just go home, lay down on my bed, and just knock out without noticing. I do know what I want to reviews since I did recently see a couple of series I just can't stop thinking about for good and bad reasons. One of them being Death Parade. Though I have my list of issues with it trying to properly convey them in writing turned out to be a greater challenge than expected. There's also Steins;Gate a series I don't have much of an high opinion of. I went over my complaints with my little brother who liked it at first, but later came around to having a opinion to me on the series the closer we got to finishing it. I'll tread lightly on Steins;Gate, but after posting my Aldnoah.Zero review I shouldn't be surprise if I get angry PM's regarding it and possibly saying I have no right to complaint about it flaws when I have Attack On Titan on my favorites.

I always feel stuff, but I guess it feels like that since I worked at Sugar Creek. So far the only place that was able to demoralize me. Whatever job I end up getting when I get to California (though it'll pay less) will be better than in the miserable company that is Pittsburg, Kansas.
Arsene_Lucifer May 3, 2015 11:19 AM
Got to make this quick! Finished Space Yamato 2199. Loved it. The last three episodes weren't what I expected, but they were nothing short of great. Get to you on it in greater detail next time I have time to log on.
Arsene_Lucifer Apr 26, 2015 10:39 AM
Vice versa. Lets get the first thing out of the way. Happy Birthday Apolex! I made sure to make time in my current erratic schedule just make sure I wrote this.

Finally got around to replying to the rest of your previous. With internet Pittsburg, Kansas is at least bearable, but without it I'm pretty much bored to death since there's nothing much to do in a small town. My only access to anime is watching whatever I downloaded before coming here. I mostly got stuff my little brother didn't get finished seeing like FMA: Brotherhood, Samurai Champloo, and Parasite. The ones I got that I didn't see were Mahouka, Wolf Rain, Space Yamato 2199 (unfortunately episode 19 didn't work, though by the time you probably read this I likely would have finish the series by now), Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Ultimate Survivor, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, and a couple of other anime.

I don't prefer downloading anime much because sometime there are missing episodes. Like I downloaded a file of Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Ultimate Survivor that has three episodes missing so I can't complete it because of that. Also, that's a great series. If you like Light Yagami allot you'll also like the MC in Kaiji Ultimate Survivor since he also puts allot of thought into his situations that you get a good feel for who he is. Anything new airing this season I'll have to play catch up with once I return to glorious California. So I can offer any thoughts or impression on anything airing. What sucks most is there's whole of friends I can't talk too.

I might as well share with you a story I shared with Dex on his profile if I haven't already done so on his. I wrote this ahead of time so who know if I finally got around to post anything on his profile. So some context, when I used to live here in Pittsburg, Kansas I had a green hair stalker by the name of Briana. I was a senior in high school and she was a freshman. She told me directly she liked me so I told her we could be friends. In her head she thought it meant we were dating so I cleared up the misunderstanding, and unfortunately that wasn't where it ended. I had the misfortune of running into someone I couldn't remember until he spouted out some awful pickup lines. To be truthful, "You're so fine, you must have wrote the book" I wouldn't consider a pickup line or the way worse "Every second your electric like a thousand bolt". He invites me to a party on a college campus. Somehow my Oscar the Grouch colored hair stalker Briana knew I came back to Pittsburg somehow. Creepy.

I go to the party and she put me on the spot to sing karaoke. I didn't recognize her at first since she had change her hair color. So I took the mic saying I'm going to free verse it and sing a song from the top of my head. So try to imagine a room of confuse college students hearing someone they never seen on campus saying "Shake your skeleton" several time. Despite my bad singing, I was still the best person who performed and at that point my stalker revealed herself to me. Putting me on the spot of how I made her cry when I told her we were just friends. Don't know what's she up to, but don’t really like having a stalker XD. Especially now that she now blends into the background.

The spoiler is for everything related to Aldnoah.Zero


I saw a bit of OreImo and wasn't impress by it at all. That first episode had a obvious contrivance by having the brother bump into Kirino in the first episode all because he forgot to put juice back into the fridge. I found that one action odd, and unfortunately turned out to be an example of bad writing.

My little brother seems to like it, but that's only because he could relate to it. I could relate to Light Yagami, but if I removed that familiarity with Death Note it still has other things going for it. For my brother, I think that's the only connection he has to it and actually laughed at OreImo jokes more so than I expected. However, we are watching Mahouka at the same time which also has incest done incorrectly among other things. In Mahouka the MC sister personality is basically saying Onii-Sama and loving him. In comparison OreImo attempt to cover that same topic in a comedic fashion is more commendable in comparison. Right now I think it's meh to be honest. If it keeps going the way it is than the best I could hope for is average from that anime. I got similar complains, along with the added it doesn't make a strong argument for being otaku in Japan.

What bothered me is how it didn't address in general how every form of media has that if its only a one sided view you're seeing it from. Grand Theft Auto for instance is often bashed by the media and parents for apparently promoting violence, yet that isn't the case in the actual game since if you kill anyone the crime won't go unpunished and most the characters actually suffer for what they do in their life. It's like if my parents saw an episode of High School DXD and then assumed all anime was like that without seeing anything else. In OreImo, the brother argument against his father was it's okay to be weird since she was perfect in every way. Or something close to that in the anime. It only works if the person is in a similar position to Kirino and not for everyone. That same argument wouldn't work for someone whose failing their classes for pursuing their hobbies.

Watamote was a good slice of life anime, but unfortunately it suffered from the failure to move past the status quo. The reason I don't see much slice of life anime is because the status quo doesn't change so my commitment to it has no big payoff. The humor was a one trick pony, but it was varied with the type of jokes it did. Another thing that gets overlook is the anime is never actually mean spirited towards Tomoko. No one actually mistreats her in any hurtful way even her brother. Everyone around her is nice to her and don't ever shunned her for being a loner. That's far from an accurate depiction I can tell you from personal experience (in most of my sophomore classes I played the loner). If you liked Watamote you might want to try out Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. It's a fun slice of life anime that subvert some common trope in the genre, but it falls victim to the status quo. The only slice of life I've seen avoid that issue has been Bakuman so far. I'm sure there's other slice of life anime that actually progress the story. I just haven't come across them yet.

I'll try getting to the Attack on Titans OVA eventually. If it wasn't circumstantial I would only have myself to blame for not getting around to seeing them as soon as possible. I like the world so more world building for me is a plus. I have faith in season 2 at least being entertaining, but then again the director hasn't ever done a second season of anything he worked on to be honest. Still, his direction will make it worth watching at least. The live action movie on the other hand is what I'm worried about. Asia in general doesn't have a good track record with digital effect compare to the West film industry. You'll be surprise to learn when a movie does have CGI (like The Social Network) it's shocking.

I planned on finishing Space Yamato 2199 before writing my reply, but unfortunately episode 19 that I downloaded didn't work. I was going to send you another message with my thoughts on it, but who knows when I'll get another chance to do so. By the time you reply or I'm able to get online I would have already finished it. I still have a hard time accepting the same studio responsible for all anime adaptations of To Love-Ru (an ecchi) did Space Yamato 2199. There were shots were I did go like that's what I expected from them, but in general it was refreshing for me to see the studio, Xebec I think, tackle something I wouldn't picture them doing. Consider the spoiler below my impressions on 2/3 of third of it for now. I doubt my good impressions will change considering how many things it did correctly already.

Space Yamato 2199


Arsene_Lucifer Apr 12, 2015 7:28 PM
Thanks for the birthday greeting. I don't mind it being late, it still means alot to me. I would reply to the rest of the comment. Unfortunately my phone isn't exactly suited for indepth discussion. Whenever I get time I'll write a proper reply. Got a stubborn bank that won't close my account and a expired state ID (the bank won't believe who I am) holding me back from that for now.
Arsene_Lucifer Mar 17, 2015 5:24 PM
I'm not surprise by the reaction to the reaction to Aldnoah.Zero. It appeals to a specific audience even if means sacrificing traits of what makes a great anime. It's kinda like watching an action movie that has clear inspiration from classics film; more empathizes is put on creating cool scenarios than actual storytelling like what inspired it. Some will like it for pure escapism and blockbuster like entertainment, while I will dislike it for wasted opportunity and in general boring battles. I still can't believe a mecha that's over 30 years old has me more excited for it mecha battles than something made last year.

Inaho isn't really an interesting analytic lead. He doesn't change like Light Yagami or is as over the top as Lelouch Lamperouge in his personality. In episode 10, there's a opportunity for Inaho to get character development and justify his emotionless personality. A supporting character asks Inaho sister why he doesn't show emotion and all she answers is he does. It's unexplained why he's like that; my personal theory is a long time ago his parents probably died. Unless it explained in season 2, so far the anime hasn't addressed what happened to his parents. If there was a line of dialogue the explain something bad happen to someone important to him than I would be easier to except him as he is. Other than he's like that just because. I prefer Amuro Ray in the original Mobile Suit Gundam (which I found out had a remake) because there's chances for him to loose, and in the recent episode I saw he was involved in real combat without a robot. There's a moment in the anime where Amuro Ray is in shock that a women wants revenge of killing her fiance in a battle. He's shaken up by the fact and further dawns on him the consequences of fighting in a war. Inaho never expresses anything for anyone he kills. Even Light Yagami of all people who killed who knows how many was shaken up by his first killing. In all areas, Inaho just isn't worth an investment for me.

My rant actually is longer when all put together. I like over 5000 words when combined to together. As for the camera thing I still stand by it. Even if there was smoke the enemies bullet wouldn't penetrate the shield so a simple solution would have been to wait, and then resume the attack. Trillram was ordered to kill soldiers, but instead wasted his time chasing a truck against order. By simply waiting Inaho entire plans crumble. Not even the action did it for me because the pilots simply accepted death. Inaho was the only pilot who bothered to move. As for the sword wielding mech that armor is inconsistent. It take an explosion blast directly without getting a scratch, but a crane with a metal shipping crane is greater than a explosion to dent the sword wielding mech. It took a blast from a battleship which if applied physics it would break several laws. Also, if Inaho friends listen to him that also would have been another case where he died because if it weren't his friends not listening to him he would have died. The ending...well I hate it no surprise. I didn't connect to any of the characters, it didn't feel much like a worldwide conflict, and in a earlier scene Inaho gave a anti-war speech of sorts. So yeah that ending is another discussion in general.

Ouch! OreImo sounds....rough to see. That little sister sounds horrible to be around. I like slice of life like Bakuman where there is some growth in the characters into maturity, but in general I don't bother seeing them much.I might see it to share the pain since that's the reason I Aldnoah.Zero. A friend of mine kept talking about terrible the story was, so I gave it shot. I went in it with a open mind, but as soon as Inaho showed more emotion for a sales for eggs than when the Princess is getting killed (which is why I don't buy their romance either) in front of him. If I do decide to see it (pretty unlikely given what I want check out soon) I'll know your suffering.

Watamote I would say in general is one a person show. If you dislike Tomoko than the whole anime doesn't work because it has allot of referential humor and doesn't change up its brand humor much. I would say it's a decent anime, but something that audiences in general put allot more depths into than there actually is to be found.

Good news. I finally started Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 after you recommended it to me like months ago. As usual, I give my first impressions on it and then maybe if I don't procrastinate actually give you my full thoughts on it soon. Right now, I'm only two episodes into the anime. So, it pretty much took less than a minute before I was sold on seeing it. Not since the opening of Yu Yu Hakusho have I been won over so easily in such a short span of time. What I like right off the bat is the animation and the great usage of 3D. The battles look awesome and with fine directing make them appear bigger than life. The characters that were introduced I can see promise in growing and the little glimpse of the crew interacting with someone before they board Yamato is a subtle to say that everyone has something to loose and fight for on this journey.
Arsene_Lucifer Feb 24, 2015 12:23 AM
So I finished the first season of Aldnoah.Zero and...I hated it XD. The music was fantastic however. Sawano never disappoints me whenever he composes a score. Only if the writing was just as good. Now I'm in season two...not a good impression. Oh man, I definitively now understand why the first episode frustrated so many fans.

Notice you're watching allot of Oreimo. How's that anime for you?
Arsene_Lucifer Feb 21, 2015 10:23 PM
I had the same problem with Space Dandy too. My least favorite episode in the series was the zombie episode in season one. That second half was just awful XD. It was the worst episode in the series for me. The amount of variety it had is was kept me coming back. I remember reading the director wants to do a season 3 which I'm all for, but who knows if that'll happen. As for Uchuu Senkan Yamato I'll probably check out the original eventually, but I'll start with the remake first. It'll basically be a reverse viewing of the original Mobile Suit Gundam where I'm checking out the original first even though it has a remake.

Good thoughts on both Fullmetal Alchemist adaptations. You're the fan of the series I came across who despite liking Brotherhood more doesn't consider the original trash. Heck, even my little brother who never saw the original says Brotherhood is better. I say otherwise, but that's mostly because of personal preferences. I liked how I constantly kept worrying about the Elric brothers fate. In Bortherhood I knew how it would turn out and my guess were correct. Though, the ride their was just as well written even if it felt familiar in certain area like other shonen.

Also, I'm seeing the first season of Aldnoah.Zero...basically I hate it right now. Oh man, I think Inaho is now my low standard for MC. He sees a sale for eggs and gets excited. Within the same episode, he sees the princess of Mars get blown up and remains stoic. There's clearly something wrong about that picture. Of course, I love Sawano music for it. Though, there's a track on the OST that sounds similar to a track use in Attack On Titan. Aside from the technical stuff, nothing about it is really connecting with me.

I also stumble upon a great short film from 1956 that you might enjoy. I remember you telling me you're not a fan of old animation, but you might be surprise by it like I was when I first saw it. It reminded me of Gankutsuou and how I've never seen that sort of animation before. It doesn't use the same art style as Gankutsuou, but rather looks like it was done by puppets which looks stunning thanks to the masterful usage of lighting. The short film is called Yuuer Sen/The Phantom Ship. It's a pretty simple story about revenge, but man those visuals are splendid being completed by a good score. The only bad thing about it is how very few people have seen it.

Arsene_Lucifer Feb 9, 2015 7:52 PM
So I finally finished Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood today. Well actually, I pretty much marathon like a dozen or so episodes on Friday, Sunday, and today so I literally saw something like over 8 hours of Fullmetal Alchemist in less than a week. I wasn't hooked on it like when I was when I watched Death Note. It felt more like seeing multiple episodes of Attack on Titan at once; I like the series allot to multiple episodes in a single day, but not enough where I feel it's addicting to see. Be prepare because reading this entire comment might take time.

Lets get the obvious out of the way. I like the original Fullmetal Alchemist better. I think both are great anime, but there's certain things the other one does better over the other. For instance, the female characters in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood are better done. They are allot more of them in Brotherhood and most of them are better developed. Except for Winry who stills get sideline, but since she's in more episodes in Brotherhood it makes it that much more unnoticeable that she isn't contributing much to the story. The original had me wondering if the Aleric brothers would get their bodies while in Brotherhood I was wondering when are they going to get their bodies back. It was mostly because Brotherhood had traits of a typical shonen and had the lead saving the world story which made certain plot point easy to predict. Like I expect a coup d'etat once Bradley was revealed to be a homunculus. With the original I could never guess where it was going to go making the journey allot more impactful and tense for me. It wasn't a shonen where the leads goes on to save the world which in turned led to allot genuine surprises.



In terms of animation both are fine, but the clear winner would go to Brotherhood simply because of the action scenes. In the original, the best action scenes were all in the intros all of which had no bearing on the series. Brotherhood did have some cool action scenes in their intros, but they also had good action scenes in the series where it actually mattered. In terms of music I would say it's a tied between both. In the original I liked all the ending tracks and in Brotherhood I liked all the opening songs. Golden Time Lover (the third opening track) is awesome track I can't stop listening too. The same goes with the intros and outros for both series. Even if the opening and closing animation had terrible songs playing I would still say seeing those always adds to an anime viewing. Voice acting would also be tied since both pretty much have the same cast.

In general I prefer the original because it story wasn't predictable whereas Brotherhood because of it shonen traits was a dead give away on some things like the ending. For my taste the original is far better suited for me, but Brotherhood on the other hand I find to be an execellent shonen for how it does it.
Arsene_Lucifer Jan 28, 2015 9:00 PM
My bad on the somewhat late reply. I was taken by surprise this month to find like six new request in my inbox when logging on and also helping out two users on their reviews. Nothing like editing, but more like encouraging them and also giving my thoughts on some of their ideas. I did not at all expect my friendlist to grow like it did.

The two episode structure of Darker Than Black made it hard to get into, but once the second half developed the main cast it got easier to stick with it. They managed to create allot of good characters and memorable storyline in that series. While slow, at least the pacing paid up in the end no matter how rough it was in the early goings to get into it. Monster with 74 episodes I'm not as surprised by the slow pacing. For me, Berserk nails down the slow pacing perfectly that at times it's surprising when an episode ends. Which I did not expect from it. Monster is in the plan to watch of my list, though with 74 episodes that'll take a while to finish. I don't mind slow pace series so long it's done well like overpowered characters. Don't think you over interpreted Gankutsuou. I did see it rather irregularly, but wouldn't be surprise if there was something I missed while seeing it for the first time.

It's like an animated documentary. An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict. It's a fantastically told story and to date I think still the only fully animated documentary. The visuals really help it in recreating some of the scenes the veterans recall from their perspective. It's unique in how effective it is. The story is not exactly something everyone will get into since it does discuss war in a very lengthy manner. At the same time though, there is no animated film like it. If you finished reading Watership Down you'll be amazed by the film adaptation. The director worked on another movie called The Plague Dogs which is just as good. Unfortunately the director only made two animated movies which is a shame since if he kept on making mature animated movies than the mindset of animation in the US would likely be different from how it's viewed today.

I like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann allot, but the fights did feel repetivie. In almost every fight a new power or weapon got introduced which took away from the suspense. Also, fighting spirit is no different than the power of friendship or believing in one self. Except in Gurren Lagann is played up to an extreme over the top manner that makes allot of fun as well the battles gradually getting bigger as it reaches the ending. I couldn't take most of the supporting cast dying in the second half since they didn't much personality. That ending though was fantastic. I do agree Kill La Kill perfected the formula Gurren Lagann tried out. Though, I'm guessing the Matoi costume is probably the only reason why the series isn't as big or more popular than Gurren Lagann for doing a similar thing, but in a much better fashion. Uchuu Senkan Yamato keeps peaking my interest. Once I'm done with the remake I'll try out the original.

SMT is sorta niche and the publisher makes a tiny amount of physical copies when releasing them. So likely you're better off getting a digital copy than a physical one since they're hard to find. They stand out from the typical JRPG franchises that even the major players like Square Enix has taken some inspirations from it. I played Skyrim a bit, but like with Fallout 3 I couldn't get into the game play. The story is fine, but playing it feels like a drag to me. As for Fire Emblem there's a new one announce. Unless it's for the DS I'm out of luck since it's the only Nintendo system I own. Don't rush your play time with video games. Enjoy them at your own pace.

I saw three episodes of Assassination Classroom and seems like it'll have the same problem Akame Ga Kill did with the tone. It's mostly lighthearted, but then takes some serious tonal shift when it tries to be serious. There's no smooth transition. Although, at the moment it's entertaining. I do expect the humor to be a one trick pony since the studio hasn't expanded on the joke, but I'll wait and see how it turns out.
Arsene_Lucifer Jan 11, 2015 11:08 PM
It was quite the anime, though the series never explains why he calls himself the Count of Monte Cristo. I didn't mind the pacing. Unlike Darker Than Black which also had a slow pacing I Gankutsuo had an overarching story to tell from beginning to end. It just took some time before I came across something in that anime that got me hooked. You must really love that series. You have so have so much thoughts on it. My experience is a bit more scatter so recalling stuff is hazy. Agree on the music, though still found it good. The ending track is the closest I would probably would listen to without seeing the anime.

Ghibli has allot worth checking out, though most of what they make aren't as deep as Grave of the Fireflies or Mononoke Hime". In "From Up On Poppy Hill" there's a twist in the movie that's really does nothing for the story. It's about teenage love and life which would have been fine. However, when the story introduces a twist it doesn't explore the topic they could have explored with that twist. The young couple are unsure how they feel about each other now with the learned information. It's more insulting when by the end of the movie they drop it completely. I would still say to see it since it's a pleasant film. There's also Pom Poko which is direct about it's save the environment message. I suggest seeing it since the animation is imaginative. Though do prepare to see allot of Raccoon balls lol and using them for all sorts of things like faking being humans being. If you check out everything from them you'll be fine. Aside from Tales of Earthsea, they tend to have at least one thing to like about their films. So you're safe with them. There's The Plague Dogs, Watership Down, and Waltz With Bashir I would recommend seeing in your free time since Mal doesn't have them on their site.

If you want something you could add to your list then go for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time/Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. It's escapism at finest in portraying the best of youth and eventually growing up into an adult. I highly recommend it and it has a good female character. Same goes with Summer Wars which is directed by the same person as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I would also suggest Millennium Actress (2001) which has a deep story and on a visual level it's lovely. Actually, anything by Satoshi Kon you should try to check out. There's also another animated movie about an hour long called Hal that sounds interesting. It's about a girl who lost her boyfriend in a plane accident and has a robot in her place. If you ever see any of these please share your thoughts.

Not much of an FPS fan either. The two FPS I like the most were Timesplitter: Future Perfect and Resistance 3. Aside from those two, I haven't replayed many. Online multiplayer isn't a draw. I prefer third person shooters in general like Uncharted and Sleeping Dogs. I've played Fire Emblem: Awakening. The gameplay is great while the story is solid. It just doesn't bother to develop the characters. It's pretty much up to the player and how they play to see if they want to see it developed.

Shin Megami Tensei I got a lot to say about. To put it shortly, it's a RPG series that lets you decide the fate of the world. It's awesome because you either follow your own path, side with the demons, or the angels in almost every game. That sort of branching path isn't offer much in RPG's let alone an entire franchise that lets you do that.



For currently airing anime I don't have much to offer. I would say stay away from Yuri Kuma Arashi at the moment. It doesn't have much to offer unless you want to see lesbian girls teasing the viewer with a possible kiss. So far, the first episode makes it come across as if it's just going to offer fanservice. I say check out Assassination Classroom and Death Parade. I haven't seen them, but have a friend who has. I trust them their opinions and have faith in those series too. Watamote go for sub. That voice actress nails it.
Arsene_Lucifer Jan 8, 2015 8:15 PM
Hey Apolex! I finally finished Gankutsuou just today. I might like a month late in finishing that series I planed to finish watching it in December, but got wrapped up in other stuff. To put it shortly I found it to be a great series, even if some of the supporting cast get sideline until they're needed to progress the story forward. Unfortunately I can't make a direct comparison to the novel since it's been years from the last time I read it, but will admit it took me a while before any of the anime events started to click with me. I was wonder why none of it seemed familiar to me, and then I finally figured out the point of view of the anime story is told from Albert perspective where in the novel it was told from The Count of Monte Cristo perspective. It took me like 17 episodes before I came to that revelation. Either way, time to dabble on it.

For the first four episodes I felt the style was used in order to cover up a weak execution of a good premise that showed promise. That was until episode 8 where the story delivered a good hook for me and made me want to see what happened next. In episode 8, The Count buys a new mansion which he states is haunted and plays a game with his game to see if they could find the haunted room that is left untouched. Before that episode the plot was thickening showing clear signs that all these people were in some way connected to The Count, but building on the mystery instead of showing it immediately. Past that Episode 8 it was smooth sailing from their and my viewing experience grew in favor of it with each passing episode.

The only time I actually was questioning what in the world I was watching was Episode 18 with the duel between Franz and The Count. That was some awkward looking 3D, but the episode before that I felt was one of the best. Usually in series when a character announces a deal it occurs with in the same episode. So I was taken by surprised when it ended with no deal. It's welcoming for me. For someone who study writing in several classes over the years I welcome that small unorthodox narrative choice. The same with the pre-finale episode. All the pieces were in place for Episode 23 is be the big finale to end the series on a high note. With everything that occurred in it I was certain it was the last episode, but it wasn't. The last episode was smaller and a more proper ending for the anime. If it ended with Episode 23 I still would have been happy, but the actual last episode that shows what happened five years later give it further closure for me. Showing what happened to the characters made the journey all the more worthwhile.

I can't really comment much on the Japanese voice acting since I only saw the English dub. If it has Johnny Bosch Yong in a lead role there's no question which version I'm seeing first. Though his performance was underwhelming. He didn't get many opportunity to change his approach so for most of the series his performance feels the same from episode to episode, though when he when allow to show a different side to his character he pulled it off. Without a doubt the best actor in the English dub was Jamieson Price as The Count. His performance for the character was spot on and he aced literally every single scene he was in. The animation style is unique and left wondering how in the world Gonzo Studio managed to animate it the way they did. It give the look of a classic painting. I do know for certain they use photoshop for some parts since some the trees I notice were somewhat live action images, but past that I stuck at being amazed and left wonder how it was done. You don't need me to tell you, but the soundtrack was magnificent. It's nothing I would listen to repeatedly, but they were all good tracks. Especially the opening which was made better by the end of series.

Hopefully this I'll manage my anime viewing allot better, though I'm not off to a good start. Been playing a lot of Far Cry 4 and Kingdom Hearts on my PS3 recently. The story in Far Cry 4 is weak (and has one a terrible ending), but it's an improvement over the third entry in the game play department. I actually enjoy playing it this time instead being annoyed by a specific design choice that tarnish the experience in the long run. Kingdom Hearts I got both HD releases, but haven't finish a single game in them yet. I'm liking it allot more than expected. I can't tell you how glad I am that a current release game doesn't have some sort of bug on day one. It's a blast, though with Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker set to be release this year which it will take my time. Same goes with Persona 5 (I'm an Shin Megami Tensei addict, need me my dose) a franchise I'm a huge fan off so I will dedicate some time to it. Aside from that though, I don't think anything else this year will eat much of my time when I decide not to watch anime.

See you started the first episode of Tokyo Ghoul root A (haha, that title). I'm planing on seeing too, but first got to get to finishing some of the anime I'm currently watching. Got to make space of for Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 and other anime I'm planning on seeing this year.
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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