Waring this review may contain spoilers
First impressions: So my initial thoughts on this series were very much colored by the words of a friend of mine, who said it was amazing and great, and that I should read it because it is so good(Editor’s note: That’s not what I said, at least not like that). Usually I am not one to buy into hype, but I humoured my friend and I was quite surprised how good this series actually was.
Story: 7/10
There is a quote “the ugly truth is so much better than a beautiful lie”. However sometimes the truth is so shocking, and so world
...
shattering that it may be better that the truth never see the light of day again. The tale I present to you is a tragic tale, a tale of the man who was brought down not by any fault of his own, but by jealousy, trickery and deceit. Of course I’m getting ahead of myself, let's get to the actual story.
So the story of Record of a Fallen Vampire at first glance seems like this mish-mash of different, disparate, and familiar genres and plots. You’re presented with a man named Akabara "Red Rose" Strauss, a universally hated immortal vampire king with no kingdom, who’s perpetually on the run, being hunted at every run he takes. And you have a curse, known as the black swan, that possesses young women, and compels them to challenge the aforementioned vampire king, with their lives at stake. And then, there’s also an alien invasion approaching in the distance.
One would think that a story with this sort of setup would clash in quite a few places, mainly because of that last element. In fact, I will admit one of the weakest elements of the story is the alien plot. It's mostly just used to get characters, who under normal circumstances would kill one another to suspend their conflict, and work together, to defeat the looming threat, for them, and all of humanity. And I guess it did its job in that regard, that didn’t make it not boring to read though.
However, what this series does really well, and what I found the most interesting about the story is the building-up of Akabara, the mystery of his past, his true nature of his motivations, and what set him on the path of being seen as this world’s big bad. Throughout the story, we’re presented different perspectives, and interpretations on these matters by various different characters. But as you read on, it becomes more and more evident that the information, and interpretations of said information these characters have oftentimes not wholly consistent, or more often, outright false, and what constitutes the “truth” about Akabara changes quite a bit from its initial form. Furthermore, this is often made stranger still by the fact that Akabara himself acts and expresses himself very differently from the big bad others would build him up as.
I feel this perpetual state of ambiguity, ambivalence, and aggressive subjectivity gives the reader a strong hook to keep reading, in order to find out the truth, and what happens next. And while I normally complain about a story being so inconsistent with its lore and story, suspended big mystery box included, Fallen Vampire really makes it work, but making it the very essence of the story, as opposed to something to obstruct it, or distract from it. Furthermore, the truth of the matter ends up being so romantically tragic that this story made me feel a little something, which is rare, to say the least, with the ending just compounded, and completely justifying it.
Characters: 7/10
The lead Akabara, is in many ways a perfect red rose, a borderline saint in many regards, and close to perfection as possible manifest. Basically, he’s a Gary Stu, and while I normally would have an issue with this, Akabara is one of the rare cases of such a character being able to work for a story. This is because he’s used and presented with the rather realistic & tragic consequences that can result from someone being that way. To quote a friend of mine, “If the Red Rose had been a little less perfect, there might have been a different ending. But he was perfect, in every way.”. Because what set Akabara down the path he now walks was one single act of self sacrifice. To paint the scene During peace talks with rival countries Akabara as a gesture of good faith volunteered to expose one of his arms to the sun, destroying the limb permanently, only to have his gesture blow up completely in his face when it was discovered that he was one of the First vampires to develop immunity to sunlight. And after that event everything comes toppling down for akabara, and you would think that he would be angry & vengeful at the world, but not because he would rather play the villain to preserve the world than let the horrible truth be revealed. It is this reason why I have very mixed thoughts on the character. On the one hand you have this Gary Stu character, yet at the same it is painted with this layer of tragedy.
As they say misery loves company and some of the supporting or side characters have quite a few things to deal with that are rather tragic.
For example The 50th black swan is Kayuki Hirasaka who at the start is rather ambivalent towards Akabara. Although She does like the idea of being the big hero that slayed the evil vampire king, however as she and Akabara start working together and get to know one another she starts to question what is the truth of Akabara's past, and what is the origin of the black swan curse. Only to find out the terrible truth of it all and to realise the pointlessness of the conflict. By the ending point of the story she is confronted with a hard choice to make, let Akabaara live, damming her to a short and tragic life, or to kill Akabara to free herself from this curse. Which in the context of the story was well done.
Most of the other supporting cast and side characters
Have similar character arcs or motivations, there about revenge or being the big hero, only to realise that not everything was what it seems and how pointless everything truly was.
Art: 6/10
So the art for this series is what I would describe as good enough.
As the quality of the artwork is serviceable and does a good job of getting the point across.
And I thought most of the character designs I found are decent and where pretty cool However the backgrounds are kind of basic, and found the designs of the aliens while creepy they are rather piss poor as these designs are very similar to works from the 80-90s that feature these unknowable aliens, and honestly these aliens just come of as boring and dell as dishwater.
enjoyment/overall: 7/10
This series was one of the series that I was quite surprised that I quite enjoyed.
It had a nice mystery, that was built up well, a good sense of tragedy and that ending made me shed a tear. Overall if you like vampire stories I do believe it has something to offer you and I feel this series does capture some of the more romantic aspects of vampire stories, for example the timeless aspect, needing a sense of purpose & being an immortal creature sucks if you have nothing to live for. However if your not into series that blend a lot of genres together record of a fallen vampire is one of series that mixes a lot of everything together to less than great effect as lot of the elements this series has often clashes with one another and i think if your not a fan of those types of series your going to find record of a fallen vampire not your cup of tea.
special thanks to my editor Lonecrit for his help.
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Apr 9, 2022
Vampire Juujikai
(Manga)
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Waring this review may contain spoilers
First impressions: So my initial thoughts on this series were very much colored by the words of a friend of mine, who said it was amazing and great, and that I should read it because it is so good(Editor’s note: That’s not what I said, at least not like that). Usually I am not one to buy into hype, but I humoured my friend and I was quite surprised how good this series actually was. Story: 7/10 There is a quote “the ugly truth is so much better than a beautiful lie”. However sometimes the truth is so shocking, and so world ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 11, 2019
Highschool of the Dead
(Anime)
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Warning: This review contains spoilers.
First impressions: When I heard this was one of the very few zombie apocalypse anime, considering my penchant for gore and zombie apocalypse movies, I thought this would easily be worth checking out. It’s only 12 episodes and an ova anyway, so even if it sucks, who cares. Not like I’d be wasting much time. At least it’ll most likely make for a nice time passer, even if it’ll probably be forgotten after a week. Story: 5/10 Now, while one would expect a story of this caliber to not do so well, it surprisingly does a pretty ok job of showcasing what would ... happen if a zombie outbreak just up and happened. The people going crazy, the breakdown of society and the pervading chaos in the streets, all staples of the zombie apocalypse genre that add detail and credence to the environment. Let it not be said though that the series doesn’t indulge in the absurd, yet not necessarily implausible, what with bits like the school teacher that creates a sex cult out of his own students. Unfortunately, yet not surprisingly, issues are also abound. A big one being that the series itself never goes into any depth as to why what’s happening is happening, nevermind questioning it. Instead, the show just more or less tells the characters, and by extension the viewer to simply accept what’s happening. On top of that, it fails to properly explore the presented underlying animalistic nature behind the veneer of human decency, ethicacy and morality that manifests when push comes to shove. Additionally, it displays how spontaneously capable various normal people can be in the chaos and uncertainty because of the ordinarily superfluous skills and traits they possess. It plays with the implications of the characters thriving more in the apocalypse than in regular society, but alas, that too goes the way of being window-dressing. Finally, this is not so much a problem with the series itself, but rather because of an unfortunate tragedy. The creator of the source material passed away before its completion, making the ride that is Highschool of the Dead destined to go unfinished, with little material past where the anime ended. And with that, its latent potential goes unrealised. Characters: 6/10 For characters I’ll mostly be focusing on the survivor group, as I feel they’re the only ones worth talking about, given that the only thing there is to say about the side characters is that they exist. So out of the main cast the first one to start with is Takashi, who at first is portrayed as slightly broody and indecisive, shown through his relationship with his childhood friend Rei that he likes, but doesn't tell how he feels, who just ends up dating his best friend. This all changes though when the zombie apocalypse hits and survival mode kicks in, as he quickly starts showcasing his capacity for bravery and decisiveness. Generally he becomes the kinda guy that gets shit done, which is shown most clearly in scenes like the ones where he gets jumped by a dude that wants his bike, only for Takashi to shoot him at point blank and leave him for dead as zombies approach or when he saves a little girl from a bunch of zombies just cause it’s the right thing to do. Pretty much a schlocky teen zombie survival horror movie leader in the making. It would’ve been great to see his character arc play out in full, and for him to progress all the way from rejecting the idea of being group leader to completely accepting that responsibility, but unfortunately, that just isn’t to be. Next is Rei, Takashi’s childhood friend, who’s the kind hearted, caring team mum type character of the group. Her development and progression were mostly well done, as she learns to deal with the world’s shift and goes from rejecting what’s happened, deluding herself into thinking things are gonna be fine and not wanting to fight due to viewing the zombies as people to accepting reality and rising to the occasion. The only drawback with her is that the whole drama with her and Takashi was just played out teenage drama crap that didn’t fit in with what was going on around them. Saeko personality wise is the calm and composed head of the school kendo club. She's basically a bladed yamato nadeshiko, because nothing says Japananese then being an absolute monster with a Katana. The major problem with her character comes in halfway through the series, when it’s revealed that she enjoys brutalising others, and that she’s internally conflicted over that part of herself. While the idea of a character questioning themselves over something in them that they deem wrong and trying to deal with that unsavoury element of themselves is good, one has to question the show’s intelligence when it decides to bring this up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The environment in which her skills and natural inclinations are both needed, and highly valued. Now if Highschool of the Dead were any other kind of story, like say one set in a normal school setting, this could've had more impact and pertinence from a character drama angle, but as is, this element is just kinda an eyesore. Saya’s the “smart” one of the group, as evidenced by the fact that she’s the only one that wears glasses(aside from Kohta, but he’s an otaku and male, so doesn’t count). While she’s a very intelligent girl that manages to come up with some very practical solutions to problems, she also suffers from rich, snobby bitch-itis, due to her family’s high social and financial status, and the standard that sets for her. Now it transpires that she views her family as controlling and oppressive, even if they actually end up being quite supportive and caring, for which the corresponding drama ended up being boring and hamfisted. The only redeeming moment was when she got bitchslapped by Takashi, so she would calm the fuck down already and finally just talk to her unexpectedly baddass family. Kohta’s the fat otaku nerd, you don’t originally expect anything from(aside from going on to write Drifters), but never judge a book by its cover. When the chips are down he’s the man to reveal himself to be a massive gun nut, to the point of having gotten gun training from a former member of delta force. His little drama revolves around his struggle to have more faith in himself and his ability to get shit done. This was probably handled the best out of issues plaguing every other member of the show’s cast because of how understandable and relatable it is, as well as how nicely it concludes. Shizuka is the nurse, as well as the token milf. She’s just a total ditz, only really being around as injury insurance and comedy relief, not really serving any other purpose, aside from filling out the breast size spectrum and driving the group around. Finally, Arisu is the token innocent kid that the group save along the way, which of course comes with a puppy included, that got left along in the world after a group of randos indirectly caused her dad’s death by leaving him, along with her out to die, which of course barely impacts her at all. Visuals: 7/10 The art and animation are pretty decent for the time this series came out, not really surprising, as when it comes to this department, if in none other, Madhouse sure knows how to deliver. Even so though, a particularly notable aspect of the art I really like is the level of detail that was put into the backgrounds. The lighting that’s often applied to them helps add this very creepy tone to so many scenes. Couple that with the barrenness of a lot of the streets and buildings and the pools of blood everywhere and you’ve got yourself some prime schlocky horror movie atmosphere. The animation while flowing nicely, with high octane action scenes, that are packed to the brim with that oh so gory goodness, have the problem of the gore being lacking in detail and variety. There’re quite a few blood sprays and everything’s consistently covered in blood, while not looking uniform as a consequence, but even so, that’s not enough. There’s so much more that could be present, like dismembered limbs, bones and organs flying all over the place, like in various 80s or 90s OVAs, the absence of which takes away from the goresploitative nature of the series, making it feel somewhat neutered as a result. Fortunately this problem is somewhat mitigated by the show’s various camera angles, giving different points of view from which the action scenes, among other types can be observed. Another point in favor of the show is that the character designs are pretty well drawn, not to mention attractive as all hell. Although one slight knock against them is that they’re ever so slightly excessive with some of the proportions, as some of the characters can look a bit off model, not to mention this design tendency can be a bit distracting during action scenes. On the bright side, there are definitely worse distractions out there than ‘dat jiggle and bounce. Also, I didn’t know how to organically fit this in but Saeko has my favourite character design, due to the presence of several elements I really appreciate, including, but not limited to, good ass and tiddy, the color purple and swords. Sound: 6/10 The opening is nice to listen to and has a good beat to get you hyped, despite suffering from “sounds like too many things by the same band” syndrome and the ending themes provide a large enough variety of songs to listen too, even if I personally don't like any of them. The OST by Takafumi Wada, who worked on series such as The Seven Deadly Sins and Terra Formars is pretty good and has quite a bit of variety. The voice acting is good, both in the sub and dub, although the dub is the recommended version, as the dialogue and cool one liners work particularly well in one’s native language and help add the necessary level of seriousness to many of the situations the characters find themselves in. Enjoyment: 6/10 Needless to say, I enjoyed this series quite a bit, albeit for very basic reasons. I love blood, gore, action and just zombie apocalypse media in general, for which Highschool of the Dead did a pretty good job of doing justice to. Also what with being the man of culture that I am, I was able to greatly appreciate the visually “refined”creatively depicted and pleasingly prevalent boobalicious content that this show has in unusually high levels. Overall: 6/10 If you're looking for a simple action show and you like zombie and ecchi, Highschool of the Dead will most certainly provide what you're looking for. It's very straightforward, simple, the girls are sexy, the action’s cool and the kills are entertaining. It’s just an all around good time. Of course if your not into that, you should maybe, just maybe, avoid this show at all cost, unless you just so happen to be a massive Tetsurou Araki fan or are a massive Masochist, in which case hey, how you enjoy yourself is your business. Special thanks to my not so consistently paid in Yu-Gi-Oh cards and slightly pissed editor Lonecrit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 1, 2019
Musekinin Kanchou Tylor
(Anime)
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Warning: This review contains light spoilers.
First impressions: So when I first heard about this series, what I was given to understand that it was some sort of parody of Legend of the Galactic Heroes or Space Battleship Yamato. Not exactly a setter of the highest of expectations. As the saying goes though, you can't judge a book by its cover, something that’s especially the case with Irresponsible Captain Tylor. Story: 7/10 At first Tylor seems like your very run of the mill 90’s anime, featuring space, aliens, an episodic plot structure, light ecchi elements and lots of comedy. Fortunately though, this proves not to be the entirely ... case, as while the story progresses, it becomes more than just a happy-go-lucky space adventure. It does this through the addition of the themes and messages it explores, such as learning how to deal with responsibility and the virtues of avoiding fruitless pre-existing reasoning constraints. Possibly the biggest draw to the series though is the comedy. There’s a running joke in the series that arises from the juxtaposition between the results of Tylor’s actions and what those actions imply about him and the reality behind them and him. Thus the question arises in the minds of tangential forces to Tylor as to if he’s just a idiot with the devil’s own luck or an unrivaled tactical genius. It’s this contrast between expectation and reality, as well as the moves that are made as the result of that misunderstanding that the show makes its comedic break and butter, to excellent effect too. Not only does Tylor manage to make this joke funny, but it even manages to somehow keep it fresh throughout by also playing on the show’s nature as a space opera parody. It’s damn impressive and very moving that the people making this series put so much effort into it as far as storytelling goes, specially considering the state of light novel adaptations now. Unfortunately, a big issue with it is that it's an incomplete series, even considering the existence of the OVAs. While the TV series may have ended on a high note, there’s still uncovered content and plot points in need of expanding on. This necessitates the viewers search for the unfortunately unavailable light novel for proper closure, cheating them out of the full experience. Other that this glaring issue though, the story’s pretty good. Characters: 7/10 Main character Justy Ueki Tylor is at face value is a happy go lucky idiot, who always maintains an indifferent policy towards the concept of rules, regulations or anything getting in the way of his good time. Or at least so he would seem initially. While that is indeed a pretty accurate statement, there’s a lot more to him than what meets the eye. Some of Tylor’s core values can be boiled down to "don't live according to someone else's rules" and "do what you want the way you want to". Values that manifest themselves as a casual disregard for orders and basic military structure, which are the most telling of his character. As such, the Tylor we get is basically what happens when you give a free spirited, lazy, irresponsible airhead actual authority. Despite his accidental success though there are some things he does which actually warrant praise, as well as merits he possesses that contribute to his overall success as a leader. To name a few, his understanding of his crew and how to get them to their full potential, his very unpredictable nature, his unusual humility, his honesty and when push come to shove, his selflessness, indicated by his willingness to risk his own life for the safety of his crew. Aside from the man himself though, I’d like to mention a few crew members that I believe are worth mentioning. The first one I’d like to mention is Yamamoto, Tylor’s right hand man and one of a few straight men to Tylor and his many antics. He’s a massive stickler for rules, regulations, proper protocol and all that good stuff, although despite this fact he starts to develop a deep respect for Tylor as the series goes on. This is triggered by Tylor giving himself to the Raalgon empire, so the crew of the Soyokaze could be saved. It’s only after seeing this act of self-sacrifice that Yamamoto starts to question his perception of Tylor as an irresponsible, airheaded idiot. As a result, he quickly begins to feel unworthy of his military and social position. This is turn inspires him to re-evaluate his way of doing things and go against everything he knows in his pursuit to rescue Tylor from the Raalgon empire. Another character which also stands out is Azalyn, the newly appointed empress of the Raalgon empire. The interesting thing with her is that she starts out as a normal teenage girl, at least for a princess, until the assassination of the preview Emperor, when an unfathomable level of responsibility for a normal person is foisted onto her. As a result, recognizing the importance of her new duties, puts on the front of being a level-headed and authoritative ruler, despite the pressure being very close to too much for her in the inside. Then somewhere down the line, she meets Tylor. It’s then that after being exposed to his personality and way of doing things, new desires and feelings are awakened inside her, prompting her to want to relinquish her position empress. Fortunately for her people, after talking to she reaffirms the importance of her position and leaves aside what might have been. This time with a stronger than ever will to improve herself as an empress and become a better leader for her people. There are also other characters I could talk more about in greater depth, like Yuriko Star, the straight woman of Tylor’s crew, but for the sake of brevity I’ll abstain from doing so, instead opting to give sound thoughts of the rest of the crew as a whole. That being said, the rest of the cast are decent. Some of the characters are better than others, although even then, in the case of Tylor’s crew that’s made up for by the fact that even the simple characters, through their relationships and overall dynamic, as a whole are amazing and manage to give the Soyokaze a real sense of life. Other than that though, most of the other characters are just kinda whatever. Visuals: 7/10 Tylor’s animation is just amazing, looking very fluid and lively. Not only does its looks brilliant for the time it came out, it still looks great even now at the time this review is being written. The backgrounds look decent for their time, with special attention going to the excellent job this series does at capturing both the emptiness and viscerally surreal beauty of space. The billions of constellations, that glow and shine of the stars, but also seemingly endless cold, empty void. Included are some very nice, and definitely most appreciated 90’s visuals, energy shields and lighting effects, essentially any old school fan’s dream come true. Character designs while being bog standard for the time, have a lot of charm to them, especially marine core members of the crew, who are the craziest looking bunch of characters I’ve seen in this series to date. Looking at you Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. So quite a few visual comically quirky touches to be found. All in all Tylor does really well in the visual department. Sound: 6/10 The opening theme is amazing, both the japanese and English, so much so that I opted to add the song on my pc. It’s not only catchy, but comes with a very up-beat message that fits the series very well. The ending theme on the other hand while fitting for the series, just doesn't really click with me. Maybe it's the somber tone or just the visuals. Whatever it may be, the ending’s just not my thing. The ost by Kenji Kawai of Ghost in the Shell, Ranma ½ and Mob Psycho 100 is decent. While not good enough for me to listen to on its own, the tracks never fail to add something special to the scenes they’re in and help give the series its signature charm. The sub and dub are both viable ways to consume the series, although It’s worth mentioning that while the sub is fine, I prefer the dub for this series, The the English voice actors just manage to put so much emotion into their roles, making them feel more convincing than in the sub as a result, with a special mention going out to Crispin Freeman giving 110% at giving 0% as Tylor. Enjoyment: 8/10 Captain Tylor is the GOAT and honestly one of the reasons I continue watching anime. It's very rare for a series to keep me entertained this much even after multiple rewatches. Maybe it’s the 90’s aesthetic elements that I’m oh so very biased towards, but the story and characters while simple, have a lot of cham to them. The series feels like it has a real heart and soul to it, rather than just being an empty product placement for the light novel it’s based on. Overall: 7/10 Irresponsible Captain Tylor is a bonafide 90’s anime classic and one of the best series ever produced during that period, and is perfectly indicative of the type of anime that gave that period its soul. Not only that, but as a comedy it works so well on so many levels and has a wide cast of characters that feel so very alive and human. It’s the fucking GOAT! End of story. Special thanks to my paid in Yu-Gi-Oh cards editor Lonecrit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 19, 2018
Fate/stay night
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Spoiler
Warning: This review contains spoilers.
First impressions: When I first heard about this series I had very mixed feelings about it. For starters, it’s based on an erotic visual novel, at the same time though it's also a free-for-all battle series, complete with mages and historical figures fighting each other to the death over a magical all purpose macguffin. “Sounded right up my alley” I thought and this series became my gateway to Type-Moon, which has provided me with tons of entertainment and has become one of my favourite franchises, in part due to me being an amateur history buff. Plus, I think the whole idea ... of the Fate franchise is a very novel idea, which as of yet, I don’t seem to have grown the least bit bored of. Story: 6/10 In the normal Japanese city of Fuyuki, an age-old ritual takes place, the holy grail war, a battle royale over the Holy Grail, a magical item which is said to grant any wish its possessor desires. Seven chosen masters are assigned their seven destined servant heroic spirits and must battle each other to the death, until only one pair remains. Main character Shirou Emiya, who lost everything in a fire and was saved and adopted by a self-proclaimed sorcerer named Kiritsugu Emiya is to be one of said masters. In admiration of his stepfather’s kindness, he decided to train to become a just magical hero, but after his stepfather passed away during the last holy grail war ten years prior, his training has been less than fruitful and in present day, he's an amateur sorcerer without much skill or knowledge. One day, against his will, he becomes a master for the 5th holy grail war, after accidentally summoning a heroic spirit named Saber, and so his battle for survival begins. The story of this anime is an adaptation of the Fate route from the Fate/Stay Night visual novel, which is probably my least favourite route for various reasons which I’ll get into later. As far as battle shounen titles go, I’d say this one is in general a pretty decent one. Not only does it deliver on cool fights, but it also provides a slightly interesting, albeit shallow commentary on morality for the uninitiated. It explores the different ethical viewpoints of its characters while they're going through the holy grail war. The major problem though is that this series tries to have its cake and eat it too by juggling a serious death battle with slice of life and pseudo-harem elements, making it that much more jarring when any serious plot elements come into play. Case and point, despite the fact that Emiya is kidnapped, or even nearly killed multiple times while either at school or doing mundane things around town, as if the fact that there are people out there trying to kill him is completely a non-issue, serving to both make the show look tonally inconsistent and him look very very stupid. Even worse, quite a few of the masters who lost their servants during the war end up taking residence in his house. Including ones that tried to kill him before, who are still a potential threat. This is completely hand-waved in favour of playing out various slice of life romantic scenarios. As a result of this tonal whiplash, I stopped taking anything in the series seriously and decided to enjoy the ride for what it’s worth. Unfortunately, to me, that’s not much, as the route the anime covers is pretty vanilla when compared to the visual novel’s other routes. The anime just gives you the bare basics of what you need to know about the series, while leaving a lot of things so deprived of detail that the provided world and characters end up, as a whole feeling very sterile. Plus in all honesty, the plot twists in this series are iffy at best, not to mention predictable if you’ve any experience with any kind of stories that feature magic or objects that grant wishes, like the plot twist concerning the true nature of the holy grail isn't really that shocking when you consider that so far no one has won the holy grail and made a wish with it. The only reason the Fate route is even remotely worthwhile is due to the interest it builds for the franchise as a whole. That, and the route’s character of focus, Saber and her fascinating internal conflict in deciding whether to make her wish and redo the past or accept the past and live a normal life with Shiro. Although I feel the romance that happens between them is somewhat forced in some regards, I still find it cute and enjoyable. Characters: 6/10 Main character Shirou Emiya is probably this series’s weakest point. At first glance he seems to be a one-note character, who’s selfless nature compels him to become a just hero, to the point that he’s willing to risk his life to protect people with no concern for his own safety, and no amount of additional glances will change that perception. Minor cynicism aside though, his major problem is bare bones characterisation, a problem that could be supplemented with some internal monologue, except he doesn’t have any of that. This is quite the missed opportunity too, as in the visual novel he’s significantly more layered than what one would initially think, specifically because he has that one factor going for him. Additionally, he’s held back character-wise by the fact that there aren’t many tests of his character, which if existent, would allow his character to bloom into something a little more reminiscent of a human being. It’s because of this lack of trails to overcome and grow from that his outlook isn’t really validated in any meaningful sense, making him mostly just come across of the same naive, ignorant kid he was in the beginning. Saber, the heroine of this route thankfully has at least a little depth to her Character, at least when compared to Shiro. The clash between her stoic warrior side and her feminine side, which comes out increasingly more due to her growing bond with Shiro is quite interesting, Unfortunately, she mostly just comes across as a plank of wood that only deals in extremes, taking away greatly from that aspect of her character. To emphasize my point, early on in the series there’s a scene where Shiro walks in on her in the shower and she doesn't care, as she feels that any particular emotion being inspired over such a thing unreasonable, but later into the series, during a very similar scene, she get extremely self-conscious, mainly due to her awareness of her physical appearance, to the point where she comes across as an entirely different character. What that tells me is that to properly function as a warrior and as a leader she had to sacrifice her femininity, mind, body and soul. A very interesting concept, as it shows both the strength of her resolve and the crippling effects of the momentous weight that’s been placed on her shoulders during her whole life. I will say though, I’m kinda bothered by the fact that she’s King Arthur turned female, as I think that that idea, while interesting, is rather problematic, due to seemingly being done more for fan service more than anything else. Because this is based on a what’s essentially a porn game, there have to be sex scenes, therefore there has to be a female lead, otherwise I think it would’ve ended up alienating most of the main demographic or anyone who would even bother with watching it, unless saber was a Trap. The side characters are a really mixed bag. Most of the ones that aren't Shiro’s school friends are either one-note or multi-layered. This route is, in general, very good at characterising its cast in a very subtle show, don't tell way. Caster for example, who’s at first built up as just an evil witch, is later on showcased as having various different sides to her in a very subdued, natural way. For example, there’s a scene in which she and her master get backed into a corner by Shiro and friends, only for another heroic spirit to enter the battle and try to kill her master. It is then that she chooses to stand in the way of the attack, and die as a result. Its actions like this that some the cast have some semblance of depth, as well as add a very interesting theme, that of morality being in the eye of the observer. Even though quite a few of the cast members are supposedly evil, or commit evil actions, they are proven time and time again to have the capacity act in selfless, and in some cases even honourable ways. Thanks to this, the show manages to create very nuanced take on morally. Unfortunately, there’re still the odd characters that are so inhumanely evil that you can’t bring yourself to care about them beyond the way in which one care about a funny joke, like Shiji. Alternatively, there also characters that are so blandly good people that they’re entirely lacking in flavour, who only exist to either provide some sense of normalcy or information on what the average Joe thinks is going on in the city, like Taiga. Art/Animation: 5/10 Considering the time this came out, the art and animation are more or less passable, maybe even above average, excluding the god-awful CGI dragon scene, which to be honest looks like it was rendered using a PS1. Although, when compared to other series like Death Note or Ergo Proxy, which look astronomically better, despite coming out during the same year. Hell, even when compared to a lot of 90’s anime, like Trigun or Cowboy Bebop, Fate/Stay Night doesn’t even come close to competing, something which is very telling of where it’s at on the totem pole. All in all, the production values aren't exactly great and definitely haven't aged well either, which I feel is the reason why quite a few people don't watch this series. This is a major problem, because it also affects how the battles look and play out. The fights often feel stiff as a corpse and to add insult to the injury, most of them are the characters just talking. This means that the entirety of a lot of confrontations is a sleep inducing few minutes of a clunky mess, preceded by an only slightly less sleep inducing dialogue. But hey, on the bright side, who needs Ambien? On a more seriously positive note though, I actually do really like the stylishly anime character designs a lot, especially in regard to how Lancer, Caster and Assassin look and feel. Sound: 6/10 Despite how it’s been doing so far, this series at least somewhat excels in the sound department. The first and second openings are decent enough and help capture the epic feeling that goes hand in hand with the content. Unfortunately, the ending songs aren't really that noticeable or memorable, even if they fit the series well. The OST was done by Kenji Kawai, who’s worked on other series like Higurashi, Barakamon and Ghost in the Shell, among many others, so one would expect nothing less than quality from someone with such works on their profile. Unfortunately though, while on point in most scenes, is way too subdued for its own good and doesn't build on series’s strengths. One could argue that the more subdued nature of the soundtrack helps capture and amplify the emotions and feels of the characters, who in there lives have come to shoulder many burdens and regrets, in particular their heroic spirits. Now in that regard, I’ll give it points for adding some sort of narrative subtlety. However, I feel a more epic sounding one, like for Unlimited Blade Works or even Heaven’s Feel would fit this series better, given that the material it goes with is essentially about mages and fantasy heroes of old duking it out. The sub and dub are both passable, with both the versions’ voice acting teams doing quite a good job with what they had to work with and more than successfully capturing the personality of the characters they were playing. Enjoyment: 6/10 I’m an amateur history buff, and therefore quite enjoy learning about history, I found the pseudo-historical element of this series to be very interesting. Additionally, the idea that history isn't exactly as it is written, which especially evident with the characters of Caster, Rider and Saber in particular added quite a lot of extra appeal for me, something which Fate/Stay Night managed to do a really good job of capitalizing on. Although the flip-side of this is that for the history you’re presented with, you have to have an open mind and take everything with a pretty hefty grain of salt. The fights were also quite enjoyable, because of the philosophical perspectives expressed by characters during them, lending them some much needed engagement and impact. This is because these additional aspects serve to make the fights, not just over glorified sword and club fights, but rather broader reaching ideological conflicts. It’s thanks to the aforementioned that Fate/Stay Night was, enjoyment wise at least pretty much love at first site. Overall: 6/10 As far as battle royale series go, Fate/Stay Night is pretty decent overall. Unfortunately, it’s as deep as some would make it out to be, due to the fact that the route this anime covers is the fate route, which I said before is kinda the barebones vanilla route of the set. It only show the bare basics and doesn't really shine on its own, unless you really like the character of saber. As an introduction to the franchise and Type-Moon in general though, this series does a very good job of selling on it, even if the production values leave just a little more than a little to be desired. However, if you’re looking for more depth or generally something more extreme you're better off watching the Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven’s Feel adaptations, which are in all honestly are the peaks of this entire franchise. Specially since they are not only way more interesting in story and characters than Fate/Stay Night, but also feature a god tier OST and animation, not to mention being very pleasing on the eyes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 28, 2018 Mixed Feelings
Warming this review may contain spoilers.
First impressions, ok to be completely honest I only originally checked out this show because it had a trap it in and I liked all the memes that where coming from this series was what originally got my interest, but of course once I started watching it there was a lot more than to the series than I first thought. (Also quick Side note i will be covering both seasons of the anime in this review) Story, 6/10 So in today's modern anime where half the series that are coming out are about ether about high schools or cute girls doing cute ... things how dose a series My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU stand out in a market which at this point has already reached peak inflation, besides being about a bitter, anti-social teenager named Hachiman forced into a school club called service club, the that help people fix their problems, totally haven't heard about this before a seruies about a high school student being forced into an excuse for plot club with cute girls and sarcasm aside. The story is basically the three of them trying to fix poor, poor Japanese high school students problems and there some sort of love triangle forming because light novel. which at first thought I figured this is just going to be another generic school romantic comedy that I would forget in a week, and considering my experience with the medium you can't exactly blame me for having that viewpoint. But i was very surprised in how even though this series is mostly about high school bullshit, i did find it interesting that this series actually talks and criticiszes human society. Well to be more specific it's more aless socal commenty and the problems that can arise which i find very interesting and the fact this series trys to more thought provoking than your average romantic school comady with teenagers is really impressive to say the least. The ideas of don't always go with the crowd, be yourself and some people are going to be two-faced assholes. the fact it doesn't devolve into otaku culture to get it point across just adds weight to the commentary because whoever wrote this dose has this understanding of how people tick and doesn't use it for an excuse for edgelord bullshit, but more a less is telling you this is normal human behaviour and it isn't perfect, but that's fine because even if problems do come up there are ways to fix them to get around them. But the major prolem is even though it's a lot more thought provoking and actually trys to be interesting with its messages and etc, it is sadly constrained by the fact that at the end of the day it is still a teen romantic comedy in high school and you can only take it so far intill it implodes on itself, and another prolem I have with this series is that it has this meta commentary asspect where its makeing fun of the tropes and cliches of its genre, but also realays on sied tropes and cliches for its plot beat. So comes off more like its mocking itself rather than any meaningful commentary on the subject and I for one hate that kind of humour in anime with a passion because it just isn't funny. When Hachiman is being an asshole that's when I find the series funny because I find his brand of no fucks given just comedy gold and this meta humour or references to other series just feels very forced. Speaking of forced the love triangle in this series between Hachiman, Yukino and Yui is the most forced thing In this series, because even though I find the "friendship" they forms together really sweet and endearing. But at the same time, I feel the romantic dynamic to there relationship feels tacked on for the sack of waifu wars or stretching out the story longer than it has to. Characters, 6/10 When it comes to main charter Hachiman, he is a breath of fresh ear if you are used to the generic Japanese high schooler template that may series use nowadays. Becuase What makes Hachiman so great as a character is that he has a personality that you can define and isn't a just a blank self-insert. He is this cynical, anti-social asshole that just doesn't give a fuck, and what him really interesting as a character is that despite the zero fucks personality. There is a part of him that does care for people, it's just most people misunderstand his intentions. Becuase Hachiman is basically an anti-hero in a way because he is willing to shower the burdens of being hated in order to shit done. I feel as far as teenage characters go Hachiman is very feel written for what he is, at times he feels almost human in a way instead of being this cardboard cutout. When it comes to the other members of the service club Yukino and Yui. Even though their personality is kinda standard fare, there is a lot more depth added to them and a lot more thought put into them so they come off charming than anything else. But besides that there not really that memorable when compared to Hachiman. Side characters are in the same boat as Yukino and Yui but worse. Their personalities are really watered down even if there is a tad bit of depth to them. I don't remember their names and I will forget they even exist within a week because I found them so boring. Now I will say that the dialogue and interactions between the charters are a lot more intriguing than the actual charters themselves. Because this series likes to dive into social interactions into more depth and thought than most series of its genre. For an example, there is a scene where characters could seem happy on the outside, but inside there really angry and are dropping this passive aggressive comments. Which I liked. Art, 6/10 The animation runs quite smoothly and the art keeps up a decent quality, But background looks like they were painted on at times. Of course, the second season lessens these issues I have to a degree with everything looking a lot more polished and slighty more detailed. Art style is basic and the character designs are pretty standard fare, but I will say that the main charter little sister would look really great in some doujins though. Sound, 5/10 The first oping song was pretty good, but everything else hoping and ending wise was kinda lacklustre at best. There nice to listen to i guess but they didnt really get my interest. The ost was done my some japanese music studio named MoNaca who have some very fumous people under them like for example keiichi okabe, satoru kosaki and kakeru ishihama who from who i can gather so far was the main dude behind the ost for this series. Its not that bad of an ost to listain its just nothing really got my interest and make me feel like woh i need to download this and listain to it over and over again. Enjoyment, 6/10 So when it comes to enjoyment, i enjoyed this seruies for what it was and i have even got 10 volumes of the light novel. I think what really got me into this series it that it actually tries to provide some sort of thought-provoking content, which is very impressive for a series that is about high school bullshit. Overall, 6/10 If you like romantic comedies I would say that my romantic comedy snafu is worth at least checking out, because it tries a lot harder than most of its genre. Which I think the effort alone should be prised to some degree But that doesn't mean it is the masterpiece that some people would claim it to be. Because it is highly limited in what it can do because of the high school setting, if its setting was in college or maybe the Japanese workplace it would properly have a lot more impact in its social commentary and it could talk about more things.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 7, 2018 Recommended
Warming this review may contain spoilers.
First impressions, so when i first heard about this seruies in my rookie days, I first thought in passing that it was about a county hillbilly and the used sexbot he found in the trash bin. Which don't get me wrong the series is anything but like this in the slightest it just during the rookie days I was very willing to judge things with quite the superficial leans rather than judging the content a series provides. Chobits is one such example for me of how you never should judge a book by its cover. Story, 7/10 So in our modern ... day society where almost everything is connected to the internet that allows us to talk with people from all over the world and have endless information at the edge of our figure tips or smartphones that can download terabytes of porn at the speed of light, what is going to be the next big leap in technology. Well,the answer is obviously sexbots robots with wi-fi capacities but in all seriousness and jokeing aside. The next step in technology would be humanoid robots and advanced A.I that look and act almost human and how would that development affect humanty and socialty as a whole well we are about to find out? So the story of Chobits begins being is about a poor as fuck college student named Hideki who trying to make it in the big city, one day while coming back from work he comes across an abandoned persocom unit laying in the trash, seeing this as his only chance to get a persocom he takes the unit home with him, hoping to reap the benefits of owning his very own computer. While trying to activate his new persocom he soon finds out that his new persocom is completely blank and can only say the word chi. after seeking help from local computer geeks he learns that he has to teach his new persocom unit ( who he has named chi) everything she needs to function day to day life, while a bond starts to form between the two. So Chobits is basically clamp honest attempt at talking about human and robot relations and how they affect society as a whole. Which in all honesty I have seen the concept done better in series like time of eve and ghost in the shell which not only talked about this concept with more maturity and depth but also talked about the psychological, physical and social issues that came with it. Now When it comes to a social commentary I feel this is where Chobits fall flat on its face as its more a less focuses on emotional impact than anything else Rather that any meaningful social commentary, beside people likeing teacholgy a bit to much. Like for one example Hideki teacher Mrs Shimizu who husband has become obsessed with this persocom unit that their marriage is falling apart as a result, and if your married or in a relationship i think that can really hit home and have a lot of impacts, because the thought of being in a relationship with someone and one day your basically replaced by a machine. (That is pretty fucked) But being a rational bioGundam who has given up most of his humanity I am not exactly impacted or impressed by this emotional, narrative by any stretch of the imagination, now i feel that chobits heart is in the right place but it's just doesn't resanate with me as much as it should have. But even though I may dislike this narrative style in its entirety I feel that when it comes to Chobits that criticism in itself is a double-edged sword. As Chobits is possibly one of the best series talking about a human and a robot bonding and falling in love I have ever read to date so far and I feel that the focus on the more emotional side is what makes chobits work so well. Becuase at the start of it, Hideki doesn't really know how to approach her, dose he treat her like a robot or does he treat her like a person, as time gose time the lines start to bur heavily. Which brings me to my biggest priase of the series is how they develop and explore the relationship. Becuase they could have easily turned this into some sort of ecchi series with robots like beatless or over bloweted malow drama like plastic memories. But Chobits plays it simple and sweet like a Disney movie about a human trying to understand his feelings and a robot who is looking for the person just for her and I can't but help wants to pat studio Clamp on the back for a job well done. Characters, 6/10 When it Comes to main character Hideki, I like his goofy, farm boy personality and while it he isn't that deep or complex as some characters can. But what really sell me on him is the fish of water aspect to his character, becuase he is in the big city and dealing with things that are way out of his elament. Seeing him try to adapt and overcome these different situations is really cool and they explore this a lot with his interactions with chi. Becuase compters and robots aren't really his thing considering he is a farm boy who lived way out in the stix and seeing become more tech aware is just great. Now when it comes to chi, in modern fiction there is only two ways to write robot characters. They are ether just a robot that are all logical or a robot who is trying to become more human with the feels and i feel that chi has a nice bulince between the two, even if she has the personality of the perfect wifuu bot. Because she isnt to robotic nor is she full on with personality. When it comes to side character most of them have a an OK personality and desent backstory that hand in hand with the messages that chobits like to voice its view point about. But my only problem with the side characters as a whole is that there more a less used more as vehicles for Chobits message and themes rather than people with actual lives, because a lot of the characters aren't fleshed out enough beyond the personality, backdrop and hobby. Which makes up their entire character in this series and even if I find the characters interactions a bit more interesting than most series I have read so far, but the underlying problem is if you take these characters out of the series and place them in another series they would probably easily pass of as background characters. Art, 7/10 When it comes to artwork chobits has a very simplistic Shoujoish art style, and while isnt that detailed or polished when compared to some other series i have read. But the artwork has a consistent quality althoughout the entire series and as the series gose on there are some palnels that have more details in them. Especially all the colour pages that the series has every now and then that look really nice. I thought the design chioce for Chobits was cool when it came to the robots, and because they all came in different sizes and styles which I thought was really cool. Enjoyment, 6/10 When it comes to enjoyment I enjoy this series more as an emotional driven love story between a human and robot than social commentary aspects of people becoming coming way too obsessed with technology and I enjoy every page of this series from top to end, because I love robots, mecha and romance series so love at first sight for me. The only thing that lessens my enjoyment is that there was a few plot points and elaments that are a bit undercooked for by likeing. Overall, 7/10 Now I feel that Chobits does deserve some of the critical acclaim it has received, because it's a pretty decent romance series and if shojo-ish romances storeys are your thing then totally check this series out. But if your looking for more social commentary or a series that show cases the inhumanity of technology i am sad to say you will not find it here. But overall I highly recommend this series and if you're looking that talk is about more intense themes I would recommend ghost in the shell and time of eve.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 5, 2018
Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam
(Anime)
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Frist impreions, so my first impression was that this is going to be a continuation of one of the most important anime of the 1970s and also considering i have gundam in my username name so why wouldn't i watch it and review it. Story, 7/10 7 years after the one year and stardust happened an elite military group known as the Titans have come to power who job is to hunt down the remaining Zeon forces, but soon after the organisation devolves into a tyrannical group that opposes the local space colonies and becomes even worse than ... the very Zeon forces that they where fighting, but hope is not lost as a ragtag group known as the AEUG have come to challenge this tyranny and hopefully restore freedom. Our story begins with main character Kamille who to make a long story short in a temper tantrum steels a prototype Gundam unit and joins the AEUG. so basically zeta Gundam did attack on titan years before attack on titan even did it, but jokes aside lets get into the real meat of this review. So when compared to the original gundam series, zeta gundam is a lot more focused and polished. When it comes to the of the idea of war is bad and what's happenens during war, like the pure destruction of city's, forests and other locations or the lost of human or wildlife during this confits. Like for example There are entire scenes where its dead humans and animals in the backdrops of destroyed cities and jungles on fire. while at the same time talking about political and ecological themes like for example humanity should leave mother earth behind and take to the stars, before war and contamination destroys the planet and most importantly the human race with it, or the political theme of how the space colonies should have the right of self-govern and not have to bow down to the whims of a super-government. Those kind of messages I feel are quite relevant today considering the grave predictions from ecologists or how member states of the EU are leaving because of various reasons. But for the negative and there are quite a few problems with this series, Like the main conflict which is about as black and white as you can get as the Titans are portrayed in a way that makes you not care about them while making the aeug out as the good guys. Which goes against what other series or Gundam shows have done by showing the negative and positive aspects of both sides But no such things happen in zeta. because let's be honest about 99% of the Titans themselves are more are less a band of stick up the ass knight templar grade psychopaths who give zero fucks about civilian deaths, commit wholesale war crimes and most importantly disregards and even undermines the authority of the government. Which makes the aeug completely justified in almost any act they do, even though they could have made it a bit more morally ambiguous. The next nail to stick out is while zeta Gundam focus on the horrors of war it also has a big focus on the human element which is both this series of the high and low point. On the one hand, the drama is stort of justified because they are in a middle of a war. but on the other hand, its used for over the top mellow drama that overstays it's welcome and I am not joking when I say that almost every episode either has someone getting the shit beat out of them or the emotions running at an all-time high which leads to more drama. Which in retrospect derails a lot of the series stronger points. Another one of Zeta Gundam problems story-wise is that the pacing is very slow and there are quite a few moments where I am like oh my god get to the fucking point already and there are episodes that feel like filler like the one episode where this woman thinks Kamille is her older brother and I found this episode along with a few others completely unnecessary and episodes like that don't really contribute anything to the overall narrative or themes. But While we are on the topic of themes I do want to mention that while I feel that some of the presentations of these themes are kinda dated when compared to other series that talks about similar ideas, but I would say it does a lot more with the content when it comes to more recent series. Characters, 6/10 So main character Kamille oh where to i start with this dude. Well Kamille is probably one of my lest favourite gundam protagonists, more and less for the reason he is exactly like eren yanger from attck on titen. At the start he is this reckless and arrogant teenager that's full of angst and while I like to appreciate what he brings to the series. Becuase that pure blind anger fits pretty well in a war setting and his reactions feel a lot more organic than compared to Amuro's reactions that felt at times a little robotic. Now i will say that he goses though i little bit of character development as he become more motivated to bring an end to the war not just for himself but also the people around him. Which is better than i going to kill every last titen and gargle on there blood motivation he had which he still hasn't dropped completely. When it comes to the side cast of characters, there are quite a lot of new characters with also some old favourite added in like amuro ray and Char Aznable. When it comes to the cast as a whole they all have sort of personality and quite a few of them go though some nice character development and fleashing out Like for example, Amuro development is basically him getting over the past and moving forward or Emma who was once a member of the Titans but joined the aeug when she realizes that things aren't as black and white as she first thought as let's be completely honest the Titans aren't exactly the most honest or kindest bunch. But the elephant in the room character wise is that zeta gundam has some of the worse character handling i have seen in a gundam show so far not counting gundam seed. There are just tons of death and betrayal left and right. for one example the character Reccoa who about 3/4 into the series, she betrays the AEUG to the Titans with reason being that men are mean and she wants a strong man in her life, so bottom line it was feminism and toxic masculinity to blame. But jokes aside that's just one example in quite a few I can name where characters just go off the fucking rails because reasons that make no sense in the grand scheme of things or situations that are being blown way out of proportion, Which also results with more slaps to the face or at worse another beating. Like the human drama almost drags the characters down to the abyss as character motivations become extimety hard to follow as character will continuety switch sides Becuase reasons. But one thing that kinda saves it are the character interactions and relateships. One of my favourite being Amuro and Char interactions because where pretty interesting considering their history together or how char and Amuro are in this mentor figure role for Kamille which is also pretty cool as well. But the rest of the character interactions feels very disjointed because almost every episode someone is beating slapped and the shit beaten out of them out of there comrades, and this problematic because for a military group like the AEUG there is no sense of comradery or any cohesiveness what so ever. Its like they took a bunch of assholes, put them in a room together and sied hay you guys are now a team, go fight titans and good luck. Art,7/10 for the time it came out Zeta gundam had very good art and animation because sunrise knew how to do a good bugget, and considering how clanky and stale some series from the 80s looks visual wise. Zeta gundam has aged pretty well considering and I would say the dated aspects of its visuals adds some grittiness to the whole series, which helps the show portray war in a more honest way. On the negative side though the backgrounds are slighty above average and the mech battles are kinda meh. When it comes to character design its more a less an updated version of what we got for and I have nothing negative or positive to say about them, but when it comes to mech design I actually really love it because I am quite the big fan of mecha and Zeta Gundam just takes the 70s design, updates them to feel more real and adds some new designs which also look cool. Sound, 6/10 First oping song is pretty great and so is the second opimg song,but I prefer the first oping becuase i feel its fits the series more. When it comes to ending songs there also decent and worth a listen even if I don't really like them that much. When it comes to ost its has a wide range of moods and atmosphere it wants to protry and I really dig that part about it, but the problem is that this is probably one of more weeker ost wise when compared to something like gundam seed ost, Which gave this grand feeling and also added so much emotions into the scenes. The ost was done by Shigeaki Saegusa who done the ost for series such as astro boy. Sub and dub are pretty decent, but I would say that the dub feels a bit more chessey when compared to the sub which is a bit more dry. Enjoyment, 6/10 When it comes to enjoyment, I really like the ideas that Zeta Gundam brings up. Becuase I really like it when series take ideas like politics and ecological issues because it showcases that anime isn't just for kids just because it's animated or is all about fan service. It shows cases that even anime can provide an intriguing thought peace. But really hammered my enjoyment is that war and conflict is piss poor and as the series goes on it de-evolves into the most derivative space opera I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through. Overall, 7/10 In conclusion Zeta Gundam is probably one of the more thematically rich Gundam series so far because not only does it develop and flesh out its own ideas, but the ideas it brings up are still relevant today and that in itself gives it a value that can help it transcend the generational barrier and makes it a true anime classic. But if you're watching it for its war and human drama aspects I feel you are goi g to be very disappointed as the conflict is about as black and white as it can get and the human drama so over bloated that not even the war backdrop can fully justify. My advice is don't take the war or character drama seriously and view Zeta Gundam as more of thought piece you will see where its true quality shine.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 2, 2018
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
(Anime)
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First impressions, so today we are going to be reviewing the critical acclaimed magical girl deconstruction(TM) known as madoka magica which are clearly not an overrated and blotted piece of crap that not even a good art/ animation or soundtrack could save. Story,4/10 So our story begins with main character Madoka Kaname and side character Sayaka Miki are regular middle school girls with regular mundane lives, but all that changes when they encounter Kyuubey, magical creature, and Homura Akemi, the new transfer student. Kyuubey offers them a proposition for the girls to get into his van so he can grant ... any one of their wishes and in exchange, they will each become magical girls in order to fight beings known as witchs , However, Homura Akemi, a magical girl herself, urges them to reconsider has things are not so stright forward as they seem and to top it all off you have a another magical girl named Mami Tomoe an veteran magical girl who wishes for are duo to get into kyuubey van and desides to also mentor them to give them an idea of what there in for if they make a contract with kyuubey. So madoka magica is a series that starts out like any other magical girl show.you got main character and her friends enjoying life until one day they encounter supernatural monsters and during this encounter, they meet a magical being that will grant them wishes or turn them into magical girls to combat the monsters and they have happy go lucky adventures and friendship power-ups a plenty. But what if I were to tell you that Madoka Magica is not just your tiple happy go lucky magical girl show because it is the fabled deconstration of magical girl genre, tropes, cliches by being dark, depressing and being edgy as fuck. because on the famous ep three one of the magical girls dies and from there onwards more death and despair will follow are cast of characters who maybe regret getting into kyuubey van without understanding the ramifications of there choices. So the question I pose to you all is having these elements adequate to decent storytelling, well to answer your question I would say fuck no. Because Madoka magicla takes the heart and soul of the magical girl genre and then preseeds to completely stomp on it with a heel until whats left is a soulless series that the faceless masses hype it up because its a deconstruction apparently and the premise sounds cool. But being pedantic aside let us get into the real meat of this, So on paper, Madoka Magica has some decent ideas and if the series wanted to go for a more darker, moodier magical girl story then they have hit the nail on the head perfectly with a few elements. Like for examples I will mention, as a magical girl you are basically immortal and your life is tied to your magic use and capacity, if you fall into despair and don't clean your soul gem you turn into a witch and my favourite element is magical girls fighting one another for hunting grounds. If the series was just about that and focused on those elements alone then I would have totally been fine with this series and would have marked it up as a nice one-timer experience that I would want to visit again and appreciate for being different. But the problem big underline problem with this series is that any good idea and concept it has, it completely drops it or forgets about it. Becuase who give a fuck about consistency and decent storytelling, as Madoka magicla devolves into an unnecessary dark, moody edgy magical girl show for the sake of being a dark, moody, edgy magical girl show. Like example killing off 90% of the characters by episode 8 in a 12 episode series or the whole reveal of how kyuubey is this alien who has no emotions and is using the magical girls and witches to gather energy to prevent the whole universe from going boom. Which the series uses as an excuse for over bloated drama about the characters complaining about how life is unfair even though they got there wishes grated that gave them some sort of happiness and their sacrifices are saving the lives of not just humanity as a whole but every race in the entire universe and it gets worse when kyuubey introduces pseudoscience in a supposed magical setting about entropy and emotions = magic wishes, how the fuck that works? another pet peeve that really bothers me is how people count it as this amazing deconstruction of the magical girl genre and I feel that these people don't really know what a deconstruction is or even watched anything from the magical girl genre. To be counted as a deconstruction you have to either be a subversion of popular tropes and cliches or be a critic of it and point out the trappings and pitfalls of that genre. madoka magicia doesn't really subvert or critic the genre in any meaningful way, it uses the whole magical girl element as an excuse for tragedy porn and shock factor. Which isn't really saying much because of it kiddle pool level of themes and theme exploration cause for a series that claims to be about hope and despair and how you should never give up regardless. Its so one sided to the point of silliness as life is never that linear and makes it lose any credibility. Which is encapsulated with the ending of the show being a fucking time resect and Madoka becoming Deus ex Madoka because that's something you can wish for is to become a god? And use that power to fix the universe. Characters,4/10 When it comes to the main character Madoka, she is so bland and her personality can be boiled down to is that she a nice girl and what to help people. She is such marry sue who I find so fucking boring and there isn't really a reason or Introspection of why she is like this. Like usually people who are like this are either people with a strong sense of justice or their people who have gone through such a hard time in life that they don't want others to suffer the same fate. Yet there nothing to really imply she has a strong scene of justice or she had a hard time at life so she basically a bland soulless main character who only saving grace is the fact she the only one who wished for something useful which is to become a god. When it comes to the side charters and the magical girl characters themselves. They are as about as soulless and bland as you can get with the one exception being Sayaka who was the only character who had actually any character instead of bland and vague outlines of personality and motives which helps me slightly care about her. But in the grand scheme of things you cant care about charters you only know for a few episodes, which brings out my biggest problem is how this series handles its characters. Becuase this series kills off most of its cast before you even get to know them or most importantly get any character development which was very much needed as their characters are shallow. When a character dies in this show I view it as oh no another lifeless Puppet died big woop and I don't want to be that uncaring asshole but this show makes it so hard to give a fuck about its characters which also destroys the hook of the story as it's about trying to subvert the usual magical girl conventions. Now when to Kyuubi, he Is probably one of the worse characterisations of a creature that has no emotions and is supposed to be Neutral that I have ever seen in anime to date. Because he basically manipulates these girls and prays on there naivety to make a contact with him, and you argue that he gave them the choice, but that's bullshit because throughout the entire series he hangs around Madoka and Sayaka dropping these passive comments of how it would be great if they became magical girls and doesn't even inform them what they're signing up for with the excuse being that you have to ask, which is also bullshit again because the info dumps whenever the plot tells him to he clearly acting like Jafar here. To add insult to injury he has the gall to criticize humanity for having emotions and reacting in a certain way when he himself has no emotions and wouldn't even understand the concept of emotions so is criticism is just blowing hot air and I would compare it to the idea of describing colours to a blind person. Art,7/10 Art and animation are pretty decent and still hold up today and There are also decent backgrounds and fight scenes are well choreographed. Another plus I would like to say about the backgrounds is that they do a good job at portraying this feeling of loneliness and isolation because a lot of the streets and buildings are barren and it encapsulates this feeling of backing yourself into a corner that you can't escape from it. But one problem I have is that the witch realm is weirdly symbolic. But there isn't really any context behind it or reason why other than arthouse and pretty colours. Because if witches where magical girls then why aren't their realm or forms-based more on there personality or psychology instead of being based on the areas they took residence in. It would have been cool if they did something similar to persona 4 or 5 wherein the tv world or the metaverse realms are based on a more twisted version of someone's personality and psyche, instead of its in a school or hospital and though out the entire thing we are going to bombard you with school and hospital symbolism. When it comes to character designs I quite like them, like the magical girl forms look pretty cool and the witches look very cool as well in there own arthouse way. Sound, 7/10 Opening and ending song are both pretty decent and I would recommend people go and listen to them. Because I feel that fit the series very well like the opening song has this vibe of joy and regret to it and the ending song as this feeling of despair and the hope that there will be a better tomorrow. Considering what happens in the series it fits the series like a glass slipper. Now when it comes to ost wise. I feel that the ost, in general, is lacking a lot of punch and is mainly used for the feels. Which isn't a bad thing per say but I think its a waste to focus on the one emotional style. But that nitpick aside I still feel its worth a listen even if I am not the biggest fan of it. The ost was done and worked on by Yuki Kajiura the godless of ost of music and I feel that this soundtrack is probably the weaker of her works. Sub and dub are pretty decent as voice acting was ok, but I did find the main character voice in dub painful to sit through, but other than that thumbs-ups all around. Enjoyment,5/10 Now I know that I have been rough on this show throughout this entire review, but the only reason I am tough on series like this is that I expect more. When it comes to enjoyment I love as just a one-time experience and nothing else because Madoka magica is like roller coaster to me and once I got off the ride and thought about it my enjoyment went kinda downhill from there and what saddens me is it has some great ideas and there were parts that which truly entertained me but once I got off the ride and seen the series for what it is that was the final nail in the coffin for me enjoyment wise. Overall, 4/10 In conclusion when you strip away the critical acclaim or the massive hype that this series has gathered. What Your pretty much left with a one-timer experience that mostly relies way too much on shock factor which in retrospect kills any rewatch value as the twists only work once. If you like really superficiality dark and edgy shows for pretentious overthinkers and edgelords in training Madoka will be the series for you. But if you're looking for a dark magical girl show with actual plot and charters your better of watching sailor moon or princess tutu
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 1, 2018 Mixed Feelings
Warning this review may contain spoilers.
First impressions, so I guess I am back again to review my favorite trainwreck series but now in movie format yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Let's just get this shit show rolling. Story: 4/10 The film starts with our Lord and savior Kirito-sama joyfully reaping the benefits of his labors after the defeat of Death Gun, the reclaiming of the sword Excalibur and getting family permission to fuck asuna in real life. While kirito has been busy enjoying his day to day life. a new game has taken the world by a storm named Ordinal Scale a game that mergers the real-life world with virtual reality ... technology. Kirito who been living under a rock lately knows nothing about this new game until asuna and the harem club tell him about it and convince him to join in on the fun. As kirito and friends join in on this new fad they soon learn that things are not as they appear with odd accidents are happening to Sao players and an even more mysterious ghost-like girl who is appearing in front of kirito. Now the scales of destiny have started tipping and it time for Kirito to do what he does best solve video game related mysteries. So sword art online ordinal was hyped to be sword art online redemption to the mainstream crowd who have been arguably cynical about this franchise. By fixing the problems that I myself and quite a few people have about the series as a whole and with the added bonus apparently focusing more on kirito and asuna relationship. And I be honest when I first heard that's what they were Promising I didn't really have high hopes because Star Wars online pretty much destroyed any sense of hope in me that sword art online would be considered quote-unquote good. But despite my cynicism life seems to still surprise me because this movie by in large actually delivered on what it actually promised people. Like for example kirito not being overpowered and actually focusing on kirito and Asuna relationship. Which in that regard I feel it did an ok job at that which I will go into more detail later. But other than that regard I do feel that the storyline and plot was a little underwhelming and lackluster, to say the least. The basic story and plot are basically about this dude who using the game ordinal scale to gather the memories or PTSD from the sword art online players in order to bring back his dead girlfriend Yuna as an A.I. And even if I find this idea of people using technology to download themselves Onto a computer to keep themselves alive interesting and it also kinda hints there some sort techno afterlife that's going on in the background. But The main plot falls apart when you think about how exactly is other people memories and experiences of sword art online going to bring your girlfriend back to life exactly. Even if she in this a.l data format it still wouldn't work because those aren't her memories or her experiences and even if she had interaction with some of the people that they stole memories and experiences from it still wouldn't work because it, not her memories or experiences it's someone else point of view Not hers so the reasoning is pure grade bullshit. Now the kirito and Asuna relationship thing and kirito being less overpower which was quite hyped until this movie release I feel that it was a little overrated and didn't really amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Like Asuna loosening her memories and experiences from sword art online would make an interesting catalyst to test the waters of kirito and Asuna relationship because of that where they fell in love and I feel that conflict has enough emotional payoff for you to care slightly about what is going on. But at the same time, I kinda feel That it's a little overdramatized and doesn't really have much of a conflict with it. Kirito and Asuna aren't going to break up or are going through this rough stage of their relationship because of this memory loss issue The only conflict is that maybe this memory loss thing may get worse and spread to more parts of her memories. this is where feel they fucked up because what they should have done is made her lose all her memories of kirito and the rest of that conflict was kirito trying to keep their relationship together and it would have made his quest to get her memories back by becoming the top player of ordinal scale more impactful as the way they present it in the movie is very cringe-worthy at to say the least as there are scenes where kirito is playing and acting like a complete crazy man Because as well know video games are serious business, and if you don't take them seriously you are a newb that won't get good at games or get the girls. But besides that story wise there isn't much majorly wrong with it besides those things I mentioned. Of course, other small nit pics I have are that the info dumps are fucking mind-numbingly boring that I would prefer to watch paint dry as these infodump scenes slow down the pacing and the fact there is multiple info dumps scene in a two-hour-ish movie just showcases how shit the writing. Also after all the shit that people went through with the sword art online and dart gun incidents, You would think that the government at this point would keep an eye on new technology that involved video games. Because guess what this new device that people use to play ordinal scale can kill you wohhhhhhh mind fucking blown and the only reason why there were no deaths is because kirito and the government stopped it before it reached that point. Characters, 5/10 Kirito is his usual self-insert self. But this time he actually has more of a personality, And for once we actually see him struggle for a bit with a conflict that is out of his control and he actually has to try really hard to get what he wants. Like it just shows that even if he quite strong and intelligent there still things that he can't beat alone without him giving it his all. Which is nice to see but it does really amount to anything and it's just another example of sword art online classic wasted potential moments. Another thing I want to address is Asuna is more relevant and actually shows the combat skills that made her this vice commander of the Knights of blood oath in the first place. In fact she actually a little stronger than kirito in ordinal scale and she actually even kicks quite a bit of ass. Which I liked and even after the memory loss thing they still treat her character with respect and not just some damsel in distress that needs to be saved all the time by our lord and saviour kirito Which I also like and I feel she was handled a lot better in this movie than the rape fairy arc or all of season two. Also before I move onto the side characters, I want to talk about Yuna quickly. And I like what she brings to the table it just to me she isn't that interesting and I didn't really give a shit about her anyway because I have no reason to care. So The Side characters The usual crew is back again nothing much has really changed. Except like Asuna there all made more relevant and actually do something instead of being fodder or mouthpieces until kirito shows up to rekt shit. Like they all showcase their abilities as well and it nice they have a role and do it well, Like at the end there this one scene where they all fighting this massive boss monster and they all work together to kill it and during that fight, they used teamwork and even saved each other a few times from video game death Which was nice to have. So the main villain or should I say man villains are a massive step up form. I don't know why I did this guy, rape fairly and darth gun. Eiji the dude who getting the memories for bringing his girlfriend back. His reasoning is understandable and even though he does questionable things to reach that goal. He not evil and a bad guy he just wants his girlfriend back and even if that kinda simple and basic it's a lot better than rapey dude. And the other villain Dr. Shigemura. He basically a dude full of guilt because he blames himself for his daughter Yuma death in sword art online because he brought her the nerve gear thing for her birthday which lead to her death. And even he is understandable and not exactly an evil person he wants to bring his daughter back to life even if he has to harm others and even if he is also basic and simple it's still 100x better than rape guy. Art, 8/10 The animation is god tier and it looks like it was animated by the gods. The background is so clean and crip that would want to make a wallpaper out of it. There also really good CGI that doesn't clash with the animation. the fight scenes are really good and even if I find them a little too flashy for my liking. It still looks pretty cool to watch and some decent fight choreography as well, with people using teamwork or fets of combat prowess. I am not exactly a big fan of there new VR form character designs because they don't have much of a personality to them anymore and I kinda which they did. Because gun gale form had more personality to them and they looked cool because it reminded me of fallout. Sound: 8/10 The ost, by Yuki Kajiura, was fucking amazing as always and easily one of the redeeming aspects of this movie. Even by the standard, she’s set in the past though, I was astonished to see how above and beyond she went with the quality of the soundtrack this time around. My favorite piece of this movie’s ost was probably delete, an extremely divine sounding track, making the contents of the movie feel a lot grander. It was also extremely pleasant to see that a few old favourites were revived for this movie, such as swordland All in all, ordinal scale has a lot of outstanding tracks that are amazing to listen too and do an excellent job of making the movie they go with feel like it has some weight to it, despite the actual narrative contents. Enjoyment: 6/10 The bare-bones story and lacking characters, unfortunately, prevented me from getting really invested in the vision that this movie was trying to realize, but nevertheless, it at least gets a cookie for presentation. I really enjoyed this movie and I would recommend it to anyone who just wants a nice action movie to watch. SAO as a whole is never lacking in the spectacle department and this movie definitely brings it. The fight scenes, in combination ost, especially make for some excellent popcorn material, but other than that nothing really got my interest. Overall: 5/10 Conclusion: Was this the big redemption for the franchise that it was hyped up to be? Well yes and no. A lot of the series’ has had in the past major problems were taken away, but I still feel like this movie was pretty bare bones and underwhelming considering what’s been done in this franchise before. It’s certainly a step in the right direction and if they keep this up then maybe sword art online won't be such a meme in future. But a step in the right direction doesn’t equate to a good end-product and I don't have high hopes for season 3, but who knows, this series may shock me once again. Special thanks to my pain in yu-gi-oh cards editor, Lonecrit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Feb 11, 2018
Tokyo Ghoul:re
(Manga)
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Recommended Preliminary
(160/181 chp)
Warning: this review contains minor spoilers.
First impressions, so one of my favorite manga continues, which I am happy for because the ending was such a cliffhanger and I want to see where the story goes from there because I was very hooked. Story: 7/10 2 years after the raid of the 20th ward the CCG decides it's time to deploy a new type of anti-ghoul weapon in order to combat the ever present threat of the ghoul terrorist organization known as Aogiri Tree, who continue to terrorize ghouls and more importantly the human population of Tokyo. This new type of anti-ghoul weapon is known as the QS ... children, a group of individuals who have been implanted with quinque throughout their body, giving them amazing abilities. Unfortunately though, these individuals are fresh out of the academy and don't have the combat skills or experience necessary to even stand a chance against a single regular ghoul. The solution the CCG has comes up with to deal with this problem is to deploy a mentor figure, named Haise Sasaki(Kaneki with memory loss) to guide and train them to become the ultimate killing machines. while in the background, Haise seeks answers about his past, while in the shadows the ghoul world and life he once had start creeping ever closer into his new life. The first half of Tokyo Ghoul Re is mostly Haise and his merry band of idiots doing missions for the CCG, while occasionally encountering figures from his past, with a fairly large amount of focus being given to the people who work in the CCG and what their lives entail. It’s only around 50-ish chapters in, after Haise goes on some missions and some events take place that during a raid he’s able to get his memory back and become Kaneki+. To follow up, a jailbreak, a rescue mission and fight with Arima, Haise’s mentor and father figure insue. This is honestly the only thing that kept me interested in Kaneki’s neo-edgelord phase, the ever so hyped Kaneki vs Arima rematch. Well, that and the anticipation of what Eto will do next. Fortunately, this is the part of the series where it really gets going. The second half of Re is probably the part where my intrigue was at an all time high, as it heavily involved the long standing series’ mysteries. Even better, these mysteries heavily pertained to the identity of the one eyed King, V and the Washu clan, most of these mysteries get explained in a satisfactory manner. He takes on the title of the one eyed King in order to build a world where both humans and ghouls and live in peace And honestly it really interesting to see Kaneki put in the leadership role. And the trials and errors he goes through while taking the path of leading what is essentially a terrorist organization comprised of ghouls and former CCG members. Which is interesting and funny to watch when you consider the fact that most of the people that are in this terrorist organization are people who originally at one point would try kill each other. Tokyo Ghoul Re like its predecessor is still heavy focused on this social political conflict between humans and ghouls, the difference being that Re is much more focused(at least in the beginning) on depicting the human characters’ point of view. while the original did show both the ghoul and the human side viewpoints. Re goes for a more personal take and focuses more of the individual characters from both the ghoul and human side and how they react and feel about this conflict. Which I feel makes the conflict it's feel more morality gray. Because we have both ghoul and human characters who deep down don't want to fight in this war and actually regret the actions and lives they have taken but have to continue doing it because the world is still stuck in this fucked up cycle of death, hate and despair. Something thing which I think is interesting is that it parallels a lot of the key events in the original manga but puts a spin on it so it isn't predictable. But at the same time you kinda guess what's going to happen. Now one problem I had with the original manga is that even though it was building up these multiple mysteries and this epic level government conspiracy in it narrative to make the story more interesting. But because of the very sudden ending of series. It opened up a lot of plots holes and honestly it made me and probably most people for that matter scratching their heads wondering what the fuck is going on. Because there quite a few scenes and dialogue in that series that make no sense because you don't know where to put it In terms of context, like for example why exactly is rize so important to so many people if all she ever did was being used to turn Kaneki and a few others into half ghouls. Thankfully Tokyo Ghoul Re actually explores and explains a lot of what originally didn't make sense. Like what I mentioned before like why is Rize so important or what exactly are the Washu clan hiding from people. Which is great because it removes a lot of plots holes and a few problems I had with the original series before. But even if we get these answers and etc it's still opens up more plots holes for re and If anything, leave me with more questions than answers. Like it cool that's there these mysteries going on and a lot more world building is taking place to flesh out the setting more, and it's shows that we as the reader have only scratch the surface of this world and that there is more to explore. But does it really need to drag it out for this long for the sake for building up hype and selling more manga volumes There’s also a bigger focus on the series’ romance and slice of life aspects, which adds more flavor to the character interactions and improves on one my problems with the original. That being that there weren’t enough cool-down moments to allow me to care about most of characters. I feel like some of romance parts are a little rushed, mainly between Kaneki and Touka, as even though they’ve known each other for quite a while, their relationship progresses at an unreasonably rapid pace. Now while I like this kinda relationship, I wish they padded it out more. But it was also pointed out to me that the characters do live in a world where everything and anything that gives them happiness could be taken in a heartbeat so it makes sense why they would speed up their relationship. But sadly like the original manga is still uses over the top edge and over dramatization of certain situations to try to get its point across. Which lucky it dose it less but there still monuments where I still thinking was that really necessary to add that in. Like there is this one scene where this person gets chopped in half by a chainsaw or another scene where you got Mutsuki is riding this ghoul corpse that she has fucked up beyond repair because we find out she is an yandere for Kaneki and this corpse basically looks like him. Don't get me wrong I enjoy it I just feel it doesn't have to go as far as it does sometimes. It's just for a series in my book to be counted as mature it has to handle its content in a mature way even if it has mature themes and concepts. My major problem is that some of story arcs and character arcs were mishandled and where written a little sloppy and wasn't as tightly packed as some of the other story arcs where. like during the rue island arc, one of the most hyped things was the battle between Hoji and Tatata. basically what happens is before the critical blow was done Takizawa basically comes out of nowhere and kills almost everyone and even if that was used for Takizawa character arc. I still feel that situation was mishandled. What should of happened is that one of them lands the critical blow and before they finish it Takizawa comes out and does his thing. That's a better concussion because Hoji and Tatata get this finish there thing and Takizawa still gets his character arc Like how hard is that to do exactly. And speaking of story arcs. The jailbreak and rue island raid were done around the same time and how it jumped from different characters , groups and timelines was quite the cluster fuck. Because the events of the jail break arc have already happened as the rue island shit was kicking off. Like it would have been better to have one of arcs focused on only and then you switch to the other arc. The fact those entire arcs where cliffhanger central didn't help because there so many things to focus on and those arcs kinds became a Cluster fuck. Because those arcs were trying to do to many things at once in so little time that it became unfocused and really hard to sit through. I want to address some of new ability they give ghouls. Which is the last negative thing I want to say. Like The idea that your kagune is shaped by your imagination and creativity and how strong it can be depends on many rc cells you have. I think it fine it makes sense given the information we know about kagune and how ghoul abilities work. But the thing that has me scratching my head is that there are ghoul characters that have these very odd abilities even by ghoul standards. Like there’s a character who kagune can make fire that can burn about as hot as the sun or another character who can make these clones of himself with his own kagune (Those are just a few examples out of a dozen I could mention) And I don't have a problem with these abilities being in the series because it's makes the fights more interesting and slightly more tactical than I should give it credit for. it just I wish they explained how that works exactly. Because it kinda feels like an asspull when they don't explain how to works.Like do you have to be part of some special ghoul bloodline to get these abilities or are these abilities things you can pick up the stronger and more experience you have with your ghoul abilities. Characters: 7/10 Main character Kaneki Ken, initially living with memory loss under that name Sasaki Kaise(which I’m going to be calling CCG Kaneki) is kind of a rehash of what Kaneki used to be before he became Kan-edgy. This is something i find quite annoying, especially since his whole “I can't control my ghoul side” was somewhat pointless to me, because he’d already gotten over that conflict of “what am I?”. On the flip side, I found his overarching “I wanna get my memories back” character arc interesting, even though I feel it dragged out for far too long and although I found the payoff to be decent, getting there was very taxing and slow burn. In retrospect, I actually appreciate his character for who he is, as personality wise he’s basically like a more mature and confident version of black haired Kaneki, as I found him was originally kinda boring. It's also interesting and cool to see CCG Kaneki in the mentor/ teacher role, because the QS children he is looking after are like a family to him and I find the time they spent together very cute and endearing, which also speaks volumes about how Kaneki has matured over the course of the story as a whole. Because originally he was lost and didn't know what the fuck he was doing but now he is confident and has a family. But sadly all good things have to come to an end and though certain events he gets his memory back and oh boy we find out a lot more about his true character. I won’t go into detail about what we find out about him from this event for the sake of brevity, but If you thought Kan-edgy was an edgelord, then just wait till you see his next persona, black Kan-edgy. Luckily, he doesn't stay around for long. So before I continue with Kaneki last personality change for now. I would like to say even though I found black Kan-edgy really cool and kinds badass and it also drives home the point of how Kaneki is a very damaged human being deep inside and kinda explains why he is the way he is in certain situations. But anyway his last persona which I am very much on the fence about, as takes on the best and worst qualities of his character. Because he has the confidence because now he knows what he wants in life and knows what he needs to do and he has the capability to get that shit done and will be a badass about it. Which is always a plus in my eyes But at the same time he is a bit too passive and he still has trouble with making a critical decision and I feel at times he loses some of the intelligence and foresight he had before. Because Kaneki is not a dumb person he's actually quite a smart person yet sometimes he has these random Lapps of intelligence. Like for one example he finds out about a spy that’s gained information on him in his base of operations and instead of killing him, he locks him up, even though and he might have a tracker and a listening device on him(which he totally does btw). But even though he has those flaws I feel it makes him more realistic as a leader and helps drive home the point that he still has lots to learn as a leader and an individual before he has finished his journey. Even though at that point of the story he’s been kinda deified to ghouls and humans alike, to the point where in fact in one scene, an entire groups of ghouls refer to him as their king repeatedly. The side characters as a whole is kinda a mixed bag for me, because on one hand we get quite a few characters that go through great character arcs and decent fleshing out, but at the same time we still have those dime-a-dozen cannon fodder characters, who you can tell immediately are going to die, despite their backstories and fleshed out personalities. To add insult to injury, there are still way too many characters that don’t get the panel time they need to be properly developed or fleshed out and for the most part either only show up every now and then to speak a few lines or even worse, get killed off before they even become characters in their own right, like Fuuka or Hairu. These are characters that had potential and were around for quite some time, yet not only were their personalities barely fleshed out, but they’re built up, only to get axed off before they can amount to anything. Now, on to character development. I feel that Re is quite abundant in characters that are excellently developed, both by the standard set by the original series, but also by the medium of manga in general, albeit often following certain patterns. One of the most common of these patterns being that of inhuman characters discovering or rediscovering their humanity and growing more responsible, tieing them more to the series’ themes. Characters following this general type of character arc include Urie and Ayato, who both initially are introduced as apathetic and inhuman, but later on, through the hardships they endure, learn to be more empathetic and in tune with the world around them. Of course, these aforementioned characters pale in comparison to one of my favourite Tokyo ghoul characters of this type, that being the character of Juuzou. Now in all honesty, Juuzou used to be one of my most disliked Tokyo Ghoul character, as I have a personal bias against characters that are of the one dimensional psychopath variety. The reason for this is because in my experience, those types of characters are more often than not used for the shock factor or as pre-packaged antagonists, rather than as a base to develop interesting characters or as grander thematic pieces, to challenge the reader’s perspective. Fortunately, Juuzou is one of the few rare cases where that's not the case, as over the course of the series, he receives excellent character development. Not only does he grow into a much more mature character, but he also builds relationships with the characters around him, becoming an important figure in their lives, instead of just maintaining his singular status as the CCG’s murder tool. The character interactions are a lot more interesting and have a lot more weight to them that those of the original series, given what’s been built up till this point. Some of my favourite interactions in the series include those between the people in the CCG and CCG Kaneki and the QS children he looks after. By concept alone this is something that draws my interest, given the preexisting disposition the members of the CCG hold towards anything even resembling a ghoul. An added benefit from these types of interaction is also that they allow for the individual characteristics of the CCG members to be drawn out, cementing each of them further as individuals, rather than some hivemind. By far though, one of the best things that Re does is show the gradual shift the the CCG members’ perspectives towards the ghouls, as over time they seem to realise that the ghouls are something more than or just evil, blood thirsty animals that want to ravage, corrupt and kill everything in sight. Finally, i want to bring attention to the way some characters either reconcile their differences or past misdeeds and become comrades, like in the case of Akira forgiving Hinami and Touka for their involvement into her father's death. Though this event it’s shown both how much these characters have matured, to be able to get to this point in the first place, but also instils in them the realization that being consumed by hate only serves to further fuel the conflict between the humans and the ghouls, without actually solving anything, but instead just causing more bloodshed. Art: 7/10 The art for Tokyo ghoul re is great improvement over that of the original manga. The backgrounds have more detail and make the city that the story takes place in feel so much more alive. The fight scenes are a lot cleaner and it's much easier to tell what's going on, except for some scenes where characters are moving really fast or there are multiple things happening at once. The character designs are much more creative and varied this time around, even though there are some characters that look very bizarre (even by Tokyo ghoul standards) and kinda cartoony, like for example this one guy who looks like a corpse, that’s been put together using old body parts. I also think some the some of the characters’ outfits look really cool and add more personality to them, like Ayato’s battle suit, which he wears in the auction raid arc or Kaneki’s white suit, that makes him look like some kind of badass yakuza gang leader. The last thing I want to address is that improvement in the quality of the designs for the kagune and kakujas, as now they’re varied and creatively drawn than a lot of the older ones, especially when they’re drawn to look really metallic or insect like. Also, now instead of “this ghoul has wings” or “this ghoul has a tail”, it’s more like “this ghoul has a fucking armor” or “this ghoul has a fucking scorpion tail”. Besides that though, they’re just all around a lot more detailed and stylish, which I really enjoy. Enjoyment: 7/10 To be honest, even though I am quite negative about this series, I’m quite the Tokyo ghoul fag, so I enjoyed the living fuck out of it. It always gives me something to look forward to and reading the new chapter every week and finding out what happens next never failed to bring me joy. I think the thing that I enjoy about Tokyo ghoul re the most though is the fact that the writer of Tokyo ghoul(Sui Ishida) is so unapologetic about what he puts In his story. For example, there’s an entire chapter long sex scene between Kaneki and Touka or a scene where Mutsuki is half naked, riding a corpse that looks like Kaneki. The dude just doesn't give any fucks and that adds a lot of personality to Tokyo ghoul, which really gives you an idea of what type of person the writer is, through these types of scenes. Overall: 7/10 Conclusion: Tokyo Ghoul Re story wise has some really good ideas on paper, that in practice simply fail to read their full potential. Nevertheless, lacking as it may be, it’s still is a step in the right direction, as it improves upon many of the problems the original had, even though it feels like it's still being held back by them. It's not the masterpiece of great writing that some people claim it to be, but it's getting there, so I would totally recommend Tokyo ghoul re to anyone who likes the idea of humans vs misunderstood outgroup stories. I’d recommend you check out parasite and ajin first though. Btw, i didn’t where to include this, so imma just say it here. Eto is best girl! Fuck you! Fight me! Special thanks to my unpaid and slightly pissed editor, Lonecrit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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