Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works is an adaptation of a visual novel of the same name released in 2004, by Japanese publisher Type Moon. The story follows multiple routes all of which feature the titular character Shirou Emiya. A relatively unspectacular teenager, that as the story goes on, seems to have a lot more deeper and complex reasons to his actions and behaviors than he let on. Unlimited Blade Works follows the second branch of the storyline which primarily focuses on the characterization and story arcs of Shirou, Rin, and Archer. The problem with adapting this visual novel is that the anime will have to
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leave certain character arcs completely absent, so to a surface level viewer, a lot of characters will seem understandably underdeveloped, ideas won’t be as heavily explored, and your capacity to care for certain characters will be stunted by a general lack of their participation. Even Saber, who is the most iconic character in the series, hardly participates in the plotline, as a reader would’ve already witnessed her entire arc, as her storyline comes first. It is difficult to judge Unlimited Blade Works as a standalone storyline and sing it’s accolades without the acceptance that this is only one route of the story. Although the narrative is compelling, the structure of the storyline really makes you forget that the servants are in a battle royale style war. This is due to the lack of presence of most of those in the Grail War. This problem isn’t solved in the other prior routes. It mostly feels as though it is groups of characters are always fighting together. When one is fighting alone with their servant, they either are left to lurk as plot progresses but are often disposed of easily, almost episodically.
Story: 6/10
Art: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
SPOILER TERRITORY:
The characters more central to the narrative route often enlist themselves in large groups. Even though each character is developed in a different route, the problem arrives from the fact that the looming threats are almost absent from each plotline. Characters not enlisted into large factions are absolute cannon fodder and are left as items that do nothing but compel characters to do a different plot needed action. It never comes off as an unnatural convenience, the problem comes from the fact that the suspense they add is very little. For example; characters like Illya and Berserker are colossal menace, especially during the period of Saber’s abduction, but they are never present to invoke the sense of pressure they could potentially add. Not to say Caster isn’t a functional adversary, as she actually poses a legitimate threat as she builds up her army with her capable master. It is only inherent that these characters should invoke more suspense. Most of them just don’t.
Despite having the most participants of any seen Grail War, in Unlimited Blade Works, hardly any matter. Characters like Rider are obliterated in an episode length fight due to the general incompetence of her master, Assassin isn’t even able to stop guarding Caster’s base, and Berserker is forced into a fight with Gilgamesh who is unable to even pressure him into using his greatest weapon. Gilgamesh is shown to dislike showing his strongest weapon due to his hubris and the esteem it holds, but the fact he later can hardly stomach using it against Emiya, shows Berserker wasn’t worth his time. Berserker does display respectable feats in his battle with him and even finishes with shaking Enkidu but to say there was a real struggle would be some serious highballing. Gilgamesh does exploit his attachment and care to Illya and makes Berserker unable to close the gap between them but still, Gilgamesh had plenty in his Gate to handle him. He just found the vulnerability of a beast entertaining and held disdain for his intimacy toward something not even human. At the least there are layers to the characters. Even if it’s dicey for me to say I feel like there is a degree of humanity that makes them all empathetic.
Ufotable does make the curb stomps well directed, choreographed, and dramatic. There is never actual flaw in the fighting. They are executed strongly. There are reasonable, dimensional emotions that conflict from each side, making the more personal fights even better, the boarding is spectacular and leads to a cathartic flow that is almost unmatched in its composition, not to mention how brilliantly it’s framed. Hell, it’s fights are still better than Demon Slayer and people praise that recent adaptation all the time. This anime has some of the most flashy and brilliant battles I’ve ever seen. There are a few exempt from it, Rin, Emiya, and Saber vs. Rider may prompt a lot of conflict for Shirou, Rider is used more as a tool to show how Shirou and Saber are able to overcome their limits and for Shirou to overcome the reprobation of Shinji. This fight is powerful but Rider is a mere weapon, which is fair as Shinji isn’t one to fight, he’s very egotistical but for there to be no dialogue from Rider, makes the weapon Shinji uses to be very forgettable. Same with the battle between Gilgamesh and Berserker, there are strong emotions in that fight and a reason for it to take place, but it’s not a multifaceted reason. Shirou screams over the death of Illya because to him she doesn’t deserve to die and because he still sees her as a sibling. Gilgamesh really has no emotional stakes on the line, he only is orchestrating this to get a grail catalyst.Although it does ironically show his detachment and desire to make the grail his. At the least there is characterization from Heracles in this fight, although it is shallow, and the amount of disgust Gilgamesh holds toward Illya, who on her own is already empathetic, makes you more inclined to feel for her when she dies. Although the duels besides this are thoroughly compelling. They tend to be very emotional climaxes to a part of the character, give insight into the dimensions of the characters, or result in resolution to their arc as a whole. The reason I explain this seemingly arbitrary aspect so thoroughly is only to discuss the lack of variety in the Grail War. It does raise the stakes as the power disadvantages are very evident, the way the story unfolds is extremely focused and it naturally progresses to very challenging dilemmas for the protagonists but I go so thoroughly into this idea because a lot of these characters have been mismanaged or have a severe lack of presence. Some do very little interesting and don’t pose a real challenge. Chalk this up to how a visual novel is set up if you want, in a confined setting, it creates very lackluster writing.
Although Unlimited Blade Works doesn’t lack weak writing in every area. The main roster has some of the most fleshed out and compelling characters I’ve ever experienced. Each character is wrapped in mystery and all have enough layers to go through the entire show. Every character they attempt to develop are brilliant by the end. The primary focus is toward the lead Shirou Emiya and Archer, with Rin Tohsaka receiving her own arc that fleshes out her character exceptionally well.
Shirou and Archer are both layered and subversive protagonists. They are both tied heavily to their environments. They both have a deeply rooted dichotomy that separates who they are as people. The narrative understands this the most, as these characters are the conflicting antithesis to each other. The altruistic Shirou is constantly challenged with cynicism and judgment while the jaded, nihilistic Archer is constantly dishing out cynicism as he is challenged by passion and altruism. Archer is extremely stoic, while he does tease Rin he never shows a truly angry side, until he meets Shirou. Shirou’s ideals had never had the chance to be challenged or corrected, while Shinji bullied him, he never attacked his ‘hero of justice’ beliefs. So Shirou continues to possess these very self-sacrificial ideals that absolutely infuriate Archer.
Shirou Analysis:
We see Shirou constantly put himself in harm's way to protect people, although Rin notices this during the battle with Berserker and Illya, she scolds him for it, for being too sacrificial and too trusting. Although she passes it off as just him being a caring and ignorant person. Later after he risks his own life to duel someone way out of his league she is even harsher too him. It is clear Shirou has a horrible martyr complex. Due to his survivors guilt and the ideals his father had, In order to save as many lives as possible in the moment, he will do almost anything and everything. He doesn’t care how it will affect people if he dies, he doesn’t really process the repercussions of his actions. His entire lifestyle is so broken and twisted. All the times Rin has watched him in his training has become much more unsettling. Shirou has become suicidal, ready to give away his life at a moment’s notice just to preserve someone else's. His immature ideals have been eating away at his soul, unchallenged since he was young. Rin gets justifiably mad as the person she has blooming feelings for, is ready to die for anyone at all, so long as one more person lives. It’s a very subtle mental deficiency. Ufotable never has to force you to understand or mention it, it’s his actions that paint this picture and it is within repetition that we see how broken this character is. Even this seemingly absurd disorder isn’t unrelatable or difficult to understand. As everyone has someone they’d die for and everyone wants to be seen as a hero that has done at least some good in the world. Even his hobby cooking is a psychological response to how his disorder controls him. He wants to provide for people at the expense of himself, when you cook something, you’re not the first to eat, as you are the one who has to serve. Yet at dinner everyone is hungry, to cook, you sacrifice your own time and energy in order to make sure people eat first. Shirou has awful PTSD and Survivor’s Guilt, He is abundantly empty and is constantly helping people with no reward for himself. He is always hollow and depressed, he feels as though he has no reason to live and nothing to strive for. He feels like since the world allowed him to keep his life, he deserves to dedicate himself to making it a better place. He sees himself as a tool. If he has to be hurt to help someone, he will without question. There are moments people are apologetic to him for taking so much of his time and energy but they don’t understand the extent of his disorder, so they don’t mind when he brushes it off as just him being a good person. He never cared for compensation and uses the few lessons in magecraft granted to him by his adoptive father Kiritsugu to repair utilities and help people. When his father died, he vowed to become the hero of justice Kiritsugu was, he swore to save someone. He is so unfamiliar in magecraft because Kiritsugu had lived that life and he didn’t want Shirou to follow such a dark path. It doesn’t help that to protect Shirou, Kiritsugu embedded Avalon within him. Which warped his ideals and desires to save people even greater than most human capacity. He didn’t want Shirou to use magecraft to be like him. Although Shirou never stopped training in order to become a more adept magus. He behaves utterly irrationally even upon his first encounter with Saber. Saber is a character that can turn mountains into rubble and he still forces her to stay back and tries to protect her. It disrupts her fighting style. While Rin after the battle chalks this up to Shirou not understanding the power of servants, she realizes how utterly clouded Shirou’s ideals are after he rushes Rider. Shirou is also incredibly stubborn and hard headed. His stubbornness is what compelled him to practice a high jump at school until dusk. Although his stubbornness is also what stops him from succumbing to fear and distress when dueling stronger enemies. They compel him to battle Caster when she abducts Saber. He sees Archer as a mountain he must climb, he wants to be as strong as him. His stubborn side is especially pivotal when he is pressured by Archer to break his ideals. Archer does not draw his sword at one he cares about, but at him. If he wants to preserve those relationships, he must protect himself. No one is endanger but his own life which means his martyr complex can’t and won’t activate. He has to protect his own life. While Archer fights Shirou, he begins to test his ideals, he challenges them and exploits their flaws. Shirou has to fight with every fiber of his being. If not Archer will swallow his attacks up and kill him. Seeing Shirou as nothing but a fool, bringing up how his sacrificial hero behavior lost him Saber and put ones he cared about in danger. He tries to break Shirou in every way possible in order to kill who he would later become in life. Shirou accepts Archer’s words, he realizes it’s flaws and hypocrisy so he declares he’ll save everyone even if it’s an unattainable goal. He decides to strive to survive and save as many people as possible, he will no longer attempt to cut his life short to save one but become strong enough to save everyone. He wants to protect Rin, who becomes his girlfriend and Saber. He doesn’t want to lose anyone else. This is where the emotional tension peaks. Shirou’s resolution is so natural, having people in his life that make him feel fulfilled, that he wants to be with as much as possible, that are constantly put in danger, he begins to realize he cannot let himself die. He realizes that Archer is right and he will continue to walk on graves if he follows this path. So Shirou declares he will protect everyone so there will never be a grave for him to walk on. Archer finds it childish but sees the evolution of his character and begins to grow himself from the experience. Shirou is then tasked to stop the grail before it brings forth calamity, he is actually responsible for the lives of everyone, he has an opportunity to prove to Archer that his newfound heroism is worth upholding. Shirou has always been tested, by the world, his trauma, Shinji, Archer, and now the King of Heroes who intends to use the grail and wipe out humanity to weed out the weak from the worthy. So for Shirou to challenge and beat Gilgamesh, who bears incomprehensible strength is incredible as a climax. Shirou isn’t strong or a prodigy. He’s not an adept mage but Shirou actually wins and saves everyone. It was Archer who got the killing blow but Shirou’s performance was pivotal.
Archer analysis:
When Archer is first summoned he is incredibly condescending, he tells Rin he has forgotten who he used to be and blames her magic skills. Although he is admittedly very protective of Rin he is cynical and stoic most of the time. Detached from any real conflict, almost as if he is only a machine. He is summoned as a servant so he participates in the Grail War. Although Rin sees his passion flair up when he sees Saber and Shirou. She first believes that he is a Knight of the Round because she notices he knows Saber. Although the truth is a lot more complex than that. The initially uninvested Archer is seemingly provoked by seeing Shirou and Saber. Even though there is a part of Archer that knows Saber, the real reason he is so agitated is he sees Shirou. Shirou is the past version of himself and he feels absolute hatred for him. Archer is the Shirou that didn’t fulfill the soul of Saber. After they destroyed the grail, Shirou went to work alongside Rin in London as a magus. He had to fight beings that were as strong as Angra Mainyu, the one who dwells inside the grail and threatens humanity. On a mission Shirou lacked the power to quell what he was fighting. He had to make a contract with Gaia to produce miracles. Which would also mean Shirou’s consciousness would be stored to become a heroic spirit after he died. He believed as a hero he could save more lives than he ever could as a magus. Although he was absolutely wrong. In giving himself up for the betterment of the world, the rest of his life was miserable. He was tasked to fight in a war and desperately tried to end it. Although the truth was warped and Shirou was declared responsible for the war and was executed as a traitor. Shirou was then tasked to be a counter guardian, although his pact to make miracles was contentious. To cause the miracles he was tasked to live a lonely life and pacify humanity when it was on the brink of self-destruction. Shirou possessed the altruistic ideas that made Archer into a counter guardian. His ideals of always being willing to devote himself to others as a martyr, as well as a belief he could save everyone, made his life an eternal misery. He led a life in which he would have to kill 1 to save 10, then 10 to save 100, then 100 to save 1000. Archer now believes that if he can destroy himself, that his fate will never have came into fruition and he will be able to stop existing in peace. Having to become a murderer for the greater good of humanity has greatly traumatized Shirou. The very ideals he stood for almost inverted and gradually degraded him into a cynical and jaded person. He will act as a machine only because he has no will to fight on his own accord. His reality marble is called Unlimited Blade Works, it allows him to quickly manifest all the weapons he has ever seen and use them offensively even if it’s to a much weaker degree. Gears manifest in his sky showing how his perception of himself is that he is only a machine. He has no free will of his own as he is bound to a miserable contract. His skin and hair are so different from the gingerness of Shirou because his overuse of his magical circuits have fried his melanin in his skin and color in his hair. Either magic whitened his hair or stress, although the magic warping him could symbolically convey the same thing. He is motivated to test Shirou as he wants his ideals to collapse. But his past self’s persistence and desire to save everyone is so great and pure it actually begins to pick at the icy shell that is his heart. He continuously is told no and Shirou develops for the better as a person, as no matter what hardships he faces he always throws Archer’s ideals back in his face. The heart and passion Shirou has invokes a sense of nostalgia where Shirou actually begins to understand who he used to be again. Their parallelism functions so well as Shirou has to face the cold reality of the world as an irresponsible teenager who just feels compelled to help people. While Archer tries to show him the world isn’t as simple and childish as he needs it to be. He and Shirou have one final duel, where he gives up his fight after being convinced by Shirou. Archer, after this duel, becomes the new person, he gradually built up to. In the end, Archer has an extremely lighthearted and fulfilling departure. Upon his goal being changed and fulfilled, he believes he really doesn’t have much of a right to stay with Rin, also somewhere in his heart he finally feels complete. Even though he knows his existence as a counter guardian continues, he doesn’t try to escape it. He tells Rin to keep an eye on Shirou and to be there for him, and from now on he’ll try to be the best version of himself. As his disheveled hair and smile actually makes him look like Shirou again, he fades out with his spirit finally revitalized. Even if it might be futile sometimes, he will try to save everyone. The cold and antagonistic machine Archer once was is gone, he is Shirou Emiya again.
Conclusion:
People really overhype Zero in comparison to the rest of the Fate series. While Zero is undeniably a great and concise story, it was not devoid of flaws and Urobuchi had assistance writing from Nasu himself. While people praise Kiritsugu he is mostly owed his quality because he is a parallel to Shirou, who is honestly still a better character. There are problems UBW could’ve capitalized on better; it would’ve been the only ideal arc to further develop Caster and Souichirou, it doesn’t really feel at all like a battle royale, and the pacing in the middle is a little awkward. Usually a lot of people's problems is they just genuinely have NO UNDERSTANDING of Shirou as a character. Or what makes his character so compelling in the first place. Although I feel it is still one of Ufotable's best works they’ve adapted and the people that give this anime 1s and 3s are just being really contrarian and edgy. This show is great and is actually worth your time.
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Sep 20, 2019 Recommended
Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works is an adaptation of a visual novel of the same name released in 2004, by Japanese publisher Type Moon. The story follows multiple routes all of which feature the titular character Shirou Emiya. A relatively unspectacular teenager, that as the story goes on, seems to have a lot more deeper and complex reasons to his actions and behaviors than he let on. Unlimited Blade Works follows the second branch of the storyline which primarily focuses on the characterization and story arcs of Shirou, Rin, and Archer. The problem with adapting this visual novel is that the anime will have to
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Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 15, 2019
Goblin Slayer
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
This anime was one that spurred quite the controversy.
Goblin Slayer was hailed as a show for those with "good taste" by it's fanbase. Those who were "sick and tired" of "boring" slice of life garbage. This anime was "special" and "different" and do you know why that was? Simply because there was rape in the first episode. Goblin Slayer is edgy. And people often call this a buzzword because it is so popularly used and the meaning is loosely defined. Although what I would define it as is; trying to handle adult themes and ideas and failing due to the execution. Failing to be grimly ... mature. Goblin Slayer episode one champions this concept. Goblin Slayer struggles with it's adulthood. When you want to execute ideas and themes that deal with so much real world weight you need nuance or integrity. You have to earn handling these ideas. Using them for shock value is tasteless in concept and indicates the mark of a poor writer. It loses so much weight when you haven't earned your ability to pursue such grizzly concepts. Goblin Slayer is a failure as a seinen. So how do you earn it? Comparatively this series can be rooted alongside Berserk as that's what even it's fans would show it with. So why are Goblin Slayers roots so rotten? There are a lot of aspects that are needed to make a good character. An essential element is their choices and morals. Their choices have to be logical, align with their own ideals, contribute to birthing those ideas, and be conceptually exciting in almost some way. Goblin Slayer has some of this but fails to be three dimensional in any way shape or form. As his choices are not difficult. He doesn't have a complex psychology (You can attach that to his trauma but I will return to that) In the very first episode there is a hilariously nonsensical psychological question. This is posed by not on GS himself but is clearly a question for the audience to answer. It's a question of his own morality, how they align with yours, how they align with Priestess, and how they will impact him going further. This question is pivotal for both the establishment of his character, how he will change throughout the narrative, and the themes and tones this answer will impose. So Why is this salient question so stupidly effortless, uncomplicated, and ostentatious? All we have got from GS is he is a merciless hero so far and the although his passion is selfish and sadistic he never maintains the idea of being morally gray. His and the viewers complex psychological question was; do the monstrous, murderous, pillaging, raping, creatures with no semblance of conscience or conscious thought be killed while they're young. They are not humans. If they were perhaps child soldiers, it would create an actual mental conflict worthy of establishing him as a complex character with complex morals. Like if Goblins could be educated or peaceful, then his actions would have a rightful reason to stun the priestess. Then his actions would stun the viewer. Then he would trigger some form of complex response. Then there would be meaning to what this pretentious conflict holds. There's no weight to it. We are shown goblins are rapist, violent, disgusting, irredeemable monsters moments ago. This fails his most crucial moment of establishment and permanently hurts him as a character. Goblin Slayer as an anime doesn't earn it's adult edge. Using rape without having it tie somewhat to the narrative and world is substanceless and desperate while writing. It's a dark world so let's have some girls getting raped, that will show everyone how mature I am as an author. It's handled in a laughably poor way. This also has no bearing on the establishment of the world nor does this effect the narrative. Priestess doesn't have any sort of complex arc about what these creatures are, (which is what they would need if they wanted the goblin child killing to actually be smart rather than psuedointellectual) or what it's like to lose people because of incapability or irresponsibility. In fact Priestess and every other member of Goblin Slayers team are one dimensional, nothing characters. And even worse, this first episode doesn't establish tone, stakes, themes, or setting at all. Yes there is gore but the idea that one mess up and your dead is thrown out the window as Goblin Slayer literally never is punished in a real way from what he does. He is simply boosted by the power of virginity (unforeshadowed btw) which is like the mystic water from Dragon Ball but even more retarded. Ironically... it has just as much fanservice as any slice of life. From the moment you see Cow Girl as an adult, you see how truly ignorant the fan's claims were. Fanservice on it's own is a complex topic not worth discussing in this confined review but I'm mentioning it to simply show the utter contradiction of the fanbase. Story 1/10 - Doesn't keep the the established tone, poor plot points, contradictory message, no real substance or nuance. Themes 1/10 - Not impressively handled as the cast doesn't make his redeeming traumatized heart feel authentic as they are so bland Art 4/10 - Competent but uninspired direction, hideous CG with poor lighting applied Sound 3/10 -Nothing special, generic sound effects and cliche dramatic music Character - Abysmal. None of the cast except GS is beyond a stagnant one dimensional character. With Goblin Slayers weak establishment, boring interections, lack of depth, and generic savantism, he comes off as a very bland character. Overall 2/10 One of the most overhyped anime of last year.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Mar 19, 2018
Kill la Kill
(Anime)
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Recommended
The Linguistics of Kill la Kill - The Impact of Dynamic Romantic Leads, Fascism, Fashion, Feminism, and Energy
Despite the wave of Kill la Kill being over, I chose it solely because it is still one of my favorite anime. Keeping itself on my favorites list for almost 4 long years. Even after I have watched a plentiful amount of anime I would consider better than it. Although this is not to rule out Kill la Kill, as it has aspects that have masterpiece level depth. It may appear shallow but there are things that are capable of keeping me fully invested and engaged with the ... envelope it's pushing. let's dive into Trigger's breathtaking introduction. Also I know you're thinking; "Romantic what?" but you'll see how deep this show gets later on. (Or you can skip to characters to get the just right away) Story: 7/10 Kill la Kill is a show that manages to pack a lot into it's structure. The story in itself is an effective one. A simple coming of age story but with plenty to stand out. Not only that but Kill la Kill has incredible direction, with such blazing fast energy that makes every scene almost feel like a roller coaster. Although Kill la Kiill doesn't have the most compelling story ever... It's unique to say the least and has a lot of great themes but it's not an especially ingenious narrative. In fact it's the weakest aspect of the entire show. I primarily gave it a 7 because of it's undertones, themes, and execution. An overarching tale mostly of Ryuko doing the equivalent of level grinding until she gets stuffed with rare candies in the finale to fight her mom in space. Now the character and relationship development that spurs through the overarching formula is excellent. Kill la Kill's problem is that it's sci fi like twist isn't fleshed out or unique enough to be so impeccable it completely justified the break from the formula. How they executed the admittedly weak plot was great due to the more emotional moments they get out of the second half. And the themes are not lost in this genre break. The plot just feels more like outlet to create compelling characters as it sacrifices a lot of potential story depth. The plot has no meat on it's own. Although the secondary problem with the plot, in truth, is there are some weak arcs and pacing problems. Kill la Kill's speed shoots Senketsu in the foot making such a unique concept, living clothes that guides and literally covers the hero, a 2 dimensional guide trope instead of a potential 3 dimensional character. Which damages the show a LOT because they're trying to make his arc about learning the real world and adapting to where he borders on human. But the only way to give that level of authenticity would've been to break that 2 dimensional character barrier. Although that just hurts one character honestly, as the other 3 leads, Ryuko Matoi, Mako Mankanshoku, and Satsuki Kiryuin are excellent characters. Their arcs and development are extremely well thought out and perfectly paced. But Senketsu's arc is unfortunately minuscule and poorly paced. This is not the only crime with the pacing although. The pacing is especially detrimental when it reaches a little over the middle of the show. Basically Trigger started to run so fast it tripped up on it's feet. They wanted to make Nui Harime such a threat she could easily destroy Senketsu and while this does contribute to later development for Ryuko, (which I will get to) in this moment she gets back up on her feet so quick it hardly matters. Solving the problem of Senketsu being destroyed in an episode length amount of time, killing any of the stakes spawned by that idea and action. That lack of consequence makes what could've been legitimately threatening idea into a completely botched concept. What also spawns Trigger's trip up in the middle is a 3 episode long mini-arc that feels like it could've been cut out. There are very fun moments but it breaks a clean, straight, forward facing narrative with Honnoji Academy going to war. This whole chunk barely develops the roster of the characters focused on (The Elite 4) which is almost a crime, as 3 of those characters really are two dimensional to begin with and only Sanageyama has an arc. Trigger even dedicates precious time to explain the backstories of all these painfully simple characters, when anyone with basic knowledge of tropes cnd characters in media could easily tell exactly who these characters are just from the first moment they give a glimpse of their personality. Although moments of this are very fun and saved by solid animation and amazing Mako scenes. It's not executed as well as the rest of the show and it was Kill la Kill's awkward period where it was trying to regain it's point. A point which has very surprising strong feminist and anti fascist messages. Initially we see Satsuki's meritocracy. Honnoji is absolute. The bottom tier live in slums and are oppressed and mistreated. But when you start to contribute you are gold. Give into the system and forfeit your individuality or rot in your Ghetto. Honnoji creates so many problems to those who don't give into it. And those trying to conform to the system that are lower class are taught that you cannot destroy the problems of Fascism with Fascism. Which Mako learns after a heart breaking fight with someone she loves too much and that loves her too much. After she realizes what she's done and that Ryuko is incapable of harming her because they share too close a bond she breaks down crying and abandons the cushioned life Honnoji gave her. As living in slums with her love meant more to her than an easy and rich happy life with her family because she submit to the system. Because fixing your family's problems by accepting a corrupt system in exchange of making another problem means absolutely nothing. Even Ryuko's final arc leads to her losing her way and conforming to the system. She also learns you can't give up your individuality and conform to a system that wants you as a tool. Although Honnoji can not function peacefully and is ran by the wicked head of the head Ragyo Kiryuin who is Satsuki's mother. Satsuki has had no option but to be the systematic oppressor of so many people. All because of her mother. Although much like any dictator, When Ragyo visits the academy, she is meant with an actual stab in the back from someone she trusted. She wants not to usurp Ragyo but her ideals and system. Although Satsuki is ineffective and is punished for her challenge of Honnoji. She isn't even capable of killing Ragyo at full power with a sword designed to. She just can't fully adapt to her Kamui. She as an individual can't overcome the system with a faction so to finally end Ragyo all of the classes band together against the system and destroy it. By all the classes coming as one they break the systematic barriers and destroy the figurehead trying to destroy them for their own personal gain and for those they believe are on top. The Kamui are so significant to Kill la Kill. And betrays the idea of the nudity in the show being shallow fanservice. The Kamui are on surface level suits that power you up while exposing you. This correlates a lot to heavy feminist themes of identity and body acceptance. You can't be ashamed of yourself wearing a Kamui as it limits you. And they show your entire being so you HAVE to be proud of that and prevail over your insecurities or else you will never attain your full potential. If you don't look at it from a critical/feminist theory perspective you will likely see it as comedic or pandering. Although just like identity you can't judge based on appearance. Since there's so much male and female nudity and Kill la Kill and it's so fast paced, unlike usual fanservice which is directed to make you slowly take in the erotic imagery, you will end up desensitized to it. When desensitized (if it ever even intoxicated at the start) you will start to appreciate what the nudity in Kill la Kill does and means. Art: 9/10 Kill la Kill is a spectacle with amazing direction, great animation, great character designs, and flare. So much flare. A style so distinct and memorable, it leads immediate impression. It's motion is kinetic. So flashy and stylish that it's hard to get bored. Always on the offense with your sense of sight and keeping you hyped. You go scene from scene but when it needs to be serious for important character moments, or when it needs to build up for something. It balances itself out. Now this is almost a point where I come off as hypocritical BUT that is not the case. Even with Kill la Kill's message of identity and not dictating based off appearance, the character designs standing alone tell a lot about the characters. It's borderline what you're required to do to achieve objectively good character designs. The great direction and animation all leads to fairly simple but fantastic character designs. Not only do the Kamui have a layered message behind them but the complete conceptual juxtaposition between Ryuko and Satsuki is obvious. Ryuko looks rugged and has a more rogue like color scheme to fit her destructive rebellious personality while Satsuki has the clean blue and white and regal look. Long hair is also a lot more lady like than short. The designs almost epitomize the science of character design. Being creative but not assaulting the eyes with an overload of too many unique attributes that the design becomes forgettable. Mako is kept simple. To show she doesn't have the stand out flare of Ryuko and Satsuki. She's a poor girl, she doesn't have a place in society like Ryuko or Satsuki. Ryuko is a delinquent, Satsuki is a ruler, Mako has a very distinct look from the neck up but her clothes show she isn't like them, which is why when Ryuko treats her special, it does so much for her as a person. But also it's vice versa, Mako, treats Ryuko with the utmost love despite her being lower on the social spectrum. Mako may not stand out but Ryuko looks so highly of her because an individual that cares about a homeless punk like her, moves her to a drastic degree. The fact she's not being looked down on brings out that adorable Ryuko smile. Almost nothing about the designs are forgettable and since they're capable of telling you about the main characters you get near perfect lead models. Kill la Kill may appear on it's surface to be a shallow anime but that's not the case. Due to the social stigma of fanservice and nudity. You can't understand everything based on appearance but Trigger still manages to keep that true to the show by making some greatly correlative designs. But just like the surface of Kill la Kill, not enough is revealed to understand everything. You gotta watch it for that. These creators are hardened professionals at this point, they really went all out after they separated from Gainax. Sound: 9/10 Kill la Kill has a great soundtrack. Kill la Kill is not a hype show but IT IS a show that can keep you hyped. A hype show would depend on it's hype while Kill la Kill hooks you with so much more than just moments to excite you. But Trigger STILL wants to excite you and keep you invested 24/7. So it's music, voice actors, and sound direction are all marvelous. Great music pieces, never a poor performance, and excellent que. All with an exciting intro and calm ed to start up and sate your pumping blood. The music correlates to the characters as well of course. Granted not all the music is on the same level and Before my Body is Dry might play too much so a 10/10 music score is far too debatable to be warranted. For example "I want to know" is an amazing song. It's perfectly fitting for the wedding scene. Clearly from the perspective of the person who loves Ryuko the most in the most intimate way. When Ryuko's fragile heart is broken, it's designed for the person reaching out for her. As the girl the song is from the perspective of begins and establishes the fact she hasn't been able to be there for her. And she regrets not being able to be there for her. Being able to talk to her. And mourns over the fact she can't justify it, that Ryuko has forgotten yesterday, and she wants to know if she still loves her. Ending the song on a "but if you can" note breaking the melancholy. Character: 9/10 While I think characters like Mako, Satsuki, and Ryuko are completely 3 dimensional. I can't give it a 10 since a 10 would have better side characters or perhaps a sympathetic villain. Ragyo and Nui Harime are objective villains, simply something for the heroes to overcome. They are truthfully bland. Ludicrously evil for the sake of being evil. No compelling philosophy or likable bone in their body. But they have a tie in the fascist/feminist/queer themes I will get to eventually. Ryuko: Ryuko is a great lead. An emotionally introverted girl at first but she gradually begins to trust and open up again due to the fact she meets Mako and is forced to sync with someone fundamentally created to bond with her. Senketsu has her/her father's DNA which fulfills Ryuko's yearning for a father figure and is allegorically relating to how a father would cover their child to protect them. But Ryuko feels self doubt and loathing, and it worsens when Senketsu gets hurt protecting her. So she refuses to wear him in her lower points. Mako makes Ryuko feel loved in a different way. She stops being such an introvert because of it. She starts to lose the edge of not having family gave her. The father role is filled by Senketsu and the more intimate role is filled by Mako. Ryuko's proclaimed "not being close to her father" statement can easily make her revenge motivation feel flimsy but it COULD be a lie or because all Ryuko had was her dad, even if she had no meaningful relationship with him, they deprived her of all she knew was left that cared about her and started to bear a grudge. She wasn't strong enough to save her dad and she feels shame for that. She wants love and since she has had no outlet for it and has always been a troubled child who hates being thought less of (because to her no one has thought high of her ever) she becomes fiery when seen as lower. Which is why she admires Mako so much, Mako thinks highly of the delinquent girl. So when the system sees you as the lowest class you begin to hate and want to destroy the system. And since Ryuko is so reckless her only way of beating back the oppression is with brute force. You have to usurp the fascist because you can't talk one down. Ryuko even has vulgar and rude outbursts when force fed ideologies. She has no intention of of negotiation with someone she knows is in the wrong and looks at her as an inferior. Ryuko despite on surface level looking like a sex object is not any typical cliche depiction of a woman. She REFUSES to be a drone of the system. She doesn't give a damn about it's status quo. She still has more growth from that. She is initially ashamed of herself. She doesn't like when people look down on her so she can't fully sync up to her Kamui. She's ashamed of how people perceive her so she hides her true self. She's depressed and self loathing. She only shows her anger. She can't bring it all out. At this point she resents being looked down on and wearing a suit that looks like bondage wear in public makes her feel like she's being thought less of. Like she's being gawked at. But after a crude but meaningful speech from Mako and Satsuki's ideologies, she rises up and masters the God Robe. All while becoming more comfortable with her own personality. After all Satsuki say's so herself: "The fact you feel embarrassed by the values of the masses only proves how insignificant you are!" Ryuko is hiding her true identity under her layers of shame. Shame much greater than the shame she felt of her body. But she finally becomes herself when exposed to real love and realizes that she is loved for who she is. It's even what saves her later on. Over the course of the story she's gradually softening up and learning love. Fatherly and Romantically. When given the choice of pursuit of her motivation from Satsuki and the choice of Mako's happiness she takes brutal hits (despite being held back) from Mako. Because she couldn't choose for herself. Mako became more important to her than herself. After she finally develops these deep feelings, she realizes how easy and how much it hurts to lose than or the person you love. She doesn't want to lose her number 1. It hurts much more than when Isshin dies. Making her waver into her low point. Hiding her true self from the outside and doubting herself. Seeing how this initial simple journey has made her lose so much so many times. Wondering if she was even capable of a greater purpose anyway. Submitting to what society planned out for her. As she learns she was a weapon she begins to adopt the identity forced on her and that side is brought out by Junketsu. When Ryuko rediscovers her identity, she refuses what the society expected and wanted her to be in a different way than before. She even is the hand that destroys all those constructs just as her personality broke cliches to begin with. Very queer and feminist themes obviously. Having your identity strangled by social standards and being forced to hide yourself. But only achieving your true desires when you break away from the system and be yourself. Mako: Mako is initially a social outcast. Her identity is considered unlikable by social standards. She underachieves, she's not very sharp, she's poor, loud, etc. But when Ryuko comes to the academy, she basically gets a second chance to finally have one friend. Luckily enough it's a girl who wants love and also doesn't fit the social standards. Someone who can understand her and someone she can finally dump her extroverted lovey personality on. They have such INCREDIBLE chemistry. She's not just a fun comic relief she's a fun comic relief with genuine depth as a character. Despite being ditzy and clingy, Mako still has some wit and understands human emotion and constantly reinforces her love. Because if they are aware of her care they have more opportunity to stay with her. She understands her family and Ryuko have it rough. But they still fight, for a better world and because they care for one another. Ryuko begins to live for her so she begins to live for Ryuko. She is always loyal to and with Ryuko. She sees Ryuko as her knight in shining armor (which is great subversion as Ryuko isn't a man). Mako has never been protected and Ryuko has never had anyone to protect. Their friendship and intimacy deepens. As they finally have a person they can be themselves around. Even if society looks down on them, they pay no mind to it because they share so much love for each other. Mako has a love that is no longer familiar. And that she wants to protect it. So she despite being so animated and energetic grounds Ryuko. Subverting more tropes. The batty girl is the only one close and grounded enough to Ryuko to sate her unhinged personality. I applaud the writers as making 3 dimensional comic relief this memorable and even giving them a great arc is hard to pull off. Although Mako decides she needs to contribute as Ryuko is the one doing all the hardwork. She co-finds the fight club as means to improve the life of all the people she cares about. But that submits to social standards of the oppressive society. Even if her family jumps in social class she starts to lose what she had before. Which was all she needed. And when she fights Ryuko she hates herself, and doesn't want to win. Neither of them want to win. Mako holds back but still attacks because she wants Ryuko to defeat her while Ryuko sandbags to get Mako to make the choice. When Ryuko realizes Mako is holding back she drops her transformation. The side each other are fighting for compromises the other and it breaks their hearts. Mako finally breaks down crying and falls into Ryuko weeping. Questioning why no one is stopping her from hurting the person she loves most. Questioning why Ryuko would let her hurt her. She realized that the system just tore them all apart and she was heading back to a lonely life where no one loved her. She just wanted her family to have that sparkle. In this arc she has overcame the system. Any desire to rise higher than dirt was thrown from Mako. She'll take the poverty in exchange for Ryuko's love. Because keeping her original identity and her soul mate truthfully meant the most to her. "Was the sparkle in your eyes just a gleaming glint of greed?!" Mako is then unbreakable in her feelings for Ryuko, eventually saving her twice. During her berserker transformation in which she jumps on Ryuko's boiling hot body to remind her of her identity and who loves that identity. Ryuko is a protector she's not fit to be some monster. And Mako shows her true feelings for her soft side and her rough side. Not an unhinged, abstract form of Ryuko's rage. Ryuko is loved completely by this person. She appreciates even her flaws. Which brings all of the broken pieces of Ryuko's heart back together. As she's pleading with her to stop being so self destructive. Mako also saves her during the wedding scene. I don't think I've seen a more intimate pair. When these characters struggle it's because they're trying to protect each other but in doing so, they take easy ways that separate them. It LITERALLY separates them. But when they're reminded of each other they have all the more motivation to fight. Learning that they have to stick to their guns, because there is no easy way. After so much build up, Mako finally asks Ryuko on a clearly romantic date and Ryuko agrees. Spitting in Ragyo's face in the finale and telling them she's not gonna miss that date. They even find Satsuki along the way and make her feel like Ryuko's sister again. Satsuki: Satsuki Kiryuin is a woman who really wants to usurp the system she was forced to live into. She sees the kindness and humanity of Mako and Ryuko. She see their true strong identities. And starts to respect them. Making her smug smirks at Mako surpassing her desires and teaching Ryuko how not to be ashamed of her body. She stands her ground against her mother but finally tears the veil and tries to kill her when opportune. As she doesn't like the system no matter how deep her seemingly fascist ideals go. Her cracks in the facade do appear though with quotes that encourage the strength of those humans who challenge the system like herself. Despite her core personality juxtaposing Ryuko's they share that same feeling of wanting to destroy the system. While Ryuko's is more with anarchy, Satsuki's stab in the back is more political of a way to fight the construct of the system. Satsuki also hates being degraded too. Challenging her abusive mother and staying in tact with herself despite Ragyo's attempts to feel vulnerable and impure. As Satsuki still believes in true human will power and strength. She unlike Ryuko though DEMANDS respect and get's it because of all of her mature and powerful attributes and great amount of self acceptance and understanding of her true identity. The problem with Kill la Kill at this point is it's side characters, while charismatic, are mostly 2 dimensional such as Gamagori and Mikisugi. They don't have enough to them. Also I covered what Senketsu symbolizes in Ryuko's portion. And he doesn't do much outside of being a guide/father figure. They are not bad characters. They just don't have the same level of personality depth. The moment you have all been waiting for The Mako/Ryuko Romantic dynamic Mako and Ryuko have a deeply stemming, same sex, romantic relationship. They are very much so lovers and the date scene at the end of Kill la Kill isn't all that there is to back this borderline absolute up. The only thing keeping it from being 110 percent is the fact it's not directly stated. But to act as if it needs to be said is to say indirect characterization is invalidated because those attributes aren't directly stated either. They are a very complex pairing. Starting off as loners they compliment each other's personalities in a way where they are undeniably perfect for each other. Ryuko the rough, introverted, tomboy being loved by Mako the spry extroverted cheer leader. They are only hurt when their ties are compromised. When they're torn apart in some way. When losing it, Ryuko needs the reminder someone like Mako exists for her. Their relationship causes shifts in tone. The excited and bombastic presentation slows to a much more calm and passionate one. Giving us relaxing ideas and visuals. Always with a level of intimacy from Mako that is very much so tied down to reality. As we see how closely knit they are as a pairing. Their love is so authentic. This relationship in the series is so unique from the rest. While Senketsu and Ryuko have a strong bond, it isn't anything like this. Ryuko's bond with Senketsu is used in extremely excited moments and it's showing them bring out the best in eachother from what Senketsu has taught her. Meanwhile Mako brings out a different best in Ryuko. While Ryuko has moments where she hypes up her love for Mako, we're given these cathartic, romantic scenes. Everything from the lighting, dialogue, direction, and pace of the scene is shifted. We understand that this is another relationship Mako is filling in for Ryuko. A romantic one, fulfilling Ryuko's heart. And as we see Ryuko lose herself we Mako is the only one who can touch Ryuko's heart as it falls apart. It's constantly shown that Mako is the only person who can snap Ryuko out of her crazed mental breaks. Even when Senketsu is free and Satsuki is aware of his sentience AND Senketsu is off Ryuko, Satsuki expresses her respect for Mako because she is the only person who can calm her down. Ryuko has her identity restored by Mako's love even when it's compromised by an outside source. Mako is the "key to getting you (Ryuko) to relax" and "slows her heart rate". There's a level of intimacy unmatched in this anime between the two. Beyond sisterly and beyond familiar. Senketsu and Ryuko have a deep bond but the dynamic is different. And the wedding scene throughout this whole review is what I've foreshadowed the importance of. The Wedding Scene and it's depth and correlation: "If you kill Mako right here and now, that will hurt you most of all!" 3rd Wave feminism has quintessential relation to the female identity and incorporates heavy LGBT aspects into it's idea. Kill la Kill has themes, symbolism, and relationships that all fall into these theories of writing. All of which are very much so intentional. So when Ryuko has lost her identity and accepted the one Ragyo has assigned for her. She has lost herself and accepted the one people wanted her to have. She is dressed in her bridal dress and forced to marry someone she doesn't want to be with, to satisfy those who hate her real identity. Exactly like a closeted homosexual/woman who is oppressed by society would do. Until Mako comes in wearing Senketsu. Mako barges into Ryuko's heart wearing the groom suit and objects to the wedding. "I want to know" begins to play as we understand all of Mako's pain is laid out at the feet of Ryuko. Ryuko is marrying someone she truly can't love or be happy with out of conformity because she's lost her own identity and it's being suppressed. Literally out of any cliche "I object to this marriage because I love her" trope but made so much more special by everything about what led up to this and Ryuko/Mako's character dynamic. "This isn't like you!" "Kill me and give up on being MY Ryuko!" - Mako Understanding. Unlike Senketsu (who even LOOKS like Isshin) who was conditioned to understand Ryuko as he has her DNA, like a father who has a familiar bond with her daughter and is conditioned his whole life to comprehend her, Mako did it all on her own. She had to work for it. They weren't bodily built to get each other. They became devoted to each other through hardship and mutual feelings and it's what made them grow as people. Which is why the groom suit is what protects Mako from Ryuko's blade. Because that suit in that moment is allegorical for her romantic love, and her devotion to give her life to and for the Ryuko she loves. And it reminded Ryuko she had someone like that to in-turn live for. She wanted to be the bride of that person. Not the one society set up for her to be with. Ryuko had finally found her real groom. Which stopped Mako and Ryuko from dying that day. And as Ryuko makes her decision "I want to know" ends and fades out. Ryuko leaves with her real groom afterward and realizes that conformity isn't worth ditching your lover and happy life for. A closeted and self loathing individual has finally accepted herself after she'd been broken and forced to get a taste of a life she wouldn't ever be happy in. She chose her individuality, the person with the most intimate love for her, and the one she loved most. She accepted her true feelings and would make Mako her purpose over being a will-less puppet of Ragyo and society, who simply wants her to drown in the system. "she's just the type of woman who captivates your heart" - Ryuko To throw in a less dramatic lighter note; Mako's song "light you up" is incredibly endearing. Kill la Kill and more 3rd Wave Feminism Kill la Kill looks like a very pandering anime. It comes off as something which would be treating women like sex objects all through it's run but it doesn't. The nudity subverts the male gaze, flipping it completely. As being "nude" empowers women to great lengths. It helps them embrace themselves, individuality, and their identity. Realizing their person isn't something to be ashamed of. Also it's hard to say all the girls are sex objects when basically the only 3 dimensional characters are the women. Not deep enough, my complaints: I find a lot of the obscure references in Kill la Kill to be a tad pointless. It hardly has any meaning and sometimes bears no correlation to the characters. Also I find Ragyo's rape of Satsuki to be very shallow. I understand it's meaning and I don't dislike it because it takes me out of my comfort zone. It's just shallow symbolism. Almost pretentious. Enjoyment: I always try to stay objective, not subjective. I will never factor enjoyment into my review of a show but I'll say 10/10 out of appreciation for it's depth, my nostalgia, and because of how fun it is. It also has a LOT of rewatch value. Hopefully this review entertained you or provoked some sort of insightful thought. Or settled any doubts you had about the show. Overall: 8/10 Kill la Kill is a great show. Dynamic leads, rich symbolism, strong themes, excellent animation, music style, very empowering morals and a compelling romantic relationship. It's almost necessary to watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 26, 2017
Eromanga-sensei
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Okay I'm going to be the saving grace of the MAL entry.
Everybody only really likes to see positive and negative reviews. So this is going to be a pretty niche one. Kinda why every review for this show is less than a 3 or more than an 8 and I'm going to be the confuting force and say they're both wrong because it's not good or bad. It's the purgatory of mediocrity that is not bad enough for hell but isn't good enough for even a taste of heaven. Now I understand why people give this a high/low score 1) They thoroughly enjoyed it 2) They ... instantly liked the characters so all the interactions were good for them 3) The anime didn't impress them and usually people don't know how to react to something so middle of the road, so since it didn't impress them it was an instant fail in their book. 4) Every video about this show is like a rant, or a about why it's trash but they love it. I will bring up Oreimo. As the shows have some relation and are made by the same author. I wanna be constructive and see if you can see improvement of the authors work. So there's the preface. Let's get to review. Story: 2/10 The story is just used to get the characters into an entertaining situation. It is stuffed with episodes that have the theme but a shred of the plot. Like this is nothing to write home about. I am extremely happy this slice of life refused a school setting though, as theyre usually pretty boring and extremely cliche. The premise is the lead male, Masamune is a light novel writer who collaborates with an artist he discovers is his shut in step sister he very rarely interacts with. His step mother died and the father is out of the picture. Which gives him a feeling of loneliness. This makes Sagiri and Masamune basically two kids who just happen to live in the same house. Masamune has had very few interactions with Sagiri. Which makes it easier to stomach than Oreimo's romance between siblings. You see with the removal of incest this show loses a very prominent theme Oreimo had which was; what is deemed taboo by society and morality and accepting yourself for who you are and wanting to be what you want. Now I actually like that this theme was removed because even though it gave point to the blood related relationship and the exploration of otaku culture in Oreimo... Kirino and Kyousuke's relationship wasn't written interestingly and felt more like pandering to fetishists. Now the pandering part is debatable BUT Kirino and Kyousuke's romance was unfortunately poorly written. And since Kirino and Kyousuke were so poorly written and unlikable it makes you root against their relationship. As its seen as a very toxic thing that emotionally wounds the cast. It could've been handled so much better. Something about the story that I actually think is good for now is that Sagiri and Masamune don't get together and that creates more opportunities to expand on the dynamic of the relationship. While Sagiri was cute and they could've focused the show on them working their relationship out. I find the route that was taken to be an entertaining one to an extent. Its not always I get to see a seasonal or light novel be ballsy enough to not force in a romantic relationship that is weak and underdeveloped or not have it happen by the end of the show. The reason the story still gets a low score is because despite its premise. The love rectangle(?) is the only thing tying the story together. They go to the beach, there's like a one episode long light novel writing tournament, the plot isn't weaved together very well after episode 6... The drama of the show is kind of forced. For example, Sagiri should cry when opening up to Masa about her mother as she's never let it all out before. Its a sympathetic backstory that justifies why Sagiri lives with Masamune and why she's so shut in and emotionally reserved. It's not handled that well though. I'd say since its a comedy and comedies stories shouldn't always be the breaking point but it's all very cliche in how it plays out and how Masamune rejects other girls and says he loves another. It's not just a comedy, it's still a story and the plot doesn't really have a statement, the story arcs are usually episode length, the pacing is too fast, and gets side tracked a lot. The finale could've also easily have been the story of Sagiri and Masmune's meeting online or could've been the resolution to the climax which was their meeting but the build up falls to nothing and dents the story very heavily. Feeling empty and giving the story no conclusion. With fanservice filler being disappointing finale. It is just an episode of the girls playing lewd twister for Sagiri and them trying to unclothe Masamune. Like I said this show cannot escape the purgatory of mediocrity. And it is because of the botched final episode. Art: 7/10 The palette is a very pastel. It's pretty. The art is important to the comedy as the facial animation on the comedic contortion is executed well so the quick sharpness of the visual reaction is funny. The animation is good and it's very clearly made by A1. A1 is a double edged blade though. As the direction for the scenes and the art sometimes gets cringe worthy. Some of it just being BORINGLY simple. And some of it making me scared someone was gonna walk in. Of course even though I have not fully read the source material, I know these scenes were there so by adapting some of these I cannot blame A1. To get to it... there are several angles that do nothing but show of the bodies of the characters. They sacrifice legitimate scene direction WHICH THEY ARE CAPABLE OF for a nice shot of a girls ass. It's fan service I guess. I'm not gonna not bring it up too much because even though it is a problem, its clearly intentional. Sometimes the direction is unintentionally lacking too but it's not gonna put you to sleep. The character designs are all distinct and some give you a bit of a look into the character's persona. Such as Sagiri herself and Elf Yamada. Sound: 7/10 The voice actors were surprisingly good. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka the voice for characters like Kirito , Otau from Galko, and Hanazawa from Mob Psycho shows how good he is at leading. His acting is great, he's emotive and fun to hear. Akane Fujita despite not having too much experience does great in this role and I'm glad to see her career is only growing. Minami Takahashi is really good to hear again. She's a great actress and I'm glad to see her as a lead in more seasonals. Saori Oonishi was good as Muramasa. (Man its so weird how like all the leads were characters in Galko) Now to the music: Eromanga Sensei has a great op and ed. The Op has good direction, good animation, charm, and is very catchy. The ed while not being directed that well and is just Sagiri dancing is a very high energy, cute, and is honestly a catchy song. Like even if I hated this show I'd still dig the music of the opening and closing. As for the the soundtrack of the show... it's kind of forgettable and repetitive. They have this same song that they always play when it gets "wacky" and it is not enjoyable the 100th time ( and after ) you hear it. It's played sometimes twice an episode. It doesn't help that the other slower pieces aren't half as memorable as this. There's no flavor to the slower energy tracks. It's very standard for the most part. There are exceptions but stick to the op and ed if you wanna listen to music from this show. Characters: 6/10 Every good comedy depends on its characters so I feel like this could have broke Eromanga Sensei's back. The main male lead, Masamune is irritatingly dense and it leads to the plot solely being changed from its route because of his irrational ignorance. His dynamic of not wanting a lover but a family is pivotal for the show and makes Sagiri desire to be more sisterly and put her crush on him to the side to make him happy. We understand he wants a family after he believes he is rejected by Sagiri because of his brother status. He sees how unimportant a sweetheart really is to him in this period of loneliness in his life. Although this makes his motivations very confusing and contrary. As he continues saying there's already a girl he loves to characters like Muramasa and Elf Yamada, referring clearly to Sagiri. But I just came to accept that he wants a step sister who is a sister more than a girlfriend. Masamune himself does have an arc but he begins to stagnate after this and is used more as an outlet for other characters development rather than being his own fully fleshed out lead. It's good the other characters are always more enjoyable than him outside of a comedic situation plus the other characters were also my motivation for continuing the show anyway . Sagiri Izumi, the female lead, is a good character. Nothing truly groundbreaking but her character does have depth. She's lonely and she's had a crush on Masamune since discovering his self insert story when she was young. She hit up Masamune with fan art and he asked for more. She found the positive reassurance in her art from someone she liked to be very motivational. The conflicts in Eromanga Sensei are handled well when they're not forced in cheap drama. Like Sagiri's mom being dead and her lack of an emotional reaction (like tears) when opening up to Masamune about it. Also I guess Sagiri's perversion is entertaining because you wouldn't expect this young girl to be so hardcore about the woman's body and know nothing about the males. Sagiri also does try to improve herself as an artist for her step brother after seeing he needed an illustration of a voluptuous girl. Since didn't want to lose Masamune, she worked hard on illustrations for him. Therefore in her own mind she won Masamune back. Sagiri has a few conflicts with Masamune. She hates death because the person she likes isn't around anymore and she'll never see them again. This is clearly because of the loss of her mother. Though never directly stated. To relate this she spites Masamune for killing off one of her favorite characters in his novel. She learns to accept the character won't come back but it encourages Masamune to strive to make a happier ending for the characters. Because in the end death does not mean permanent unhappiness. She also shames him every time she feels his affection for her is based off physical appearance as her love for him is personal. Sagiri is also immature, she gets jealous and insecure when she's scared Masamune will leave her alone again or move on from her. So her calling out her step brother and wanting his attention may be irritating but it's an understandable and an established part of her character. In conclusion, Sagiri and Masamune are significantly more likable leads than Kirino and Kyousuke. As they are less tedious to watch, less selfish and less destructive to the more likable characters around them (like Kyousuke was to Kuroneko). Sagiri also on her own is a likable character. I literally have not met a person online who didn't love seeing Kirino get punched. The most irritating aspects of the Izumi's characters is that Sagiri is easily made jealous but it is justified as she is an insecure 12 year old and Masamune is a contradictory dumbass. A dumbass you understand and sympathize with but still a dumbass. The relationship here is less awkward as they are basically just roommates. But even though Kirino and Kyousukes relationship was poorly written, the sacrifice of blood relation basically makes the only point of the story to be Masamune waiting to get a gf/family. I want to reiterate while it's on topic... It doesn't have a statement or a controversial theme like Oreimo. Which makes this whole anime blend in to everything else and just feel like there's really no point. Time for the other leads: Elf Yamada is the pretentious, eccentric writer of this show and she was incredibly enjoyable. She rarely opens up to people and has developed a crush on Masamune even though he's the one who looks up to her. She is very supportive of him and even though she will still compete for affection she wants Masamune to be happy. Even if it means she loses the love race. She's a character that wants to show her love but will go with the flow if she's losing the race. Despite being rich she really isn't selfish. Muramasa Senju is secretly a huge fan of Masamune and is introduced during the Light Novel Tenkaichi Budokai. Unlike Masamune and Elf who write for their fans, she writes for herself. The lack of pandering is likely why she has the biggest following of all the main characters. She insensitively intimidates and riles up Masamune in order to get him to write a novel she wants to see him write. She apologized and gives up the competition despite having the bigger following as she understands how much the competition meant to Masamune. She had developed a crush on Masamune and competes for his affection. While she was a cute character she was not as layered as Elf or Sagiri. She didn't get as much exploration either. She has her role in the plot but shes the least fleshed out. Or at least she would've been... Nothing about this character is likable. She could easily be written out entirely. Megumi is the worst part of this show. She has an incredibly poor introduction that I wish I never saw and she wants to manipulate Sagiri just because she wants more popularity. She acts like she is a whore for popularity sake and talks about how much she loves dick. Which brings up the last problem and segment of this show and my review. Comedy: 5/10 The comedy is really trashy. Joking about pornography, and penises, and boobs. And since all the characters are teenagers and Sagiri is a preteen it makes it even more wilder of a ride. This could turn peopple off or since the characters subvert the creepy old male pervert trope in a very basic way it will not effect you. Girls and boys get stripped by a 12 year old pervert girl. This shit gets intense. Now the voice actors make the reactions to a lot of different scenarios funny but the amount of raunchy humor is overwhelming. Like to the extent where you just strap in for the ride. When in the incredibly sexualized situations you'll feel awkward or aroused if that's your thing, I'm judging the anime not you. At least it only happens like once or twice in a single 22 minute episode though. So that's a relief. the voice acting makes the other jokes very entertaining though. It's not all just dirty. But when it wants to be dirty it gets rough. Enjoyment: 5/10 My personal enjoyment didn't matter in this review. Maybe you'll be more adamant with your dislike of something and it'll ruin the show for you. But personally I enjoyed it sometimes. I like some of the characters, music, character designs Conclusion: 5/10 I feel like this is probably the most fair and in depth review of Eromanga Sensei you can get. I'm not saying other reviews are invalidated by mine. I'm simply saying I don't feel like anyone has cared enough about the show to write this thorough a dissection. The shows not good but it's not half as bad as people act like it is. I wanna see it get better. It's a perfectly mediocre show. It could've potentially been one of the best of the season or one of the worst. Beneath the lack luster of the show it has some solid characterization, concepts, art, and amazing voice actors. That's about it though. So even though it was flawed it was nice talking about it. Let's all hope that inevitable season 2 gets even more depth or gets even more memorably raunchier.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 21, 2017 Not Recommended Preliminary
(6/12 eps)
I've never reviewed something that has yet to finish. Although I'm seeing a lot of premature high scores given by other users. I feel those reviews are based off enjoyment as there is no substance in Kakegurui. I'm going to explain why this anime is not worth any of your time.
This is an in depth spoiler free (as much as I can be spoiler free) analysis of Kakegurui episodes 1-7. I wanna start off in a weird place Sound/Voice Acting: 4/10 All of the voice actors feel amateurish and don't have that much flair. Characters like Yameko and Ryouta are passable but there are two ... really bad voices for characters I want to address. I can tell Ms. Udono is trying but her voice for her character is just very unfitting and irritating. Now Udono doesn't have a lot of experience under her belt so I can't judge her too harshly but when making a big budget adaptation you should TRY not to get inexperienced voice actresses. Personally I blame the direction and irresponsibility of the studio over the low experienced actress. And one other voice that is just so fake and atrocious is borderline unbelievable. Like I was legitimately disappointed when I saw the voice actress for Midari Ikishima. It was none other than Mariya Ise herself. The VA for Stocking Anarchy and Killua in 2011's HxH. She is incapable of voicing this character. Her crazy voice is just as fake and poor as her crazy laugh. I find her performance in this work to be incredibly bad. Her tone and acting is so forced. Every scene hearing her is tedious. Now she's not working with a good script and the direction probably sucks but she's so much better than this. The music is good I guess. It's not perfect for every situation or memorable. The Op is good but it wouldn't find itself on any Top 100 openings. The low score on the sound is prominently due to the lack of solid actors. Story: 1/10 They are in a school that allows gambling and that can decide your life for you if you get in too much debt. It's insane and there's been no good explanation. Midari is capable of carrying a weapon on campus and bullies try to rape other students in this high class school. The Student Body also are capable of inflicting bodily harm against the students without any repercussions. ( SPOILER example: Midari, who was threatened to have her eye taken out and took it out herself to prevent the shame and to get it over with. ) This show isn't like Prison School though. It wants us to take it seriously and adds no comic relief to the atmosphere. The author probably just didn't get the memo, that Prison School was a psychological comedy that didn't try to make you take its bizarre concept seriously but the dilemmas and punishments in Prison School gave a real sense of stakes and urgency. Prison School also had great characters, a lot of psychological elements, and was hilarious. Why it fails as a gambling anime: It stretches suspension of disbelief and doesn't give us insight on the reasoning behind the characters deductions. Yameko just tends to magically call out the cheating of her opponent with a contrived explanation that we never even get to see. Seeing Yameko's dissection of the cheat would actually add more depth to her character. Give you a sense of humanity and urgency in her. The thrills are also non existent. Every situation and stake is extremely low and since Yameko is the love child of a Gambling Mary Sue and Yuno Gasai (What an amazing combination) she will never lose that great of something. The most she'll lose is money but she throws that around so who cares? Even when she has a gun in her face we still know shes gonna be okay. She's perfect in every single way. Right? She never has really any human reaction. So we can't relate to her and put ourselves in her situation. Remember this. Every episode is VERY formulaic. Like same thing every time with almost no difference. This makes the thrills and stakes nonexistent. The show is extremely unentertaining unless you have underdeveloped taste or have turned your brain off. After thorough dissection there is nothing necessarily redeemable or well executed about this story. Which is extremely unfortunate because I like gambling and cute girls. Characters: 1/10 Dear god. No character in this anime is anything more than one dimensional. Yameko is a perfect gambler who wins without even having to work for it. We don't feel any humanity in her. And because of this we cannot relate to her whatsoever. As she is completely emotionless until she starts shit talking. She has no depth or layers as a character. She is so perfect. She finds out the villains way of cheating without us even hearing or seeing it. And the anime isn't smart enough to where we are given the opportunity to figure it out ourselves. The opponent who is cheating gives a nonsensical, not-foreshadowed scheme in their head like any bland shounen villain. It's so convoluted. Yameko's only character traits are she's crazy but acts like she's not and she's a sore winner when she magically finds out how the opponent is cheating. A character I believed I would like's name was Meiri. As she is a cocky ass who contorts her face to bizarre, funny expressions in the first episode and acts like a boring shounen mustache twiddler until she is humbled by Yameko in that episode. I expected that by destroying Meiri in the first episode they were gonna build her character up through the entire season. Honestly, that's how you can make a cocky character like Meiri likable. Give them a taste of their own medicine. There is even a scene where Meiri is forced to clean up a mess, after being laughed at and left in the lunch room alone. I felt genuine sympathy because I felt like that would be a pivotal moment for her character. Then we see her accumulate EVEN MORE DEBT by the culture club representative and see that her pride is shattered and she is completely humiliated. But I clearly gave this show way too much credit. Now I thought this would lead to an arc where Meiri realizes she relies too much on cheating to gamble and gets too cocky before the cards are shown. And she'd blossom into this great, smart, analytic gambler. NOPE, SHES YAMEKO 2 BY EPISODE FUCKIN 4. She stays bland, stagnant and becomes another boring character. The final lead is Ryouta Suzui. He just... reacts and sometimes helps Yameko. Literally could be written out so easily. He's one dimensional too. He feels like a side character. I actually forget he's there sometimes. Everyone is one dimensional. All the antagonists and side characters are JUST crazy. Some are a lil crazier than the others. Like some will cum while playing. And I guess you're supposed to get intimated or aroused when the crazy girl cums when she's winning or thrilled. That's it. The insanity is so over saturated in the anime it stops being unique, entertaining, or unexpected. Which makes how everything plays out very boring and predictable. Art: 7/10 The art is very reminiscent of Prison School but it doesn't go to the extent of Prison School or do it frequently enough. All the crude facial contortions happen on almost every character in the same situation with the same face so it's not well executed or unpredictable or entertaining or funny or intimidating, etc. The budget is very clear though and I can't say its not at least a 7/10 through aesthetic alone. As you kinda get the tone through the art even though the tone is super ridiculous in the story and scenario. Enjoyment: 1/10 Now I don't mind anyone enjoying this but lets be real; this anime is horrible. Everyone is just enticed by the attractive character designs. And I tend to repeat myself but often the most serious criticism of a show is usually the kind you hear and throw around the most. It is a predictable, overly formulaic, shallow, boring, low thrills, poorly written, poorly executed, complete mess of an thriller anime with terrible characters who don't develop or evolve. Right now this is without a doubt one of the worst anime of 2017. Up there with Berserk and World End. I really did wish I could like this show but almost everything it tries and does fails miserably.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jul 8, 2017 Mixed Feelings
I'd like to preface this review by saying I totally understand why you might enjoy this show. Don't just look at this review, see its rating then click off. This review is a thorough dissection of Araki's Manga and DP's adaption of DiU. It's more of a fun than deep experience but I'm going to explain why DiU's critical flaws make the show very VERY difficult for me to enjoy.
Story: 5/10 The story starts off insanely strong with a shot of a severed hand being in someone we don't knows home. The story is about a serial killer using his Stand to hide himself and ... kill. That's an awesome premise. Too bad its hardly a factor of the story and it's mostly just the cast stumbling upon enemies that are just trying to use their stand to regenerate their body and petty theft. It loses so much focus. YUKAKO HAS A DEVELOPMENT ARC AND THEN HAS LITERALLY NO IMPACT OR TIME IN THE STORY AFTERWARD. IT WAS PROBABLY THERE JUST TO SHOW AYA TSUJI EXISTED. Now onto why these fights and arcs have no impact on the story and why its downright purposeless... I will accept the fights could be entertaining but the fights of this part are just not as well executed or choreographed as those from other parts. There are some exceptions like Highway Star but Araki even recycles ideas for stands and the environments are very strained as its mostly taking place in a house or on a street. Also these fights have minimal stakes due to Crazy Diamond being able to perfectly regenerate people. AND these brawls just have really forgettable, uninteresting enemy abilities. It puts these at even more discredit because these fights DON'T feel connected to the plot. Unlike parts like 1, 3, 5, and 7 where the enemies are either other members of the mafia that want something the heroes have, opponent racers pursuing the same goals, assassins hired by the enemy, minions, etc. The enemies in DiU are mostly just randoms. Plus the characters associated with the fight and some of the unique ideas usually carry the bland and boring execution on its back. Art: 6/10 The art looks great and on model at times as does the animation but the key word is sometimes. Its animation can be fluid. The character designs are honestly great even for the minor villains. Although the characters can look great but even with the very simplified facial designs and vibrant colors the show still has big aesthetic problems. There is constantly bad frames. This is likely because the seasonal split that SDC had wasn't there. So they didn't have time to break or get back budget. The constant outsourcing made the main villains stand reveal a literal laughing stock. So much so I still see it getting meme-d on social media. The animation and art in DiU can be vibrant and fluid but it also gets unattractive and stiff. So much so you start to wish there was a seasonal gap. Sound: 7/10 The music is catchy and fits the situation but it feels like a drop from SDC. Also Savage Garden all the way through instead of something as calming and beautiful as Last Train Home was a huge mistake. Last Train Home surpasses it in every way. You just get this tranquil feel of the Crusaders comradery. As you see them casually moving around Egypt together. It paints a very peaceful picture in your head. With I Want You, you have a very out of place song with very out of place direction. The Josuke in the end credits singing is so spontaneous and out of place. Its not remotely edited well is really forced in. (I'm not gonna criticize I Want You as a song because I am not into music criticism so that's why I more criticized its sloppy direction and what it does for the anime as opposed to dissecting the lyrics of a song from a 90's Boyband) Character: 6/10 Here's where we get to DiU's biggest problem as well as it's best part. I'll start by putting it simply Rohan, Koichi, and Kira are the best characters of this arc. Their characterization, development, and their focus almost always makes the episode great. I could do an essay on why Rohan is such an amazing character BUT simply put he is an excellent, greatly developed, incredibly layered and interesting character. Also the fights on the aforementioned tend to have impact on their character more so than ANYONE else in the show. Araki also does a very poor job at doing mass characterization AND making characters likable. Unfortunately you see a lot of Josuke and Okuyasu. Now I know A LOT of people like these characters. But hear me out. I do not hate these characters but they have very BIG problems as basically the leads of the part. 1) They have confused character motivation 2) They are stagnant and their development arcs doesn't effect them as characters 3) They are less interesting than characters that could've got more spot light Okuyasu: His brother dying is one of his main drives into the plot. That and his attachment to Josuke leading him in conflict by association. But Okuyasu wants revenge even though he accepts his brother is a bad person. They do not flesh out the fact Okuyasu wanted to avenge someone he knew was wicked. It doesn't dive into his psyche or feelings of justice or ideals. Just simple revenge motivation. It's insanely shallow and doesn't do ANYTHING fresh or unique. Now maybe I would forgive this if Okuyasu just didn't feel so bare. He meets his brothers killer, the person he wanted to commit revenge on. Then he loses. Then he meets him again. Can't beat him and then Josuke beats him. So Okuyasu gets no resolution with his brothers killer AT ALL. He doesn't confront him in the hospital. He doesn't kill him. They have no excuse because Kakyoin and Polnareff just is so much more satisfactory in terms of ending Pol's revenge arc. Kakyoin even helps him on what to say so he can feel fully satisfied when murdering the man who killed and raped his sister. And after this arc that goes literally nowhere Okuyasu doesn't get any more development for the rest of the show. Which honestly makes him just a one dimensional comic relief. He's entertaining but his character goes nowhere, is shallow, and has a really lame arc that doesn't effect him. Josuke: Josuke is nowhere near as bad of a case as Okuyasu. Josuke just gets less development and less consistent development than side characters like Yukako. And often forgets everything about his development where he wanted to become a force of justice. He commits fraud, tries to scam Rohan out of a ton of money, bullies and manipulates a 12 year old for money, and it wouldn't be such a problem if his greed didn't undermine his one development arc. You CAN NOT make his ONE development arc motivate him to become a force of good to protect the town and then have him not FEEL LIKE protecting the town he was so motivated to save. Especially when he literally wants to go against the law he wanted to uphold earlier in the show. It creates some interesting and funny conflicts but just really hurts his character. He doesn't get development outside of that arc and the arc REALLY doesn't affect his character. Like I can't do a page long analysis of their character because its just contrary traits and shallow personalities. Which is a huge problem as they are the big main characters of the show and suck away characters like Koichi and Rohans time. Now one problem about a really good character; Kira is they try to introduce this part of his personality where he's falling for Shinobu but they bring it up once, don't expand on it, and it just feels forced in and Araki probably just forgot to capitalize on it. Back to one horrid aspect about Araki's mass characterization... you can't make a psychotic outcast like Hazamada likable when in the same arc you're trying to make him likable in you make Rohan read off that he tried to rape a girl and then chickened out. Overall DiU has some of the best characters in the franchise but also some of the weakest. And Araki despite making a great villain has a very hard time at naturally tying characters to the plot AND handling mass characterization well. Enjoyment: 5/10 I enjoyed it sometimes. It could be fun. It could look pretty. Its story could hook me in. And it genuinely has AMAZING characters. But for all the fun that I had, I was too distracted with problems to enjoy myself. For all the beauty there's ugliness. For all the times the story had me, the payouts and dicking around on side stuff lost me. For every good character's time in the spotlight there's a significant amount of time spent on a much weaker, shallow character. Every time DiU does something great or good it does some thing to balance out its positively with very damning problems. Overall: 5/10 This is a perfect score for DiU. I feel like its truly great characters save it from a 4/10. It's also pretty damn weird and pretty damn funny. But the animation and art problems. And the shallow leads. And the poor mass characterization. And the much weaker soundtrack compared to other parts sits it in a very rough place in terms of JoJo parts and other seasonal anime at the time. Definitely not a bad show, I can see why a lot of people would find enjoyment in it. But its lack of focus on its best characters, its lack of focus on its originally incredible story, sits it in a purgatory. Stuck between giving it audience something to love and shooting itself in the foot for 39 whole episodes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 24, 2017 Recommended
Kaiji is one of the most enthralling thrillers ever made. If you want the simple answer:
Yes, you should watch it. Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor is an adaptation of a manga by the same name by Mad House. It stars a Japanese man named Kaiji. Kaiji is a bum who gambles away all the money he comes across and steals hood ornaments off cars. One day he is confronted by a debtor who he assumed was there to rough him up for his vandalism. Although he's actually there to collect the payment for a loan Kaiji cosigned for. Kaiji is then told about an ... exclusive gambling ring where he is capable of earning all the money he needs and more. Kaiji doesn't enter some underground fight club and box Ippo style. Nor does he pick up a gun and take down the ring. This is a gambling anime. And it is one of the most engaging, masterfully executed thrillers out there. Story/Premise 10/10 : Kaiji as a thriller succeeds by constantly raising its stakes. Kaiji failing means that he falls further into debt or loses everything he's gained. The more debt he gains the more consequences to them, It keeps you on edge with elements such as time limits, new strategies, and Kaiji getting stumped and being forced into a corner. Which makes Kaiji even more enthralling. Kaiji doesn't always win which makes you really feel the pressure of his choices and the stress he's feeling. And that's what makes the stakes so high... Kaiji doesn't always win. Kaiji is constantly backed into corners and forced to find other ways continue surviving. None of the games are repeated. Each game played by Kaiji is different and every game puts Kaiji at risk of losing something. Whether it be his freedom or punishment through a horrible bodily injury. The show is very tense and brutal forcing Kaiji to do everything in his power to think of ways to survive. We get to see his though process and dissection as he's desperately trying to work the system into his favor. Kaiji is very resilient and his diligence for survival is intense and motivational. One minor thing is Kaiji often has situations brought upon him or him getting out of certain situations in some way. Although it never feels like asspulls or like they came out of nowhere. The losses are always high and it never stresses your suspension of disbelief. Its pacing is also very solid and moves as quickly as it needs to. Kaiji also tackles very dark themes. Such as Morality vs. Nature and Overcoming any obstacle that's presented by giving it your all. Nothing pretentious, its very well executed. Art/Presentation 7/10: The show looks like an animated manga and that's sweet. The animation is very good technically, smooth, and clean. The over the top visuals, actions, and animation add to the flair of the show and will grab your attention easily. This makes it much more interesting than just watching two people sitting down playing a card game. Kaijis art is very distinct and has a certain flavor. Before Kaiji makes his move you are often given every emotion and thought he's dealing with prior. You will be so invested you won't mind the visuals even if you dislike them at first. Kaiji will causally animate visual metaphors of Kaiji overcoming an obstacle and these are interesting and add flair to grip you but simply put the presentation is fine. It's camera angles are sometimes just not flattering and the animated characters on (very well rendered) CG backgrounds is very obvious and makes the characters look very flat and unrealistic from angles like Birds eye... Kaijis art style is very unique and you can complain about it all you want but its a very distinct western feeling style. Another positivity about the art style is how emotional the faces can look and how it paints a perfect definition of the feeling in the expression alone. Sound 10/10: Kaiji has a kick ass theme and music that screams and makes you feel the tone and tension. It has tracks that make you feel on edge and tracks that make you feel triumphant and relieved. AN overall very good soundtrack. Not every track is flawless but every character and moment sounds great. From the sleazy to sounding sleazy and Kaiji having very realistic execution in basically every line in the show. Character 8/10: Kaiji is an excellent character analysis. It puts the characters in extremely stressful, high pressure situations and shows every aspect of how they escape the hell set in them. Demonstartating to us how great a human's passion to survive is. Humans will react differently to the life and death situations but our lead is a survivor who won't buckle under the weight. It is also a character analysis because it provides a look into how desperate the lower class is as well as how corrupt and sociopathic the 1% are. The show never loses focus on Kaiji. He shows that even though he doesn't have motivation to work and is irresponsible with gambling he really has human compassion and is a will for surviving. Kaiji begins as being a very naive but bitter person but after being manipulated, he realizes his mistake and becomes a strong motivation who rallies his allies or crushes those enemies without a hint of mercy. Kaiji is the parallel to the human nature that comes out when others are trying to survive and Kaiji becomes a morally correct character that is willing to swallow his feelings and act rationally so he can continue to calmly survive. When humans are caged like animals they act like cruel and heartless animals. This is one of the main themes of the anime. Although Kaiji maintains his passion for surviving as well as his heart. Even in life and death situations, Kaiji never loses his humanity. Kaiji is shown to have this sympathy from the start when he tried to help bail his friend out of a lone. So from the starting line we see Kaiji has heart. Kaiji is an amazing character. He has a very black/white moral code and always tries to give people the benefit of the doubt. He believes everyone deserves mercy so he will trust even the shadiest looking people, because in reality that's what he wants. Kaiji wants a break. He will never stop fighting until he reaches the top of the pit that he dug for himself. Even people who cost him an ear he still will have sympathy for when seeing them endure harsh torture. As he notices they're just trying to survive and make it like him. Although Kaiji has flaws such as his irresponsibility, nativity, underestimation and overconfidence. Kaiji NEVER puts on the Shounen villain cockiness but his trust in his own flawed strategies is fully capable of biting him in the ass. When hes overwhelmed he cries very realistically. Having a full on emotional breakdown and sometimes cussing and screaming like a baby. When this happens you feel the emotional breakdown and urgency Kaiji is going through. You're seeing the weak side of this usually strong, determined character, as his own luck or a counter strategy has broken him. Its the flaws and the actions that help us all relate to Kaiji and make him such a deep and likable character. We see his entire thought process and plan as he tries to save himself from a horrible situation as well as his group at he time. Even with his flaws Kaiji is one of the most likable characters ever written and I wouldn't have any other lead. The other cast members unfortunately don't develop enough or at all but are very good at furthering the growth of Kaiji who is a 10/10 character on his own. They have clear establishment but are confined to supporting roles. Although the supporting cast members are characters I still came to care about likely through Kaijis compassion and desire to help and motivate them to survive as well. The villains introduced later on are interesting and clever. They represent the hardships and struggles all humans must endure to survive and have very interesting philosophy. The main villain isn't some morally gray guy you can sympathize with but he is a gambling genius though and despite his philosophy is more of a character Kaiji must endure and overcome. Kaiji is what he doesn't want to see. He likes to see the true darkness of humanity with his gambling ring, but Kaiji is a force that totally opposes his expectations. It hardly matters as Kaiji is beyond capable of holding the entire show on his back. So him being more of a solo act is perfectly fine. Misc Problems: There was one Misc. problem and its that there is a narrator. While the over the top narrator adds enjoyment to the presentation. I can very well tell how Kaiji feels and how I'm supposed to feel at certain scenes. Silence is preferred. As some scenes invoke very intense emotions and the narrator comes in and disrupts your experience and thoughts. Kaiji is one of the best anime I've seen. It has an amazing lead, amazing story, great sound, alright presentation, is very intense, has great pacing, its fresh, its over the top, its unique and is overall an incredible thriller. If the art bothers you so much that you won't watch it you're missing out on something genius. Its theme is also just as badass as Kaiji himself. Get ready to shed some manly tears bro. Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor gets a 10/10. An A+ anime. Its not perfect by any means but is an outstanding work that no fan of thrillers can miss.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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