Britt: Jeez. I don't even....Golly gee. This was....something.
I know I just did a review, but I felt like doing another before I forget about all the complaints I have with this series.
Let me tell you that I watched up to episode 9 and didn't really want to watch more. There's 12 episodes in total, so I really think I watched more than I thought I actually would. Because I um....this anime was....weird. I guess.
Let's uh, start with the story:
Story: "Soul Eater NOT! is a spin-off and side story that takes place one year prior to the events of the original Soul Eater. At
...
the Death Weapon Meister Academy, humans born with the power to transform into weapons and those with the power to wield these weapons (Meisters) train to hone their natural talent. The characters of the main series are enrolled in the Especially Advantaged Talent class, where they train to become warriors of justice capable of defeating what threats prey on innocent lives—or even the entire world.
Other students at the DWMA are less talented. Members of the Normally Overcome Target class focus less on being warriors of justice and more on controlling their powers so they don't hurt themselves or anyone around them. Tsugumi Harudori, a new halberd-transforming student, meets Meisters Meme Tatane and Anya Hepburn and quickly grows indecisive about which of the two new friends should be her partner. As they learn to use these powers and settle in, their lives as everyday students will be far from normal."
As I said, I didn't finish this anime because I didn't want to. I was watching ERASED originally, but then I got my boyfriend into it and we decided to watch the rest of it together. While I'm waiting to watch it with him again, I decided to try and find another anime to watch in the mean time. I honestly couldn't decide on something I wanted to watch that had a dub. My mind kept coming to this anime, and I was actually trying to avoid it. So I decided to try watching Kim Possible or the second season of Miraculous Ladybug. The website I used for Ladybug didn't have episode 4 for some reason. It literally skips 4 and goes onto 5 and 6. So I thought "this is stupid" and moved onto Kim Possible....I loved KP when I was little, but after watching the first episode it's not as good as I remember it. (Nostalgia is a very powerful thing.) Soooo, I settled on this...anime. The story is really nothing to write home about. If you're a fan of the original Soul Eater, this probably threw you off. I'm not one of those "hardcore Soul Eater fans" who hate this anime simply for not being like the original. I read like, 3 volumes of the manga and thought it was cute. Had no problem with the change of tone it had from the original series. Nah, my problem with this anime lies in it's dull, cliche nature that is very inconsistent. Seriously. I don't think the author knew what he wanted this anime to be. At first it just seems like a slice-of-life. So I'm like "yeah. I dig slice-of-life." But...Slice-of-life isn't even one of it's tags on MAL. So I'm like OK...There's also a lot of Yuri bait going on in this anime, yet....Yuri isn't in the tags either. OK.........2 tags that it does have however are Shounen and Action. And yeah...there's some action in this anime (very badly choreographed action), but it's so minimal that it's pretty much misleading. And this honestly feels more like a freaking Shoujo than a Shounen, and I feel like whoever added the tags to this thing reeeeally wanted people actually looking for that kinda stuff to be pissed off and/or disappointed. Really though, this anime tries to do too much. It wants to be dramatic in one scene, then RIGHT after that it's back to the Yuri bait. I can't tell if we're supposed to take any of this seriously or not. Are you trying to be an action drama or a slice-of-life? I don't know, and I don't think the author knows. So I give the "story" a 6 outta 10.
Characters:
I don't really....like any of the characters. Tsugumi was actually kind of annoying, even if she's the character I probably relate to the most. Anya was OK. She's a Tsundere, and I'm not really a fan of those. Meme was a freaking moron and her constantly stripping off her clothes and sneaking into Tsugumi's bed at night actually made me a little uncomfortable. The side characters are pretty "meh" at best. Kim is a b*tch. She could have the saddest backstory she wants to, but at the end of the day, making someone pay you money every time they use your cheap baseball equipment is pretty low. Jacqueline was meh. Just more Yuri bait cause of her "crush" on Kim. Eternal Feather is probably the only side character I actually cared about. And she was "meh" too. The guy characters, Akane and blonde haired dude (forgot his name) were also "meh". The characters from the original series didn't do much of anything at all. Except when Eternal Feather got possessed. And I guess Maka made sort of an impact on Tsugumi since she started wearing her hair like hers (even though she kinda looks like a mini Black Rock Shooter with that hair.) Otherwise, their cameos were a little meaningless. Kanna (I think her name is) was cute, but didn't do anything. Sid was OK, boss guy who they called "Master" (creepy) was OK, Liz and Patty....were OK....The villain........What were her motives again? Long story short, the characters are pretty boring, one dimensional, archetypes and I didn't really care if they lost or succeeded in...anything really. I don't have much else to say about the characters, so I guess they get a 6 too.
Art/Animation:
Eeeeeeh....The characters are cute. And the only time the animation looked off was when characters were fighting. The fighting was sooo weird here. Like, I know the original Soul Eater was action packed and had some pretty cool fights, but they really weren't needed here. They looked so stiff and unnatural. It was kinda cringy really. Other than the fight scenes, the animation was fine. Nothing spectacular or anything. Just decent. The character designs were more unique in the original, and looked a bit more generic here. But not terrible. Honestly....just take another 6. I really don't even know anymore.
Sound:
GENERIIIIIIC. *Ahem* Sorry. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this section. The Opening and Ending were both extremely generic. I don't even know if I can say they fit the show since everything is so inconsistent. Both songs are cutesy and cheery. And it seems like the anime wants to be more than that at times. I don't remember any of the background music or sounds, but the voice acting was fine. Just....take a 5 or whatever. I've given up.
Overall Enjoyment:
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. It's probably....really difficult to tell, but I didn't hate this anime. I enjoyed some bits and pieces of it, but I thought it was mostly boring and cliche. The story is all over the place. One minute it's Yuri pandering and the creator can't even tell himself if Tsugumi is straight or homosexual since she switches between having a crush on Akane (which obviously won't go anywhere. How old is she again?) and being touchy feely with her gal pals. It wants to be an action anime one second then a slice-of-life. The characters are boring, the sound is generic, and the animation is average. All in all it's just a very VERY average anime. I wouldn't recommended it to fans of the original Soul Eater, but if you're bored (like I was) and just want an average, cute anime to watch, then maybe you'll enjoy this.
Overall score is.......a 6. I honestly can't rank it any higher, but I'd feel bad if I rated it any lower (not including the sound portion where I gave it a 5.) Nothing is spectacular about this anime. I won't compare it to the original because that wouldn't be fair. "Soul Eater" isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it was better than this. More entertaining. Try watching both and see which one you prefer.
Feb 10, 2018
Soul Eater NOT!
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Preliminary
(9/12 eps)
Britt: Jeez. I don't even....Golly gee. This was....something.
I know I just did a review, but I felt like doing another before I forget about all the complaints I have with this series. Let me tell you that I watched up to episode 9 and didn't really want to watch more. There's 12 episodes in total, so I really think I watched more than I thought I actually would. Because I um....this anime was....weird. I guess. Let's uh, start with the story: Story: "Soul Eater NOT! is a spin-off and side story that takes place one year prior to the events of the original Soul Eater. At ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 30, 2018
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon
(Anime)
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Recommended
NOT SPOILER FREE (kinda)
Britt: I started working on this review before finishing the anime (like I did with my "Kyoukai no Kanata" review) so that I wouldn't forget anything I wanted to say. I just finished the last episode though (today. 1/30/18). I couldn't watch it ALL the way through, since the website I used cut the episode right after Lucoa hugs Shota for whatever reason, but I'm sure it ended on a happy note. I heard good things about this anime, and it's very popular. And while I did indeed enjoy it, I do think it's a teeny bit overrated. I don't hate this ... show by any means, but I don't understand what made it stand out other than the dragon aspect. But I'll get more onto that in a second. For now, let's start with the story. Story: Taken from "MyAnimeList": "As Kobayashi sets off for another day at work, she opens her apartment door only to be met by an unusually frightening sight—the head of a dragon, staring at her from across the balcony. The dragon immediately transforms into a cute, busty, and energetic young girl dressed in a maid outfit, introducing herself as Tooru. It turns out that the stoic programmer had come across the dragon the previous night on a drunken excursion to the mountains, and since the mythical beast had nowhere else to go, she had offered the creature a place to stay in her home. Thus, Tooru had arrived to cash in on the offer, ready to repay her savior's kindness by working as her personal maidservant. Though deeply regretful of her words and hesitant to follow through on her promise, a mix of guilt and Tooru's incredible dragon abilities convinces Kobayashi to take the girl in. Despite being extremely efficient at her job, the maid's unorthodox methods of housekeeping often end up horrifying Kobayashi and at times bring more trouble than help. Furthermore, the circumstances behind the dragon's arrival on Earth seem to be much more complicated than at first glance, as Tooru bears some heavy emotions and painful memories. To top it all off, Tooru's presence ends up attracting several other mythical beings to her new home, bringing in a host of eccentric personalities. Although Kobayashi makes her best effort to handle the crazy situation that she has found herself in, nothing has prepared her for this new life with a dragon maid." This anime is a slice of life, and slice of life usually doesn't have an "ongoing" story. Usually, it's just that; slice of life. So normal people doing normal things usually happen, but that clearly wasn't always the case here (considering this show has dragons anyway.) I wouldn't say there was anything really "unique" here, other than the dragons of course. But I did enjoy the little bit of backstory we got to see for Tohru. Speaking of the dragons though, I though it was weird how nobody could tell that these characters weren't human. I mean, the only one who even remotely looked human was Fafnir, so I can see how he'd pass for one. As for the other 4? I have no idea. It was probably done for comedy (nobody noticing this obvious aspect), but I just thought it was kinda odd. And the people who DID know they were real dragons (Kobayashi and that guy she works with), they didn't seem to care. Like, at all. But I guess if they DID care, it might've defeated the purpose. Sooo, oh well I guess. I give the story a 6.5 outta 10. I think that's pretty alright. Characters: I really liked the characters. Some I liked more than others of course, but I didn't hate any of them. My favorite (coming from a loli fan) would probably be Kanna. She seems to be a fan favorite anyway, but she was just so cute and charming. Plus, she was a realistic child character who wasn't annoying. I think those are a little difficult to pull off. I also really liked Elma. I didn't think I'd like her as much as I did, but when she was introduced I just fell in love with her character. She's so weird, and her rivalry with Tohru was funny sometimes. Tohru is probably my third favorite. She's kinda like Elma in that she's really weird, but she's also charming like Kanna. A lot of people seemed to enjoy Fafnir, but I thought he was kinda...boring. I didn't hate him, but he was kinda just there a lot of the time. Like the creator was thinking that he didn't make any male dragons, so he just threw Fafnir in there. His love for gaming was kinda cool, but was the only thing he really had. And last but not least for the dragons is....Lucoa (or Quetzalcoatl). Now, I didn't HATE Lucoa's character. Like I said, I didn't hate anybody. It's just that...I dunno. I don't want to dislike a character because of how they're drawn, but that gets a little difficult for me sometimes. Often it seemed like Lucoa was only there to be "that" character, and she didn't have too much going for her outside of that. She seemed a little bit down to earth sometimes, and she was funny sometimes, but like Fafnir, she only had like one thing going for her that people would remember her by. Which is a little sad. I liked Kobayashi. I don't have a lot to say about her other than I liked her, though. Her friend from work was alright as well. As for Shota and Riko.....Well....they're there. They were cute. That's...probably about it. I really like the character designs, though. I don't like Lucoa's boobs, but other than those she had a nice design. The dragons (excluding Fafnir) had pretty eyes and pretty hair, and they were all super duper cute. The way they were drawn was adorable. So I liked both the characters themselves and their designs (mostly). I'd give the characters a 7. Art/Animation: I decided to separate the art and sound category this time. Whelp. I love Kyoto Animation. You were all probably aware of that. Soooo, I thought the art and animation were both really nice. I loved the colors. They were bright, but not like, hurt your eyes bright. Like say, No Game No Life or something. I already said I liked the character designs, but KyoAni really made them "pop". I loved how each (female) dragon had a gradient in their hair, and their eyes were cool. The characters also moved very fluently, and nothing really looked out of place or stilted. They pulled off the "Moe" look pretty well (something they're pretty good at), and the scenes when characters were fighting were really cool and well animated. Sometimes some things were said by the characters but the art/animation didn't match what they just said (I'll explain what I mean by this in a second.) Otherwise, very good quality. I'd give this section a 9. Sound: I really liked the sound here. Both the opening and ending were EXTREMELY catchy, and the background music was nice as well. The sounds mixed nicely. Nothing sounded like it didn't belong. I watched it dubbed, and all the voices were really nice and I think they all fit the characters. There was only one voice I recognized though (which was Lucoa's voice. Her voice actress Cana from "Fairy Tail" which is why I know her. And Panty from "Panty and Stocking"), but I think everyone did a good job in their roles. Tohru and Kanna both sounded very very adorable, and Kobayashi's voice actress managed to pull off her stoic personality. I watched this dubbed first and never watched it subbed, but apparently the dub is "controversial" because a few little lines were changed (like Kobayashi telling Tohru that she's "not into girls" instead of saying "but we're both girls" or whatever. Isn't the meaning the exact same?) But I never listen to dub haters, anyway. They're usually pretty obnoxious. So all in all, the sound was great. Both the music and the voice acting. I give this section a 9, too. Overall Enjoyment: I really did enjoy this anime. I was kind of keeping it on the back burner for awhile, but I decided to finally watch it since I couldn't watch Sailor Moon dubbed anymore (sue me.) So until Viz catches up to me in Sailor Moon, I decided to pick up some other anime while I wait. If anyone has any other suggestions for anime, I'm all ears. But yes, this show was an enjoyable watch. I did in fact have some problems with it, as I do not think it was perfect. For one, I still stand by what I said when I called this anime "overrated". Now, overrated does not necessarily mean it's bad. I did like this anime, but it has it's problems and I don't know what made it stand out from other anime (aside from the dragons.) But I'll just talk about some issues I had with it, then end this review. Sometimes the characters are inconsistent. This is what I meant when I said that a character would say one thing, but the animators would do the opposite or something. Like how in maybe the first or second episode, Kobayashi told Tohru that she can't wear the same clothes every day "like an anime character", but I saw Kobayashi wear the same exact shirt in about 5 different episodes. I also don't understand how the clothes that the dragons wear are "scales" and are therefore apart of their bodies, when Kobayashi easily ripped Tohru's dress off in one episode. I ALSO don't understand why some dragons can hide their tails/horns while others can't. Was this actually explained in an episode? Or was it done just cause some characters look better with their horns than without them so they keep them? I dunno, these things confused me. It's like, did the animators get lazy or did they forget about these things or were they done for "comedic" affect or something? There's ALSO the episode where Tohru made omurice, and Kobayashi thought that was the first "normal" thing that Tohru had cooked for her before (it wasn't even normal, btw.) But beforehand, Tohru had cooked relatively "normal" things already. I mean, other than her trying to get Kobayashi to eat her tail, she's always cooked normal food. So...that didn't make much sense to me, either. I know this is a slice of life anime, but consistency isn't a "terrible" thing to have ya know. I think the fanservice is ridiculous too, but then again I normally don't like fanservice at all. But here it just felt...so unnecessary. I would've been fine if it was just like, one or 2 boob jiggles here and there, but it happened so often that it got tedious. And you can't tell me "if you don't like it, don't watch it". That argument has always been extremely stupid to me. I could see if someone was watching a series all the way through and just kept complaining about it nonstop to a public source every single episode (like what happened in the comments of "The Legend of Korra" when I watched it) but if I'm going into a show that doesn't even have ecchi in the tags and I pretty much like everything else in the show BUT the fanservice, than I'm going to be disappointed. Just...I expected a teeny bit better from this animation studio. But at times they seemed a little uncomfortable with the amount of fanservice as well. At least when it came to the Kanna/Riko situations. They'd only show Riko's pervert face for about 6 seconds at most. I still didn't like it, though. I would have been fine with it if Kanna and Riko weren't freaking 3rd graders, but since they're like 6 years old, I was disturbed by how "touchy feely" they were with each other. Especially when Kanna licked Riko's face. I have...no idea why she even did that. I also hate the running gag involving Shota and Lucoa. Sorry to come off as a prude, but Lucoa's boobs are too freaking big. I don't understand how anyone would find them attractive. And they're not even proportionate to the rest of her body. Elma and Tohru's boobs were big enough, they didn't need to get ANY bigger than those 2. Plus, I hate how often Lucoa rubbed her over-sized watermelon chest all over a 9 year old boy. It might've been funny once, but doing it multiple times makes me uncomfortable, and it made a lot of OTHER people uncomfortable as well. I know that Lucoa doesn't think that what she's doing is wrong, but jeez Louise. It IS. I also think it's "funny" how a lot of folks think Lucoa is "hawt" and are jealous of Shota. I'm sure if Lucoa was a grown man rubbing his groin against a little girl, people would have a problem with it then. So why is it OK when it's a woman rubbing her boobs on a little boys face? Especially when he's clearly uncomfortable with it. I heard it's way worse in the manga since the original artist seems to draw "shouta" porn as a hobby (just what I heard, I dunno it it's true. I mean, the boy's name is Shota. So, not too far off.), so I'm just gonna...not ever read the manga. Ever. I thought the anime was too short as well, and hopefully it will get another season to explain things better (like the factions of dragons, or Tohru's dad.) Also, is Kobayashi her last name or her first name? That confused me a little. I did still like this anime, so I really don't want anyone to think that I didn't. It was a fun little ride, and I wouldn't mind watching it again with someone else. So I'd give my overall rating a 7. Good show, but a little overrated and it has problems that others overlook. But still enjoyable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 18, 2017
Kyoukai no Kanata
(Anime)
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Recommended
Britt: Wow. It's been awhile since I reviewed an anime, huh? Well, if you've seen my other reviews (or any of "our" reviews for that matter) then you know the drill. If not then, let me just say that my reviews aren't spoiler free. If you plan on watching this anime, I suggest NOT reading my review.
I started working on this before finishing the anime, at around episode 8. I of course finished it before making my final conclusion on the show, but I just thought I'd mention that. Story (taken from MAL): "Mirai Kuriyama is the sole survivor of a clan of Spirit World warriors with ... the power to employ their blood as weapons. As such, Mirai is tasked with hunting down and killing "youmu"—creatures said to be the manifestation of negative human emotions. One day, while deep in thought on the school roof, Mirai comes across Akihito Kanbara, a rare half-breed of youmu in human form. In a panicked state, she plunges her blood saber into him only to realize that he's an immortal being. From then on, the two form an impromptu friendship that revolves around Mirai constantly trying to kill Akihito, in an effort to boost her own wavering confidence as a Spirit World warrior. Eventually, Akihito also manages to convince her to join the Literary Club, which houses two other powerful Spirit World warriors, Hiroomi and Mitsuki Nase. As the group's bond strengthens, however, so does the tenacity of the youmu around them. Their misadventures will soon turn into a fight for survival as the inevitable release of the most powerful youmu, Beyond the Boundary, approaches." I absolutely adore Kyoto Animation, and they usually do slice of life shows (or if they do something supernatural, it usually ends up being slice-of-life in the end.) So it's safe to say that I thought it'd be pretty cool if they stepped outta their comfort zone and made a more "Sc-Fi" and "dark" anime full of monsters and whatnot. This show was even recommended to me awhile ago (and I mean, AWHILE ago.) But I put it off till recently. I was...a little bit disappointed with this anime to say the least. I didn't hate this anime, but it could've been way better than it was. I just think it was average. -Episode 6 was freaking weird. It was funny (probably the funniest the show could be.) But it just seemed so random and unnecessary. -The "Hollow Shadow" seemed like it'd be more important than it was, yet it was defeated in about 2 or 3 episodes,. That was...anti climactic. I mean, they mentioned it a few more times later on in the series, but they kinda hyped it up to be something that would take awhile to defeat, and that isn't what happened. -I get confused when they say "youmu", because I immediately think of Youmu Konpaku from Touhou: Project. I feel like...if they said "youkai" instead of "youmu", I'd be less confused by what they were talking about. They're the same thing technically, aren't they? Those were just little "nitpicks" that I had. Overall, the story was nothing phenomenal. We find out that Mirai was told by Izumi Nase to destroy "Beyond the Boundary", which....I honestly thought was just the title of the anime. I didn't think it was an actual thing that needed to be "destroyed". We also find out that Akihito Kanbara is in fact "Beyond the Boundary", and Mirai didn't really defeat him. He actually kinda just played punchies with himself till he broke into a million pieces in the last episode (literally.) Speaking of Akihito, let's move onto the characters! Oh, I'd probably give the story on average a 6 out of 10. It was just "meh" to me. Some things were left unexplained (like Izumi having a youmu inside of her apparently, or the fact that Aki's mom f*cked a youmu and had Aki....but why?) Characters: The main characters are: Mirai Kuriyama, Akihito Kanbara, Mitsuki Nase, and Hirromi Nase. I didn't really...care for any of them, except maybe Mirai (but that's only because I thought her powers were cool and she has a cute character design.) I know people watching were probably annoyed by Mirai's constant "how unpleasant" catchphrase (or if you watched it in Japanese: "Fuyukai Desu".) And I was too. But you wanna know what annoyed me even more than that? Akihito's weird as hell glasses fetish and Hiroomi's creepy as hell obsession with his damn sister. Speaking of Aki's glasses fetish, I don't think he actually liked Mirai as a person, but only because of her damn glasses! (And I seem to recall Ayaka saying that Mitsuki was Hiroomi's "older sister" in one episode, which was odd as it was never mentioned again. (I forget which episode it was, but I think it was after Mirai defeated the Hollow Shadow and Aki went all crazy because he's half youmu n junk. It might've just been a mistake by the dub team though, unless I just heard her wrong. Which I'm pretty sure I did.)) But still, I found Akihito and Hiroomi annoying perverts most of the time. I don't think Aki and Mirai had a lot chemistry, either. OK, they were both "ashamed" of their "cursed" blood, so they felt they were the same in some way or another, and Aki gave Mirai money sometimes to pay for food and her rent, but other than that I really TRULY feel like Aki only liked Mirai because she wore glasses! Are those really enough reasons to fall in love with each other? Maybe if it was more than 12 episodes and Aki didn't constantly shout out his weird obsession with glasses, than MAYBE I'd understand why they fell in love with each other, but that wasn't the case. And Mirai specifically told him that she was supposed to kill him, and when she decided not to, there were consequences. She gave up her life so that he could live, so when "Beyond the Boundary" went back into Aki's body for whatever reason (after he literally played "punchies" with it and it disintegrated) her body started to disappear. Yet "by the power of their love for each other!" Mirai MAGICALLY reappears. Because, why the hell not?? So yeah. The romance was also pretty...sucky. You wanna know what anime couples I think had good chemistry? Taiga and Ryuuji from Toradora!, Nagisa and Tomoya from CLANNAD, and hell, I think Kurisu and Okabe from Steins;Gate had better chemistry. They should've been left at "just friends." Onto another character here we have Hiroomi Nase. Yeah. Hiroomi is just freaking weird. He was spying on his younger sister in a bikini. Because Japan just thinks incest is the best form of entertainment, right? Other than that, it seems the Nase family members all have the same bland, and boring personalities anyway. The only thing that really stands out is Hiroomi and his sister complex that actually makes me uncomfortable (and the fact that he acts gay sometimes for....whatever reason.) Other than that, they don't stand out much. The oldest sister Izumi seemed too bossy and b*tchy for my liking at first. But she was kinda bland, too. And we find out that she has a secret she's been keeping from her family, but we never learn anymore about it cause the series just like....ends after that. Mitsuki is also just an "OK" character. She didn't seem to do much. There's also another character named Sakura (forgot her last name.) But...I didn't understand the point of her character. Mirai was adopted, and Sakura was her adopted little sister. But when Mirai was forced to kill Sakura's biological sister because she was possessed, Sakura swore revenge on her. But...Sakura forgave Mirai rather quickly. It seems it didn't take much to convince her that Mirai wasn't a bad person, especially since she seemed so dead-set on killing her. A simple "I'm sorry" seems to have worked in Mirai's favor, and I thought that was stupid. Sakura's introduction into the damn show was "I gotta kill Mirai cause she killed my sister", then all Mirai had to do was say "I'm sorry" once, and they suddenly become best friends who even start living together? That's stupid! The other characters are....meh to me as well. The main 4 aren't all that memorable, except Mirai. But I'm pretty sure she's only "memorable" because of her catchphrase. Aki's mom was weird just for the sake of being weird (I mean obviously. She f*cked "Beyond the Boundary".) The teacher was alright, but I forgot her name and she just seemed to be there cause she wanted a boyfriend. The villain was kinda lame and I don't remember his name, either. Ms. Ayaka and Ai were probably the only characters I can say I "cared about". Even then, I still didn't care. The characters were OK. I'd probably have to give them a 6 out of 10 as well. They were just kind of forgettable. Art/Sound: Well, KyoAni is known for having really awesome art and a really awesome animation style. So as per usual, it was pretty great here too. The fight scenes were cool, and nothing really seemed "off" in the animation. It had pretty colors, bt they weren't "all in your face." When it needed to be dark it was dark, and vice versa. The character designs were hit or miss. Mirai, Ms. Ayaka, and Ai were probably designed the best, while the rest of em were a bit plain. I looked passed that, though. So no complaints about the art/animation. I'd give it an 8 out of 10. As for the sound, I watched this anime dubbed (as I tend to do quite often), and the only voice that seemed like an odd choice was Mitsuki's. I like Monica Rial, but I feel like she wasn't a very good choice for this particular character. But to be perfectly honest, I think Funimation just reeeeally wants to use the most of her. I feel like she's in almost every anime I've watched, whether her voice needs to be there or not (like Tara Strong with American cartoons.) She was even in RWBY, and she played a character that got killed off in her one and only appearance! What was the point of that?? Aside from Mitsuki's voice, I think everyone else's voice was fine. Mirai's was annoying, but I got used to it and it kinda fit, so the voice acting was fine. As for the music, it's another hit or miss. The opening called "Kyoukai no Kanata" by Minori Chihara was nothing to write home about. It fit the anime, but it's not a song I'd want to hear multiple times or want to download/buy. I didn't skip the song though, because I was watching the anime on a site with a tremendous amount of ads, and I thought I'd mess something up if I skipped the OP. So that's the only reason I bothered listening to it. It's not a "bad" song, just not an amazing one either. As for the ending song called "Daisy" by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION (I think), it was actually really catchy to me. Now THAT'S a song I wouldn't mind listening to more than once. The visuals in both the OP and ED are very good, though. As for background music, I liked that as well. I think they all fit the scenes they were in. So the sound department gets a 7.5 out of 10 for me. Overall Enjoyment: After remembering the "Endless 8" from Haruhi when I recommended it to someone, I remembered my frustration with that arc in an otherwise amazing anime. So I decided to look at forum posts to see how other people felt about it. I was mostly on Reddit, and I noticed another person mention that they did not enjoy the Endless 8 either, and that they apparently saw something that talked about KyoAni's "worst" anime (or something along those lines) so far. Apparently "Kyoukai no Kanata" was the worst anime that they've produced as far as that goes (that Reddit post was 10 months ago.) I haven't seen EVERY Kyoto Animation out there, but....Kyoukai no Kanata isn't terrible, I just feel like it could've been way better than it was. I mean, other than the beautiful, glistening muscles in "Free! Iwatobi Swim Club", I thought that show was pretty boring so I dropped it (not even the hawt guys could keep me invested.) And I think I started "K-ON!" along time ago, but I don't remember it being that great either so....Kyoukai no Kanata shouldn't be considered "the worst". At least, I don't think it should be. (Here's the Reddit post in case anyone is curious: www.reddit.com/r/anime/comment…. The comment is near the bottom, left by someone named "OseiTheWarrior".) I somewhat enjoyed this show. I'm thinking maybe if it was longer to explain certain things better, than the show itself might also be better. The characters and music are hit or miss, and the story itself was kinda "subpar." In conclusion, this show isn't "terrible", it's just average. That's probably the best I can give it. Would I recommend this show? Well, if you like pretty animation and you're bored and wanna watch something short, than go for it. I don't think it's KyoAni's "worst" anime, but it's definitely not one of their bests. So I'd say my enjoyment out of the whole thing is a 7, which isn't too bad a rating.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 18, 2017 Recommended
Cyn: Hello there everyone, it's Cyn and lately Britt's been getting all the Pokemon action, so here I thought, "let me join in as well". Personally reviewing is a pain in the butt for me, but this time I managed to pull through with a short review of Pokemon Movie #19: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel. This movie features, the mythical pokemon Volcanion, and Magearna and deals with Volcanion attempting to save Magearna throughtout the majority if not the whole movie. I will add a synopsis below, now let's begin!
Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm not into plagiarism that synopsis is not mine. It is the official ... Pokemon Synopsis. Synopsis: "A mysterious force binds Ash to the Mythical Pokémon Volcanion when it falls from the sky. Volcanion can't get away, and Ash is dragged along as it continues on its mission." (Pokemon Official Synopsis) Out of 10 the movie plot was a solid 6.2. (6.19999 if you wanna get technical). The re-mixed version of probably the best Kalos English opening theme (Be a hero) gets a 8/10. The ending theme (if not for the interruption during the video I watched) gets a 8.3/10. Overall presentation was good. There were a few awkward moments from an animation standpoint, such as, whenever Ash would change clothing, or put on the protective suit and the metal band stuck around his waist tightly would appear outside his clothing as if it were easily removable when that simply was not the case. I could tell the plot was slightly rushed and it was supposed to be a tear jerker. Although I didn't even have water in my eyes (no I'm not heartless). The music was great, they just need to work on improving their plots, making them a tad more exciting, suprising, or suspenseful. Overall, when including music it the movie is about a solid 7/10. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. I enjoy recommending Pokémon movies especially one as pure hearted as this, but the plots of Pokémon movies tend to be slightly repetitive from time to time and this movie has that kind of "Rise of Darkrai" feel to it. Where a Pokémon from the past is involved that had a connection with a human descendent (a female one). There is also the recurring theme of hating humans amongst Pokémon or the distrust of humans amongst Pokemon. Magearna also has a calming song such as that leaf flute song. The differences are there's someone to point a finger to in this movie (a clear protagonist). There's a kinship between two Mythic Pokémon that may even imply there may be some sort of "love" between them (a close friendship). This movie is a based a bit more on technology it's what the plot centers around. Another huge difference is the lack of two legendary Pokemon duking it out in a dimension that is located in the middle of no-where. As well as other differences here and there, but then again I did not say they were identical movies. They both just seem to have a similar air about them. I do recommend the movie though, I liked the relationship between Magearna and Volcanion had with one another it was...'adorable'. Side Note: Can't wait for an Alolan movie with that new animation style though, wonder how this is gonna look like. If you have any comments please leave them below, and I might reply (I probably will). Tell me what you thought of the movie if you have seen it, and if you haven't, comment on if you're planning to or if you've had enough of Pokemon movies and are ready to moo-vie on...see what I did there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 18, 2017
Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu
(Anime)
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Hello dumplings, it’s Cin, I know it’s been a while DeviantArt but are you ready for this? Today little old Cin will be reviewing…ready? You ready? Well, you probably guessed from the title, and you are totally right it is Parasyte. (If you read that carefully it rhymes…hehe). *Spoilers*
Story: So the story is as copied here, I do not own this summary. Citation is below. Parasyte centers on a 17-year-old male named Shinichi Izumi, who lives with his mother and father in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo. One night, worm-like creatures called Parasites appear on Earth, taking over the brains of human hosts by entering through ... their ears or noses. One Parasite attempts to crawl into Shinichi's ear while he sleeps, but fails as Shinichi is wearing headphones, and enters his body by burrowing into his arm instead. In the Japanese version, it takes over his right hand and is named Migi (ミギー?), after the Japanese word for 'right'; Tokyopop's version, in which the images are flipped horizontally, has the Parasite take over Shinichi's left hand and it is named Lefty. Because Shinichi was able to prevent Migi from travelling further up into his brain, both beings retain their separate intellect and personality. As the duo encounter other Parasites, they capitalize on their strange situation and gradually form a strong bond, working together to survive. This gives them an edge in battling other Parasites who frequently attack the pair upon realization that Shinichi's human brain is still intact. Shinichi feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who devour humans as food, while enlisting Migi's help. (Wikipedia). All rights Reserved. Summarized Version: Long story short this high schooler named Shinichi is targeted by a parasite trying to take over his brain, instead Shinichi traps the parasite in his right arm by preventing it from moving further up in his body. He basically gets scared thinking it is a snake, freaks out and cuts off his circulation to his arm. The parasite takes over his right arm, they maintain separate minds, parasite gains a personality, and they encounter more parasites while trying to survive. A parasite that did not take over the brain is considered a failure so “naturally” other parasites will try to kill them. Although in the anime series there is only one other person with a similar parasite situation as himself. Shinichi feels obligated to stop these other parasites and yeah…may sound a bit complex at first but it can be watered down to, creature fails at conquering human, human ends up having to work with foreign creature for mutual survival, and human ends up wanting to eliminate other foreign creatures to help humans…in other words. Humans! Yay homo sapiens! #1 race on Earth! Nothing else matters! Woo… story gets an 8/10, it has uniqueness, I like that, and it addresses the ego humans have. Characters: Moving on to the characters, and who better to begin with rather than, Shinichi Izumi our main character. Now Shinichi he had a pretty wimpy look at first, but later learns to pack a punch. In the beginning of the anime he has a rather pathetic image, and cares more about his own survival and living, and…himself? Yet he does not want others too involved, and completely depends on Migi, this changes when he pulls an Aizen (Sosuke Aizen) …his mother nearly kills him, but Migi regenerates the wound and Shinichi’s physical abilities enhance. He grows colder towards humans yet maintains his wanting to save humanity from the parasites, he basically takes a 180 in the middle of the series and slowly becomes a bit more like Migi, but near the end and in the end is a bit more human...? I suppose. Next is Migi, the parasitic right arm of Shinichi. The End. No, but really Migi is pretty heartless but very logical. Migi is probably my second favorite character in this series. He issues precise judgements and is somewhat “coldhearted” in the series. He develops a strong bond with Shinichi overtime their relationship going from being survival based to…” I…guess after killing parasites like the bad arses we are and having some critical moments and tough situations like with Gotou, I guess we can be friends…” Migi is my man…voiced by a woman both in English and Japanese. Let’s talk about Nobuko Izumi, the mother of our lovely main character, a sweet caring woman whom tries not to worry her son; while worrying about him herself. She carries a burn scar as a reminder from the past…and is later killed in the series turning into a parasite that nearly kills Shinichi. Of course later Shinichi kills her, but it was something very difficult for him, I actually really liked his mother too. Moving on to Satomi Murano, to be honest I did not like her that much, she played the somewhat annoying female love interest. Thank god she did not get too much screen time. Her character development was alright, and in the end the cannon couple got together. Great for you Satomi! Hmm, Kana Kimishima. The girl whom used to hang out with those guys that beat up Shinichi now turned into his spiritual soulmate? Kana was convinced she was meant to be with Shinichi when she could “sense” his presence. In all honesty she just had high spiritual abilities and could “sense” parasites which Shinichi warned her was dangerous. Yet blinded by love! She carved her own path to her downfall, and death. (I kind of shipped her with Shinichi). Who is Yuko Tachikawa you ask? Only one of Satomi’s BFFs. Yuko is the sister of a profiler that works for the police and discovers a drawing of a parasite. For those of you who do not know a profiler is a person that sketches an image of a potential perpetrator or suspect based on a description a witness gives. Now, Yuko learns of the parasites and suspects Shinichi, all the while crushing on a parasite at their school...no wonder she nearly died. Earlier in the summary I stated there was someone much like Shinichi, well that person is Mamoru Uda. His parasite is trapped around his mouth, chin area (awkward, guess he is not getting babes anytime soon). He ends up helping Shinichi track down his mother, and struggles to almost kills her himself, but at that point Shinichi takes matters into his own right arm (hehe). Reiko Tamura, she is a parasite that teaches at Shinichi’s school, then motivated by science has a drive to learn about her species she gets impregnated by another parasite, only to find out that the baby would be human, and ends up changing identities after being discovered as a parasite. Reiko is an interesting character, she treats her baby strangely but up until her death when she asks Shinichi to take care of her child she seems to have maternal instincts and want to protect her child. Finally, Gotou he is an interesting character. An experiment developed by Reiko and the last..parasite(s)? Gotou is a mix of three different parasites one of them being Miki. He is an extreme pain in the butt to Shinichi all while being freakishly tough, he is my favorite character oddly enough. Although in the end when Shinichi has his revelation about humanity Gotou ends up dying. He was pretty much the threat in the last few episodes. The characters were pretty well developed for the most part, and although I did not like all of them I liked a majority of them, 8.2/10. Art/Sound: Lemme tell you, this art was unique in a good way. I liked the real-ness of the characters, no overly dramatized features. It was wickedly gore, and the detail in the heads of parasites astonished me! It was some of the most realistic approach I have seen, although it was not completely realistic. The soundtrack was fitting as should all soundtracks be…but that opening just gets you ready and excited for what is to come! Literally some good stuff here. 8.5/10 Overall: Just to sum it up. This is a great piece of work here. Great stuff. Recommended for those looking for something with some actual plot. It has its moments but is truly deserving of an 8.7/10. Yeah, that took a while. Especially those characters. Well hope I did not put anyone to sleep! Stay awake! Otherwise you will miss out. Look forward to my next review! Whenever that happens…
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 18, 2017
Vampire Knight
(Manga)
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Hello there, everyone. Britt here, reviewing one of the worst manga I've ever read. Well, worst manga endings I've read at least. And that manga is called: Vampire Knight. Now, let's just jump right into it, shall we?
Story: "Cross Academy is an elite boarding school with two separate, isolated classes: the Day Class and the Night Class. On the surface, Yuuki Cross and Zero Kiryuu are prefects of the academy, and attempt to keep order between the students as classes rotate in the evenings. As the Night Class is full of utterly gorgeous elites, this can sometimes prove to be a bit difficult. It is ... completely necessary, however, as those "elites" are actually vampires. Yuuki and Zero act as guardians, protecting the secrets of the Night Class and the safety of their ignorant morning counterparts. As the adopted daughter of the academy's chairman, Yuuki takes her job with a serious and energetic attitude. It also allows her to interact with her secret crush and savior, the president of the Night students' dorm, Kaname Kuran. Zero, on the other hand, has a deep-rooted hatred against vampires, and at times, does not hesitate to kill. Can vampires and humans co-exist, even in the strict setup of the Cross Academy? Only time will tell." Really ya know, Myanimelist didn't get the whole premise of it, to avoid spoilers, but this was just the first half of the story. The part where Yuuki remains a human being. Oh, SPOILER ALERT but hey, you can leave at any time. Yuuki turns into a vampire, but it turns out that she was actually born a vampire, but her mother took her memories and "vampirism" away from her so she'd have a peaceful normal life or whatever. This to me, is where it started to suck. Hard. After Yuuki became a vampire, like literally maybe 2 pages afterwards she became one of my most hated fictional characters ever. And I'll get onto that in a second. After her little "transformation" the story stops focusing on the struggles of vampires and humans trying to coexist, and instead focuses on the stupid "love triangle" between Yuuki, Zero, and Kaname. Yuuki's "awakening" and getting her memories back is where the story takes a complete 180 for me and doesn't even feel like the same manga anymore. It just got...really really bad. I don't know why fans of this manga claim things like "this is what Twilight should've been" when in all honesty, this manga was horrible. I only watched the first Twilight movie, and read none of the books, but most people say it's bad. And in reality, if Twilight is so bad, then VK is no better, and people who say it is are either in denial, or just distracted by how pretty Hino's art is. So the first half with human Yuuki get's an 8/10 for me, while the half with vampire Yuuki onward was trash and get's a 4/10 for me. Moving on! Characters: Well, there's the "heroine" known as Yuuki. when she was human, she took her adopted father, Kaien Cross's last name. When she turned back into a pureblood (a term used for vampires with literally NO HUMAN genes in their lineage, and they live for eternity) vampire, she resumed her family name, which was Kuran. Now, I'm going to consider Cross Yuuki and Kuran Yuuki to be 2 different entities, since they literally felt like 2 different people sharing a body. Let's start with Cross: At the start of the series, I actually really liked Yuuki (ya know, when she was still human) I thought she was the typical shoujo heroine. Always wanting to help people, having a big appetite, and being too dense to realize the guy (Zero) likes her. I did think her crush on Kaname was a bit annoying, but hey, if some hot guy saved me from being mauled by a vampire when I was little, I'd probably have wet dreams about him every night, too. Buuuut, I digress. Yuuki had no memories prior to Kaname saving her. Her mother (Juri Kuran) sacrificed her life to make Yuuki human (but was adopted by Kaien) and she lost everything she knew in the process. Over time this actually started to really bother her (not knowing anything about her past, I mean) and she begged Kaname to help her remember. This in turn caused Kaname to turn her into a vampire so she'd get her memories back. Noooow, this is where everything starts going downhill, but I'll get back to Kuran Yuuki after I finish the other 2. Zero Kiryu is a sexy emo who despises vampires (since his parents were vampire hunters, and his family was murdered by a pureblood, I'm sure you can understand why) but guess what? The same vampire who killed his family, turned him into one, sooooo he began hating himself. Yuuki was a bit too dense to realize he was hiding this for what, 4 years? When she did find out, she literally became his fuel tank. She offered her blood to him whenever he needed it, and I'm just sitting here wondering how she was so full of that (she never ran dry) Then there's Kaname Kuran (ye, same last name. I'm getting to that, hold up) I hated Kaname at first. Thought he was a manipulative, lying, bastard, but after the "Yuuki turning vampire" incident, I kinda started feeling bad for him. Lemme explain why while getting back to Kuran Yuuki. I absolutely DESPISED her transformation, and here's why (I'm literally copying this from another post I did awhile back) *ahem*: "Now before you fan-girls and guys start ripping my limbs off let me explain why I hate these 2 things (these 2 things being Yuuki and the ending to this manga) so strongly. 1 The way Yuki acted after she got her memory back. Now I loved Yuki when she was human. She was nice, pretty, funny and just such an enjoyable character, but once she got turned into a vampire all of my love for her was replaced with anger and annoyance. I mean for 1 the way she talked to Zero when she got her memories back was so mean and out of character for her. She knows Zero hates vampires because he was raised by vampire hunters, his parents were killed by a pureblood, and that same pureblood took his humanity and forced him to eat the remains of his younger brother yet she purposely went to his room and said "I'm sorry Zero, but the Yuki you know is gone, because the vampire Yuki completely devoured her". Why would she say that to him? Like really Yuki, you know he loves you and hates vampires so why would she say something so cruel to him? She could of had a nicer approach to the situation like "I'm sorry that I'm a vampire and I've been one this whole time. I didn't know about it and I don't want you to hate me. So can we talk this out?" That would have been so much better. Another thing that bugs me is after she said that to him she left it at that and went to live with Kaname for 2 years. 2 friggin years she hadn't spoken to Zero, and when she did finally see him again he kissed her and confessed his love yet she still cruelly abandoned him for incest. Oh I can't forget the time she found out about Kaname's true motives in life which broke her heart and sent her running back to Zero for help saying she wanted to be friends again. Nah b*tch, that's not how it works. Oh don't even get me started on the ending. Turns out Yuki threatened to kill Kaname along side Zero, got rid of the only thing I liked about her which was her long pretty hair that she didn't deserve. INSTEAD of killing Kaname with Zero like she said she would, she has sex with him, leaving Zero alone AGAIN. Then Kaname sacrifices himself and goes into a deep sleep for 1 thousand years after he reveals that he wanted Yuki to be with Zero all along. Kaname goes into his sleep, Yuki cries like a b*tch then runs off like a b*tch, Zero confesses his love AGAIN and says he'll wait for whenever she decides to be with him. It takes her awhile but her pretty hair grows back and she's holding Kaname's baby. She gets with Zero, has a baby with him then a thousand years later after Zero's long dead she sacrifices herself to wake Kaname up and so she could be with Zero in the afterlife leaving her kids with a man that had no memory of anything (Kaname) therefore he doesn't remember knocking Yuki up so he does not know either of these kids nor do they know him since they were BOTH RAISED BY ZERO SO THEY CONSIDER ZERO TO BE THEIR FATHER NOT KANAME. Then the story ends. I hate the ending because Yuki deserves neither Zero or Kaname ESPECIALLY not Zero. She should have died alone and Zero shoulda got with Maria instead and Kaname could still be sleep. That would have made a better ending in my opinion. This ending and Yuki were horrible, the decisions Yuki makes are awful. Look, I know the Creator (Matsuri Hino-sensei) was probably just trying to please all her fans by having the protagonist get with both guys, but making her a useless b*tchy whore is NOT the way to go. I hope her next story will be a lot better because I love her art style so much and I want to see it get put to good use. Not on something like Vampire Knight; Something that started off good but ended poorly. And that's the end of my rant" Well, that's pretty much it. Of course when I wrote this, I didn't really plan on reviewing it, but now that I'm a bit of a better writer, let me explain this to you more professional-like. Yuuki's personality took a nosedive when she became a vampire (and literally the only thing likable about her WAS indeed her hair, which was too pretty for her to have) She seriously felt like a split personality from Cross Yuuki. She was mean to Zero. Like. Damn. She tells Zero "goodbye" and then..leaves the school with Kaname. She lived with that crazy vampire for 2 years, and guess what? She was miserable almost the entire time. I know she loved Kaname, but she didn't have to leave Zero the way she did, or even at all. While living with Kaname, she was depressed, and usually jealous whenever seeing another woman touch him. She was starving for Zero (even though, like I said she should've never left him in the first place) too. Oh right, when she got her memories back she found out that Kaname was actually "her older brother". Oh right! did I forget to mention that their family resorted to incest to keep their lineage going? Even their parents were siblings (ugh) "But wait, Britt! Yuuki eventually finds out that her older brother actually died, and that Kaname is really her ancestor inside her brother's body!" Ok, and that makes it better hooow? It's still incest, and if anything it's WORSE that he's her ancestor and not her brother. She literally slept and made out with her freaking 10000 year old grandpa! That's freaking disgusting! Also, Yuuki had a baby with Kaname. Don't care what anyone says, but Ai Kuran is Kaname's baby. It doesn't make any sense for it to be someone else's (Zero) and she got pregnant in one night. Kaname popped her cherry, and she literally got pregnant in one night. What the hell, Matsuri Hino?? Care to explain how she got pregnant the day she lost her virginity? How does that work?? Is that just vampire logic? Cause you never explained that part. Yeah, and apparently there's this thing that like, all the vampire hunter weapons were created from the remains of a dead vampire (WTF?) and that well, um...I don't even remember. I think like, Kaname sacrificed his heart into a furnace soooo he could be the next line of vampire hunter weapons? I don't...I don't understand. And, while he was dying ya know, he held Yuuki AND Zero close and told them "hey...since I'm dying, I want you two to be together instead. Ya know, since I won't be available anymore" Hahahahahahahaha, sorry, that's not EXACTLY what he said, but it went pretty much like that. Kaname (apparently) wanted Yuuki to be with Zero this whole time. Ok, sooo, why did you make her suffer for 2 years you ass? This ship could've sailed so far earlier on in the series! And guess what? Since Kaname gave them his blessing, Yuuki um....runs away since she still can't decide which guy she actually wants? Bullsh*t, Hino! I call bullsh*t! So yeah, Yuuki ends up getting with Zero, after Kaname gave her PERMISSION to do so, and after Zero begged her-wait a minute, Zero BEGGED her to stay with him? The hell?? Zero would never BEG her for anything! Not even her blood! Yet all of a sudden he decided "hey, Kaname's gone. Now's my chance!" What? NO! That's not character development! That's character downgrading! That line felt so out of place for him, that I can't even. And you know what? Yuuki ends up living with him and having his child. Because, Kaname wanted her to. Jesus Christ, even in death this dude still has control over her! I don't care what anyone says, Yuuki clearly loved Kaname more than Zero, and only used Zero as a replacement. Had Kaname still been alive, she would've STILL been living with him! Sure, the ending states that Yuuki was happy with him, but there was literally an 1000 year time skip. I'm sorry, but for all we know, she could've been thinking of Kaname the whole time while being with him, just like how she was thinking of Zero almost the entire time she was living with Kaname. Since ya know, "I love them both, and can't choose who I want" is always a great excuse. Soooo yeah, Kaname's in a deep sleep or whatever, Yuuki was living with Zero, and Zero was raising his enemies child, Ai. Oh yeah, Zero and Kaname hated each other. Mostly cause they were fighting over Yuuki's affections. No way in the world am I gonna raise the child of someone I despise. Kaname indirectly killed Zero's family, yet he's ok to raise his child? Uuuuuum, how about no. So yeah, uh Yuuki lives with Zero, and has a baby with him. (she had a baby with both guys) and then ya know, Zero dies of old age or something, and Yuuki goes up to Kaname and resurrects him as a human, the way her mother did for her. Sacrificing her life, and literally leaving her children with him. Do you guys see a problem with this? I sure do. A few actually. Why in the world would Yuuki leave her children with a man who literally woke up with amnesia? These kids grew up with Zero being their father, and Yuuki just EXPECTED them to start calling Kaname father or some crap like that? And to top it all off, Kaname's alive again, 'cept these few problems. Ya know, kinda gotta raise these kids even though you don't know them, and you'll most likely end up the way Yuuki did. Wishing you remembered your past, and suffering because of it. I know Yuuki gave him a second chance at happiness, but really? He lived long enough, and actually wanted to die because living forever was too painful for him. Why the HELL would you bring him back? He would've been happier dead! Ugh! The ending was God awful. Yuuki (in the end) was worse than Katniss Everdeen in terms of picking who she wanted to be with. Cause in the end, she STILL did not choose. Why would anyone want to be with a girl as indecisive as her? Zero deserved better, and Yuuki deserved to die. I would've been SO MUCH HAPPIER had Zero ended up with a girl who actually loved him for him, and not as a replacement for someone else. and considering Zero's my favorite character, he seriously deserved better than what she gave him. Matsuri Hino's favorite character is Kaname, but that doesn't mean she had to push Zero into the dirt and break his character like that. I'm glad he was happy, which is what really mattered to me. I just wish some other girl could've made him happy instead of Yuuki. Sorry for going on this little rant, but the other characters really aren't worth mentioning, since they kinda got forgotten and pushed to the side to make more room for Yuuki's stupid indecisiveness. In all honesty, I kinda wish Hino would've focused more on the background characters (specifically Rima Toya and Senri Shiki) instead of that broken love triangle. Not much else to say except that Sayori (Yuuki's best friend) and Aido (Kaname's b*tch) started liking each other in the side stories (their love literally came out of nowhere since they gave 2 sh*ts about each other beforehand) and apparently there's a "cure" for vampires to make them human. Which has a giant question mark slapped at the end of it since it also came out of nowhere, and I had no idea being a vampire was a freaking disease now. Anyway, sorry for spending so much time on this but, the characters (when Yuuki was human) get's a 7/10. Afterwards, it get's a 3/10 Art: Well damn. Not much to say except Matsuri Hino has some of the best art I've ever seen from a manga artist. Her art is very different from what other manga artists do (IMO). It's very beautiful, and she puts so much detail into everything she does. The hair? Well jeez, it actually looks like hair! She takes her time with each freaking strand! And she is one artist who inspires me greatly with my own works. Heck, if KyoAni animated the anime for VK, it probably would've been the prettiest thing I've ever seen. Combining Matsuri Hino with KyoAni might result in brilliance. Just wish she could've put this gorgeous art to good use. So, the art get's a 10/10 for me. It's just that freaking good to me. Overall enjoyment. Well, first half (human Yuuki) get's an 8, while the second half (vampire Yuuki) get's a 4. Sooo, would I suggest this manga? Well, no. I mean, I'd suggest the first half, but if you hate idiotic, useless, indecisive, main leads then this isn't the manga for you. I've read some of Matsuri's other works, such as "Meru Peri", "Captive Hearts", and some of her latest manga "Shuriken to Pleats" and I gotta say that Meru Peri is currently the best manga I've read from her. It's better than VK, so I suggest reading that instead. I think the author just wanted to please both sides of the debate in this VK fandom. The Zeki (YuukiXZero) fans, and the Yume (KanameXYuuki) fans. But really, if it was possible to split their bodies and minds in half (since apparently there's a "cure" for vampires, this wouldn't have surprised me) I'd think human Yuuki should be with Zero and vampire Yuuki should die-*ahem* I mean, be with Kaname (Yuuki would look like less of a whore, then). But since that did not happen, I think Zero would've been better off with someone else. I think he's been through enough heartache, don't you? This is Britt signing off, and please don't chop off my head VK fans! Love ya!~
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 18, 2017
Mai-chan no Nichijou
(Manga)
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Not Recommended
Britt: Well, the first manga I was going to review was originally gonna be the disappointment known as "Vampire Knight", but after my friend Michael warned me about this particular manga called "Mai-Chan no Nichijou" or as it's called in English "Mai-Chan's Daily Life", I decided to check that out instead and see what was so bad about it. Hmm, I can certainly say his warning wasn't for nothing. Mai-Chan's Daily Life is probably the most disgusting, despicable, inhumane piece of dog sh*t I've ever laid my eyes upon. Now for those of you who don't know what this manga is, let me explain. Mai-Chan's
...
Daily Life is an ero guro manga written and illustrated by Waita Uziga, and if you're into some nasty sh*t, just search up his name on Google, and you'll get what you so desire. Now, ero guro is a type of genre consisting of "grotesque pornography". Ya know, sex (or in this case, rape) mixed with torture, then that's what that is. I honestly cannot understand how something like that would appeal to anyone. Watching a mutilated body getting raped. That's disgusting, and not sexy or arousing in the slightest, but I'm getting a bit off topic. Let's go on to the story of this...."manga"
Story: (Copied from Myanimelist.com) "Mai-Chan's Daily Life tells the story of the 17-year-old girl Mai-chan, who has the ability to quickly regenerate from injuries, no matter how severe. Working as a maid, she is also sold to a number of clients who can do whatever they wish to her, no matter how cruel or painful, just to satisfy their desire." And well, there you have it folks. Mai is a maid-no, scratch that, Mai is an IMMORTAL SEX SLAVE. Yeah, that's right. Her "boss" has "clients" paying to rape and dismember this poor girl on a daily.basis. I mean, but it's ok since she can't die right? It's not like they're really killing her. AHA, see, that's where you're wrong my friend. Even if she can't die, it's still messed up. Every single page had her being raped and murdered over and over again in great detail, and she could feel all of it. Not like she had a congenital insensitivity to pain cause she can regenerate. Oh no, she still felt the stabbing, the biting, the beheading, the bludgeoning. I guess, it wouldn't have been as bad if Mai couldn't feel any of this. But no, she had to feel it every day of her life and it's horrible. I mean, even if she couldn't feel it it would still be f*cked up, but at least she wouldn't have to suffer as much. Also, this manga was very rushed. I mean, I'm glad it didn't go any further, but there were a lot of things left unexplained. Like, how did Mai get regeneration abilities? How long has she been working as a "maid"? And if she's suffering so much, why didn't she just run away? This stuff was just glossed over for the torture porn and that was it. I give the story (or whatever) a freaking 2. It's lucky it got that. Characters: Oh jeez, where do I start with the characters? Well, there's Mai-Chan the protagonist of course, with the power to heal any injury thrown at her. All I can really say is that throughout this entire manga, I felt nothing but sorry for her. She was as sweet as pumpkin pie, and yet all these horrible things happened to her, and she kinda just went with it. It was a bit hard to keep feeling sympathy after every page, though. I mean, everything just got worse and worse and never got better, but my problem is that she just stood there and took it even if it was hurting her. I mean, couldn't she just run away from all that if she didn't like it? Cause she clearly didn't, but did she feel like she had nowhere else to go? Or maybe she thought that even if she did run away, she'd get mauled by a tiger anyway? Oh yeah, that brings me to this next character. Kaede, Mai's boss, and the most sadistic b*tch I've ever seen in my life. She thought since Mai couldn't die, she could just make a few quick bucks selling her as a sex slave to disgusting, horny animals. Apparently everyone in this story is into ero guro, since it seems all the clients were merciless and wanted nothing but to skull f*ck Mai and get their moneys worth. Ok, I'll admit that I'm into some weird stuff, too, but I'd never, and I mean NEVER stoop that low. Who the hell actually get's a turn-on from headless, limbless, gutless bodies? I certainly don't. And I certainly don't want to meet anyone in the real world or online who's into that. Because it's disgusting. I don't care how sadistic you are, that's taking it waaaay too far, man. The rest of the characters consist of Kizuna the masochist, who looks like he's about 12 or under and he can also heal any injury thrown at him (never explained, and he came out of nowhere). Sayurin, the limbless girl (she also came out of nowhere), and Mai's first friend. She died in front of Mai, and Kaede forced Mai to watch her body decay in the backyard, cause that's what friends do. And George Reitman. A president of "a country", who is supposed to represent a certain former president we all know, without actually mentioning him. He was literally a pile of sh*t who deserved to die a horrible death for what he did. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that Sayurin was apparently a cannibal so Mai had to grind up her own arms and breasts to feed to her? (this doesn't need to be explained either obviously, just look at the gore, man!) F*Ck this nasty sh*t. I give the characters a 2. I'm seriously being generous with the 2's. Art: Oh dear Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. *sigh* the art. Well, I'd be lying if I said the art was bad. It was actually really well drawn. Aaand considering the demographic for this monstrosity, I'd say it did it's job right. But then there's the fact that the females (and shotas) are all drawn in a cutesy style. A lot of people couldn't take the manga seriously because they were so "moe" looking, but I for one found it more unbearable to look at because of how cute they looked. It's like running over a baby playing with a puppy. that's how it felt. And if that doesn't sadden you, then you really have no soul. Speaking of babies, the ending to this manga (though, not really the ending. Just nearing the end) was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. I'm not even joking, I'm not even exaggerating. Give me a Serbian film mixed with Human Centipede, and throw in some Splice and I'd take that over what I saw waiting for me at the end. And that damn scene became an internet meme, and some people even found it funny. This world is full of f*cked up people. I swear it is. That scene was not funny. It was disturbing, and horrible. If anyone fapped to that then you need a therapist. No joke. Go see a doctor if you got a hard on from that. Because you need help. And stay off of 4chan, damn it! I thought the art was decent, so I'll give it a 4. You got lucky, art. Overall Enjoyment: F*ck that word called "enjoyment" cause I didn't enjoy a single second of this horrid creation. I've seen some pretty messed up stuff before, but this was beyond me. Coming from someone who can handle gore pretty well, and can handle some weird hentai pretty well, I have to say that when mixing gore with hentai, I start to feel nauseous. Like, my stomach literally started to hurt after I read this. I didn't find anything funny, even when the creator was going for a comedic route at the end, I still did not find it funny. My jaw dropped a few times, and it felt like there was a knot in my stomach, but that's all. I'm sorry, but I cannot find anything about this appealing. If you're into gore and sex, then watch a SAW movie next to a pornhub playlist. Don't read this terrifying sh*t. So, if you couldn't already tell how I felt about this manga well then let me say it for the hundredth time. THIS WAS THE NASTIEST, SCARIEST, MOST DISGUSTING PIECE OF GARBAGE I'VE EVER READ IN MY ENTIRE YOUNG 17 YEARS OF LIVING. I WILL NEVER READ THIS AGAIN, AND I SUGGEST THAT NONE OF YOU READ IT EITHER. Seriously just do the SAW pornhub thing instead. If you're aloud to feel sadness, laughter, and anger when reading manga or watching anime, then you're aloud to feel DISGUSTED also. And that's exactly how this stupid sh*t made me feel. So please, do not, and I repeat DO NOT, read this grotesque, cannibalistic, pedobear fuel, rape filled, gore-fest, especially if you have a soul and a weak stomach. This nasty trash get's a 2.5 from me. I'm not even gonna sign off from this. Have fun rotting in hell, Waita Uziga you sick-twisted bastard. I'll give you props for doing something I've never seen before, other than that I hated it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go watch some Cyanide and Happiness then some Happy Tree Friends while the Onibi series plays in the background. Good day. Ugh, this nastiness got a live-action movie. Of all the despicable, mindless, retarded malarkey I've seen. This is by far the worst. Of all things to get a live-action movie, you choose THIS?? F*ck it. Go watch some Corpse Party or Elfen Lied or whatever. Don't watch that movie. I'm sorry, Michael. Next time I'll just take your word for it *cries in corner*
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Feb 18, 2017
Nagi no Asu kara
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Britt: Disappointment. What more can I say, other than "dis-a-ppoint-ment"? It was just....it was so bad! This show had so much potential, and that potential was WASTED here! Seriously, what the hell?? God. I guess I should actually review the freaking anime before I start ranting on and on about how I didn't like it. As usual, we're going to start with the story. The mess of a story here I might add.
Story: (Copied from "My Anime List") "Long ago, all humans lived beneath the sea. However, some people preferred the surface and abandoned living underwater permanently. As a consequence, they were stripped of their god-given ... protection called "Ena" which allowed them to breathe underwater. Over time, the rift between the denizens of the sea and of the surface widened, although contact between the two peoples still existed. Nagi no Asukara follows the story of Hikari Sakishima and Manaka Mukaido, along with their childhood friends Chisaki Hiradaira and Kaname Isaki, who are forced to leave the sea and attend a school on the surface. There, the group also meets Tsumugu Kihara, a fellow student and fisherman who loves the sea. Hikari and his friends' lives are bound to change as they have to deal with the deep-seated hatred and discrimination between the people of sea and of the surface, the storms in their personal lives, as well as an impending tempest which may spell doom for all who dwell on the surface." Let me point out all the problems I see here: What exactly does it mean by "some people preferred the surface and abandoned living underwater permanently"? Is it like a "Little Mermaid" scenario where they just said "forget my family and friends! I'm going to abandon them to live up on land with strangers!" or some crap like that? And how were people born in the sea when they could just so easily live on land where there's honestly more to do there anyway? Is this a religious thing? Like how at the beginning of the worlds creation there was nothing but water? Is that the direction they were taking with this? They could've also been a little more specific with it. Like, I wouldn't have minded knowing who actually decided living on land was better than living in the ocean, and if the anime could explain their reasoning. That brings me to another problem I have here. Why are the sea dwellers and land walkers racist towards each other? No seriously, why? They're almost the exact same! Only difference between them is some people have blue eyes/eyelashes and live in the sea. That's literally the only difference. They both have school, they both eat and cook the same, they both read the same, sleep the same, open pickle jars the same, live in the same type of houses, they even have FIRE and STARES underwater, so what the hell is the difference between them? They hate each other for NO. FREAKING. REASON. Is this just a way to create some forced drama and conflict? Because it didn't work. Their ways of living are too similar to even say this is a real issue between them. Shioshishio is the underwater village, while Oshiooshi is the land peoples village. The creators were even lazy enough to make their village names damn near anagrams of each other! It's just a case of people bullying one another for no reason whatsoever. That's all. Also, the world-building wasn't good. Like. Seriously bad here. The little bit of the oceanic world we got to see was beautiful, but are you actually expecting me to believe that there's only ONE village in the ENTIRE ocean? I don't understand why we couldn't explore it a bit more. And why is it that Hikari and his 3 friends were the only children in their entire village who had to be sent to land school? Heck, they're the only children ever SEEN from their village! You absolutely cannot tell me with a straight fact that that little village takes up the entire. ocean. Why aren't there any other villages? And their middle school was the only one they had so they had to go to land middle school and they're the only middle schoolers living in Shioshishio? That's freaking retarded. And for the limited amount of "plot" they actually had, it was glossed over to make room for contrived romance. Which I'll get more onto in a second. Seriously, who wrote the script for this mess of a plot? (Mari Okada) Okay. Yup. That makes sense now. The story gets a 4/10 for me. Characters: Wanna know what's worse than the story of this anime? The freaking characters, that's what! Most of them were unlikable and most of their decisions were stupid and unbelievable. I can easily sum up the main 4 in one word: Hikari-->tsundere, Manaka-->crybaby, Chisaki-->b*tch, and Kaname-->bland. The other characters aren't good, either. Tsumugu is almost exactly like Kaname, except he shows even LESS emotion than him, and the most reaction we ever see from him is probably in episode 14 or 26. Miuna is a bit difficult to describe in a nice way. She just seemed to be there just cause she can be, until the last episode where they made her more relevant than I thought possible. Same with her best friend, Sayu. Akari is Hikari's older sister, who was best friends with Miuna's mother, but then her mother died, and Akari and Miuna's dad started dating....Which I find...not right, for lack of a better word. I don't want to imagine it this way, but it felt like she was just waiting for Miuna's mom to be out of the picture so she could be with her dad. They even have a kid together and Miuna starts calling her mom, and it feels like NOBODY saw anything wrong with this. I know this most likely was NOT the intention, but it certainly felt that way. And I guess since the same thing basically happened in RWBY, it's just considered "normal" *shudders*. Really, the main issue I have with the characters is that they all seem to be in love with each other for whatever reason, they're indecisive as hell (and you should all know how I feel about that from my Vampire Knight review), and they cry too damn much. Think Lucy from Fairy Tail and Dawn from Pokemon cry a lot? Well you ain't seen nothing yet! They cry way too much for me to even feel sympathy for them. Most of the time, their tears are unnecessary, and are only there for forced drama. I also bet you're wondering why I said they fall in love too easily and they're very indecisive, huh? Well even if you weren't wondering, I'm gonna explain it anyway! You've heard of love triangles right? Heck, you've probably heard of love polygons too, haven't ya? Well, have you ever heard of love "squiggly lines" before?? Well if that's what you've been after, look no further cause this anime has got that squiggly line for you! Let's put this in a way you'll perhaps understand: Hikari likes Manaka, but it seems Manaka might have slight feelings for Tsumugu, but it's later revealed that she actually likes Hikari. Chisaki also likes Hikari, but didn't tell him because she knew he liked Manaka. Kaname likes Chisaki as well which he randomly told her out of the blue because he showed NO signs of actually liking her in that way beforehand, but it seems Chisaki may have started developing feelings for Tsumugu as well despite acting like she hated him earlier on. Tsumugu likes Chisaki back, but it's so hard to tell with this guy since he's like stale bread who spouts words of wisdom every now and then, but has the personality of a rock. Miuna ALSO likes Hikari, and this is probably the strangest one considering logically Hikari is her uncle now, since his older sister married her dad (that's creepy as hell.) Miuna's 3 year old brother has a 3 year old crush on Manaka, random boy A likes Miuna, and random girl B likes Kaname, the lamp post loves the stop sign, the garbage can loves the bucket of water, and lastly, Sayu likes Kaname, and it felt like he was playing with her emotions when she told him. Did you get all of that? Need a diagram for this crap don'cha? I also find them indecisive because they hardly EVER make up their minds about something. This is mostly for Manaka and Chisaki, ESPECIALLY Chisaki. The reason I called her a b*tch at first is because that was pretty much her whole character. She acted sweet and innocent, but for some reason started hating on Manaka because the guy she likes is in love with her...? Excuse me, but how is that Manaka's fault? She never forced or even TOLD Hikari to like her, he decided that on his own! Manaka even tried to hook the two of them up, yet Chisaki was STILL being salty! Are you jealous because he likes someone else? Is that your problem?? And I'm sorry, but she basically hated Tsumugu's guts earlier on in the series, but as time went on, it felt like she developed feelings for him and started living with him, but was still in love with Hikari at the same time. I should also mention that in episode 13 when Tsumugu fell off the boat into the ocean, she screamed his name in terror and worry, despite telling him to "shut his mouth because he doesn't know squat or understand what she's going through" a few hours, maybe even a day before. She also let Kaname fall into the ocean right after saving Tsumugu, and you can just see the jealousy in his eyes as he falls into the water staring and her. I mean, she might've only saved Tsumugu because he's a regular human being who would've drowned had she not saved him (at least, that's how it was in the beginning. He and Miuna get plot armor later on in the series), but the way she screamed his name made it seem as though she loved him. And in episode 17, you can just feel the envy flowing through Kaname's veins as he watches Chisaki getting along with Hikari and Tsumugu (and what even is episode 19...?). Kaname might as well have been added to her list of guys that she's trying to pick but can't decide on which one. Manaka was a bit indecisive too because she couldn't choose between Hikari and Tsumugu, but it became clear who she really wanted and was just in denial like everyone else. While that situation was annoying in itself, at least she wasn't on Chisaki's level of annoyance (and Manaka actually became a better character when the Sea God took her ability to love). Really the only person I gave a crap about was Lord Uroko (or if you wanna be a weeb, Uroko-Sama.) He was the only one who was actually likable in my eyes, plus he's cute as heck (CUTE=SMEXY). I honestly would've preferred watching him the entire time than watch the other characters being stupid and annoying. It's sad we don't go into his backstory till later on in the series. The characters get a 3.5/10. Art/Sound: Here comes literally the ONLY good thing about this anime aside from Lord Uroko! I thought the art was beautiful, and while most people will consider the music to be dull and generic, I honestly loved it as well. I enjoyed the soft sounds playing in the background, and I actually reeeeeally like the first opening: "Soshite Bokura Wa" by Ray, and the first ending: "Aqua Terrarium", by Nagi Yanagi. Loved them enough to get the full songs onto my MP3 player. And The first OP sounded like a Vocaloid was singing it, and I love Vocaloid so...ya know. The second OP and ED were good, too, but if I had to choose, it'd be the first ones instead, cause I don't recall ever skipping them, and if I did it was probably only once or twice. I thought the sounds of the ocean were well done and realistic sounding, and I watched the anime dubbed. Think the voice actors did a really great job here. They really made Hikari sound like a tsundere, Manaka sound like a crybaby, Chisaki sound like a b*tch, and Kaname sound bland. So, props to them. The ocean was very pretty, especially when the sun was rising or setting on it (just wish it could've been explored more.) And despite not liking the characters, I thought their designs were very pretty. At least, the people from Shioshishio. The people up on land were boringly colored and designed, along with their village, so the ocean was the best. All in all, this was definitely the best part of the series, and I wish everything else was just as good. Give the art and the sound both an 8/10. Overall Enjoyment: I did not enjoy this series. Come on at me with your pitchforks and whatnot, but I just...did not like it. The best thing about it was the art and music, and art and music isn't enough to save a series from being bad (Looking at you, SAO.) I don't think this series needed 26 episodes either, as it seems most of their conflicts could've been solved in less time than that had the characters just talked to each other. I went into this show expecting to love it, and I was disappointed with it. The thing with the Sea God (that I kinda forgot to mention during the story part) was also pretty stupid. His reasoning's for wanting to freeze over the land killing off the land people and then putting all the ocean people into hibernation because he was lonely and wanted a girlfriend was petty to the extreme. And then suddenly letting land people breath underwater even though normal humans shouldn't be able to (logically) because REASONS was poor. Very poor. Hikari even called it "childish". Why were they suddenly able to breath underwater when the show specifically stated beforehand that they would not be able to do that even if someone in their family was from Shioshishio? And why did Manaka lose her "Ena" and then gained it again when Miuna grabbed her freaking arm? And don't even get me started on the magical, voodoo, "ryu ga waga teki wa kurau" crap that happened in episode 26. There was too much damn plot armor. The series could've been better, and I wish it would've lived up to the hype (still looking at you, SAO.) The characters were all whiny, indecisive, and annoying for the most part. Only ones who flat out spoke their minds were Kaname and Tsumugu, and Tsumugu is (as I mentioned earlier) like a rock. I give the final score of: 6/10. Sorry if you enjoyed the show, but it just wasn't for me. It made me laugh a few times, and Lord Uroko will forever be bae, otherwise I didn't really like it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 18, 2017 Recommended
Britt: Hi everyone. Today I'm going to be reviewing an anime I just recently finished called: Barakamon. Let me start off by saying that this anime is definitely one of my favorites, and before I even start reviewing it, I'm going to recommend it. But of course I'm going to give you the details and actually review the show. I'm just letting you all know now that I looooved this anime, and I'm going to explain why right now. Start the review! :D
Story: (Copied from "My Anime List") "Seishuu Handa is an up-and-coming calligrapher: young, handsome, talented, and unfortunately, a narcissist to boot. When a veteran ... labels his award-winning piece as "unoriginal," Seishuu quickly loses his cool with severe repercussions. As punishment, and also in order to aid him in self-reflection, Seishuu's father exiles him to the Goto Islands, far from the comfortable Tokyo lifestyle the temperamental artist is used to. Now thrown into a rural setting, Seishuu must attempt to find new inspiration and develop his own unique art style—that is, if boisterous children (headed by the frisky Naru Kotoishi), fujoshi middle schoolers, and energetic old men stop barging into his house! The newest addition to the intimate and quirky Goto community only wants to get some work done, but the islands are far from the peaceful countryside he signed up for. Thanks to his wacky neighbors who are entirely incapable of minding their own business, the arrogant calligrapher learns so much more than he ever hoped to." Yup. So basically the story is about a narcissistic calligrapher who gets sent to the country side to learn a thing or two about respect. While there he runs into the townsfolk, who are all very friendly people who welcome him there. He soon realizes that being with them makes him happy. Happier than he's ever been. He definitely learns his lesson of course. And funny enough, his best friend from the village is an energetic 6-7 year old girl that warms his heart. I think the story is very easy to understand, and it's very cute and not over the top. It's a slice of life anime, so expect random things to happen almost every episode. Episode 9 and 11 are particularly hilarious to me, though the whole show can be freaking hilarious at times, too. I give the story a.....7/10 :) Characters: All the characters are likable. Even Seishuu with his narcissism is a really great character. Even all the nosy villagers and annoying children bothering Seishuu. Even the guy who's technically Seishuu's rival. They're all so likable! The main character is Seishuu Honda. A 23 year old calligrapher who deems himself perfect, till one day an older man called his work "unoriginal" or even "mediocre." Being the guy that he is, Seishuu punched the man in his face (no joke) then got sent to the countryside by his father so he could learn some sense. He's a pretty cool guy. He's annoyed by the villagers at first, but warms up to them soon. They all invade his privacy anyway, so gotta get used to them, right? He was a jerkwad at first, but he learned to not be such a perfectionist anymore. The people living there (mostly Naru) helped him realize his passion while also being a good person in the process. Moving me onto this next character: Naru Kotoishi. Naru is a loudmouth little girl who in all honesty, acts the way real kids do. She loves to play around, she loves bothering people, she loves going outside hanging with her friends, she loves receiving gifts and going to festivals and whatnot. I'd say the creators of the series hit the nail on the head with this girl. When she met Sensei--oh sorry. Forgot to mention that all the villagers forgot Seishuu's real name almost immediately, and just started calling him Sensei instead (he didn't seem to mind too much, though.) but yeah, when Naru met Sensei, I'd say she grew attached to him rather quickly. He's like a father-figure of sorts to her. He plays with her, gives her gifts, takes her to festivals and whatnot, and I could really feel the bond between these too. Naru is a very funny character. She's adorable, she's realistic, she's kindhearted, and she's super funny. I'm sure anyone watching this show would instantly fall in love with this girl. Moving onto the next characters, we have: Miwa Yamakura. A 14 year old tomboyish girl who has a key to Sensei's house so she enters whenever she pleases. She's not a very good influence on Naru. Naru often repeats Miwa's bad habits, causing Sensei to scold her. Next is Tamako Arai. Another 14 year old girl who's best friends with Miwa. She has a thing for writing yaoi (BL/ Boys Love) doujinshi, and also having odd fantasies when seeing two men together in the same place. She also has a spare key to Sensei's house. Next we have Hiroshi Kido; a high school student who's also the son of the village chief. He's a pretty average guy, who Tamako thinks would make an adoring boyfriend for Sensei. Wouldn't you know it, though? He also has a key to Sensei's house! We also have Hina Kubota. She's Naru's best friend, and she's a crybaby. When I say crybaby, I really mean it, too. The slightest touch to her arm could probably cause her to bawl her eyes out. She's still a cutey pie nonetheless. There are plenty and I mean PLENTY of other great characters to get to know, but I don't want to spend too much time on this section of the review. I'll just let you guys see them for yourselves ;) I give the characters an 10/10 Art/Sound: The opening theme song, titled "The LiBERTY", was performed by Fo'xTails, while the ending theme song, titled "HIDE-AND-SEEK", was performed by Kenichi Suzumura. I don't know anything about Kenichi or Fo'xTails, so I can't really recommend anymore of their music to you, but I enjoyed the opening and ending themes. Weeeeell, I think they both fit the anime pretty well, but they aren't my favorite songs in the world. They're far from terrible, they're just not my kind of music. They're kinda slow but fast at the same time if that makes sense. So, I don't hate either songs, but I don't love them, either. They're good and they fit the anime, so it's all fine. I don't remember much of the music playing in the background of the episodes though, so I can't give much detail on that. I watched this anime dubbed like I almost always do, and I think the characters voices were just fine as well. No complaints there. The art was decent enough, too. Like a lot of other anime, the opening and ending animations are usually....well....animated better than the actual episodes. I think this applies here. Now, the animation studio is: Diomedéa. I've...never heard of them before. I can't tell you what other shows they've animated that I've seen, since I honestly don't know. I think they did an average job here. The animation isn't perfect, like say Kyoto Animation, but it's not terrible, either. Sometimes the characters would look just fine, and other times they'd look awkward. Particularly on their feet. I can relate to this however since feet and hands are very difficult to draw, sometimes even professionals struggle with those parts of the body, but I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes the characters had some strange and ugly looking feet, haha. I give the sound a solid 6 out of 10, while the art gets a .7 out of 10. Not horrible, but not perfect, either. Overall Enjoyment: I loved it. I loved this show. What more can I really say? As I said at the start already: Yes. I recommend this anime to you. If you're sitting at home bored and just wanna watch a random, lighthearted, comedy, slice-of-life, cutesy anime, then this is the show for you! All the characters are likable, and they're pretty funny (especially Naru.) And this show is family friendly. So if you got some family members out there who enjoy anime like you do, I totally suggest watching this with them. I'm sure this awesome show will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside once you finish it, and it's only 12 episodes! In short, this show was great and you should all definitely watch it if you haven't already. I give Barakamon a solid .9/10. Hope you all enjoyed my review! :D
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 26, 2016
Michiko to Hatchin
(Anime)
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Hey, this is Chas and this is my first anime review. Really hope you like it :)
STORY: The format of the this anime is simple, the story follows these two females, one is Michiko Malandro, a convit persumely in her 20's who resently escaped Diamandra, a high security prison, and is on a serious hunt for Hiroshi who is also the father of Hatchin Morenos, a 9-10 year old orphan who, to put it into better terms, lived a Cinderella life; cooking, cleaning up after them, being the occasional chew toy for her bastard siblings. That is until Michiko rode up in her house, crashing ... through the window at breakfast time, stealing Hatchin away and throwing her into a unforgiving side Brazil where people rely on crime, trickey and killing, people are hurt and taken advantage of like it's normal and people are either jerkasses or worse, it's basically as if Black Lagoon was located in South American instead. And not only that but they also the the police force on their tail with one of them in particular seems to have a bone to pick with Michiko. Let me just tell you that during this journey, Michiko and Hatchin do not get along right away withe the fact that their personalites clashes alot and have little to no common expects that they share the same tattoo and they are connect to Hiroshi Morenos in some way. But as the series progresses they begin to get closer to other another and appreicated each other...just a bit. CHARACTERS: Michiko, what to say about this woman, this is one chick you do not want to cross. You try putting up a wall, she will tear that down with her motor scooter, you can try beating her ass but she'll come right back at you full force. You can talk as much shit to her as much as you can, she'll just sneer at your ass. This female is on a mission ,okay, and she's not letting anyone get in her way. I'll telling you throughout this series you will see what juggernaut she is. Now there's two ways; you can either admire her for her ability to kick so much ass, her spicy attitude bravado and her street smarts or shake your head in annoyance at her destructive nature and her irrational plans, her ways of taking care of Hana, her habit to throw violent tantrums and not doubting the fact the man she's still in love with all these years maybe dead or hell doesn't even want her back. But trust me when I say she does get better....with Hatchin I mean. Michiko has done many sacrifices for Hiroshi but mainly for Hana since she is in her care and starts to genuinely care for her and her safety. There's this one time a episode where Hana's foster douchdad tried to get her back for childcare benefits...or maybe kill her.....no...I think so. Any who instead of shooting the jerkass down, she humiliates him by making him away like a little BEE-YACH and crash down on the pool table. Despite her many flaw since is a hopeless romantic of a villain, she is my favorite- because god dammit you gotta love what she can do on a scooter and she destroys a helicopter using a gun A HELICOPTER! That's a crowning achieve of awesomeness! Hatchin or Hana, fucking Hatchin, dear Lord don't this child need some prayer. Throughout this wild ride of turmoil and violence Hana gets injured, emotionally scarred, threatened with death, have her shit stolen, kidnapped, left on her own, mistreated by kids and adults alike and almost sold to slavery. You just wanna shove grenade down anyone's throat who wronged her, especially her douchbag of a Christian foster family. I gotta respect her ability to stay headstrong and wise up in her new life as a run away whenever the shit hits the fan. Hell, she even cuts her hair to make her look more tough however it makes her look like Little Hiroshi or androgynous. However she does toughens up as the series goes on such as challenging a group of boys who stolen her stuff and charges fees for using the river to a swimming competition. She even knocks down two adults by kicking the fat lady on the face when shit was getting too real. the first half of the series Hana didn't really trusted Michiko, I mean you kinda would too despite the fact she did take her away from her bastard family Michiko is a convict with the police on the hunt for her. Plus she has been treated like crap most of her years so it would make since for her to not open up to new people so easily. But eventually she does, learning to rely on Michiko, her sense and quick thinking. Hana plays the role as the voice of reason, being more rational and observant than Michiko. Regardless of the ups and downs in their relationship, Hana cherish Michiko seeing her as a cool but delinquent aunt or mother figure. In episode 18 she even chases a guy that looks exactly like her father and CHASES him while he was in the car ALL THE WAY HOME and eventually breaks into his house. Why? So she can help Michiko smile again, after feeling that Hiroshi doesn't love her. Let me tell you right now this kid will go through some seriously lengths to get what she wants. I like Hana and you will too probably, for her bravery, her smarts and her innocence.....just don't give her any juice... Atsuko Jackson,the leader of Brazil's Team Rocket tryin to capture that sexy Pikachu ehehehe.... that's sounds wrong, anywho, Atsuko is a professional police detective who has been hot on Michiko's tail ever since she broke out. Despite being on the police force she strikes deals with Satoshi from behind the scenes to get what she wants- and that is Michiko. The reason why Atsuko is so hanged up on this saucy Latina is because they use to be friends when they were living in a orphanage (hey that's something Michiko and Hana can relate to....srry) they were the type of kids where one was about that life; not giving a damn about nothing and being as carefree and rowdy as they can be and other...was not; having to be dragged along their friend's crazy scheme and sometimes being the one to blame for their friend's actions or taking the punishment because they weren't fast enough to escape. And Atsuko was getting sick and tired of that so she blow her off and the two started to drift apart. Even though Michiko is a criminal and she hated her after everything she did to her that she deed unfair, she helps her out of a bad situation. And why is that? It said that Atsuko deep down had feelings for Michiko, so even after all the crap she's been through; she still has some affections towards Michiko it's just that she doesn't know how to express it or she doesn't want to. Because maybe to her Michiko is a bad memory that she feels she needs to confront and finish it. And those feelings are making her confuse and angry and she can only express them by hurting Michiko. Was she also hurt when Michiko choose Hiroshi over her? Does she regret not telling how she feels for her, for pushing her away and sometime soon into Hiroshi's arms? Is helping Michiko and Hatchin due to her feelings clouding her judgement somewhat how Michiko's feelings towards Hiroshi clouds her judgement after hearing such things about him? Is trying to bring Michiko to jail with her a way for her to keep a eye on her and bringing her closer to her?...............NAAAHHHH...maybe.. Satoshi Batista is someone you also don't want to fuck with, being a crime leader of a nasty syndicate Monstro Preto while Michiko was behind bars. Satoshi and Hiroshi were best friends after he saved Satoshi twice that is until boobies- I mean Michiko came into Hiroshi's life. Now after Hiroshi was declared dead from a bus accident, Satoshi continues to flourish and eventually becomes the baddest thug in Brazil. His reputation grows so much is that messing with his crew or with him in general meant certain death. Just pray to God you didn't mess with this guy when he was young because he will remember you and use what you did to him against you; Manabe, the former leader of Monstro Preto learned that the hard way. I'm going to say moments with this guy is very harsh. I mean he's one of them cool yet brutal crime lords that speak with a smooth voice and has no qualms using your face as target practice. And Michiko, he really really REALLY hates her ass after Hiroshi left him for her (not in that way though if you were thinking). So yeah he's the type of villain I can respect, for being so dangerous awesome. Now before I get to talking about Shinsuke Saci Rodriguez, I like to get this off my chest....-*clears throat*- BOI! Bring that ass here! I'm finna come at you from top to bottom. First let's start with the hair. Rodriguez did you really think you is getting any respect with em messed up corn rolls? You really thought you was bringing the bitches?! PSYCH! You look like you got crusty curly fires growing out of your head. O' pineapple face ass you look like some brocoili that got it's bush trimmed to hell. And that forehead! Yo shit got a xenomorph's forehead! You look like Roger from American Dad with dreadlocks. Your head looks like Megamind's after years of drug abuse. And where the fuck are your eye brows? That person that thread yo shit done you dirty. Boy you look like Weird Al Yankovic gone punk. And yo fucking neck! Shit's skinner than your boney ass, how's that supporting that big head?! Looks dainty as hell you need some god damn vitamins...................................................................................so Shinsuke is Satoshi's right hand man with a vicious temper and a apparent hunger for power. He and Satoshi used to be boys until Shinsuke's got Starscream-Symdrom, wanting to become SUPREME LEADER OF MONSTRO PRETO! Buuuttt in order to do that he has to have Satoshi killed. Does that work out?.........Find that out yourself! Yeah the last one is Hiroshi and.....I don't want to talk about him.....I'm sorry it's just-I just don't. I want you to find out about him yourself, since he is the prime reason Michiko's hell bent on finding him. I will tell you this, he is a disappointment. I mean in the series they talk about how great of a guy he is but....he's not....he's just awful. Hiroshi's just so..ugh. Look if you ever get curious or anything you'll see what I'm trying to say here. But he is a just a flat out bad person to me and pretty much to anyone else who has seen the anime before. And it's not because he was in a gang or he does any killing, I mean the other stuff that he's done is bad but it's the major things in the show he has done that piss me off. Not only that but to me he was bland, just a flat character. Yes, he's the thing that fuels Michiko and Hatchin on this journey but nothing really stands out. I mean the only thing about him is that he's very sexually active. That's it. I mean the reason about him being in the gang and getting involved with Michiko..I..I'll tell you this it fools you. (btw I think I think the kid version of him in that one episode has more character than his adult form), You'll see what I mean if you again ever get curious. ..........................yeah I don't like him. There's also going to be supporting characters in this show that will either stand out, you'll like, you'll EXTREMLY dislike to the tenth power or just feel neutral about it. Despite the majority of the characters in this show are asshole there are some that are nice like remember when I said about the boys charging fees for using the river and Hana challenges one of them in to a swimming match which resulted her almost drowning, well, those boys saved her and brought her back to her hotel and gave her her stuff back. And that guy Hana was chasing after to make Michiko smile again, he helps her. Yeah, despite that she basically chasing after him like a mad woman and breaks into his house he helps her out. Hell he even dances with her! (I need to see that episode again that shit was crazy) I give the characters as a whole a 7.9/10 (not including fucking Hiroshi) ART/SOUND: One of the things I enjoy about Michiko to Hatchin is the music, mainly the opening and ending. 'Paradise' by Soil & "Pimp" Session is the series opener and I gotta say, it's freaking great. The opening is delicious, it gets you hype for the adventure you're about to receive, it gets you ready for all the action it's throwing at 'cha. It's telling you to stop what you're doing, shut the hell up and salsa. What I admire and am I real sucker for is backgrounds. And there's a lot of visuals in the opening with colors just splash perfectly together in different shades, ranging from red to orange to yellow to blue to purple, brown and black. It's one of those shows that doesn't really change the songs as the series progresses but and it doesn't have any singing, just a man shouting out in some language, but the instrumental on it's own is just fine and groovy. And then there "Best Friend" by Karutetto, which does the opposite. After having dealing with all the drama, topsy-turvy, exciting, daring activities; the song does its job by calming you down and bring your heartbeat back to it's normal pace. These songs will get you nodding your head or get you chilling on the bed or couch or floor...whichever. I know I should've said this before but I wanted to say it here, this anime is directed by Sayo Yamamoto who also did Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy so the style bears much resemblance. Something that might catch your interest is the fact that there's some diversity in this anime, streaming from white, to Chinese, to black, to mix, to Latino. Despite looking fresh this anime came out in 2008 so this anime looks older than it....well looks. What you'll notice in this anime is how dated everything looks and I'm always intrigued how different buildings or places looks, how the people here are designed. There's going to vehicles that look like they're from the 1970's, TV broadcasting with a 80's style and architecture that looks rundown and sometimes raggedy. I give the music and the art style a 8.2/10 OVERALL: The anime scored 7.9 on MyAnimeList.net and on IMDb a 7.8, I'm not going to lie, it would make sense, but you know what I'm going to give this anime a 8/10 and I totally recommend it if you are a fan of action, adventure, drama, comedy, a badass female duo on the run then this my friend is for you! ^_^ This anime only has 22 episodes but it's worth taking a look at and believe me when I say, I do not mind taking a look at those episodes again. Thank you for listening to me ramble on about how I feel about this wonderful anime and I hope this sort of thing doesn't happened again. Until next time, CBCAnime signing off.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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