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Dec 14, 2023
In the beninging, In the, in the benin… In the beninging. Yah, In the, in, in In the (listen properly) In, in the beninging, yeah
Steins;Gate is a twenty four episode series adapted from visual novel game by White Fox studio in 2011. It tells a story of eighteen years old self-proclaimed mad scientist Okabe Rintarou who by accident created a time traveling technology. We will follow the story and see what impact it will have on his life.
Series consists of mature themes such as social anxiety, self-sacrifice, abandonment, violence including murder, abuse of power, guilt complex. References to otaku culture are plenty and are part of most of the
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running gags in the show.
Character cast is fairly big and diverse. Main character of the story is Okabe Rintarou. He is socially inept teenager who creates different personalites to overcome his social anxiety. Most commonly he tells people to call him by his true name Kyouma Hououin who is mad scientist. He likes to pretend to work against "Organization" that is always coming after him. He behaves in a way to give an impression of being delusional and paranoid by doing things like talking to himself on the phone or laughing like a maniac thinking it makes him look cool. He rarely calls people by name and gives them various nicknames instead like assistant or mainstream girl. Despite his claims to be evil scientist he cares deeply about his friends and will go to great lenghts to help them. He is naive and gets deceived easily despite his high intelligence. On occasion he is seen calm and very rational without his usual theatrics. He is deeply trusted by his friends and they usually follow his lead.
Makise Kurisu is second most important character of a show. Highly accomplished genius who graduated from university at the age of seventeen. She developed strong personality due to working with people significantly older than her who were jealous of the attention she receives. Scientist at heart she will fight tooth and nail with anybody claiming something unscientific and try to change their mind. She is capable to change her opininon if presented with solid evidence. Her abilities allow them to develop time machine technology. She hates being called by nicknames and is usually fighting with Okabe over this.
Third major character in the story is Itaru Hashida. Best friend of Okabe and computer specialist. Short and overweight man who is always making inappropriate remarks. He is the person who gets the information needed on everything related to time machine technology and can build things pretty well too. Review by Hunt1234.
Side characters consist of Okabe childhood friend Mayuri Shiina, Rumiho Akiha who works at maid cafe they frequent, Mayuri classmate Ruka Urushibara, part-time worker at the CRT store below lab Suzuha Amane and part-time editor Moeka Kiryuu.
Show does very good job with character interactions and development. Every character has a role in the story and receives a proper conclusion. Pace of the show is slow at the start and sharply increases after few episodes and stays that way till the end. It is good in keeping audience glued to the screen and wanting to watch another episode. Show switches between comedic slice of life theme to thriller and action a lot. Music is very strong point of the series especially sad piano songs which emphasize struggle and helplesness of the main hero. Voice acting is also top notch with Okabe standing out the most. Moments of sadness and helplessness are depicted perfectly and we notice gravity of the situation just from his voice.
I would definitely recommend this show as it has everything you look for. Good drama with elements of romance, suspense, psychological and thriller with small sci-fi elements, likable and diverse cast of characters, high quality audio and art. Not many shows consist so many different elements that are done so well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 11, 2023
I love how insane this manga is, and before i new it... I found myself with a clenched fist...
Fire punch is a very complicated series, yet at the same time it is a very simple series. The story initially follows Agni, our fire boy himself, and his quest for revenge for his permeant curse of always being burned alive along with avenging his sister in the brutal frozen wasteland he lives in but soon transforms into an in depth analysis of nihilism, what what it means to live, and why to continue living. The first chapter which I think is one of the most well
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written hooks to a story presents the reader with the most vile and tragic, yet over the top, backstory. In fact "over the top" is the perfect way to describe this series, characters get absolutely butchered in fights, blood and flames flying around, some characters motivations are literally to rape children, or force people to have sex with dogs, which I can see would turn people off from the series, but fits well with the environment this story takes place in, and if you're a sick fuck like me, is honestly pretty funny, but I can also see why that would turn people off so if you can't deal with that then this manga ain't for you.
While I could go on about how great this manga is I feel talking about its "problems" would be a lot easier to digest. One critique I see a lot in this series is the author being "lazy" with the way he writes the characters, plot, and even some fights. I do not find it lazy and more just unique in the way it breaks almost every Shonen trope and takes the reader far outside what their used to. I will break all these elements down one by one to be efficient.
Characters:
While the characters are written well, many supporting characters introduced are quite literally killed off after one chapter. Some characters even have goofy motivations as mentioned previously, but this story doesn't need to focus on the side characters as it is the story about Agni. While there are other "main" characters, Agni is the only one that truly matters, the protagonist. This manga is about his journey to find purpose, the other characters around him are there to guide him, or in most cases force him farther into the pit of despair. It is so clear that he is the main character to the point that in the manga characters quite literally call him the protagonist or even God. Again the side characters are still SUPER well written, goofy, cool, and some of the most funny I've ever seen, but that does not mean they matter. This author loves to put some of the most bad ass characters in front of you just to show you how little they really matter in the plot and immediately kill them off as they are not the protag, therefore why do they matter?
Fights:
This one is can be explained pretty fast. The problem some people have are not that the fights are bad, but that the author sometimes just decides to show the before and after of a fight and not the fight itself, which I think is funny, the author is quite literally spitting in the face of the viewer who is accustom to seeing every fight play out in front of them. I think that is another great part about this manga, it brings the reader out of their comfort zone, doing completely crazy and unexpected things just for shits and giggles, literally a troll, but even with it being a troll its hilarious and not to mention the fights you do see (which is the majority, very few fights are skipped) are some of the most bat shit INSANE fights I've ever seen.
Story:
Here we are at the most shit on part of this manga the story. I'm just going to be blunt this story is all over the place, the best word I can think of to describe it is RAW. Even through its many plot twists, insane motivations, and constantly spinning plot, as I said at the beginning its core story is simple. its weird because I can't think of a series that does the same that Fire Punch does in that on the surface it is this complicated mess, but the deeper you dive you begin to understand how simple the story really is. I won't spoil anything, but I will tell you if you begin questioning the plot at all, STOP, just keep reading and watch the Fire Punch beat the shit out of some people, watch as his character changes, watch the story of a man who has experienced true pain and what that pain ended up birthing.
This review was primarily focused on Agni as that is what the manga is primarily focused on, but there are other amazing characters in this story. I say the plot is simple at its core, BUT that does not mean that this manga has nothing to offer plot wise as we see differing world views, lots of symbolism and references to other works, dope ass developments in the plot, but just remember in the end this is the story of what it means to live, which is a question that is not simply awnswered, but I think fire punch did it super well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 28, 2023
Well, that took a while !!!
After Naruto, Bleach, and attempting One Piece and getting about 70 episodes in and having had about 1 hour worth of actual content, anything else this long was looking ropey. But then I watched MSG 79 and Zeta, 100 episodes worth with very little filler, restoring faith in the longer form series.
So what's good about this? EVERYTHING.
Imagine if Broadchurch or early GoT quality of writing, but even better .
This is my new standard for ALL media - it can be done...
Respect must be paid to Masayuki Kojima, the director. Instead of "adapting" or rather "screwing it all up by inserting
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their ego that they're better than the original writers that made the thing in the first place" (anything the current crop of exceptionally low quality US writers get involved in > Netflix's exceptionally bad Cowboy Bebop), he's done a direct adaption and it's all the better for it. Similar to what he more recently did with Made in Abyss.
Art - No CGI! Yes, it's getting there with things like Demon Slayer. The art has been adapted directly from the manga, and all the better for it.
Story - Genuine wow: Naoki Urasawa IS clever. He has done his research on psychology and on Europe. The amount of effort he put in pays off for all of us. Everything hinges together > it's both character driven and story driven > and is perfect. Going back to my opening, 74 episodes whiz by because every episode counts, unravelling the masterfully setup mysteries one by one, all paying off satisfactory as they're not abysmal Damon Lindelhof "mystery box with no actual answer".
Music - Another highlight - from opening and general OST by Kuniaki Haishima to the ED by David Sylvian... perfect.
Anything wrong? That second EP music - really doesn't fit.
So bad, the community took it on itself to run through all of it and put the David Sylvian ED on ALL the episodes.
Whomever did this deserves a medal.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 17, 2023
“WOW, Nooo way !!!”
That sentence was always the one thing that endured in my mind as soon as the screen had faded away. As the ED played on in the background, this was all that dared be present in my head. It’s a powerful feeling, a morbid mix of shock, awe, and melancholy that leaves behind a particularly special kind of impression. I felt like I just reached the end of an entire show after finishing a single episode. Kino’s Journey leaves behind great impact.
It’s something only a show like The Twilight Zone can ever really match. When you compare them, there’s nothing but striking
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similarity. There’s always something off. Sometimes, it’s clear as day. Things are moving when they’re not supposed to. Places are deserted. The sky isn’t blue. Other times, you just can’t put your finger on it. That hasty man you just passed by seemed to be hiding something, but maybe he’s just late for work. People look at you with dirty suspicion even if nothing you’re doing is wrong. You feel as if your shadow had got up and left, but when you look down, it’s still right there underneath your feet. Maybe everything starts completely normal, a completely average day, but something happens along the way that violently puts everything into the realm of abnormality. Whatever it is, it is clear that you are not in Kansas anymore. You’ve just entered the Twilight Zone. *Twilight Zone music plays*
Within this realm of ambient menace, things start to build up. The air starts to move. Feelings turn into choices. Actions beget reactions. Things escalate. Then… climax. The climax is central to everything in the two shows. Ranging from simplistically brilliant as that of Time Enough to Last (S1E08 of Twilight Zone) to brutally tragic as that of A Kind Land (E13 of Kino’s Journey), climaxes are these two shows’ forté. Whether it is a plot twist that so perfectly brings a new light to all pre-established context or a five-second tragedy that burns its message into memory, these two shows have shattering climactic impact and indulge in it.
There is, however, another work out there that is also worth comparison. Ever read The Little Prince?
Life is a journey, and the wisest men are those who have traveled it the most. Some travel it with a destination, and others without. Some who travel it have a home to come back to like the little prince’s small comet and his perfect but ephemeral rose. Others do not, finding solace in the journey, like Kino the traveler who refuses to be anything but a traveler. Some are hesitant because of what they had to leave behind, those unmaintained volcanoes and that neglected lamb, while others feel nothing but desire to journey, looking up at the birds and desiring to follow them. These two works are about travelers.
As they journey, they meet new people, people whose eyes see different sights and whose minds think different thoughts. And from them, they learn. Whether or not those people they meet are wise beyond their years such as the fox that must be tamed or foolish in their ways such as the lands wrought by misinterpretation, good travelers learn from them nonetheless because, no matter what, the views of the people they meet will expand their own. And that is the essence of these two shows. These two works are centered around showcasing concepts and ideas you would have never even considered if you were holed up at home. These two works are philosophical, asking questions you wouldn’t have pondered on if you never went out to look for them. These works’ impact now extends beyond emotional as with the Twilight Zone. They leave philosophical impact, the type that changes how you think of and see the world.
Now that I’ve touched upon the subject of philosophy, I must give you a warning regarding this and how Kino’s Journey has handled it that may dissatisfy viewers. You may see this as a criticism of the show, but you may also see this as a defense of this show from others’ criticism.
Kino’s Journey doesn’t go in-depth with the themes it presents. The show doesn’t dig further to all but a few of the logical conclusions the subject matter implies. It leaves these subjects open-ended, with few comments, both stated and implied, being all there is to further deepen them. Unlike the Little Prince whose protagonist has much to say on its ideas and whose narration has much to say on its protagonist, Kino’s Journey saves on its commentary, just like its protagonist.
Because of this presentation choice, the viewer is free to wonder about the philosophical concepts as deep as he chooses. Kino’s Journey doesn’t explain its ideas so much as invite the viewer into thinking about them, a process the show has mastered with its impeccable tone-crafting. This means that the viewer wouldn’t be forced into complicated reasoning when he doesn’t want to and that the viewer wouldn’t find himself disagreeing with what the show is trying to say.
However, this also means a bounty of discussion-worthy material is neglected. Some questions stem from previous answers, and neglecting to provide these answers, however subjective, also means neglecting to ask these following questions. There’s a whole threshold of enlightening topics that could’ve been reached if the show took more advantage out of the biased viewpoint of its protagonist like The Little Prince. This would disappoint and lessen the show’s impact on some.
Yet, when Kino’s Journey does attempt a deeper commentary on its ideas, its results polarize.
Kino’s Journey is at its worse when it is directed in a way that dictates to you what you should think. You’re obligated to agree. If you disagree, that’s it. Your willing suspension of disbelief is destroyed, and the impact this show is so good at crafting is ruined. You are now limited in the ways you can think about the subject matter. If you agree with what the show is saying at these moments, then great. No problem. However, if you don’t, you won’t like some episodes. The episodes that are like I described (from the top of my head so be wary of what I say) are episodes one, three (kinda), the latter half of five, and nine. That’s already more than a fifth of the entire series, but I assure you that all the rest is worth it.
The show is at its best when Kino herself does the commentary. When she comments on each presented idea, it doesn’t feel like the show is forcing any specific viewpoint on you. Instead, it feels like you’re talking to someone who sees the world in a specific light. You’re not obligated to agree with Kino. Instead, Kino presents an alternate perspective which builds upon the ideas yet allows the viewer to break away from. This has the added effect of adding nuance to Kino’s character, allowing us to form a personal connection with her. There is a lot that constitutes character nuance, but worldview is a large part of it, and slowly etching out what exactly this worldview is also means slowly etching out her character. Now, once we accept Kino as an actually interesting and nuanced character, we’re willing to accept what Kino says, even if we don’t necessarily agree.
I want to point out that Kino also manages to do implicit commentary. She says many things on the matter at hand indirectly through her humanly emotional reactions to them, such as through her expressions or actions. Sometimes, even without making any clear body or facial expression, we still are able to at least get the gist of her emotional reaction through the way the scene is directed. It is through these emotional reactions that we can understand the ideas in a way other than logic and reasoning. We are able to understand them in a personal way through Kino.
Now that I’m talking about her, I want to talk a bit more about Kino. She is a protagonist who is fleshed out and interesting to watch… but only sometimes. Sometimes, she is a well-characterized character whose worldview, motivations, and emotions are subtly apparent to the viewer through her choices, has a wide range of expressions, and who’s not some wise know-it-all which most protagonists from this genre often end up being. Yet other times, she’s utterly lifeless, merely a distant passive watcher. This happens when the narrative situation and its themes don’t directly involve her. One could argue that at these points, there is no need for Kino to be more than a caricature. She’s not important at these times. I challenge this notion.
But, at some of the best points of the show such as episodes one and ten, a fleshed-out and expressive Kino brings a whole new level of quality and enjoyment despite the themes of the episodes not being necessarily associated with her own worldview. In episode one, Kino’s kind action at the end of the episode showed us that the themes presented, although seemingly distant from normal life, do indeed apply to all of us, including Kino. And the show does so with Kino doing something that is SO her which ends the episode with impactful closure. In episode ten, Kino is far more expressive than usual, smiling more and participating in more banter with Hermes. Nothing drastic was done to her. They just added a small touch to her personality. Because of this, the downtime before the climax, during the exposition and rising action, is far more enjoyable to watch. It’s not as if the climax or its impact was changed in any way, but the overall enjoyment of the episode was improved. Because of these two examples, I am inclined to believe that Kino’s Journey would improve significantly if Kino was consistently expressive, fully characterized, and present in the narrative situation of each episode despite not being a direct actor within it at all times instead of being used as a mere far away observer.
Another thing of note is Kino’s backstory in episode four and the first “movie”. It’s nothing too significant, but I’m glad that despite Kino’s worldview clearly being shaped by her past, she is not defined by it. It just adds to Kino’s overall maturity. Nonetheless, I didn’t like Kino’s sudden change in the “movie”. It was grating and seemed completely unrealistic to me. I’d expect at least some gradualness but the show goes straight from old Kino to new Kino.
Ending my discussion on the protagonist, I also want to point out Kino’s character debut. The first we see of her is a desperate side of her, stripped of the basic human need of water. This immediately adds depth to the usual quiet traveler we see by showing another more human and primitive aspect of her right from the start. We are also introduced to the way Kino and Hermes banter which is half-comedic, half-intellectual. No jokes are cracked, but the feeling of their repartee and the relationship between them is solidly established. I also want to make not of the oversaturated black-and-white they used to represent the scorching heat of the desert they were in. I feel like it hammers the feeling of hot desert far better than other methods of cinematography in hot environments.
At this point, I feel like I’ve said the crux of what I wanted to say about this show, but, before I conclude, let me just discuss some aesthetic and miscellaneous points.
I understand most people would mostly be neutral towards the show’s overall artstyle. It’s fairly storybook which helps with the already storybook premise of going on a journey to strange lands, but it’s obvious this show is from the early-2000s, containing almost all of the facets of that time period’s art.
The animation is unmemorable as well, nothing standing out. It’s clear that a lot of frame-saving methods were used.
Sometimes, it can even be grating, with the bad 2D-3D composition in the second “movie” created by SHAFT where they used some ugly CGI. I usually love SHAFT, but man. That “movie” needed to calm down with the CGI backgrounds.
I feel like the OP had enough character that those who watched the show would be able to immediately associate the OP with the show just by listening to the first few seconds.
Other than the ethnic woodwind that plays during contemplative moments, the rest of the soundtrack and sound design is mostly unmemorable.
One last unmemorable aspect of the show is the cinematography and directing. Other than the oversaturated black-and-white directing choice in the show’s opening scene, I hold to memory no other moment from the show with noteworthy cinematography.
The background art should be significant because this contributes a lot to the feeling of going to new places, but the color palette completely destroys any positive effect the backgrounds may have. Each new country has a different background art which supposedly should give each country its own personality, adding a lot to the feeling of traveling, but the constant color palette of browns and dirty greens makes all these places feel the same. It’s a big shame.
Hermes feels a bit too much like one of those “quirky” sidekicks, those ones that make sarcastic quips whenever something happens that may or may not be funny. He eventually grew on me though. The banter between him and Kino brightens up the mood sometimes, and he is a good companion which is always good to have on a journey. I don’t think he’s symbolic of anything like everyone says he is though.
Lastly, Kino is canonically around fifteen to sixteen years old. HOW THE HELL IS SHE FIFTEEN-SIXTEEN YEARS OLD!? This does not make any sense. I know many fifteen and sixteen-year-olds. Those people do not at all have the emotional maturity as she does, but I guess that’s what traveling for a living does to you.
In conclusion, Kino’s Journey manages to be impactful in the same way The Twilight Zone and The Little Prince are. It stands out from its artistic medium in the same way those two other works do from their own. There are quite a lot of issues with its philosophical content and the way it’s presented and with Kino herself and the way she’s characterized, however, the show is still very much worth watching for the impact it’s so good at crafting.
If anything else, it does make you feel like you’re traveling without making you suffer the horrible hell that is economy class airplane seating.
Overall, I rate this show an 8.5/10.
+ great impact
+ great tone-crafting
+ replicates in the viewer's mind the philosophical thought processes one has when travelling
+ fleshed-out protagonist (but not all the time)
+ a tonal and structural mix of The Twilight Zone and The Little Prince
+ interesting philosophical topics brought up
+ protagonist has nuanced commentary on these philosophical topics
+ protagonist's character debut is masterful
+ protagonist is not defined by her backstory
= inoffensive artstyle
= inoffensive animation
= inoffensive music and sound design
= inoffensive cinematography and directing
-- doesn't explore its topics to satisfactory depth
-- sometimes is structured to force you to agree with it or then your willing suspension of belief is broken
-- protagonist can be boring and one-dimensional at points
-- protagonist's backstory in the first "movie" is grating
-- composition of 2D objects over 3D backgrounds in the second "movie" is not that great
-- potential for the background art to add towards the feeling of journeying is ruined by repetitive color palette
*If you can, please try to read the review itself instead of these outline points. A lot of the points I make in the review are hard to simplify down to simple clauses.*
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 17, 2023
Very similar to monster. It's like monster but in another world.
Pluto is a mature adaption of one of the most iconic arcs of Astro Boy. The manga, by the same name, is widely considered a masterpiece and is a deep passion project for the writer. I want to keep this mostly spoiler-free. I would highly recommend going into this blind, and if you love Seinen anime/manga, you will have an absolute blast here. Pluto comprises some of the most well-written and heartfelt characters whose story reaches a perfect end.
Every single character from the original arc in Astro Boy has been given justice in this remake.
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Atom (Astro Boy Himself) and Gesicht are the main leads of this show and both of them never fail to keep me engaged. The suspense is all very well done and the conclusion to it all is personally among my favorite endings in fiction. Pluto, isn’t just any story focusing on humans and robots, it is THE story focusing on humans and robots.
Going into Pluto I knew we would get a brilliant adaption because the project was led by Masao Maruyama. He founded Madhouse and MAPPA, who specifically founded this new studio to adapt extremely well-deserving and overlooked mangas akin to Pluto. The animation is stellar for the most part, but at times some special effects don’t go too well and make the scene look weirdly blurry. Overall, they have done justice to the source material and it is as good of an adaption as any fan could’ve asked for, 10/10.
Moreover, some of the other masterpieces he produced are Monster, Perfect Blue, Death Note, Hunter x Hunter (2011), Nana, Trigun, Hellsing Ultimate, Paprika, Kids on the Slope, and Tokyo Godfathers, among many others, the guy has been the driving force for masterpieces left and right. Also, the music composition is being done by Yuugo Kanno, who is well known for his extremely popular JoJo opening themes.
The Mangaka Naoki Urasawa is well known for his genius in developing murder mysteries or suspenseful tales that get increasingly interesting as you read. He has genuinely created some of the most masterful stuff in modern entertainment, and to finally see this manga by him get such a phenomenal and passionate adaption feels so good; I waited for so long to get one. I hope that Pluto is successful enough that we get an adaption of 20th Century Boys, which is another manga by Urasawa.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 2, 2023
Puparia is a stunningly beautiful short that's well worth your time, all three minutes of it. 🤣
The biggest selling point here is the visuals. The art is absolutely God-tier, each frame could be a painting. It has a level of detail and vibrancy that you rarely see in anime. What I appreciated most was that as detailed as it was, it was aiming for something different than hyper-realism - it was very creatively stylised and illustrative. I just loved looking at it, evidenced by the fact that I've seen this short four times already. However, I can see that perhaps some people wouldn't like it
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since it's different to the typical anime style. 🤣
In terms of story, I can't particularly comment a lot - it's a very short anime, it clocks in at around 3 minutes and it has no dialogue. There are several scenes shown in this anime, but it's not made clear whether there is any through line or connection between them. There's a certain pensiveness in all the scenes and a sense of fantasy or supernatural in almost all of them but I'm not going to try to discern any deeper meaning or symbolism to try and avoid sounding pretentious.
I was completely transfixed as I watched Puparia. It has a hypnotic quality to it, largely due to the intricacy of the animation and the style of music used. I don't have much to say on the music except that it's fantastic and perfectly fitting for the visuals. Animation doesn't always have to be about complex plots or well-developed characters, that's not what Puparia is trying to do. What it does achieve is beautiful aesthetics, a great atmosphere, and a mysterious vibe. The rest of it is up to you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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