Back to KinoCowboy's Profile KinoCowboy's Profile

I generally try to have an open mind when it comes to anime, and when I start a new series I attempt to take as few preconceptions into it as possible. That said, when I started Tokyo Ravens I had already pretty much given up on it. The promotional artwork and brief synopsis I read, while somewhat interesting, gave me the vague impression of a mediocre anime with throwaway characters and a wasted chance at a good plot. I write this review in an attempt to dispel those misconceptions in anyone else.

Tokyo Ravens, an anime with a plot initially not too unfamiliar involving magic users ... in modern-day Japan, starts off rather slowly and doesn't promise much. However, after just a few episodes, the tempo changes rapidly and soon a well-thought-out, refreshingly unique story begins to develop. What originally seems like a straightforward plot becomes increasingly deep, with enough twists to keep you wondering from one episode to the next who's really the good guy. Add to that a major plot twist that completely changes the direction of the show, and you get a very satisfying, entertaining story.

The art was really the only slightly detracting feature of the show for me, as it was close to being sub-par, but at times where it really mattered the animation was good enough to not take away from the drama of the moment. Both the voice acting and the soundtrack were done well, the latter having moments where it went from being sufficient to excellent, and the over-all delivery was handled very well.

Now to address my favorite aspect of the show: the side characters. Something that consistently annoys me about many anime is the one-dimensional supporting characters that are often present. Whether they're there to simply fill the stereotypical niches, to be killed off for the sake of adding drama, or whatever role they're given, side characters in many anime are simply unnecessary. Their lack of presence, importance, and screen time makes them feel hollow when compared to the main character/characters. Tokyo Ravens, however, had a well-rounded cast of supporting characters that actually played important roles in the story, and had distinct personalities tempered by whatever problems they had/things they had experienced. Beyond the main character's "party", the other characters in the series felt very real in the way they were presented. Rather than trying to include a ton of other characters and explain their every facet, they were presented at face value. Many of their motivations/convictions remained unclear, which, realistically, would be the case in a conflict on the scale of the one in Tokyo Ravens. Every character in the series felt like they weren't written into the story to make some specific part of it move forward, but were first and foremost members of Tokyo Raven's universe who participated in the story on an equal level with the characters who got more screen-time. That gave the series a very realistic feel to me, something I don't often get in comparable anime.

Overall I would say that Tokyo Ravens is a good, well-written anime that may be overlooked by many people (such as myself) that would think it's just another harem-ish shounen. I would recommend giving it try, and letting it prove or disprove that preconception itself.

Bakumatsu Rock had an interesting concept. From the first time I read anything about the show, I was convinced I was going to like it. Rock n' Roll versus J-Pop? What could be better? A story about musical ronin combating a controlling government that uses pop-idol groups to make people submissive sounded like a really cool idea. Once I actually started watching the show my hopes were disappointed to a degree, as what I had idealized for the show certainly wasn't going to match up with reality.

Regardless, it was a pretty fun watch.

It made a good effort at being dramatic while never quite taking ... itself seriously, ready to throw in a dumb joke or two to remind you what anime you're watching.

Its art was acceptable. It didn't do anything very memorable, but its sometimes bizarre character designs and a few interesting CG moments (mostly) prevented it from being boring.

The characters remained almost entirely one-dimensional throughout the show, with any developments in their attitudes or actions being heavily predictable. However, since their base characteristics (i.e. being rebellious rock stars) were enough to keep one's interest, it wasn't really that much of an issue.

All of the above, particularly the premise itself, would have probably landed this anime a 7 in my book. Unfortunately, the show takes a hit with what I see as a glaring fault: what they were playing was barely even rock. I was extremely disappointed with the music in this show. The entire plot is based on the rebelliousness, soul, and passion of rock n' roll, yet many times it was hard to tell the difference between the protagonists' music and the pop-idol music they were fighting against. The "rock" of Bakumatsu Rock was the most simplistic, light-edge, vocal-centric version of the genre they could have used, which certainly isn't at all reflective of the spirit of rock. From the first time the main character played a song, my enjoyment took a huge plunge. I had gone into the show expecting to hear great music battling bad music, creativity battling standardization, excellence battling mediocrity, individuality battling the hive mind. Instead, my ears were met with two "different" styles of music battling to the same tune. Pop-rock versus pop hardly makes for an epic encounter.

That being said, the show still managed to be entertaining. It also had some parallels between its fictional government-controlled music scene and the music industry we have now, though the lessons felt rather hollow in the face of what music was being presented as artistic. All-in-all, Bakumatsu Rock was worth watching if you don't really have anything else to watch, and are craving to watch a show wherein pop-idols get what's coming to them.

Just don't expect any Foo Fighters.

Initially I had no intention of writing a review for Danganronpa, because I didn't really think it deserved one. I thought it was a weird little show without much substance and even less creative story writing, but that it offered enough mild entertainment to balance it out. However, the more I thought about it the more I disliked it. And after thinking a good while, I disliked it so much that I decided to write a review and vent a little, as well as hopefully deter anyone who had considered watching this show. (As an aside, this review won't even touch on the multifarious plot ... issues this show had, because had the show been successful in other areas, they could have possibly been forgiven.)

First off, who the heck drew this thing?! When the show started out, I thought the characters' bizarre appearances were somewhat interesting, and had the show been at least mildly good, they would have been appealing. But as the show advanced and became more and more twisted, the characters’ brightly colored, ridiculously idiosyncratic appearance took on a sickening quality that made every disturbing turn seem worse.

Moving on, "We're Really Really Trying To Be Disturbing And Creepy" should have been the tagline for this show, as its only goal seemed to be showing how cruel acts carried out by and on teenagers are good fodder for horror shows. But to be honest, they even failed at showing that. It was almost painful how hard they were trying to actually be scary. What was even more painful was that besides that goal, there really was no point to Danganronpa. At all. And as horrible as this sounds, the show was really boring until someone was brutally murdered. The lack of plot and character development almost left you WANTING someone to die, just so something would actually be happening. This fact was re-emphasized repeatedly throughout the show, with every pathetic "moment of peace" that came directly before a murder. It was as if the creators of this show came up with the whole high school ruled by an immortal, murderous robot bear wherein the students kill each other idea, but didn't know the first thing about actual human interaction (let alone the basic tenants of fluid story-writing), so they threw in little "funnies" in the form of conversations between characters that I assume they thought real people would actually have. But juxtaposed with the horrific character of the show, these moments of “humanity" seemed like a joke, and not the kind that actually delivers a message and makes you stop to think. No, it was the kind of joke that your annoying Uncle Bob tells at every family get-together and gets cheesier and cheesier with ever re-telling. In short, what little character development the show tried to have was actually a show-killer.

In closing, I would like to talk about redemption. Redemption is the source of all hope in the world. It is the reason we fight poverty, seek to protect those abused, and long for peace instead of war. Redemption is a second chance. Redemption speaks to the whole of humanity on an integral level, because we all seek it, in one way or another. Redemption is the one thing which could have saved Danganronpa. So many people had died and so much had been lost that even redemption for a few would have seemed poor compensation for all the hurt done, but it would have given us a reason to hope. It would have made us stand with the characters and hope for a brighter future which could turn the darkness of our respective pasts into something beautiful and better for everyone. Sadly, Danganronpa did not seek redemption for the victims of its lousy story telling and absurd animation. Instead, its ending slapped you in the face with its lack of redemption. It gave you a little sputtering flame of hope and then promptly snuffed it out. I could almost feel the creators sneering as the final episode came to a close. Something being disturbing isn't always bad. Heck, one of my favorite anime/manga is Gunslinger Girl, a series with a plotline that practically revolves around the disturbing. The difference is, again, redemption. When hope is removed from the equation, everything crumbles into crapiness. Danganronpa was certainly no exception.

Toradora was one of those shows that I started watching on a whim. I was bored and didn't want to do anything particularly productive, so I did what so many of us do/have done: I scanned through a few shows at random and stopped at the first one I thought might be good. Toradora was a good pick in this particular situation because I felt like watching something lighthearted
and fast-paced. And even though I've become somewhat jaded concerning the genre it belongs to, I decided to give it a try anyway. I assumed I would get some silly entertainment for the first episode, then ... abandon the series, as that has happened with a large majority of the other slice-of-life/romantic comedy anime I have attempted to watch. But, as often is the case with
assumptions, it was dead wrong.

As stated above, the only thing I thought going in to Toradora was that it would be lighthearted and fast-paced. Of course, I also hoped it would be funny, but I was expecting the majority of the "humor" to be in the same vein as the sexualized, fan-servicey garbage that is quickly becoming the mainstay of the anime industry. What I was not expecting was a hilarious,
touching, dramatic anime which largely ignored the principle "parts" [forgive me] of its genre. (I say largely because they weren't totally ignored. *cough cough baka chi' cough*) I wasn't expecting a show that, paradoxically enough, seemed more mature because it had less "mature" content. I wasn't expecting characters that actually seemed relatable despite their strangeness. I wasn't expecting a conclusion that brought tears to my eyes. I guess what you could say is that I wasn't expecting most of what Toradora was. And for that I reason, I enjoyed it immensely.

I didn't want to write a description of the show into my review (you can read one of those anywhere), neither did I want to do an entire overview of the show (I hate novel-length reviews). I just wanted to give some general thoughts I had about Toradora in a succinct fashion to give the reader my point of view. So, in conclusion, this show didn't blow me away with its
animation, it didn't wow me with its musical score, and it didn't make me contemplate the deeper aspects of the human struggle with its thought-provoking storyline. But what it did do was enough. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me want to think about it long enough to want to write this review. And by golly, that's gotta count for something.