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Feb 19, 2017
While it's aesthetic gives the impression of a mystery thriller series, as much as it is that, the Big O is also a mecha series of the monster-of-the-week variety. Roger Smith, the main character is a 'negotiator' whose negotiations inexplicably end in giant robot battles, in a world where no one's memories of 40 years ago exist. One would have thought that written media and records would make it infinitely clear what had happened even if you lost all your memories, but the less thought you put into that issue, the better.
The series is obviously influenced by Batman. Roger Smith plays the part of
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Bruce Wayne, complete with a mansion, a butler and various gadgets, including of course his very own giant mech, Big O. R. Dorothy, his android sidekick, is a standout character. Bearing emotions of her own and greatly resembling a human, she's nonetheless animated as a robot with stiff movements and physical strength. The episode A Legacy of Amadeus, where she learns to play the piano in a more human way from an android teacher, sets her up as a character conflicted between her human and android identities.
The best episodes are self-contained stories. In Winter Night Phantom, Dan Dastun, who plays the part of Roger Smith's friend in the military police, confronts a string of terrorist attacks as well as his own memories. The episode plays up the series' parallels with film noir by itself having a final scene in parallel with a movie from Dastun's memory.
The main plot arc of the series concerns the search for memories of beyond 40 years ago, and informs the plot of every episode; whether it be a bad guy who uses newly found memories for infernal purposes (many such cases!), or Dorothy's struggle with memories inherited from the human she was modeled after.
This is where the Big O really struggles in execution. Despite many good one-episode plots, the overall premise still doesn't make sense, and many plot threads, particularly to do with memories, don't reach a satisfying conclusion, or indeed any such conclusion. It feels as though the series had more material planned, and looking at the production history makes it clear that is the case. Instead of wrapping things up in a satisfying way, the series goes with a bizarre exit plan that plays up the nature of memories as ambiguous, a miserly cop out that seems to be a reflection of the writer's inability to come up with a coherent ending.
That being said, I doubt The Big O would have survived 52 episodes without the mystery-then-big-monster-fight format becoming monotonous. As it is, The Big O a decent series with quite a bit more going on in art style and narrative than your average anime, but it will remain insubstantial in memory.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 8, 2016
Do you remember anything about your teenage years? Surely it was a bleak age where nothing exciting happened, everyone you knew was dull and thick as two short planks, and mood swings caused you to fall out with everyone over trifling matters. Wait, hang on a minute. You're telling me you actually enjoyed school and had some good friends? You're telling me that you had hobbies and enjoyed your free time? That puberty wasn't actually all that bad?
Battery, airing on the mainstream-oriented Noitamina block, advertises itself as a thoughtful reflection on youth and adolescence, but in reality it's the most mindless slice-of-life ever conceived. Takumi,
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a thick kid whose only merit is the ability to throw fastballs, meets Gou, an equally thick kid who is impressed by Takumi's 'throwing' and wants to be his 'catcher'. Unfortunately Takumi, in a rare moment of original thought, decides that shaving his hair isn't worth the effort for his backwater school's baseball club, which causes the hyper-cuck Gou to take offence. And thus they fall out and never actually play any baseball.
That hasn't sold it for you? But this show has so many great characters other than the exciting, dramatic duo of Gou and Takumi. Gou's three thick friends are just barely sentient enough to breathe and whine about Takumi being mean or Gou sulking because he has no talent. Gou's (thick) mother wants him to study because she's over-optimistic about his ability to accomplish anything. Takumi's (thick) teammates are so downtrodden they've become borderline psychopathic, to the point where in one episode they hold him down in a dark room and strike him with a belt. Yes that's an event that actually happens in this anime. Takumi's Mom is a bitch, so it's no wonder his father never appears.
If you want to get transported to a bleak hellscape where nobody accomplishes anything, everyone has an IQ below 80 and everything is decaying, stagnating and dying, Battery is quite a brilliant show. I think you'll really enjoy it. I actually bought in to Battery's pretense of realism and was rewarded with a whimper of an ending.
Noitamina is a joke, but if the best way to get people into anime is to bore them senseless, then I think it's succeeding.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Apr 1, 2016
Dimension W was billed as one of this season's shows with the potential to really appeal to a western audience. On the surface it does share some of the elements that tend to get a bit more attention from action-starved overseas fans. A cyberpunk setting, a sci-fi thriller plotline, and a no-nonsense masculine lead in Mabuchi Kyouma. The latter is a near-future Luddite. Dimension W is set in a world where everything is powered by devices called 'coils' which tap into a hypothetical fourth dimension for unlimited energy. Kyouma despises the contraptions, symbolically driving a gasoline-fuelled car when the rest of the population has switched
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to electric vehicles. The coils are administered by an uber-powerful corporation called New Tesla, and yes, the very predictable routes of corporate corruption will be explored, beating that horse just a few more times as it barely wheezes a neigh.
So the punchline is that Dimension W isn't that good, but how could an anime with such a cool setting be so mediocre? Well, let's start with the setting. It actually sucks. A few episodes start with a synopsis that pisses in the face of Albert Einstein, where dimension w is shown on a cartesian x-y-z graph as a line parallel and opposite to the x-axis. A keen observer might notice this is actually the negative-x axis, but the laziness doesn't end there (by the way, E=mc^2 is only the non-relativistic component). Apparently the energy from dimension negative-x is distributed amongst the populace via a network of 60 control towers, and that's not the only big number used to give an illusion of complexity where there is none. Also, apparently New Tesla just straight up murdered the wife and child of their most important inventor, and if there was an actually legitimate reason for this to be at all plausible, I've completely forgot it.
That important inventor, Professor Yurizaki, has developed a robot called Mira that mimics human emotions, who due to a series of goofy hijinks, teams up with Kyouma in his job to hunt illegal coils, which aren't regulated by Megagoogle. Her name is Mira and sure enough she's the best character is the series. Cute, while also having genuine agency in the story. The dynamic between her and Kyouma is great fun, so of course the more screen-time she gets, preferably along with Kyouma, the better this show turns out. Well, more than half of the series is taken up by Kyouma's character arc, where she spends a lot of time as a supporting role. Whoopsie!
It's a shame in fact, because Dimension W starts off okay. As overwrought and uninspired as the setting is, it can at least serve as a template for some interesting episodic stories. That describes the first five episodes. The latter seven episodes comprise the aforementioned character arc, and boy if the series doesn't squander its potential in them. One thing I've noticed with one-cour series is that they usually tend to do best when they focus on a cast of four or five key characters, while not getting too distracted by side characters that can be interesting but should nonetheless remain on the shelf most of the time. The alternative is having a good story, which at the moment is an ambitious expectation.
The last half of this series does neither. Many different parties participate in a search for a macguffin, and so the focus of the plot is immediately split between the motivations and backstories of these parties. This is such a waste of time, when time is of the essence in the one-cour format. Do you care about the stereotypical African prince, or the mysterious phantom thief Loser, or the downtrodden villain who's shoehorned into the plot out of nowhere? Of course not, but Dimension W shoves every hackneyed detail of these characters down your gullet.
Granted, if the series kept up the episodic structure, it still wouldn't be good. The underlying flaws in the setting preclude any attempt to really take itself seriously. But it would have at least had variety going for it. Alas, this show is simply following the broad structure of the manga.
At least it looks good. The character designs are on point and blend in well with the style of the backgrounds. Both use a fairly wide color palette that is tamed by avoiding over-saturation. The quality of the drawings doesn't deteriorate much, and the animation quality is above average, although the CG robots are as unwelcome as ever. Wait for Flip Flappers for an exhibition of what Studio 3Hz may really be capable of.
So ultimately, Dimension W was just boring. Its source material is crap and it doesn't make any effort to spice it up.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 28, 2016
**Potential spoilers for obvious plot points**
Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi feels like a show quite deliberately crafted for a mainstream audience. It has a relatively reserved young adult male protagonist and a mostly relatable extended cast of characters with good voice performances backing them up. While it emulates elements of the manga's harsh, angsty artstyle, it chooses subdued colours and realistic motion to create a down-to-earth atmosphere, making it an easy show to simply relax and take in. Another interesting aspect is its use of a much wider aspect ratio in the scenes taking place in 1988, giving the scenes a cinematic feel that distinguishes
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them from the rest of the series.
Sometimes this series tells us, in reference to our personal lives, to dig a bit deeper. When you dig a bit deeper into Boku Dake ga Inai Machi you find there's not as much lying beneath its surface as it makes out. The main character of this series is, for some reason unbeknownst to all but God, bestowed with a power called 'revival'. When something happens or is about to happen, he may get a chance to go back in time and fix it. The key word is 'may', since he has no control over the power, and it doesn't activate many times in the story when bad things are very clearly happening. The premise of the plot is him using this power to, extraordinarily, travel 18 years back in time to solve a serial kidnapping and murder case.
Since there are no defined rules for the revival power, its use as a convenient plot device for the author is too transparent and visible to the viewer, which partly undermines the feeling of realism the show is going for. Once Satoru is back in 1988, the plot begins losing focus. More than half of the series is dedicated to the protagonist rescuing Hinazuki Kayo, just one of the murderer's three victims. We soon find she's a victim of severe abuse, and much of the series focuses on Satoru trying desperately to find ways of keeping her safe and out of her mother's reach. These are the most engaging scenes of the series; the parts where the core elements of the mystery are least present. Many aspects of this arc are heavily idealized, which would perhaps work better if the presentation of the show were truer to its level of maturity. The premise of Satoru's childhood friends all helping him to rescue Kayo, and in the process him realizing the importance of reaching out to other people, is cute, but the perceptiveness of the elementary schoolers, in particular Kenya, is a hard sell for anyone who remembers most of their childhood.
Bringing things back into perspective, these are relatively minor criticisms for an enjoyable part of the show. It's the other third where Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi starts to fall apart. With two other potential victims to save and only several episodes to go, the mystery is resolved at blinding speed, and describing these episodes as 'rushed' is charitable. There's little time to understand the circumstances of the remaining victims, and the reveal of the murderer is rather anticlimactic, since it's the most obvious culprit and the few red herrings aren't followed up enough to throw the audience off-course. As a result, the wider narrative, which should frame Satoru's struggles and put them into perspective, fails to do that. There's no compelling interplay between the 1988 and present eras. All Satoru gains from the future is knowing who may die and who may be the culprit; no specific clues he may be able to use to make his own deductions. It feels like Boku Dake ga Inai Machi is just a skeletal time-travel mystery with the story about Kayo at its heart, which makes the ultimate resolution of that 'sub'-plot feel lazy and unintentionally hilarious.
To put it more bluntly, I feel like this series relies on emotional pandering to conceal its severely flawed narrative. No aspects of its premise or execution are particularly unique. Its message, as far as I can make out, is for introverted people to be a bit more outgoing; a bit of a tame theme from a show that features concepts like time travel, child abuse and serial killings. And critically, because of the contrived use of the time travel power, there's little tension since there are ultimately no consequences to the protagonist's failures. So a 6/10 is a fair score. Don't get me wrong, this show is definitely above average, it's just not good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 20, 2015
After watching One Punch Man I'm eager to read the manga, so the anime's done its job in making me a fan of this story. This anime is directly adapted from a manga which is in turn an elaborated adaptation of a, err, uniquely-drawn webcomic by ONE. The hero Saitama is the most overpowered being on his fictional planet, to the extent any foe who stands in his way gets eviscerated by a single punch from his red-gloved fist. He also refers to himself as a 'hero for fun', an apt phrase in this silly universe.
One Punch Man's universe crosses the over-the-top fun of action
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shonen series with the mundanity of modern society. The heroes include Tank Top Master, Metal Bat, and Atomic Samurai, amongst other distinctly non-threatening sounding characters. Those are characters amongst the elite 'S class' of heroes though. There are genuinely unthreatening heroes among the lower classes, such as Licence-less Rider, the 'cyclist for justice' and top biller in C class. Amongst these, Saitama, a bald young man with a killer training regime, reigns supreme, and bored with the weak villains who can't defeat him.
One of One Punch Man's main themes is the struggle for recognition in a society that often values popularity and ceremony over genuine accomplishment. When Saitama joins the Hero Association, despite breaking every record in the physical tests, he is placed in class C by virtue of a poor essay. When he deals with threats even class S heroes can't handle, he is accused of being a fraud. Appropriately, the way it's treated is entirely tongue-in-cheek. Sadly, by the end of the anime there has been little time for One Punch Man's story to grow into it's own, if it has a destination in mind.
Nonetheless, through its mundanities and straight-forwardness, One Punch Man attains a level of unselfconsciousness that most 'serious' shows cannot muster. The action moves at a pace that matches the author's imagination, thanks to a range of talented animators who realise it. As a result, this anime delivers spectacular action scenes; supremely dynamic, flashy, and with a thrilling sense of impact and scale. Even if the fight's ultimately finished in one punch, Saitama's more than happy to drag it out to make things more exciting.
One Punch Man's universe is unique, and it's main character is, dare I say, iconic. It's a property with the potential for wide-reaching appeal. Though, by its parodic nature it is derivative of a variety of well-established tropes. Whether it has staying power, or is a passing fad, I couldn't guess based on a part-adaptation. The potential is there. One Punch Man has spectacular fights and an abundance of personality. However, its plot thus far is insubstantial and a second cour is desperately needed. I'm not waiting for one though, I've still got many classic anime to watch and there's a manga with excellent art begging me to read it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 19, 2015
The accusation of being 'pretentious' has been lobbed at Subete ga F ni Naru quite often. This is unfair, considering the author actually worked as a researcher for quite a while. The integration of maths and computer science elements into the story is basic (in concession to the audience) but does bring a unique flavour into what would otherwise be a standard locked room mystery. The story starts off slowly, setting up the characters and story with dry factual dialogue, but as events unfold, more elements are added to the mystery and the relationship between Moe and Souhei becomes more fleshed out, leading to some
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more compelling drama in the second half. Magata Shiki's past also adds an edge and strangeness to the story that fans of psychological anime will appreciate.
While the story is good, Subete ga F ni Naru's problem is that it follows the structure of the novel too closely, or at least it appears that way from someone who never read it. The setting and events are static, and with mature, realistic characters, even with the same script it feels this would be better realised in live action with good actors. The pacing is also a tad too slow; where 'show, don't tell' is an important principle in literature it is surely doubly important in television. The drab colour palette visually reinforces this impression, although by and large the audiovisual quality of this series is very good, with very expressive facial animation in important scenes.
If you're looking for a straight, compelling mystery told through the anime medium, Subete ga F ni Naru is the show for you. Just don't expect much more out of it than you could get from a book.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 9, 2015
This show's great. I don't often watch something this meaningful. Since Honey and Clover's story spans long time periods, sometimes it feels that you're not sampling enough of its character's daily lives to fully appreciate them. In exchange for this, you witness so much growth that you gain an understanding of their lives as well as their personalities. After all, this show is, at it's core, about the chronology of life, and the meaning of time that can seem wasted. It's also a show with unique character; an understated artstyle, the use of soft colours, the frequent use of insert songs, and its brash, exaggerated
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humour. For the sentimental viewer I can not recommend it more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 17, 2015
Gangsta has an inconclusive cliffhanger ending and will probably never receive a sequel. I think those are the two most important facts about this series. After all, the only thing that can occur when adapting a grim and violent manga is censorship for TV and omission of plot details, so why would you bother? Judged by its own merits, this is a fairly odd series. It's heavily focussed on world-building, establishing just what Ergastulum is and how each character fits into its societal fabric. Much of the key plot points and reveals are simply key facts about the world that you might usually expect to
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be explained right off the bat, such as who the Twilights are and why they wear dogtags. The other component is a series of melee fights based off a heirarchy of power levels. For instance, the main character, a deaf Twilight, has a dogtag with A/0 written on it, which means he's rather tough (though there's a bit more to that which I won't spoil.)
Although the series has mature themes, the societal problems it tackles are essentially unique to Ergastulum, establishing this as a self-contained fantasy world. This is a series that can only be enjoyed on the strength of its characters and setting - since the story is really rather directionless - but since it spends so much time trying to explain its convoluted premises, there is not much character development in sight. Ultimately it's a confused show that I can't really recommend unless you particularly like its kind of atmosphere.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 17, 2015
I daren't write too much as the bottom line is this is a fairly gimmicky and unremarkable slice-of-life show. It's certainly not the first anime to try and contrast cute girls and horror. It might be the first zombie apocalypse slice-of-life show, though I wouldn't quote me on that. The first episode has a predictable bait-and-switch setup. It initially seems like a cutesy slice-of-life comedy where four young girls do fun things as part of the school life club, but it's revealed that the fun atmosphere is all part of the main character, Takeya Yuki's, delusion, and most of the club's activities are for survival
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or distraction in the midst of a zombie apocalypse which has left them stranded in a school swarmed by the walking dead. There are a few other twists thrown into the story, which you don't need precognition to anticipate, but ultimately this is simply your typical cute girls doing cute things show, where in this case not everything that happens to the girls in question is good.
So why dare I give this a 5, and not a 4 or a 3? That's because of the presentation. I wasn't joking in my Ranpo Kitan review that Lerche seemed to put more effort into the production of this anime than the mystery author tribute. They seemed to put some thought into how they could visually represent the differences between 'reality' and Yuki's deluded version of it, and that extends to changes in the OP and ED animations as the series goes on. Also, while the setup is gimmicky and honestly stupid, it does result in some more in-depth development of the girls' personalities that makes it more engaging to watch than it would otherwise be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 17, 2015
I think ancient warfare ranks alongside football right at the top of the list of things that bore me to death, so I didn't begin this series with the highest of expectations. Having the source material being shonen doesn't help either. Although the show does depict atrocities you might imagine from this setting, the presentation is bland and sanitised. Furthermore, with army commanders depicted not simply as leaders but practically gods with superhuman strength and fighting ability, this isn't merely a fantasy with strong military themes, but a teen fantasy with all the potentially fun parts of the subject matter (see Game of Thrones) cut
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out.
Nonetheless, for all the blandness of its setting and shonen implausibility, Arslan Senki tells a compelling story through a medium where having a coherent plot increasingly looks like an outdated fad. It's a story about conflict and the ideological factors that beget it. The main character, Arslan, struggles with the illegitimacy of his claim to the throne and the hypocrisy of his ideals, but his compassion and self-reflection inspire loyalty and bring together a cast of loyal followers who become strong characters in their own right. Hard decisions have to be made along the way, and the allies he has to make aren't always ideal.
There's definitely a sense of real-world connection and complexity to the political themes which gives the series a unique character, certainly no accident as the story is from the same man who wrote Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It's still maybe a tad too lighthearted, but that also makes the characters and their chivalrous banter all the more likeable.
To top it off, Arslan Senki is simply a good overall production. While I'm no fan of the mostly generic musical score, the animation is good (although there are a tad too many stiffly animated 3D soldiers) and unlike some other two-cour series, it maintains that standard throughout without any blatant or noticeable errors.
Arslan Senki ends only a fraction of the way through the story, but a second season is allegedly already in the pipeline. While I started off being prejudiced - to an extent I still am - towards its genre and artstyle, Arslan Senki hooked me with its epic story and scope. I look forward to its continuation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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